"People Create Dispute...": Maharashtra Congress Chief On Ally Rift Buzz

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole today said that he was "friends" with Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut amid reports of tension between the two allies.

"I am friends with Sanjay Raut. I don't understand why people create disputes between us," said Mr Patole at NDTV Marathi's Jahirnama event.

Terse remarks by Mr Patole and Mr Raut amid the delay in the seat-sharing announcement for the upcoming assembly elections in Maharashtra triggered the rift buzz.

To a veiled swipe of Sanjay Raut where he said the Congress leaders are "not capable of taking decisions", Mr Patole shot back, "If Sanjay Raut is controlling Uddhav Thackeray, that is their issue. We have the responsibility of telling the reality of our leaders and we are doing that. We do not want to speak anything on what Sanjay Raut does."

Other Congress leaders, however, played down the statements insisting that talks were going smoothly.

During the event, Mr Patole also addressed the impasse between the opposition alliance in Maharashtra - Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) - over some seats.

"Congress is a national party, and national parties have to handle things carefully. Regional parties have their demands and dreams of growth, which is acceptable. Congress played a crucial role in allocating seats based on merit, aiming for a majority government in Maharashtra. We are still working towards it," he said.

"Discussions for 5-10 seats are still pending, and we'll resolve this issue. After October 30, we'll gather again to find a solution. We have decided to contest elections as MVA. No conflicts arose during seat allocation. Efforts are continuing to resolve pending seat allocation issues," he added.

The 61-year-old had earlier revealed its seat-sharing arrangement for 255 of 288 constituencies in Maharashtra. He said that each alliance partner - Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) - will be contesting 85 seats each.

When he was asked by the chief minister face of the opposition alliance, he said, "As per Rahul Gandhi's vision, the priority is to save Maharashtra first. Once we do that, the MVA leaders will decide on the Chief Minister."

Earlier, speaking at NDTV Marathi's Election Conclave, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis took a dig at the opposition, and said, "Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is not announcing Chief Minister face as they don't think their Chief Minister can come after elections."

The ruling alliance, however, has also not named its chief minister face yet.

Mr Fadnavis said that the ruling Mahayuti does not need to announce the candidate for the chief ministerial post, as Eknath Shinde is the incumbent Chief Minister: "Who will become Chief Minister is announced after the elections. We are three major parties, CM Eknath Shinde is chief of Shiv Sena, Ajit Pawar is chief of NCP and our (BJP) Parliamentary board will decide who will be the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. But we are not worried because we have our Chief Minister, Eknath Shinde who is leading our government."

Maharashtra will vote on November 20 and the results will be declared on November 23.

The BJP won 105 seats, the Shiv Sena won 56, and the Congress secured 44 seats in the 2019 Maharashtra elections. In 2014, the BJP won 122 seats, while the Shiv Sena won 63 and the Congress 42.

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Congress Releases Second List Of 23 Candidates For Maharashtra Polls

The Congress on Saturday released its second list of 23 candidates for the November 20 Maharashtra Assembly elections, fielding a "strong" contender against state Bharatiya Janata Party President Chandrashekhar Bawankule.

Bawankule, who is recontesting Kamthi seat in Nagpur district - which he had bagged in 2004, 2009 and 2014 till he was dropped in 2019, will lock horns with Suresh Y. Bhoyar, a former President of the Nagpur Zila Panchayat.

Similarly, in Savner in Nagpur district, the Congress has fielded Anuja S. Kedar, the wife of former minister and five-term MLA Sunil C. Kedar, who was convicted in a graft case and disqualified. The daughter of the legendary cricket administrator and former Maharashtra Speaker SK Wankhede, whose name adorns the BCCI stadium in Mumbai, Kedar had filed her nomination papers as an Independent, but will now contest on a Congress ticket.

The Congress' second list comes two days after the first list with 48 candidates was issued as the party was purportedly in a tug-of-war with Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ally Shiv Sena-UBT over certain seats in the Vidarbha region.

