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The driver of a dumper truck allegedly transporting illegally-mined sand tried to hit the car in which the District Collector of Beed in Maharashtra was travelling, after the woman officer chased his vehicle and attempted to bring it to a halt, police said on Saturday.

The incident, which occurred in Gevrai taluka of Beed district in the wee hours of Thursday, also witnessed collector Deepa Mudhol-Munde’s car getting stuck in sand after the driver of the dumper suddenly unloaded it on a road, and her police guard hopping on to the truck in a bid to make it stop.

“The district collector was coming to Beed from Aurangabad in her official vehicle along with her body guard when she spotted a dumper carrying sand near Madalmohi village in Gevrai on Dhule-Solapur highway around 3.15 am on Thursday. The truck did not have a number plate,” a police official said.

The collector asked the driver of her car to try and stop the dumper. The car driver then signalled the other vehicle’s driver to stop, but the latter did not do so. The collector then asked the driver to take their car in front of the truck so that it stops. But when he did so, the dumper driver increased the speed of his vehicle and tried to hit the collector’s car, he said.

The official’s car was saved from being hit as it managed to swiftly move away, he added.

The collector asked her driver to keep following the sand-laden vehicle. After about one km, the dumper driver suddenly unloaded the sand on an internal road, due to which the official’s car got stuck in it. The collector’s body guard Ambadas Pavne rushed towards the dumper and hopped on to it from the driver’s side. But its driver threatened the guard and kept driving. After around 3 km, the dumper driver stopped the vehicle and fled from the spot, the police official said.

Within a week of assuming power, the Congress government in Karnataka has expanded its cabinet on Saturday, filling all posts. Among those who got ministerial posts include sons of two former chief ministers — R Gundu Rao’s son Dinesh Gundu Rao and S Bangarappa’s son Madhu Bangarappa.

• H K Patil is a staunch Congressman and a seasoned politician. The 69-year-old MLA was elected from Gadag constituency. He has held portfolios of textile, water resources, agriculture, law and parliamentary affairs as well as rural development and panchayat raj. He comes from a political family; his father K H Patil was also an MLA from the same constituency.

• Krishna Byre Gowda is a five-time MLA – twice from Vemgal in Kolar and thrice from Byatarayanapura in Bengaluru city. The 50-year-old legislator was a minister for rural development and panchayat raj. He also held the portfolio of agriculture, and law and parliamentary affairs. He holds an MA in international affairs from the School of International Service at American University in Washington DC.

• N Cheluvarayaswamy switched from JD(S) to Congress in 2018 ahead of the Assembly elections. He lost that election. He is a four-time MLA from Nagamangala. He was a Lok Sabha member in 2009 but resigned in 2013 to contest in the Assembly poll on a JD(S) ticket from his favourite seat Nagamangala.

• K Venkatesh is a five-time MLA from Periyapatna. The 75-year-old Congress MLA was previously with the Janata Dal. He later joined the Congress and became an MLA in 2013. In 2018, he lost to K Mahadeva of the JD(S). He bounced back by winning the recent 2023 election.
• Dr H C Mahadevappa is an MBBS doctor from JJM Medical College. Belonging to the Scheduled Caste community, the 70-year-old MLA from T Narasipur was previously with the JD(S) and switched over to Congress. He was the Public Works Minister in the previous Siddaramaiah government.
• Congress working president Eshwar Khandre comes from a political family. His father Bheemanna Khandre was also a minister in the Karnataka government. The 61-year-old leader is an engineering graduate and also a four-time MLA from Bhalki in Bidar constituency.
• Former state Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao comes from an illustrious family. His father late R Gundu Rao was the chief minister from 1980 to 1983. A BE from BMS College, Rao continued his winning streak without any break for the sixth time in 2023. He was the food and civil supplies minister from 2015 to 2016.
• Kyathasandra N Rajanna is a 72-year-old leader from the Scheduled Tribe community. He is an advocate and agriculturist. He was elected as MLA once from Madhugiri Assembly constituency in 2013.
• Sharanabasappa Darshanapur is a five-time MLA from Shahapur constituency in Yadgir district. The 62-year-old leader is a BE graduate in civil engineering. His father Bapugouda Darshanapur was a three-time MLA from Shahapur and was also a minister in the Karnataka government.
• Shivanand Patil, a four-time MLA from Basavana Bagewadi, was minister for health and family welfare from 2018 to 2019 in the coalition government headed by H D Kumaraswamy.
• Ramappa Balappa Timmapur is a three-time MLA from Mudhol. In 2023, he won by defeating sitting minister Govind Karjol, who was a five-time MLA from the same constituency. Timmapur was the minister for sugar, port and inland transport of Karnataka.
• S S Mallikarjun is an educationist who won the election from Davangere North. He is the son of veteran Congress leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa, the 92-year-old MLA from Davangere South. He is also the chairman of the prestigious SS Institute of Medical Science and Research Centre, Davangere.
• The 52-year-old MLA Shivaraj Sangappa Tangadagi is a three-time MLA from Kanakagiri constituency in Koppal district.
• Dr Sharanaprakash Patil is a doctor by profession and a four-time MLA from Sedam constituency in Kalaburagi district.
• Mankal S Vaidya was elected twice from Bhatkal-Honnavar constituency in the coastal district of Uttara Kannada.
• Laxmi Hebbalkar is a 48-year-old MLA from Belagavi rural. She won from the constituency for the second time. She is considered to be close to deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar.
• Rahim Khan, the 57-year-old MLA from Bidar North constituency, was the youth empowerment and sports minister in the coalition government headed by H D Kumaraswamy.
• D Sudhakar is a three-time MLA from Hiriyur in Chitradurga district. The 62-year-old Congress legislator had served as minister for social welfare of Karnataka from 2008 to 2009.
• Santosh Lad is an MLA from Kalghatgi constituency in Dharwad district. The 48-year-old holds a BCom and comes from a business family.
• N S Boseraju, a Congress national secretary, is not a member of legislative council or the legislative assembly. He is considered to be close to the Congress high command. His candidature was finalised in the last minute after much deliberation.
• Suresha B S is a two-time MLA who made it to the Karnataka cabinet.
• Madhu Bangarappa is the son of former Chief Minister S Bangarappa. Previously associated with JD(S), the 56-year-old legislator the 2023 Assembly election by defeating his brother Kumar Bangarappa of the BJP from Soraba assembly constituency in Shivamogga district.

