LEAD

Several Shiv Sena MPs who attended a meeting convened by Uddhav Thackeray on Monday at his residence in Mumbai “requested” him to support NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu for President and open the door to a possible reconciliation with the BJP and the breakaway Eknath Shinde faction, The Indian Express has learnt.

According to party sources, a decision on the President’s election to be held on July 18 will be taken “in a day or two” and Thackeray seemed “positive” on the request to support Murmu.

The Supreme Court will hear the plea of Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu seeking suspension from the assembly of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and 15 rebel MLAs against whom disqualification pleas are pending.

The vacation bench of the court had on June 27 granted interim relief to the Shinde faction by extending the time for replying to the disqualification notices sent to 16 rebel Sena MLAs till July 12.

Meanwhile, as per the report by a news channel, Shiv Sena Chief Whip Sunil Prabhu has told the Supreme Court ahead of tomorrow's big hearing that there is "no better way to reward defection than offering its leader the post of Chief Minister." He also noted that the rebels have committed the "constitutional sin of defection" and Eknath Shinde was "hand-in-glove with the BJP all along.

At least 12 persons were killed and 25 injured in a flash flood triggered by a cloudburst that hit a camp near the Amarnath cave shrine in J&K’s Ganderbal district on Friday, officials said.

The cloudburst occurred around 6 pm, and the flash flood washed away a part of the camp with officials estimating that at least 25 tents were hit.

Divisional Commissioner (Kashmir) K Pandurang Pole told media: “At least 12 persons have lost lives at the camp, and 25 are injured and receiving treatment. The routes from both Anantnag and Ganderbal are open. The yatra has been stopped overnight as per routine.”

Blaming that the colonial education system inherited by India was to create a “servant class” for the British rulers and a lot of it remains unchanged, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the National Education Policy 2020 opens the doors for youth to find solutions to the problems of the world through a modern education system with Indian ethos.

Inaugurating the three-day Akhil Bhartiya Shiksha Samagam on implementation of the National Education Policy at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi on Thursday Modi said, “The foundation of the NEP 2020 is to take education out of narrow thinking and connect it with the modern ideas of the 21st century. There has been no dearth of talent in our country. But unfortunately we inherited a system where the meaning of education was to get a job. The British designed the education system to fulfil their needs. Things did change post-independence, but a lot left to be done. The education system created by the Britishers was never part of the Indian ethos.”

With rain continuing to batter most parts of Maharashtra, especially the Konkan region, nearly 5000 people have been evacuated from vulnerable areas and shifted to safer spots.

Since June 1, there have been 65 rain-related deaths and 150 injuries across the state. Officials said the India Meteorological Department issued an alert for heavy rainfall in parts of the state for three days and that rescue agencies had been placed on alert.