Jaipur, July 5 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday appointed Satish Poonia, Rajasthan BJP’s ex-president as Haryana state in charge.

Poonia has been amongst BJP in-charge and co-in-charge appointed for 24 states by BJP President J.P. Nadda. He has also served as the Deputy Leader of Opposition in the last assembly.

Along with Poonia, UP Rajya Sabha MP Surendra Singh Nagar has been appointed as co-in-charge.

In the Lok Sabha elections too, the party had appointed Satish Poonia as the state election in-charge in Haryana.

Meanwhile, the BJP has not yet decided who will be the party’s Rajasthan chief as the name of the desert state did not appear in this list of 24 states, which was released on Friday.

Arun Singh served as the last state in-charge in Rajasthan and ever since his shifting to Andhra Pradesh, the position remained vacant.

–IANS

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Amaravati, July 5 (IANS) The government of Andhra Pradesh will soon announce a new investor-friendly Information Technology policy to attract investment to the state, minister for Information Technology, Electronics and Education, Nara Lokesh said on Friday.

He conducted a review meeting with the senior officials on the prevailing situation of the IT and electronics industry in the state and the opportunities for setting up new units.

The minister directed the officials to initiate measures to create confidence among those who are interested in setting up their IT and electronics units in the state.

Lokesh told the officials that the state government is very keen on investor-friendly IT policy and asked them to formulate the necessary guidelines for this. He said better facilities will be provided to the entire IT and electronics industry.

The minister wanted the existing portal for supervising the investments in the IT and electronics industry to be upgraded and also directed the officials to submit a report on the available plug-and-play infrastructure in the port city of Visakhapatnam.

Lokesh sought a detailed report on the availability of land in and around Visakhapatnam which is suitable for establishing new industries.

The officials should conduct periodical meetings with those who are interested in investing in the IT and electronics industry in the state and provide them necessary information besides resolving the issues that they are facing, Lokesh said. He asked officials to act in a very friendly manner with the industrialists.

The Secretary of IT and Electronics, Kona Sasidhar, the Joint Director (Promotions), Surjit Singh, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AP Innovations Society, Anil Kumar and others attended the meeting.

–IANS

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Bhopal, July 5 (IANS) The working committee of the Madhya Pradesh unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will meet at the state’s party headquarters on July 7, party’s General Secretary (Organisation) and MLA Bhagwandas Sabnani said on Friday.

Along with the working committee members, all six Union Ministers from the state and the Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav, who was the in-charge for Madhya Pradesh for the assembly elections held in November last year, will also be present.

“A detailed analysis report will be presented, which will highlight how the BJP’s entire organisation unitedly won the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the past six months. Future plan will also be decided during the meeting,” Sabnani said.

He further informed that 1099 mandal adhyaksh from across Madhya Pradesh will also be present in the meeting.

“It would be the first time when Mandal Adhyaksh will be present in the working committee meeting. All MLAs and Rajya Sabha MPs will also be in the meeting,” Sabnani added.

–IANS

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Shimla, July 5 (IANS) State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) in Himachal Pradesh and Bal Raksha Bharat (BRB) on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding to enhance disaster management strategies for the safety, protection and well-being of children during disasters and emergencies.

The partnership represents a significant step toward ensuring that children are safeguarded and supported during disasters and emergencies.

By combining the expertise and resources of SDMA and Bal Raksha Bharat, the pact promises a resilient and child-centric disaster management framework in the state.

Through this pact, both parties would aim to chalk out strategies to mainstreaming volunteer cadres, thus developing mechanisms to integrate Anganwadi workers, teachers, and ASHA workers into a volunteer-based cadre to ensure “zero-day Loss” and “zero death” for children during disasters and emergencies.

The hills of Himachal Pradesh, especially in Chamba, Kinnaur, Kullu, Mandi, Shimla, Sirmaur and Una districts, are prone to natural disasters like flash floods, cloudbursts and landslides.

–IANS

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Mumbai, July 5 (IANS) With none of the candidates taking back their candidature on the last day for withdrawing nominations on Friday, 12 candidates are in the fray for the biennial elections to 11 seats in the Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) scheduled on July 12.

The ruling MahaYuti has fielded nine candidates, including five from the BJP, and two each from the Shiv Sena and NCP, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi has fielded three nominees, one each from the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and the Peasants and Workers Party.

Based on the present strength of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly of 274 seats, the quota is 23 votes. Both the MahaYuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi are striving to avoid cross-voting.

The BJP has nominated former ministers Pankaja Munde and Parinay Phuke, along with Amit Gorkhe, Sadabhau Khot, and Yogesh Tilekar.

The Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has fielded former MPs Krupal Tumane and Bhawana Gawli, while the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar has nominated Rajesh Vitekar and Shivajirao Garje.

The Congress has renominated Pradyna Satav, while the NCP (SP) is supporting sitting MLC and PWP legislator Jayant Patil. The Shiv Sena (UBT) has fielded party chief Uddhav Thackeray’s close confidant Rahul Narvekar.

With 103 legislators, the BJP is confident about the victory of its five nominees, while the Shiv Sena with 37 legislators and support from 10 Independents is also sure of its two candidates winning the polls.

The NCP with 39 legislators also sees no problem for its two nominees, while the Congress is confident of the victory of its lone nominee with its strength of 37 legislators.

However, PWP’s Jayant Patil, and Shiv Sena (UBT) nominee Milind Narvekar are banking on excess votes from Congress and also from the support from 16 legislators of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and 13 MLAs of the NCP (SP). They are also expecting support from a few Independent legislators.

The biennial elections were necessitated because 11 MLCs are retiring.

They are: Manisha Kayande (Shiv Sena), Anil Parab (Shiv Sena-UBT), Vijay Girkar, Nilay Naik, Ramesh Patil, and Ramrao Patil (BJP), Abdullah Durrani (NCP), Wajahat Mirza and Pragya Satav (Congress), Mahadev Jankar (RSP), and Jayant Patil (PWP).

–IANS

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