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Sun, 02 October 2016

Mexico evacuates hundreds as volcano spews lava

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20:56 Mexico evacuates hundreds as volcano spews lava

Mexican authorities have evacuated 400 people as a precaution as a major volcano spews lava, officials said.

Authorities imposed a security perimeter of 12 kilometers around the so-called Volcano of Fire in the western state of Colima.

They evacuated the small villages of La Becerrera and La Yerbabuena "to protect families" in the area, said state governor Jose Ignacio Peralta yesterday.

Another village was evacuated in the neighboring state of Jalisco, the civil protection service there said.

Activists of student wing of Bajrang Dal today burnt an effigy of Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, protesting his comment supporting the Pakistani artistes, at Rajbada area here.

Incidentally, the 50-year-old "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" actor was born in Indore.

"Salman has risen to great heights because of his Indian fans. He should withdraw his statement supporting the Pakistani artistes," Bajrang Dal divisional convener Sachin Baghel said.

If the actor did not want to take back his words, he should release his films in Pakistan and not in India, Baghel added.

India, the world's third largest emitter of greenhouse gases, today ratified the landmark Paris climate deal, giving a significant push for the deal to enter into force by the end of this year.

Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin handed over the Instrument of Ratification signed by President Pranab Mukherjee, to Santiago Villalpando, the Head of the Treaties Division at the UN, at a special ceremony here attended by top UN officials and senior diplomats to commemorate Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon lauded India's "climate leadership", saying India's ratification of the Paris Climate Change agreement moves the world an "important step closer" toward achieving the goal of entering the landmark deal into force this year.

The Indian government has invited the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to be the next chief guest at Indias Republic Day parade of 2017.

This is the first time that a leader of the United Arab Emirates will be honoured with the invitation of being the chief guest at Indias Republic Day parade.

The United Arab Emirates has accepted the invitation and the country will be represented by Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

18:06 UK sets out timetable to leave EU by 2019

British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Sunday that the U.K. would begin the formal process of leaving the European Union by the end of March 2017.

That means Brexit could happen in 2019.

Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, May said: "The people have spoken; we will deliver on that."

Britain would trigger Article 50 of the EU treaty in the first quarter of next year, she said. That act will start the clock on two years of exit negotiations with the other 27 members of the group.

17:24 Sikh man shot dead in Afghanistan

A Sikh man was abducted from his home and gunned down by suspected militants in Afghanistan's restive Nangarhar province bordering Pakistan, a media report said today.

Sardar Rawail Singh, who lived in Jalalabad, was abducted from his house yesterday morning by militants wearing military fatigues and killed in Khalis Famil area.

The incident triggered a massive protest by the minority Sikh community who staged a demonstration by placing the body of Singh in front of the provincial governor's house in Jalalabad and demanded the arrest of the killers.

They accused security forces of negligence in arresting the killers and asked the government to bring to justice the killers as soon as possible.

Later, deputy governor Mohammad Hanif Gardiwal met the protesting Sikhs and pacified them. He said a case has been filed and a manhunt launched to nab the culprits.

An ADGP rank officer of Punjab police today reviewed the security arrangements around Ranjit Sagar Dam here, amid a heightened vigil in the wake of the Uri attack last month.

Punjab Police Additional Director General of Police (Security) B K Bawa accompanied by IG (Security) S K Singh along with Pathankot SSP Rakesh Kaushal visited the dam today, police said.

Senior police officials also visited the check posts to review the security arrangements, police said.

Ranjit Sagar Dam, also known as Thein Dam is part of a hydroelectric project on Ravi river and is located near Pathankot city.

A new petition filed on the official UK Parliament website calling on Britain to "strongly condemn" Pakistan for providing a safe haven for terrorists today crossed the threshold of 10,000 signatures, making it

incumbent upon the UK government to respond to it.

The petition titled 'UK Govt to strongly condemn Pakistan or providing safe haven for terrorists' has now crossed the number of signatures required to make it incumbent upon the UK government to respond to it.

But the aim is to gather as many as 100,000 signatures by the March 29, 2017 deadline so that the issue has to be considered for a parliamentary debate in the House of Commons.

Militants today shot dead a former village headman affiliated to opposition National Conference in Pulwama district of south Kashmir, police said.

