BJP-Shiv Sena eye gains as Cong-NCP aim to hold fort in Western Maharashtra

Agencies
April 15, 2019

Mumbai, Apr 15: The prosperous, politically-dominant region of Western Maharashtra, which has seen a huge turmoil in recent weeks, is all set for edge-of-seat contest in its nine Lok Sabha constituencies here.

These are: Pune, Baramati, Madha, Sangli, Satara, Kolhapur and Hathkanangale that will vote in Phase III on April 23, and Maval and Shirur, where polling is in Phase IV on April 29.

Unawed by the `Modi wave` of 2014, the region conceded only two seats to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), two to its ally Shiv Sena but gave four to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and one to the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS).

The elections will decide the political fate of some of the biggest political clans like the Pawars, the Mohite-Patils and the late Vasantrao `Dada` Patil`s family clawing to retain their stronghold as the ruling BJP attempts to bulldoze their supremacy.

For starters, the third generation Parth Pawar, son of former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and grand-nephew of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, is contesting from Maval, while his cousin-aunt Supriya Sule (Sharad Pawar`s daughter) is nominated from Baramati.

Parth is pitted against Shiv Sena`s sitting MP Shrirang C. Barne with the ally BJP Minister Chandrakant Patil vowing to chase away Parth from the battlefield.

In Baramati, the seat represented by Sharad Pawar for seven terms and Ajit Pawar for one term, Supriya Sule is making her third attempt amidst a loud chorus by the BJP that the "Pawars would be politically erased" from the region.

The BJP has pitted Kanchan Kul, making it only one of the two seats in the state - besides Mumbai North-Central - which will have a direct woman-to-woman contest, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders launched a scathing attack on the Pawar clan.

In fact, Modi was scheduled to address a rally here on April 10, but it was cancelled at the last minute and now he`s expected to come next week to give a final push to Pawars` prospects.

In Shirur, there`s a dash of glamour in the form of television actor Amol Kolhe - famed for the roles of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj - contesting on an NCP ticket.

Interestingly, Kolhe had left the Shiv Sena to join the NCP two months ago and is now hoping to wrest the Shirur seat from the three-timer sitting Sena MP Shivajirao A. Patil.

Sangli has another tough contest coming up with the late Vasantrao Patil`s grandson, Vishal Prakashbapu Patil, entering the fray on an SSS ticket, as part of the Congress-NCP led 56-party Mahagathbandhan, pitted against the BJP`s sitting MP Sanjay `Kaka` Patil.

Vishal Prakashbapu Patil`s nomination sparked a family fued with his elder brother and former Union Minister Pratik Prakashbapu Patil qutting the Congress and politics.

The Satara seat has an interesting contest with the NCP`s two-time MP Udayanraje P. Bhosale, a direct descendent of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, locking horns with the BJP`s Narendra Annasaheb Patil, a former Shiv Sainik.

In Madha, the NCP dropped sitting MP Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil and denied a ticket to his son Ranjitsinh, who walked over to the BJP, but it has given the ticket to a royal descendent, Ranjitsinh Naik-Nimbalkar, who recently quit the Congress. He will lock horns with NCP nominee Sanjay Shinde, a bitter rival of the Mohite-Patils.

Pune will see state minister Girish Bapat contesting as a BJP candidate after the party dropped its sitting MP Anil Shirole. He will be challenged by Congress state General Secretary Mohan Joshi.

Hathkanangale will see two-time SSS MP Raju Shetti take on the Shiv Sena`s Dhairyasheel Mane, son of former NCP MP Nivedita Mane.

Western Maharashtra has several major sugar mills, Pune is regarded as the state`s cultural capital and the `Oxford of the East`, Solapur is famed for its textiles industries while Sangli is India`s turmeric capital.

Satara and Kolhapur are home to two of the biggest royal families in western India who are direct descendents of the Chhatrapatis.

