LIVE! Priyanka Jagga thrown out of 'Bigg Boss'

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Sat, 24 December 2016

Priyanka Jagga thrown out of 'Bigg Boss'

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20:31 Voice of 125 crore Indians cannot be subverted by select few: PM

Prime Minister Modi spoke at the foundation stone laying ceremony of Pune Metro project on Saturday. Highlights:

* Over 200 to 300% income has increased in urban bodies across the country after 8th Nov.

* It is our endeavour that whatever projects are taken up are completed within the decided time frame.

* In this nation, the voice of 125 crore Indians will be heard. This voice cannot be subverted by a select few

* After 8th Nov, power of 'big' people has reduced and the power of the poor & those perceived as 'small' has increased.

* If evils of corruption and black money were removed earlier, the decision to demonetise notes wouldn't have been needed.

* In this nation everybody is equal before the law and everyone has to follow the law

* People need i-ways, as much as they need highways. For this, we need to set up a huge network of optical fibre.

* We must plan for the future. Everything cannot be seen from a political point of view. We must plan adequately for growth of our cities

* The character & spirit of the village has to be preserved. And at the same time we need to invigorate our villages with good facilities.

19:37 Priyanka Jagga thrown out of 'Bigg Boss'

Commoner contestant Priyanka Jagga has been asked to leave from "Bigg Boss" following her appalling behaviour on the controversial reality show.

Priyanka, who exited the house in the very first week of the show going on air, was brought back as a wild card entry. Upon her return she stooped to a new low everyday either by passing unsavoury comments on other contestants especially females or picking up random fights and hurling abuses at them.

She also made comments on the death of Manu Punjabi's mother days after he returned to the house after performing her last rites.

Following all this drama throughout the week, host Salman Khan demands explanation from her but to his surprise, Priyanka starts giving nasty replies and disrespect to him in the bargain, a release issued here said.

However, Priyanka pays no heed and goes on a rant about how the contestants ill-treated her when she was unwell. Salman responds by saying that what she did was completely unacceptable and she has maligned people's character, it said. Paying no heed to her drama, Salman tells that he loathes her actions and asks her to leave the Bigg Boss house with immediate effect.

The Dabangg Khan even said, "If Priyanka ever comes on this show or any other show on Colors, I will never work with the channel again."

The Consumer Ministry, both at the central as well as state level, is the most "neglected" despite mandate to take care of 123 crore consumers, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said today.

Expressing concern about vacant posts and lack of infrastructure at state and district consumer courts, the Consumer Affairs Minister appreciated their efforts in

disposing of 41 lakh cases in the last 30 years despite poor facilities.

Paswan urged the state governments to provide adequate facilities for smooth functioning of these courts as there is expected to be a "flood" cases after the new Consumer Protection Bill gets passed in Parliament. The government has made sweeping changes in the bill to protect consumer rights.

"I had told the Prime Minister in the first meeting that we have 123 crore population and all are consumers, but the Department has been most neglected, be it at Centre or state level," Paswan said at an event organised to celebrate the National Consumer Day in New Delhi.

Escalating the attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over demonetisation, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused him of dividing the country between the rich and the poor and dubbed the move as "firebombing" on cash economy and farmers and labourers.

Addressing a public rally in Dharamshala, the Congress Vice President said the Prime Minister with his note ban decision has removed the "hat" of Himachal Pradesh as it has hit hard the state's horticulture, agriculture and tourism sectors.

"Himachal's brave soldiers carried out the surgical strikes, but Modiji thought of launching a new drama. He launched the surgical strike on corruption.

"On one side the brave give away their blood and life, but here he did surgical strike on black money and corruption. Modiji this is not a surgical strike on black money and corruption. This is a firebombing and economic-bombing on the poor, farmers and labourers," he said.

Accusing Modi of dividing the country between the rich and the poor, Gandhi said, "Modiji you have tried to divide India into two parts."

"On one side are the one per cent rich comprising 50 families who have private aircraft and big buildings and on other side, there are 99 per cent honest people of India -- the farmers, labourers and the middle class who built this country with their sweat and blood. You tried to divide the people of the country," he said.

More highlights from PM Modi's speech at Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai

* Even after 70 years of independence, 18000 villages were forced to live in the 18th century. In 1000 days, we took upon ourselves to light up 18,000 villages which had no access to electricity.

* We took upon ourselves to provide gas cylinders to the poor households of the countr

* The strength of 125 crore Indians will bring about change in this nation.

* Our battle to fight corruption has been going on since the day we assumed office. A historic decision was taken on 8th November.

* There were efforts to mislead and even intimidate people but they supported us in the battle against corruption & black money.