"Gunmen shot dead Fayaz Ahmad Bhat at his home at Kandizal in Kakapora area of Pulwama district this afternoon," a police official said.

He said Bhat was a former Sarpanch and affiliated to opposition National Conference.

16:37 Goa likely to ban open defecation

Goa is likely to ban open defecation in the near future, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar hinted today.

"I believe that state like Goa which has best natural environment and touristic destination has ample scope to keep the land clean. We could be the first state where open defecation could be banned," Parsekar told reporters today after offering floral tributes to a statue of Mahatma

Gandhi, on his birth anniversary, at Old Goa near here.

He said there are few points in Goa where toilets are yet to be set up and once it is done, open defecation would cease to exist in the state.

The chief minister claimed that the BJP-led state government has proved that garbage issue can be handled positively.

Expelled AAP leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan will announce the formation of their new political party tomorrow.

"We had announced that we would be forming the party by October 2, so we will be doing that tomorrow. We will also announce the name of the party," said a Swaraj Abhiyan leader.

Earlier, on Jul 31, addressing the concluding session of a two-day Abhiyan national convention here, Yadav had announced the launching of the new political party by October 2 to provide an "alternative political vehicle".

China will have 240 million people aged 60 or above by 2020, 17 per cent of the total population, putting a heavy strain on healthcare system and steady reduction of labour force in the world's second largest

economy.

China currently has an elderly population of 220 million. and by 2020, senior citizens will make up 17 per cent of the population about 240 million, Liu Qian, deputy head of the National Health and Family Planning Commission told a conference.

Liu said China also faced severe situation with regard to chronic diseases, with more than 260 million chronically ill patients in the country.

These illnesses are to blame for over 86 per cent of deaths in China.

14:56 Pakistani boat apprehended off Gujarat coast

Indian Coast Guard ship Samudra Pavak apprehended a Pakistan boat this morning off the Gujarat Coast.

The boat, along with its nine crew members, was escorted to Porbandar for a joint investigation.

The ICG has been maintaining heightened vigil in the area with deployment of Ships and Aircrafts.

Security has been tight across the nation, especially in the border areas and ports as security forces are on the lookout to thwart any infiltration attempts

Almost two-thirds of Israelis believe there will never be a peace agreement with the Palestinians, according to the results of an opinion poll

published today.

Sixty-four per cent of the 646 Israeli and Arab Israeli respondents questioned said a peace accord would never be reached, in the survey conducted by the Project HaMidgam institute for the Walla news website.

Twenty-four per cent believed an accord was possible but that it would take longer than five years to achieve, while four percent thought it could be attained within five years.

The remaining eight per cent were undecided in the poll, whose margin of error was not published.

The peace process between Israel and the Palestinians has been comatose since the collapse of a US-led initiative in April 2014.

14:09 Russia warns US not to attack Syrian regime

Russia warned the United States about taking direct action against the Syrian regime, saying it would cause negative consequences across the Middle East, Russia's state-run Sputnik news agency reported Saturday.

Meanwhile, intense fighting continued in the besieged Syrian city Aleppo on Saturday, with one of the main hospitals bombed by Russian-backed Syrian forces.

Sputnik reported that Russian's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, "If the US launches a direct aggression against Damascus and the Syrian army, it will lead to terrible, tectonic shifts not only on the territory of this country but also in the region in general."

She said the United States risked creating a power vacuum in Syria were it to depose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Such a power vacuum would be filled by "terrorists of all sorts," Sputnik reported.

13:52 Beijing city issues first air pollution alert

Beijing city today issued its first yellow alert for air pollution in the second half of this year with Met department forecasting that smog will continue to engulf the Chinese capital till tomorrow.

The alert puts restrictions on work at construction sites, outdoor barbecues and straw burning by farmers.

The reading of Air Quality Index in Beijing was between 200 and 300 yesterday, meaning heavy pollution.

The smog began to envelop the capital and surrounding areas yesterday, just as a week of national holidays began.

The National Meteorological Center issued a yellow alert for smog that will be dispersed by a cold snap on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said brain drain can be converted into "brain gain" if the nation starts looking at the 27-million strong Indian Diaspora spread across the world as a strength rather than numbers.

"Brain drain worries can be converted into brain gain if we see the Indian Diaspora as a strength, rather than counting them just as numbers," Modi said after inaugurating the Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra here.

