15:53 62 Naxals surrender in Chhattisgarh, Rajnath terms it ‘huge achievement’: Sixty-two “hardcore Naxals” surrendered before security forces in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, police in the poll-bound state said, a development Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh described as a “huge achievement”.
Of the 62 Naxals, 55 surrendered with their arms and ammunition in Narayanpur district, Inspector General of Police (Bastar) Vivekanand Sinha told PTI.
The home minister said the success of the government’s surrender policy was pushing Naxal cadres to shun the path of violence. “…I congratulate the State Chief Minister @drramansingh the DGP and the police force for this huge achievement,” he tweeted soon after the surrender.
Polling for the 90-seat Chhattisgarh Assembly is scheduled to be held in two phases – on November 12 for 18 seats and on November 20 for 72 constituencies. Most of the constituencies in the first phase fall in the state’s Bastar region. — PTI
15:21 PM Modi to visit Kedarnath on Diwali: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will Wednesday visit Kedarnath on the occasion of Diwali to offer prayers at the Himalayan shrine and review Kedarpuri reconstruction projects. The prime minister will arrive at around 9.45 am, Chief Secretary Utpal Kumar Singh said, adding that after offering prayers at the temple, Modi will inspect the reconstruction projects underway at Kedarpuri. He will also be shown a video at the guest house within the temple premises to apprise him about the progress of the projects at the township, Singh said further.
The foundation stone of Kedarpuri reconstruction projects was laid by Modi during his visit to the temple last year. Snowfall in the higher reaches of the mountains of Uttarakhand has enhanced the beauty of the temple and its surroundings.
All preparations have been made in view of the prime minister’s visit with the road from the helipad to the temple totally cleared of snow, Singh said.
Several new features including a meditation cave 400 metres above Kedarnath will greet Modi during his visit this time. Built at a secluded spot 400 metres above the shrine, the cave will be shown to the prime minister from a distance as he is not scheduled to go there, Rudraprayag District Magistrate Mangesh Ghildiyal said. — PTI
File picture of PM Modi at Kedarnath.
15:01 Bombay HC refuses urgent hearing of Pahlaj Nihalani’s plea against CBFC : The Bombay High Court’s vacation bench on Tuesday refused to urgently hear Pahlaj Nihalani’s plea against Central Board of Film Certification’s suggestion of approximately 20 cuts in his upcoming production ‘Rangeela Raja’.
The former CBFC chairman will now mention his plea before the court again on November 12.Nihalani has claimed that the cuts suggested for his film were completely illogical and meaningless.
“There is no vulgarity, no double meaning dialogues. Still I’ve been asked to delete a massive number of dialogues and scenes,” he had told ANI on Monday.
The producer had also alleged that the censor body did not give a timely review to his upcoming production, while multi-starrer ‘Thugs Of Hindostan’ was given preference by the film body as chairman Prasoon Joshi is friends with Aamir Khan.
“My film was reviewed 40 days after applying. I was going to release my film on November 8. Thugs of Hindostan had applied 20 days after me. However, Prasoon Joshi who is good friends with Aamir Khan so he gave preference to his movie before my film,” said Nihalani.
He had also stated that the CBFC did not follow the set guidelines for reviewing a film within 21 days of the makers approaching the board.
With ‘Rangeela Raja’, Nihalani is reuniting with Bollywood actor Govinda after 25 years. They have earlier worked together in films including ‘Ilzaam’, ‘Shola Aur Shabnam’ and ‘Aankhen’.
Govinda’s comeback film, ‘Rangeela Raja’ also stars Shakti Kapoor, Digangana Suryavanshi, Mishika Chourasia, and Anupama Agnihotri. It is scheduled to hit the big screens on November 16.
As the former censor board chairman, Nihalani had faced flak for objecting to the word ‘intercourse’ in the promo of Anushka Sharma and Shah Rukh Khan starrer ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’ and also for refusing to clear the women-centric film ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha’. — ANI
14:53 Bhima Koregaon case: Three accused sent to jail for 14 days: Sudha Bhardwaj, Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves, all three accused in Bhima Koregaon violence case have been sent to judicial custody for 14 days by Pune Sessions Court. One of the accused, Arun Ferreira, alleged in court that he was beaten up during custodial interrogation. He said on 4th Nov during interrogation he was slapped about 8-10 times by police officials and that on 5th November he was taken to hospital as well. They had been arrested by the Pune City police on August 28 in connection with the Elgaar Parishad case, for their alleged links with the banned CPI-Maoist.
