The Evening Wrap: Mohan Majhi is the new Chief Minister of Odisha

After a week of intense speculation surrounding the BJP’s first Chief Ministerial pick for Odisha, the party on June 11 officially named Mohan Charan Majhi, a four-time MP, to helm the State Government. Majhi, a prominent tribal face, was unanimously elected as the next CM in the meeting of newly elected BJP MLAs at the party office in Bhubaneswar. He was the party’s chief whip in the 16th Odisha Legislative Assembly. Veteran BJP leader – K. V. Singh Deo, six-time MLA from Patnagarh Assembly constituency, and Pravati Parida, first-time MLA from Nimapara Assembly segment – will be the two Deputy Chief Minister in the forthcoming BJP Government. Earlier, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Minister of Environment and Forest Bhupender Yadav, who were central observers for the election of the new Odisha CM, met senior leaders including MLAs and MPs separately. Subsequently, the two senior Ministers oversaw the meeting of newly elected BJP MLAs. Prime Minister Modi will directly come from Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday afternoon for the swearing-in-ceremony scheduled at Janata Maidan at 5 p.m. Chief Ministers of several BJP-ruled States, Union Ministers and top BJP leadership are expected to participate in the much anticipated event. Odisha BJP President Manmohan Samal along with past presidents had gone to invite outgoing Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to attend the oath-taking ceremony. According to them, Patnaik gave consent for his attendance. Three newly elected BJP MLAs had also gone to Shree Jagannath Temple, Puri to extend a customary invitation to the Lord. Meanwhile, the State Government has cancelled leaves for all government officers till June 30 in view of possible new programmes of the new government. NEET-UG 2024 results: Supreme Court seeks response for conducting the exam again; refuses to stay the counselling process The Supreme Court on June 11 sought the National Testing Agency’s response to a plea seeking the fresh conduct of NEET-UG 2024 on the grounds of alleged question paper leak and other malpractices. A vacation bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, however, refused to stay the counselling of successful candidates for admissions to MBBS, BDS and other courses. NEET-UG 2024 was held on May 5 and its results were declared on June 4. It was expected to be declared on June 14. The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) examination is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admissions to MBBS, BDS and AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country. The top court tagged the plea filed by Shivangi Mishra and others with the pending one and asked the NTA to file the response in the meantime. The plea alleged that NEET-UG 2024 was riddled with malpractices as various instances of paper leaks have come to the knowledge of the petitioners. The alleged paper leak was violative of Article 14 (right to equality) under the Constitution as it gave an undue advantage to some candidates over others who chose to attempt the examination in a fair manner, it said. Chandrababu Naidu unanimously elected as NDA leader in A.P. Legislative Assembly The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president N. Chandrababu Naidu has been unanimously elected as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leader in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly by the alliance partners on June 11 (Tuesday.) Later, the NDA leaders submitted a letter to this effect to Andhra Pradesh Governor S. Abdul Nazeer, who would invite Naidu to form the government. A meeting of the NDA partners, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Jana Sena Party (JSP), and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was held in Vijayawada. JSP chief Pawan Kalyan proposed the name of Naidu as the leader of the NDA in the Legislative Assembly, which was unanimously approved by all the partners. BJP State president Daggubati Purandeswari and the MLAs-elect of the TDP, the JSP and the BJP were present. The NDA allies will hand over their letters of support to Naidu to begin the process of formation of a new government. The letters, along with the number of MLAs of the JSP and the BJP, are meant to be submitted to the Governor in order to formally stake claim to form the government. Meanwhile, the MLAs-elect of the JSP have elected Pawan Kalyan as their floor leader. In the recent Assembly polls, the TDP won 135 seats, Jana Sena bagged 21 and the BJP got eight seats. The hot topic of discussion among the political circles currently is that Pawan Kalyan might be proposed as the Deputy Chief Minister and that the JSP might get five berths in the Andhra Pradesh Cabinet. The BJP is being tipped to get two Cabinet posts. 