"In such times 'fear of unknown' can be an obstacle. Our Diaspora can help overcome this. They just have to tell the world that we belong to India," he added.

The Prime Minister stressed on the need to connect with the Diaspora and hailed his predecessor Atal Bihari Vajpayee who "coined the idea of Pravasi Bhartiya Divas and it has been continued since then".

SAARC Chair Nepal has said it will hold discussions with member-states and take "necessary" steps to hold the next summit, which was postponed after five countries, including India, pulled out citing an environment that was not right for the meeting's success.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Prakash Sharan Mahat said Nepal would take necessary initiatives and hold discussions with member-states to press for holding the 19th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Summit.

The 19th SAARC Summit was scheduled to take place in the Pakistani capital Islamabad from November 9 to 10, but was postponed on Friday following the pull-out by India,

A woman passenger on board a United Airlines flight has complained of discrimination after her pre-booked seat had been changed for two "Pakistani monks" who did not want to sit next to a woman.

Mary Campos, was leaving California on a plane bound for Houston, said her ticket was given away by the airlines because "She's a woman, and two men didn't want to sit next to a woman."

"I don't know how to tell you this," a gate agent said while handing her a new boarding pass. He then explained that due to the two passengers' "cultural beliefs", they could not sit next to or talk to a woman, CBS Local reported. Campos was told the men were Pakistani monks who were

wearing long orange shirts.

She says the female flight crew were not allowed to serve the men.

"We can't discriminate against half the population," Campos said, "for a belief from another nation."

"I thought I lived in a culture where females were equal to men," she said, adding that she was "shocked", but had no choice but to take her new seat, the report said.

"What if I were handicapped or transgender? What if your entire crew were female? Any belief that prevents individuals from interacting with females should not travel on commercial aircraft," she wrote in a letter to United Airlines.

The airline responded to say they would look into the matter, the report said.

Taking on the Nawaz-Sharif led government, former prime minsiter Retired General Pervez Musharraf has claimed that Pakistan is facing international isolation thanks to its own wrong policies.

Musharraf's statement comes in the wake of the postponing of the SAARC summit which scheduled for November in Islamabad, as Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Bhutan, joined by Sri Lanka on Friday, pulled out citing concerns over terrorism.

According to Dawn, the Chairman of the All Pakistan Muslim League spoke by telephone to APML workers on the party's sixth foundation day and lashed out at the government.

In the aftermath of the Uri attack and intelligence inputs of a terror threat to the national capital, Delhi Police is carrying out a review of the security

measures in place for VIPs.

The security audit involves plugging loopholes, if any, in the current security cover being provided to the protectees, mock drills and regular briefings of officers.

"Currently, we have finished the security audit of Z+ and Z protectees. We have initiated the security audit of Y and X protectees and this will be finished by next week," said a senior police officer.

Depending on the threat perception to the person, the category is divided into four tiers: Z+ (highest level), Z, Y and X. Individuals under the security blanket include the President, Vice-President, Prime-Minister, Supreme Court & High Court Judges and service chiefs of Armed Forces.

A special court has extended till October 25 the judicial custody of 16 suspected ISIS operatives, arrested from across the country on charges of

recruiting and financing people to join the terror outfit.

During the proceedings, District Judge Amar Nath passed the order after he was informed by the National Investigation Agency that it has supplied the copies of deficit documents, including statements of protected witnesses in the case, to the accused, sources said.

The court had recently denied interim bail to one of the accused Syed Mujahid, saying his liberty "shall impact the security of the State".

The NIA had filed its charge sheet before the court outlining the role of all the accused in a larger conspiracy of ISIS to further the terror group's ideology.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today said a well established mechanism through the DGMO has been activated to bring back Army jawan Chandu Babulal Chavan, who is in Pakistan's custody after inadvertently crossing over.

"He had crossed over which happens in border areas. There is a well established mechanism through DGMO which has been activated," he said.

On September 30, Chavan from 37 RR had inadvertently crossed over to the other side of the Line of Control following which Pakistan had been informed by the DGMO on the hotline.

"Such inadvertent crossing by Army and civilians are not unusual on either side. They are returned through existing mechanisms," the army had said.

China has reportedly taken a step aimed at cautioning India against moving too far in its tussle with Pakistan.

