MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: Their day started with breakfast at Prime Minister’s residence and ended among a sea of fans who brought the ‘Maximum City’ to a standstill as India’s T20 World Cup-winning cricketers beat the exhaustion of a 16-hour flight to enjoy a euphoric homecoming that resembled a giant street party.
Rohit Sharma and his men landed in the national capital on Thursday morning, expectedly weary as they were returning home five days after winning the trophy, thanks to a category 4 hurricane in Barbados.
But as they made their way out of the Indira Gandhi International Stadium in amid a steady monsoon drizzle, hundreds of fans were their to lift their spirits, chanting their names and waving the tri-colour.
Keir Starmer, the Labour Party leader on track to be the UK’s new prime minister, on Friday thanked voters and said the people of the country are “ready for change” and to “end the politics of performance”.
Starmer, 61, in his victory speech after winning from Holborn and St Pancras, said whether people voted for him or not, “I’ll serve every person in this constituency.”
According to the exit poll, which is often quite close to the final tally, Labour could win as many as 410 seats, comfortably crossing the half way 326 mark and notching up a 170-seat majority with the incumbent Tories led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak down to just 131 seats. pti
ALIGARH (UP): Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday met here the family members of those who lost their lives in the stampede in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras, according to Congress leaders.
Gandhi left from Delhi on Friday early morning by road for Hathras and was accompanied by state Congress chief Ajay Rai, state Congress in-charge Avinash Pande, party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate and other office bearers.
The senior Congress leader landed in Pilakhna village in Aligarh around 7.15 am after he left by road from Delhi. Later, Gandhi is scheduled to meet families of the stampede victims in Hathras’s Vibhav Nagar area.
A Delhi court on Monday sent three people arrested in a case related to alleged irregularities in the Delhi Waqf Board recruitment, also involving AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan, to the ED custody till Nov 16.
Special Judge Arvind Kumar sent the accused persons — Zeeshan Haider, Daud Nasir and Jawed Immam Siddiqui — to the custody of the Enforcement Directorate on an application moved by the central probe agency.
The application was opposed by Advocate Nitesh Rana, appearing for the accused, who claimed that their arrest was illegal. PTI.
Coordinated efforts are being made to evacuate the stranded workers at the earliest from the Silkyara tunnel collapse site in Uttarakhand, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways said on Monday.
At least 40 workers got trapped after a portion of the tunnel under construction between Silkyara and Dandalgaon on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri national highway collapsed in the early hours of Sunday.
As part of the Chardham Mahamarg Pariyojana, the road transport and highway ministry has taken up the construction of 4.531-kilometre two lane bi-directional tunnel at Silkyara to join Gangotri and Yamunotri axis under the Radi pass in Uttarakhand and sanctioned for TPC (total project cost) of Rs 1,383 crore on March 9, 2018 for implementation by its company National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL).
This weekend on the 20th of August 2022, we celebrated over a massive panel discussion followed by an eco fashion show case by Enrobe, along with fine wines by our celebration partner PYNA, followed by healthy bites by our hospitality partner Gobble Gobble mumbai and gifting partner’s Love Project, Jean Claude Biguine and Hyba jewels
Audi Talks is a platform to take inspiration from Indian’s super Achievers and how their journey has been through the difficult times of the pandemic and the transformation of the digital world, hosted by Elsie Gabriel founder of Young environmentalists programme trust and Tanya Satish CEO of Creed Entertainment
Our panel discussion topic: Future is an Attitude
Our Panelist comprised of :
- Aarti Vijay Gupta – celebrity Fashion designer
- Vikram Bawa – Celebrity Photographer
- Rutika Malaviya – Brand Licensor
- Chinu Kwatra – Actor / Hotelier
- Archana Sharma – Philanthropist
- Juggy Sandhu – Celebrity singer/ Performer
- Harsh Mac – Founder of Gobble Gobble mumbai
- Varsha – Founder of Enrobe
- Jamshed Mistry – Entertainment lawyer
- Komal Kiran
Ms Beautiful Earth and Grooming coach
Thank you note and about our sponsors:
Associations and partners for this event
- Creed Entertainment
- Jean Claude Biguine
- Hyba
- Love project
- Gobble Gobble
- Enrobe
Our Sustainable fashion show by Enrobe
Celebration partner PYNA WINES & EXPERIENCE
Special thanks to Audi and the latest launch of the A8 L
State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is preparing for a record third interim chairman as no full-time head of India’s most profitable company has yet been selected in 17 months since the post fell vacant, sources said.
