FirstUp: Vice President Dhankhar to visit Iran, Tesla's hearing at Delhi HC... Big headlines today

It’s Wednesday and it’s going to be a busy day.

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar will fly to Iran today to pay condolences over the death of President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash.

From EV maker Tesla’s case in Delhi High Court (HC) over trademark infringement to an update on former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren’s bail plea hearing, many prominent cases will come up before courts.

In other news, several regions in Mumbai will face 16-hour long water cuts owing to a maintenance operation.

To bolster Congress’ poll campaign, Rahul Gandhi is expected to hold rallies in Haryana ahead of Phase 6 of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

Here’s a glimpse of what is expected today.

Vice President’s Iran visit

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar will fly to Iran on Wednesday to attend an official ceremony to pay condolences on the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash.

“Vice-President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar will pay a visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran on 22 May to attend official ceremony to pay condolences on the tragic demise of President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other Iranian officials in an unfortunate helicopter crash on 19 May,” a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs said.

President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have conveyed their condolences on the demise of Raisi. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited the embassy of Iran here on Tuesday to convey India’s condolences on the loss.

Tesla Vs Tesla hearing at Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court will hear Elon Musk-led EV maker Tesla’s case in a trademark infringement lawsuit against a Gurugram-based battery maker, Tesla Power India.

During its previous hearing, the court issued a notice to Tesla Power in response to the plea from the US carmaker and prohibited the company from releasing any promotional advertisements that feature EV products using a similar Tesla trademark.

US-based Tesla stated that consumers were mistakenly buying Tesla Power batteries assuming they are associated with Tesla Inc. and registering complaints with them. Meanwhile, the Indian company argued that it does not “at all” have the intention to enter the EV-manufacturing business.

Hearing in Salman Khan’s house firing case

The Bombay HC will hear status reports of the two inquires initiated into the custodial death of one of the shooters in the firing case outside Salman Khan’s house in April.

During the previous hearing, the court asked for an an update on the magisterial and CID probes into the death of Anuj Thapan who allegedly died on 1 May while he was inside the toilet of the Mumbai police crime branch’s lock-up for shooting outside the actor’s house.

While the police claimed that Thapan killed himself, Anuj’s mother Rita Devi filed a petition in the court alleging foul play on 3 May and claimed that her son was killed while in custody. She also sought CBI inquiry into the case.

Mumbai prepares for long water cuts

Residents in several parts of Mumbai, especially those in K East, K West, and P South ward, are bracing themselves for a 16-hour-long water cut on Wednesday after the city’s civic body Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) announced a major maintenance operation.

BMC says that the operation, which will continue until Thursday aims to bolster the city’s water infrastructure for sustained and improved supply in the future.

The civic body’s operation will involve a complete water shutdown as it will work on connecting main water lines and removing old damaged water lines in the city.

Land scam case: SC to hear Soren’s bail plea

The apex court will hear former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s plea challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.

The matter will be heard by the bench of vacation judges Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma for the second day. Soren is also seeking an interim bail to campaign in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Jharkhand is scheduled to go to the polls in the next phases on 20 May, 25 May, and 1 June.

The ED had earlier opposed Soren’s bail plea arguing that campaigning for election while being involved in a case was neither a fundamental, constitutional, nor a legal right.

Rahul Gandhi to hold rallies in Haryana

Congress’ Rahul Gandhi is gearing up to campaign in Haryana today. The Congress leader along with AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge will hold rallies in Dadri, which is part of Bhiwani-Mahendergarh parliamentary constituency, and the grain market of Sonipat. In the evening, he will chair a seminar, ‘Samvidhan Samman Sammean’ at Panchkula.

Yesterday party president Kharge spent the day in Jagadhara, part of the Ambala parliamentary constituency, and in the evening held a presser in Chandigarh.

Haryana will go to polls in the next phase on 25 May to elect 10 parliamentarians to the Lok Sabha.

With inputs from agencies