LIVE! Obama warns 'democracy itself' is on the ballot

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Fri, 14 October 2016

Obama warns 'democracy itself' is on the ballot

Timeline Refresh

23:52 Karunanidhi's wife Rajathi Ammal meets Sasikalaa, enquires about Jaya's health

DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi's wife and Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi's mother, Rajathi Ammal, has visited Apollo Hospitals to enquire about the health of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.

Sources in both AIADMK and DMK confirmed that Rajathi Ammal visited the hospital on Thursday night and enquired about the health of Jayalalithaa, who has been under treatment there for infection since September 22.

Her visit comes days after DMK Treasurer M K Stalin, son of Karunanidhi, called on doctors at the hospital.

While DMK sources confirmed that she met Jayalalithaa's aide Sasikala in the hospital and enquired about the health of the Chief Minister, AIADMK sources declined to comment on the meeting.

DMK sources said Rajathi Ammal took the concurrence of Karunanidhi before she went to the hospital to enquire about the health of Jayalalithaa.

Her unannounced visit came to light only on Friday.

United States President Barack Obama warned American "democracy itself" is on the ballot in November's presidential election, as White House concern grows about the lasting impact of Republican Donald Trump's scorched-earth campaign.

"Civility is on the ballot. Tolerance is on the ballot. Courtesy is on the ballot. Honesty is on the ballot. Equality is on the ballot. Kindness is on the ballot," Obama said at a fiery campaign event for Hillary Clinton in Cleveland.

"All the progress we made in the last eight years is on the ballot," he said. "Democracy itself is on the ballot right now."

Hillary Clinton has accused her Republican presidential rival Donald Trump of "stalking" her during their televised debate on Sunday.

Trump often stood closely behind the Democratic nominee glowering as she answered questions from the audience during the town hall-style event in St Louis.

Speaking during an interview on NBC's The Ellen DeGeneres Show set to air Friday, Clinton said his movements made her feel "really weird" on stage.

"Because of the revelation of the public video, and everything that came out on 'Access Hollywood,' you know, he was really all wrought up, and you could just sense how much anger he had," Clinton said, referring to a video leaked last week showing Trump making lewd comments about women.

"And so he was really trying to dominate and then literally stalk me around the stage and I would just feel this presence behind me."

Trump rejected criticism about his debate performance at a rally on Monday.

Sources said there are reports of 8 jawans from the Sashastra Seema Bal being hurt in a "hit-and-run" attack in the area of Zakoora on the outskirts of Srinagar. Reports add that on jawan has been killed.

After India carried out surgical strikes across the Line of Control on September 29, security forces in the Kashmir Valley have confronted large attacks by Pakistani terrorists.

In the most recent case, two members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba were killed yesterday, three days after they attacked a government compound in Pampore, 15 km from Srinagar.

Under attack for imposing a foreign travel ban on a prominent journalist, Pakistan today withdrew the order on the scribe who had reported on a rift

between civilian and military leaderships on the powerful ISI's covert support to terrorist groups in the country.

The travel ban on Cyril Almeida of Dawn newspaper had sparked a massive criticism of the government and the military from media houses, journalist associations and civil society.

Almedia's name was put on the Exit Control List this week after he reported about a verbal clash between the military and the government over the spy agency's support to militants.

"It has been decided to delete the name of Cyril Almedia... from Exit Control List," government said in a notification.

Ahead of AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal's October 16 rally in Gujarat, posters carrying his photographs along with Burhan Wani, Hafiz Saeed and Osama bin Laden, terming them as "heroes of Pakistan", have appeared in Surat city.

The Delhi chief minister is scheduled to address a public rally at Varachha in Surat on Sunday evening.

While AAP accused the ruling BJP of being responsible for the "defamatory" posters, the saffron party claimed that common people had put them up as they were "deeply hurt" after Kejriwal demanded proof of the Army's surgical strikes across LoC.

Surat AAP spokesperson Yogesh Jadvani said, "We know that it is a tactic by BJP to defame Kejriwal and AAP ahead of the rally. BJP workers are given rewards for putting the most defamatory poster. But, we are not bothered by such negative politics."

Iran has arrested 11 people on suspicion of planning suicide bombings on behalf of the Islamic State group and seized large quantities of explosives, local media reported today.

