Daily Bulletin: BJP leaders to meet Maharashtra governor; Modi to inaugurate investors' summit in Dharamshala; day's top stories

Maharashtra government formation: BJP leaders to meet Governor As the government formation deadline of 9 November nears, top BJP leaders are set to meet the Maharashtra governor on Thursday. Maharashtra, at present, is in the midst of a political crisis as pre-poll allies BJP and Shiv Sena are unable to build a consensus on power sharing and the Opposition has made it clear that it will not make any efforts to usurp power when it does not have the numbers. Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, whose party has refused to give up claim on rotation of CM’s post, said his party chief Uddhav Thackeray is yet to get any proposal from the BJP. The BJP and the Sena are locked in a standoff over the post of chief minister in new government and sharing of ministerial portfolios. [caption id=“attachment_6125921” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. PTI[/caption] Sikh procession leaves for Pakistan A Sikh procession including ‘Ragis’ and ‘Dhadis’ (who sing folk songs) on Wednesday left for Nankan Sahib in Pakistan for celebrating 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev. The procession, which will cross over to Pakistan through Attari-Wagah border, was flagged off by Giani Raghubir Singh, Jathedar of Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib, one of five Takhts of Sikhs. The 550th birth anniversary of the Sikh Guru will be commemorated at the Gurdwara Janam Asthan at Nankana Sahib, his birthplace, on 12 November. Meanwhile, with just two days left for the scheduled inauguration of the Kartarpur corridor, no official line of confirmation from Pakistan for the first Indian jatha of pilgrims that includes senior leaders has been received. Narendra Modi to inaugurate the Rising Himachal Global Investors’ Meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate global investors meet at Dharamshala on Thursday. The two-day Global Investors’ Meet will be attended by diplomats, leaders from the corporate sector, senior policymakers, development agencies, entrepreneurs and investors from across the world. In view of the Prime Minister’s visit, elaborate security arrangements have been made. All the roads leading to Dharmshala have been smoothed. The city has been decorated with colourful lights and Kangra painting on walls. The state government is organising this summit in order to tap the vast potential of the state in attracting investment in different sectors. Cyclone Maha likely to weaken; Odisha braces for Cyclone Bulbul Severe cyclonic storm Maha is weakening, but it will cause light to moderate rains on Thursday in parts of Maharashtra, the MeT department said on Wednesday. Cyclonic storm Maha lays about 250 kilometre southwest of Porbandar, 250 kilometre west-southwest of Veraval and 290 kilometre west-southwest of Diu. It is very likely to move east-northeastwards and weaken further into a deep depression by tomorrow morning. “It is very likely to skirt Saurashtra coast and lay centred about 40 kms south of Diu around noon of 7 November as a deep depression. Continuing to move east-northeastwards, it is very likely to weaken further into a depression by tomorrow evening,” the IMD said. IMD said that a deep depression, which lay in the Bay of Bengal and is 780 km south-southeast of Odisha’s Paradip, is very likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm in the next 24 hours. “It is very likely to move northwestwards for some time and then north-northwestward towards West Bengal and Bangladesh coasts,” the IMD said. The Special Relief Commissioner has issued an advisory to the collectors of 14 districts in this regard. Delhi govt may lift odd-even scheme on 11-12 Nov The Delhi government is likely to lift the odd-even restrictions on vehicles on 11 and 12 November to ensure hassle-free commute on the occasion of 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism. Meanwhile, the Delhi Traffic Police on Wednesday issued a total 406 challans on the third day of vehicle rationing scheme. 233 challans were issued on the first day of the road rationing scheme which will go on till 15 November. The scheme is applicable from 8 am to 8 pm. It will not be effective on 10 November. The violation of the rules in the restricted hours will attract a fine of Rs 4000. Diplomat had ‘clear understanding’ of Ukraine quid pro quo Democrats on Wednesday released the transcript of a closed-door interview of a key State Department witness who recounted to Congress his “clear understanding” that military aid was withheld from Ukraine in exchange for a pledge by the country to investigate Democrats for President Donald Trump. William Taylor told the investigators he understood that the security assistance, and not just a White House meeting for Ukraine’s new president, was conditioned on the country committing to investigations of Joe Biden and also Democrats’ actions in the 2016 election. The release of Taylor’s transcript came as Democrats launched a major new phase of their impeachment inquiry with public hearings scheduled for next week featuring State Department officials who have testified about their concerns about Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan to meet Donald Trump US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he “looks forward to seeing” Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, while confirming that his Turkish counterpart has accepted his invitation to visit Washington on 13 November. Trump made the announcement after a telephonic conversation between the two leaders, which comes after Erdogan, earlier in the day, announced that the wife of slain Islamic State leader was captured by Ankara and is in Turkey’s custody. Over a telephone call on Wednesday Trump and Erdogan discussed the actions taken by Turkey against the ISIS terrorists. Nirmala Sitharaman to review state of economy at FSDC meeting today Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will review the state of economy at a meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) on Thursday to be attended by sectoral regulators, including RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das. The FSDC is the apex body of sectoral regulators, headed by the finance minister. According to sources, the meeting will take stock of various measures taken by the government to boost the sagging growth which hit a six-year low of 5 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal, a PTI report said. The meeting will review the current global and domestic economic situation and financial stability issues, including those concerning banking and NBFCs, sources added. Leaked documents show Facebook’s reported misuse of user data In April, Facebook’s executive team including CEO Mark Zuckerberg had misused user data to control competitors and help friends by using the data as a bargaining chip, leaked documents accessed by NBC revealed. The trove of leaked documents obtained from British investigative journalist Duncan Campbell shows how Facebook would reward favoured companies by giving them greater access to user data. The complete set of 7,000 pages including 4,000 Facebook internal communications such as emails, webchats, notes, presentations, spreadsheets have now been published. India hope to level T20I series against Bangladesh with rain threat looming large After being handed a seven-wicket defeat in the first match of the series, Rohit Sharma-led India hope to bounce back in the second T20I against Bangladesh at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot on Thursday. Rohit, leading in place of Virat Kohli in the 20-over contests, has hinted at making changes in the seam-bowling combination in the build-up to the fixture. The match itself however, is under threat of Cyclone Maha, which is expected to cross the Gujarat coast around Diu and could result in showers in Rajkot among other surrounding areas. Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s Marghe and Her Mother to close event IFFI 2019 Renowned Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s Marghe and Her Mother will bring the curtains down on International Film Festival of India 2019, reports PTI. The film follows Claudia, a single mother, who lives with her six-year-old daughter Marghe. After Claudia is asked to vacate her house for failing to pay the rent, she is forced to leave Marghe with her next door neighbour. With inputs from agencies