A day after the Union ministry of environment and forest suspended the environmental clearances for all the 93 mining leases in Goa, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has said that he will appeal to prime minister to "set things right" in the green ministry headed by Jayanti Natarajan.
Counting for assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur was held on Thursday. Here's how the big names fared.
'If you weed out corruption, you will bring glory to Goa.'
The intrinsic inclusivity of Goa is the key to its great attraction, observes Rahul Singh.
"By next week, the government will work out the exact arrangement through which the work burden on Parrikar could be reduced," he said.
He also said that although India got independence much before Goa became free, people of the country could not enjoy at that time as they felt uneasy thinking that one part was the country was still under foreign rule.
When the country has been at war, the Opposition has buried its differences with the government, points out Aditi Phadnis.
Tejpal, former Tehelka editor-in-chief, was accused of sexually assaulting the colleague inside the elevator of a luxury hotel in Goa in 2013.
The opposition party had earlier written to Sinha, staking claim to form the government on Friday and then again on Sunday.
Whether AAP bounces back or fades into political oblivion will depend on its strategy in the coming months.
Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat on Thursday said that the officials from state mines and geology department protecting illegal mines, will be dealt with stern punishment.
The Bharat Mata controversy in Kerala shows how political and symbolic fights between the state and the Centre have taken attention away from education, throwing the state's oldest university into confusion and disorder, observes Shyam G Menon.
The Indian government has defended the use of Amritsar as a deportation hub for US flights carrying Indian deportees, despite objections from Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. Government sources said Punjab has the highest number of deportees among Indian states, with 126 out of 333 people deported since February 5. The sources added that 23 flights carrying Indian deportees have arrived in the country since May 2020, all landing in Amritsar. The move has sparked controversy, with opposition parties protesting the treatment meted out to the deportees and demanding that the Indian government take up the issue with the US. Mann has accused the Centre of trying to defame Punjab and said a holy city like Amritsar should not be made a "deport centre".
Against the backdrop of allegations pertaining to illegal mining, Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi. Though the Kamat government has been facing heat over alleged instances of illegal mining in the state, the change of leadership is not on the cards at least till the Justice M B Shah Commission probing illegal mining submits its report. Kamat said his meeting with Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday was a courtesy call.
The Congress on Sunday removed Michael Lobo from the post of Leader of Opposition in Goa legislative assembly, accusing him and former chief minister Digambar Kamat of "conspiring" against the party and "hobnobbing with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to ensure a split".
Speaking to reporters in Panaji, the BJP's Goa desk in-charge C T Ravi said there was no discontent among the eight MLAs who joined the party earlier this year.
Their flight landed at the Mumbai airport around 8 pm nearly 50 minutes after it took off from Dabolim airport in Goa.
Elections to the 40-member Goa Assembly are due in two months. Recent visits by Banerjee, Kejriwal and Prime Minister Narendra Modi heated up things in the otherwise "susegad" atmosphere in the small state.
The court noted the submissions made by the ED's counsel, who said that Joshi played a vital role in laundering of the proceeds of crime.
Goa Tourism Minister Matanhy Saldanha died at a hospital in Panaji after suffering a massive heart attack in the wee hours of Wednesday.
It is a record that the saffron party has created, where the majority of its legislators belonged to the minority community.
Incumbents Pushkar Singh Dhami and Pramod Sawant are the clear favourites but face some opposition
Goa CM Kamat leaves no stone unturned in an effort to revoke the SEZs passed by the Central Govt.
Former chief minister of Goa and Congress veteran Luizinho Faleiro, resigned as an MLA and a primary member of the party on Monday claiming the state party unit is run by a 'coterie' of leaders even as he praised Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee saying the country needs a leader like her to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Dhavalikar belongs to the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and Sardesai is chief of Goa Forward Party.
Rane said Goa has not received any communication from the Union home ministry in this regard.
Sources close to Goa Chief Minister Digamber Kamat said that the tourism industry, already reeling under severe recession, worked overtime to ensure the state does not implement the ban as it will send wrong signal to the tourists, resulting in more cancellations.
"Farmers' organisations in western UP have expressed their willingness to support the Shiv Sena and we may ally with smaller parties. In Goa, efforts are on to explore a formula like MVA. Let's see if we succeed," Shiv Sena's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said.
The numbers game seems weighed against Pratapsinh Rane.
In view of popular sentiments, the Goa government had decided to scrap 12 SEZs and sought denotification of three SEZs from the Centre. In view of popular sentiments, the Goa government had decided to scrap 12 SEZs and sought denotification of three SEZs from the Centre. The three SEZs for Meditab Specialities, Peninsula Pharma Research Centre and K Raheja Corporation had started work on the sites before the state government issued them stop-work orders.
With two contenders for chief minister's post, the Congress is having difficulty to install its government despite having numbers on their sides.
Senior BJP leader and Patnagarh MLA KV Singh Deo and debutant from Nimapara assembly segment Pravati Parida took oath as deputy chief ministers.
Parrikar will stay at his private residence in Panaji,
Senior Aam Admi Party leader Manish Sisodia on Thursday said they would project a person from the Bhandari community as their chief ministerial face during the Goa assembly elections due early next year.
The fires that have broken out in Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary in Goa are being kept under control through the joint efforts of the Indian Navy, Indian Air Force and the forest department, state minister Vishwajit Rane said.
In a shift from Goa government's earlier stand, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday said he would not allow the controversial right wing outfit Sri Ram Sene to work in the state.
The BJP deputed Shah as observer to Uttar Pradesh, where Yogi Adityanath powered the party to an impressive victory and where there are no hurdles in the way of the priest-politician's second stint in power.
If pandemic (mis)management threatened to dominate Goa's electoral discourse, the BJP is up against a deeper structural issue in its organisation, created by the fact that a majority of the legislature party and the ministerial council is made up of Congress defectors, disparagingly referred to by the Opposition as "imports". Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
