LIVE! Wrote article disputing father on my own: Jayant Sinha

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Thu, 28 September 2017

Wrote article disputing father on my own: Jayant Sinha

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23:43 India-Pak talks meaningless unless Pak changes course: US think-tank

The routine call for peace talks between India and Pakistan has no meaning unless Islamabad changes its course and stops terrorism, a top United States think-tank has said.

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a global think-tank, said in its report that such a move supported by countries, including the US, would be not only misguided, but also counterproductive.

The report "Are India Pakistan Peace Talks Worth a Damn" is authored by Ashley J Tellis, who holds the Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs and is a senior fellow at the think-tank.

The 100-page report notes that international community's call for continuous India-Pakistan dialogue fails to recognise that the security competition between the two neighbours is not actually driven by discrete, negotiable differences but is rooted in long-standing ideological, territorial and power-political antagonisms.

The report says these antagonisms are fuelled by Pakistan's irredentism, its Army's desire to subvert India's ascendancy as a great power and exact revenge for the past victories of the Indian military.

Peace talks between the two countries are meaningless unless Pakistan changes its course and sheds its links with jihadi terrorism, it said.

The report states that Pakistan's antagonisms are driven by its aspirations to be treated on par with India despite their huge differences in capabilities, achievements and prospects, Tellis writes.

The Pakistan Army feels emboldened by the international calls for bilateral engagement, Tellis writes, adding that this is because Islamabad believes that its strategy of nuclear coercion successfully invites foreign pressure on

India to make concessions on territory and other issues thus far out of reach.

After several unsuccessful efforts by the Modi government in the last three years, New Delhi of late has been insisting that there can be no talks with Pakistan unless it stops supporting terrorist activities in India.

"Talks and terror" cannot go together, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj recently told the Parliament.

Tellis report tends to supports India's position and seeks other international powers, including the US, to extend their support to New Delhi.

"If the United States wants to advance stability in South Asia, it must set upon a course that, instead of merely urging talks, presses Pakistan to realistically accept its circumstances vis-a-vis India," the report said.

That requires, most importantly, a determined effort to compel the "deep state" in Rawalpindi to sunder its links with jihadi terrorism, it said.

Airline systems around the world broke briefly, causing disruptions in a number of major airports around the world.

The disruptions slowed down some of the world's busiest airports, including London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Zurich, Melbourne, Johannesburg, Changi in Singapore and Reagan National Airport in Washington, according to The Telegraph and the BBC.

The issues -- which appear to be with one of the core systems airlines use to manage their passengers -- now appear to have been resolved, The Independant reports quoting people working at airports.

Heathrow Airport tweeted that a small number of airlines were experiencing problems across the world but that it was "working closely with them to solve the issue."

Union minister Jayant Sinha today rejected suggestions that he wrote an article in an English daily disputing his father and former finance minister Yashwant Sinha's contentions on the state of India's economy at anybody's bidding, insisting it was "absolutely out of his own conscience".

Sinha, minister of state for civil aviation, also said his difference of opinion with his father was "very serious discussion" and that it should not be seen "in a personal way".

"It was absolutely my own conscience... I reject any such charge that I was asked to write the article. I wanted to write the article," he told a television channel, a day after Sinha Sr. kicked up a storm by criticising Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for the economic "mess" in the country in an article in another national English daily.

"It is a very serious discussion about the future of the economy and it should not be seen in a personal way," Jayant said, adding the economy is shifting gears, and that it has slowed down a little bit so it can accelerate further.

Today, Jayant offered a stout defence of the government's economic policies in another national daily which many saw as an attempt by the Modi dispensation to have Sinha Sr. cornered by his own son.

"The discussion we are having through newspapers and television is a discussion I have been having with my father for many many weeks and months in the meetings I have with him. He asks difficult and tough questions as he should as somebody who knows the economy well," Jayant said.

Yashwant Sinha, who was finance minister in the first NDA government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, while sticking to his guns about his criticism of Jaitley and the government, had earlier in the day said a response to his article should have come from the minister concerned or a spokesperson for the government.

Referring to his son's defence of the government, seen as a counter to his criticism of the Centre's handling of economy, Sinha sought to know why Jayant was shifted from the finance ministry "if he was so competent" to address the concerns raised by him.

Jayant got a lot of stick from his father, who spoke to several TV channels, over his defence of the economic policies of the government.

Sinha, however, said both he and his son were doing their "dharma" (duty). He insisted that the issue should not be seen as one between "father and son".

"If someone has asked him (Jayant) to write the piece, then it is a cheap trick to play...I have not spoken to him (on the issue). Will do it some time to find out (what exactly happened)," Sinha said.

Jayant was shifted out of the finance ministry in July last year.

Indian Railways is working with the Indian Space Research Organisation to devise safety mechanisms to make travel by trains more safer, Union minister Piyush Goyal said today.

The minister said that he met ISRO Chairman A S Kiran Kumar few days back and Indian Railways along with RailTel are working together to explore use of space technology for safety in railways.

"Safety is very pressing and urgent need. The discussion which we had was very eye-opening in some sense for me but also very exciting in terms of possibilities that open for engaging with space technologies that ISRO has developed, helping in bringing safer travel to Indian railways," Goyal said at India Mobile Congress.

There have been a slew of train derailment incidents last month which saw the exit of Suresh Prabhu as the railway minister in the Cabinet reshuffle early this month.

Talking about technology at the event, Goyal said railways has been an early adopter of computers which could have been also expanded for various operational processes like safety.