* The people of India will not accept corruption and black money.

* The corrupt are trying their best to ensure demonitisation fails but they won't succeed.

* After 50 days of demonetisation, problems of the honest will decrease and those of dishonest will increase.

* Government will not spare the dishonest

PM Narendra Modi is addressing a public gathering at the Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai. Highlights:

* Shivaji Maharaj was a multi-faceted personality, he was a self-made man

* Shivaji Maharaj displayed great organisational and management skills, he made several small units.

* We must know about the many aspects of Shivaji Maharaj, his policies on water & finance among others.

* Even in the midst of struggle, Shivaji Maharaj remained a torchbearer of good governance

* Development should be sustainable, and should offer opportunity to the poor to empower themselves.

* Development is the solution to all problems, it is the way ahead.

* Development is the way to lead a dignified life. We have therefore kept development at the centre of our governance

16:55 I-T dept raids Shekar Reddy's associate in TN

Income Tax officials today conducted raids at Dindigu in Tamil Nadu in the house of sand-mining baron Shekar Reddy's associate Ratnam, a quarry contractor who was arrested a couple of days ago on charge of exchanging unaccounted old currency notes.

A team of I-T officials from Perambalur, about 150 km from here, were conducting searches at the house of Ratnam from around 6 am, official sources said.

The searches are going on, they said declining to give any further detail.

CBI had on December 22 arrested Ratnam and another quarry contractor Ramachandran, and Reddy's auditor Premkumar following investigations in connection with recent Income Tax searches at his residence and office in Chennai that resulted in seizure of 127 kg of gold and over Rs 170 crore in cash post-demonetisation.

Reddy, along with his associate Srinivasulu, was arrested by CBI on December 21.

16:42

Rs 2.6 crore, with Rs 12 lakh in new notes, 80 kg silver and 15 kg gold jewellery seized from a firm in Noida SEZ, reports Press Trust of India

16:40

PM Narendra Modi lays foundation stone for two metro corridors and other projects at the MMRDA Grounds

16:32 'Dangal' mints Rs 29 crore on opening day

Superstar Aamir Khan's sport drama Dangal has garned Rs 29 crore countrywide at the box office on the opening day.

The film, helmed by Nitesh Tiwari, is based on the life of Haryana-based wrestler Mahavir Poghat, who trained his daughters, Geeta and Babita.

Produced by Aamir Khan, Kiran Rao and co-produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur, Dangal released on December 23.

According to exhibitors, Dangal has recorded Rs 29.78 crore on the opening day, including Rs 59 lakh from Tamil and Telugu releases, and might hit Rs 100 crore mark by the weekend.

"The film has got a terrific opening of Rs 29 crore and it will continue to grow. It will sustain due to word of mouth. There is a possibility that it might touch Rs 100 crore over the weekend. The film will have its own shell life, it will run for multiple weeks..and might even break the record of Rajkumar Hirani's PK," exhibitor Akshay Rathi, said.

Reportedly, Aamir's PK had earned over Rs 340 crore at the box office in India.

16:30 DRDO tests new 100km-range Smart Weapon

The Defence and Research Development Organization yesterday successfully flight tested the Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon, from an Indian Air Force aircraft.

SAAW, an indigenously designed and developed 120 kg class smart weapon, developed by DRDO, is capable of engaging ground targets with high precision up to a range of 100 km.

The light-weight high-precision guided bomb is a world-class weapons systems.

The captive and release trials were tracked by Radar and Telemetry ground stations at ITR during the entire duration of the flight.

The performance of all systems were satisfactory with all the mission objectives achieved.

Philippine authorities began evacuating thousands of people and shut down dozens of ports today as a strong typhoon threatened to wallop the country's east coast on Christmas Day.

Nock-Ten is expected to be packing winds of between 203-250 kilometres per hour when it crosses over Catanduanes, a remote island of 250,000 people in the Bicol region, late tomorrow, the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center said.

It is then expected to hit the country's main island of Luzon, including the capital Manila, on Monday.

"The preemptive evacuation is ongoing" in Catanduanes and two nearby provinces, Rachel Miranda, spokeswoman for the civil defence office in the Bicol region, told AFP.

The Philippine weather service warned of potentially deadly two-metre waves along the coast, as well as landslides and flash floods from heavy rains.

16:11 Man suffers cardiac arrest in bank queue, dies

A labourer died after he allegedly suffered a cardiac arrest while standing in a bank queue in Mathura to withdraw money "for the treatment of his son".

