11:20 #MeToo: Anu Malik asked to step down as ‘Indian Idol 10’ judge:
Veteran music composer Anu Malik, who is under fire for numerous allegations of sexual harassment, has been asked to step down as a judge for “Indian Idol 10”.
After singers Sona Mohapatra and Shweta Pandit accused Malik of sexual harassment, two budding singers levelled similar allegations against him.
According to a source, the music director will no longer be shooting episodes of the singing reality show from Monday onwards.
“In light of the ongoing sexual harassment allegations, Anu Malik, to step down as the judge on Indian Idol. He will not be shooting any further episodes. He will not be shooting from Monday onwards,” the insider said.
A lawyer for the music director Thursday denied the claims against him, saying India’s #MeToo movement is being used for his client’s “character assassination”. Malik has repeatedly denied the allegations.
Noted lyricist Sameer Anjaan also came to Malik’s defence and tweeted that he was present during the time Pandit is talking about but no such incident took place.
Malik has been one of the judges on “Indian Idol”, since the show first aired in 2004.
Vishal Dadlani and Neha Kakkar are the other two judges on the panel currently of the show, which airs on Sony Entertainment Television. — PTI
10:56 PM hoists tricolour at Red Fort on 75th anniversary of Azad Hind govt:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today hoisted the national flag at the Red Fort to mark the 75th anniversary of the ‘Azad Hind government’ headed by Subhas Chandra Bose.
Traditionally, the prime minister hoists the national flag at the Red Fort on Independence Day.
Modi said so many people have scarified their lives for the independence and now it is our duty to maintain it.
“We have reached Swaraj after lakhs of sacrifices. It is our responsibility to maintain this Swaraj with Suraaj,” he said.
The PM further said, “Netaji had promised an India where everyone has equal rights and equal opportunities. He had promised a prosperous nation which was proud of its traditions, development in all areas. He had promised to uproot divide and rule. Even after so many years those dreams remain unfulfilled.”
Modi also talked about his government’s achievements in last four years.
“In last four years, several measures were taken to strengthen the defence. Best technologies were brought to the defence. This government has strength to make big and tough decisions. Be it surgical strike or making the files of Netaji public, decision was taken by our government,” he said.
10:31 Petrol, diesel prices cut for fourth straight day:
Petrol and diesel prices were cut for the fourth straight day Sunday on softening international oil prices, providing some relief to consumers battered by two months of relentless rate hikes.
Petrol price was cut by 25 paise a litre and diesel by 17 paise, according to the price notification of state-owned oil firms.
In Delhi, petrol now costs Rs 81.74 a litre and diesel is priced at Rs 75.19 per litre. In Mumbai, petrol is sold for Rs 87.21 per litre and diesel at Rs 78.82.
Fuel prices have been declining since Thursday as oil companies factored in softening of international rates. In four days, petrol price has been cut by Rs 1.09 per litre and diesel by 50 paise.
State-run oil marketing companies Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd revise fuel prices with effect from 0600 hrs on a daily basis.
The rates were reduced by a minimum Rs 2.50 per litre across the country on October 5, when the government cut excise duty on petrol and diesel.
10:07 Obama kept quite on Russian meddling in 2016 US Prez polls: Trump:
United States President Donald Trump has accused his predecessor Barack Obama of keeping “quiet” on the alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 Presidential elections despite being advised about it by the Federal Bureau of Investigation before the polls.
He was responding to a question on the Russian meddling in the US elections after a rally in Nevada Saturday, ahead of next month’s midterm polls.
Russia has denied the allegations.
“I’ve already said that. I always say this an you’ve heard me say this many times… President Obama was contacted by the FBI in September, long before the election in November, and they told him there may be meddling by the Russians, and he did nothing about it, because he thought Hillary Clinton would win,” Trump told reporters.
He said the present government has taken adequate steps to “protect” the upcoming elections.
“He (Obama) did nothing. He didn’t lift a finger, he didn’t spend a dime. We’ve done a lot to protect the elections coming up very shortly.
“But president Obama, people don’t want to bring it up. The ‘fake news’ don’t want to bring it up. President Obama was told in September by the FBI that there could be problems with Russian meddling,” Trump said.
He also said the Russian meddling in the 2016 Presidential elections did not have to do anything with his campaign then.
“It had nothing to do with my campaign. All of the hackers, and everybody that you see, nothing to do with my campaign. If they are hackers, a lot of them probably liked Hillary Clinton better than me. Now they do. Now they do,” he said.
“The good thing is, every single report, Sen. Richard Burr, head of the Senate intelligence, they said, ‘Did you see any collusion? No collusion. I’ve seen no collusion whatsoever.’ Very strong. Couldn’t be stronger.
“But the good news is it never affected, whatever did take place, never affected the vote,” Trump said.
