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The coup within the Shiv Sena, which has left Maharashtra’s MVA government teetering, stretched on with both sides digging in their heels on Friday.

The rebel camp led by Eknath Shinde commands the support of the bulk of the MLAs but is ironing out technical and legal hitches before it makes a move to topple the government. The Shiv Sena, on the other hand, went from being conciliatory to combative.

CM Uddhav Thackeray dared the rebels to run a party without the Sena or Thackeray name, while Sena leader Neelam Gorhe said the rebels will have to merge with BJP or Prahaar party (which is with Shinde) to escape the anti-defection law. Sena filed disqualification petitions against four more rebel MLAs before deputy speaker Narhari Zirwal.

The Supreme Court Friday said disgruntled officers of the Gujarat government need to be in the dock and proceeded with in accordance with law for creating a sensation by making false revelations on the 2002 riots. The top court also said it finds force in the argument of the State that the testimony of Sanjiv Bhatt (then IPS officer), Haren Pandya (former Gujarat home minister), and R B Sreekumar (now retired IPS officer) was only to sensationalise and politicise the matters in issue, "although, replete with falsehood." Pandya was shot dead on March 26, 2003, near Law Garden in Ahmedabad during a morning walk.

The apex court said Bhatt and Pandya falsely claimed themselves to be eye-witnesses of the meeting in which utterances were allegedly made by the then Chief Minister and the Special Investigation Team has negated their claim.

Concerned over the targeted attacks against minorities in Karnataka, 75 prominent personalities in the state have written an open letter to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, saying that such incidents have tarnished the secular image of the state.

“It is not possible to ‘Make in India’ in a climate where people are ‘Scared in India’ and even ‘Scarred in India’,” the letter says.

The signatories include retired IFS officer Yellappa Reddy, former Karnataka Advocate General Ravivarma Kumar, historian Ramachandra Guha, author Shashi Deshpande, civil servants, academicians, writers, artists and others.

Incidentally, many in the group had been writing to the CM, trying to bring his attention to the attack against minorities. Some among the group had also been trying to get an appointment with the CM in vain. Left with no alternative, the signatories said that they were compelled to issue an open letter.

A total of 68 people have been killed in floods caused by heavy seasonal rains and an onrush of water in parts of Bangladesh, said a report of the country`s Health Emergency Operation Center and Control Room under the Directorate General of Health Services. Most victims were drowned but some died in snake bites and lightning in the flood-hit areas between May 17 to June 23 this year, said the authorities on Thursday.

Of the victims, 24 deaths and 645 infections were reported in the last 24 hours as of Thursday morning, Xinhua news agency reported.

Floods have so far caused widespread damage to habitation, crops, roads and highways across vast swathes of the country.

New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) member Kuljeet Singh Chahal has challenged the council's membership of Delhi Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. Chahal alleged that the Delhi CM is not attending the meetings and is not fulfilling the responsibility towards people of his own constituency.

Citing the response to an RTI filed by himself, Chahal said that out of 21 NDMC meetings held so far regarding public convenience centers, Kejriwal had not attended 20 of them.

Chahal also accused Kejriwal of remaining absent from four consecutive meetings of NDMC held on December 22, 2021, January 7, 2022, February 23, 2022 and March 30, 2022, respectively.