Jaipur, July 31(IANS) Rajasthan-designate Governor Haribhau Kisanrao Bagde will take oath on Wednesday at 4 pm in a ceremony which will be organised at Raj Bhavan.

Rajasthan Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Srivastava will administer the oath to the designated Governor.

Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani, members of the Council of Ministers and MLAs will be present at the oath ceremony.

Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Tika Ram Jully and other special guests will also attend the ceremony.

Following the oath-taking ceremony, the Chief Minister will organise a dinner for the incumbent and former Governors.

Bagde reached Jaipur on Tuesday and was received by Chief Minister and Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani.

He was also given a guard of honour at the airport and Raj Bhavan.

Deputy Chief Minister, Chief Secretary, Director General of Police UR Sahu and other administrative officials also welcomed the Governor.

The Governor-designate worshipped Lord Shiva at the Raj Bhavan and offered water and Prasad and Bilwa leaves at the Raj Rajeshwar temple in the Raj Bhavan.

He also met Governor Kalraj Mishra at the Raj Bhavan.

–IANS

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Bengaluru, July 31 (IANS) On Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s instructions, Minister for Labour Santosh Lad has departed for the flood-affected Wayanad region in Kerala to oversee the ongoing relief work.

The Chief Minister has instructed him to coordinate with the Kerala government to provide all necessary aid in the flood-affected areas, including relief operations and the protection of victims, ensuring the safety and health of the people.

Minister Santosh Lad, who departed for Wayanad upon receiving the phone call, is currently in constant contact with the Kerala Chief Minister’s office.

The Chief Minister has directed Minister Lad to take urgent and swift measures for the protection of Kannadigas stranded in the disaster.

Minister Lad has assured that all necessary steps are being taken by the governments of both states.

Chamarajanagar Deputy Commissioner Shilpa Nag stated that she is in touch with Wayanad SP and DC and a helpline is opened for victims from Karnataka. Two rescue teams from the state have joined in the rescue mission in Wayanad, she stated.

Sources said that the bodies of four persons including a child have been recovered from the debris. The deceased have been identified as Leelavathy, her grandson Nihal, natives of Mandya district and Rajendra and Puttasidda Setty from Chamarajanagar district.

The movement of vehicles between Kerala and Karnataka is cut off temporarily in the backdrop of tragedy.

–IANS

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Bengaluru, July 31 (IANS) In a major development, Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot has received expert legal opinion regarding granting permission to investigate the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in connection with his alleged role in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) case, sources said.

On July 26, Abraham T.J. President of the Anti-Graft/Corruption and Environmental Forum, submitted a request to the Governor demanding sanction to investigate Siddaramaiah in connection with the MUDA land case.

Sources said that legal experts have given references to Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka where former Chief Ministers have been investigated.

Legal experts have also mentioned the verdict of retired Supreme Court Justice Santhosh Hegde as one of the cases.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has also begun consultations with legal experts and Supreme Court counsels about the potential next steps if the Governor grants permission for an investigation.

Siddaramaiah is also likely to convene a cabinet meeting on Thursday in Bengaluru to pass a resolution opposing the consent for an investigation if any decision is taken by the Governor.

A team of legal experts is also reviewing instances of the Governor’s interventions and relevant legal provisions to prepare for the possible situation.

The Governor’s office has received all related documents concerning the MUDA land scam. Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot has already sought an explanation from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

T.J. Abraham, who requested the consent, argued that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who also holds the Finance portfolio, should be investigated as the authorities and agencies under his purview are implicated in the case.

Abraham sought sanction to investigate Siddaramaiah under Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nayaya Sanhita, 2023, and Sections 17A and 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

During the tenure of B.S. Yediyurappa as the CM, prosecution consent was given by then Governor late Hansraj Bharadwaj in the de-notification case, following which an FIR was lodged and the senior BJP leader had to face trial and was jailed in 2011.

–IANS

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Bengaluru, July 31 (IANS) In a major twist, the Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy on Wednesday said that JD-S will not support the BJP’s week-long padayatra (foot march) against the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the Congress government.

“We will not extend the moral support as well. We do not support this march as JD-S was not consulted. Our core committee in Tuesday’s meeting have decided not to support the march,” Kumaraswamy told media persons.

He said that heavy rainfall has endangered hundreds of lives in Kerala and those who have left the state are facing difficulties to return.

He said that the BJP is making its own decisions regarding the march. “In view of the situation in Kerala, it is not appropriate to hold a march during this time. The feelings of the affected people are important and that is why we will not be participating in the march,” he said.

Kumaraswamy noted that this is a time when everyone should be involved in agricultural activities.

The development is a setback for the BJP which had announced a foot march agitation from August 3 to August 10.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 31 The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued notice on a plea alleging large-scale, excessive and indiscriminate concretisation of roadsides and constructions in parks in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad.

A bench headed by Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava sought the response of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Uttar Pradesh government, Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB), Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA), Ghaziabad Nagar Nigam, and others in the matter.

The plea filed by advocate Akash Vashishtha claimed that indiscriminate concretisation and paving become the biggest cause of water-logging, urban flooding, prevention of natural water recharge, heat multiplication, and loss of biodiversity in cities and towns.

It said that indiscriminate concretisation/pavements of roadsides and road berms and constructions inside parks is in gross contravention of various orders of the NGT, guidelines of the Union Ministry of Urban Development and also GO issued by the UP government.

The application filed before the green tribunal seeks directions for the whole of the country, in view of the massive concretisation, and the environmental hazards arising therefrom, being experienced in all cities and towns across all states and UTs.

Senior advocate Sanjay Upadhyay, representing the applicant, submitted before the NGT that the menace of concretisation and complete paving of soft open areas, roadsides, road berms and constructions inside parks has become a hazard for all cities and towns.

The matter will be heard next on October 21.

–IANS

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