logo
Goa minister dropped from Cabinet after alleging corruption in CM's department

Goa minister dropped from Cabinet after alleging corruption in CM's department

New Indian Express16 hours ago

PANAJI: Goa Art and Culture Minister Govind Gaude was on Wednesday dropped from the state cabinet, almost a month after he alleged corruption in the tribal welfare department headed by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.
Gaude called the decision a 'reward' for him on Goa Revolution Day, which is celebrated on June 18 every year.
BJP Goa unit president Damodar Naik confirmed to PTI that Gaude was removed from the council of ministers.
State Under Secretary (General Administration) Shreyas D'Silva said that the Governor of Goa had accepted the recommendation by the CM, following which Gaude ceased to be a member of the council of ministers with immediate effect.
Naik, however, didn't mention the official reason for sacking the minister. 'This is a decision of the state government,' he said without elaborating.
CM Sawant was not available for comments.
Reacting to the development, Gaude tweeted, 'I have been rewarded this fate on the Goa Revolution Day for standing up for the downtrodden communities. Gratitude to my government and the party for liberating me to continue the struggle that I voiced for.'

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Punjab: Ludhiana West assembly bypoll sees 33% voter turnout till 1pm
Punjab: Ludhiana West assembly bypoll sees 33% voter turnout till 1pm

Hindustan Times

time7 minutes ago

  • Hindustan Times

Punjab: Ludhiana West assembly bypoll sees 33% voter turnout till 1pm

A voter turnout of 33.42% was recorded till 1pm in the polling for the Ludhiana West Assembly byelection in Punjab on Thursday. Polling began under tight security at 7am and it will continue till 6pm. The counting of votes will be held on June 23. The Ludhiana West assembly seat fell vacant following the death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi in January. There are 14 candidates in the fray and 1,75,469 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise. Of them, 85,371 are women and 10 belong to the third gender. AAP candidate Sanjeev Arora reached a polling station along with his family members to exercise his franchise in the morning. Before casting their votes, the Aroras paid obeisance at a gurdwara, a temple and the Dargah Pir in Phillaur. Speaking to reporters, Arora appealed to the people to come out in large numbers to vote. Congress candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu, BJP nominee Jiwan Gupta and Shiromani Akali Dal's Parupkar Singh Ghuman also cast their votes. Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann took to social media to urge voters to cast their vote. 'My appeal to the voters of Ludhiana West is that you must exercise your right to vote. You must fulfil your duty for the development and progress of your area. Do not consider today a holiday, definitely go and cast your vote,' Mann posted on X in Punjabi. Ludhiana deputy commissioner-cum-district election officer Himanshu Jain also cast his vote in the bypoll. A total of 194 polling stations have been set up with live webcasting facility. Designated counters have been set up at the entrance of polling stations for voters to securely deposit their mobile devices. These counters were managed by trained volunteers using jute or cloth bag mobile holders. 'In a first-of-its-kind initiative, all polling stations in Ludhiana West have made arrangements for safe mobile phone deposit aims to enhance the voter experience while at the same time upholding the secrecy of voting,' the chief electoral officer, Punjab said in a post on X. Polling stations were equipped with poll volunteers, wheelchairs and help desk to assist voters, said officials. The voting process is being monitored in real-time from the integrated command and control centre at the district administrative complex. As many as 235 CCTV cameras have been installed at polling stations. The ruling AAP has fielded Rajya Sabha member Arora for the bypoll. Arora, 61, is a Ludhiana-based industrialist and is also known for his social work. He runs the Krishna Pran Breast Cancer Charitable Trust. The Congress has nominated former minister and Punjab Congress working president Ashu, 51. Ashu had been MLA twice from this seat in 2012 and 2017. He was defeated by Gogi by 7,512 votes in the 2022 assembly polls. The BJP candidate is a member of the core committee of Punjab BJP. Gupta was earlier the party's state general secretary. The Ludhiana West bypoll is seen as a litmus test for Mann and the ruling party's national leadership which aggressively campaigned to retain this seat.

Voting underway in assembly bypolls in four states, moderate turnout recorded till noon
Voting underway in assembly bypolls in four states, moderate turnout recorded till noon

Time of India

time18 minutes ago

  • Time of India

Voting underway in assembly bypolls in four states, moderate turnout recorded till noon

