13:03 Will criticise PM Modi, but won’t disrespect him: Rahul Gandhi in Gujarat:
The Congress will criticise Prime Minister Narendra Modi but it will not “disrespect” him, said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in an election speech in Gujarat on Sunday.
“Whatever we do, spot Modi’s faults or disturb BJP, we won’t disrespect the prime minister’s position. When Modi ji was in opposition he used to speak with disrespect about the PM. That is the difference between us and them, no matter what Modi says about us we’ll not go beyond certain point as he is PM,” Gandhi said.
The Congress vice president was referring to the BJP’s attacks on Manmohan Singh’s tenure as prime minister of the UPA government.
Gandhi, who is touring north Gujarat, alleged that the BJP’s development plan in the state has floundered. “We speak the truth aur ye sach hai ke Gujarat mein vikas pagal hogaya hai,” he said (The Congress speaks the truth and the truth is that development has gone mad in Gujarat.)
Gujarat votes for assembly elections on December 9 and December 14.
The Election Commission of India will hold a pre-poll preparedness review meeting with Chief Electoral Officers of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura at New Delhi tomorrow, officials said here today.
“At the meeting tomorrow, the EC will review the preparedness of these poll-bound states on the use of the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail machines and also discuss the launch of BLO-net in these states,” Meghalaya Chief Electoral Officer F R Kharkongor said.
All 3082 polling booths in the 60 constituencies in the state will implement the VVPAT or VPR (Verifiable Paper Record), a method of providing feedback to voters to verify that the vote polled by a voter goes to the correct candidate/party, he said.
12:22 Padmavati should not be released: Udaipur royal writes to PM Modi:
MK Vishvaraj Singh, a royal member of Udaipur’s Mewar, penned a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Union Ministers, Central Board of Film Certification chief Prasoon Joshi and others, requesting them to withhold the certification and release of the Sanjay Leela Bhansali directorial ‘Padmavati’.
Information and Broadcasting minister Smriti Irani, Human Resource and Development Minister Prakash Javadekar, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and Superintendents of Police were also mentioned in the recipient list.
“You are requested not to certify or permit the release of the film in its present form,” Singh urged, adding, “It is the responsibility of the Government to safeguard the history of our country and the dignity of its citizens”.
Singh said that he doubts the accuracy of historical facts in `Padmavati` as it is reportedly based on Padmawat, an imagery poetry of the Sufi poet which also includes thinking and talking parrots.
He pointed out that the moviemakers have not come up with a “well established and accepted historical source” and such errors could not be pointed out if the screening is done now.
On the argument that one cannot judge a film until it has been seen, Singh said the first song `Ghoomar` alone displays an incorrect portrayal of Rani Padmavati.
“If the film professes to be history and its maker goes on record to claim that he has kept in mind cultural sensitivities, it is an artistic and historical fraud to portray an incorrectly attired courtesan-like painted doll in the song as the very `queen` the film purports to pay obeisance to,” he wrote.
The royal member raised concerns about the effect of the movie on the future generation, who will see a distorted history of Mewar.”Allowing our history and culture to be misrepresented in such a manner before the public does make one question the ability and intentions of the Government,” he said.
— ANI
11:57 ‘Gauri Lankesh killers will 100% be caught in a few weeks’:
The killers of senior journalist Gauri Lankesh, who was shot dead in an audacious attack in Bengaluru over two months ago, will 100 per cent” be caught in a few weeks, Karnataka Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy said.
Reddy said the Special Investigation Team probing the killing had clues about the assailants, but those could not be disclosed at the moment.
“Who has done it…I am aware of it thanks to an update provided by the SIT. But I cannot disclose it now,” Reddy said.
“Gauri’s killers will 100 per cent be caught. This will happen in a few weeks,” he added.
The minister, however, clarified, “Weeks do not mean one or two weeks. It (the arrest of the killers) will happen in a matter of a few weeks. This will happen 100 per cent.”
Gauri Lankesh, known to be an anti-establishment voice with strident anti-right wing views, was shot dead at close range by unidentified men outside her home in Bengaluru on the night of September 5.