According to a report appearing in the state-owned Xinhua news agency, China has blocked a tributary of the Brahmaputra river as part of a major hydroelectric project, whose construction began in 2014.

The Xinhua report has reported the blockage of a tributary of the Yarlung Zangbo river.

The Brahmaputra in its upper reaches is called Yarlung Zangbo, after it originates from the Angsi glacier in western Tibet, southeast of Mount Kailash and Mansarovar Lake.

According to the annual National Crime Records Bureau report for 2015 released this week, Maharashtra has the highest number of stalking complaints in the country with 1,399 cases. Delhi is second with 1,124 cases.

Since 2013, when the offence of stalking was introduced in the Criminal Amendment Act, the number of FIRs being filed has been rising. Though the NCRB did not report data for Section 354D Indian Penal Code in 2013, it said 346 FIRs were pending investigation by cops in the beginning of 2014. Thereafter, 4,699 stalking cases were registered in that year, and 6,266 FIRs were registered in 2015.

This number is just the tip of the iceberg, say experts.

On an average, 88 per cent of stalking cases are pending for longer than a year, as per NCRB data. In 2014, 91 per cent of cases were awaiting hearing and 84 per cent cases were pending in 2015.

The conviction rate for stalking cases continues to fall across India. In 2015, 26 per cent of stalking cases ended in a conviction, which is even lower than the previous year when only 35 per cent of cases ended in a conviction

Arrests are a deterrent for sure, but in many cases, stalkers get bail right away. According to NCRB data, over 80 per cent of the people accused under Section 354D Indian Penal Code are given bail before the chargesheet is filed.

11:00

2nd Test, Day 3: New Zealand all out for 204 in 1st innings, India lead by 112 runs; Jeetan (47), Bhuvneshwar 5/48, Shami 3/70

10:40 President, PM pay tributes to Mahatma Gandhi

The nation today remembered Mahatma Gandhi on his 147th birth anniversary, with President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders paying floral tributes to him at his memorial in New Delhi.

Vice President Hamid Ansari, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and senior BJP leader L K Advani also paid tributes to the Father of the Nation.

"Gandhiji made this world a better place. His ideals, dedication to the poor & struggle against injustice inspire," the prime minister said in a tweet.

Clad in a white kurta and pyjama, Modi, who arrived at 7:40 am, paid homage to the Mahatma by offering rose petals at his memorial and performing a 'parikrama' (circumambulation) around it.

Union Ministers M Venkaiah Naidu and Rao Inderjit Singh, and Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad too joined in paying homage to the Father of the Nation.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who arrived along with his deputy Manish Sisodia, also paid tributes to the Mahatma on his birth anniversary.

Procedures for bringing back the soldier who inadvertently crossed over to Pakistan have been activated at the DGMO level, Manohar Parrikar said on Sunday.

"There's a standard mechanism for that, people who inadvertently cross over are exchanged after enquiry," Parrikar told ANI.

On Thursday, army sources told PTI that "one soldier from 37 RR with weapon has inadvertently crossed over to the other side of the Line of Control. Pakistan has been informed by the DGMO on the hotline."

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday spoke to the family members of the missing soldier, whose grandmother passed away after hearing the news of his capture in Pakistan. The Home Minister telephoned the close family members of Chandu Babulal Chohan, son of Bashan Chohan, who hails from Dhule in Maharashtra

Donald Trump, who has refused to release his tax records, declared a $916 million loss on his 1995 income tax returns, a major US daily claimed in a startling report that suggested the billionaire Republican presidential nominee could have legally avoided paying taxes for up to 18 years.

In an investigative report, The New York Times said Trump in 1995 showed a gross income tax loss of $915.7 million.

"The 1995 tax records, never before disclosed, reveal the extraordinary tax benefits that Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, derived from the financial wreckage he left behind in the early 1990s through mismanagement of three Atlantic City casinos, his ill-fated foray into the airline business and his ill-timed purchase of the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan," the report said.

The Trump campaign, responding to the news report, said his income tax returns was obtained illegally by the Times and attacked the daily as "an extension of the Clinton Campaign, the Democratic Party and their global special interests."

10:00

10 jawans injured after an army vehicle overturns in Pokhran, Jaisalmer. Injured taken to hospital, reports ANI

09:57 29% Swachh Bharat toilets exist only on paper, another 36% unusable: Survey

A survey of 7,500 rural households has found that 29% of Swachh Bharat toilets exist only on paper and of those that have been built, 36% are unusable.