Moderate turnout was recorded in the first four hours of polling across five assembly constituencies across Punjab, West Bengal, Gujarat and Kerala where bypolls are underway on Thursday. Polling commenced at 7 am and will continue till 5 pm. While the death of sitting MLAs necessitated the bypoll in one seat of Gujarat and in West Bengal and Punjab, the resignation of two legislators led to the poll in Kerala and in one seat of Gujarat. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Free P2,000 GCash eGift UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo In West Bengal, a voter turnout of 30.64 per cent was recorded till 11 am in the Kaliganj assembly seat. Tension flared up at a booth where the Congress alleged that its polling agent was forcibly removed by workers of the Trinamool Congress. However, the ruling party denied the charge. Live Events The by-election was necessitated by the death of Trinamool Congress MLA Nasiruddin Ahamed in February. His daughter, Alifa Ahamed, is contesting the seat as the TMC nominee. The BJP has fielded Ashis Ghosh as its candidate, while Congress candidate Kabil Uddin Shaikh is in the fray with the support of the CPI(M). Kerala's Nilambur Assembly constituency saw a steady turnout of 30.15 per cent after the first four hours of polling. People came out in good numbers at the 263 polling booths across the constituency, which has over 2.32 lakh voters. Among the 10, the key contenders are ruling LDF pick M Swaraj, Aryadan Shoukath (Congress-led UDF), Trinamool Congress state convener and independent candidate P V Anvar and Mohan George of the BJP-led NDA. The UDF candidate expressed confidence about winning by a huge margin. LDF's Swaraj was also confident of securing a win in the bypoll. Anvar, whose resignation as MLA from Nilambur necessitated the byelection, told reporters about the developments carried out in the constituency when he was representing it. He also claimed that neither of the three fronts -- UDF, LDF and NDA -- discussed local issues like wild animal attacks during their campaign. He was also confident that he would get a good share of the UDF and LDF votes. Anvar, presently the state convener of the Trinamool Congress, resigned as MLA of the constituency following his severing of ties with the CPI(M)-led LDF over certain allegations by him against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his close aides. The voting commenced in the morning after a mock polling was carried out to check if the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) were working. In Gujarat, the Visavadar and Kadi assembly constituencies recorded a turnout of 28.15 per cent and 23.85 per cent, respectively, in the first four hours of votingin bypolls The Visavadar seat in Junagadh district recorded a voter turnout of 28.15 per cent by 11 am, while Kadi in Mehsana district registered 23.85 per cent polling. The state government has declared a public holiday on Thursday in both the constituencies for voting. The BJP, Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have fielded their candidates in the two seats. The Visavadar seat was lying vacant since December 2023, after the then AAP legislator Bhupendra Bhayani resigned and joined the ruling BJP. The Kadi seat, reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates, fell vacant on February 4 following the death of BJP MLA Karsan Solanki. In the Visavadar seat, BJP candidate Kirit Patel and Congress nominee Nitin Ranpariya cast their votes in the early hours. The AAP has fielded its former Gujarat president Gopal Italia from Visavadar. He is not registered as a voter in the constituency. Despite its near-total dominance in the state, the BJP has not won the Visavadar seat since 2007. The party leaders are this time hopeful of overcoming the 18-year jinx. In the last assembly election in 2022, AAP's Bhupendra Bhayani defeated BJP's Harshad Ribadiya, a Congress turncoat and former MLA, by 7,063 votes. The BJP has fielded Rajendra Chavda from Kadi, while the Congress has given ticket to Ramesh Chavda, a former MLA. Chavda won the seat in 2012, but lost it to BJP's Karsanbhai Solanki in 2017. Like Visavadar, the Kadi seat will also witness a three-way fight, with the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP fielding Jagdish Chavda. In the 182-member Gujarat assembly, the BJP has 161 legislators, Congress 12 and AAP four. While one seat is with the Samajwadi Party , two are with independents. Punjab saw a voter turnout of 21.51 percent till 11 am in the polling for the Ludhiana West Assembly bypoll. The Ludhiana West Assembly seat fell vacant following the death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi in January. AAP candidate Sanjeev Arora reached a polling station along with his family members to exercise his franchise. Before casting votes, Arora paid obeisance at a gurdwara, a temple and the Dargah Pir in Phillaur. Speaking to reporters, Arora appealed to the people to come out in large numbers to cast their votes. "Please come out to vote and have maximum voting today," he said. Congress candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu, BJP nominee Jiwan Gupta and SAD's Parupkar Singh Ghuman also cast their votes. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann appealed to voters to cast their votes in the bypoll. "My appeal to the voters of Ludhiana West is that you must exercise your right to vote. You must fulfil your duty for the development and progress of your area. Do not consider today a holiday, definitely go and cast your vote," Mann said in a post on X in Punjabi. The ruling AAP has fielded Rajya Sabha member Arora for the bypoll. Arora (61) is a Ludhiana-based industrialist and is also known for his social welfare runs the Krishna Pran Breast Cancer Charitable Trust. The Congress has placed its bet on former minister and Punjab Congress working president Ashu (51). Ashu had been MLA twice from this seat in 2012 and 2017. He was defeated by Gogi by a margin of 7,512 votes in the 2022 Assembly polls. The BJP candidate is a member of the core committee of Punjab BJP . He was earlier the party's state general secretary. The Ludhiana West bypoll is seen as a litmus test for Mann and the ruling party's national leadership which aggressively campaigned to retain this seat. The bypoll results will be declared on June 23.

