Daily Bulletin: Devendra Fadnavis takes oath as Maharashtra post in surprise move; JNU's citizen march towards Parliament today; day's top stories

Devendra Fadnavis takes oath as Maharashtra chief minister once again in a surprise twist  The Maharashtra government formation took an extraordinary turn on Saturday, with Devendra Fadnavis taking oath as the Maharashtra chief minister. The oath was administered by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhawan. Taking oath as Deputy chief minister, Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar said, “From result day to this day no party was able to form government, Maharashtra was facing many problems including farmer issues, so we decided to form a stable government.” The surprising development came after NCP chief Sharad Pawar, only on Friday night, claimed that Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will be the next chief minister of Maharashtra. [caption id=“attachment_7574331” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. Twitter/@ANI[/caption] Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to congratulate Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, minutes after the swearing-in ceremony. “Congratulations to Devendra Fadnavis Ji and Sharad Pawar Ji on taking oath as the chief minister and Deputy chief minister of Maharashtra respectively. I am confident they will work diligently for the bright future of Maharashtra,” Modi tweeted. JNU’s citizen march towards Parliament today  As the students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) avowed to not back down from their demand of rollback of fee hike, a solidarity march to Parliament will be conducted on Saturday in keeping with proposed ultimatum. The march will be taken from Mandi House to the Parliament . A three-member panel appointed by the HRD Ministry to recommend ways to restore normal functioning in the JNU, which is facing student agitation, concluded its meetings on Friday and will submit its recommendations next week. The three-member committee, including former UGC chairman VS Chauhan, AICTE chairman Anil Sahasrabudhe and UGC secretary Rajnish Jain visited JNU campus to meet students’ union representatives. Some students formed a human chain ahead of the meeting at the main gate but the panel members entered the campus through another gate. While the meeting was underway at the administration block, the students gathered outside and raised slogans demanding complete rollback of the hostel fee hike. “We spoke to the students union representatives and took their suggestions into account. The meeting went on for two hours where we dwelled upon the reasons behind the discord between the varsity administration and students,” a committee member told PTI on the condition of anonymity. “This was the final meeting and we have heard all perspectives. We will now submit our recommendations within a week’s time,” the member added. Self-styled godman Nithyananda flees country; Gujarat police continues search  Self-styled godman Swami Nithyananda, booked in a criminal case related to his ashram in Ahmedabad, has fled the country, with the Gujarat police working to gather concrete evidence against him after taking two of his disciples in remand, officials said on Thursday. An FIR was registered on Wednesday against the controversial guru on the charges of kidnapping and wrongful confinement of children to make them collect donations from followers to run his ashram, Yogini Sarvagyapeetham. Ahmedabad (Rural) Superintendent of Police RV Asari said Nithyananda has fled abroad, and if required, the Gujarat Police will seek his custody through proper channel. “Nithyananda has fled the country after a rape case was registered against him in Karnataka, and it will be a waste of time searching for him here. If required, we will go through proper channel to seek his custody from abroad. We will definitely arrest him if he comes back to India,” Asari said. Nothing wrong with Muslim teaching Sanskrit, says RSS affiliate Samskrita Bharati RSS-affiliate Samskrita Bharati on Friday came out in support of Feroze Khan, an assistant professor at BHU’s Sanskrit department, whose appointment was opposed by ABVP, saying he was trained by them and asked what is wrong with a Muslim teaching Sanskrit literature. RSS’ student wing ABVP were demonstrating against Khan’s appointment in the Sanskrit department. Although the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) has backed him, Khan has been unable to take classes. The protesters said that only a Hindu can teach Sanskrit at the university. Underlining that Samskrita Bharati is working to teach Sanskrit language across the world and is also active in Arab countries, the organisation said its volunteers sing a song “Pathyem Samskritam Jagati Sarva Maanavaan’ (We will teach Sanskrit to every human being of the world). “Dr Firoze Khan is one of the thousands of people who were trained by us,” it said. Urging students to not protest against his appointment, the Samskrita Bharati, in a statement, posed, “What is wrong with a Muslim teaching Literature?”