Former autorickshaw driver becomes mayor of Pimpri-Chinchwad in Maharashtra
Will work for upliftment of poor
Mumbai, Aug 05: The story of an autorickshaw driver-turned-mayor, Rahul Jadhav is awe-inspiring. As he was struggling to make ends meet on a salary of Rs 200 ten years ago, life drastically changed in the span of a decade. On Saturday, he was declared the mayor of the city of Pimpri-Chinchwad at the PCMC headquarters in Maharashtra, as per a report by The Indian Express.
The 36-year-old Jadhav wore an attire similar to the one of social reformer Jyotiba Phule during his appointment as the mayor. Life posed new challenges everyday ever since he dropped out of Class 10 in school. “I know the pain of ordinary people like autorickshaw drivers. During my tenure as the mayor, I will work for the upliftment of the poor,” he was quoted as saying by IE.
For five long years, Jadhav drove a six-seater auto rickshaw from 1997 to 2002 in Chikhli, Bhosari and Moshi areas. After rejecting farming as an alternative, he shifted back to driving the autorickshaw to earn his daily living. Soon after, he joined the MNS in 2007. As fate turned quickly, he was elected to the PCMC on an MNS seat.
Earlier in the 2017 civic elections, he parted ways with MNS to join the BJP and was elected from the Jadhavwadi area by a small margin of 3,000 votes, as per the report. The other NCP nominee was way behind Jadhav after the PCMC elections where the mayor was chosen unanimously. Jadhav secured 80 votes while the NCP nominee Vinod Nadhe got 33 votes.
Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena did not vote. Rahul Jadhav will serve one year as the mayor of the industrial city of Pimpri-Chinchwad. The deputy mayor Sachin Chinchwade who won with 79 votes was also a nominee from BJP. After Jadhav won, he headed to Jadhavwadi, Chikhli as supporters burst firecrackers.
Courtesy: www.timesnownews.com
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US warns shipping firms they could face sanctions over paying Iranian tolls in Strait of Hormuz
Dubai (AP): The United States is warning shipping companies that they could face sanctions for making payments to Iran to safely pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
The alert posted Friday by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control adds another layer of pressure in the standoff between the US and Iran over control of the Strait of Hormuz.
About a fifth of the world's trade in oil and natural gas typically passes through the strait at the mouth of the Persian Gulf in peacetime.
Iran effectively closed the strait to normal traffic by attacking and threatening to attack ships after the US and Israel launched a war on Feb. 28. It later began offering some ships safe passage by detouring them through alternate routes closer to its shoreline, charging fees at times for the service.
That "tollbooth” effort is the focus of the US sanctions warning.
The payment demands could include transfers not only in cash but also “digital assets, offsets, informal swaps, or other in-kind payments,” including chartibale donations and payments at Iranian embassies, OFAC said.
“OFAC is issuing this alert to warn US and non-US persons about the sanctions risks of making these payments to, or soliciting guarantees from, the Iranian regime for safe passage. These risks exist regardless of payment method,” it said.
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The US responded to Iran's closure of the strait with a naval blockade of its own on April 13, preventing any Iranian tankers from leaving and depriving Iran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy.
The US Central Command said 45 commercial ships have been told to turn around since the blockade began.
Trump rejects Iranian proposal
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The warning came as US President Donald Trump swiftly rejected Iran's latest proposal to end the war between the countries.
“They want to make a deal, I'm not satisfied with it, so we'll see what happens,” Trump said Friday at the White House. He didn't elaborate on what he saw as its shortcomings but expressed frustration with the Iranian leadership.
“It's a very disjointed leadership,” Trump said. “They all want to make a deal, but they're all messed up.”
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported Iran handed over its plan to mediators in Pakistan on Thursday night.
The shaky three-week ceasefire between the US and Iran appears to be holding, though both countries have traded accusations of violations. The standoff is increasingly putting pressure on the global economy, driving up prices and leading to shortages of fuel and other products tied to the oil industry.
Negotiations continued by phone after Trump called off his envoys' trip to Pakistan last week, the president said. Trump this week floated a new plan to reopen the critical passageway used by America's Gulf allies to export their oil and gas.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has briefed many of his regional counterparts on the country's initiatives to end the ear, according to his social media. He also held talks Friday with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who is in contact with the EU's Gulf partners.
China's UN envoy urges Iran to lift restrictions
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Fu Cong, the Chinese ambassdor to the United Nations, said Friday that maintaining the ceasefire is “the most urgent issue" as well as bringing together the sides to resume good faith negotiations “to make sure that the ground is laid for reopening of Hormuz.”
Foreign Minister Wang Yi “has been on the phone almost constantly” with representatives from all sides, Fu said, adding that China supports Pakistan's efforts to mediate between the parties.
Fu stressed the root cause of the tremendous suffering in Iran and neighboring countries and the growing turmoil in the global economy, especially in developing countries, “is the illegitimate war by the US and Israel.
