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LIVE! SC expresses displeasure over leak of CBI director’s confidential reply

11:46  SC expresses displeasure over leak of CBI director’s confidential reply:  The Supreme Court Tuesday expressed strong displeasure over the leak of CBI Director Alok Kumar Verma’s confidential reply in the media and adjourned the hearing in his case to November 29.

The response was filed by Verma and submitted to the secretary general in a sealed cover on Monday. A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices SK Kaul and KM Joseph handed over to senior advocate Fali S Nariman, appearing for Verma, the copy of a report by a news portal, which has published the CBI director’s response.

Nariman after going through the media report told the bench that he was “shattered” and “shocked” on Verma’s reply being leaked in the media.

The senior lawyer said the news portal and its journalists concerned be summoned as the press should be free and responsible. The court was hearing Verma’s plea against govt’s decision to divest him of duties and sending him on leave. — PTI

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11:16  Crime thriller ‘Chowkidar hi chor’ being run in Delhi: Rahul :  Intensifying his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that a crime thriller by the name of ‘Chowkidar hi chor’ is being played in the national capital.

The Gandhi scion’s comments come after the Reserve Bank of India on Monday held a crucial board meeting yesterday.

Gandhi tweeted in Hindi, which roughly translates to, “In Delhi, a crime thriller by the name of ‘Chowkidar hi chor’ is being played. In its latest episode, the Central Bureau of Investigation’s DIG has put serious charges against a minister, NSA, law secretary and cabinet secretary. On the other hand, his partner from Gujarat is taking away crores of money. The officers are tired. Trust is broken. Democracy is crying.”

On Monday, Indian Police Service officer Manish Kumar Sinha, who was leading the team probing the CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana’s case, moved Supreme Court against his transfer to Nagpur and pleaded a Special Investigation Team probe into the case.

Sinha alleged that he was unjustly transferred to Nagpur in the wee hours of October 24 as his investigation was leading towards certain influential people. His application terms the transfer “arbitrary, motivated and malafide” and one that is made “solely with the purpose and intent to victimise the officer as the investigation revealed cogent evidence against certain powerful persons.” — PTI

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10:55  Chhattisgarh polls: Ajit Jogi casts his vote :  Janta Congress Chhattisgarh President Ajit Jogi and his son Amit Jogi cast their votes at a polling booth in Pendra. 12.54% voting recorded till 10 am in the second phase of voting with polling being held in 72 seats. A total of 1079 candidates are
contesting in the 72 constituencies of 19 districts in the state with an
electorate of 1,54,00,596.

In the first phase of the Chhattisgarh polling on November 12, voting was held in 18 out of 90 seats.

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10:47  Deepika, Ranveer head to Bengaluru for wedding reception :  
Newly-weds Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh on Tuesday jetted off to Bengaluru where the couple will host a wedding reception on November 21.

DeepVeer, as they are called, were spotted at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in the morning. The couple looked happy as they posed for the media outside the airport.

Deepika looked resplendent in a beige anarkali and sported a choora and also wore sindoor. The ‘Simmba’ star, on the other hand, donned a white kurta pajama which he teamed with a floral Nehru jacket.

After the wedding reception in Bengaluru, the couple will host another reception in Mumbai at The Grand Hyatt on November 28, which will be attended by their industry friends.

The invite of the Mumbai reception reads, “Please join us at a reception to celebrate the wedding of our son Ranveer and Deepika.”

Also see the pictures from their Lake Como wedding.

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10:15  KCR’s son, daughter-in-law own total assets worth over Rs 40 crore :   Telangana caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s son KT Rama Rao and daughter-in-law own total assets of over Rs 40 crore, revealed the electoral affidavit submitted by Rama Rao while filing the nomination for ensuing Assembly election.

Rama Rao, commonly known as KTR filed his nomination from the Siricilla constituency and submitted the affidavit to the election authorities on Monday.

KTR’s wife K Shailima is richer than him as the Telangana IT Minister, in his affidavit mentioned that his wife owns assets worth over Rs 35.98 crore while he has assets worth Rs 4.93 crore. According to the affidavit, the total value of KTR movable assets stood at Rs 3.63 crore and immovable assets at Rs. 1.3 crore while his wife’s total movable assets stood at more than Rs. 27 crore and immovable assets at Rs. 6.66 crore. Her inherited assets mentioned in the affidavit were worth Rs. 2.32 crore.