"Way back in 1960s, railways started using computers in a small way and by 1985 you had passenger reservations system all computerised. I remember banking started using computers in 1990s. It was quite an interesting fact for me that in late 1960s railways started using computers. I am delighted about that but I do wish we had expanded those frontiers much to bring technology for safety for example," Goyal said.

He said modern technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning are going to change the world works and India has opportunity to look at what is latest across the world and bring it to the country.

"I have asked railtel to look at a programme to connect thousands of railway stations with wi-fi... we can actually provide also the villages around railway stations with wi-fi connectivity and get rural India also connected with new age technology. Let's give them same kind of opportunity that our children in cities are enjoying," Goyal said.

The minister said that round the clock access of connectivity and electricity is dream of billions of Indians and the government is making efforts to achieve it.

22:22 China operationalises stealth fighter J-20

China today announced commissioning the radar-evading J-20 stealth fighter jets into military service, giving its air force an edge in the region.

The flight tests of J-20 jets are being conducted as scheduled, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defence Col Wu Qian told a media briefing in Beijing.

The J-20 is China's fourth-generation medium and long-range fighter jet. It made its maiden flight in 2011 and was first shown to the public at the 11th Airshow China in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, in November last year.

Its introduction could add a new dimension in the India-China air force balance.

Pakistan has already expressed its interest in acquiring it.

The US air force operates the F-22 Raptor which is the fifth generation stealth air superiority fighter.

The Bombay high court today directed all municipal, district and panchayat-level authorities in Maharashtra to explain the reasons for their inability to repair and maintain roads, and also state if lack of funds is the issue.

A division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice N M Jamdar asked civic authorities across the state to make a representation at the next hearing in November.

"The problem of potholes isn't restricted to the roads in Mumbai. The roads in small towns and at the zila parishad and panchayat levels might also be bad. I also believe that the lack of adequate funds might be a primary reason why the authorities are unable to repair and maintain roads. That is why they must come to court and tell us if they get adequate funds or not," Chief Justice Chellur said.

"I want them to tell me what are the problems that prevent them from repairing potholes that cause road accidents," she said.

The bench directed municipal commissioners and the departments of Urban Development, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj to ask all the authorities concerned to make a representation before the court on November 8.

The high court was hearing a public interest litigation -- initiated 'suo moto' (on its own) by the court -- on the poor condition of roads in Mumbai and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's failure to prevent formation of potholes every monsoon and to repair them speedily.

At the last hearing in August, Chief Justice Chellur had ordered that a nodal agency be set up to look into the potholes- and other road-related complaints from across the state.

The court has made all the municipal corporations and municipal councils in Maharashtra respondents to the PIL. -- PTI

Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan today wrote to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh demanding protection for journalists from "fanatically minded" people.

Chavan, a former chief minister, made the plea in connection with reported threats to some senior TV journalists by people "who disapprove of the views expressed by them in their respective programmes".

In his letter to the home minister, he said it was an "extremely dangerous" trend which directly attacked the fourth pillar of democracy.

He referred to the killing of rationalists Narendra Dabholkar, M M Kalburgi and Govind Pansare and journalist Gauri Lankesh.

Chavan demanded immediate action to ensure that no physical harm was caused to the TV journalists and sought that people who were "fanatically minded enough" to give threats be booked.

"A swift action by you would set an example and deter all those who do or intend to indulge in violent means and practices," he said in the letter.

Amid conflicting claims by All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leaders over access to former chief minister Jayalalithaa during her hospitalisation, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam working president M K Stalin today said if a lie detector test was conducted, "many truths" will come from state ministers on her demise.

Apparently taking a dig at the ministers, he said rationalist outfit Dravidar Kazhagam's chief K Veeramani has given a "beautiful idea of a lie detector test".

"Only if that method is used, many truths will come from the present ministers," he told reporters here when asked about contradictory claims of ministers over Jayalalithaa's 75-day hospitalisation and death on December 5 last year.

He said Veeramani had said truths over Jayalalithaa's death should be brought out using the lie detector test.

Forest Minister Dindigul C Sreenivasan and Commercial Taxes Minister K C Veeramani had said none had seen Jayalalithaa during her hospitalisation.

Tamil Development Minister K Pandiarajan too had said he had never seen her during her hospitalisation.

However, ministers Sellur K Raju and Nilofer Kafeel contradicted them.

While Raju said "all ministers saw her," Kafeel had said she had once seen Jayalalithaa while she was shifted from one room to another in Apollo Hospital.

Against this background, Stalin reiterated that only a CBI probe would unearth the truth and not a commission of inquiry.

Not only state ministers, but several others who had visited Apollo Hospital here during Jayalalithaa's hospitalisation should be inquired on the issue, he said.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh will celebrate 'Dussehra' with the jawans of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police at Joshimath in Uttarakhand on Saturday.

Singh began a four-day trip to forward areas along the Sino-India border today.

A home ministry official said Singh will address a Sainik Sammelan at an ITBP border outpost at Joshimath (altitude 6,150 feet) and have lunch with the jawans before celebrating the 'Dussehra' with them.

He will also visit Barahoti, which has witnessed transgression by China's People's Liberation Army in the recent past.

The home minister will interact with ITBP personnel, who guard the border outpost located at an altitude of 14,311 feet.

This is the first visit by a senior minister in the Narendra Modi government to China border after the resolution of the standoff at Doklam.

Singh will also visit ITBP border outposts at Rimkhim (altitude 12,500 feet), Mana (10,500 feet) and Auli (10,200 feet) during the four-day trip, the official said.

The home minister is expected to review the situation on the border and assess the progress in various infrastructure projects.