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Agencies
July 1,2020

Sopore, Jammu And Kashmir: A three-year-old boy survived as his grandfather was killed in a terror attack on the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Jammu and Kashmir's Sopore town this morning. A CRPF jawan was also killed in the line of duty as terrorists opened fire on a patrol team.

In heart-wrenching images, the child is seen sitting on the blood-splattered body of his grandfather, a civilian caught in the crossfire. The boy was numb with fear when he was picked up by policemen, according to the police.

The Kashmir police also tweeted a photo of the child being carried to safety by a policeman.

"Jammu and Kashmir police rescued a three-year-old boy from getting hit by bullets during the terrorist attack in Sopore," said the tweet by the Kashmir Zone Police.

The child was travelling in a Maruti car with his grandfather from Srinagar to Handwara when it was hit by a spray of bullets in Sopore town, which is in Baramulla district about 50 km from Srinagar.

The police said terrorists hiding in a mosque fired indiscriminately at the patrol team as it was getting off a bus. The CRPF troops retaliated but the terrorists managed to escape.

According to the CRPF, the grandfather stopped the car and got out to run to a safe spot but was shot dead in the firing by terrorists. The boy was later rescued by a policeman standing nearby.

Last week, a six-year-old boy was killed during a terror attack on the CRPF in Anantnag.

Little Nihaan Bhat was sleeping in a parked car when he was hit by a bullet. Police say the terrorist was on a bike and opened fire from a pistol on a CRPF patrol. One jawan was killed. The child's killing drew widespread anger and condemnation.

The terrorist believed to be involved in the Anantnag attack escaped yesterday after an encounter with security forces. Police said two other terrorists who were hiding with him at a village were killed.

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News Network
May 15,2020

Vishakhapatnam, May 15: LG Chem on Thursday said following the gas leak at its Visakhapatnam polymers plant, the company has started support measures and has begun the transportation of the Styrene Monomer inventory to South Korea to eliminate all risks factors.

The company would continue to work with government agencies to ensure all possible support for bereaved families and victims, LG Polymers, a step-down firm of LG Chem, said in a statement.

"We confirm the status-quo of the plant remains completely controlled by all measures. We have begun the transportation of the Styrene Monomer (SM) inventory within the plant as well as in the styrene tanks at the port by vessels to South Korea to prevent and eliminate all risks factors," the statement said.

The South Korean chemicals giant has sent an eight-member team from Seoul to investigate the Visakhapatnam gas leak incident and rehabilitate the victims of the tragedy that killed at least 11 people and forced the evacuation of thousands.

"The team of production, environment, and safety experts are currently investigating the cause of the incident and already supporting responsible rehabilitation which is their main objective," the statement said.

Furthermore, the team is working closely with related authorities to analyze the cause of the incident, prevent a recurrence, and support damage recovery in a prompt and expedient manner, it added.

On the support measures, the company said a special task force is currently supporting the bereaved victims and families and visiting them at the hospitals and their homes.

Besides, food and medical services have been organized for the returning residents. Various support activities such as supplying medical and household goods and sanitation of homes will be continued, it said.

"We assure everyone we will do our best to resolve the situation and prevent any incident in the future," the company said.

The company further said that "our teams will carry out mid-to-long-term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects that can contribute to the local community based on suggestions of the residents.

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News Network
June 30,2020

New Delhi, Jun 30: Amid calls for boycotting Chinese products after India-China face-off in eastern Ladakh, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government claiming that imports from China have increased under the NDA regime.

"Facts don't lie. BJP says: Make in India. BJP does: Buy from China," Gandhi tweeted along with a graphic of the percentage of imports from China during the UPA rule and the NDA government.

The graphic claims that imports from China were at 12-13 per cent when the Congress-led UPA government vacated office in 2014 but now stood at 17-18 per cent in 2020.

The Congress leader has been vehemently targeting the Centre on the India-China border situation after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in violent face-off with Chinese troops in Ladakh's Galwan valley earlier this month.

Indian intercepts have revealed that the Chinese side suffered 43 casualties, including dead and seriously injured, in the face-off.

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