Congress candidate Nilanshu Chaturvedi was leading by 15,000 votes over his nearest BJP rival Shankar Dayal Tripathi at the end of the seventh round of counting in Chitrakoot assembly bypoll in Madhya Pradesh.
The counting of votes polled in the November 9 by-election began at around 8 am amid tight security.
Chaturvedi was leading by 15,000 votes over Tripathi at the end of the seventh round of counting, an election official said.
Around 65 per cent voting was recorded in the bypoll necessitated following the death of sitting Congress MLA Prem Singh.
Singh had won the assembly constituency, bordering Uttar Pradesh, in the 1998, 2003 and 2013 elections.
However, he had lost the seat to BJP’s Surendra Singh Gaharwar in the 2008 polls.
Though 12 candidates contested the by-election, the main fight was between Chaturvedi and Tripathi.
— PTI
10:52 34 trains delayed, 8 cancelled due to Delhi smog: The morning haze, marked by a persistent smog, in the national capital delayed 34 trains, while 21 were rescheduled and eight cancelled.
The minimum temperature dropping to 13C, a MeT department official said.
High humidity level at 98 per cent contributed to the smog, the official said. The wind was calm. The minimum temperature was a notch below the average for the season.
Light rain is expected on November 14-15 which might intensify the fog but could clear the smog, the official said. — ANI
10:15 Delhi: Smog continues, but air quality improving slowly: A thick layer of smog continued to blanket the national capital and its adjoining region on Sunday even as reports claimed that the air quality was slowly, but steadily, improving.
The city’s Air Quality Index has been in the range of 700 to 1,000, making it difficult for people in the state to even breathe.
On Sunday morning, PM 10 level in Delhis Lodhi Road area was at 560, PM 2.5 at 625. In Noida, PM 10 levels at 551, PM 2.5 levels were at 541. All fell in the ‘severe’ category.
One of the residents of the city told ANI, “It is tough to breath and the situation needs to be fixed.”
As the pollution has hit 70 times the World Health Organisation’s safe limit, doctors have suggested people to wear N90 masks whenever they go out, as exposure to air pollution can lead to cancer and heart disease.
Taking cognisance of it, people at the historical India Gate were seen wearing masks.
A jogger at the India Gate, Shubhankar Tomar, told ANI, “Today the fog is back. Yesterday, there was not much. The government should take an initiative to resolve this deadly situation.”
Another jogger said, “We are facing breathing problems now. We are taking precautions to protect ourselves from respiratory problems.” — ANI
09:31 PM leaves for Manila to attend ASEAN summit: Prime Minister Narendra Modi departed for a three-day visit to Philippines, on early Sunday morning, to attend the 15th Association of South East Asian Nations India summit and the 12th East Asia Summit in Manila on November 14.
On November 13, the prime minister will attend the ASEAN business and investment summit.Prime Minister Modi will also hold a bilateral meeting with the President of Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, who is also the current chair of the ASEAN.
He will also participate in special celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of ASEAN.
On November 14, he will attend the regional comprehensive economic partnership meeting in Manila, endeavouring to further enhance India’s trade and investment ties with ASEAN member states, which constitute a significant over 10 per cent of India’s external trade.
In Manila, the PM will meet some of the other world leaders, who are participating in the East Asia summit.
He will also visit the international rice research institute and the Mahavir Philippines Foundation. — ANI
08:15 Mumbai cops tow car with woman breastfeeding baby inside: Mumbai traffic cops towed a car while a woman was breastfeeding her seven-month-old baby inside it.
A video of the incident, which took place in suburban Malad on Friday, is doing the rounds on social media.
In the video, the woman can be seen sitting inside the car with her baby while the traffic cops are towing it.
The video shows that the policemen did not stop and continued speaking on the mobile phone even after the onlookers protested and warned that something untoward could happen to both the woman and the child.
The woman alleged that she pleaded with the traffic policemen to stop but they did not listen to her and appeared unconcerned.
Talking to media, the woman named Jyoti Male said, “The policemen towing the car did not even for once ask me to get down, even when I told them that I am breastfeeding my baby they still did not stop.”
Male further said that she had showed her medical prescription to the policemen saying she was unwell but they did not stop.
She also demanded apology from the cops for their act. — ANI
Photograph: ANI
Source: Rediff