The 3,488 km-long India-China border stretches through Jammu and Kashmir (1,597 km), Himachal Pradesh (200 km), Uttarakhand (345 km), Sikkim (220 km) and Arunachal Pradesh (1,126 km).

The Chinese and Indian troops were locked in a face-off situation for more than two months at Doklam in Sikkim sector after India stopped the construction of a road by China's army. -- PTI

Rejecting opposition claims over slowing economy, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said that the Narendra Modi-led government ended policy paralysis of the Congress government.

Here are the highlights:

- Government has not shied away from taking tough decisions unlike previous governments

- India is still the fastest growing economy despite global slowdown

- When India is at 70, there are always attempts to change the narrative itself: FM Jaitley

- I must confess that I do not have the luxury as yet of being a former finance minister nor do I have the luxury of being a former finance minister who has turned a columnist

- From 2003-2008, we grew with the global trend and then we slowed down

- This government ended policy paralysis of the Congress government

- Those who had pushed the country into policy paralysis, when they saw it coming, asked to postpone GST

- Demonetisation was to make sure that the anonymous tender which operated in market gets identified to its owner

19:40 Withdrawal of southwest monsoon begins: IMD

The withdrawal of southwest monsoon has begun, 12 days after its normal date, the country's top weatherman said today.

The southwest monsoon, however, still remains active over Telangana, Rayalaseema, Coastal Karnataka, South Interior Karnataka and Kerala, the India Meteorological Department said.

"The withdrawal of monsoon began on September 27," IMD Director General K J Ramesh said. The normal date for withdrawal of monsoon in the country is September 15.

The monsoon season in India officially starts from June 1 and ends on September 30.

"In view of the establishment of anticyclone in the lower tropospheric levels, substantial reduction in moisture content and dry weather prevailing over the region, the southwest monsoon has withdrawn from some parts of Punjab, Haryana, most parts of west Rajasthan and some parts of Kutch and north Arabian Sea on September 27," the IMD said.

Conditions are becoming favourable for further withdrawal of southwest monsoon from some parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, remaining parts of Punjab, west Rajasthan, some more parts of Haryana, some parts of east Rajasthan, some more parts of Gujarat and north Arabian Sea during the next 48 hours, it said.

Until today, there is an overall rainfall deficiency of five per cent, with the northwest India recording highest deficiency.

"The rainfall distribution has overall been good in the country," Ramesh said.

Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, who died at the age of 91, will be buried next to Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe, the magazine's first cover girl.

Hefner will be laid to rest at Westwood Village Memorial Park in Los Angeles.

Hefner had purchased the plot next to Monroe 25 years ago for USD 75,000, reported People magazine.

Monroe, who passed away in 1962 at the age of 36, was the first cover girl of the magazine when it debuted in 1953.

Westwood is the final resting place of some of Hollywood s biggest names, including Natalie Wood, Farrah Fawcett, Truman Capote, Dean Martin, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Rodney Dangerfield.

19:09 Will resign, if asked to go on leave: BHU VC

Banaras Hindu University vice chancellor Girish Chandra Tripathi said today that he will "resign" if he is asked to proceed on leave and maintained that the HRD ministry had not told him to do so.

The ministry has, meanwhile, initiated a routine process to shortlist the successor of Tripathi, who is at the centre of the controversy over handling of the recent violence in the BHU campus. His tenure ends on November 30.

"So far, nothing of this sort has been communicated to me. I have been in touch with the HRD Minister (Prakash Javadekar) right from the day of the incident and have briefed him about the situation as well as the measures taken. But if am I asked to go on leave, I will resign," he told PTI.

The vice chancellor further said that he has contributed a lot to improve the functioning of the university.

"Having done so much, it will be insulting to go on leave two months before my tenure comes to end. I will prefer quitting," he asserted.

The ministry officials said the process for appointing his successor has been initiated, but maintained that the timing of violence in the BHU campus and steps for appointment of a new VC is completely "coincidental".

Even if the unrest would not have happened, appointment process would have been initiated, a senior HRD official said on the condition of anonymity.

Last week, a number of students, including women, and two journalists were injured in a baton-charge by the police after a protest against an alleged eve-teasing incident turned violent in BHU, one of the 43 central universities in the country.

Tripathi had earlier this week said that the violence was fanned by "rumour mongering" and "outsiders".

The varsity's Chief Proctor O N Singh has already resigned, taking "moral responsibility" for the campus violence.

18:32 Shop CJ to merge with Homeshop18

Homeshop18, subsidiary of Mukesh Ambani-owned Network18 Media and Investments and Shop CJ Network today said they will be merging the businesses of both entities.

"The Board of Directors of TV18 Home Shopping Network (Homeshop18) and Shop CJ Network approved entering into a definitive agreement to combine the businesses of both entities," Network18 said in a statement.

The merger shall be effected by way of a share-swap and the shareholders of Shop CJ shall be issued 25 per cent equity in HomeShop18, making Shop CJ a subsidiary of HomeShop18.

Post the transaction, HomeShop18 shall cease to be a subsidiary of Network18 Media & Investments, however, Network18 shall continue to be the largest shareholder in the combined entity.

"The resultant benefits of scale shall better the growth prospects for the combined entity, allowing it to improve its standing in the TV home-shopping landscape and compete better with the challenge from e-commerce players," it said.

"We believe multiple synergies with respect to sourcing, marketing and delivery can be exploited through a combination with Shop CJ, which shall further accelerate this process," it added.