The survey, conducted by Accountability Initiative at the Centre for Policy Research in December 2015, across 10 districts in five states. The states included Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.

The survey took the government's achievement list from the Swachh Bharat website and went about trying to find the beneficiaries. The first roadblock it hit was that many names on the achievement list were mentioned twice.

"The government needs to institute random auditing of the achievement list and also employ third party surveys to ensure accuracy of numbers," Yamini Aiyar of Accountability Initiative told Huffington Post.

Of the ten districts surveyed, the best performing was Satara in Maharashtra, which has been known for its sanitation achievements. The worst of the ten districts was Nalanda in Bihar, home turf of chief minister Nitish Kumar.

09:57 Indias surgical strikes remain an enigma

Indian journalists must be compulsorily made to read the parting speech by Helen Boaden, Director of BBC Radio, as she resigned from her position last weekend, on how the scramble for 'breaking news' is degrading and destroying that used to be a wonderful profession. She makes a touching case for 'slow news'.

The point at issue here is the Indian media coverage of our "surgical strikes" across the Line of Control at Pakistan on September 29. India has been whipped into frenzy by the media. What happened is not good for health -- of individuals or of the nation.

Fortunately, Arun Jaitley interjected with perfect timing to take the mind away to the exciting vista of the "biggest disclosure" in independent India's history by tax-evading crooks.

But that crime thriller can make the "surgical strikes" go away only momentarily. According to news from Islamabad, a top aide to PM Narendra Modi contacted a key figure to convey to PM Nawaz Sharif conveying India's desire not to 'escalate'.

But then, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar promptly undercut Modi by just reminding Pakistan about Bangladesh's creation. So, the war is wide open, again.

Meanwhile, the "surgical strikes" as such remain an enigma wrapped in mystery.

Read more HERE

Mahira Khan, who is all set to make her Bollywood debut opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Raees, is one of the Pakistani artistes facing a ban in India called by some political parties in the aftermath of the Uri terror attack.

While she has not reacted to it so far, she has shared on her timeline another Pakistani artiste Alizay Jaffers thoughts on the relationship between the people of India and Pakistan.

Excerpts from the post...

"It's strange, this affinity with India. I find myself getting increasingly upset at the abuse and hatred tossed from one border to another, with little rationale apart from the 69 year old chips on our shoulders. These chips have, over time, turned into boulders, and who doesn't crumble under the weight of those?

It's very strange, this affinity with India. When Amitabh Bachchan is in the hospital, we pray for his good health; when Ranbir Kapoor's film is a hit, we are prouder than Neetu and Rishi; we never deny that no one brings romance to life like the voices of Kishore and Rafi; they are in unanimous agreement that their local music scene is not a patch on ours; if we happen to interact abroad, they are the only pardesis we include in the 'desi' category; their monuments carry our history; our language carries their roots.

It's far too strange, this affinity with India. Like siblings, we retaliate to each other's provocations. Ultimately, we both share the label of being impulsive and emotional in our responses to one another -- 'Look at what you're doing in Kashmir' 'Hah, look at what you're doing in Balochistan'; 'You attacked us first in Uri' 'Have you forgotten about Kargil?'; 'You started it!' 'No! You started it!'.

Read the full post HERE

Southern California residents should remain on heightened alert until Tuesday for the increased possibility of a major earthquake, officials said.

The warning by the Governor's Office of Emergency Services follows a series of small temblors deep under the Salton Sea, which is located on the 800-mile-long San Andreas fault, the Orange County Register reported Saturday.

Such warnings are typically issued once or twice a year, said Kelly Huston, the deputy director of crisis communications for the Governor's Office of Emergency Services.

The latest alert was issued after 142 temblors hit starting Monday near Bombay Beach at the southern end of the fault. Those quakes ranged from a magnitude of 1.4 to 4.3, the US Geological Survey said.

Scientists estimate the probability of a quake with a magnitude of 7.0 or higher on the southern San Andreas fault being triggered is as high as 1 in 100 and as low as 1 in 3,000. The average chance for such an earthquake striking on any given week is 1 in 6,000. That heightened probability will last through Tuesday.