KTR also declared in his affidavit that his total income and agricultural income stood at Rs 14.57 lakh and Rs. 59.85 lakh per annum respectively while his wife’s total income is Rs 3.55 crore and agriculture income is Rs 24. 65 lakh.

The affidavit also revealed that KTR owns only one car while his father Chandrasekhar Rao does not have any vehicle. He also mentioned in the affidavit that his liabilities are Rs 33.28 while that of his wife is Rs 27.39 crore.

According to the affidavit, there were 16 pending cases against KTR which were registered during the Telangana agitation. KTR also mentioned that he was convicted in one case and was later released. — ANI


10:08  Sensex drops over 100 points on global selloff, profit-booking:  The benchmark BSE Sensex fell over 100 points in early session Tuesday, breaking its three-day winning run as metal, IT, realty and banking stocks retreated, tracking sell-off in the global market.

The 30-share index dropped 104.41 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 35,670.47 points in opening trade. The gauge had rallied about 633 points in the previous three sessions.

The NSE Nifty too fell 36.80 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 10,726.60. Brokers said besides a weak trend at other Asian markets amid sharp losses at the Wall Street, profit-booking by investors in recent gainers also dampened the sentiment here.

Meanwhile, signalling a temporary truce, the Reserve Bank and the government Monday agreed to refer to an expert committee for the contentious issue of appropriate size of reserves that the RBI must hold, while restructuring of stressed loans of small businesses would be considered by the central bank. — PTI


10:07  BJP MLA booked for violating model code in Rajasthan:  BJP MLA Gyan Dev Ahuja has been booked for violating the model code of conduct by allegedly distributing money to his supporters during a rally before filing nomination papers as an independent candidate on Monday.

The action was taken after a video purportedly showing Ahuja distributing money went viral. Returing officer of Sanganer constituency Jagat Rajeshwar said the FIR was lodged with Banipark Police Station under sections of the Representation of the People’s Act on Monday. — PTI

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09:59  4 dead in explosion at ordinance depot in Wardha :  
Four people have been killed and at least 11 injured in an explosion at the Pulgaon Army depot in Wardha, Maharashtra. The explosion took place near the ordnance depot in Wardha while disposing off old explosives, a defence official said. Further details awaited.

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09:55  Second phase of panchayat polls underway in J-K:  Voting for the second phase of the Jammu and Kashmir panchayat polls is underway at over 2,100 polling stations in the state. The nine-phased elections, being conducted on the non-party basis, began Saturday. The National Conference, PDP and the CPI(M) have announced they will stay away from the electoral exercise due to the legal challenge to Article 35A of the Constitution in the Supreme Court.

Polling is underway at 2,179 polling stations across the state, including 828 in Kashmir division and 1,351 in Jammu division, officials said.

They said 4,014 candidates are in the fray for 281 sarpanch and 1,286 panch seats in the second phase.

The officials said 90 sarpanch and 1,069 panch have been elected unopposed in this phase.

In Kashmir, 490 polling stations have been categorised as hypersensitive and in the Jammu division 111, they said, adding that there are 3,29,818 electors for sarpanch seats and 2,07,796 for panch constituencies. The officials said all arrangements, including those related to security, are in place for the smooth conduct of the polls. PTI

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09:10  Soldier martyred in encounter in J-K’s Shopian, 4 terrorists shot dead:  

An army soldier was killed and four terrorists were shot dead in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district. 

Based on specific information about the presence of terrorists in Nadigam area of Shopian, security forces launched a cordon and search operation, a police official said.

He said the search operation turned into an encounter after the terrorists fired on the forces, who retaliated.

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08:59  White House restores full press credentials of CNN reporter Jim Acosta:  

The Trump administration has restored the full press credentials of CNN reporter Jim Acosta who was temporarily barred from entering thw White House.

 

Following the decision, CNN announced to withdraw its lawsuit against the White House.

Simultaneously, the White House also announced that it has framed new rules for the reporters covering the news conferences, either by President Donald Trump or senior administration officials.

 

As per the guidelines, a reporter can ask a single question and permission for a follow up will be subject to the discretion of the individual holding the news conference.

 

Any violation of the rule might result in revocation of the press credentials, the White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said, as she announced restoration of full access to Acosta.

 

“This afternoon we have notified Jim Acosta and CNN that his hard pass has been restored. We have also notified him of certain rules that will govern White House press conferences going forward,” Sanders said. 