For India, Canada looks friendlier than the US at this point
For India, Canada looks friendlier than the US at this point

India Today

time21 minutes ago

  • India Today

For India, Canada looks friendlier than the US at this point

It is rare for a global leader to decline an invitation to the United States, more so when it comes directly from the President himself. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to subtly decline Donald Trump's invite was not only strategically significant but also emblematic of the widening trust deficit between the nations. It came as India and Canada quietly signalled a thaw in their two-year-long diplomatic freeze, burying the ghost of the Trudeau fast-paced developments came as the Prime Minister attended the G7 Summit in Canada, which described hosting PM Modi as a "great honour". The course correction in the rocky relationship after the Justin Trudeau era seems to make Canada look a lot friendlier than the US to India presently. INDIA-CANADA RESET TIESThat Canada wanted a reset in its ties with India was evident when Prime Minister Mark Carney invited Prime Minister Modi to the G7 Summit despite objections from pro-Khalistan leaders. In fact, ever since he assumed office earlier this year, Carney has distanced himself from the influential pro-Khalistan lobby. On Wednesday, as Carney and PM Modi held their first bilateral meeting, the duo agreed to send their high commissioners back to each other's capitals, and resume trade negotiations. Neither country has had a high commissioner since contrast to previous hostility, PM Modi was accorded a warm welcome by Carney, who did not rake up the assassination of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in 2023 - an incident that Trudeau held the Indian government liable for, leading to a deterioration in prodded by a reporter if the Nijjar case came up during the meeting, Carney was circumspect. "There is a judicial process that's underway, and I need to be careful about further commentary," the Canadian Prime Minister the same time, Canada's top intelligence agency officially disclosed publicly for the first time that Khalistani extremists were using Canadian soil to promote and plan acts of violence primarily targeting India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi being welcomed by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney as he arrives for the G7 Summit at Kananaskis (PTI) The thaw in ties comes as a relief for India, which is Canada's top source of foreign workers and international students, as well as an important between the two countries hit rock bottom since former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India of being involved in the murder of Nijjar in Vancouver in 2023 - a charge rejected by the Modi government. It prompted tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions, and temporary suspension of visa Trudeau out, Carney has now signalled a change in approach towards India. However, it has coincided with US President Donald Trump's unpredictability casting a shadow on America's relations with INDIA-PAK STRATEGYWhile it was widely believed that a second Trump presidency would work to India's benefit, following the bonhomie shared by the Republican and PM Modi during his first term, the ties have been rocky so tensions started with Trump's repeated assertions of India being a "big abuser" of tariffs. In fact, his announcement of reciprocal tariffs came just hours ahead of his bilateral with PM Modi, which was not good for the duty cuts, such as on bourbon whisky and motorbikes, did little to appease Trump, who went on to announce a 26% import duty on Indian products. It has been paused now. However, the pressure to conclude a trade agreement with the US remains what seems to have stung India the most is the US's attempt to hyphenate India and Pakistan, especially after the hostilities in May following the Pahalgam terror Trump proclaiming on several occasions that PM Modi was his "great friend", India has found itself isolated on the global the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), India failed to get either Pakistan or the terror group (The Resistance Front) that claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack mentioned in the formal than that, what caught India off-guard was Trump's claim that he helped broker the ceasefire between India and Pakistan despite the US initially refusing to get involved in the conflict. That he repeated the claim 14 times in the past month, while mentioning that he used trade as leverage, has only irked India has on multiple occasions rejected his claims, saying the ceasefire was directly negotiated upon Pakistan's insistence. The latest being PM Modi directly communicating to Trump during a phone call that at no point during Operation Sindoor was trade or mediation on the India-Pakistan issue discussed with the TO PAKISTAN ARMY CHIEFBut, Trump, being Trump, doubled down on his claim hours after the phone call ahead of his lunch meeting with Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir at the White House. The meeting added another layer of friction to the India-US ties, striking at the heart of what the government has sought to achieve - marginalise Islamabad when PM Modi declined Trump's invite, it wasn't just a simple "no", but to avoid a scenario where the President would have met the Prime Minister and later the Pakistan army chief on the same day. It was a strategic move to avoid placing India and Pakistan on the same diplomatic pedestal and preventing another Trump PR officially, India stated that the Prime Minister had prior commitments and was scheduled to visit invite to Asim Munir, which came amid speculations on the possibility of Pakistan aiding Iran during its conflict with Israel, has found opposition within the US Rubin, a former Pentagon official, stressed that the Trump-Munir meeting was a "dangerous and misguided strategy rooted in historical amnesia" and warned of Pakistan's "two-faced" the remark by General Michael Kurilla, the head of US Central Command, hailing Pakistan as a "phenomenal partner in the counter-terrorism world", has only added to India's diplomatic frictions widening the trust deficit with the US, a thaw in ties with Canada comes as a booster shot for Watch

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store