He said, “Everybody agrees to that. Never affected the vote. The candidate affected the vote. The bad candidate. She should have gone to Wisconsin. She should have gone more to North Carolina; Pennsylvania; Michigan, Florida.”
Clinton should have gone out a little bit more and worked a little bit harder. “That affected the vote”, Trump said. — PTI
10:04 Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays tribute to the policemen killed in an ambush by Chinese troops in 1959 in Ladakh’s Hot Spring area, on National Police Memorial Day today.
09:37 Trump opposes halting Saudi arms deal after journalist death:
President Donald Trump has said the United States will get to the bottom of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi case and asserted he would not like to scrap an arms deal with Riyadh, amid a global outrage over the dissident scribe’s death.
Saudi Arabia in a statement Saturday said Khashoggi, 60, died following a “fistfight” at its consulate in Istanbul on October 2, without disclosing any details on the whereabouts of his body.
“It is something that we don’t like. It’s very serious stuff. And we’re going to get to the bottom of it and will make that determination,” Trump told reporters in Nevada on Saturday.
His comment came when asked about his previous statement that he would be considering severe consequences for Saudi Arabia following the journalist’s death.
Trump also said the Congress would have a role to play in it.”We’ll have very much Congress involved in determining what to do,” he said.
Responding to a question, the US president indicated that he would not like to scrap an arms deal with Saudi Arabia.
“It’s over a million jobs; that’s not helpful for us to cancel an order like that. That hurts us far more than it hurts them… but there are other things that could be done, including sanctions,” he told reporters. — PTI
09:10 Ethiopian Belihu wins Delhi Half Marathon men’s race:
Ethiopian teenager Andamalak Belihu overcame stiff competition from compatriot Amdework Walelegn in the men’s elite field to win his maiden Airtel Delhi Half Marathon on Sunday.
The 19-year-old Belihu, who finished second last year, improved on his personal best timing to clock 59:18 seconds. However, he was unable to break the course record of 59.06sec which still stands in the name of Ethiopia’s Guye Adola, set in 2014.
Walelegn clinched the silver, ending the race with a time of 59:22 seconds, while Kenya’s Daniel Kipchumba grabbed the third spot clocking 59:48 seconds.
Among the Indians, Abhishek Pal was the best-placed, clocking 1:04:14seconds. Avinash Sable grabbed the silver with a timing of 1:04:14, while Gopi T claimed the third spot on the podium with 1:04:15s. — PTI
09:06 Amritsar tragedy: Locals demand action against train driver:
The situation remained tense on Sunday as locals continued with their sit-in at Joda phatak in Amritsar where 59 people were mowed down by a train.
The locals had started protesting Saturday, raising slogans against the state government and demanding action against the train’s driver, a day after the accident.
Police said locals are sitting on railway tracks and do not want to leave.
“We hope that the normalcy will be restored in the area by Sunday evening as the number of protestors have come down since Saturday,” a senior police officer said.
The Punjab Police has deployed its personnel, including commandoes, to manage the crowd. The Rapid Action Force is also present in the Joda Patak area.
The district administration has said out of 59 people who were mowed down by the speeding Jalandhar-Amritsar train Friday, 40 have been identified.
The process of identifying the other persons is underway, it said.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who visited the accident site Saturday, has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident. — PTI
Image: Local people gather at the scene of the accident along train tracks in Amritsar on Saturday, October 20. Photograph: PTI Photo
08:54 Encounter underway in J-K’s Kulgam:
An encounter is currently underway between terrorists and the security forces in Larro area of Kulgam district of South Kashmir.
One or two terrorists are believed to be holed up in a house.
The encounter comes two days after two terrorists were gunned down when they tried to attack the police in Kralhaar area of Baramulla district in north Kashmir.
The police recovered two AK-47 rifles with Under Barrel Grenade Launcher, three grenades, two Chinese pistols and other weapons from their possession. — ANI
08:16 Trump says US to pull out of nuclear arms treaty with Russia:
United States President Donald Trump on Saturday confirmed that the US will be pulling out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a nuclear deal signed between Washington and Moscow during the Cold War.
“We’re going to terminate the agreement and we’re going to pull out. We’ll have to develop those weapons,” The Hill quoted Trump, as saying.
Trump further claimed that Russia has been violating the treaty and has not adhered to the agreement.
The INF was signed in 1986 between former US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev and allows the US to counter Chinese efforts to accumulate arms in the Pacific.
It, however, prevents Washington from deploying new weapons in response.
A nuclear strategy document from the Trump administration, which was accessed by The Hill, noted that Russia’s decision to violate the INF Treaty and other commitments was a clear indication of the fact that Russia has “rebuffed repeated US efforts to reduce the salience, role, and the number of nuclear weapons.”
The US’ withdrawal from the treaty comes a week ahead of National Security Adviser John Bolton’s trip to Moscow to meet with top Russian officials. — ANI
Source: Rediff