 

Acosta, is the Chief White House Correspondent of CNN. His hard pass was temporarily suspended after his altercation with Trump during a news conference on November 7.  

 

CNN challenged the decision in the court. After a federal district court overruled the White House’s order, Acosta’s hard pass was temporarily restored on Friday. 

Meanwhile, listing out the three new rules, Sanders said a journalist will ask a single question and then yield the floor to other journalists.  

 

Secondly, at the discretion of the president or other White House official taking questions, a follow-up question or questions may be permitted.  

Finally, “yielding the floor” includes, when applicable, physically surrendering the microphone to White House staff for use by the next questioner, Sanders said. 

 

“Failure” to abide by any of rules “may result in suspension or revocation of the journalist’s hard pass,” she warned.  — PTI

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08:27  Voting begins for final phase of Chhattisgarh poll:  

Voting for the second and final phase of Chhattisgarh assembly elections began on Tuesday amid high security.

   

A total of 1079 candidates are contesting in the 72 constituencies of 19 districts in the state with an electorate of 1,54,00,596.

This is the last of the two-phase polls to the 90-member assembly where the Bharatiya Janata Party has been in power for the last 15 years.

 

“Voting begun at 7 am in two polling booths of Bindranavagarh constituency (Gariaband district), while in the remaining 72 booths, polling started at 8 am,” an election official said.

 

The time of polling in 72 constituencies is from 8 am to 5 pm except in two polling booths — Amamora (booth no. 72) and Modh (no.76) in Bindranavgarh where polling is being held from 7 am to 3 pm due to the threat posed by Naxals, he said.

 

Around 1.50 lakh security personnel have been deployed across the state to ensure peaceful polling, he said.

 

In the second phase, districts like Gariaband, Dhamtari, Mahasamund, Kabirdham, Jashpur and Balrampur are Naxal-affected areas and extra vigil was being maintained there, the official said.

 

The polling will take place in central and north Chhattisgarh, where 72 each from the BJP and Congress, are in the fray.

 

There are 119 women contestants while the maximum number of candidates are in Raipur city south constituency where 46 nominees are in the fray.

 

The least number of candidates are in Bindranavagarh seat 6.

 

The fate of the state assembly speaker Gaurishankar Agrawal (Kasdol constituency) and 9 ministers- Brijmohan Agrawal (Raipur city south seat), Rajesh Munat (Raipur city west), Amar Agrawal (Bilaspur), Bhaiyyalal Rajwade (Baikunthpur), Ramsevak Paikra (Pratappur), Punnulal Mohile (Mungeli), Prem Prakash Pandey (Bhilai Nagar), Dayaldas Baghel (Nawagarh) and Ajay Chandrakar (Kurud) besides party state president Dharamlal Kaushik (Bilha) will be decided in this phase.

 

Besides, Congress state chief Bhupesh Baghel (Patan constituency), leader of opposition TS Singhdeo (Ambikapur), Congress MP from Durg Lok Sabha seat Tamradhwaj Sahu (Durg rural), former union minister Charandas Mahant (Shakti) are among the key Congress candidates who are contesting in the final phase. — PTI

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00:05  US paid Pak billions, they never said Osama was living there: Trump:  

Continuing his tirade against Pakistan, US President Donald Trump on Monday said the US has paid Islamabad billions of dollars but it never told the Americans that the Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was living in that country.

Trump had defended his administration’s decision to stop hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Pakistan for not doing enough to curb terrorism and criticised Islamabad for offering a hideout to Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in the garrison city of Abbottabad.

“We paid Pakistan billions of dollars and they never told us he was living there. Fools!..,” Trump said in a tweet, a day after he told Fox News in an interview that Laden should have been captured long before.

“We no longer pay Pakistan the $Billions because they would take our money and do nothing for us, Bin Laden being a prime example, Afghanistan being another,” Trump said.

“They were just one of many countries that take from the United States without giving anything in return. That’s ENDING!” he said.

Beginning with a tweet on January 1, the US President has announced stop giving military and security assistance to Pakistan. 

Trump believes that the Pakistan has been a reluctant partner of the US in the war against terrorism and that it has misused the US money.

Trump insisted that Bin laden should have been captured long time back before he was killed in a daring raid in Abbottabad.

“Of course we should have captured Osama Bin Laden long before we did. I pointed him out in my book just BEFORE the attack on the World Trade Centre. President Clinton famously missed his shot,” Trump said.

— PTI

Source: Rediff