The others figuring in Saturday's list also include Rajesh Manavatkar (Bhusawal), Swati Wakekar (Jamod), Mahesh Gange (Akot), Shekhar Shende (Wardha), Girish Pandav (Nagpur South), Pooja Thavker (Bhandara), Dalip Banson (Arjuni-Morgaon), Rajkumar Puram (Amgaon), Vasant Purke (Ralegaon), Anil Balasaheb Mangulkar (Yavatmal), Jitendra Moghe (Arni), Sahebrao Kamble (Umarkhed), Kailas Gorantyal (Jalna), and Madhukar Deshmukh (Aurangabad East).

Vijay Patil will contest from Vasai, Kalu Bhadeliya from Kandivali East, Yashwant Singh from Charkop, Ganesh Kumar Yadav from Sion-Koliwada, Hemant Ogle from Srirampur, Abhay K. Salunkhe from Nilanga, and Ganpatrao Patil for Shiro).

Maharashtra Congress Legislative Party Leader Vijay alias Balasaheb Thorat is likely to call on NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and SS-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray this afternoon to finalise the remaining seat-sharing ratio, including the number of seats that will be allocated to smaller allies, as the last date for filing nominations (October 29) approaches.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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"Unfortunate...": Sharad Pawar's Grandnephew On Contesting Against Ajit Pawar

Despite familial ties, Yugendra Pawar, a candidate from the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, is set to contest the Maharashtra assembly elections against his uncle Ajit Pawar from Baramati.

Yugendra Pawar is the grandnephew of Sharad Pawar and will be making his political debut in the Maharashtra Assembly elections to be held on November 20.

Speaking to ANI, when asked about him contesting election against his own uncle who has won this seat seven times, he said, "I feel it is quite sad, quite unfortunate that this had to come in the family. Not in Vidhan Sabha but it started in Lok Sabha and we were always together and even the incumbent MLA was always under the guidance of the founder of the party and family patriarch Sharad Pawar Sahab. What happened all of India has seen. The party split and the symbol was given to them by the election commission."

Baramati will see another Pawar versus Pawar contest, after Supriya Sule, daughter of Sharad Pawar, defeated Sunetra Pawar, wife of Ajit Pawar, during the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year. Ajit Pawar had split the NCP in June 2023.

Yugendra Pawar added, "This was unfortunate but all of us in the family decided that we need to stay with Pawar Sahab because he is the founder of the NCP, he is the patriarch of the family and it is because of him that not only Baramati but everybody around also prospered."

Yugendra Pawar feels that the fight against his own uncle won't be tough but won't be easy either. He said, "I don't think it will be tough but I don't even think that it will be easy either. Initially, Pawar Sahab was supporting Ajit Pawar, we fondly call him Dada, but people of Baramati in large numbers are behind Pawar Sahab and that is what they showed in Lok Sabha. They will show this in the upcoming assembly as well as other elections also."

On his political debut from Baramati he said, "It is very satisfying, I am quite happy and I humbly accept the responsibility given to me by the party and respectable Pawar Sahab, State President Jayant Patil and as well as our Working President Supriya Tai Sule," he said.

In its first list, the Nationalist Congress party (Sharad Pawar faction) has fielded 12 sitting MLAs who remained loyal to Sharad Pawar when the party split last year. The party declared its first list of 45 candidates on Thursday. It has been allotted 85 seats in the seat-sharing arrangement among the three parties in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition.

The Baramati candidate emphasised various issues that need to be addressed in the region.

"There are lot of issues, there are a range of problems that need to be taken care of. Like crime has increased not only in Baramati but all of Maharashtra. Then there is also a local issue like the old people, we call them Gao Pudharis, these local netas or the sewaks have not been changed for quite some time. They have not been the way a lok pratinidhi should behave. That needs to change somewhere. We need someone who will be amongst them, somebody who will be with them, will be available, who can hear them out and that system has not only been there in Baramati for quite a long time that needs to change," Yugendra Pawar said. 

