11:34 11 killed after bus falls into gorge in Kashmir:
At least 11 people were killed and several others injured after a bus they were travelling in skidded off the road and fell into a deep gorge in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district today.
The bus was going from Loran to Poonch.
More details are awaited.
11:12 Rajasthan: 2 officials suspended after ballot units found on road:
Two officials have been suspended after a ballot unit was found lying on road in Shahabad area of Kishanganj Assembly Constituency in Baran district of Rajasthan on Friday.
District Election Officer and Collector S P Singh issued the suspension order after taking cognisance of the fact-finding report of the returning officer, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Kishanganj in connection with the incident.
Abdul Rafeeq and Patwari Naval Singh were suspended on Friday with immediate effect on grounds of negligence.
The ballot unit has been kept in the strong room in Kishanganj.Rajasthan went to polls on Friday and the results will be announced on December 11.
The polling was held in 51,687 polling booths out of which 259 were managed exclusively by women officials and security personnel. — ANI
Image only for representation.
10:34 Security upped at Hanuman temple after Bhim Army’s call to take over:
Security has been reinforced at the ‘Hanuman dham’ in Shukratal in Muzaffarnagar as Bhim Army activists may attempt to take it over, police said on Saturday.
The move comes days after Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar said on Sunday that members of the Dalit community should take over all Hanuman temples in the country and appoint Dalits as priests there.
He had said so while reacting to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath claim that Lord Hanuman was a Dalit.
Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and police teams have been deployed at the Hanuman Dham apprehending attempts by Bhim Army activists to assume control of the temple, officials said.
So far, there’s no report of any untoward incident taking place, they said.
“Hanuman was a forest dweller, deprived and a Dalit. Bajrang Bali worked to unite all Indian communities, from north to south and east to west,” Adityanath had said while addressing a rally in Rajasthan’s Alwar district.
A right-wing group in Rajasthan has sent a legal notice to Adityanath, asking him to apologise for calling Lord Hanuman a Dalit.
Last week, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) chairperson Nand Kumar Sai claimed that Lord Hanuman was a tribal. — PTI
10:10 Trump calls Tillerson ‘dumb as a rock’ after latter’s interview:
United States President Donald Trump on Friday lambasted his former secretary of state Rex Tillerson, describing him as ‘dumb as a rock’ and ‘lazy as hell’, after the ex-diplomat alleged the president regularly pushed him to take decisions that were ‘illegal’.
On the same day, Trump praised Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for doing a great job.
‘Mike Pompeo is doing a great job, I am very proud of him. His predecessor, Rex Tillerson, didn’t have the mental capacity needed,’ Trump said in a tweet.
‘He (Tillerson) was dumb as a rock and I couldn’t get rid of him fast enough. He was lazy as hell. Now it is a whole new ballgame, great spirit at state!’ he said.
Trump’s angry tweet on Tillerson came after the former secretary of state, in an interview to CBS News, was critical of the President.
“I think he grew tired of me being the guy everyday that told him, ‘You can’t do that, and let’s talk about what we can do’,” Tillerson said in his interview.
“He acts on his instincts, in some respects it looks like impulsiveness’ But’ it’s not his intent to act on impulse. I think he really is trying to act on his instincts,” he said.
“It’s challenging for me coming from the disciplined, highly process-oriented ExxonMobil Corporation’ to go to work for a man who is pretty undisciplined, doesn’t like to read, doesn’t read briefing reports, doesn’t like to get into the details of a lot of things.
“But rather just kind of says, ‘Look, this is what I believe and you can try to convince me otherwise,’ but most of the time you’re not going to do that,” Tillerson said.
Tillerson was the first Secretary of State in the Trump administration. They had never met till the day Tillerson was named as the secretary of state.
“I think part of it (differences) was obviously we are starkly different in our styles. We did not have a common value system,” he said.
“When the president would say, ‘Here’s what I want to do and here’s how I want to do it,’ I’d have to say to him, ‘Mr. President, I understand what you want to do, but you can’t do it that way. It violates the law. It violates a treaty.’ You know, he got really frustrated,” said the former CEO of ExxonMobil.
As the secretary of state, Tillerson had announced a 100-year plan for India. He visited India once as the top American diplomat. He was fired by Trump days before he was to participate in the first ‘two plus two’ dialogue with India. This was postponed and was held months later in September.
Trump replaced, Tillerson with Mike Pompeo, who was the CIA Director at the time. — PTI
09:27 Will topple govt if Ram Temple construction opposed: Swamy:
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy has warned that if the Centre or Uttar Pradesh government tries to oppose the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya, he would ‘topple the government’.
“If our matter (Ram temple) is listed in January, we’ll win it in two weeks. Because my two opposing parties are the central government and Uttar Pradesh government. Do they have the guts to oppose me? If they do, I’ll topple the government. Though I know that they won’t do it,” he said while addressing a gathering at the Jawaharlal Nehru University on Friday.
Furthermore, Swamy claimed that the Muslims known to him had no objection in the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya.
“The Muslims I meet personally tell me that they will not have any objection on the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya,” he asserted.