HomeShop18 is a subsidiary of Network18 Media & Investments, with SAIF Partners, GS Home Shopping South Korea and OCP as co-investors, while Shop CJ is an equal joint venture between the South Korean home shopping major CJO Shopping and P5 Asia Holding Investments (Mauritius) belonging to the Providence Equity Partners group. -- PTI

The Election Commission has rejected a plea of sidelined All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader T T V Dinakaran to grant 15 days additional time to submit affidavits in the party symbol dispute case and said the hearing would take place on October 6 as scheduled.

The poll panel had last week set September 29 as the deadline for all parties concerned to submit documents ahead of the hearing.

"The EC has rejected the request of T T V Dhinakaran for extension of time for submission of documents and hearing. Therefore, the hearing will be held on October 6 as scheduled," an EC official said.

The commission has directed all involved in the dispute to submit the list of general council members and central executive committee members of the party as on December 5, 2016.

The two factions have so far submitted around 10 lakh papers as part of affidavits staking claim to the two leaves symbol and the title of the party.

The Madras high court had earlier this month directed the EC to decide before October 31 the matter relating to the AIADMK symbol.

It had asked the EC to decide which faction enjoyed majority in the ruling party in Tamil Nadu and allot the symbol to it before October 31.

Prior to the merger, the two faction led by O Panneerselvam and V K Sasikala had staked claim to the symbol. The poll panel had frozen it, pending decision on their pleas.

Later, a large group of legislators led by Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami revolted against Sasikala, who is in jail in a graft case, and announced merger of the two factions.

17:38 Why Vajpayee dropped Jaswant, Mahajan in 1998

Much has been said of Yashwant Sinha's column, 'I need to speak up now', in the Indian Express yesterday which has kicked up a huge storm and leading to his son Jayant Sinha penning a rebuttal in a blog in Times of India.

Now Kanchan Gupta, commissioning editor and commentator with ABP News, who was part of Prime Minister A B Vajpayee's office during NDA 1, has written a piece, 'I too need to speak up now', rebutting Sinha Sr's version of why Jaswant Singh and Pramod Mahajan were benched by Vajpayee (he said the prime minister had played by the rulebook in doing so, as both of them had lost the Lok Sabha elections).

In contrast, Sinha wrote, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had overlooked Jaitley's electoral failure and made him the finance minister.

Here's an excerpt from what Kanchan has written:

'Half an hour, or maybe 45 minutes later, Sudarshan left. Shakti and I were summoned and a very distressed Vajpayee, his face resembling a thundercloud, dictated a short letter, instructing Jaswant Singh's name to be dropped from the list of Ministers. A new list was printed and attached to the letter.'

Kanchan winds up his article thus:

'Yashwant Sinha omits mentioning that he was shipped out of the Finance Ministry and Jaswant Singh brought in as the Finance Minister in July 2002. He also makes no mention of the reasons why he had to switch jobs with Singh. We can deal with that another day.'

And, yes, we can't wait! And, you can read Kanchan Gupta's article here.

Model-turned-actor Sherlyn Chopra, who appeared on the centrespread of Playboy in 2014, remembered Hugh Hefner as a nonconformist.

Hefner passed away at the age of 91.

Sherlyn became the only Indian woman to appear in nude in the magazine.

In an Instagram post, the actor took wrote, "#restinpower #restinpeace #hughhefner #trailblazer.

"A true #visionary who chose to not conform to the #dogma set by the self-proclaimed guardians of the society but instead followed his #bliss by acting on his #excitement consistently," Chopra said.

Sherlyn also posted her picture with Hefner from the shoot.

The Punjab and Haryana high court today stayed the arrest of three Ryan International Group trustees who had sought anticipatory bail in connection with the killing of a student in a Gurugram school.

A single judge bench granted stay on the arrest of group chief executive officer, Ryan Pinto, and his parents, founding chairman Augustine Pinto and managing director Grace Pinto, who had approached the high court seeking anticipatory bail on September 16.

The court of Justice Surinder Gupta has stayed their (of three trustees) arrest, said Arshdeep Singh Cheema, who along with advocate Sandeep Kapur appeared for the Pinto family.

The matter has now been listed for October 7, Cheema said.

Ryan Pinto, and his parents had approached the court, seeking anticipatory bail in connection with the killing of class 2 student Pradhuman Thakur, who was found with his throat slit in the washroom of a school run by their group on September 8.

School bus conductor Ashok Kumar was arrested in connection with the crime the same day. On September 25, the high court had impleaded the Central Bureau of Investigation as a respondent in the petition seeking bail for the three Ryan group trustees. -- PTI

The National Investigative Agency today issued summon notice to Jammu and Kashmir MLA Engineer Rashid in connection with terror funding case.

Rashid will be questioned by the NIA on October 3.

The NIA in the recent past has arrested many separatist leaders and businessmen in the case.

Earlier on September 6, the investigation agency conducted searches at around 27 locations in Srinagar and Delhi.

Last month, the NIA arrested seven Kashmiri separatists -- Altaf Shah, Ayaz Akbar, Peer Saifullah, Mehraj Kalwal, Shahid-ul-Islam, Naeem Khan and Bitta Karate -- for allegedly funding terror activities in the Kashmir Valley. -- ANI

The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Thursday suspected that Lashkar-e-Tayiba was behind the brutal killing of Border Security Force Constable Mohammad Ramzan Parray.

North Kashmir Inspector General Nitish Kumar confirmed that there were three to four terrorists who first attacked Parray with a knife and then fired indiscriminately at him.

"Around 9 'o'clock Jawan Ramzan Parray who was on holidays in his hometown was attacked by three to four terrorists. First, they attacked him with a knife and then fired indiscriminately. Prima facie, we know that Lashkar-e-Tayiba's Mohammed Bhai and his aides were behind the attack," he added.