Uma Shankar, a resident of Durga colony in Goverdhan, was queued outside the Govardhan branch of Central bank on Friday, to withdraw money for the treatment of his ailing son, when he suffered a cardiac arrest, police said.

"He died before any treatment could be provided," they said.

Shankar, father of five daughters and a son, was trying to withdraw money from the bank for the last four days, police said.

Angry villagers led by a local RLD leader Kunvar Narendra Singh, blocked roads for over three hours, demanding compensation for Shankar's family and police case against the bank employees.

Ever since it came to power in Maharashtra in October 2014, BJP has been quietly trying to usurp the near-monopoly that bickering ally Shiv Sena has held over the 17th century Maratha king for the last many years.

The mid-sea Chhatrapati Shivaji memorial -- which has been a talking point for all political parties in the state of late -- was originally conceived in the 1980s.

Expected to be the world's tallest statue, the memorial will be 210 metres tall, close to a 12-storey structure, built entirely in the sea on an islet of 15.96 hectare.

The Shivaji statue will surpass the height of New York's Statue of Liberty and the under-construction Statue of Unity of Saradar Vallabhbhai Patel in Gujarat.

But the memorial has courted controversy for the mammoth cheque required to be signed for its construction -- an estimated Rs 3,600 crore.

Read more HERE

Busting a currency exchange racket, police have seized Rs 39.98 lakh in Rs 2,000 denomination notes at Tirur area in Malappuram district of Kerala and arrested a man, already facing a hawala case, in this connection.

While Rs three lakh was seized from 63-year-old Shoukath Ali at the bus stand in Tirur, Rs 36.98 lakh in Rs 2,000 notes was recovered from the residence of a businessman, police said, noting the seizure and arrest were made on Friday.

Ali, hailing from Palakkad district, was produced before a magistrate's court and remanded in judicial custody on Saturday, police said.

A search was on for businessman Shabir Babu, who had allegedly given the Rs three lakh to Ali to exchange scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.

Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam, who was supposed to lead a 'silent' march of his party workers at the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai, the venue of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's public meeting, today claimed that he has been placed under "house arrest" by police.

"The area outside my house is under heavy police bandobast and I am being prevented from stepping out," Nirupam told Press Trust of India alleging that "in the present democratic set up opposition leaders are being virtually kept under house-arrest."

However, Mumbai Police denied the claims made by Nirupam and said the force deployed outside his residence was only part of the security arrangements made across the city in view of the PM's visit.

Mumbai Police spokesperson DCP Ashok Dudhe said, "We have deployed policemen across the city especially on the route of PM's convoy to maintain law and order as well as to avoid any untoward incident during his visit."

Slamming Rahul Gandhi for levelling allegations of corruption against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP today said the Congress Vice President is engaging in "baseless and uncalled for rhetoric" only to weaken the fight against black money.

"The nation today is going ahead in its fight against black money due to the initiatives taken by PM Modi. He has already made India Congress-mukt (free of Congress) and now wants to make the nation corruption free as well," BJP MP Shahnawaz Hussain said.

The senior leader was talking to reporters in Mumbai after inaugurating a 'chowk' in the name of legendary singer Mohammed Rafi in suburban Bandra.

"He (Gandhi) is engaging in baseless, uncalled for rhetoric on allegations only to weaken the fight against black money and corruption. But he will not succeed in doing so," he said.

Responding to a query on Maharashtra government splurging around Rs 3,600 crore on a memorial for Chhatrapati Shivaji at a time when the state is reeling under severe debt, Hussain said that for a towering figure like the Maratha warrior, who is revered across the nation, politics should not be played on the money being spent on the memorial.

PM Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated a new campus of Sebi-run National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM) at Patalganga in neighbouring Raigad district near Mumbai, and said that he will not shy away from taking difficult decisions if they are in country's interest.

Addressing a gathering, Modi said that the demonetization is a short-term pain, but it will benefit in long-term.

Highlights of his speech:

In less than 3 years, government has transformed economy, cut fiscal deficit, CAD; foreign exchange reserves have grown, inflation is lower.

* Long awaited GST will soon be a reality; FDI is at record levels.

* Financial markets can play an important role in the modern economy. However history has shown that financial markets can also do damage if not properly regulated.

* Government will continue to follow sound and prudent economic policies. We will not take decisions for short-term political point scoring.

* Will not shy away from taking difficult decisions if they are in country's interest.

* Stock markets need to raise capital in innovative ways for projects in agriculture

* We have a long way to go, our stock markets needs to raise capital in innovative ways for agricultural sector.

