1. Rift Between Pakistan Govt, Army Over Backing Militant Groups: Reports
A media report suggesting that the Pakistan military has been asked not to "interfere" in action against militant groups considered "off limits", gave rise to heated speculation of a rift between the Nawaz Sharif government and the army brass even though the account was forcefully denied.
A report in Pakistan's Dawn newspaper said a meeting of civilian leaders, including PM Nawaz Sharif and the ISI chief Rizwan Akhtar, on Monday saw foreign secretary Aizaz Chaudhry bluntly say that Pakistan faced diplomatic isolation and was under pressure to act against Jaish-e-Mohammed and the Haqqani network, and move forward on the Pathankot investigation.
(Source: The Times of India)
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2. Tamil Nadu Terror Suspect Was Shopping for Explosives in Sivakasi: NIA
A Tamil Nadu resident, who was under the watch of security agencies for a year after he returned from Mosul, Iraq where he fought in the war zone for the Islamic State, has been arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for allegedly conspiring to collect chemical explosives from cracker manufacturers in Tamil Nadu and carry out terror activities in the country.
The accused identified as Subahani Haja Moideen (31), a resident of Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu, was arrested by the NIA on Wednesday in connection with a case related to activities of the banned Islamic State in India.
Unlike Maharashtra resident Areeb Majeed, who fled from Syria after he was injured during an attack and was subsequently arrested during his return to India, security agencies did not immediately put Moideen under arrest and decided to keep him under watch instead.
(Source: The Hindu)
3. Supreme Court Gives BCCI a Last Chance
India's cricket board on Thursday refused to offer a guarantee that it would comply with sweeping reforms endorsed by the Supreme Court, worsening a bitter stand-off with the judiciary that threatens to disrupt the sport in the country.
The board's defiance angered a Bench led by Chief Justice TS Thakur, which threatened to dismiss the body's top rung and pass an interim order on Friday barring the funding of state cricket associations, prohibited under the SC-appointed Lodha panel recommendations.
If you are giving an unconditional undertaking that you are abiding by all conditions by tomorrow, we will wait, otherwise we are passing orders.Justice TS Thakur told the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)
One of the world's richest and most powerful sports bodies, the BCCI, has been dogged by financial scandals and allegations of mismanagement for decades.
(Source: The Hindustan Times)
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4. After Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka to Campaign in Uttar Pradesh From Next Month
After Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi's month-long ‘Kisan Yatra', his sister Priyanka Gandhi is set to hit the campaign trail ahead of next year's Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh. Priyanka will hold meetings across UP, and will begin with an event in Allahabad on 19 November to mark the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Sources revealed that constituencies, where the party had come first and second, would be on the priority list for her meetings.
Sources said that with the issue of research scholar Rohit Vemula's suicide again hitting the headlines, both Priyanka and Rahul would take up the issues related to Dalits across the state.
“After the yatra of Rahul Gandhi enthused party workers and also gave issues to farmers to talk about, the Congress will not sit relaxed in Uttar Pradesh. Priyanka Gandhi would now go on a campaign trail across the state,” said a senior party leader.
(Source: The Indian Express)
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5. Judicial Probe Missed: Rohith Vemula Took No SC Benefits, Mother's Parent Confirmed Dalit Identity
The one-man judicial commission that inquired into the suicide of PhD scholar Rohith Vemula said that his mother's claim that her foster parents had told her that her biological parents were SC was “improbable and unbelievable”.
In a recorded conversation in February, days before her death, Radhika's foster mother – Anjani Devi – had given enough indication that her daughter knew of her Dalit identity.
Devi, who belongs to the backward Vaddera community, had told The Sunday Express that the labourer-parents of her adopted daughter belonged to the SC Mala caste and that she had retained that identity.
(Source: The Indian Express)
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6. After Kaziranga Eviction, the Question Is Where Next?
Hanifuddin Ahmed, 51, has been evicted from his homestead for the second time in 20 years. He was among those driven out during the eviction of encroachers in Kaziranga two weeks ago.
Back in 1996, when our Tunikati village became part of the first addition to Kaziranga National Park, the government had asked us to move out. We were asked to settle down in Deochurchang, south of the highway, with the then government putting on record that we were officially resettled after that eviction.Hanifuddin Ahmed
It was from Deochurchang that Hanifuddin was forced out on 19 September as the authorities used bulldozers and elephants to dismantle houses. Two people were also killed when police used force to disperse protesters, who had turned violent.
(Source: The Indian Express)
Also Read: HC Will Not Interfere in Kaziranga Eviction Drive That Killed Two
7. A Martyr's Death? Villagers Wrap Dadri Accused's Body in Tricolour
In Dadri's Bishahra village, Mohammed Akhlaq, 51, was dragged out of his house and killed by a mob in September last year on suspicion of eating beef, which had triggered communal tension in the region.
On Tuesday, one of the accused in the case died of kidney and respiratory failure at a hospital. Ravi Sisodia, 22, was rushed to Lok Nayak Jaiprakash Hospital from the district hospital in Noida, Uttar Pradesh after suffering "kidney failure".
It is also suspected that Sisodia was suffering from dengue, though hospital authorities said, "medical report is still awaited."
Read the report on The Quint.
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8. Very Excited About India, My Role Is to Add Value to Existing Talent: SP's Political Consultant Steve Jarding
For the Samajwadi Party as well as political consultant Steve Jarding, his assignment in Uttar Pradesh marks a first. The SP has engaged professional help from abroad for the first time, while Jarding is looking forward to his first campaign in India after having advised politicians in various countries.
Jarding is a lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. He has a course called ‘The Making of a Politician' and is also a founding partner and CEO of the consultancy SJB Strategies International. Jarding, who has had three meetings with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav since, replied to questions on the assignment by email and over phone.
When asked that how the Samajwadi Party got in touch with him, he replied saying:
The Samajwadi Party connected with me through a friend of mine in India named Adwait Singh, a former student at Harvard. Adwait (27, based in Lucknow, LLM from Harvard) knows that I am very interested in Indian politics and working with the next-generation leaders and he highly recommended that I meet the CM. He made the introductions and got the first meeting set up in June. The relationship then developed from that meeting.
(Source: The Indian Express)
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9. Shiv Sena's Success in UP: Star Nawazuddin Siddiqui Is Forced out of Ram Leela
The stage is set, the lights and the backdrop are in place and the actors – about a dozen of them – are busy getting their make-up and costume on. It is the eighth day of the Ram Leela show in Muzaffarnagar's Budhana tehsil and over 250 people have gathered to watch the four-hour performance. But both actors and audience have a common complaint: their star artist, critically acclaimed actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, will not take the stage tonight.
My childhood dream could not come true, but will definitely be a part of Ramleela next year.
Check the rehearsals. pic.twitter.com/euOYSgsm3FDharmendra Goyal, 43, who plays Marich, Ravana's uncle, in the production said:
We were really looking forward to his performance. Over 2,000 people had come here on Thursday but a few hours before the show we were told he will not perform.Siddiqui had prepared to play the same character. “He rehearsed for two hours with the team yesterday, learnt the lines… but the plans changed in the last minute,” adds Goyal, who has a dairy business.
(Source: The Indian Express)
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