Mumbai rain: The IMD recorded more than 268 mm at Santacruz between 8.30 pm on Sunday and 8.30 am on Monday. The weather body has predicted heavy rain in Mumbai, Konkan and Ghat regions of central Maharashtra on July 9
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Moscow this evening, marking the first time he visited Russia since it launched its campaign in Ukraine. Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov received him at the airport.
“I look forward to further deepening special and privileged strategic partnership between our nations,” PM Modi said after landing in Moscow. He will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin tomorrow.
Landed in Moscow. Looking forward to further deepening the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership between our nations, especially in futuristic areas of cooperation. Stronger ties between our nations will greatly benefit our people. pic.twitter.com/oUE1aC00EN
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 8, 2024
PM Modi has been treading a fine line between maintaining a longstanding relationship with Moscow and courting closer Western security ties. The visit is also PM Modi’s first since he returned to power for a third term.
“I look forward to reviewing all aspects of bilateral cooperation with my friend President Vladimir Putin and sharing perspectives on various regional and global issues,” PM Modi had said in a statement before leaving India. “We seek to play a supportive role for a peaceful and stable region.”
Russia is a key supplier of cut-price oil and weapons to India. Western powers have in recent years also cultivated ties with India as a bulwark against China and its growing influence in the Asia-Pacific, while pressuring it to distance itself from Russia.
PM Modi last visited Russia in 2019 and hosted Mr Putin in Delhi two years later, weeks before Russia began its offensive against Ukraine.
India and Russia have maintained a close relationship since the Cold War, and Russia was for a long time India’s largest arms supplier. But Ukraine has stretched Russia’s arms supplies thin. Russia’s share of Indian imports of arms has shrunk considerably in recent years, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
At the same time, India has become a major buyer of Russian oil, providing a much-needed export market for Moscow after it was cut off from traditional buyers in Europe. That has dramatically reshaped energy ties, with India saving itself billions of dollars while bolstering Moscow’s war coffers.
India’s month-on-month imports of Russian crude “increased by eight per cent in May, to the highest levels since July 2023”, according to commodity tracking data compiled by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
From Russia, PM Modi will travel to Vienna for the first visit to the Austrian capital by an Indian leader since former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1983.
Shiv Sena leader Rajesh Shah – whose son allegedly drove the speeding BMW that rammed into a two-wheeler early Sunday in Mumbai’s Worli, killing a 45-year-old woman and injuring her husband – has got provisional bail on payment of Rs 15,000.
The son – Mihir Shah, who visited a pub in the Juhu area hours before the accident and ran up a bill of nearly Rs 20,000 – is the main accused and is on the run. A notice has been issued to prevent him from leaving the country, and his girlfriend – who may have helped hide him – is being questioned.
Mihir Shah’s phone has been switched off.
Earlier today a city court remanded Rajesh Shah to judicial custody – i.e., to jail – for 14 days.
Rajesh Shah is part of the Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Rajesh Shah and Rajrishi Bidawat – the driver allegedly relegated to the front passenger’s seat by Mihir Shah, who insisted on driving despite being drunk – were arrested Sunday.
The cops believe the two helped Mihir escape. This morning they said phone calls were made by the father to his son after the incident. 14 police teams have been formed to arrest Mihir Shah.
READ | In Worli Hit-And-Run, Phone Calls Made To Accused By Father
Multiple charges have been filed against all three, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder. However, the court ruled that charge – under Section 105 of the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which is one of the three new criminal laws.
The woman who was killed has been identified as Kaveri Nakhwa, 45. She was travelling with her husband, Pradip, when the BMW driver lost control and hit the two-wheeler.
READ | Who Is Mihir Shah? Shiv Sena Leader’s Son Accused In BMW Crash
The impact was severe – the two-wheeler overturned, throwing husband and wife on the front of the car. In a desperate attempt to save himself, the husband managed to jump off but his wife was not as fortunate. She was dragged for 100 metres by the car as it attempted to flee the scene.
READ | In Mumbai Hit-And-Run, BMW Dragged Woman For 100 Metres
The incident comes months after a similar case in Pune, in which a speeding Porsche driven by a minor left two 24-year-old engineers dead in Pune.
READ | In Sena Leader And Mumbai BMW Crash, A Porsche Case Parallel
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde expressed alarm at the “rise in hit-and-run incidents in Maharashtra.” He said that the powerful and influential attempt to misuse their status to manipulate the system and such abuse of power will not be tolerated by his government
He also said the guilty will not be spared.
“No one, whether rich, influential, or the offspring of bureaucrats or ministers, affiliated with any party, will have immunity as long as I am the Chief Minister of the State. I have zero tolerance for injustice,” Shinde said in a post on X.
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