Mumbai, June 5: Shiv Sena(UBT) on Thursday claimed that a strong discontent was brewing in the grand alliance (Mahayuti) government of Maharashtra, and the people were getting “free entertainment” from the inner fight.

Thackeray camp in the party’s mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ editorial said, “No matter which party the government belongs to, those who are dissatisfied in the government have no party. The Mindhe Mandal (Shinde camp) was dissatisfied with Uddhav Thackeray’s government, and now their dissatisfaction continues with the Fadnavis government as well. The root of the disease of dissatisfaction lies in power, greed for position, money, ego and political ambition. There is no cure for this disease of dissatisfaction. Once it takes root, it grows stronger. Let us hope that the dissatisfaction drama in the three parties that is going on in the Fadnavis government should not lead to gang wars from breaking out within the cabinet in the future.”

“The Mindhe group (Shinde camp) in the cabinet is unhappy with Finance Minister Ajit Pawar. Money or ‘funds’ is said to be the main reason for the discontent. In other words, the old disease has once again revived. The same discontent and complaint of the Mindhe group (Shinde camp) were present while breaking the Shiv Sena and toppling the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. It continues. The same root cause of discontent has again bedevilled the ministers of Mindhe. At that time, the people of Mindhe had considered Ajit Pawar a ‘villain’ while being dishonest with the original Shiv Sena,” the editorial said..

“However, instead of going to jail, Ajit Pawar followed in Mindhya’s footsteps, entered the government and became the Finance Minister. Ultimately, all ministries have to look at and depend on the finance ministry for the allocation and release of funds. In a nutshell, many people’s lives were ruined because Ajitdada controls the funds of the government,” claimed the Thackeray camp.

“After the cabinet meeting held last Tuesday, the displeasure of the ministers, who were upset over the lack of funds, erupted. Thereafter, the Mindhe group ministers met and complained against Ajitdada for not releasing funds to their respective departments. They expressed their discontent against Ajitdada in front of their leader, Mindhe (Eknath Shinde). ‘Finance Minister Ajitdada is sabotaging the development works of our department. If the finance department and the finance minister will not give us money, how will we do development works?” asked the disgruntled ministers from the Shinde camp. It is said that Ajitdada was the sole target during the meeting,” said the editorial.

“In the same meeting held last week, Deputy Chief Minister Shinde independently reviewed the functioning of the departments held by the Mindhe group and individually discussed with the concerned ministers to know the present status. The agitated ministers raised a slew of questions, such as how the work will be done for want of funds. If the work is not done, how will we face the elections and what answers will we give to the people?” said the editorial.

Since the nature of the complaint and ‘target’ were the same, Dy CM Shinde attempted to pacify them, assuring that he would find a way out by talking to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Dy CM Ajitdada Pawar.

“In fact, in the Mahayuti government, the Mindhe (Eknath Shinde) himself is being beaten with sticks, and there is no way to bombard this disgruntlement again. So, he was upset and had to go to the native village in Satara and count the strawberries in the fields. As Mindhe (Eknath Shinde) had found a solution to overcome disgruntlement by going to the native village, it is difficult to guess whether he has suggested a similar solution to the disgruntled ministers from his camp,” said the editorial. However, at the end of the day, the people of Maharashtra have to bear the discontent among the ruling partners.

Furthermore, the Thackeray camp claimed that it was not just the Shinde camp but the BJP legislators who met Home Minister Amit Shah and lodged a complaint against Finance Minister Ajitdada Pawar.

“Amit Shah gave his party legislators the ideal mantra of the double engine government, ‘Keep doing work and follow up with Ajitdada so much that he himself should come to me with a complaint’. This is such an interesting drama going on in the grand alliance government in Maharashtra. If Ajit Pawar is bringing the BJP, which has 132 MLAs, and the Mindhe Party formed by Amit Shah to the table, then only Ajit Pawar is happy in this government, and this is a great skill of Ajitdada,” the editorial said.

Athens, June 5: A Greek appeals court has handed down prison sentences to ten individuals for their roles in the 2018 Mati wildfire, the deadliest in modern Greek history.

The devastating blaze tore through the coastal resort town of Mati near Athens, claiming 104 lives and injuring more than 140 others. The tragedy shocked the nation and drew widespread criticism over the failures in emergency response.

Among those convicted were senior officials from the Fire Brigade, as well as regional and municipal authorities. An elderly resident was also found guilty of unintentionally igniting the fire by burning dry vegetation in his yard.

The court ruled on Wednesday that the actions and omissions of those convicted significantly contributed to the magnitude of the disaster, media reported, citing state-run Athens-Macedonian media reports.

The court issued cumulative prison terms ranging from 238 to 340 years. However, under Greek law, the actual time to be served will be substantially reduced. Four individuals are expected to serve up to five years in prison, while others may see their sentences converted to financial penalties.

Emotional scenes unfolded in the courtroom as families of the victims expressed both grief and outrage. Greek public broadcaster ERT reported that some relatives wept openly and confronted the defendants, demanding apologies.

On the evening of July 23, 2018, strong winds rapidly drove flames through the seaside town, turning the popular holiday destination into a deadly inferno within hours. The fire engulfed two coastal communities, scorched more than 14 square kilometres of land, and destroyed or damaged over 3,000 homes.

Washington, June 5: The US military announced the detention of an ISIS leader and the death of two operatives of the terror group during Defeat ISIS (D-ISIS) operations in Iraq and Syria.

“US Central Command (CENTCOM) forces supported six D-ISIS operations, five in Iraq and one in Syria, resulting in the two ISIS operatives killed, two detained, including an ISIS leader, and the recovery of multiple weapons. The operations served to disrupt and degrade ISIS’ ability to reconstitute, plan, organise, and conduct attacks against civilians and US and partner forces in the region,” said US CENTCOM in a statement on X on Thursday.

According to the statement, the US CENTCOM forces supported partner forces in operations in Iraq and Syria from May 21-27 in support of the ongoing D-ISIS campaign.

The Syrian Democratic Forces, enabled by US CENTCOM, conducted a D-ISIS operation near Deir ez-Zur from May 21-22, resulting in the capture of an ISIS operative.

Additionally, the Iraqi forces, enabled by USCENTCOM, conducted D-ISIS operations in northern Iraq, within the Salah al-Din Governorate, Kirkuk Governorate, and Al-Fallujah, from May 21-27, resulting in the clearance and destruction of multiple locations.

The operation led to the confiscation of small arms weapons and munitions, and the recovery of material for further exploitation, while two ISIS operatives were killed in action, and an ISIS leader was captured

“The US and members of the multinational Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) maintain our ongoing commitment to the fight against ISIS,” stated US CENTCOM.

“Operations like these underscore the commitment of USCENTCOM, along with our allies and partners, to the enduring defeat of ISIS in the region,” said Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, US CENTCOM Commander.

In 2014, ISIS declared a “caliphate” after it captured several parts of Iraq and Syria.

Later in late 2017, the Iraqi forces, with the support of international partners, defeated ISIS, which then lost its last territory in Syria two years later.