NATIONAL NEWS
Aryan Khan to spend one more night behind bars; jail official says papers did not reach in time
Aryan Khan, son of superstar Shah Rukh Khan, will spend one more night in Mumbai’s Arthur Road prison as a senior jail official said his release papers did not reach them within the stipulated time. We won’t give special treatment for anyone. The law is the same for all. The deadline for receiving the bail papers was 5.30 pm. That has passed. He won’t be released today, the official told PTI. The assertion by the prison official came even as there were indications from Aryan Khan’s legal team that a slight postponement till 7 pm was possible. While granting Aryan Khan bail on Thursday in the drugs-on-cruise case, the Bombay High Court imposed 14 bail conditions on him, paving the way for his release from jail. In the five-page order, the High Court said that Aryan Khan and his two co-accused Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha, who were also granted bail, shall be released on a personal bond of ₹1 lakh each, with one or two sureties of the same amount. As per the conditions set by the High Court, the trio will have to surrender their passports before the special NDPS court and shall not leave India without taking permission from the special court and they will have to attend the NCB office each Friday to mark their presence. The HC had granted bail to Aryan Khan 25 days after he was arrested during a drug raid on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast.
‘Genie is out of the bottle,’ says Nawab Malik after family members of NCB official Wankhede meet BJP leader
Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik on Friday took potshots over a meeting between family members of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede and BJP leader Kirit Somaiya, saying the genie is out of the bottle. Malik, who has levelled a slew of allegations against Wankhede in the context of the drugs-on-cruise case, accused the BJP of misusing central agencies to defame Maharashtra and the Hindi film industry based in Mumbai. Speaking to reporters, Malik said, The wife of Sameer Wankhede had written a letter to Chief Minister yesterday seeking his support by playing the Marathi card, but in the evening the whole family met BJP leader Kirit Somaiya. It means the genie is out of the bottle. I had already raised questions about BJP’s uneasiness when I was targeting an NCB official for his alleged involvement in fraud. Kranti Redkar, the wife of Wankhede, has written a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, seeking justice in the wake of the attack on her family and her personal life. Redkar, and Wankhede’s father and sister on Thursday afternoon met Somaiya, who later tweeted his photo with the family members and claimed they are disturbed because of slanderous attacks by Nawab Malik. The State Minister, who has dubbed the cruise drugs case as bogus, has accused Wankhede of forging documents to get a government job and lying about his religion, among other things. The IRS officer and his family have denied all allegations. Elaborating on his claims over the BJP’s alleged involvement in the episode surrounding the cruise drugs bust, the Maharashtra Minister said, Kiran Gosavi, who is a witness (of the NCB) in Aryan Khan’s arrest, has a partnership with a BJP leader in some firm. He is already facing allegations of extortion, corruption and kidnapping. Gosavi (arrested by Pune police in a fraud case) alone will expose many things about the BJP. I have more explosive information which I will reveal in the winter session of the State legislature. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also tried to woo the Hindi film industry appealing them to shift to his State. By shifting Bollywood there, is Yogi Aadityanath trying to set up UPHood there? It will not work, he said. The film industry here generates jobs for millions of people. You cannot harass them for not shifting to U.P., said the Minister.
Three farm laws will also be withdrawn soon, says Rahul after cops start removing barricades at protest site
After the Delhi Police started removing barricades at the farmers’ protest site in Ghazipur, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the three anti-agriculture farm laws would also be withdrawn soon. Only artificial barricades have been removed so far, soon the three anti-agriculture laws will also be withdrawn. Hail Annadata Satyagraha, he said in a tweet in Hindi, using the hashtag ‘FarmersProtest’. The Delhi Police on Friday started removing the barricades and the concertina wires it had put in place at the anti-farm laws protest site at Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border. Multiple layers of iron and cement barricades, and at least five layers of concertina wires were put up last year, and further strengthened after the January 26 violence this year during the farmers’ protest against the three contentious farm laws. The removal of barricades comes after the October 21 Supreme Court direction that called for unblocking of roads which have remained out of bounds for commuters due to the protests at Delhi’s border points of Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur. While the protesting farmers have been claiming that the three laws enacted last year are against their interest, the Centre has been saying these legislations are pro-farmer. Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Priyanka Kashyap said Friday, The process of removing barricades on NH-9 has been started. The temporary barricading is being removed to ease out vehicular movement. However, National Highway 24 was already open for traffic. The opening of the road stretch would help thousands of commuters in Ghaziabad, Delhi, Noida as well as those travelling between the national capital and interiors of Uttar Pradesh to Meerut and beyond.
