Only one Shiv Sena: Uddhav Thackeray after cousin Raj's Matoshree visit on birthday
While Raj had last formally visited Matoshree in 2012 during the final days of Balasaheb Thackeray, he had made a brief visit in January 2019 to invite Uddhav and his family to his son Amit Thackeray's wedding.This visit comes after both Thackeray leaders appeared together at a joint rally on July 5. At the 'Awaz Marathicha' rally in Mumbai's Worli Dome, they opposed the Maharashtra government's earlier move to introduce Hindi as a third language. During the rally, the two shared a hug after the state government withdrew two related resolutions.Congress MP Rahul Gandhi also posted birthday wishes on X. He said Uddhav Thackeray is an important partner of the INDIA alliance and wished him good health and strength to fight for the rights of Maharashtra's people."Heartfelt birthday wishes and congratulations to Shiv Sena President and INDIA alliance partner Uddhav Thackeray ji. May you stay healthy, live long, and together we will fight for the interests and rights of the people of Maharashtra,' the Leader of Opposition wrote on X. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and INDIA bloc ally MK Stalin also sent birthday greetings. Stalin praised Uddhav Thackeray's stand against the Hindi imposition in Maharashtra and wished him continued strength to protect federalism and linguistic rights.Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut also took to X and wrote, "Shiv Sena chief, my friend Uddhav Thackeray, who stands firm like a lighthouse in every storm, heartfelt birthday wishes to you! Jai Maharashtra!"- Ends
IN THIS STORY#Maharashtra
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
an hour ago
- First Post
India–Maldives ties: Time to look to the future, not the past
Lately, President Muizzu has conceded Delhi as a loyal friend and is working closely with India for economic recovery, which is unlikely to happen without the Maldives helping itself read more President of the Maldives Mohamed Muizzu, right, shakes hand with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after signing a memorandum of understanding between the two countries in Male, Maldives, Friday, July 25, 2025. (Indian Prime Ministers Office via AP) At the end of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's two-day visit to the Maldives, 25-26 July, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said it all in his post-talks news briefing. 'Together, the two sides were looking into the future, not the past,' he said. This was India's position even on a day-to-day basis when, as a freshly minted president, host Mohamed Muizzu bad-mouthed India as much as he could for any Maldivian leader on bilateral matters. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The visit was rich in optics—yes. From a public diplomacy perspective, it matters the most in both nations, especially now. The content of the visit was no less positive but was not flashy, as some in India especially had expected. At the end of their talks, Muizzu conceded at a news conference that India was a 'supportive, loyal friend'. It had taken him months to realise it and acknowledge it in public. In retrospect, it is safe to conclude that in his first weeks as president, and during his presidential poll campaign earlier, he was misinformed and misled by those around him. Share of blame Yet, Muizzu cannot absolve himself of the blame, as he already had six long years of experience as a senior minister for the all-important infrastructure development sector during the successive presidencies of Mohammed Waheed and Abdulla Yameen. He spent five years through Yameen's full term in office, during which time he was not known to have even squirmed at the president's anti-democracy initiatives. When Yameen launched his 'India Out' campaign while in the Opposition, Muizzu was seen in those rallies, though not all of them. In turn, this made Muizzu suspect in ordinary Indian eyes, as New Delhi too had reasons to brand Yameen as 'anti-India', more than for his being 'pro-China' or anything else. It was based on Yameen's perceptions about India in the context of Maldivian domestic politics. This is one area where Muizzu too could still trip if he does not take the India element out of his domestic political calculations. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD This includes motivated domestic perceptions that India backs democratic forces in the archipelago, represented purportedly by the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), and that every other leader, including Muizzu, is an autocrat or despot. This domestic perception among all political players in the country is not supported by India's actions that are people-centric, not personality-centric. Greater legitimacy The Prime Minister was accompanied by a high-level team, which included External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri. This indicated the level of engagement that accompanied the visit. Incidentally, the presence of NSA Doval was a lesser-known fact for the media in the two countries, but that does not necessarily mean that there were 'secret talks' on the security front, as often assumed. For optics, you had Muizzu receiving the prime minister personally at the Male airport, accompanied later at the official reception with a 21-gun salute, both of them unprecedented, and Modi's presence as the chief guest at the 60th Independence Day of Maldives. It was also the 60th anniversary of bilateral diplomacy, as India was among the first nations to recognise the new Maldivian regime post-independence in 1965. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Locally, eyebrows were raised, yes, when President Muizzu addressed a joint rally of the Maldivian National Defence Force (MNDF) and the Maldivian Police Service (MPS) on the afternoon of Independence Day, when the Indian visitor was still in town. This was the first time an incumbent president was addressing the two together after then-President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom bifurcated the infamous National Security Service (NSS) in 2006, in the run-up to full democratisation through a new constitution and presidential elections in 2008. Looked at from a domestic angle, the Indian Prime Minister's visit, followed by that of Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in double-quick succession (July 28-29), is not about his administration opening up to ever-supportive neighbours, which is the truth of the matter. Instead, the perception, starting from Camp Muizzu, is one of his acquiring international legitimacy after having stabilised his hold over domestic governance and politics, in that order. Third visitor, who? STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Given the brutal majority that his People's National Congress (PNC) enjoys in the 93-member Parliament, there was no need for Muizzu to get an 'undemocratic' anti-defection law passed without debate. Nor was there any justification for the government-controlled Judicial Service Commission (JSC) suspending first and sacking three Justices of the Supreme Court when the full, seven-judge bench was set to hear a petition challenging the anti-defection law. Yet, he did both and initiated more such moves that critics claimed were 'anti-democratic'. It is in this context that critics see Muizzu's eagerness to have more foreign visitors on invitation, to tell his world that the international community stood by him. Hence, there is also speculation, if not betting, on who the 'lucky' third one would be after Modi and Anura to receive Muizzu's invitation to visit his country. New Delhi may not have any direct interest, least of all influence, in Muizzu's choice of the next couple of overseas Heads of State and/or Government visiting Maldives on invitation. Yet, India would be watching it all from the ringside to have a clear perspective of Muizzu's foreign, security, and overseas economic policies—not necessarily in that order. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Will the next visitor be the Chinese Prime Minister, if not President Xi Jinping, or Turkey's President Recep Erdogan? After all, Muizzu had courted both nations in his early weeks in office, and possibly before his election, too, and from whose shoulders he was firing (their?) anti-India salvos, too, before seeing their true colours, and tucked his tail between his legs without losing time or initiative. Credit and more On the constructive side, India and Maldives signed a total of eight agreements during Modi's visit, all of them discussed and debated threadbare in-house in the two governments and between them. The list includes one on a $565 million Line of Credit (LoC) from India and another on pharmaceutical supplies. This, in a way, is acknowledgement of the Muizzu Government's failure to obtain 'quality medicines at affordable prices' from Europe without depending on a 'single source' (India), as he had thumbed his chest last year. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Before the pharma deal now, Muizzu had gone back on his muscle-flexing on commissioning annual supplies of essentials, including rice, sugar, and wheat flour, from distant Turkey, again to limit dependence on a 'single source'. It happened after the Houthis' attacks in the Red Sea provided a legitimate excuse for Erdogan to possibly go back on his purported promise during Muizzu's visit only weeks after assuming office in November 2023. In Male, PM Modi also inaugurated multiple India-funded projects and handed over the keys to owners under a housing scheme. In a city with the highest population density for a South Asian capital, urban housing is still politically and electorally sensitive. Balanced FTA Of equal importance is one setting the terms of reference for further discussions on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and Maldives. For now, Maldives especially has learnt a lot from the hurried FTA President Yameen signed with China in 2017 but whose implementation he and his successor, President Ibrahim 'Ibu' Solih, both did not take up. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Now, after implementing the China FTA since January 1 this year, Muizzu has found out that Maldives was losing scarce revenue, big time. Maldivians were spending dollars in big numbers, not only in conventional trade but also through online sales of Chinese goods, airlifted mostly out of Hong Kong. In recent months, this has affected small and medium traders in the country. They form a key electoral constituency. But then a 30 per cent service tax on specified online trade firms dealing in Chinese goods has not helped after the latter introduced equal discounts for their Maldivian customers. This would engage Indian negotiators as they work out the details of the Indian FTA in the coming weeks and months. They will also have another example in the Sri Lanka-Maldives FTA, which was signed during President Dissanayake's visit, post-Modi's. National dichotomy Maldives' woes owe to the nation living beyond its means. This has an indirect impact on national security and foreign policy that flows from over-dependence on external assistance. In the name of upholding national security and sovereignty viz the ever-helpful Indian neighbour, presidents like Yameen and Muizzu welcomed extra-regional powers, especially China. It only complicated the nation's security situation even more. They too silently acknowledged post facto that China had a larger scheme in which the Maldives was only a speck, and they could do nothing about it if sucked in more than ready. But domestic compulsions stood in the way of Yameen applying the correctives. With little choice after he found out that China, and also Turkey, did not match word with action, Muizzu at least is on a course correction viz India relations. Maldives' problems reside in the economic sphere. In a 500,000-population, half of whom are on the electoral list, first-time voters in their thousands are jobless. They tend to side with him who promises the moon. Frustration has already driven them to drugs, and the puritans among them tend to take to religious radicalisation—in the absence of any left political movement. Skill sets & FDI All these when available jobs, again in tens of thousands, are going to foreigners, mostly Bangladeshis but with a sizable sprinkling of Indians and some Sri Lankans, too. This is because local youth ambitions are not matched by skill sets that can attract big-ticket FDI in non-tourism sectors, too. Competitive populism is the bane. Every post-democracy president, including incumbent Muizzu, promised to set matters right but has been swept away by electoral compulsions. Going back to the days of 'elected autocracy' is not an option, but that is what successive post-democracy presidents have attempted in their own ways—but failed on both fronts. The people simply threw them out in favour of yet another untested individual, whose face was relatively fresh and whose promises looked beneficial. All of it often leads to situations wherein incumbent governments are tempted to fall back even more on external economic assistance, but in terms of 'competitive ideology', though none exists. Successful experience Muizzu is working closely with India for economic recovery that is unlikely to happen without Maldives helping itself. Given India's successful experience in pulling itself out of the fiscal/economic mess that it found itself in the early nineties, the Maldivian government, as a democracy, can also seek guidance in the matter, after downsizing them to Maldivian levels. In 2013, President Yameen's foreign policy document claimed that his government would make the nation economically strong to be able to have an 'independent foreign and security policy'. The reference was, of course, to India. He failed on the first count, so his government did not reach the second stage, despite his wooing China, as if the nation had a panacea for Maldives' ills. Muizzu began by placing himself in such a conundrum but has been quick to retrieve at least some of the lost ground. How he proceeds from here will decide the future for the Maldives and strategic peace for the region's nations, including India and Sri Lanka. That is where the Maldives' strategic reset should begin, where the Colombo Security Conclave (CSC) could provide a basis for defining/redefining the nation's priorities in the present and the future. Such an approach alone can help the Maldives and Muizzu to achieve what they intend to achieve on the domestic front. That is without them having to invite and/or facilitate complex competitive competition between superpower America and wannabe superpower China, both of whom do not belong here but want to be here through proxies. The writer is a Chennai-based Policy Analyst & Political Commentator. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.