It was the latest in a series of alleged plots by the Sunni extremists uncovered in Shiite Iran which has been a major supporter of the campaign against them in neighbouring Iraq.

"Eleven people were arrested and the terrorist group dismantled," General Ahmad-Ali Goudarzi, who heads the security forces in the southern province of Fars, was quoted as saying.

19:00 No response yet from Dylan on Nobel win

Twenty-four hours after awarding Bob Dylan the Nobel prize for literature, the Swedish Academy said today they had still not managed to speak to the reclusive US singer.

"The Academy has spoken to Dylan's agent and his tour manager," the Academy's chancellor Odd Zschiedrich said.

But as yet they have spoken directly to Dylan himself, he said.

The new poet laureate of rock'n'roll played to a packed house in Las Vegas last night, hours after seeing off favourites including Britain's Salman Rushdie to become the first American to win the literature Nobel since Toni Morrison in 1993.

But fans hoping for a gushing response to the win were disappointed -- true to his usual taciturn form, Dylan uttered not a word between songs, leaving the world to keep guessing what he thought about his elevation to the pantheon of literature.

Israel suspended cooperation with UNESCO today, a day after the UN cultural agency adopted a draft resolution that Israel says denies the deep, historic Jewish connection to holy sites in Jerusalem.

UNESCO's draft resolution, sponsored by several Arab countries, uses only the Islamic name for a hilltop compound sacred to both Jews and Muslims, which includes the Western Wall, a remnant of the biblical temple and the holiest site where Jews can pray.

The validated resolution is expected early next week, but the wording is unlikely to change.

Israelis and many Jews around the world viewed it as the latest example of an ingrained anti-Israel bias at the United Nations, where Israel and its allies are far outnumbered by Arab countries and their supporters.

18:05 Shiv Sena pitches for second term for Pranab

Ruling NDA constituent Shiv Sena today pitched for a second term for President Pranab Mukherjee even as the Congress said the party high command will take a call on it.

Sena leader Sanjay Raut said he will meet Mukherjee next week, insisting he has proved to be "best President" and that nobody can doubt his capabilities.

"In the last five years, he has shown that he is a capable and a non-controversial President, who is well-versed in national and international affairs," Raut, Shiv Sena's leader in the Rajya sabha, said.

Raut, who is the executive editor of Shiv Sena's mouthpeice Saamna, said, "Just like his party appreciated the surgical strikes by the armed forces and congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi, similarly, we are appreciating the good work of the President."

The comments from Raut, Shiv Sena's most visible public face, come at a time when the party's ties with BJP, with which it shares power both in Maharashtra and at the Centre, are under strain.

During run-up to the preesidential polls, Mukherjee had visited Matoshree, the residence of the Thackerays, to garner support for his candidature. The Sena, under Bal Thackeray's leadership, had broken ranks with BJP to support Mukherjee's presidential candidature in 2012.

Mukherjee's current term ends on July 25 next year and, according to reports, the Rashtrapati Bhawan has approached the government to find a suitable accomodation for him in Lutyen's bungalow zone.

Barring the first President of India Dr Rajendra Prasad, none of his successors has had a second term in Rashtrapati Bhawan.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II is now the world's longest reigning monarch after the death of King of Thailand Bhumibol Adulyadej who reigned for more than 70 years.

Adulyadej, who died yesterday aged 88, ascended to the throne in 1946 and reigned for more than 70 years and four months.

Britain's 90-year-old Queen Elizabeth II ascended to her throne in 1952 aged 25 on the death of her father King George VI and has reigned for 64 years and eight months so far.

She, however, has some way to go before she becomes the world's longest reigning monarch ever.

King Sobhuza II of Swaziland, who died in 1982, was only four months old when he became king. He ruled for 82 years and 253 days.

The Queen is already the longest-serving British monarch in history, having surpassed Queen Victoria's tally of 63 years and 216 days last year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived in Madhya Pradesh is addressing ex-servicemen at the Lal Parade ground in Bhopal. He will also unveil the Shaurya Smarak or the war memorial.

