15:11 Won’t contest 2019 Lok Sabha election, says Sushma :
Union minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj has declared that she will not contest the 2019 general election.
“It is the party which decides, but I have made up my mind not to contest the next elections,” said the Union minister for external affairs told reporters in Indore.
She said she had informed her party.
Sushma is the Lok Sabha MP from Vidisha from Madhya Pradesh.
14:48 SC changes date of hearing 2nd time to Nov 29: The Supreme Court Tuesday adjourned the hearing on CBI Director Alok Verma’s plea challenging the government’s decision to divest him of his duties, expressing anguish over the alleged leak of his response to a CVC report.
The court, while adjourning the hearing to November 29, also expressed displeasure over publication of graft allegations by CBI DIG M K Sinha against senior officers. The top court adjourned the matter twice, soon after the hearing began and again later in the day.
Irked over the alleged leak of Verma’s confidential response to the Central Vigilance Commission’s findings on corruption charges against him, the top court said none of “you deserve any hearing”. “We don’t think any of you deserve any hearing,” Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi said, adjourning the matter for the first time. However, the court agreed to hear Verma’s plea after finishing the day’s hearing after his lawyers Fali S Nariman and Gopal Shankaranarayanan mentioned the case again before a bench headed by Gogoi.
The CBI director in his plea has challenged the government’s decision of divesting him of his duties and sending him on leave. Later, the bench recommenced the hearing, making it clear at the outset that it was not going to hear any party and would confine itself to the issues red flagged by it.
Miffed over the alleged leak in a media portal, the bench, which also comprised justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph, said it wanted to keep Verma’s response confidential to maintain the CBI’s dignity. Taking umbrage of various media reports based on the petition filed by Sinha, Gogoi said, “But here is a litigant who mentions it before us and then goes out to distribute the petition to everyone.” Sinha on Monday dragged the names of NSA Ajit Doval, Union minister Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary and CVC K V Chowdhury over alleged attempts to interfere in the probe against CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana, who has been divested of his duties and sent on leave along with his boss. The bench said, “This court is not a platform for people to come and express whatever they want.” — PTI
14:19 Demonetisation bitter medicine to treat corruption: Modi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday said he used the “bitter medicine” of demonetisation to bring back money into the banking system and to give “proper treatment to deep-rooted corruption system” in the country.
Addressing a poll rally in Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh, for the November 28 Assembly elections, Modi said, “We use poisonous medicine to eradicate termite. Similarly, I used note ban as a ‘tez’ (bitter) medicine to treat corruption in the country”.
“People who used to hide their money under beds, in their houses, offices and factories are now paying tax of every single penny and we are using this money for the right schemes for the common man,” Modi said.
Modi cautioned the Madhya Pradesh farmers not to get carried away by the Congress’ loan waiver promise, adding it was a sham. “The Congress made loan waiver promise to farmers in Karnataka before state Assembly polls there but instead of doing so, it is preparing to send peasants to jail,” he said.
“In 2008, a year ahead of general elections, the Congress promised loan waiver to the farmers which turned out to be an eyewash,” he said. “My government is aiming to double farmers’ income by 2022,” the prime minister said.
The CAG in its report pointed to anomalies in the farmers loan waiver during the Congress regime, he said. The Congress is anti-farmer, he added. Modi said his government has so far disbursed loans to 14 crore people, “that too without guarantee”, under the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana.
“The amount of work we (BJP-led government) have done in four years, Congress would be able to do it in 10 years,” Modi said. “Remember the time when Congress was in power here in Madhya Pradesh, what was the condition of people? Madhya Pradesh does not deserve a government which never thinks about the state’s welfare,” Modi said, targeting the Congress party.
Modi said that during the Congress’ 55 year rule in Madhya Pradesh, 1,500 schools were made, but Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan established 4,000 schools in the state in just 15 years. — PTI
13:39 I’m a party worker hungry to bring Cong back in power in MP: Kamal Nath: Calling the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections a “big battle” against a formidable force, senior Congress leader Kamal Nath has said he is “hungry” to bring his party back in power in the state.
The Congress has been out of power in this vast state with about 5 crore voters since 2003 when it was ousted by the BJP. The grand-old party is making its all-out efforts to wrest control of the state from the BJP and has mounted an aggressive campaign for the November 28 elections for 230 assembly seats. The BJP had won 165 seats in the last state elections in 2013 with 44.88 per cent votes, while the Congress had got only 58 seats with 42.67 per cent votes.
Nath, the state Congress chief and a key campaigner for his party, told PTI in an interview that he is a “party worker who is hungry to bring the Congress back in power in Madhya Pradesh”.
He, however, evaded a direct reply to a question on whether he could be made the chief minister if his party wins the polls. “(Congress president) Rahul Gandhiji will decide how it will happen,” he said during his first campaign rally in the Budhni assembly seat in support of Congress candidate Arun Yadav.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is the BJP candidate from Budhni and it has traditionally been known as a bastion of the saffron party leader who has been heading the state government for 13 years and is now eyeing his fourth term.
