Finance ministers of states demanded an increase in allocation under 50-year interest-free loan scheme, while fiscally stressed states like Punjab and Kerala pitched for a special package and borrowing flexibility, sources said on Friday. In a pre-budget meeting with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, states have also urged for higher borrowing limits to support fiscal activities, besides additional funds for Jal Jeevan Mission.
Bharatiya Janata Party legislature party leader Devendra Fadnavis was sworn-in as new chief minister of Maharashtra while allies Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar took oath as deputy CMs at a grand ceremony in Mumbai on Thursday evening.
The Group of Ministers (GoM) on goods and services tax (GST) rate rationalisation, which convened in Goa on Wednesday, reviewed the GST rates for over 100 items, including textiles, handloom goods, agricultural products, fertilisers, and educational materials. However, no consensus was reached on any of the items, with further discussions scheduled for next month in Delhi.
The MLA pointed out that there is already a ban on the consumption of alcohol in four other states, and Goa should also join the list.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said the Bharatiya Janata Party has been a party with a difference and that is why it has repeatedly won the trust of voters, but cautioned against the saffron outfit repeating mistakes committed by the Congress in the past which saw its exit from power.
The 49-year-old entrepreneur oversees the media and real estate arm of Dempo Industries as its executive director.
The chief minister said that every migrant labourer working in the state should have a labour card given by the state government.
Goa will host the biggest-ever National Games from October 26 to November 9.
The meeting, which began around 10:30 pm on Thursday, lasted for more than four hours and was held at the party's headquarters in New Delhi.
The state police so far arrested five people in connection with the case. These include two associates of Phogat who have been charged with murder.
A senior BJP leader said a reshuffle was likely in the next few days as the party would need to accommodate at least a couple of Congress MLAs who have crossed over,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, and Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar supremo Sharad Pawar were among the famous faces who queued up at the polling booths on Tuesday to caste their votes in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
Despite his apology, the Bajrang Dal sought his arrest, while Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said action would be taken against him as per law.
Congress's South Goa candidate Viriato Fernandes has claimed the Indian Constitution was 'forced' on Goa after its liberation from the Portuguese rule in 1961.
"I wanted to preserve them. But they were destroyed. I am sorry, this should not happen. Now since 2000, we are preserving the records and their digitisation is being done," Sawant said addressing a gathering on Monday.
'A daily dose of diversion & disinformation is handed out to undermine the Yatra. We remain undeterred. We will overcome these dirty tricks of the BJP'
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posed questions for the prime minister ahead of his rallies in Karnataka.
The Goa government will not impose any COVID-19-related restrictions till January 2 but will review the situation on January 3, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Friday after chairing a high-level meeting in Panaji.
Besides the national capital, polling for the sixth round of the marathon seven-phase elections will be held Saturday in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, all 10 seats of Haryana, eight seats each in Bihar and West Bengal, six seats in Odisha, four seats in Jharkhand and one seat in Jammu and Kashmir.
Independence Day was celebrated across states and Union territories on Thursday, as several chief ministers announced job schemes while some others vowed their support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047.
While the Aam Aadmi Party is contesting on four seats, the Congress has fielded candidates for the remaining three seats.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was given a warm welcome by the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs and other legislators in the wee hours of Friday when he returned to a luxury hotel near Panaji, where they are staying, after taking oath for the top post.
Sawant told reporters in Panaji that the Goa Police have done a "tremendously good investigation" into the case and have also got some clues.
Two minor girls were allegedly gang-raped on Benaulim beach in Goa on Wednesday night. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant provoked outrage on Thursday by asking why the girls were out at night on the beach, and then declaring on Friday that the safety of minors has to be a 'shared responsibility'. Dominic Xavier offers his take on the controversy.
The swearing-in ceremony of Pramod Sawant as Goa's chief minister will be held on March 28 and prominent Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will attend the event.
First-time MLA Bhajan Lal Sharma was sworn in as the chief minister of Rajasthan at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party's top leadership on Friday, 12 days after the party ousted the Congress in the assembly polls.
The Goa government's decision has not gone down well with Opposition parties and industry bodies.
Vishwajit Rane, who had unsuccessfully lobbied for the CM's post, has been given crucial Health and Town and Country Planning Portfolios along with Urban Development, Women and Child, and Forest departments.
BJP leader and caretaker chief minister Pramod Sawant is the clear favourite for the post of the CM but faces some opposition.
Two empty bottles of a cough syrup were found in a Goa apartment, where a start-up CEO allegedly killed her minor son, indicating she may have given a heavy dose of the medicine to him in signs of a premeditated murder, even as she was subjected to psychological test to assess her mental state and help find the motive for the gruesome crime, the police said on Wednesday.
'TMC was calling me, AAP was also calling me.' 'But my supporters helped me realise that the people of Goa are backing the Congress this time to defeat the BJP.'
"The central leaders of BJP are in touch with Utpal and have offered two seats to contest elections in Goa. I am sure that this issue will be resolved and he will consider the offer," the Goa CM said.
Both Sawant and Rane are being seen as top contenders for the post of chief minister in the state.
A video of the incident has gone viral on social media even as the police on Sunday arrested four persons in connection with the attack that left members of the family injured.
Non-BJP chief ministers holding the home portfolios are Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), Nitish Kumar (Bihar), Naveen Patnaik (Odisha) and MK Stalin (Tamil Nadu).
Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane on Tuesday said 26 Covid-19 patients died at the state-run Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in the early hours and sought an investigation by the high court to find out the exact cause.
In a similar move in July 2019, 10 Congress MLAs had switched over to the BJP.
Rane, 87, who has served as the chief minister of the coastal state for six times, had won from the Poriem assembly constituency as many as 11 consecutive times.
While none of the five 'rebel' MLAs were available for comments, sources in the BJP claimed the legislators were in touch with them.
Renowned oncologist and former chief of the Indian Medical Association's Goa unit Dr Shekhar Salkar said the number of cancer cases is on the rise with the increase in population across the world.
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