* The true measure of success is the impact in villages, not the impact in Dalal Street or Lutyens' Delhi

12:42 When the guns fall silent in Syria

A Kremlin readout on the phone call made by President Vladimir Putin to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad on Friday to formally congratulate the latter on the liberation of Aleppo, highlighted that the Russian leader "stressed that the main task now is to focus on furthering the peace process, in particular by signing an agreement on comprehensive resolution of the Syrian crisis..."

Read more HERE

Tamil Nadu's ex-Chief Secretary P Rama Mohana Rao, whose premises was raided by the income tax department was this week, has been admitted to the Ramachandra hospital.

Rao was admitted to ICU after he complained of chest pain.

Rao was sacked as the chief secretary on December 22 following an I-T raid at his residence and office that led to the recovery of Rs 30 lakh in new notes and 5 kg of gold, along with documents with details of undisclosed assets worth Rs 5 crore.

The Income Tax department conducted a raid at the residences of Rao and his son Vivek in Chennai and also at his office at the Secretariat on Tuesday. The raids began at 5:30 am with over 20 officials searching Rao's property. I-T officials carried out raids at 14 places. The Tamil Nadu Police and CRPF personnel were also present in his office at the Secretariat.

Raids were also carried out at the houses of Rao's son in Thiruvanmiyur and daughter in Manapakkam near the Chennai international airport.

12:28

Rs 37 lakh in new notes seized from a businessman in Kerala's Tirur district, reports ANI

12:20 Germany hunts possible accomplices of Berlin attacker

Germany was hunting for possible accomplices of the suspected Berlin truck attacker today, a day after he was killed in a shootout with Italian police in Milan.

As most of the country was preparing to celebrate Christmas Eve, Germany's under-pressure authorities said hundreds of investigators would be working on the probe throughout the holiday season.

Tunisian Anis Amri, 24, is believed to have hijacked a truck and used it to mow down holiday revellers at a Berlin Christmas market on Monday, killing 12 people in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.

The rejected asylum seeker was the focus of a frantic four-day manhunt after the rampage, but his time on the run was cut short by Italian police.

11:38 Valley reels under freezing temperatures

Leh was the warmest recorded place in Jammu and Kashmir with mercury rising at many places on Friday night but the valley continued to reel under freezing temperatures.

The minimum temperature in Leh rose by more than six degrees to settle at a low of minus 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to previous night's minus 8.2 degrees Celsius, an official of the MET department said.

He said Kokernag in south Kashmir and Kupwara in north were the coldest recorded places on Friday night at minus 4.8 degrees Celsius.

Srinagar city, the summer capital of the state, witnessed a low of minus 4.4 degrees Celsius, he said, adding other weather stations recorded minimum temperature between minus 4.6 degrees Celsius to minus 4.1 degrees Celsius.

The MeT official said there is possibility of light rain or snowfall at isolated places over higher reaches of Kashmir Valley over the next 24 hours.

10:33

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal granted bail by Delhi court in a case of allegedly giving false information in 2013 assembly polls.

10:17 Attacks like Berlin rampage 'purely religious threat': Trump

United States President-elect Donald Trump has claimed that attacks like the one in Berlin is a "purely religious threat which turned into reality" as he referred to the suspected attacker's video in which he talked about slaughtering crusaders who had come to kill Muslims.

"The terrorist who killed so many people in Germany said just before crime, "by God's will we will slaughter you..." This is a purely religious threat, which turned into reality," Trump tweeted in two tweets.

"Such hatred! When will the US, and all countries, fight back?" Trump asked.

The alleged Berlin attacker Anis Amri, 24, from Tunisia posted a video prior to the attack on social media.

During the two-minute, 42-second video, Amri, who was killed by police in Milan yesterday, is shown speaking directly to a camera and pledging allegiance to the IS group. He also declared his desire to avenge Muslims killed in air strikes and called for attacks against "Crusaders".

Earlier this week, Trump told reporters that they "know my plans" when he was asked about his campaign statements about banning Muslims from entering the country.

10:15 Army chief visits violence-hit Manipur

Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag today visited violence-hit Manipur to review the security situation.

The Imphal valley has been simmering due to violence since the Congress-led government declared the creation of seven new districts -- Jiribam, Kangpokpi, Tengoupal, Pharzol, Kakching, Noney and Kamjongin.

A blockade has been called by the Nagas to oppose the decision to create Sadar Hills (Kangpokpi) and Jiribam as full-fledged districts. The UNC said this would bifurcate the ancestral lands of the Nagas living in Manipur.

In an agitation launched on November 1, the UNC announced an indefinite economic blockade on the Imphal-Dimapur (NH 2) and Imphal-Jiribam (NH 37) highway.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a day's visit to Maharashtra today, where he will lay foundation stone for the grand memorial of Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and the metro rail projects in Mumbai and Pune.