He said that other family members, his father two brothers and an aunt were all lynched. All of them are in hospital now.

Unarmed Jawan Parray was shot dead by terrorists on Wednesday evening.

The 31-year-old BSF constable was deployed with the border-guarding force's 73rd battalion and had come home to the Bandipora district on leave.

Expressing solidarity with his family, the BSF, India tweeted: "Prahari Pariwar stands by the family of one of our member Constable Md Ramzan who was cowardly killed by terrorists today. He was on leave."

Image: A woman clings to the body of Rameez Ahmad Parray, who was killed by suspected terrorists on Wednesday night after he had returned home for a holiday. Image: Danish Ismail/Reuters

15:54

JUST IN: Ryan murder case: Pinto family's arrest stayed until further hearing on October 7 by Punjab and Haryana High Court

15:49 Worldwide airport chaos after check-in computer systems crash

Air passengers are suffering major disruption at airports around the world after reports that computer check-in systems have crashed.

Travellers have reported problems at London Gatwick, Charles de Gaulle in Paris, Reagan Airport in Washington DC, Changi in Singapore, Johannesburg and Zurich.

Passengers are reporting long waits at check-in desks. The cause of the outage is currently unclear.

Vishwas Gupta, the former husband of Dera Sacha Sauda chief's "adopted" daughter Honeypreet Insan, today filed a complaint alleging threat to his life, the police said.

In his complaint, Gupta alleged that an unidentified person threatened to kill him, the SHO at the Karnal City Police Station, Inspector Rajbir Singh, said.

"Gupta filed a complaint with the Sector 4 police post and alleged that an unknown caller threatened to eliminate him. We are examining the complaint," Singh said, adding that he has been provided security.

Gupta married Honeypreet in 1999 and filed for a divorce in 2011.

Addressing a news conference in Chandigarh last week, Gupta had expressed apprehension that that he might be killed for speaking against the Dera head.

Honeypreet, against whom the Haryana Police had issued a lookout notice last month in connection with the violence in Panchkula, has been absconding since Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh's conviction on August 25.

Tarun Tejpal, founder and former editor-in-chief of Tehelka, has been charged with rape, sexual harassment and wrongful confinement.

The former editor pleaded not guilty. The court has said that the trial will begin from November 21.

The former founder-editor of Tehelka was accused by the colleague of sexually assaulting her in an elevator of a five-star hotel during the magazine's THiNK 2013 festival in Goa in November 2013.

The allegations had kicked up a storm, forcing Tejpal, who had admitted to "bad lapse of judgement" and an "awful misreading of the situation", to quit the magazine.

14:56

JUST IN: On behalf of the government, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will today respond to questions raised on the economy

14:32 Facebook blocks journalist for post saying 'kamal ka phool hamari bhool'

A Facebook user called Mohammad Anas was reportedly banned from the social networking site for 30 days after he put up a post with the message, 'Kamal ka phool, hamari bhool' (The lotus is our mistake), on his personal page on Tuesday. The lotus is the symbol of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre.

The freelance journalist, whose post was removed by Facebook for allegedly violating "community standard", had shared a picture of a cash memo with the above status.

The "controversial" post, which has now garnered support from thousands, read: "Vyapari apne cash memo par print karva kar janta se bata rahe hain ki BJP ko vote dekar galti ho gayi (Traders are admitting their mistake of voting for the BJP by printing this on their cash memo)."

Anas told Hindustan Times that Facebook notified him of blocking his account for 30 days as his post did not follow their "community standards".

"I did not say anything on my own. I just shared a photograph and quoted what was mentioned in it. There was nothing objectionable in it," the report quoted Anas as saying.

"This is Facebook fascism," he added.

When Parliament convenes for its winter session there will be new floor leaders for the CPM, BSP and JD-U in the Rajya Sabha. There will also be no Hamid Ansari presiding over it, or Mayawati, Sitaram Yechury and Sharad Yadav in the first row.

The Rajya Sabha will also have a new chairman, in Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu.

But these are not the only changes afoot.

Even the two TV channels, LSTV and RSTV, will see a change in their programming. The presiding officers of both the Houses want to ensure that both the TV channels project and propagate the ideology of Hindutva icons Deendayal Upadhyaya and Syama Prasad Mookerjee.

Lok Sabha TV plans to bring out a weekly serial based on the RSS-BJP ideology and comparing it with the Narendra Modi model of governance. This, the BJP hopes, will be helpful in its 2019 Lok Sabha poll campaign, as CDs of the serial will be distributed to MPs and MLAs by the middle of 2018.

J Jayalalithaa was drowsy and had difficulty breathing, but could speak when she was brought to Chennai's Apollo hospital on September 22 last year, says the first medical report that was filed that day and has now been accessed by local media.

The report noted that the then Tamil Nadu chief minister possibly had pneumonia and that her blood pressure, pulse rate and sugar level were high and oxygen in her body was at 43 per cent. Sources at Apollo hospital have refused to comment as the matter is in court.

O Panneerselvam, who is now Deputy Chief Minister, was the first top AIADMK leader to allege that there was more to Jayalalithaa's death than what was made public, and had complained earlier this year that he did not get to see her in hospital, demanding an investigation.

An inquiry commission is now set up after the AIADMK faction led by Panneerselvam merged with that led by Chief Minister E Palaniswami last month. An inquiry into their leader's death was a pre-condition set by the OPS camp for the reunion, a demand seen to target VK Sasikala, Jayalalithaa's long-time aide, who was the only one allowed access to her at the hospital.

