Morning briefing: UP Dy CM meets JP Nadda amid buzz of rift; heavy rain alert for Kerala, Mumbai, and more
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Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya met Bharatiya Janata Party president JP Nadda on Tuesday – as the party works out its strategy following its poor performance in the Lok Sabha elections – amid his apparent rift with chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Keshav Prasad Maurya made no comments to the media as he left the BJP headquarters in New Delhi following the meeting. Citing BJP sources, news agency PTI reported that JP Nadda was expected to meet Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary, too. While there was no official word on the agenda of the meetings, Keshav Maurya's meeting with JP Nadda was held following his “organisation is always bigger than government” remarks at the state party's extended executive meeting on Sunday. Dig deeper.
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The India Meteorological Department has issued a red alert for multiple districts of Kerala due to the heavy rainfall, with the authorities directing the closure of educational institutes on Wednesday, July 17, across the state. The district administrations of eight districts have ordered the closure of schools and colleges in their respective areas amid a red alert in Kerala. The districts where the holiday has been declared are Kannur, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Palakkad, Thrissur, Idukki, Alappuzha, and Kottayam. This comes after heavy rainfall in these districts caused waterlogged streets, collapsed power lines and swelled rivers. Dig deeper.
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Sports Goings
Gautam Gambhir, who will begin his new role as the head coach of the Indian men's cricket team later this month, paid tribute to the fans of Kolkata Knight Riders in an emotional video posted on social media. The former India opener left the Kolkata franchise earlier this month after inspiring the side to a third IPL title win in May before being named Rahul Dravid's successor in the Indian team. Gambhir recently visited Kolkata to shoot his last video for KKR fans. He visited the iconic Eden Gardens stadium. This development came ahead of the BCCI confirming his appointment as India's head coach. Dig deeper.
Entertainment Focus
Amid rumours of her divorce from Hardik Pandya, Natasa Stankovic packed her suitcase and flew out of Mumbai with their son Agastya. Several pictures and videos of the duo leaving the city early on Wednesday morning emerged on social media platforms. Natasa has also shared photos on her Instagram Stories. In the first picture, Natasa gave a peek of her suitcase, which was being packed with her clothes. She wrote, "It's that time of the year (face holding back tears, plane, home and red heart emojis)." Natasa and Agastya are seemingly flying to her country, Serbia. In another photo, she gave a glimpse of her car as she sat in the driver's seat with her pet dog next to her. She didn't caption the post but added a heart emoji. Dig deeper.
Health and Lifestyle
Radhika Merchant and Anant Ambani travelled to Gujarat's Jamnagar for the first time after tying the knot. The couple received a warm welcome as a big crowd greeted them with a shower of flower petals, rose petals carpet prepared for them, and aarti. After donning the most exquisite ensemble for her wedding, Radhika chose a simple suit set for the occasion. Videos shared by paparazzi pages show Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant getting greeted by a large crowd as they arrive in Jamnagar. A group of women did the newlywed couple's aarti and showered them with blessings. Additionally, a group of dancers performed for Anant and Radhika as they were showered with flower petals while waving to the crowd, who gathered in large numbers to see a glimpse of the couple. Dig deeper.
It's Trending
On its 16th birthday last week, Zomato organised a roast. No, not the kind of roast you eat - Zomato staff and executives got together to listen to a bunch of comedians making jokes at their expense. The no holds barred comedy session was attended by Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal and the CEO of Zomato-owned Blinkit, Albinder Dhindsa, besides other employees. During the roast, comedian Swati Sachdeva took the stage to question Zomato’s ever-increasing extraneous charges, including its platform fee and surge during rainy weather. Dig deeper.