A woman Naxalite was seriously injured in a gun-battle with security personnel in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker district, while two jawans of the Border Security Force (BSF) also suffered minor injuries in the face-off, police said on Saturday. The exchange of fire took place on Friday night in the forests of Urpanjhur village when joint teams of security personnel were out on a search operation, they said.

Acting on inputs about presence of Naxalites, the personnel belonging to BSF’s 178th, 47th, 132nd battalions and District Force (DF) had launched a search operation from separate camps in Pakhanjore, Chhotebethiya, Bande, Badgaon and Partapur police station areas on Friday night, they said.

One single-shot rifle, a cache of live cartridges of different guns, six pressure cooker improvised explosive device (IED), one solar plate, three bundles of electric wire, batteries, Maoist uniforms, bags, pamphlets, medicines and other material were recovered from the spot, he said.

Constables Vikas Singh and Manlik Ram, belonging to the BSF’s 178th battalion, sustained minor injuries in the gunfight and they were provided preliminary treatment at the camp, Kanker Superintendent of Police Shalabh Sinha said, adding that their condition was said to be out of danger.

The injured Naxalite has been identified as Fagni Podiyami, a Local Organisation Squad (LOS) member active under RKB (Rajnandgaon Kanker Border) division of Maoists, the SP said, adding that she was carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh on her head. She is the wife of Vinod Gavde, Madanwada Local Organisation Squad (LOS) commander of Maoists, he said. She has been admitted to Kanker district hospital, he added. Reinforcement has been sent to the area where the search operation is underway, he added.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said that international tourist footfall in the country will increase if domestic tourism is promoted by people by way of sharing their experiences about the places they visit. He was talking to reporters here on the second day of his two-day Gujarat tour, during which he visited the villages adopted by him under the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana in Narmada, a tribal-dominated district.

“There are a lot of things in our country that we ourselves don’t know about, and even if we know, we don’t introduce them to others…International tourism will increase only when domestic tourism increases,” Jaishankar said. “If we see people giving examples, enjoying the place and sending out messages and sharing experiences (about a place), then it will have an impact on the public,” he said.

“If I told people I went to a hill station in Gujarat, they wouldn’t believe me because they don’t associate Gujarat with a hill station,” he said. Earlier in the day, Jaishankar spent time at a sports complex in Chhotubhai Purani College of Physical Education. On Friday, the minister visited the villages adopted by him under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana where he performed the ground breaking ceremony for two “smart anganwadis”, inspected health and wellness centres, visited Ekta Skill Development Centre, and met villagers. He also visited a mobile X-ray van granted to the people under Members of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) Scheme in 2020 and saw women at Nari Shakti Kendra make sustainable products.

Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh will visit Nigeria from May 28 to 30, 2023, to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the President-elect of the West African nation. This will be the first-ever visit of an Indian Defence Minister to Nigeria. Senior officials of the Ministry of Defence and top leadership of significant defence PSUs will accompany the defence ministry on his visit to identify systems and platforms from the Indian defence sector that can cater to Nigeria’s needs.

The visit comes at a time when Nigeria, in the last couple of years, has been entwined in closer ties with India’s geopolitical rivals like Turkey, Pakistan, and China. Last year, Nigeria signed a deal for six TAI T-129, licensed produced versions of the AgustaWestland A129 attack helicopter from Turkey. Nigeria already operates the JF17, a leading rival aircraft of Tejas in the export market, and the Nigerian Air Force also comprises other Chinese assets. The JF17, originally the FC-1 Xiaolong, is called the pride of Pakistan’s aeronautical complex. However, the jets it delivered to Myanmar around 2018, according to reports, are said to have been grounded.

Image: Hindustan aeronautics limited
This brings forth the opportunity for India to present the Tejas and other combat platforms. In recent years, the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) has been in the spotlight for export to Nigeria. The visit might rekindle interest, and the deal might materialise in the future, making it the first export of LCH to an African nation. “We are in talks with certain countries in Africa who have shown interest in the LCH. With great value for money, the helicopter is an attractive buy for many countries,” said a senior defence official to PTI, back in 2016. India has already exported its advanced light utility helicopter, HAL Dhruv, to countries across three continents and has demonstrated its dexterity in the helicopter manufacturing sector, both in armed and utility variants, in the last decade.