13:51 Why Yashwant Sinha does what he does

The buzz in Dilli Durbar is not hard to guess, it is that the Prime Minister's Office and the BJP leadership are upset with Yashwant Sinha for his criticism of the government's handling of the economy.

After resigning from all party posts in 2009, Sinha has generally been critical of the BJP and more supportive of the Congress's views.

The PMO was concerned when English news TV channels and the Congress party strongly took up his article in yesterday's Indian Express.

It has also put his son Jayant Sinha in an embarrassing position. With the support of latest data from the finance ministry, the MP from Hazaribagh has now a long article in the Times of India blogs to counter him.

Needless to say, Yashwant Sinha managed to get good press but brought down the image of his son in the Union council of ministers.

An aside: Sinha Sr will be the chief guest at Congress leader Manish Tiwari's book launch on October 5 in Delhi.

A trainee aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed on Thursday morning in Keesara village in Telangana.

The pilot of the craft is safe and no casualties or injuries have been reported.

The trainee aircraft Kiran crashed at 11:45 am this morning. It left from Hakimpet Air Force station in Hyderabad for a routine training mission.

A colonel will be ascertaining the cause of the incident.

The morning after his extreme indictment of the government's role in the economic slowdown, veteran BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said "I stand by my analysis."

Sinha, a former finance minister, said "short-sighted" decisions are being rushed by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and that there is no denying that the economy has hit a rough spot.

"We used to blame the UPA (previous government) for policy paralysis," he said, "after 40 months in power, we can't (still) blame the earlier government," he said.

Sinha, 79, stung his party yesterday with an opinion piece titled "I Need To Speak Up Now" in which he demolished Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and his handling of the economy, which fell to a three-year-low of 5.7 per cent in the last quarter.

The government rejected his assessment. "Under the decisive leadership of PM Modi, India has become the world's fastest-growing economy for three years in a row," said union minister Piyush Goyal.

12:42 A hero's farewell

BSF soldiers lay wreaths on the coffin of Md Ramzan Parray who was shot dead by terrorists yesterday, when he had come home on leave.

The constable, Rameez Ahmad Parray, had come home on holiday a few days ago.

The terrorists, after forcing their way into the house at Parray Mohalla, fired indiscriminately at the family.

The jawan died on the spot. Four of his family members -- his father, two brothers and an aunt -- were injured, police said.

Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who is elated that his mother Mehroonisa Siddiqui has been named as one of the most influential women in India by the BBC, shared his happiness on Twitter by posting a photograph featuring him with his mother.

The actor posted on Twitter, ""A lady who showed courage against all odds being in a conservative family from a small village-My Mother."

Indian women's cricket team captain Mithali Raj, Dr Urvashi Sahni, who is a social entrepreneur, women's rights activist and educationist and Nitya Thummalachetty, who is a business analyst at CareCentra, a health care analytics company in New York also feature in BBC's 100 most influential women list of 2017.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui made his Bollywood debut in 1999 with a small role in Aamir Khan's Sarfarosh.

He has featured in successful films like Kahaani, Gangs of Wasseypur, Talaash, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Manjhi - The Mountain Man and Haraamkhor, for which he won the Best Actor award at the New York Indian Film Festival.

It's past midnight. The moon -- just a sliver in the inky sky -- watches as elite commanders billow out of choppers into enemy land. Four hours later, they are back in India, having razed seven terror camps.

Just what the director or the author ordered. The surgical strike -- which the Army executed on the night of September 28 last year, when Indian commanders paratrooped into Pakistan and killed 50 terrorists -- has all the

ingredients that make for a successful potboiler: suspense, action, bravery and patriotism.

The strike that followed a terror attack in an Indian Army camp in Uri in Kashmir has spawned its share of books and films.

Around this time next year, a Hindi film on the subject will be screened in a hall next to you. And two books are already out that delve into the operation.

Tomorrow, Nitin A Gokhale's "In Securing India the Modi Way: Pathankot, Surgical strikes and More" will be launched in the Capital.

"India's Most Fearless: True Stories of Modern Military Heroes" by Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh is another recent literary manifestation of the event, with a chapter devoted to the strike.

The film "Uri", produced by Ronnie Screwvala's RSVP, is to be directed by Adia Dhar and stars actor Vicky Kaushal as a commander, who leads a group of paratroopers across the border, 11 days after a Pakistan-based terror outfit attacked the Uri camp.

The Shiv Sena on Thursday backed former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha's criticism of the economy and said that the Bharatiya Janata Party needs to prove that the claims by Sinha are wrong.

Backing Sinha's backlash at demonetisation and the downward spiralling agricultural sector, the editorial in Shiv Sena mouth-piece 'Saamana' said, "Sinha has also focused on the conditions the country faced after demonetisation. He has compared it to a situation of adding fuel to fire as the country was already moving in a downward spiral. Many of the government programmes like Make in India have failed. People are continuously losing their jobs. The prices of petrol and diesel are increasing. It was never this bad in the past two decades. Even the agricultural sector is struggling."

Shiv Sena also urged BJP to prove Sinha's comments as false claims, adding that even many BJP leaders know the truth but won't speak up out of fear.

Comparing the situation to Stalin's regime in Russia, the editorial says Sinha might be labelled as a traitor after his comments.

It adds that it would be interesting to watch what punishment Yashwant Sinha gets for speaking truth.

Jailed Dera chief Ram Rahim's 'adopted' daughter Honeypreet want to surrender to the police, said sources close to her, but she has a few conditions.

