1. Monsoon yet to Arrive, but Rains to Continue
Even as few days are still left for the monsoon to reach Ahmedabad, the city on Monday, 24 June, received heavy showers at around 1 am combined with lightning and high-velocity winds that brought the soaring maximum temperature down by over 5 degrees Celsius.
While the heavy showers provided the much-required relief, the Met office has clarified that the rainfall was not due to monsoon, but due to a trough at mean sea level persisting from west Rajasthan to east central Bay of Bengal that resulted in rainfall at several places across north Gujarat.
Meteorologist Manorama Mohanty told DNA that conditions are favourable for the onset of monsoon in south Gujarat, but the onset of monsoon will take another 24-48 hours. She clarified that north Gujarat received rainfall at several places due to the trough, but there is no major rainfall in south Gujarat.
(Source: DNA)
2. In Reply to SC, EC Reiterates Stand on RS Seats: Separate Polls in Gujarat
The Election Commission (EC) on Monday, 24 June, reiterated that the two Rajya Sabha seats, which fell vacant in Gujarat following the election of BJP leaders Amit Shah and Smriti Irani to the Lok Sabha, were casual vacancies, and there was nothing in the law which said separate elections should not be held for them.
In its affidavit in reply to a petition filed by the Gujarat Congress seeking simultaneous elections to the two seats, the EC told the Supreme Court that “the (Representation of the People) Act clearly includes every vacancy arising prior to the expiration of the term of a member of the Council of States within the ambit of casual vacancy… There is no provision in law that requires that if there are multiple casual vacancies, they must be filled up by a single bye-election”.
(Source: Indian Express)
3. PM Modi Facilitated the ‘Kesari’ School of Thought: Vijay Rupani
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has credited Prime Minister Modi for bringing in a majority of members in the lower house of the Parliament, who associate themselves with the ‘kesari’ (saffron) school of thought.
Addressing party workers in Vadodara at an event on the 1975 emergency, the CM said, “In 1977, BJP workers from Gujarat had gone to Delhi for the first time to see the Parliament. I had a feeling that even if the Janta party government was formed, a lot of the elected members were formerly associated with the Congress, and the weight, somehow, was still with them.”
4. Tortured for Male Child, Woman Kills Herself, Say Police
A 23-year-old woman allegedly killed herself here early on Monday, 24 June, over alleged harassment by her in-laws and husband for a male child. Naginaben Rathwa had got married to Nilesh Rathwa in Chhota Udepur four years ago and they have a two-year-old daughter, police said.
On Monday, she allegedly consumed poison at their house, following which she was taken to a hospital, where she was declared dead. Initially the police registered a case of accidental death as no suicide note was recovered from the spot.
But, later her parents alleged that she was being harassed by her husband and in-laws everyday primarily for not bearing a male child. The woman had informed her parents about the alleged harassment over phone, the police said.
(Source: Indian Express)
5. Congress Challenges Speaker's Delay on Alpesh Thakor's Disqualification in Gujarat High Court
The Gujarat High Court on Monday, 24 June, sought a reply from assembly speaker Rajendra Trivedi and MLA Alpesh Thakor by 27 June after a petition questioning the delay by Trivedi in expelling Thakor as a member of the legislative assembly came up for hearing.
The division bench of Justice SR Brahmbhatt and Justice AP Thaker issued notice to the duo during the hearing of the petition filed by Congress chief whip in the state assembly Ashwin Kotwal.
Notably, the Congress has requested the court to direct the speaker to decide the application filed by it on 25 April for Thakor's disqualification at the earliest. It has also requested the court to restrain Thakor from acting as an MLA of Radhanpur constituency till the matter is pending before the court.
The Congress has contended before the court that Thakor ought to have been disqualified by the speaker, especially after the party moved an application under Schedule X of the Constitution.
(Source: DNA)
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