10 vacancies created in Rajya Sabha after members get elected to Lok Sabha The just-concluded general election has created as many as 10 vacancies in the Rajya Sabha after its members were elected to the Lok Sabha. The Rajya Sabha secretariat has now notified the vacancies, which includes two each in Assam, Bihar and Maharashtra, and one each in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tripura. In its notification giving details of the vacation of seats, the Rajya Sabha secretariat said, “In pursuance of the provision of sub-section (2) of Section 69 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 read with Section 67A and sub-section (4) of Section 68 of that Act, the following have ceased to be Members of Rajya Sabha from the date of their being chosen as members of the 18th Lok Sabha, i.e., the 4th of June, 2024.” “Kamakhya Prasad Tasa — Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal — Assam, Misha Bharti — Bihar, Vivek Thakur — Bihar, Deepender Singh Hooda — Haryana, Jyotiraditya M. Scindia — Madhya Pradesh, Udayanraje Bhonsle — Maharashtra, Piyush Goyal — Maharashtra, K. C. Venugopal — Rajasthan and Biplab Kumar Deb — Tripura.” After this notification, the Election Commission will now announce the fresh dates for election to fill these vacancies in the council of States. Kannada actor Darshan arrested in murder case Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa was taken into custody in connection with a murder case on Tuesday, June 11. The actor was picked up from a hotel in Mysuru and was shifted to Bengaluru by the jurisdictional police. The local police in Bengaluru was investigating the murder of one Renukaswamy, who originally belonged to Chitradurga. It had taken nine persons for questioning in connection with the murder when Darshan’s name was also mentioned, following which the police took him into custody. It is being said that Renukaswamy was allegedly murdered for online harassment of Pavithra Gowda, a close friend of Darshan. Both Darshan and Pavithra, along with nine other accused, have been detained for questioning at Annapoorneshwari Nagar Police Station in the city. According to the police, Renukaswamy was called by the accused to Bengaluru. He was then allegedly tortured and killed, before his body was dumped in a drain in Kamakshipalya, close to the police station, two months ago. The murder was allegedly committed at a car shed in Pattanagere, which belongs to an uncle of one of the accused. Initial probe led the police to a missing person’s complaint registered in Chitradurga. During the course of the investigation, three persons surrendered claiming that they killed Renukaswamy due to financial issues. However, further investigation led them to Darshan. Speaking to mediapersons, S. Girish, DCP west division, said, “We have taken him (Darshan Thoogudeepa) into custody for the murder of one Renukaswamy of Chitradurga. The case has been registered at Kamakshipalya Police Station. Ten more people have been taken into custody and we are interrogating them. We cannot disclose any minute details at this juncture.” As news of his arrest spread, policemen were posted around the actor’s residence at Rajarajeshwari Nagar in Bengaluru. In Brief:Jharkhand Congress Minister Alamgir Alam resigns from post Jharkhand leader Alamgir Alam, arrested in an alleged tender scam, resigned as a Cabinet Minister from the Champai Soren government. Alam on June 10 also resigned from the post of Congress legislative Party (CLP) in Jharkhand Assembly. His resignation came after three days when Soren took all the ministerial posts from him and made him Minister without portfolio. Alam was handling four departments which included rural development, parliamentary affairs and rural works and panchayati raj. On May 15, the Enforcement directorate (ED) had arrested Alam in the alleged money laundering case. Before his arrest on May 6, the ED had arrested Alam’s Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Sanjiv Kumar Lal and the latter’s domestic help after the seizure of more than ₹36 crore from a flat linked to them. Malawi’s Vice President, nine others killed in plane crash Malawi’s Vice President and nine others were killed in a plane crash, the country’s President said on June 11. The wreckage of the military plane carrying Vice President Saulos Chilima was located in a mountainous area in the north of the country after a search that lasted more than a day. There were no survivors of the crash, Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera said in a live address on state television. Hundreds of soldiers, police officers and forest rangers had been searching for the plane that also carried a former first lady after it went missing Monday morning while making the 45-minute flight from the southern African nation’s capital, Lilongwe, to the city of Mzuzu, around 370 kilometres (230 miles) to the north. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 11 June 2024 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [View in browser]( [More newsletters]( Mohan Majhi is the new Chief Minister of Odisha After a week of intense speculation surrounding the [BJP’s first Chief Ministerial pick for Odisha]( the party on June 11 officially named Mohan Charan Majhi, a four-time MP, to helm the State Government. Majhi, a prominent tribal face, was unanimously elected as the next CM in the meeting of newly elected BJP MLAs at the party office in Bhubaneswar. He was the party’s chief whip in the 16th Odisha Legislative Assembly. Veteran BJP leader – K. V. Singh Deo, six-time MLA from Patnagarh Assembly constituency, and Pravati Parida, first-time MLA from Nimapara Assembly segment – will be the two Deputy Chief Minister in the forthcoming BJP Government. Earlier, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Minister of Environment and Forest Bhupender Yadav, who were central observers for the election of the new Odisha CM, met senior leaders including MLAs and MPs separately. Subsequently, the two senior Ministers oversaw the meeting of newly elected BJP MLAs. Prime Minister Modi will directly come from Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday afternoon for the swearing-in-ceremony scheduled at Janata Maidan at 5 p.m. Chief Ministers of several BJP-ruled States, Union Ministers and top BJP leadership are expected to participate in the much anticipated event. Odisha BJP President Manmohan Samal along with past presidents had gone to invite outgoing Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to attend the oath-taking ceremony. According to them, Patnaik gave consent for his attendance. Three newly elected BJP MLAs had also gone to Shree Jagannath Temple, Puri to extend a customary invitation to the Lord. Meanwhile, the State Government has cancelled leaves for all government officers till June 30 in view of possible new programmes of the new government. NEET-UG 2024 results: Supreme Court seeks response for conducting the exam again; refuses to stay the counselling process The [Supreme Court on June 11 sought the National Testing Agency’s response]( to a plea seeking the fresh conduct of NEET-UG 2024 on the grounds of alleged question paper leak and other malpractices. A vacation bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, however, refused to stay the counselling of successful candidates for admissions to MBBS, BDS and other courses. NEET-UG 2024 was held on May 5 and its results were declared on June 4. It was expected to be declared on June 14. The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) examination is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admissions to MBBS, BDS and AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country. The top court tagged the plea filed by Shivangi Mishra and others with the pending one and asked the NTA to file the response in the meantime. The plea alleged that NEET-UG 2024 was riddled with malpractices as various instances of paper leaks have come to the knowledge of the petitioners. The alleged paper leak was violative of Article 14 (right to equality) under the Constitution as it gave an undue advantage to some candidates over others who chose to attempt the examination in a fair manner, it said. Chandrababu Naidu unanimously elected as NDA leader in A.P. Legislative Assembly The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president N. [Chandrababu Naidu has been unanimously elected]( as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leader in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly by the alliance partners on June 11 (Tuesday.) Later, the NDA leaders submitted a letter to this effect to Andhra Pradesh Governor S. Abdul Nazeer, who would invite Naidu to form the government. A meeting of the NDA partners, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Jana Sena Party (JSP), and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was held in Vijayawada. JSP chief Pawan Kalyan proposed the name of Naidu as the leader of the NDA in the Legislative Assembly, which was unanimously approved by all the partners. BJP State president Daggubati Purandeswari and the MLAs-elect of the TDP, the JSP and the BJP were present. The NDA allies will hand over their letters of support to Naidu to begin the process of formation of a new government. The letters, along with the number of MLAs of the JSP and the BJP, are meant to be submitted to the Governor in order to formally stake claim to form the government. Meanwhile, the MLAs-elect of the JSP have elected Pawan Kalyan as their floor leader. In the recent Assembly polls, the TDP won 135 seats, Jana Sena bagged 21 and the BJP got eight seats. The hot topic of discussion among the political circles currently is that Pawan Kalyan might be proposed as the Deputy Chief Minister and that the JSP might get five berths in the Andhra Pradesh Cabinet. The BJP is being tipped to get two Cabinet posts. 