Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday, paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi in Mumbai. He also participated in a cleanliness drive at Juhu Beach A video circulating on social media shows Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde driving a tractor while participating in the cleanliness drive at Juhu Beach.

The video has got 60,700 views on X(Formerly Twitter). Large number of comments started coming on the social media post. One user said this whole thing is a one day drama. Another user said this is a foolish gimmick by the chief minister.

Earlier on Thursday Shinde inspected the paddy crop damaged due to unseasonal rain at Tarsa in Nagpur district. Deputy Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis accompanied CM Shinde and Agriculture Minister Dhananjay Munde. Besides Mauda Taluka, large scale damage has been reported in Ramtek Parshivani taluka.

In Nagpur district a total of 124 villages have been affected by rain, 852 hectares of crop has been damaged Earlier on November 27, Natrionalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Supriya Sule urged the  Maharashtra government to help the farmers after unseasonal rains damaged crops across the state of Maharashtra.

Sule said Maharshtra is standing at a difficult turn. She said a lot of damage has been caused by untimely rains. She said everybody should start to work with sensitivity for the state and farmers. She requested the Maharashtra government to immediately call a team from Delhi, and a full inspection should be carried out.

Sule said the central government should give more funds to Maharashtra. She said wherever farmers have incurred losses, the loans should be waved off. She said she is going to present this issue in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Heavy rains on Sunday had caused heavy damage to the crops including leafy vegetables, sugarcane, tomatoes, onions and grapes.

Kannada film industry veteran Leelavathi passed away. She was 85 years old. She had been admitted to private hospital in Nelamangala on the outskirts of Bengaluru. She was suffering from many diseases due to her old age. Her son Vinod Raj told the media that he is now left alone. He thanked chief minister Siddaramaiah and deputy chief minister DK Shivkumar for getting her admitted to the hospital.

PM Modi took to X(formerly Twitter) to mourn the late actor. He said he was saddened to hear the passing of the legendary kannada film actor personality Leelavathiji. He said she was a true icon of cinema and she graced the silver screen with her versatile acting in numerous films. PM Modi said her diverse roles and remarkable talent will always be remembered and admired. He said his thoughts were with her family and admirers.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah paid his final tribute to the mortal remains of veteran Kannada legendary actress Leelavathi at Ravindra Kalakshetra. He said he had grown up watching Leelavathi’s films. He said she was a perfect artist and brought life to every role she played. He said her acting was still in front of her eyes. He said along with acting she was deeply involved in social work.

He said he was deeply saddedned by the death of Leelavathi, who had always adopted the saying that kindness is the root of religion. He said may her departed soul rest in peace. Siddaramaiah said the news of the passing away of veteran kannada actor Leelavathi is painful. He said just last week on hearing about her illness he visited her house and enquired about her health and talked to her son Vinod Raj.

The Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivkumar visted the mortal remains of the veteran actor Leelavathi at Rabindra Kalakshetra today and paid her last respects and condoled with her family including her son Vinod Raj.

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeem (AIMIM) MLA Akbarudin Owaisi on Saturday took oath as pro-tem speaker of the newly-elected Telangana State Assembly. Governor Tamilsai Soundararajan took the oath to him at Raj Bhavan at a ceremony attended by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and speaker of previous assembly Pocharam Srinivas Reddy.

Owaisi who took the oath in the name of Allah, will later administer oath to newly elected members of the House. Ministers D.Sridhar Babu, Tummala Nageshwara Rao, Seethakka , former minister and BRS leader T Harish Rao and other attended the ceremony. According to a notification issued by Governor, Owaisi will perform the duties of the speaker till a speaker is elected under Article 178 of the constitution of India.

Being the senior most member of the assembly, the AIMIM legislator has been appointed as the Pro-tem speaker. In 2018, Mumtaz Ahmed Khan was made protem speaker. In the just concluded state elections he was elected from Chandrayangutta constituency in Hyderabad for a sixth consecutive term. This is the second consecutive time that a MLA of AIMIM has been appointed as Protem speaker. In 2018, Mumtaz Ahmed Khan was made protem Speaker.

The Pro-tem Speaker serves a temperory role, officiating the assembly session until the-elected members are sworn in and a speaker is elected. Once the assembly speaker is elected, the pro-tem speaker’s duties end, which marks the beginning of regular legislative activities under the new leadership.

Telanagana BJP today boycotted the oath ceremony for the newly elected MLAs, objecting to AIMIM’s Akbaruddin Owaisi being appointed Protem Speaker of the state assembly. The Pro-tem speaker is tasked with administering oath to the new legislators.

BJP MLA T Raja Singh, who won from Goshamahal in last month’s assembly elections, said in a video message that he would never take oath as long as he is alive in front of AIMIM. He said he would take oath only after a full term speaker is appointed.