1. Amit Shah, Cong Go to War Over Rahul Gandhi's LoC Surgical Strike Comment
The ruling BJP and its main rival accused each other on Friday of playing politics over soldiers' sacrifice, after Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “profiteering” from the army's surgical strike on militant hideouts in Pakistan.
BJP chief Amit Shah led the party's counter-offensive against Gandhi's accusation that Modi was doing “khoon ki dalali” or profiteering from the surgical strikes on “terror launch pads” across the Line of Control, the de facto border in Jammu and Kashmir.
The strategic action was carried out after last month's militant attack on the Uri army base in which 19 soldiers were killed.
Also, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh after a border security meet in Jaisalmer on Friday, said that the Home Ministry is working on plans to completely seal the Indo-Pak border by December 2018.
Source: The Hindustan Times
Also Read: At a BSF Outpost in Uri Close to Hostile LoC, Eagles Dare to Dance
Pakistani Journalist Responds to India's Surgical Strikes
Rajnath Vows to “Completely Seal” Indo-Pak Border by Dec 2018
2. As Jayalalithaa's Recovery Takes Time, TN Guv Meets Ministers, Top Bureaucrat
Tamil Nadu's senior-most bureaucrat and two influential ministers rushed to Raj Bhavan on Friday to brief the governor about the state's general administration in the absence of chief minister J Jayalalithaa, who is recuperating from an ailment for the past fortnight.
Acting governor Vidya Sagar Rao met chief secretary P Rama Mohana Rao, finance minister O Panneerselvam and PWD minister Edapadi Palanisamy after doctors treating the chief minister at Apollo hospitals said her treatment would continue for some more days.
As her discharge from hospital could take a longer time than anticipated, the governor convened Friday's meetings to know how the state was functioning without the Chief Minister at a time crucial issues such as the Cauvery water-sharing row was bubbling up with neighbouring Karnataka.
Source: The Hindustan Times
Also Read: Jayalalithaa Needs to Stay Longer: Apollo, in Longest Statement
Jayalalithaa's Health: Her Right to Privacy Vs Our Right to Know
With Jayalalithaa in Hospital, Her Adviser Calls the Shots in TN
3. Triple Talaq Not Integral to Religion: Centre to Supreme Court
Stating that absence of reforms in the community in the last 65 years have left Muslim women “extremely vulnerable, both socially as well as financially”, the Centre on Friday impressed upon the Supreme Court to do away with the practice of polygamy and triple talaq.
The Centre also said these practices “cannot be regarded as essential or integral part of the religion”.
The affidavit, submitted by the Union Law Ministry in response to a clutch of petitions challenging polygamy and triple talaq, said that the validity of these practices required a “reconsideration” by the top court “in light of the principle of gender justice and overriding principle of non-discrimination, dignity and equality” as well as “evolution of women”.
Source: The Indian Express
Also Read: Triple Talaq: It's Time To Make Chauvinistic AIMPLB Irrelevant
4. SC Freezes Cricket Board Funds
The Supreme Court on Friday barred the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from disbursing funds to state cricket associations until they implement reforms suggested by a court-appointed panel.
The ruling came a day after the board, India's richest sporting body, told the court that state associations had failed to put in place reforms proposed by the panel headed by former chief justice of India R.M. Lodha.
“No funds to be disbursed by BCCI unless a resolution accompanied by an affidavit which is approved by the Lodha committee is passed by state associations,” said Chief Justice of India TS Thakur, who is presiding over a bench hearing the case.
Source: Livemint
Also Read: BCCI-Lodha Battle Reaches World Stage, All Eyes on ICC CEO Next
Watch: Critics Attack BCCI for Saying NZ Series May Be Cancelled
5. High-Profile Perfumer Monika Ghurde Found Murdered in Goa Flat
A 39-year-old photographer turned perfumer, Monika Ghurde, was found dead in her rented flat in Goa's Sangolda. Ghurde, nicknamed the First Lady of Smell, was discovered naked on the bed with her hands tied to the back of the bed.
Goa DIG Vimal Gupta said that the maid came to Ghurde's house at 9 AM on Thursday but no one opened the door. She alerted a neighbour and called up Ghurde's brother Anand. He tried ringing her but when his calls went unanswered, he contacted Monika's estranged husband, Bharath Ramamrutham, a well-known photographer.
