NEWS

Amid the ongoing tussle over the extension of Bengal Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay's tenure, the Centre on Monday appointed 1988 IAS batch officer Hari Krishna Dwivedi as the new chief secretary to Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. Hari Krishna Dwivedi is currently serving as the home secretary of the state. Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee has appointed Alapan Bandyopadhyay as new chief advisor to the chief minister.

Earlier reports said that Alapan Bandyopadhyay's tenure as chief secretary, slated to end on Monday, has been extended by three months. However, the Centre put the speculations to rest and appointed Hari Krishna Dwivedi as the new Bengal chief secretary.

A closed-door meeting of BJP's national general secretary Kailash Vijayavargiya and Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam Mishra caused ripples in state politics.

The meeting which lasted for an hour was convened at Mishra's official residence where the two leaders are believed to have focused on the present political scenario in the state amid speculations over a possible rejig in the organisation and at the Centre.

Vijayavargiya, who was in charge of West Bengal affairs, reached the state capital after six months. He has not been allotted a new responsibility by the BJP leadership after the Bengal elections.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal corporation on Monday eased restrictions in Mumbai as the city recorded 676 new COVID-19 cases and 29 deaths in the last 24 hours. The total recoveries in the city stand at 5,570 while there are 22,390 active cases, according to latest update. Meanwhile, Maharashtra on Monday reported 15,077 new COVID-19 cases and 184 deaths.

Under the state’s ‘Break the Chain’ order, all shops selling essential items will be allowed to be open between 7 am and 2 pm from Monday till June 15. While shops selling non-essential items in the city will be allowed to stay open only on weekdays, in such a manner that shops on one side of the road will open on Monday, Wednesday and Friday while shops on the other side on Tuesday and Thursday.

The Maharashtra government on Monday extended benefits under the the economically weaker section (EWS) quota to the Maratha community, days after the Supreme Court scrapped a separate reservation in jobs and education for the dominant social group. A government order (GO) to this effect was issued by the General Administration Department (GAD) here.

At present, a 10 per cent EWS quota is in force for those sections of the society which are not covered by any kind of reservations. The central law on the EWS quota was enacted more than two years ago to allow reservation for the poor in jobs and education among the general category. The GAD order said the Maratha community, which has been classified as a Socially and Economically Backward Class (SEBC), can avail the 10 per cent EWS quota.