Here are the highlights of his address:

>> It is my privilege that I have the opportunity to pay my tributes to our brave soldiers

>> When we talk about our soldiers, it is mostly about their uniform, their valour but we must also see them as an example of humanity

>> During floods in Srinagar, army men extended their help for the rescue and relief operation in the area. While extending help, my soldiers did not for once think that these are the same people who pelt stones at them

>> It is the call of humanity that inspires our armed forces when they're helping people during natural disasters. Nothing else matters

>> About 1.5 lakhs Indian soldiers fought and lost their lives during the two World Wars. World must never forget this

>> Army does not speak, it acts

>> The Shaurya Smarak is a 'Tirtha Sthan' for us and for our coming generations

>> Previous governments had made empty promises on OROP but when we came to power we fulfilled our promise and implemented it

>> In some countries whenever people see jawans at airports or railway stations, they stand up and applause, we should also adopt this

Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav today said the party's Chief Ministerial candidate will be decided by the elected party legislatures after the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

"The Chief ministerial candidate will be decided by the elected party legislatures and parliamentary board. This is our job. This is not your (media) work," he said when asked whether his son Akhilesh Yadav was still the SP's Chief Ministerial candidate for the upcoming elections.

The remarks come as another setback to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who was recently removed from party's state president post owing to an apparent feud in the first family of the state.

16:30

Maharashtra's Swapnil Gugale and Ankit Bawane set new record of highest partnership in Ranji Trophy going past previous stand of 577 runs.

16:27 Vesuvius set to erupt again?

Italian authorities are finalising an emergency plan to evacuate 700,000 people after warnings of Mount Vesuvius' eruption risk were expanded earlier this year. The 25 at-risk towns are due to share their evacuation strategies in the next two weeks, and plans for seven newly identified "red zone' areas are being drawn up.

Describing India as a "university of tolerance", Home Minister Rajnath Singh today asserted that religious persecution will never be allowed in the country.

"Tolerance is essential for peaceful existence. People from all religions live peacefully in India and practise their religion without any fear of discrimination. That is why India is a university of tolerance," Singh said at a meeting of Christian leaders organised by India Christian Council in New Delhi. Singh said Christianity came to India almost 2,000 years ago and Kerala is home to St Thomas church which is one of the world's oldest churches. He said India cannot forget the contribution of Christians -- from Saint Thomas to Mother Teresa -- who tried to eradicate evils from our society.

"There were incidents of attacks on churches in Delhi which came up in the run up to elections (to Delhi Assembly). But I would like to say that religious persecution will never be allowed in India whether it is before or after election," he said.

Targeting Pakistan, Singh said while India chose to be a secular country, Pakistan declared itself a theocratic state and was now pursuing terrorism as state policy.

"In 1947, India was divided on the basis of religion and despite that, it chose to be a secular state. The nation (Pakistan) separated from it declared itself a theocratic state. That country uses terrorism as a state policy.

" It is very unfortunate that some countries make terrorism a state policy. There can be differences between people that can be resolved through dialogue but not by taking up guns," he said.

Singh said a terrorist does not belong to any caste, creed or religion. "Not only India, but many countries in the world have been affected by terrorism. A terrorist is a terrorist who does not belong to any caste, creed or religion. Although, some people link terrorism with religion but it is wrong," he said.

The Home Minister said in India, people from all religions get respect and it is the only country where all sects of Islam are found. "All important religions find place in India," he said. The meeting was attended by BJP MP and National Chairman of the All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations Udit Raj and Joseph D'Souza, Moderator Bishop, Good Shepherd Church, India and President of All Indian Christian Council. D'Souza asked the Christian community to stand with the government and support it in the fight against terrorism.

The Council requested Singh to send a circular to state governments and police to ensure protection of Christians and places of their worships.

Upset over the reports of the ill-health of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J Jayalalithaa, a 70-year-old AIADMK worker allegedly committed suicide in Tirupur district, police said today.

Vellayappan, a former town secretary of AIADMK in Tirupur, had appeared dejected ever since Jayalalithaa was hospitalised on September 22. He seemed more aggrieved on reading the news reports about the Chief Minister and consumed poison yesterday in his house in Sholayur in Tirupur district, police said.

Jemima Khan has won Halloween, three weeks before the big day. The activist and journalist attended the annual UNICEF Halloween Ball dressed as Melania Trump being groped by her husband, the Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and people can't stop talking about it.

