Here are the top 5 news of December 30, 2020:
The Trinamool Congress today said it has moved President Ram Nath Kovind to remove Jagdeep Dhankhar from the post of the West Bengal governor, accusing him of "transgressing constitutional limits" by regularly commenting against the state administration and government in the public. The BJP, however, said the governor is acting within his constitutional parameters while the "TMC is scared".
A team of TMC MPs has sent a letter to the President on Tuesday listing "all such transgressions" by Dhankhar in recent times and urged him to take action as per Article 156, Clause 1 of the Constitution, the party's Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said. "We submit that the Governor has failed to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution, and repeatedly breached law declared by Supreme Court," the memorandum by TMC MPs read.
NCP leader Eknath Khadse today sought 15 days time to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED), citing symptoms of COVID-19. Khadse, a former BJP leader who joined the NCP recently, received summons from the ED last week to appear before it on December 30.
Khadse, who has been nominated by NCP to the legislative council from the Governor’s quota, had said the ED summons is in connection with the purchase of a three-acre plot on his wife’s name in Bhosari near Pune. Khadse, considered the No 2 in the erstwhile Devendra Fadnavis government, had resigned in the wake of charges of corruption and misuse of power.
The UK on Wednesday approved the use of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine with the first shots expected to be given on January 4. The world's attention has been fixed on this vaccine for several months now because of a number of factors including its low cost, ease of storage, transportation and administration. The approval by the UK is likely to pave the way for authorisation of the vaccine in several countries including India.
The UK now has two vaccines to fight the pandemic as the country has already vaccinated hundreds of thousands of patients with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. The approval of the "COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca" will give a big shot in the arm to the UK government's fight against the disease amid rising cases and fear of the recently discovered new strain making the situation worse.
Bollywood stars Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, along with Neetu Kapoor, Soni Razdan and others have landed in Ranthambore to usher in 2021. There is a growing buzz that Alia and Ranbir may get engaged in the national reserve. The stars landed at Jaipur airport on Tuesday and went straight to Ranthambore via road for New Year celebrations. They then took the road to Sawai Madhopur.
The fam-jam reportedly took place at Rajasthan’s famous Aman-i-Khas, a luxury stay, and the same venue where American singer Katy Perry married Russel Brand. Meanwhile, Ranbir's uncle Randhir Kapoor has refuted the reports. "It is not true. If Ranbir and Alia were to get engaged today, my family and I would have also been there with them. Ranbir, Alia and Neetu have gone there for holidays and to bring in the new year. The news of their engagement is incorrect," he said.
Former Indian cricketer Laxman Sivaramakrishnan today joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Chennai. Sivaramakrishnan joined the saffron party in presence of CT Ravi, BJP national secretary in-charge of Tamil Nadu and L Murugan, the president of Tamil Nadu BJP. Sivaramakrishnan has joined BJP ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections that are slated to be held next year.
Sivaramakrishnan made his Test debut against West Indies at the age of 17. The cricketer claimed 26 wickets in 9 Test matches, and 15 wickets in ODIs. In 1987, the cricketer called retirement on his career and turned to commentary.
(With input from agencies)
