1. In 50-Minute Meeting With Sonia Gandhi, Sharad Pawar Says Didn’t Discuss Maharashtra Govt Formation
After a meeting that lasted nearly 50 minutes with Congress president Sonia Gandhi at her 10, Janpath residence in New Delhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar Monday said his party will hold talks with their allies in Maharashtra on government formation.
Pawar told reporters that he had only briefed Gandhi about the political situation in Maharashtra and there was no discussion on government formation in the state. “There was no talk of government formation in our meeting. This meeting was all about discussing Congress and NCP and the situation in the state,” Pawar said.
“We will keep an eye on the situation in Maharashtra. Congress and NCP leaders will hold further talks on the future course of action,” he added.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. City Resident Seeks Ban on TikTok, Says Her Kids Are Addicted to App
Worried that her kids, aged 11, 10 and five, who are “addicted” to TikTok may try the stunts they watch on the app, a woman has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Bombay High Court seeking a ban on TikTok. The petition also stresses that the mobile application is “tarnishing the reputation of the country and maligning the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi”, as there is no mechanism to monitor the uploaded videos or take action against the Chinese company. The PIL may come up for hearing on Tuesday.
The petition, filed by Mumbai resident Heena Darvesh through advocate Ali Kaashif Khan Deshmukh, states the Chinese company which owns the app has a hidden agenda to destroy India and the integrity of its people. Citing two instances reported in the city in July, it states the video-sharing app is allegedly causing hatred, imbalance and enmity towards religious groups, and also affects the diversity of the country. The plea has also sought direction to the government to provide records of deaths owing to accidents induced by the app.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. PMC Bank Fraud: RBI, ED, EOW Meet to Speed up Auctioning of HDIL’s Assets
In a high-level meeting on Monday, the governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Mumbai police commissioner, chiefs of Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the economic offences wing (EOW) discussed auctioning of Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited’s (HDIL) attached assets in the Punjab Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank case.
RBI governor Shaktikant Das, police commissioner Sanjay Barve, ED director Sanjay Mishra, joint commissioner (EOW) Rajvardhan Sinha, ED’s joint director Satyabrata Kumar, deputy commissioner of police (special task force) Shrikant Paropkari and RBI administrator of PMC Bank, JS Bhoria attended the meeting at RBI’s headquarters in the city.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. College yet to Comply With Labour Court Order to Pay Gratuity to Former Employee
Three months after a labour court ordered a private unaided engineering college to pay gratuity to a former employee, the college is yet to comply with the order. Shailesh Nangaonkar, who previously worked with Terna Engineering College, Nerul, had lodged a case with the labour court after being denied gratuity despite 10 years of service. Nangaonkar worked as an assistant professor in the college from 2004 to 2014.
Quoting Section 8 of the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, Nangaonkar had filed a case seeking payment of his gratuity. After the court ruled in Nangaonkar’s favour, the college filed an appeal. The appeal was dismissed. Following this, the college also filed a writ petition in the high court, which was also dismissed. The college, which has paid Rs 1.65 lakh, has been ordered to pay the rest of the money along with 10 percent simple interest from the date of resignation.
(Source: The Indian Express)
5. 14 Malls Asked to Open up Parking Lots for Motorists
Motorists may soon be able to park their vehicles at 14 malls, which will open up their parking lots for private vehicles at subsidised rates. These parking lots will likely be open for private parking during daytime on weekdays and at night every day.
The decision to approach the malls was taken on Saturday during a meeting of the Mumbai Parking Authority (MPA), whose mandate is to decongest the city’s streets.
Opening malls for private parking is one of the measures to create a city parking pool, sources said. According to data provided by Regional Transport Offices, there are at least 24 lakh two-wheelers and 12 lakh four-wheelers registered in the city. Based on this data, there is a need to create parking space for at least three lakh vehicles.
(Source: The Indian Express)
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