Ghurde's neighbour, an American woman who had a set of duplicate keys, opened the flat at 11.30 AM and found the body. Police sources told TOI that they suspected that Ghurde, a prominent figure on Goa's social circuit, had been smothered with a pillow as her face had red marks. There were no stab injuries on the body.
Source: The Times of India
Also Read: Naked Dead Body Of Noted Perfumer Monica Ghurde Found In Goa Home
6. ISIS Terrorist Who Had Returned Home Planned Lone Wolf Strikes in India
If 31-year-old Subahani Haja Moideen, trained by IS's military wing for three months, had his way, he would have been the first "lone wolf" attacker in India.
Prior to Moideen's arrest, West Bengal-based Mohammad Masiuddin, alias Abu Musa, was the only would-be "lone wolf" arrested by Indian agencies. Musa had tried to carry out solo attacks in Srinagar and Kolkata but failed.
According to top sources in intelligence agencies, Moideen, arrested by the NIA on Wednesday from Tamil Nadu, had been a lone operator since his return to India last September and was in regular touch with his Islamic State handlers, discussing over the Internet what kind of attack he should carry out.
Source: The Times of India
Also Read: ISIS In India? Lethal Cocktail of Foreign Funding & Porous Borders
Tackling ISIS and Extremism in India: Where Are the Women?
7. Prakash Javadekar Does What Smriti Irani Didn't: Agrees to Free IIMs via New Bill
The Human Resource Development Ministry, under its new head Prakash Javadekar, has conceded to all the changes proposed to the IIM Bill by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). This would give the premier B-Schools sweeping autonomy – even more than they currently enjoy.
As reported by The Indian Express on 12 August, Javadekar had first agreed to relinquish the government's role in appointing the chairman of the Board of Governors (BoG) at all IIMs. But the Bill has undergone a second makeover since he took charge from Smriti Irani in July.
According to sources in the Law Ministry, the HRD Ministry has now moved a supplementary Cabinet note proposing three more changes to the Bill. The institutes, under the latest version of the draft law, are free to appoint their own directors.
Source: The Indian Express
Also Read: The Sad Case of IIM-Sambalpur: No Teachers, No Students, No Campus
8. Fawad Khan Finally Speaks on the Looming India-Pakistan Issue
After days of speculations about when will Fawad Khan open up about the lingering issue around the ban of Pakistani artistes in Bollywood, the actor has spoken up! In an official post on Facebook, the Pakistani heartthrob explained his sudden departure from India and why he has so far remained silent on the entire matter.
He has also thrashed all recent reports which claimed that Fawad has given a disappointing statement against India on his return to Pakistan. Fawad was among a list of Pakistani artistes, who were targetted by the MNS in the aftermath of the Uri attack. MNS had demanded a ban on Fawad along with Mahira Khan, Atif Aslam and Ali Zafar in Bollywood and even threatened them to go back within 48 hours.
Read the story on The Quint.
Also Read: The Truth Behind Fawad Khan's Alleged Comments Against India
Dear Fawad, Whatever You Say Will Be Used Against You
9. NGT Tells Neighbouring States to Switch Over to CNG or Face Action
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Friday expressed concern over the deteriorating air quality in the capital and threatened to suspend entry of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh transport vehicles if they did not switch to CNG at the earliest.
The directive comes a day after a study suggested that 40% of fine particulate pollutants in Delhi originate from Delhi-NCR.
I am being told that over 50% of pollution in Delhi is caused by fine particulate matter which originates from neighbouring states. The air quality in Delhi is getting worse. You should take every measure to introduce CNG stations in your states. If you don't introduce CNG in your state, we will stop your state transport.Bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter KumarThe tribunal directed senior officials from all the four northern states, besides officers of Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board, to appear before it on October 19, the next date of hearing.
Source: The Hindustan Times
Also Read: India Fears Deal to Cut Aviation Emissions May Not Be ‘Equitable'
Garden on Wheels, This ‘Green Taxi' is a Hit In Kolkata
From The Quint:
At a BSF Outpost in Uri Close to Hostile LoC, Eagles Dare to Dance
Legal Notice to Maratha Activist Smacks of Fadnavis' Insecurities
BCCI-Lodha Battle Reaches World Stage, All Eyes on ICC CEO Next
Disconnect of Bengaluru's Corporates More Worrisome Than Cauvery
Kashmir Diary: My Brush With the Simmering Rage in the Valley
4,200 BMC Engineers Resign; Pothole Politics Boils Ahead of Polls
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