ONGC is without a regular chairman and managing director since April 2021. Subhash Kumar, the senior-most director on the company board and the director for finance, was named officiating head after Shashi Shanker superannuated on March 31, 2021. And when Kumar retired on December 31, 2021, Alka Mittal, Director for Human Resources, was given an additional charge.
Mittal will superannuate at month-end and unless she is given an extension, the next senior-most director, Rajesh Kumar Srivastava, Director (Exploration), is likely to be named as interim head, two officials with knowledge of the matter said.
The third interim chairman – a record for ONGC – is being talked about as the government is yet to even identify a full-time head.
A search-cum-selection committee, which was in February this year tasked to identify suitable candidates, began work only this month after terms of reference were finalised.
The panel has shortlisted nine candidates on the basis of higher eligibility age limit proposed by the oil ministry, which brought most existing directors – who otherwise were ineligible to even apply, in the zone of consideration, they said.
The shortlisted include Mittal and Srivastava as well as three other directors on the ONGC board – Om Prakash Singh, Director (Technology & Field Services); Pankar Kumar, Director (Offshore) and Anurag Sharma, Director (Onshore).
The other shortlisted candidates are outside of ONGC and include heads of oil marketing companies, the officials said.
The panel will interview the candidates and send recommendations to the oil ministry, which will forward it to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by the Prime Minister for final vetting and approval.
The committee shortlisted candidates on the basis of the oil ministry’s revised eligibility criteria that raised the eligibility age.
The ministry proposed that any candidate to be eligible for consideration should not be more than 60 years of age on the date of occurrence of vacancy, according to the ministry’s office memorandum sent to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on June 17.
The vacancy arose on March 31, 2021.
Prior to this change, the minimum age prescribed for being eligible for the top job is 45 years. Besides, internal candidates needed to have two years of residual service as on the date of vacancy and three years for external candidates.
What the ministry proposed was that any eligible candidate who is not more than 60 years of age at the time of occurrence of vacancy which was April 1, 2021, should be considered eligible. This essentially meant that the current acting chairman, Alka Mittal, who otherwise would retire in August-end and was ineligible, would come under the zone of consideration.
Also, Srivastava, who retires on December 31, and Sharma, who superannuates on February 28 next year, have become eligible.
Previously, only Pankaj Kumar and Om Prakash Singh were eligible.
The ministry also proposed appointment for a period of three years from the date of joining instead of the present five-year term, according to the letter.
The selection will be done through a three-member search-cum-selection committee headed by PESB chairman and composed of oil secretary and former Indian Oil chairman B Ashok (outside expert).
The panel was formed on February 4, 2022 but the terms of reference are being framed recently.
Most board-level appointments at public sector companies are done on the basis of recommendations of the Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB) but the government headhunter in June last year did not find anyone suitable among nine candidates, including two serving IAS officers, to head ONGC.
“Keeping in view the strategic importance and vision for the company and its future, the board did not recommend any candidate and decided to constitute a search committee,” the ministry letter said referring to PESB’s interviews on June 5, 2021.
The panel was constituted after eight months of that recommendation on February 4. The ACC approved “consideration of central government officers, including those of the armed forces of the Union and the all India services for the post on immediate absorption basis.”
“Energy security is critical for the nation. ONGC plays a pivotal role in exploration as India’s National Oil Company (NOC). Its activities need to be scaled significantly and rapidly. As an NOC, it is necessary to have a specially designed ‘sui generis’ job description for ONGC in order to attract the best talent available,” the ministry note had said.
As per the practice, PESB recommends a name for a board-level position at least three months prior to arising of the vacancy. However, in the case of ONGC, PESB advertised and interviewed candidates after the retirement of Shashi Shanker on March 31, 2021.
The committee route for appointment of PSU board members has very sparingly been used in the past. In 2016, current NTPC chairman Gurdeep Singh was appointed through the route. Last appointment using the route was that of Sanjeev Kumar as the chairman of Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL).
PESB on June 5, 2021, interviewed nine out of the 10 candidates who had applied for the post of chairman and managing director of ONGC. Those interviewed included senior bureaucrats Avinash Joshi and Niraj Verma.
This was the second time in one-and-a-half decades that a suitable candidate was not found among those who had applied.
In August 2006, PESB chose R S Sharma to head the company but the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in February 2007 vetoed his appointment as it wanted the selection process to be widened by inviting candidates from the private sector.
In June 2007, PESB again selected Sharma and his candidature was this time endorsed by the ACC.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought responses from the Centre and the Election Commission on a PIL seeking voting rights for non-resident Indians (NRIs) in polls here.
A bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices J K Maheshwari and Hima Kohli took note of the PIL filed by the Kerala Pravasi Association that the NRIs be given the voting rights.
The top court issued notices and ordered the tagging of the PIL with pending ones on the issue.PTI
Switch Mobility, the electric vehicle division of Hinduja group’s flagship Ashok Leyland, unveiled the country’s first electric double-decker air-conditioned bus here on Thursday.
These buses will replace the existing double-decker fleet of the BEST (Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport) undertaking.
As of now, Switch is operating its twin-floor electric AC buses in the United Kingdom.
Switch India has already secured an order of 200 electric double-decker buses in Mumbai and is looking at a dominant space in the electric double-decker segment, across key regions in the country, the company said.
“We already have an order for 200 electric double-decker AC buses in Mumbai. We will deliver 50 of these buses this financial year. Many more cities are discussing with us for these buses,” Mahesh Babu, CEO Switch Mobility India and COO at Switch Mobility Ltd told PTI.
Babu said amid discussions with multiple players, “we are expecting to deliver some 150-250 buses next year.”
In April this year, Switch Mobility announced an investment of 300-million pounds to develop a range of electric buses and light commercial vehicles in India and the UK.
“Ashok Leyland was a pioneer among Indian manufacturers when it first launched the double-decker in 1967 in Mumbai and Switch is carrying forward that legacy.
“With our strong expertise in double-deckers, both in India and UK and with over 100 Switch electric double deckers in service on UK roads, we reinforce our commitment to create this form factor (design) for India and the globe,” said Dheeraj Hinduja Chairman – Switch Mobility.
The electric double-decker AC bus EiV22 is powered by a 231 kWh capacity battery pack with dual gun charging system, which allows the bus to have a range up to 250 kms for intra-city transport, according to the company.
“The Switch EiV 22 is designed and developed to meet Indian conditions. Mumbai and double-deckers are synonymous with public transport, and we are certain that EiV 22 will transform the public transport space in terms of sustainability and footprint,” said Babu.
Bollywood actor Suraj Pancholi used to subject actress Jiah Khan, who allegedly committed suicide here in 2013, to physical and verbal abuse, her mother told a special court here on Wednesday.
Pancholi, who was in a relationship with the 25-year-old actress, has been booked for abetment of suicide in the case probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He is currently out on bail.
On Wednesday, Jiah Khan’s mother Rabia Khan began recording her testimony in the case before special judge A S Sayyad.
Rabia Khan told the court about the actress’s entry into Bollywood, her career progression and relationship with Pancholi.
Pancholi had approached Jiah Khan through a social media site and insisted on meeting her, she said.
Jiah Khan was initially apprehensive and reluctant , but the duo met for the first time in September 2012, Rabia Khan said.
At that time she sent some pictures .to me it looked like they clicked and had mutual interest However, in September she (Jiah Khan) told me they were just friends, she said.
Rabia Khan said her daughter’s daily routine was “taken over” by Pancholi and by October 2012, the duo had started living at each other’s house.
During her visit to their London home in November that year, the actress looked very happy, she said.
Rabia Khan said Jiah Khan then returned to Mumbai for professional work and was supposed to come back to celebrate Christmas, but did not turn up.
On December 24, 2012, Rabia Khan said she received a message from Pancholi, saying he got angry with Jiah Khan after a fight with a friend and that she (the actress) should forgive him and give another chance.
“At that time, I discovered that the duo had a violent fight,” she said.
Rabia Khan said Jiah Khan decided to give him a second chance and the duo went to Goa.
However, in one of her phone calls Jiah Khan complained about being at a very strange place and not wanting to stay there, she said.
In Goa, he used to put her down in front of other friends and flirt with other women in her presence, Rabia Khan said, citing her conversations with her daughter.
Rabia Khan said Jiah Khan suddenly turned up in London on February 14, 2013, and looked sad.
According to Rabia Khan, Jiah Khan told her that Pancholi abused her verbally and physically, and also called her by “dirty names”.
Jiah Khan’s mother’s testimony will continue on Thursday.
The actress, best known for her performance in Hindi film ‘Nishabd’ starring Amitabh Bachchan, was found hanging at her residence in Mumbai on June 3, 2013, by her mother.
Pancholi, the son of Bollywood couple Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab, is currently out on bail in the case.
The CBI had alleged that a three-page note seized by the Mumbai Police, which first probed the case, on June 10, 2013, was written by Jiah Khan and it narrated her ordeal.
The note narrated Jiah Khan’s “intimate relationship, physical abuse and mental and physical torture” allegedly at the hands of Pancholi which led her to commit suicide, the central agency had said.PTI.
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