Cyclone ‘Montha’ triggered heavy rains and strong winds across several districts, in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The IMD confirmed that Montha intensified into a severe cyclonic storm early on Tuesday morning.
Cyclone ‘Montha’ is very likely to cross the Andhra Pradesh coast later this evening with expected maximum wind speed of 90-100 kmph gusting to 110 kmph.
Rahul Gandhi to skip Mahagathbandhan’s Bihar manifesto release
Shifting focus - with just a few days left for Bihar’s assembly elections - the opposition’s Mahgathbandhan will release its manifesto later this evening. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, however, will not be present as he is expected to address public rallies in Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the ruling NDA is giving final touches to its manifesto which is likely to be released on Nov 1.
At least 2 people killed in Jaipur bus fire tragedy
In other news - at least 2 people were killed with over a dozen more injured after a private bus caught fire in Jaipur’s Manoharpur area on Tuesday. According to reports, the bus was transporting brick labourers when it came in contact with a hanging live wire and was immediately engulfed in flames.
Tata Trusts power struggle takes a surprising turn
Meanwhile, the Tata Trusts power struggle took a surprising turn after Noel Tata, Venu Srinivasan, and Vijay Singh reportedly voted against extending Mehli Mistry's trusteeship.
For context - the nonprofit and philanthropic group collectively owns about 66% of Tata Sons.
If the vote to remove Mistry stands, he will be ejected from the board. Many business analysts are hoping for a swift end to the power struggle as it could undermine the stability of the ₹25 lakh crore worth Tata Group.
Sudan army withdraws from Darfur’s el-Fasher
And from Africa - Sudan’s military chief has confirmed the army’s withdrawal from its last western stronghold of el-Fasher. This after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) declared control of the city.
In a televised address, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said he had approved the withdrawal after agreeing with local leaders to ‘leave and go to a safe place to protect the remaining citizens’.
The RSF, though, have denied accusations they were killing civilians.
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