FirstUp: Mahua Moitra in Delhi HC, IPL auction, INDIA meet… today’s big news

It’s Tuesday.

And there’s a day of blockbuster news ahead.

Mahua Moitra, who was expelled from the Lok Sabha, is set to approach the Delhi High Court.

The IPL auction 2024 is set to kick off in Dubai – the first that will take place outside of India.

Meanwhile, the Opposition INDIA bloc will meet to discuss strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Also, a division bench of the Calcutta High Court will conduct a hearing on the interim stay of felling of trees for the Kolkata metro.

Let’s take a closer look at today’s big-ticket items:

Delhi HC to hear Moitra plea

The Delhi High Court will hear a plea from Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra challenging the cancellation of her government accommodation and asking her to vacate the house by 7 January.

Moitra’s petition, filed Monday, urged that the Directorate of Estates’ 11 December order be set aside or, in the alternative, Moitra be allowed to retain possession of the accommodation till the results of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections are declared.

Moitra was held guilty of “unethical conduct” and expelled from the Lok Sabha on 8 December, 2023, for allegedly accepting gifts from businessman Darshan Hiranandani and sharing her user ID and password of the Parliament website with him.

IPL auction 2024

The 17th IPL auction is slated to be held in Dubai today.

The auction, which will begin at 1 pm Indian Standard Time, will witness 333 players go under the gavel.

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The event will be held at the Coca-Cola arena.

Of the 333 players, 214 are Indians and 119 are overseas players.

Two players are from associate nations.

A maximum of 77 slots are now available with up to 30 being slotted for overseas players.

Rs 2 crore is the highest reserve price with 23 players choosing to be slotted in the highest bracket.

Thirteen players are in the auction list with a base price of INR 1.5 crore.

A woman auctioneer will be directing proceedings for the first time in IPL history.

Mallika Sagar, who handled proceedings for the recent Women’s Premier League, will take the place of Hugh Edmeades.

INDIA parties meet

The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) Opposition bloc is set to meet today in the National Capital.

The meeting is slated to occur around 3 pm at a city hotel.

This will be the bloc’s fourth meeting.

According to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, the Opposition will discuss a seat-sharing formula.

During the third meeting of the INDIA bloc in Mumbai on August 31 and September 1 this year, the 14-member coordination committee and 19-member election strategy committee were announced.

The first meeting of the INDIA alliance took place in Patna on June 23 while the second meeting took place in Bengaluru on July 17 and 18.

The Opposition parties have come together to take on the ruling BJP ahead of the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Kolkata HC hearing on metro

A division bench of the Calcutta High Court is set to hear a plea on an interim stay on felling of trees for the Kolkata Metro.

The court last month put a stay on the cutting down of trees in the Maidan area of central Kolkata – long considered the lungs of the city, for the purpose of expansion of metro railways in the state capital.

“We are not against the metro railways project. This is not a luxury. Rather it is an essential mode of public transport. The fact that metro railways will move under the River Ganges is really a matter of pride. So this is just an interim stay,” the Chief Justice observed.

The interim stay on the cutting down of trees in the Maidan area was first ordered by Calcutta High Court’s another division bench of Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya and Justice Bibhas Ranjan De on 26 October. That division bench ordered this interim stay on a PIL filed by an organisation in the name and style of People United for Better Living in Kolkata.

The organisation argued if so many trees are cut down at the virtual lungs of Kolkata, the pollution level will rise and the environment will be at stake.

Pratibha Patil b’day

Happy b’day Pratibha Patil!

Patil, who was India’s first woman president, turns 89 today.

She served in the land’s highest office from July 2012 to July 2017.

Patil was born on 19 December, 1934, in Nadgaon village of Jalgaon district, Maharashtra.

Here’s hoping she has a wonderful day and an incredible year ahead.

With inputs from agencies