17 OCT. NEWS DIGEST

 INDIA

 

China insists Indians vacate Chushul heights, India says clear Pangong north

China’s insistence on India vacating its advanced positions on the south bank of Pangong Tso as a precursor to discussions on Delhi’s demand for status quo ante of April has emerged as the new sticking point in efforts to resolve the military standoff along LAC in Ladakh, highly placed government sources said Friday. Sources said Delhi is insisting on simultaneous withdrawal of forces from the Pangong north bank — where Chinese troops have crossed the point which India says marks LAC — and advanced Indian positions on the south bank to mutually agreed locations. A source in the ruling establishment, familiar with developments on the Ladakh frontier, said India crossed LAC at “seven places” to counter the Chinese transgressions.

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/china-insists-indians-vacate-chushul-heights-india-says-clear-pangong-north-6758219/

 

Galwan clashes left India’s relationship with China ‘profoundly disturbed’: Jaishankar

New Delhi :DELIVERING HIS sharpest comments yet on China since the Moscow meeting last month with Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar Friday said the border stand-off in eastern Ladakh is a “very sharp departure” with a “very deep public” and “very major political” impact. Stressing that the Galwan incident on June 15, when 20 Indian soldiers and an unspecified number of Chinese soldiers were killed in violent clashes, has left the bilateral relationship “profoundly disturbed”, Jaishankar said the massing of troops at the border has created a “very critical security challenge”.

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/galwan-clashes-left-indias-relationship-with-china-profoundly-disturbed-jaishankar-6757940/

 

Mathura court admits appeal against order dismissing plea against mosque

Mathura :A local court in Mathura Friday admitted an appeal filed against an order dismissing a suit that was filed to remove a mosque situated adjacent to the Lord Krishna temple complex. The appeal was filed after Additional District Judge, Mathura, Chhaya Sharma dismissed the suit on Sept. 30.“On Friday, District Judge Sadhna Rani (Thakur) admitted the appeal and ordered for issuing of notices to opposite parties,” said District Government Counsel, Mathura, Shivram Singh. The civil suit was filed seeking direction to remove Idgah mosque as that “every inch of land” measuring 13.37 acres, “of Katra Keshav Dev (as the place is known historically) is sacred for devotees of Lord Shree Krishna and (the Hindu community)”, said advocate Hari Shankar Jain, petitioner Ranjana Agnihotri’s lawyer. The court fixed next date as November 18.

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/mathura-court-admits-appeal-against-order-dismissing-plea-against-mosque-6758290/

 

Police Name Kerala Journalist Siddique Kappan in Hathras 'Conspiracy' Case

New Delhi: Hathras police have named Malayalam journalist Siddique Kappan and three others who were arrested by the Mathura police in the conspiracy case that they had registered on Oct.4 against unknown persons. Kappan and the three others, who are members of CFI, are lodged in the Mathura Jail after the Mathura police arrested them on October while they were travelling to meet the family of the 19-year-old  Dalit woman from Hathras who was allegedly gang-raped by 4 Thakur men. A day later, the four of them were booked under sections of UAPA and other provisions of IPC.According to the Indian Express, the Hathras police claim that their investigation has found that Kappan and CFI members Atiq-ur-Rahman (25), Masood Ahmed (26) and Alam (26) were involved in the conspiracy case.  “We have served production warrant of all four persons to Mathura jail authorities. The case is related to conspiracy to instigate riots,” Chandpa SHO Laxman Singh, investigating officer in the case, told the Indian Express.

https://thewire.in/government/kerala-journalist-siddique-kappan-named-hathras-conspiracy-case

 

 

Prasar Bharati Cuts Ties With PTI, Says it Will Invite Bids from 'Domestic News Agencies'

https://thewire.in/media/prasar-bharati-cuts-ties-with-pti-says-it-will-invite-bids-from-domestic-news-agencies