According to sources close to her, Honeypreet is in depression. Her health is getting worse and she has gone weak.

On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court rejected her transit anticipatory bail plea.Honeypreet is facing charges of sedition and inciting violence after the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim in two rape cases.

Priyanka Taneja alias Honeypreet, the adopted daughter of the jailed Dera chief, tops the list of 43 persons wanted by the Haryana Police in connection with incidents of violence that had followed Ram Rahim's conviction in the rape cases.

Ram Rahim was convicted by the special CBI court in Panchkula on August 25, following which violence and arson had erupted in Panchkula and Sirsa districts of Haryana which had claimed 41 lives and left several others injured.

11:36 Aravind Adiga, 4 others vie for 2017 DSC Prize

Man Booker winner Aravind Adiga leads the race for this year's $25,000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature.

Adiga has made it to the shortlist for his book "Selection Day".

Four other authors are also in contention for the coveted prize - Anjali Joseph ("The Living"), Sri Lanka's Anuk Arudpragasam ("The Story of a Brief Marriage"), Karan Mahajan ("The Association of Small Bombs") and Stephen Alter ("In the Jungles of the Night").

The shortlist was announced by chair of the jury Ritu Menon along with the other members Senath Walter Perera, Steven Bernstein, Valentine Cunningham and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown.

Now in its seventh year, the DSC Prize has been bringing South Asian writing to a larger global audience through rewarding and showcasing the achievements of the authors writing about this region.

Father Tom Uzhannalil, who was held captive by ISIS for over a year, has finally reached India today and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Catholic priest from Kerala, was allegedly abducted from Yemen by Islamic State on March 4, 2016.

Catholic priest Father Tom arrived in Delhi at 7.40 am today by Air India flight from Rome.

An employee of the Vatican, Father Tom was abducted by terrorists in Aden on March 4, 2016. After much negotiations and with the help of the Oman government and the Vatican's intervention , the Indian government finally managed to rescue him from his captors.

In what is set to be a first for a government in Uttar Pradesh in recent times, the Yogi Adityanath administration has decided to celebrate Diwali on a grand scale on the banks of Saryu river in Ayodhya next month, with the Chief Minister, Governor Ram Naik, the entire ministry and top government officers present there.

Confirming that Adityanath himself has asked for the celebrations to be held in the temple town, with prominent buildings along Saryu Ghat decorated and illuminated, sources said a senior officer from the Chief Ministers secretariat had held a meeting in Faizabad last week with officials of various departments and the local administration.

At the meeting, the officials concerned were alerted about Adityanaths decision and asked to begin preparations, sources said.

Sources said the main events in Ayodhya will be organised on October 18, a day before Diwali, since Adityanath will be in Gorakhpur for Diwali pooja at Gorakhnath temple on the festival day.

Amid the controversy that has unfolded over the sexual harassment of a student in the Banaras Hindu University Campus last Saturday, reports suggest that Vice Chancellor GC Tripathi has been asked to go on leave by the HRD ministry. Search for a new VC has been set into motion.

Sources quoted by Indian Express said, "A file with six names will be sent to Rashtrapati Bhavan in the next few days, from which the President will appoint three nominees to the search and selection committee. The V-C's post will also be advertised soon."

Tripathi is set to retire on November 27. Clearly, the VC's comments after the allegations of sexual harassment on campus has made the government uncomfortable.

A probe by the Varanasi divisional commissioner was also blamed Tripathi for the violence on campus.

Tripathi, since the girl's complaint, has dismissed the allegation over and over again. He has also blamed the girl for roaming around late at night. Thing went from bad to worse when students protesting inaction over the incident were lathicharged inside campus.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dissolved the lower house of parliament today, paving the way for a snap election that is expected to be held October 22.

The speaker of the house, Tadamori Oshima, read the statement of dissolution.

Abe is widely seen as trying to reconsolidate his grip on power within the ruling Liberal-Democratic Party, so he can extend the term of his premiership next year. The dissolution of the more powerful of Japan's two-chamber parliament comes more than a year before required by law.

The ruling party, though, faces a growing challenge from a new party launched by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike this week. The Party of Hope has energised some voters, and is gaining renegade lawmakers from the main opposition party.

10:17

JUST IN: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to visit Srinagar on September 29. She will also visit Siachen on September 30

10:12 Sinha vs Sinha: Jayant rebuts father's claims

A day after senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha's takedown of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's handling of the economy, his son and union minister Jayant Sinha has defended the government's economic policies, stating it is undertaking structural reforms that are "necessary to create a 'New India' and provide good jobs for our billion-strong workforce."

"The new economy that is being created will be much more transparent, globally cost-competitive, and innovation driven. Importantly, the new economy will also be much more equitable thereby enabling all Indians to lead better lives," Jayant Sinha, who is minister of state for civil aviation, writes on the Edit page of today's Times of India newspaper.

His father's harsh critique was published in the Indian Express yesterday. Yashwant Sinha accused Arun Jaitley for making a "mess" of the economy and blamed it partly on what he called a hurried launch of the Goods and Services Tax and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's shock move to ban high value currency last year.

Jayant Sinha makes no direct mention of his father's assessment, but says articles that have been written on the challenges that face the economy "draw sweeping conclusions from a narrow set of facts, and quite simply miss the fundamental structural reforms that are transforming the economy."

Read Jayant Sinha's full column HERE

Making evident their disapproval of the Congress high command's decision to oust BPCC chief Ashok Choudhary, at least 26 of the 27 party MLAs skipped the function in which newly-appointed working president Kaukab Quadri assumed charge on Wednesday.