"'Grab 'em by the pussy' #yourworstnightmare," she posted to Instagram ahead of the star-studded event in London. Her uncanny appearance was offset by some severe smoky eyeshadow, a form-fitting white dress and a blow-up doll resembling Trump wrapping his arms around her.
-- The Sydney Morning Herald.

Big trouble for filmmaker Karan Johar ahead of the October 28 release of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.

Single screen theatre owners in four states say they will not screen films with Pakistani actors and the Aishwarya-Ranbir starrer has Pakistani actor Fawad Khan.

Early reports say that single-screen theatres in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have banned the screening over security fears, but details of which the two other states are is yet to be available.

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena on Monday had threatened to "beat up" Karan Johar if he worked with or released films featuring artistes from Pakistan.

The threat was given by the film wing of Raj Thackeray-led MNS which had recently set a 48-hour deadline for all Pakistani artistes working in India to leave the country.

"We had appealed to film industry not to work with Pakistani artistes in the wake of the Uri attack. However, Bhatt and Johar have not given a positive response to our appeal," head of MNS Chitrapat Sena, Amey Khopkar said.

"If they work with any Pakistani artiste, they should be prepared for a befitting response from us," Khopkar told PTI.

Khopkar also said that their workers would oppose the release of "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil".

Details awaited.

Navjot Singh Sidhu, leader of the newly formed Awaz-e-Punjab party had a secret meeting with Congress vice-president Rahul. Our sources tell us that they agreed upon a three-point formula ahead of the Punjab Assembly polls which may see the new party merge with the Congress.

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad who has been instrumental in setting up the meeting, confirmed that the two leaders had indeed met, but refused to divulge details.

What we can tell you is that the Congress has agreed to Navjot Sidhu being given the Deputy Chief Minister's post if Amrinder Singh forms the government in Punjab. The proviso to this is that Sidhu has to merge his party with the Congress. And the third condition is that Sidhu's wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu will be made an MLA from Amritsar and a minister.

Interestingly, the Punjab Congress is unhappy with Sidhu's meeting with Rahul Gandhi without consulting the state unit as Congress Punjab chief Captain Amarinder Singh feels Sidhu will create internal dissent once admitted into the Congress fold.

The Congress also feels Sidhu could walk out of the new alliance if the elections results are close and align with another party.

Watch this space.

13:51 Friend who brought Bob, the Baul, to Calcutta

Purna Das Baul, the Baul singer from Dhakuria, has performed in over 20 concerts with Bob Dylan. One of Purna Das's most famous photographs is the one on the sleeve of Dylan's LP John Wesley Harding (1967). It was clicked by Columbia staffer John Berg and features Dylan, Purna Das Baul, Laxman Das Baul and Charlie Joy, a carpenter and stonemason.

Purna Das Baul in conversation with the Telegraph. Read

13:45 17 dead after bus falls into gorge in MP

At least 17 persons were killed and several others injured today when a private bus fell into a gorge near Namli town in Ratlam district of Madhya Pradesh today, police said.

"So far nine persons have been found dead in the ill-fated bus that fell into the gorge," Ratlam Superintendent of Police Avinash Sharma said.

The bus was on its way to Mandsaur from Ratlam when the mishap took place. According to eyewitnesses, the bus was speeding when it suddenly overturned and fell into the gorge filled with water.

Unconfirmed reports said there were 40-45 passengers in the bus. However, the SP said the figure is not correct. Efforts were on to pull the bus out of the gorge with the help of local residents.

Image: Villagers in Naini town watch rescue operations

Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Bhupendra Singh meets martyr Devashish Sharma's mother Nirmala Sharma in Bhopal.

Nirmala, mother of the martyred Army Captain, had accused Shahpur police in Madhya Pradesh of demanding a bribe to find bravery medals of her son that were stolen in 2014.

"Forget about original, all I want is duplicate medals. I will be really thankful to the government if they help me," Nirmala said.

Captain Devashish Sharma of Punjab Battalion was killed on December 10, 1994, during Operation Rakshak.

He was posthumously awarded Kirti Chakra by the government of India and a bravery award by the Jammu and Kashmir government.