New Delhi: After voicing its unhappiness over Press Trust of India’s independent coverage for some time now, the government-owned broadcaster Prasar Bharati has finally written to the news agency cancelling its subscription.In a letter dated October 15, Prasar Bharati informed PTI that its board has now “decided to call for fresh proposals for a digital subscription to English text and related multimedia services from all domestic news agencies”. The letter, signed by Samir Kumar, head of Prasar Bharati News Services and Digital Platform, added that “PTI may participate in the same once it is notified by Prasar Bharati”. The public broadcaster has been paying PTI Rs 6.85 crore a year towards its news subscription. In June this year, a senior Prasar Bharati official had denounced PTI for what he called its “anti-national coverage” of the Ladakh standoff. At the time, Samir Kumar had also written to PTI’s chief marketing officer terming the agency’s “recent news coverage” detrimental to “national interest and undermining India’s territorial integrity”. While the Prasar Bharati board has also decided to terminate its subscription to UNI – a much smaller wire service with little reach that has far fewer subscribers – the move to invite “fresh proposals” from domestic news agencies is widely seen in media circles as aimed primarily at PTI. For the govt, PTI’s coverage is of immense significance as its stories feed hundreds of newspapers and TV stations that don’t always have their own sources of information.  Despite its editorial independence, PTI has generally had an excellent working relationship with every government at the Centre, regardless of the party in power. Indeed, for long, the agency has been the preferred outlet for all official communication. Since 2014, however, the relationship has soured with senior ministers and the wider Sangh parivar ecosystem growing resentful of PTI’s independence. Though the Modi government has favoured the privately run ANI news agency for most of its communication – often choosing them to broadcast the prime minster’s speeches rather even DD – PTI is still considered the news agency of choice by the Indian media industry.The first manifestation of official pressure on PTI came in 2016, when Prasar Bharati unilaterally declared that it would pay only 75% of its annual subscription fee of Rs 9.15 crore. Matters came to a head in June this year when the government was irked by PTI’s twin interviews with the Chinese ambassador to India and the Indian ambassador to China. A Prasar Bharati official promptly told reporters, “PTI’s anti national reporting makes it no longer tenable to continue [the] relationship”.

 

 

Editors Guild criticises Prasar Bharati cancelling PTI, UNI subscription, journalist arrest

New Delhi :Editors Guild of India has  said it was dismayed and concerned over the “vindictive manner” in which govts and their agencies have acted against the media recently. The guild’s statement comes in the wake of the national public broadcaster, Prasar Bharati, ending subscriptions with news agencies PTI and UNI this week. The Guild also referred to a television journalist’s recent arrest in Odisha on charges of circulating an obscene video, which OTV, his employer, has alleged is a ploy to target the journalist for his work exposing BJD govt.

          https://indianexpress.com/article/india/editors-guild-criticises-prasar-bharati-cancelling-pti-subscription-journalist-arrest-6758182/

 

 

 

Delhi Police ACP thrashes Caravan journalist in police station while reporting on rape, murder of Dalit girl

A journalist working with the investigative magazine The Caravan was thrashed by an Additional Commissioner of Police (ACP) inside a police station on Friday while he was on an assignment to report on an alleged rape of a Dalit girl.According to the journalist, Ahan Penkar, ACP Model Town, Ajay Kumar kicked and slapped him inside the police station on Friday afternoon while he was reporting on a demonstration against police inaction over the alleged rape and murder of a Dalit girl despite showing his press credentials to him.“The ACP kicked me in the chest. I’m shaken. He threatened to beat us with a steel rod…They lifted me by my trousers and took me inside the police station. I was forced to delete the videos and photos from my phone,” Penkar was quoted as saying by Newslaundry.Penkar has filed a complaint with the Delhi Police Commissioner S.N. Shrivastava. “I have injury marks on my nose, my neck and my back from the brutal assault by the police personnel on us,” said Penkar in his complaint.Penkar said the ACP pushed him to the ground, hit him repeatedly on the back and stamped on his ankle.

https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/india/a-delhi-police-acp-beats-up-a-caravan-journalist-inside-a-police-station

 