. It also requested Feroze Khan to “fearlessly make his contributions at the university.” The protesting students ended their ‘dharna’ on Friday. The university had announced on Thursday that classes at the department would resume, indicating that the stir against the appointment of assistant professor Feroze Khan had ended. India dominate opening day of landmark pink-ball Test against Bangladesh The ruthless Indian pace attack combined to take all 10 wickets of the Bangladesh innings to bowl the visitors out for 106, before the hosts gained a 68-run first innings lead courtesy half-centuries from Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara. Ishant Sharma led the way with a haul of 5/22 — his first five-for on Indian soil in 12 years — as the visitors lasted just 30.3 overs after opting to bat on Friday. The ‘Tigers’ also became the first team to field two concussion substitutes in a match after Liton Das and Nayeem Hasan were struck by bouncers from Mohammed Shami and had to replaced by Mehidy Hasan and Taijul Islam respectively. India will resume Day 2 from their overnight score of 174/3, with Kohli and vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane batting on 59 and 23 respectively. Manchester City look to get title challenge back on track against Chelsea After being handed their third defeat of the season by league-leaders Liverpool, reigning champions Manchester City will be hoping to bounce back immediately when they host Frank Lampard’s Chelsea at the Etihad on Saturday. Third-placed Chelsea have been impressive in recent weeks, winning six Premier League matches on the spin, but have also looked defensively susceptible, keeping just three clean sheets in 12 matches. With both teams boasting very strong attacking line-ups, the match promises to be a high-scoring affair. Tata Motors, Yes Bank, 2 others to be dropped from BSE’s Sensex from 23 December Tata Motors, Tata Motors with differential voting right (DVR), Yes Bank and Vedanta will be dropped from the BSE’s benchmark Sensex from 23 December. In their places, UltraTech Cement, Titan Co Ltd and Nestle India will be added in the index, Asia Index, a joint venture between S&P Dow Jones Indices and the BSE, said in a statement on Friday. Besides, UPL Ltd and Dabur India will find a place in the S&P BSE Sensex 50, replacing Indiabulls Housing Finance and Yes Bank. Among other changes, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Yes Bank, InterGlobe Aviation, SBI Life Insurance Company and Info Edge (India) will make entry in the S&P BSE Sensex Next 50, while Cadila Healthcare, Dabur India, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, UPL Ltd and Edelweiss Financial Services will be dropped from the index. The changes will be effective from Monday, 23 December, 2019, Asia Index said. FCC has banned US carriers from buying Huawei and ZTE parts with subsidies The Federal Communications Commission in the US has approved a ban on carriers from buying products for wireless network technology with subsidies Huawei and ZTE. It states that any carrier receiving the Universal Service Fund subsidy for products equipments from companies will be deemed as a “national security threat.” Bohemian Rhapsody producer Graham King reportedly secures rights to make Michael Jackson biopic A biopic on the life and career of ‘King of Pop’ Michael Jackson is reportedly being made by Bohemian Rhapsody producer Graham King. The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline were among publications that stated King had secured the rights to make the biopic from Jackson’s estate. Oscar-nominated writer John Logan, of Hugo, The Aviator and Gladiator fame, will be scripting the project. These reports also said that King and Logan do not intend the biopic to be a “sanitised” rendering of the troubled musician’s life. The sexual abuse allegations that Jackson spent several years fighting during the latter part of his life were the subject of a recent HBO documentary, Leaving Neverland. The Jackson estate, which slammed the documentary, is suing HBO for $100 million. Incidentally, King’s acclaimed previous production Bohemian Rhapsody — based on Queen frontman Freddie Mercury — had also run into controversy after allegations of sexual misconduct were levelled against its director Bryan Singer. Singer has denied the allegations.