Image: Vernon Gonsalves with his wife and son immediately before he was arrested in August.
14:32 Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy says the BJP is offering around Rs 25 to 30 crore to some Congress and JD(S) MLAs but they will never be able to poach them.
14:17 Win will not make us arrogant: Kumaraswamy:
HD Kumaraswamy holds a press conference on emphatic endorsement of the alliance in the Karnataka. The Congress-JD(S) alliance won 4 out of 5 seats in the Karnataka bypolls: Bellary, Mandya, Ramanagaram and Jamkhandi went to the alliance, while BJP won the Shimoga Lok Sabha seat.
“This elections was the first step. There are 28 LS seats, we’ll work with Congress to win all of them, that is our goal. This is not an empty boast just because we have won today. This is the confidence of people in us. This win is not making us arrogant.”
ON Tipu Sultan centenary celebrations: “I never said do or don’t celebrate Tipu Jayanti. All I had said was there are many communities in the country, people want to celebrate Jayantis of their leaders. If they (BJP) don’t like to be part of the celebrations, there is no need to participate.”
13:45 Results reflect disenchatment of people: Cong on K’taka : Karnataka Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao claimed the results reflected the disenchantment of people with the BJP. “Look at the margins…it’s clear that people are fed up with the BJP. This anti-people, anti-farmer, anti-women government at the Centre must go.
“All forces need to come together to take on the BJP. BJP will be wiped out of Karnataka in 2019 (Lok Sabha polls). If it is wiped out in Karnataka, it will be wiped out in the entire south India,” he said.
13:42 Cong-JD-S wins Karnataka, sets the tone for 2019 : IN what could be a harbinger for the 2019 general elections, a coalition of the Congress and the JD-S in Karnataka emerged victorious in a four seats out of five in the bypolls. In fact, the Congress win in a BJP constituency of Ballari, is a huge push for the alliance.
Ramanagara and Mandya went to the JD-S, while Jamkhandi and Ballari went to the Congress. BY Raghavendra was the facesaver for the BJP with a win in the Shimoga parliamentary seat with a margin of 52148 votes.
JD(S) leader & Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy congratulated the Congress leaders in the state and at the Centre. “I also congratulate JDS state leaders and workers who worked towards this win. BJP calls JDS-Congress coalition ‘Apavitra Maitri’, today that contention has been nullified.”
12:22 Winners, losers in the Karnataka bypolls:
Ramanagara (Assembly seat)
Anita Kumaraswamy (winner) of JD-S versus BJP’s L Chandrashekhar
Jamkhandi (Assembly seat)
Congress’s Anand Nyamagowda (winner) versus BJP’s Kulkarni Shrikant Subrao
Shivamogga (Lok Sabha seat)
Former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa’s son B Y Raghavendra (leads) versus ex-chief minister S Bangarappa’s son Madhu Bangarappa of the JD-S. Janata Parivar veteran and former chief minister J H Patel’s son Mahima J Patel is also in the fray as a JD-U candidate.
Mandya (Lok Sabha seat)
JD-S’s Shivarame Gowda (winner) versus Dr Siddaramaiah of the BJP.
Ballari (Lok Sabha seat)
V S Ugrappa of the Congress (winner) was pitted against senior BJP leader Sriramulu’s sister J Shantha.
11:31 Cong celebrates Bellary win : Karnataka: Congress workers celebrate outside the counting station in Bellary. Congress’ candidate VS Ugrappa won the parliamentary seat.
11:19 Harini Calamur @calamur Just a reminder Abhijit Iyer Mitra is in prison on Diwali. for cracking a joke. let that sink in. 15 days of lock up for cracking a joke.
11:01 Karnataka bypolls:
BJP’s BY Raghavendra leads by 32563 votes in Shimoga, INC’s VS Ugrappa leads by 151060 votes in Bellary and JD’s LR Shivaramegowda leads by 76952 votes in Mandya.