Modi will land in the metropolis at 11.30 am and leave for MIDC Patalganga in neighbouring Raigad district where he will inaugurate the newly-built campus of the National Institute of Securities Management.

The PM will then reach Raj Bhavan and later move towards Girgaum Chowpatty for the Shivaji Memorial event.

He will proceed to the site in the Arabian Sea off Mumbai coast, where the state government is planning to build a mega memorial for Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

The prime minister's visit assumes political significance as the high-stake elections to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation are just a few months away.

The main feature of the Shivaji memorial, slated to cost Rs 3,600 crore, will be a 192-metre-tall statue of the iconic Maratha king. The site is a rocky outcrop, roughly 1.5 km from the Raj Bhavan shore.

The demonetisation drive does not seem to dampen plans for New Year's Eve party-goers this year, with 67 per cent set to buy their party online, reports Vinay Umarji/Business Standard.

Due to the growing penetration of digital payments across platforms, over 50 per cent Indians plan to increase spending over last year's this New Year's Eve, according to a survey by hyperlocal platform nearbuy.com.

The survey, conducted among over 5,500 persons across the country, reported the number of people opting for a party at a five-star pub or club has risen from 24 per cent last year to 29 per cent this year.

Commenting on the results of the survey, Ankur Warikoo, founder and CEO of nearbuy.com, said: "Conducting this survey has provided us with essential insights about our target audience and their sentiments towards NYE 2016. Majority of the people are willing to spend more than what they did the previous year, which essentially means that demonetisation has not dampened their spirit and they are in full gear to buy their party passes online which works in our favour."

Nearbuy.com is one of the largest hyperlocal platform that enables service merchants in the offline world sell to online customers, be it in terms of fine dining, spas, or merely discovering places in a city.

08:57 52 trains delayed as fog engulfs Delhi-NCR

The national capital today woke up to a foggy morning and poor visibility following which several trains and flight services have been affected on Saturday morning.

Around 52 trains were running late and five have been rescheduled due to poor visibility.

Flight services at the Indira Gandhi International Airport were also affected, resulting in the delay of some international and domestic flights.

Union minister Manoj Sinha was on Friday injured in a road accident near Gorakhpur town in Uttar Pradesh.

He sustained a fracture in his left arm in the accident which took place around 7.15 pm on the Tapti river bridge when he was coming to Gorakhpur from Barabanki, CPRO of North Eastern Railway Sanjay Yadav said.

The 57-year-old Union Minister of State for Railways and Communications, who represents Gorakhpur in the Lok Sabha, was initially admitted to Apollo Hospital and later shifted to the Railway Hospital.

According to sources, the accident took place when the vehicle ahead of the minister's car in the cavalcade suddenly applied brakes to avoid hitting a man. The car carrying Sinha hit the vehicle from behind and in the impact, the minister sustained injury.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu tweeted: "Shocked to learn about accident to my colleague and friend @manojsinhabjp Wishing him speedy recovery."

Image: Union Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu with Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha

Hollywood star Carrie Fisher was fighting for her life after suffering a massive heart attack on an airplane, according to media reports which
described her condition as "critical."

Celebrity website TMZ reported that the 60-year-old "Star Wars" actress was flying from London to Los Angeles yesterday when she suffered cardiac arrest, and was given cardiopulmonary resuscitation by an emergency services worker on board.

Fisher collapsed 15 minutes before the plane landed at LAX, TMZ said citing unnamed sources, and was rushed to a nearby hospital.

The Los Angeles Times said her condition was "critical," quoting an unnamed source who said the actress was "in a lot of distress on the flight."

The American actress has talked and written frequently about her years of drug addiction and mental illness.

She was catapulted to worldwide stardom as the rebel warrior Princess Leia in the original "Star Wars" trilogy, which has been a cultural phenomenon since the release of the films from 1977 to 1983.

00:23 Putin's 'very nice' Christmas letter to Trump

United States President-elect Donald Trump on Friday shared a letter he received from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who urged the next president 'to take real steps to restore the framework of bilateral cooperation' while offering Trump his 'warmest Christmas and New Year greetings'.

'A very nice letter from Vladimir Putin; his thoughts are so correct,' Trump said in a statement. 'I hope both sides are able to live up to these thoughts, and we do not have to travel an alternate path.'

In the translation of the December 15th letter provided by the Trump team, Putin wrote that 'serious global and regional challenges, which our countries have had to face in recent years, show that relations between Russia and the US remain an important factor in ensuring stability and security of the modern world'.

Read more.

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