Yadav is Nath’s predecessor in the Pradesh Congress Committee chief post and the change of guard was undertaken by the party high-command in Delhi only a few months back. Nath, a MP from the Chhindwara constituency of the state, also hit back at the BJP over the recent controversy about the Congress party’s manifesto proposing a ban on holding RSS ‘shakhas’ in government premises.
While some BJP leaders have alleged that the Congress wants to ban the RSS, Nath said his party was only wanting to implement a protocol that was also in operation during the regimes of two BJP CMs before Chouhan.
“They (BJP) are trying to incite people by telling lies. I have never said that we will ban the RSS. I have said we will do that is as per central government rules and what was prevalent in Ms Uma Bharti and Babulal Gaur’s time,” he said.
Chouhan had replaced Gaur as the chief minister in November 2005, while it Bharti who was made the chief minister after the BJP stormed to power in Madhya Pradesh in 2003 by ending the ten-year rule of the then Congress chief minister Digvijay Singh.
The Congress manifesto says that “the holding of RSS shakhas in government premises would be banned and the order regarding relaxation given to public servants to attend them will be revoked”. The then Congress government had banned RSS activities in government premises in Madhya Pradesh in 1981. The ban was later revived in 2000 by the then chief minister Digvijaya Singh under the Civil Services Conduct Rule.
13:17 SC changes its mind, to hear CBI director’s plea this evening: In a sudden development, the Supreme Court Tuesday agreed to hear CBI Director Alok Kumar Verma’s plea challenging the government’s decision to divest him of duties and sending him on leave, this evening.
The court had earlier adjourning the case to November 29.
Earlier in the day, the alleged leak of Verma’s confidential response to the Central Vigilance Commission’s findings on corruption charges against him irked the top court, which said none of “you deserve any hearing”.
Senior advocate Fali S Nariman and lawyer Gopal Shankaranarayanan, who represent Verma, mentioned the case again before a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and sought hearing during the day itself.
The bench agreed to the submission and said it will accord them a hearing after finishing the day’s work. On the leak of Verma’s confidential reply in the media, the bench, without divulging the name of the news portal, which allegedly carried a story on the CBI director’s response, handed over to Nariman, a copy of the news report.
“It is only for you Mr Nariman and not as a counsel for Alok Verma. We have given this to you as you are one of the most respected and senior member of the institution. Please help us,” the bench also comprising justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph, told Nariman. Nariman, after going through the news report, said it was totally “unauthorised” and he was very “disturbed and shocked” with it. — PTI
12:39 Artificial rain likely this week to clear Delhi’s toxic air of pollutants: In the wake of rising pollution in the city, authorities might seed clouds to induce artificial rain this week to wash away toxic pollutants in the air. Delhi’s air quality has deteriorated to alarming levels in the past three weeks.
Cloud seeding for artificial rain would be done once the meteorological conditions are stable, a senior official said. He said plans are to induce rainfall this week, but if the meteorological conditions are not found suitable then it would be done next week.
Cloud seeding is the process of combining different kinds of chemical agents, including silver iodide, dry ice and even common table salt, with existing clouds in an effort to thicken them and increase the chance of rainfall.
The weathermen are monitoring conditions to become favourable for creating artificial rain, which can be induced in 24 hours, the official said.
Delhi’s air quality was recorded in the ‘very poor’ category on Tuesday due to humidity and slow wind speed. The overall air quality index was recorded at 352, which falls in the ‘very poor’ category, according Central Pollution Control Board data. — PTI
12:27 Muzaffarpur shelter home case: Former Bihar minister Manju Verma surrenders : Former Bihar minister Manju Verma, who had been evading arrest in an Arms Act case lodged in the course of investigations in the Muzaffarpur shelter home scandal, surrendered before a court in Begusarai Tuesday. Verma reached the court of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Prabhat Trivedi in an auto rickshaw. She fainted as soon as she entered the court premises along with a few aides. She regained consciousness after water was sprinkled on her face by bystanders after which she was taken into the court room.
The Supreme Court had on November 12 rapped the Bihar Police for failing to arrest the former minister and directed the DGP to appear before it in person on November 27 if she was not nabbed by then.
Verma had stepped down as the minister for social welfare in August, following reports that her husband, Chandrashekhar Verma, had close links with Brajesh Thakur, the prime accused in the Muzaffarpur shelter home scandal.
Over 30 girls were allegedly raped at the shelter home. The Arms Act case was lodged against Verma following recovery of a huge quantity of ammunition from her residence here during a CBI raid. — PTI
File pic.
12:23 News briefs: Muzaffarpur shelter home case: Former Bihar Minister Manju Verma surrenders in a Begusarai Court.
Hurriyat leader Hafizullah Mir shot at in Achabal area of South Kashmir. He has been admitted to hospital. More details awaited.
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
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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
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