Delhi riots: Court grants bail to two persons

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has granted bail to two persons in two cases related to the communal violence in north east Delhi in February, saying the complainants in the matters were not eyewitnesses to the incidents.Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat granted bail to Mohd Sagir, and Mehtab on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 25,000 with one surety of like amount in each of the two cases related to vandalism and torching of vehicles during the riots in Jaffrabad area.The court said in its order passed on October 14, the present case was registered on the complaint of the complainant Wasim Khan who stated that he had parked his vehicle on February 24, 2020, and when he returned on February 25, 2020 at 8.00 am, he found that parking had been burnt including his vehicle. He is not an eyewitness to the incident.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/delhi-riots-court-grants-bail-to-two-persons/articleshow/78708840.cms

 

BJP leaders have lost mental balance: Congress after BJP MLA asks Maharashtra CM to shut down Madrasas

Mumbai:Congress launched a scathing attack on BJP after one of its leaders wrote to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray asking him to shut down the state-funded madrasas. Attacking the BJP, Congress leader Sachin Sawant said the BJP leaders have "lost mental balance".Sachin Sawant's remark came after a BJP MLA wrote to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, asking him to shut down state-funded madrasas."BJP's manifesto of 2014 talked about modernisation of madrasas and now, BJP leaders in Maharashtra are taking about shutting them. Is there a change in the policy of the government," Sachin Sawant said.On Thursday, BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar had written a letter to Uddhav Thackeray asking him to shut down state-funded madrasas, according to PTI.Bhatkhalkar in his letter said, "The chief minister of Maharashtra who says he does not need anyone's certificate to prove his Hindutva credentials should take a courageous step to shut down the state-funded madrasas that propagate radical religious teachings."

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/bjp-leaders-have-lost-mental-balance-congress-after-maharashtra-cm-uddhav-thackeray-shut-down-madrasas-1732608-2020-10-17

 

No support for madrasas, Sanskrit schools in Assam

e Assam govt’s decision to shut down state-run madrasas and Sanskrit schools in the state has met with vehement criticism from all quarters. The religious organisations and leaders from across the spectrum have expressed displeasure at the decision of the Education Minister of the state, Hemanta Biswa Sarma, to do away with state funding of religious institutions.The move has come under severe backlash from Muslim organisation across the country and prominent leaders from the community. MP and AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal lashed out at the state government saying the Muslims will no longer vote for BJP in case they went ahead with the decision. The central education board of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind also expressed condemnation of the decision by Assam govt announcing to shut down all the government-run madrassas. The chairman of the board, Nusrat Ali, said that on one hand, the govt talks about universalisation of education and connecting the socially and educationally backward classes with the education, and on the other hand announce such decisions. He said the Jamaat’s education board would pursue all democratic and legal means for maintaining the financial support of madrasas. Many Hindu priests also condemned the government move, saying the dying Sanskrit language will only suffer more if the schools were not supported. According to political analysts, the decision of the BJP-led government is politically motivated and a move to satisfy the aspirations of their supporters.

http://tehelka.com/no-support-for-madrasas-sanskrit-schools-in-assam/

 

 

Malegaon blast accused joins JD(U) in UP, says ‘wish to work for society’

Pune :Ramesh Upadhyay, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case, has joined Janata Dal (United) in Uttar Pradesh and has been appointed state convenor of its ex-servicemen cell. His appointment letter was issued by UP JD(U) chief Anoop Singh Patel on October 12.Upadhyay, a retired army major, had been arrested along with Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit by the Maharashtra ATS for his alleged role in the 2008 Malegaon case. He was, however, released on bail in 2017. Trial in the case is on before a special NIA court in Mumbai.