The Wire
an hour ago
- The Wire
SCOTLAND TAKES CENTRE STAGE IN LANDMARK UK-INDIA TRADE DEAL
By Dhruva Kumar, Politician, Educationist, Former Glasgow South MP Candidate GLASGOW, SCOTLAND 29 JULY 2025 The newly signed UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) isn't just a diplomatic triumph, it's a transformative moment for Scotland's economy, positioning our water, innovative technologies, Universities, distilleries, fisheries, cultural strength and manufacturing hubs at the heart of a £25.5 billion bilateral partnership. As the architect of Scotland's strategic engagement with India, I, Dhruva Kumar, see this deal as a catalyst for jobs, investment, and cross-continent innovation. SCOTCH WHISKY: A STRATEGIC WIN • Tariff Slashed: Duties plummet from 150% to 75% immediately, then to 40% over 10 years, ending decades of market barriers. • Economic Impact: Projected to boost UK beverage exports by £700 million, creating 2,200 jobs across Speyside distilleries and Kilmalid bottling plants. • Market Access: India, the world's largest whisky market by volume (192M bottles/year), now offers Scotch brands like Douglas Laing and others access to 250M high-income Indian consumers by 2050. SCOTLAND'S BROADER GAINS Revolution: Scottish salmon gains duty-free access to India's £2.8 trillion import market, unlocking millions for Highlands aquaculture. & Aerospace: • Tariffs on UK luxury cars (e.g., Jaguar Land Rover) drop from 110% to 10% under quotas. • Rolls-Royce secures smoother aerospace trade, boosting Glasgow's advanced manufacturing. Energy Collaboration: India's push for net-zero aligns with Scotland's offshore wind expertise, paving the way for joint ventures. INDIA'S GROWTH CATALYST • Textiles & Engineering: Zero tariffs on 99% of Indian exports (e.g., knitwear from Tirupur, engineering goods) could unlock $23 billion in opportunities. • Professional Mobility: 75,000 Indian workers exempted from UK social security contributions for 3 years, saving ₹40,000 crore annually. • Food & Agriculture: Indian farmers access the UK's £37.5B agri-market, while makhana (fox nuts) and spices gain premium status. BALANCING ACT: CHALLENGES AHEAD While the FTA promises prosperity, critical issues remain: • Implementation Hurdles: State-level excise policies in India could dilute Scotch price benefits. • Carbon Border Taxes: UK's proposed levy on carbon-intensive imports risks Indian metals. • Data Localisation: Fintech collaboration hinges on India easing digital trade barriers. THE ROAD AHEAD This agreement isn't merely transactional, it's a "living bridge" uniting Scottish innovation with Indian dynamism. As Glasgow-based trade envoy, I urge swift ratification and subnational partnerships (e.g., Maharashtra-Scotland clean energy pacts) to harness this momentum. With £6B in new investments and a projected £190M Scottish GDP boost, we're scripting a shared future where tartan and turbans weave prosperity. "Scotland's distilleries powered the Industrial Revolution. Today, they fuel a partnership redefining 21st-century trade." - Dhruva Kumar (Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with NRDPL and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR This is an auto-published feed from PTI with no editorial input from The Wire.
India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
Delhi announces CM Shri school admission test for Classes 6-8, releases full guidelines
The Delhi government has announced that an entrance test will be conducted for admissions to Classes 6 to 8 in 33 out of 75 proposed CM Shri schools for the academic year to the Directorate of Education (DoE), the CM Shri Schools Admission Test 2025 will be held on August 30, with the application window open from July 30 to August cards will be available from August 23, and results will be declared on September 10, with final admissions to be completed by September BILINGUAL TEST WITH NO NEGATIVE MARKING The entrance test will be OMR-based, objective-type, and conducted in Hindi and English, covering five sections -- Hindi, English, General Awareness, Mental Ability, and Numerical test will run for 150 minutes, and additional time will be provided for Children With Special Needs (CWSN).No negative marking will be applied. Test centres will be set up across schools under the Directorate to ensure AND RELAXATIONSThe test is open to students residing in Delhi and currently enroled in a recognised Delhi-based school for the year per the guidelines, at least 50 percent of seats will be reserved for students from government or government-aided schools, including DoE, MCD, NDMC, KVs, and JNVs.A 5 percent relaxation in eligibility marks will be granted to SC/ST/OBC (non-creamy layer) students and CWSN, following existing government SMART SCHOOLS UNDER NEP 2020CM Shri schools are being established as model public institutions aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and National Curriculum Framework to officials, the schools will include AI-enabled libraries, AR/VR-powered smart classrooms, robotics labs, smartboards, biometric attendance, and zero-waste, solar-powered her budget speech, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta allocated Rs 100 crore to this flagship initiative, which mirrors the central government's PM Shri Delhi Board of School Education (DBSE) will be phased out, with CM Shri schools shifting to CBSE affiliation.(With inputs from PTI)- Ends
