CMYK Rs. 3 KOLKATA MONDAY, 4 JULY, 2022 PG-12, YEAR—8, ISSUE—400 (RNI NO.: WBENG / 2014 / 56803) Morning India Rahul Narwekar is BJP’s pick as ‘Speaker’ in Maharashtra Assembly MI News Service, Mumbai: As anticipated, the new ruling alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party's MLA, Advocate Rahul Narwekar was elected the new Speaker of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, here on Sunday. Narwekar secured 164 votes and defeated his sole rival -- the Maha Vikas Aghadibacked Shiv Sena candidate Rajan Salvi -- who secured 107 votes, in the 288-member House. Shortly after the votecount, Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal announced Narwekar as the new Speaker amid cheers from the treasury benches. Thereafter, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, Con- gress President Nana Patole, Nationalist Congress Party's Ajit Pawar and other senior leaders of various political parties, escorted Narwekar to the prestigious Speaker's chair. Later, in their speeches, Shinde, Fadnavis, Pawar congratulated and welcomed the new Speaker, and expressed hope that he would continue to take forward the glorious legislative traditions and ensure smooth functioning of the House. The elections were held by a division of votes on the first of the two-day Special Assembly Session ordered by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, last weekend. On Monday, Chief Minister Eknath S. Shinde, supported by the BJP, will seek a 'vote of confidence' in the new government sworn-in on June 30 after the collapse of the MVA government. UP: Akhilesh dissolves all SP organizational units MI News Service, Lucknow: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, on Sunday, dissolved all units of the party with the exception of the state president. The state and national party organisations have been dissolved. All frontal organisations, women's wing and cells also stand dissolved. Akhilesh announced his decision on Twitter. The step has been Social activists took part in a protest rally in solidarity with Teesta Setalvad and other Human rights activists in Kolkata, on Sunday. J&K: Rs 5 Lakhs bounty for villagers who caught most wanted terrorists MI News Service, Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha on Sunday announced a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh to the brave villagers of Reasi district for apprehending two most wanted terrorists. An official statement said, "Lt Governor, Manoj Sinha today announced Rs 5 lakh cash reward to villagers of Tukson Dhok, Reasi for displaying great courage and bravery in apprehending two most wanted terrorists. "I salute the bravery of villagers of Tukson Dhok, Reasi, who apprehended two most wanted terrorists. Such determination by common man shows end of terrorism is not far away. UT Government to extend Rs 5 lakh cash reward to villagers for gallant act against terrorists and terrorism," said the Lt Governor. The statement added that the villagers of Tukson Dhok showed extreme courage in apprehending two most wanted terrorists of Lashkar-e-Taiba. The terrorists had reached the area to take shelter after continued counterterror operation by the police and Army. Trespasser hid in Bengal CM's residence nabbed MI News Service, Kolkata: A trespasser, who reportedly entered the residence of West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee in South Kolkata after climbing up the boundary walls on late Saturday and was hiding inside the house for the whole night. He was nabbed by the security personnel on Sunday morning. He was handed over to the local Kalighat Police Station. The police are interrogating him to know with what intention he dared to enter that high-security zone and that too after climbing up the walls. Facing interrogation, he confessed that he climbed up the boundary wall and entered the Chief Minister's residence at around 1 a.m. and was hiding there for the whole night. Now the questions are being raised on how the person could climb up the wall and enter the chief minister's residence, hoodwinking the security personnel present there and also avoiding the CCTV cameras installed there. Recently, an aged couple was murdered in the same locality, which raised questions about the security arrangements there. Then it was learnt that a number of CCTV cameras installed there were non-functional. A senior official of the city police said that the questions of negligence of the police personnel posted there cannot be ruled out. It is learnt that all officers and personnel in charge of the security arrangements at the chief minister's residence will be questioned and the negligence part will also be probed. PM Modi calls Hyderabad 'Bhagyanagar' amid name change buzz MI News Service, Hyderabad: Giving out a major political signal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday termed Hyderabad as 'Bhagyanagar' in his address to the BJP members during the party's national executive meeting in the city. Renaming of the Telangana capital as Bhagyanagar Indigo’s domestic flights delayed as most of the crew members on leave has for long been a demand of the BJP which is making all-out efforts to make inroads in the state. "PM Modi said that Hyderabad is Bhagyanagar which is a significance for all of us. Sardar Patel kept the foundation of a unified India and now it's BJP's responsibility to carry MI News Service, New Delhi: fifty-five per cent of IndiGo’s domestic flights were delayed on Saturday as a significant number of cabin crew members took sick leave, with sources in the industry saying they ostensibly went for an Air India recruitment drive. When asked about this matter, DGCA chief Arun Kumar told PTI on Sunday, “We are looking into this.” The it further," Modi was quoted as saying by BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad. According to Prasad, Modi in his address to the BJP members noted the rapid expansion of the party in the country over the years. “He (Modi) very proudly conveyed ❑ Continue PG 3 phase-2 of Air India’s recruitment drive was conducted on Saturday and majority of IndiGo’s cabin crew members who took sick leave went for it, the sources in the industry added. IndiGo, India’s largest airline, currently operates approximately 1,600 flights — domestic and international — daily. IndiGo did not respond to PTI’s request for a Continue PG 3 ❑ China contemplating a 'takeover' of the Moon, says NASA administrator MI News Service, Washington: China might be contemplating a "takeover" of the Moon as part of its military space program, NASA's administrator Bill Nelson has told newspaper Bild. In an interview, Nelson claimed that the United States is now involved in a new race to space, with China this time. He emphasized that in 2035; Beijing might finish construction of its own Moon station and start experiments a year later. CMYK Nelson claimed that we must be very concerned about China landing on the Moon and saying that it now belongs to the Peoples' Republic and everyone else should stay out, RT reported. Claiming that China's space program is a "military" space program, Nelson explained that the competition for the South Pole of the moon is especially intense: potential water deposits there could be used in the future for rocketfuel production. When asked by Bild what military purposes could China be pursuing in space, Nelson claimed that Chinese astronauts are busy learning how to destroy other countries' satellites. Despite Beijing's assurances that its ambitious space program has purely peaceful purposes, Nelson has long been a tough critic of China's policy in space, RT reported. In April, he accused Chinese officials of refusing to work with the US on its operations and of concealing important data. Earlier, however, he acknowledged that NASA abides by a 2011 law that prohibits the agency from engaging in direct collaboration with the Chinese government or any China-affiliated organizations without explicit approval from Congress and federal law enforcement authorities. Chinese officials have pointed to that ban, called the Wolf Amendment, as "unfortunate" and an impediment to direct cooperation with NASA. taken after the party's poor performance in Assembly elections and then the recent Lok Sabha by-elections where SP lost the two seats it held - Rampur and Azamgarh. State president Naresh Uttam, however, will continue in his post. Party sources said that Akhilesh will soon reconstitute the various party organisations and induct new blood.