The medals were stolen during a theft at their house on 21 October, 2014, regarding which a report was lodged in Shahpura police station.

Asking All India Muslim Personal Law Board not to make political statements over the issue of triple talaq, the Centre on Friday said that the core issue is gender justice and not politics.

Referring MPLB's press conference on Thursday, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said some people are confusing triple talaq with Uniform Civil Code.

He also called the Muslim body for a debate on Uniform Civil Code.

"What is the objection I dont understand and why to bring in the PM? Let us have a healthy debate on the core issue," Naidu said.

"You want to boycott Law Commission then its your choice but dont force your view on others and dont make it political," Naidu said.

He also sought to know why the MPLB called the PM a dictator.

The All Indian Muslim Personal Law Board and various other outfits on Thursday opposed the Law Commissions questionnaire on Uniform Civil Code and announced their boycott of the move, accusing the government of waging a 'war' against the community.

12:20

JUST IN: Bus carrying more than 40 people falls into a gorge in Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh. Rescue operation underway.

12:06 Happening now

-- India, Russia finalise general framework agreement and credit protocol for unit 5 and 6 of Kudankulam nuclear plant: Russian sources.

-- On malnutrition, Bombay High Court rebukes Maharashtra government, says 'sensitivity absent, exercise in futility'.

-- The New York Times has rejected Donald Trump's claim the newspaper had libeled the Republican presidential nominee, saying its story about two women who said he sexually assaulted them was "newsworthy information about a subject of deep public concern."

The DMK's MK Stalin, the leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, made a surprise visit to the secretariat in Chennai to meet acting Chief Minister O Pannerselvam today. This has let loose a flurry of activity among political parties. While the word is that the two leaders met on the Cauvery Water Dispute case and the way ahead for the state when the case is heard in the Supreme Court on Monday, one can't prevent tongues from wagging.

Tamil Nadu Finance minister O Panneerselvam, was handed all eight portfolios handled by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa this week.

A trusted loyalist, Panneerselvam, will handle the home, police, IAS, IPS And IFS portfolios. He met VVIPs -- including BJP president Amit Shah and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley -- who came to Chennai's Apollo Hospital to inquire about the Chief Minister's health.

The chief minister is being constantly monitored by an expert panel and being given necessary respiratory support along with other treatment, a bulletin regarding the AIADMK chief's health said Monday.

Jayalalithaa has been admitted to Apollo Hospital in Chennai since September 22 after she complained of fever and dehydration. The chief minister is being constantly monitored by an expert panel and being given necessary respiratory support along with other treatment, a bulletin regarding the AIADMK chief's health said Monday.

File pic of O Paneerselvam with TN CM J Jayalalithaa.

11:55

AIADMK women offer prayers outside Apollo Hospital for the speedy recovery of Jayalalithaa.

11:35 I'ts a manic Monday for SC

The Supreme Court on Monday faces a huge schedule. It has to deliver judgements on six important cases including the Cauvery Water Dispute and , bail of Bihar MLA Raj Yadav accused of raping a minor. Advocates who will to appear in the cases will reach New Delhi from various state capitals on Sunday. The apex court was not in session due to Dusshera.

11:30 AAP deletes donors' list from website

The Aam Aadmi Party has deleted the list of donors from its official website fearing opponents and dissidents will misuse and threaten the donors ahead of the Punjab Assembly polls.

AAP's rebel MLAs have issued statements alleging that AAP ministers on foreign jaunts collected huge funds from taxi drivers and small-time traders in Canada, USA and in London. Sikh taxi drivers in New York and other parts of USA are believed to have made donations to AAP to the the tune of around US$3 crore. The rebel MLAs have raised questions about this fund-raising spree.

The Union government has intelligence inputs that AAP is getting huge funds from a few banned outfits in Canada but they are sending funds through donations. Such details are likely to be put in public domain during the Punjab assembly polls.

11:15

Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia reaches ACB office to join the probe for alleged recruitment scam in Delhi Waqf board.

11:13 China counters India's $2 billion with $24 billion for Bangladesh

China is set to sign off on loans worth over $24 billion to Bangladesh during President Xi Jinping's visit today, Dhaka's biggest foreign credit line to date that will help it build power plants, a seaport and railways.