10:41 Leads and wins in Karnataka : Karnataka bypolls:
Here’s how the wind blows:
Ballari: The Congress is leading. V S Ugrappa leads by 84,257 over BJP’s J Shantha
Mandya: Coalition partner Janata Dal (Secular) is leading. JD(S)’ Shivarame Gowda leads over BJP’s Siddaramaiah.
Ramanagara and Jamkhandi: The JD(S)-Congress coalition leading.
Two wins already for the Cong-JD-S coalition government in Ramanagaram and Jamkhandi.
10:32 K’taka bypolls: Kumaraswamy’s wife wins, Yeddy’s son leads :
JDS’s Anitha Kumaraswamy, the chief minister’s wife, has won over BJP’s L Chandrashekhar in Ramanagaram assembly seat.
Congress’s Anand Siddu Nyamagouda wins over BJP’s Kulkarni Shrikant Subrao in the Jamkhandi assembly seat.
BJP’s BY Raghavendra leads over JDS’s S Madhubangarappa in Shimoga parliamentary seat.
Congress’s VS Ugrappa leads over BJP’s J Shantha by 45808 votes in Bellary parliamentary seat.
JD-S leading by 1,09,066 votes over BJP in Mandya parliamentary seat.
Image: Anitha Kumaraswamy with her husband Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy.
10:02 Thick smog in Delhi before Diwali, pollution over 20 times safe limit:
The residents of Delhi woke up to a thick blanket of smog this morning amid warnings by weather officials of falling air quality in the national capital.
The levels of the pollutant PM2.5 was at a “hazardous” 644 or over 20 times the safe limit prescribed by the WHO at south Delhi’s Okhla, according to data from the Delhi Pollution Control Board. PM2.5 are fine particles that can penetrate the lungs and cause respiratory diseases.
Visibility on the roads was low this morning, as against Sunday when air quality significantly improved due to increased wind speed and control measures implemented by the government.
09:45 2 Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists killed in encounter in J-K:
Two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists, including an army deserter, were on Tuesday killed in an encounter with security forces in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.
Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Safanagri area of Zainapora of south Kashmir in the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday after receiving credible inputs about the presence of terrorists in the area, a police spokesperson said.
He said as the search operation was going on, the hiding terrorists fired on the search party of the forces.
The spokesperson said the forces retaliated the fire, leading to an encounter in which two terrorists were killed.
The slain ultras have been identified as Mohammad Idrees Sultan alias Chota Abrar, a resident of Safanagri Shopian and Amir Hussain Rather alias Abu Sobaan, a resident of Awneera Shopian.
The spokesperson said Sultan was a deserter from the Indian Army and had joined the terrorist ranks in April this year.
“No collateral damage took place during the operation,” he said.
Incriminating materials, including arms and ammunition, were seized from the site of the encounter, he said.
— PTI
09:13 Probably no meeting with Vladimir Putin in Paris: Trump:
US President Donald Trump said that he is “not sure” of having a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Paris, where the two leaders are scheduled to attend World War I commemorations later this week.
However, they would be meeting at G-20 summit in Argentina which is scheduled for November 30 and December 1, he said, adding there are possibilities of other meetings soon.
To a question on a meeting between him and the Russian president, Trump said, “We haven’t set anything up yet. We don’t know if that is going to be the right place. I’m going to be in Paris for other reasons.”
Earlier it was reported that he and Putin would meet in Paris later this week.
“But we’ll be meeting at the G-20 and probably will have meetings after that. Probably plenty of meetings. Getting along with Russia, China, and all of them would be a good thing. I’ve said it for a long time,” he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington on Monday before leaving on a campaign trail for the mid-term polls.
“So, we’ll have plenty of meetings, but I’m not sure we’ll have a meeting in Paris. Probably not,” Trump said.
— PTI
08:38 Cameraman injured in protests at Sabarimala over reports of woman’s entry:
A video journalist was injured after protesting devotees targeted media persons at Sabarimala Tuesday morning. Hundreds of protesters gathered at Sannidhanam or the inner courtyard after a woman devotee, suspected to be in the menstrual age, tried to enter the temple.