10 vacancies created in Rajya Sabha after members get elected to Lok Sabha The just-concluded general election has created as many as [10 vacancies in the Rajya Sabha]( after its members were elected to the Lok Sabha. The Rajya Sabha secretariat has now notified the vacancies, which includes two each in Assam, Bihar and Maharashtra, and one each in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tripura. In its notification giving details of the vacation of seats, the Rajya Sabha secretariat said, “In pursuance of the provision of sub-section (2) of Section 69 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 read with Section 67A and sub-section (4) of Section 68 of that Act, the following have ceased to be Members of Rajya Sabha from the date of their being chosen as members of the 18th Lok Sabha, i.e., the 4th of June, 2024.” “Kamakhya Prasad Tasa — Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal — Assam, Misha Bharti — Bihar, Vivek Thakur — Bihar, Deepender Singh Hooda — Haryana, Jyotiraditya M. Scindia — Madhya Pradesh, Udayanraje Bhonsle — Maharashtra, Piyush Goyal — Maharashtra, K. C. Venugopal — Rajasthan and Biplab Kumar Deb — Tripura.” After this notification, the Election Commission will now announce the fresh dates for election to fill these vacancies in the council of States. Kannada actor Darshan arrested in murder case Kannada actor [Darshan Thoogudeepa was taken into custody]( in connection with a murder case on Tuesday, June 11. The actor was picked up from a hotel in Mysuru and was shifted to Bengaluru by the jurisdictional police. The local police in Bengaluru was investigating the murder of one Renukaswamy, who originally belonged to Chitradurga. It had taken nine persons for questioning in connection with the murder when Darshan’s name was also mentioned, following which the police took him into custody. It is being said that Renukaswamy was allegedly murdered for online harassment of Pavithra Gowda, a close friend of Darshan. Both Darshan and Pavithra, along with nine other accused, have been detained for questioning at Annapoorneshwari Nagar Police Station in the city. According to the police, Renukaswamy was called by the accused to Bengaluru. He was then allegedly tortured and killed, before his body was dumped in a drain in Kamakshipalya, close to the police station, two months ago. The murder was allegedly committed at a car shed in Pattanagere, which belongs to an uncle of one of the accused. Initial probe led the police to a missing person’s complaint registered in Chitradurga. During the course of the investigation, three persons surrendered claiming that they killed Renukaswamy due to financial issues. However, further investigation led them to Darshan. Speaking to mediapersons, S. Girish, DCP west division, said, “We have taken him (Darshan Thoogudeepa) into custody for the murder of one Renukaswamy of Chitradurga. The case has been registered at Kamakshipalya Police Station. Ten more people have been taken into custody and we are interrogating them. We cannot disclose any minute details at this juncture.” As news of his arrest spread, policemen were posted around the actor’s residence at Rajarajeshwari Nagar in Bengaluru. In Brief: Jharkhand Congress Minister Alamgir Alam resigns from post Jharkhand leader [Alamgir Alam, arrested in an alleged tender scam, resigned as a Cabinet Minister]( from the Champai Soren government. Alam on June 10 also resigned from the post of Congress legislative Party (CLP) in Jharkhand Assembly. His resignation came after three days when Soren took all the ministerial posts from him and made him Minister without portfolio. Alam was handling four departments which included rural development, parliamentary affairs and rural works and panchayati raj. On May 15, the Enforcement directorate (ED) had arrested Alam in the alleged money laundering case. Before his arrest on May 6, the ED had arrested Alam’s Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Sanjiv Kumar Lal and the latter’s domestic help after the seizure of more than ₹36 crore from a flat linked to them. Malawi’s Vice President, nine others killed in plane crash [Malawi’s Vice President and nine others were killed in a plane crash]( the country’s President said on June 11. The wreckage of the military plane carrying Vice President Saulos Chilima was located in a mountainous area in the north of the country after a search that lasted more than a day. There were no survivors of the crash, Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera said in a live address on state television. Hundreds of soldiers, police officers and forest rangers had been searching for the plane that also carried a former first lady after it went missing Monday morning while making the 45-minute flight from the southern African nation’s capital, Lilongwe, to the city of Mzuzu, around 370 kilometres (230 miles) to the north. 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