08:45

Expelled AAP leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan will announce the formation of their new political party today

08:43 India all set to ratify Paris climate deal today

India is all set to ratify the Paris climate deal today, making it one of the key countries to help bring the pact into force.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced on September 25 that India will ratify it on October 2 on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

India's ratification will further underline its responsive leadership, which is committed to global cause of environment. The pact will come into force after it has been ratified by at least 55 countries which account for 55 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

So far, 61 countries have deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval accounting in total for 47.79 per cent of the total global greenhouse gas emissions.

India's decision to ratify the agreement will take the number of cumulative level of emission of countries that have ratified the agreement so far to 51.89 per cent as its total emissions is 4.1 per cent of the global emissions.

Dave said after EU has decided to ratify it, the total emissions amongst countries which have ratified the agreement will go up to 61 per cent. Paris Agreement was adopted by 185 nations last year on December 12 and India signed it in New York on April 22 this year. A total of 191 countries have signed the Paris Agreement so far.

Polythene will be banned at all national monuments from today, the second anniversary of the Swachh Bharat Mission which coincides with Gandhi Jayanti.

"Taking forward the Swachh Bharat Mission, we have decided to ban polythene at all national monuments and tourist destinations from Gandhi Jayanti this year," Union Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma said.

He, however, clarified that plastic bottles will not be banned, but tourists will be asked to place those in the recycle bins.

With the trial phase of the initiative launched last month, the ban will be applicable in 100-metre radius of the monuments.

As part of the initiative for 'polythene-free monuments' the Union Minister will visit Red Fort, Humayun Tomb and Qutab Minar.

It will be easier to implement this initiative as the monuments have security personnel who can check tourists at the entrance, Sharma said.

M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story has been declared tax free in Uttar Pradesh.

'The Untold Story' is a biographical film based on the life of Indian cricketer and the current ODI and T20 skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. After hitting the theatres on Friday night, the biopic seems to be faring well as it features 30-year-old Sushant Singh Rajput playing the young Dhoni.

Neeraj Pandey's movie has reportedly emerged the biggest opener in biopic genre as it hit almost 4000 screens on the first day of its release collecting Rs 21.5 crore.

"#MSDhoniTheUntoldStory is the BIGGEST OPENER in the biopic genre... Sat and Sun biz should add to a FABULOUS total. India biz," tweeted @taran_adarsh.

The movie has got the second best start of 2016, after Salman Khan's 'Sultan' and is faring better than SRK's 'Fan.'

Read the review HERE

There seems to be no end to the feud between Hrithik Roshan and Kangana Ranaut, with the National Award winning actress asking why he needs his father to rescue him from controversies.

Recently, Hrithik's father and filmmaker Rakesh Roshan had said in an interview that his son chose to remain calm and dignified when someone was spreading lies about him (referring to the battle between Kangana and Hrithik).

He had even said that if Hrithik chose to come out with the truth, it would shock everyone.

Initially, when the journalist asked Kangana to comment, her sister Rangoli came to her rescue saying the question can be skipped, although Kangana chose to respond.

"Why can't men stand up for themselves. He (Hrithik) is a 43-year old man. I just can't understand why his father has to come to rescue him from all these small controversies," the Queen actress said.

Kangana was talking at the launch of Chetan Bhagat's latest novel, One Indian Girl.

The controversy between the two actors had begun when Kangana mentioned 'silly exes' in an interview. Hrithik then shot off a legal notice to Kangana asking her to retract the statement. This had led to some mud-slinging between them.

08:15 Clinton resurgent, while Trump stalls

Hillary Clinton has been rewarded with a sizeable poll bump on the heels of her commanding US presidential debate performance, surveys showed today, while Donald Trump remained bogged down by his row with a former beauty queen.

Trump had erased an advantage in polls enjoyed by his Democratic rival, but the latest average posted by RealClear Politics now shows Clinton ahead by three percentage points, 43.8 to 40.9 per cent.

Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson nabbed 7.3 per cent.

Those nationwide poll results come as Clinton's numbers also improve in a number of critical swing states -- including the coveted battlegrounds of Florida, Nevada and New Hampshire -- following Monday's heated debate watched by some 84 million people.

A Clinton victory in next month's election, however, is by no means in the bag.

Pollsters are still awaiting a verdict from undecided voters in Ohio, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, where Trump is slated to hold a rally late today.

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