The police have confirmed that the devotee is 52-year-old Lalitha, from Thrissur, who had come to the temple with her son. The two were escorted to the temple by the police. “I am not afraid, I want darshan of Lord Ayyappa,” Lalitha told reporters.
The Sabarimala shrine opened yesterday for the second time in three weeks for a two-day special puja amid unprecedented security over fear of protests by those opposing the Supreme Court’s order allowing women of all age groups into the temple.
No woman in the age group of 10-50 years have yet been able to visit Sabarimala temple since the top court’s order on September 28.
The temple town has virtually turned into a fortress with hundreds of police personnel, including armed commandos, deployed in large numbers. Surveillance cameras and mobile phone jammers were also installed.
08:12 North Korea’s Kim Jong-un likely to visit Russia this month:
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is likely to pay a visit to Russia this month, South Korea’s top diplomat said on Monday.
Woo Yoon-keun, the South Korean ambassador to Russia, said that although North Korea and Russia may not have reached an agreement on Kim’s visit, the trip could happen by this month ” in consideration of several circumstances”, Yonhap News Agency reported.
“Russia has asked for Kim’s visit within this year and expects it to happen. But North Korea seems to be weighing the time and place while looking into the agenda and possible agreement with Russia,” Woo said.
In May, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had delivered a letter from Russian President Vladimir Putin to Kim in Pyongyang inviting the latter to attend the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok or pay a separate visit to Russia.
Recently, officials from both the countries made trips to North Korea and Russia, leading to speculations that Kim is planning to embark on a visit to Russia in November or December and meet Putin.
Earlier, the Russian government had confirmed that the two leaders will have a summit this year.
— ANI
07:53 Congress-JD-S coalition in Karnataka faces litmus test in bypolls:
The results for three Lok Sabha and two assembly constituencies in Karnataka that Saturday went to the bypolls, seen as a prestigious popularity test for the ruling Congress-JDS coalition, will be declared today.
An estimated 67 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the bypolls for five constituencies.
A total of 31 candidates were in the fray from all the five constituencies, though the contest is mainly between the Congress-JDS combine and the BJP.
The bypoll results will determine the fate of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s wife Anita Kumaraswamy, state BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa’s son B Y Raghavendra and former Chief Minister S Bangarappa’s son Madhu Bangarappa and others.
Among the interesting things that one needs to watch out for is to what extent BJP would be able to make inroads into the JD-S bastion of Mandya and the Congress stronghold of Jamkhandi.
Of similar interest would be to what extent the Congress will be able to regain its significance in its erstwhile party stronghold of Ballari, the seat earlier won by its top leader Sonia Gandhi.
The outcome of the bypolls is expected to have a bearing on the equations between the Congress and JD-S for the 2019 polls and also be a factor in determining the respective bargaining power of the two parties.
The bypolls were seen as significant as the coalition partners contested together, terming it as a “prelude” to the May 2019 general elections and called for a similar “grand secular alliance” against the BJP at the national level.
— PTI
00:30 Nihalani moves HC against censor cuts in his forthcoming film:
Former censor board chief
and filmmaker Pankaj Nihalani moved the Bombay high court on Monday against
a Central Board of Film Certification order directing 20 cuts in his soon-to-release production
venture, Rangeela Raja.
Nihalani, in his petition, said the
suggestion of the CBFC was
unjustified and uncalled for as he firmly believed that the film was not
vulgar in any manner.
The filmmaker also hit out at the present
head of the CBFC, Prasoon Joshi, and said he was ‘politically
motivated’.
He further alleged that when a film was submitted for
certification, the screening committee of the board took about 21 days
to decide.
However, in this case, it took 40 days.
On November 2,
the committee passed an order, asking for various cuts to be made in
the film.
The petition is likely to come up for hearing on Tuesday
before a vacation bench of the high court.
Nihalani’s tenure as
CBFC chief was marred with controversies as various flmmakers had
accused him of asking for arbitrary cuts in their films, leading to him
being replaced by Joshi.
With Rangeela Raja, Nihalani re-unites
with actor Govinda after 25 years.
They have earlier worked together in
films like Ilzaam, Shola Aur Shabnam and Aankhen. — PTI
Source: Rediff