Xi Jinping's trip, the first by a Chinese president in 30 years, is aimed at boosting China's involvement in infrastructure projects at a time when India is pushing investments of its own in Bangladesh, a country New Delhi considers its area of influence.

Japan, helped by India, has also got involved in Bangladesh, offering finance at low interest rates to build a port and power complex, sharpening competition for influence in the country of 160 million people.

Former Reserve Bank Governor C Rangarajan, a key functionary in previous UPA governments, has said late Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao was a true reformist and his reforms had helped the country achieve good growth rate in subsequent years. At the launch of former journalist Sanjaya Baru's book '1991: How PV Narasimha Rao made history' in Hyderabad last night, Rangarajan also said Rao's Finance Minister and former PM Manmohan Singh had also played a pivotal role in rolling out the reforms but did not get due credit for his endeavours.

"But the fact of the matter is that Rao was a reformist. I can say this as I was a member of the Planning Commission then. I'm sure that Rao was fully behind the reforms and he had articulated the reforms in a manner in which it could be acceptable to his party as there were many in Congress who did not agree with what was happening," Rangarajan said.

Also read:The Man Who Changed India Forever

10:18 Infosys Q2 net profit up 6%, revenue 10%

Infosys, India's second largest software exporter, announced the second quarter results today. The company has posted a net profit of Rs 3606 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2016 as compared to Rs 3398 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2015.

Infosys consolidated net profit rises 6.1% to Rs 3,606 crore; revenue up 10% to Rs 18,070 crore for September 2016 quarter.

Total Income has increased from Rs 16428 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 to Rs 18070 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2016. Volume growth was maintained at 4.0 per cent during the quarter.

The Board of Directors declared an interim dividend of Rs 11 per share. The record date for interim dividend is October 24, 2016 and the payment will be made on October 26, 2016.

Dr Vishal Sikka, CEO said, "We focused on strong execution in Q2 with our core IT services business showing good progress on the strength of our innovation and operational initiatives. While we continue to navigate an uncertain external environment, we remain focused on executing our strategy and increasing momentum of our software plus services model. Considering our performance in the first half of the year and the near-term uncertain business outlook, we are revising our revenue guidance."

The Indian IT services sector as a whole is projected to see modest margins due to pricing pressure, project ramp-downs and cancellations due to uncertainty, mainly with the banking and financial services customers. The full impact of the fallout of Britain's decision to exit the European Union is still unravelling.

Image: Infosys CEO Dr Vishal Sikka

09:47 Clinton leads Trump by seven points: poll

Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, is leading Donald Trump by seven points, according to a latest national opinion poll conducted by a media outlet seen friendly to the Republican leader.

"Clinton receives 45 per cent to Trump's 38 per cent. Libertarian Gary Johnson is at seven per cent and Green Party candidate Jill Stein gets three per cent," Fox news said in its latest poll yesterday.

The TV channel is seen to be friendly to the Republican leader. Last week, Clinton was up by two points in the four-way contest (44-42 per cent).

"In the two-way match-up, it's Clinton over Trump by eight (49-41 per cent). She had a four-point edge a week ago (48-44 per cent, October 3-6). Clinton's lead is outside the poll's margin of sampling error in both the two-way and four-way contests," the news channel had said.

After the surfacing of a decade-old video surfaced in which Trump is seen making lewd remarks about women, Clinton's lead over the reality TV star has increased. RealClearPolitics, which keeps tracks of all major polls, said on an average, Clinton is now leading Trump by 6.7 percentage points. According to some other polls, Clinton is ahead of Trump in some of the key battleground States like North Carolina and Florida. They are in a virtual tie in Ohio.

"Ambedkar converted to Buddhism in Nagpur on October 14, 1956, that is, exactly 60 years ago today. I shall come presently to the ceremony and its coverage in the Bombay Chronicle, but first I must provide some context. In October 1935, upper-caste Hindus in a Gujarati village named Kavitha boycotted untouchables for daring to ask for their children to be admitted to the local school. When Ambedkar heard of this incident, he said that "if we were members of another faith none would dare treat us so". He told his followers to "choose any religion which gives you equality of status and treatment". On Ambedkar's advice, a meeting of the Depressed Classes held in Nasik passed a resolution urging them to leave Hinduism and instead embrace a religion that gave them equal status with its other members."