"Unemployment is a very big issue in Baramati as well as in Maharashtra. Also, water is a major problem in Baramati. Today, even though the monsoon is going on, there are close to 25 to 30 villages that still do not have drinking water. This is a drought-prone area. Pawar sahab brought water to the region around 35 to 40 years ago but after that not a single irrigation scheme has been brought to Baramati because of which a lot of villages today also are still drought-prone. We have a river over here called the Nira, the water is so polluted that even though we have water we cannot spread it to where it is actually needed," he added.

Mr Pawar also spoke about the controversies going around the reservation system in the country.

"Reservation is something that was given to us by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and I feel like there are certain sections of society that still do need them. It will still be useful to them and our MP from Baramati Supriya Tai Sule has also spoken on this issue in Parliament and asked for reservation for certain sections so I personally also support her stand and our party's stand on this issue," he said.

Yugendra Pawar has been to all the villages in Baramati before contesting the election and plans to go around the area again after two days. "Pawar sahab is my mentor, my guide or 'margdarshak'. He always tells me that you should go amongst people, you should not only focus on big cities or the big villages but it's important to go to small 'wadis' or 'vastis'. When I go there people, tell me after Pawar Sahab nobody else has ever reached out to them. Being there, you get to see the constituency and the issues, the problems that people are facing. I like to be on the field and not sitting on a desk or (in front of a) computer," he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Nvidia Overtakes Apple As World's Most Valuable Company

Nvidia dethroned Apple as the world's most valuable company on Friday, following a record-setting rally in the stock powered by an insatiable demand for its new supercomputing AI chips.

Nvidia's stock market value briefly touched $3.53 trillion, while that of Apple was $3.52 trillion, according to data from LSEG.

In June, Nvidia briefly became the world's most valuable company, before it was overtaken by Microsoft and Apple. The tech trio's market capitalizations have been neck-and-neck for several months. Microsoft's market value stood at $3.20 trillion.

Nvidia's stock has risen about 18% so far in October, with a string of gains coming after OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, announced a funding round of $6.6 billion. Nvidia provides chips used to train so-called foundation models such as OpenAI's GPT-4.

"More companies are now embracing artificial intelligence in their everyday tasks and demand remains strong for Nvidia chips," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

"It is certainly in a sweet spot and so long as we avoid a big economic downturn in the United States, there is a feeling that companies will continue to invest heavily in AI capabilities, creating a healthy tailwind for Nvidia."

Nvidia's shares hit a record high on Tuesday, building on a rally from last week when TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, posted a forecast-beating 54% jump in quarterly profit driven by soaring demand for chips used in AI.

The next big test will be when Nvidia reports third-quarter results in November. Nvidia in August forecast third-quarter revenue of $32.5 billion, plus or minus 2%, compared with the current average analyst expectation of $32.90 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore said in a note dated Oct. 10 that he remains "very bullish" about the company longer term, but the recent rally "raises the bar for earnings somewhat".

After a meeting with Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang, Moore noted the ramp up in production of its next-generation Blackwell chips appeared to be "quite strong" and are booked out for 12 months. The stock came under pressure in August after Nvidia confirmed reports that the production of Blackwell chips was delayed until the fourth quarter.

Shares of Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft have an outsized influence on the richly valued technology sector as well as the broader U.S. stock market, with the trio accounting for about a fifth of the S&P 500 index's weightage.

Frenzy around the prospects of AI, expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will considerably bring down interest rates, and most recently, an upbeat start to the earnings season, have pushed the benchmark S&P 500 to an all-time high last week.

Nvidia's massive gains have helped boost the stock's appeal for option traders and the company's options are among the most traded on any given day in recent months, according to data from options analytics provider Trade Alert.