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/malegaon-blast-accused-joins-jdu-in-up-says-wish-to-work-for-society-6758178/

 

NEET 2020 topper:  Family’s efforts, own hard work bear fruit for Soyeb Aftab

As National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET)-2020 results were declared, 18-year-old Soyeb Aftab from Odisha’s Rourkela city found his name atop 7,71,500 aspirants. He made history by securing a perfect 720 out of 720 marks. While student fraternity and society went gaga over his spectacular feat, the sacrifice of a lower middle class family to use education to move up the social ladder came to the fore. Since his childhood, Soyeb has been brilliant in his studies. But academic brilliance alone does not ensure success for one in personal and professional space and money matters. And Soyeb’s family understood this reality. Aspiring to study in AIIMS-Delhi, he owed much of his success to his mother. He pointed out that his father, family members and teachers contributed significantly.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/neet-2020-familys-efforts-own-hard-work-bear-fruit-for-soyeb/article32879857.ece?homepage=true

 

India fares poorly in hunger index

India has the highest prevalence of wasted children under five years in the world, which reflects acute undernutrition, according to the Global Hunger Index 2020. The situation has worsened in the 2015-19 period, when the prevalence of child wasting was 17.3%, in comparison to 2010-14, when it was 15.1%.Overall, India ranks 94 out of 107 countries in the Index, lower than neighbours such as Bangladesh (75) and Pakistan (88). 2020 scores reflect data from 2015-19. The Index, which was released on Friday, is a peer-reviewed report released annually by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-fares-poorly-in-hunger-index/article32876195.ece?homepage=true

 

Mizoram imposes Section 144 in disputed village along Tripura border over temple construction

7 days after it objected to construction of a temple and “community work” at Phuldungsei village atop Jamui hill along Tripura-Mizoram inter-state border, Mizoram has imposed restrictions on public movement under Section 144 with effect from October 16 till further orders. Mizoram’s Mamit DM Dr Lalrozama said the prohibitory order issued Friday followed after an organisation of Tripura named Songrongma had plans to construct a Shiv temple on Oct. 19 and 20 at Thaidaw Tlang in Mamit district. The standoff between Tripura and Mizoram centering on Phuldungse village started three months ago in August when Tripura identified a dispute in the village.

https://indianexpress.com/article/north-east-india/mizoram/mizoram-imposes-section-144-in-disputed-village-along-tripura-border-over-temple-construction-6758909/

 

UP: 16-year-old Dalit girl ‘raped’, minor among 2 held

Lucknow :A 16-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly raped by two boys, including a minor, while she was returning from Jalaun district hospital, where her mother was admitted, in the early hours of Thursday. Both the accused have been caught. “According to the girl’s family, her father took her mother to the district hospital for treatment around 11 pm on Wednesday. He had asked his three children to stay in the house. An hour and a half later, when they did not return, the girl decided to go to the hospital which is nearly a km from her house. As she walked to the hospital, she got scared of darkness and started returning home. On the way back, there is a Forest Department guesthouse where the two accused were squatting on the deserted road. They forced the girl, who resisted and tried to hit them with a brick. However, they beat her up with their belts and overpowered her. They sexually assaulted her and around 3 am they let her go. The next day, she narrated the incident to her mother and then a complaint was filed at the local police station,” Jalaun SP Yash Veer Singh said.

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/up-16-year-old-dalit-girl-raped-minor-among-2-held-6758324/

 

 

Karnataka woman killed by father, cousin brothers over inter-caste relationship

Bengaluru :In a suspected case of honour killing, a 19-year-old woman was allegedly killed by her father and cousin brothers, including a minor, for being in a relationship with a man from a different caste, in Ramaganagra district which is about 50 km from Bengaluru. All three have been arrested, police said.The case was initially registered as that of a missing woman but later turned out to be an incident of honour killing, police added.According to Ramanagara district police, Hemalatha (19), who belonged to the upper caste Vokkaliga community and was a resident of Bettadahalli village in Magadi Taluk, was in a relationship with Puneeth, who belongs to the Scheduled Caste.

https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/bangalore/karnataka-ramaganagra-woman-killed-by-father-cousin-brothers-honour-killing-6758698/

 

 

NDA will be responsible if am attacked: Cong nominee Maskoor Usmani after BJP’s ‘Jinnah sympathiser’ remark