Historian, columnist, author Ramchandra Guha's must-read column this morning.

The Bharatiya Janata Party will join the Peoples Party of Arunachal government in Arunachal Pradesh led by Chief Minister Pema Khandu.

Arunachal BJP president Tapir Gao has confirmed that party MLA Tamiyo Taga will be inducted into the Khandu government as a minister,

Last month, Khandu, along with 43 MLAs, had defected the Congress to join the PPA, the lone regional party of the state.

He said it was in the interest of the state and the people.

The exodus of MLAs came two months after Khandu was sworn-in as the new Congress chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh, following the partys dramatic success in winning back all its rebels, marking the culmination of fast-paced political developments.

Former Arunachal CM Nabam Tuki had to step down to make way for Khandu as this enabled the Congress winning back the support of rebel MLAs.

India has rejected a Pakistani newspaper's report saying the 'Indian foreign secretary has admitted that surgical strike was a bluff'.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in statement, 'News International Pakistan's story titled 'Indian FS admits surgical strikes was a bluff' is completely concocted and baseless.'

The report said, 'The Indian foreign secretary in a recent meeting with German ambassador in New Delhi is said to have admitted that there was no 'surgical strike' undertaken by the Indian Army inside Azad Kashmir (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir).'

Swarup said German Ambassador Dr Martin Ney was in the group of foreign envoys briefed by Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar on September 29 on the surgical strikes.

'They have had no further conversation since on this subject,' Swarup said.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has said that if voted to power he would recognise Jerusalem as 'one true' capital of Israel.

"I have said on numerous occasions that in a Trump Administration, the United States will recognise Jerusalem as the one true capital of Israel," Trump said.

The United Nations' attempt to disconnect the state of Israel from Jerusalem is a one-sided attempt to ignore Israel's 3,000-year bond to its capital city, and is further evidence of the enormous anti-Israel bias of the world body, he alleged.

"Jerusalem is the enduring capital of the Jewish People and the overwhelming majority of Congress has voted to recognise Jerusalem as just that," he claimed.

"The decision by the Obama Administration to strike the word 'Israel' after the word Jerusalem in the Presidents prepared text was a capitulation to Israel's enemies, and a posthumous embarrassment to Shimon Peres, whose memory the President was attempting to honour," Trump, 70, said.

"In a Trump Administration, Israel will have a true, loyal and lasting friend in the United States of America," he said.

Official US policy refrains from recognising Jerusalem as Israels capital until the Israel Palestine conflict is resolved.

Verizon Communications Inc said on Thursday it has a "reasonable basis" to believe Yahoo Inc's massive data breach of email accounts represents a material impact that could allow Verizon to withdraw from its $4.83 billion deal to buy the technology company.

Verizon's general counsel Craig Silliman told reporters at a roundtable in Washington the data breach could trigger a clause in the deal that would allow the US wireless company not to complete it.

"I think we have a reasonable basis to believe right now that the impact is material and we're looking to Yahoo to demonstrate to us the full impact. If they believe that it's not then they'll need to show us that," he said, declining to comment on whether talks are under way to renegotiate the purchase price.

Asked for comment, a Yahoo spokesman said: "We are confident in Yahoos value and we continue to work towards integration with Verizon."

The New York bomb suspect wanted for injuring 31 people in a September attack in Manhattan pleaded not guilty today to state charges from his hospital bed.

Ahmad Khan Rahimi's public defender entered a plea of not guilty on state charges that his client attempted to murder police officers and unlawfully possessed weapons while on the run in New Jersey.

Bail was set at USD 5.2 million.

Rahimi was shown lying in his hospital bed, where he is being treated after being critically wounded in a shootout with police on September 19 that led to his capture.

"Yes ma'am," said the Afghan-born American weakly in response to questions from Judge Regina Caulfield, who spoke from the court, as he recovered in his home town of Elizabeth, New Jersey.

Looking pale, with a thick black beard and black hair, he had a hospital sheet pulled up almost to his neck.

His public lawyer, Peter Liguori, stood over him wearing a hospital gown over his shirt and tie, and blue rubber gloves on his hands.