This assumes significance as Choudhary needs the support of 18 MLAs to overcome the anti-defection law.

While only MLA Siddharth attended the event at state Congress HQ, at least 15 MLAs and MLCs visited Choudhary at his residence to express solidarity with him.

After former finance minister Yashwant Sinha created a stir with his Indian Express editorial on the economy of the country, Shatrughan Sinha has tweeted in support of Sinha, breaking away from other BJP leaders who slammed the senior leader.

On Thursday, Shatrughan took to Twitter and wrote, "Mr Yashwant Sinha is a true statesman and a tried and tested man of wisdom, who has proven himself as one of the best and most successful finance ministers of the country. He has shown the mirror on the economic condition of India and has hit the nail right on the head."

The veteran Bollywood actor then goes on to write that Sinha's 'utterances are are always very well thought through and must always be taken seriously'. "It would be childish to be dismissive of or to make light of his recent observations. Our elder brother must be appreciated and applauded for coming out with this," Shatrughan further wrote.

On Wednesday, Yashwant Sinha, the senior BJP leader, delivered a blistering criticism of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley over the state of the economy.

However, the government insisted that Indian economy is the fastest growing in the world and some "uncertainty" is bound to occur when "transformative" measures like demonetisation and the GST are taken.

Even Yashwant Sinha's son, Jayant Sinha didn't seem to agree with his father's views, saying some "sweeping conclusions" were drawn from a "narrow set of facts", missing the "structural reforms" transforming the economy.

Hugh Hefner, the founder of Playboy magazine and star of E! reality show The Girls Next Door, has died, PEOPLE confirms. He was 91.

Born Hugh Marston Hefner on April 9, 1926 in Chicago, Illinois to parents Grace Caroline and Glenn Lucius Hefner, the businessman died on Wednesday.

Hugh M. Hefner, the American icon who in 1953 introduced the world to Playboy magazine and built the company into one of the most recognisable American global brands in history, peacefully passed away today from natural causes at his home, The Playboy Mansion, surrounded by loved ones, a rep for the Playboy Enterprises founder said in a statement.

Hefner quickly rose to fame after the first issue of mens magazine Playboy published in December 1953, which featured a nude Marilyn Monroe. The same year, Hefner launched media and lifestyle company Playboy Enterprises, Inc, on which he served as a board member until the time of his death.

My fingers scrolled through my Facebook feed as I went through other people's lives, random pictures, food videos and frequent opinion pieces on whatever the "hot news" that day was.

A few months ago I was that hot news and what a nightmare it was. As I read about the protests against the molestation of a woman at Banaras Hindu University, my eyes flashed across words -- protest, campus, safe, violence, lathi chargethat took me back to the time when I found myself at the centre of controversy.

In February this year, protests wracked Delhi University after the ABVP attacked a peaceful agitation at Ramjas College. When I raised my voice against the incident and also expressed my views on Indo-Pak relations, I was subjected to incessant trolling as well as rape and death threats. Although there was a protest held in support of me, how much have we really learned?

Read Gurmehar Kaur's full column HERE

A Goa court will frame charges against journalist Tarun Tejpal, who is accused of sexually assaulting a junior colleague four years ago.

The Bombay High Court has rejected Tejpal's plea to stall the framing of charges till it decides on his petition to drop the case against him.

The former editor of Tehelka magazine says the case is "absolutely false," motivated by "political vendetta," and that there is no evidence against him.

A woman journalist working in Tehelka had in November 2013, accused the magazine's founder-editor of sexually assaulting her during an event in Goa. The young woman said Tejpal, 50, had assaulted her inside an elevator of a five-star hotel during the ThinkFest conference organised by Tehelka.

In a 2,684-page chargesheet filed before the Goa fast-track court, the police said that Tarun Tejpal assaulted the woman twice and that there is enough evidence to prove charges of rape, sexual harassment and outraging the modesty of a woman.

Father Tom Uzhunnalil, who was recently released from the terrorist captivity has finally reached home.

The priest who was in the clutches of the Islamic State for 17 months will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Minister of External Affairs Sushama Swaraj at 11.30 am today.

Speaking today, Father Tom said, "Very happy, thank almighty for making this day possible. All people who have worked in their own ways, I am grateful."

The 57-year-old priest was working as a missionary in Yemen and helping Missionaries of Charity sisters to run an old age home when he was abducted. He was taken into custody after 15 persons including four Indian nuns were killed by Islamic State rebels.

An inquiry commission, set up by the Tamil Nadu government to probe the death of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa, will look into the circumstances and situation leading to her hospitalisation last year and subsequent treatment, the government has said.

The commission shall submit its report in three months, it said.

A public (SC) department Government Order (GO) dated September 27 said Tamil Nadu Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, in excercise of the powers conferred under relevant sections of the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952 (Central Act LX of 1952), issued the following terms of reference of the commission.

"To inquire into the circumstances and situation leading to the hospitalisation of the late Hon'ble Chief Minister (Jayalalithaa) on 22.9.2016 and subsequent treatment provided till her unfortunate demise" on December 5, 2016, it said.

The state government had on Monday announced setting up of the inquiry commission to probe and submit a report on the death of Jayalalithaa.

The probe was a key demand of the then rebel AIADMK faction led by O Panneerselvam as a pre-condition for the merger of his camp with that of Chief Minister K Palaniswami.

The two factions had merged on August 21.

Another GO, dated September 25 and released by the government today, said the Commission "shall complete its enquiry and submit its report (both English and Tamil) to the Government within a period of three months from the date of publication of this notification in the Tamil Nadu Gazette (ie. September 25)".

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