The stock has surged nearly 190% so far this year as a boom in generative AI prompted the company to issue a series of blowout forecasts.

"The question is whether the revenue stream will last for a long time and will be driven by the emotion of investors rather than by any ability to prove or disprove the thesis that AI is overdone," said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments, a family investment office in New Vernon, New Jersey.

"I think Nvidia knows that near term, their numbers are likely to be quite remarkable."
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Chief Justice DY Chandrachud Says "Stopped Morning Walks" Due To Pollution

The seasonal pollution spike in Delhi is affecting the health regimen of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud. The Chief Justice, in an informal conversation with reporters at the Supreme Court on Thursday, said he has stopped going for morning walks due to rising levels of air pollution.

"I have stopped going for morning walks from today. I usually go for a walk around 4 am to 4.15 am," he said.

His doctor, the Chief Justice added, has advised him to avoid going out in the mornings, saying it is better for him to stay indoors and avoid respiratory diseases.

The air quality in Delhi has remained "very poor" for the better part of the week, prompting concern over the increased risk of respiratory diseases. On Wednesday, Delhi recorded the worst air quality in the country despite the Commission for Air Quality Management invoking stage two of the anti-pollution plan GRAP.

The top court had grilled the Centre and Punjab and Haryana governments over the states' non-compliance with the necessary anti-pollution measures.

A bench of Justice Abhay S Oka, Justice A Amanullah, and Justice AG Masih, dismissed Punjab and Haryana governments' efforts to stamp out stubble burning, calling it "an eyewash". 

The toxic fumes from over the two states, often visible in satellite images,  contribute to the suffocating blanket smothering the national capital every winter.

Last month, the top court took to task Delhi's air quality panel, saying the body set up to control pollution in the National Capital Region has failed to serve its purpose. 

The court's strictures came after the Delhi government issued its action plan to deal with the annual pollution. 

The 50th Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud, is retiring on November 10. He would be succeeded by Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who will take oath on November 11. 

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Haryana: झुग्गियों से बरामद मांस की आई जांच रिपोर्ट, नहीं मिला संरक्षित पशु का मांस, संदेह में पीट की थी हत्या

संरक्षित पशु का मांस खाने के संदेह पर पीटकर पश्चिम बंगाल निवासी युवक की हत्या की गई थी। हंसावास खुर्द के समीप शव मिला था। फरीदाबाद लैब से मांस के लिए गए नमूने की रिपोर्ट आ गई है।

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Trudeau Meets Legislators Unhappy With His Leadership, They Want Him To Go

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday met legislators from his ruling Liberals, some of whom blame him for the party's poor showing in the polls and want him to quit after nine years in power.

While Trudeau is in no immediate danger, since he cannot be pushed out, the public display of unhappiness is among the most serious political challenges he has faced. Major parties usually meet on Wednesdays, but the circumstances this time are unusual.

Trudeau insists he will lead the Liberals into the next election, which must be held by the end of October 2025, even though surveys of public opinion suggest that with him at the helm, the party will lose badly to the official opposition Conservatives.

A Nanos Research poll released on Oct. 15 put the Conservatives on 39% public support, with the Liberals well behind on 23% and the rival left-leaning New Democrats on 21%. Such a result on election day would give the Conservatives a comfortable majority.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corp said 24 of the party's 153 legislators had signed a letter calling on Trudeau to go.

Ken McDonald, a Liberal parliamentarian from Atlantic Canada who is not standing in the next election, said ahead of the meeting that some of those who signed the letter "are worried because of the polling that is going constantly down."

Wayne Long, another legislator from the same region, said if the party had a new leader it could beat the Conservatives, who blame Trudeau for rising prices and a housing crisis.

There is no mechanism to oust Trudeau. Unlike Australia, where leaders are elected by legislators, Canadian party chiefs are chosen by members at a special convention.

Unhappiness with Trudeau bubbled up after the party lost two of its safest parliamentary seats in special elections in June and September.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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