Explaining the timeline of the case, Swamy noted: “Sunni Waqf Board filed a case claiming that the land that was captured by Mughal ruler Babar is ours. They never said that they want to re-construct Babri. They just said it’s our title. Hindu parties like Ram Janmbhoomi Vyas an Nirmohi Akhada said that there were two temples of which they were trustees, and should be given to them.
“The Allahabad gigh court heard their suit and said it’s Ram Janmbhoomi, two gumbads will go to Hindus, one to Muslims.”
He added: “Sunni Waqf board challenged it because the land was given to Muslims and not them. The matter was then not heard from 2010-2017. I went to the Supreme Court, and that is why the date was not being fixed by the court. First, they ousted me asking what my stake is (in the matter).”
Elaborating upon how he further went about the case, Swamy claimed that his right to pray should be considered above a property right.”I have the right to pray according to the constitution. Court agreed to hear. My faith says that Ram was born here and I want a huge temple there. Muslims are only asking for property, which is not a fundamental right.”
“I appeal to the Supreme Court to put my fundamental right above their normal property rights and accept my petition,” said the BJP leader.
Swamy claimed that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) stated that there was a temple on the disputed land of Ram Janambhoomi. — ANI
08:45 Voting for 8th phase of J&K panchayat polls begins:
Voting for the eight phase of panchayat polls in Jammu and Kashmir began on Saturday at 2,633 polling stations — 550 in the Kashmir division and 2,083 in the Jammu division.
The timing for polling is from 8 am to 2 pm.
According to the Chief Electoral Officer, J&K, Shaleen Kabra, 361 polling stations have been categorised as ‘hypersensitive’ in this phase.
Of these, 171 are in the Kashmir division and 190 in the Jammu division.
He said 6,304 candidates are in the fray for 331 sarpanch and 2007 panch seats in Phase-VIII, while 43 sarpanch and 681 panch have been elected unopposed in this phase.
He said in the areas going to polls in Phase-VIII, an electorate of 5,15,121 will be voting for sarpanch constituencies and 4,19,775 for panch constituencies.
“Photo Voter Slips have been distributed among the voters to inform them about their polling station,” he said.
The CEO said at the end of seven phases of the panchayat polls, the state recorded an overall voter turnout of 73.8 per cent, with 44.4 per cent in the Kashmir division and 83.2 per cent in the Jammu division.
Photo Voter Slips have been distributed among the voters to inform them about their polling stations. He said senior government officers have been appointed as General Observers to oversee the smooth, fair and orderly conduct of the panchayat elections.
“Also, Expenditure Observers are keeping a watch on the expenditure by the candidates. In addition, for the poll day, Micro Observers have been placed in polling stations, particularly those considered hypersensitive. Besides, the Zonal and Sector Magistrates too have been deployed,” he added.
The CEO said Control Rooms have been established in all the districts across the state to respond promptly to any complaints of violation of the model code of conduct as also to disseminate information to the public.
Security arrangements have been made including deployment of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF).
He said the government has declared holiday on the day of polls in the panchayat areas to enable the voters to cast their vote.
He said special casual leave shall also be granted to the employees who have to go to other areas to exercise their right to franchise.
As per the standing guidelines, the central government offices shall not be closed but the employees who are voters of the wards going to polls Saturday can shall be offered reasonable facility to exercise their franchise, he added. — PTI
08:27 Too much hype over surgical strikes not needed: Gen in charge of the op:
Two years after surgical strikes were carried out by the Indian Army across the Line of Control (LoC), Lt Gen D S Hooda (retd) on Friday said that the hype associated with the Surgical Strike was not needed.
Speaking to ANI, Hooda said, “I do think there was too much hype over it. The military operation was important and we had to do it.
“Now how much should it have been politicised, whether it is right or wrong is something that should be asked to politicians.”
Elaborating upon how the forces on the border should react to events that occur on the Line of Control (LoC), Hooda said, “I think the way the things are going on the LoC, we must have a pro-active and unpredictable response unless Pakistan does something to ease tensions and stop infiltrations.”
At the time of surgical strikes, General Hooda was the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Northern Command, in charge of the planning and execution of the top secret operation across the Line of Control.
However, former Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag in September revealed that the Indian Army had been preparing for the 2016 surgical strike since June 2015, adding that the troops were told that failure was ‘not an option’.
Moreover, Suhag had claimed that if needed, there can be another strike as well.
“We have exhibited our capability. Our troops are motivated and now having done it once, troops are also confident of doing it again. So, if we can do it once, we can do it again and if necessary again and again,” he had said. — ANI
00:37 EC orders removal of RO after EVM found at BJP candidate’s home:
The Election Commission on Friday ordered the removal of returning officer of Pali in the Rajasthan Assembly seat after an electronic voting machine was reportedly found at the residence of a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate.
Earlier in the day, the poll panel had said that a sector officer carrying a reserve machine had gone to the BJP candidate’s house following which the sector officer was removed and the EVM taken out of election system.
The EC also ordered removal of Pali returning officer Mahaveer, who has been transferred, and Rakesh from Jodhpur has been asked to take the charge, the commission said.
A video purportedly showing the electronic voting machine laying unattended in the house has gone viral. — PTI
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Source: Rediff