New Delhi :A day after the BJP accused Congress of fielding a “sympathiser” of Mohammad Ali Jinnah in Bihar elections, former AMU Students’ Union president Maskoor Usmani Friday said that NDA would be held responsible if his safety was compromised during the course of the elections.On Friday, BJP Begusarai MP and Union minister of state Giriraj Singh took on the candidature of Usmani from the Jale seat in Darbhanga district and asked whether Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan) supported the ideology of the Pakistan leader.

https://indianexpress.com/elections/bihar-elections-2020-maskoor-usmani-amu-student-congress-candidate-bjp-remarks-nda-6758744/

 

Bihar Assembly elections | We will see a BJP-LJP government, says Chirag Paswan

Brushing aside recent comments against him by BJP leaders, LJP president Chirag Paswan has exuded  confidence ahead of Bihar polls that the current Chief Minister will not return to power and we will see a BJP-LJP government in Bihar. In an interview, Chirag Paswan speaks to The Hindu about the political turmoil after his father Ram Vilas Paswan’s death and BJP leaders’ comments against him. He said, "And I will give the BJP leaders their due, since, technically, they are in alliance with the JD(U) and not us in the State. I would, in fact, go a step ahead and say I am sure Nitishji will apply pressure on PM Modiji too. I will not have issues if political compulsions force Modiji to make adverse remarks about me during the campaign. He has taken care of me like a father in this difficult time. I wouldn’t want to put him in dharam sankat. I have a far deeper and personal relationship with Modiji."

https://www.thehindu.com/elections/bihar-assembly/bihar-assembly-elections-we-will-see-a-bjp-ljp-government-says-chirag-paswan/article32879600.ece?homepage=true

 

Police officials trying to influence by-elections in the state at BJP’s behest, alleges MP Congress

The Madhya Pradesh unit of the Congress on Friday alleged that after ‘buying’ 26 MLAs of the Congress party, the BJP is now trying to ‘buy’ police officials in the state to win the by-polls.In three different complaints to the State Election Commission, the Congress alleged that some police officials were trying to influence the elections and misusing their powers to give an advantage to the ruling party.Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh met with the state chief electoral officer Veera Rana on Friday and inquired about the action taken on complaints filed by the Congress.

https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/india/police-officials-trying-to-influence-by-elections-in-the-state-at-bjps-behest-alleges-mp-congress

 

Probe complaint against Kangana, Rangoli: Court orders Mumbai police

In a significant development, a Mumbai court has ordered the city police to investigate a complaint against Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut and her sister Rangoli Chandel for spreading communal hatred and falsehoods, officials said here on Saturday.The order by Bandra 12th Court Magistrate Jaidev Ghule came in a plea by Munawwarali alias Sahil A Sayyed, a Bollywood casting director, said his lawyer Ravish F Zamindar.IANS

https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/national/probe-complaint-against-kangana-rangoli-court-orders-mumbai-police

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                   

 

Dr Reddy’s receives DCGI approval to conduct phase 2/3 trials of Sputnik V vaccine in India

New Delhi :In a significant move towards India potentially getting a Covid-19 vaccine by the end of this year, the country’s top drug regulator has approved a request by Dr Reddy’s Laboratories to conduct mid- to late-stage human trials for the Russian Sputnik V vaccine candidate.Hyderabad-headquartered firm, which had entered into an agreement with Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) last month to help receive approvals for the candidate in India, will now move ahead with an adaptive phase 2/3 clinical trial of the candidate here.“This will be a multi-center and randomized controlled study, which will include safety and immunogenicity study,” Dr Reddy’s told Bombay Stock Exchange in a filing on Saturday.

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/covid-19-russian-vaccine-india-trial-sputnik-v-dr-reddys-laboratories-6759026/

 

India may get Covid vaccine by March : Serum official

Pune :India may get a Covid-19 vaccine by March 2021, provided regulators give signals fast, “as multiple manufacturers are working on it”, according to Dr Suresh Jadhav, executive director of the Serum Institute of India, which is testing the Oxford -AstraZeneca vaccine candidate in the country.