Farmers will continue protest at Ghazipur border, says Bharatiya Kisan Union
Responding to the removal of barricades at the Ghazipur border by the Delhi Police on Friday, Bharatiya Kisan Union general secretary Yudhvir Singh said the protest would continue at the Ghazipur border with even more vigour. The farmers will continue to come to the border like before. Singh said the move did not seem to be an indication of the Government reaching out to farmers for a peaceful resolution of the protest against the contentious farm laws. My 40 years of experience in holding protests for farmers’ cause tells me that the Government wants to stretch it [the impasse] further rather than arriving at a decision. ‘Sarkar kheenchna chahti hai, faisla nahin chahti,’ said Singh. He said farmers never wanted to create problems for the general public. It was the Delhi Police that had put these barricades after the January 26 episode. It seems after the SC order, they have removed them.
Actor Puneeth Rajkumar dies of heart attack
Puneeth Rajkumar, 46, one of the marquee names of Kannada film industry and the youngest of the five children of matinee idol Dr. Rajkumar, passed away on October 29 after suffering cardiac arrest in the morning. Revenue Minister R. Ashok announced the demise of the actor at Vikram Hospital, Bengaluru. Puneeth Rajkumar is survived by his wife Ashwini Revanth and two daughters Drithi and Vanditha. Dr. Ranganath Naik of Vikram Hospital said, Puneeth Rajkumar complained of chest pain in the morning and was rushed to the private clinic of his family physician where an ECG test was done. It showed a heart attack and he was immediately rushed to Vikram Hospital. When he was brought to the hospital, there was no cardiac activity. We put him on a ventilator and tried to revive him, but all efforts failed. Ashok said the last rites of the actor will be performed on October 30, and the details will be finalised after discussions with the family. He appealed to the actor’s fans not to become emotional and maintain peace. His mortal remains will be kept for public viewing at Kanteerava Stadium. Puneeth Rajkumar, christened ‘Power Star’ by the film industry and lovingly called ‘Appu’, was associated with the silver screen since he was a toddler. He made his screen debut as a six-month-old baby in Premada Kanike (1976) starring Dr. Rajkumar. He went on to act as a child actor in 13 films, most of them with his father. He won the national award for best child actor for the film Bettada Hoovu in 1985, and two best child actor State film awards for Chalisuva Modagalu in 1982 and Eradu Nakshtragalu in 1983. He also sang several popular songs as a child artist. He took a break and debuted as a lead actor in Kannada films in 2002 with the film Appu, directed by Puri Jagannadh. Lead actors Rakshitha and Ramya also made their debut in this film. Puneeth played the role of a college student, and the film went on to become a massive hit. He has been the lead actor in 29 films since then, with his last release being Yuvarathnaa, which hit the screens in April earlier this year. Two of his films, James and Dvitva, were under production.
Leander Paes joins Trinamool Congress
Tennis veteran Leander Paes on Friday joined the Trinamool Congress in the presence of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Panaji. Banerjee, who is in the coastal state on a three-day visit, welcomed Paes into the party fold. Senior actor and activist Nafisa Ali, who contested the 2004 Lok Sabha elections from South Kolkata against Banerjee, also joined the party. The party tweeted saying We are extremely delighted to share that Shri Leander joined us today in the presence of our Hon’ble Chairperson Mamata Banerjee. Together, we shall ensure that every single person in this nation sees the Dawn of Democracy that we have been waiting for since 2014! Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee told her party workers in poll-bound Goa that the BJP calls her anti-Hindu although it has no authority to give a character certificate to her, and added that the initial letters in her party’s name — TMC — also stand for temple, mosque and church. The West Bengal chief minister, who arrived in Goa on Thursday evening as part of her three-day visit to the BJP-ruled state, also said her party wants to fight elections here not to divide votes but to make the coastal state strong and self-sufficient and asserted that the state will not be run from Delhi. She said her party doesn’t divide people on religious lines even if they are Hindus, Muslims or Christians. The TMC has announced its decision to contest all 40 Assembly seats in Goa in the upcoming polls and started inducting several local leaders into its fold. Banerjee’s tour is being seen as an attempt by her to gauge political mood in the state ahead of the Assembly polls slated in early 2022. During her maiden interaction with the TMC leaders in Goa, Banerjee accused the BJP of defacing her posters in the state and said people of India will deface the saffron party. When I come to Goa, they deface my posters. You will be defaced from India, she said. Banerjee said that if the TMC comes to power in Goa, it will not work with the agenda of revenge, but work for the state. Listing out various welfare schemes rolled out by her government in her home state, she said if the TMC can do it in West Bengal, the it can also do it the small state of Goa. I will be happy to do it. I am not going to be the chief minister of Goa, but I will see that there is policy, mechanism, and no corruption in the government, she said. Banerjee said the TMC is a national party and it can go anywhere.
Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments
The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,42,59,010 with the death toll at 4,57,766. The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Friday allowed full-seating capacity in cinema halls, theatres and multiplexes, and also raised the number of people attending wedding functions and last rites from 100 to 200. An order, issued by the DDMA, listing various allowed and restricted activities in view of COVID-19 will come into effect from the intervening night of October 31 and November 1. The order stated that owners of cinema halls, theatres and multiplexes will be responsible for strict adherence to standard operating protocol (SOP) and official guidelines as well as Covid-appropriate behaviour at the premises. It also allowed all the authorised weekly markets in the city to reopen from November 1.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Solar Storm 2021: Strong geomagnetic storm to hit Earth on October 30.
A strong Geomagnetic storm is set to hit Earth on October 30, 2021, after the US Space Weather Prediction Center under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a watch out for a G3 (strong) geomagnetic storm. On October 28, 2021, the Sun blasted a significant solar flare and Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) from sunspot AR2887 wherein the Sun emitted X1 class solar fare. The CME erupted at a speed of 973 km/s and will take 2 days to cross the Sun-Earth divide and reach Earth’s atmosphere by October 30. The US Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) continuously observes the Sun. The Solar Dynamics Observatory of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) also captured a ‘significant solar flare’ blasting off from the Sun. The US space agency NASA also confirmed that the Sun emitted an X1-class flare on October 29, 2021. The US Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) confirmed that the X1-class solar flare currently erupted from a sunspot called AR2887 which is positioned in the centre of the Sun and facing the Earth, based on its location. The geomagnetic storm set to hit Earth on October 30 has been rated as G3 on the 5-step scale of ranking of solar events. The impact of a G3 solar storm is generally nominal, stated the SWPC. Though the harmful radiation from such a solar flare cannot pass through the atmosphere of Earth but could disrupt some high-frequency radio broadcasts and low-frequency navigation. It may affect GPS signals, satellites, and the electricity grid. The SWPC said that that the X1-class solar flare that erupted from the Sun on October 28 caused a temporary yet strong radio blackout across the sunlit side of the Earth-centered South America.
South Asia Suffers most loss of Human Capital due to Air Pollution-World Bank Report
As per the latest The Changing Wealth of Nations 2021: Managing Assets for the Future released by the World Bank, South Asia suffered the most loss in the world on human capital due to air pollution. The report was prepared by the World Bank, measuring wealth creation \& distribution in 146 countries covering a period of 20-years from 1995-2018. As per the World Bank, Human Capital is defined as Earning over a person’s lifetime. Parameters Measured – Economic Value of Renewable Natural Capital, Nonrenewable natural capital, human capital, produced capital, Net foreign assets. This is the 1st time that the report measured Blue natural capital (mangroves & ocean fisheries). Between 1995-2018, 50 % of wealth creation was made through Human capital. South Asia is the most severely affected country in the South Asian region due to air pollution, which also severely impacts human capital. Gender parity will increase human capital by 42 percentage points in South Asia, where men account for 80 % of wealth creation. Human Capital, the largest source of wealth generation, accounted for 64 % of Total Global Wealth Generation in 2018. There was an 8 % per capita decline in Forest wealth in 2018 compared to 1995 among the Low & Middle-income countries. With 8 % of Global population, only 1 % of the wealth creation was made from Low-income countries.