Liguori told the court he wished to correct the spelling of his 28-year-old client's last name to Rahimi -- not Rahami as previously listed by US authorities.

The bomb attack in New York's upscale neighborhood of Chelsea wounded 31 people on September 17.

In the midst of a highly charged presidential election, where fact and fiction have frequently become confused, Google News has introduced a new fact check feature in search results for news stories.

Launched today, fact check will now appear as a label among news search results, alongside other established labels such as opinion, local source and highly cited.

Google News algorithmically connects fact-checking articles with live news stories partly based on an established process called Claim Review. Google says that sites meeting the definition of a fact-checking service can apply to have their service included.

There are a dizzying two trillion galaxies in the Universe, up to twenty times more than previously thought, astronomers reported on Thursday.

The surprising find, based on 3D modelling of images collected over 20 years by the Hubble Space Telescope, was published in the Astronomical Journal.

Scientists have puzzled over how many galaxies the cosmos harbours at least since US astronomer Edwin Hubble showed in 1924 that Andromeda, a neighbouring galaxy, was not part of our own Milky Way. But even in the era of modern astronomy, getting an accurate tally has proven difficult.

To begin with, there is only part of the cosmos where light given off by distant objects has had time to reach Earth. The rest is effectively beyond our reach. And even within this "observable Universe," current technology only allows us to glimpse ten percent of what is out there, according to the new findings.

"It boggles the mind that over 90 per cent of the galaxies in the Universe have yet to be studied," commented Christopher Conselice of the University of Nottingham, who led the study.

"Who knows what interesting properties we will find when we observe these galaxies with the next generation of telescopes," he said in a statement.

Russia on Thursday said it was prepared to secure safe passage for rebels to quit Syria's Aleppo but kept up air strikes on the battleground city as world powers readied new truce talks.

Syria has been plunged into some of the worst violence of its five-year war since the collapse last month of a truce brokered by Washington and Moscow.

The ensuing surge in fighting has accompanied a large-scale government offensive, backed by Russian air power, to capture the opposition-held half of battered Aleppo.

Russia said it was willing to give rebels safe passage out of Aleppo, where over 250,000 people are under government siege.

"We are ready to ensure the safe withdrawal of armed rebels, the unimpeded passage of civilians to and from eastern Aleppo, as well as the delivery of humanitarian aid there," Russian Lieutenant General Sergei Rudskoy said in a televised briefing.

American TV reality star Kim Kardashian has lodged a formal complaint in France after she was filmed at her luxury Paris apartment following a robbery by gunmen, her lawyers said.

Kardashian is also filing a civil party petition as the victim of "a serious assault and a jewellery theft" on October 3 after French prosecutors formally opened an investigation.

The statement from her lawyers said the video was made "without her consent or the police's and while the police were investigating the crime scene".

The video, carried on several entertainment news websites, shows 35-year-old Kardashian fiddling with her mobile phone while police are in the apartment.

No suspect has been arrested, but investigators are examining DNA traces found in the apartment where five gunmen robbed Kardashian of jewellery worth some USD 10 million, sources close to the probe have said.

Kardashian, who is married to rap superstar Kanye West, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against US website Mediatakeout.com for alleging in a series of articles that she faked the robbery to cheat her insurers out of millions.

A French source close to the probe told AFP, "There is nothing at this stage of the investigation to give any credence to the theory that this was somehow faked."

Two RSS workers were on Thursday taken into custody in connection with the murder of a CPI-M local committee member in Kannur district on October 10.

Toddy shop worker Mohanan, 40, was hacked to death by a six-member gang.

He was the CPI-M's Paduvilayi local committee member.

Roopesh (23) and Rahul (22) were picked up from RSS office at Kannur, police said.

Police had registered cases against seven persons in connection with the incident.

Michelle Obama on Thursday said that opposing the example Donald Trump sets is a question of "basic human decency."

As she rallied voters for Hillary Clinton in swing state New Hampshire, the first lady said the leaked 2005 video of Trump joking about groping women without consent has "shaken me to my core."

She contended electing Trump would set a bad precedent for the United States and the world, slamming Trump's defense that his comments were just "locker room talk."

"This was not just a lewd conversation. This wasn't locker room banter. This was a powerful individual speaking freely and openly about sexually predatory behavior," Obama said.

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