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-may-get-covid-vaccine-by-march-says-serum-official-6758199/

 

Solidarity findings ‘unpromising’, trial shows remdesivir, HCQ do not help

New Delhi :The large, multi-nation ‘Solidarity’ clinical trial coordinated by the WHO to find an effective treatment for the novel coronavirus infection has concluded that four commonly used re-purposed drugs have little or no effect on patients admitted in hospital with Covid-19.The trial, carried out in 405 hospitals in 30 countries including India, looked at four drugs or their combinations — remdesivir, developed originally to treat Ebola; anti-malaria drug HCQ; ritonavir/lopinavir, licensed for treatment of HIV; and interferon beta 1a, used to treat multiple sclerosis.

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/solidarity-findings-unpromising-trial-shows-remdesivir-hcq-do-not-help-6758207/

 

Staggered timings, 2 shifts — Assam govt SOPs for reopening schools, colleges from 2 Nov

Guwahati: The Assam government has decided to reopen schools and colleges in the state from 2 November in a phased manner and under strict guidelines issued by the Union Health Ministry.State education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma Saturday said all health and safety protocols would be followed at elementary, secondary and higher education levels in the light of the Covid panemic.“Joining schools will now be a voluntary exercise,” Sarma said.

https://theprint.in/india/staggered-timings-2-shifts-assam-govt-sops-for-reopening-schools-colleges-from-2-nov/525634/

 

 

 

 

 

*WORLD*

 

 

 

Azerbaijan says civilians killed by Armenia in Ganja

13 civilians have been killed and more than 40 people injured in an early-hours missile attack on Azerbaijan’s second-biggest city, Ganja, the Azerbaijani prosecutor general’s office said.A missile raid levelIed a row of homes in Azerbaijan’s second city of Ganja, killing and badly injuring people in their sleep in a sharp escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.The Armenian defence ministry denied the claim and accused Baku of continuing to shell populated areas inside Nagorno-Karabakh, including Stepanakert, the region’s biggest city.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/17/casualties-after-armenian-attack-targets-ganja-live-updates

 

Turkey calls attack on Azerbaijani city by Armenia ‘war crime’

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/17/casualties-after-armenian-attack-targets-ganja-live-updates

Armenia is committing a “war crime” and must be held responsible for its “atrocity,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu wrote on Twitter.

 

Macron condemns ‘Islamic terrorist attack’ in Paris 

French President Emmanuel Macron called the beheading of a teacher in a north-western suburb of Paris an "Islamist terrorist attack", and pledged quick and firm action by his government to combat extremism."One of our fellow citizens was murdered today because he was teaching students freedom of expression," Macron told the media on Friday evening after visiting the middle school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine hours after the attack."It is a teacher that this terrorist killed because he wanted to destroy the Republic...destroy the possibility of making our children free citizens," he added.Macron stressed that terrorists will not divide France and obscurantism will not win.IANS

https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/international/macron-condemns-islamic-terrorist-attack-in-paris

 

 

 

*OP-ED*

 

4 years of Najeeb’s disappearance and the lore of systematic betrayal:By Ahmad Khan, TwoCircles.net

http://twocircles.net/2020oct16/439439.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Twocirclesnet-IndianMuslim+%28TwoCircles.net+-+Indian+Muslim+News%29

 

Islamic School in Shopian Under Scanner for ‘Unestablished’ Links:Anees Zargar

https://www.newsclick.in/Islamic-School-Shopian-Under-Scanner-Unestablished-Links-JeI

 

Press, Trust and India: Govt Mulls Its Own News Service:Bhavna Vij-Aurora

https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/india-news-prasar-bharti-ends-pti-subscription-modi-govt-mulls-starting-its-own-news-service/362364

 

NDA is sacrificial horse as Modi-Shah complete their Ashwamedha & redefine Indian politics:SHEKHAR GUPTA

https://theprint.in/national-interest/advani-brought-new-friends-modi-and-amit-shah-doing-ashwamedha-yagna/525272/