WOULD RATHER TALK TO KASHMIRI YOUTH THAN PAK: SHAH TO FAROOQ

Union Home minister Amit Shah, who is currently ona visit to Jammu and Kashmir, remotely inaugurated several development projects and laid the foundation stone of some.

Before beginning his 38-minute-long speech at a function in Srinagar, he got the bullet proof glass shield for the speaker removed. Later, he told the audience that he likes to have a 'mann ki baat' (talk straight from his heart) with the people.

"I was cursed and criticised bitterly and today, I wish to talk to you with an open heart without security and without any bullet proof glass. And, here I am in front of you," Shah said while speaking at a heavily guarded Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre.

"Friends, today I saw the newspapers where Farooq (National Conference president Farooq Abdullah) Saheb has suggested to me that the government should engage in talks with Pakistan. Well, he is a seasoned politician, who has been the chief minster of (erstwhile) state, and this is his suggestion, but I would like to tell Farooq Saheb that if talks are to be held, I would like to hold it with brothers and sisters of the Kashmir Valley and the youth of the Kashmir Valley," the home minister said.

On the abrogation of Article 370, he said repealing it had only one 'pakeeza' (pious) intention that is to put Kashmir, Jammu and newly created Union Territory of Ladakh on the path of development.

"You will see the fruits of our efforts by 2024," Shah said.

CONGRESS SEEKS JPC PROBE INTO FACEBOOK’S ALLEGED ROLE IN ‘INFLUENCING’ INDIA’S ELECTIONS

The Congress on Monday accused Facebook of “influencing” India’s elections and “undermining” democracy and demanded a joint parliamentary committee probe into it.

“Facebook has reduced itself to a Fakebook,” Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said while raising the purported leaked internal reports of the social media giant on not initiating action against hate speech posts on its platform in India.

The Congress leader also alleged that Facebook was acting as an ally of the ruling BJP and pushing its agenda.

He referred to research documents by whistleblower Frances Haugen, who has worked at Facebook, and alleged that it took no decisive action against the perpetrators of such hate posts in Hindi and Bengali. Khera alleged that Facebook’s internal reports identified fake accounts with over a million impressions, yet it did nothing about it. “We demand a JPC probe to look into the role of Facebook in influencing our elections,” he told reporters. He alleged that Facebook was trying to “compromise and undermine our democracy in trying to shape through fake posts the opinions of people”.

Alleging that the role of Facebook during Delhi riots and West Bengal elections has been under suspicion, he said “The role of Facebook can no longer be dismissed as an error of omission as they are knowingly furthering the agenda of the ruling party and its ideology which is hate-filled, bigotry and dividing society.”

PUNJAB ALL-PARTY MEET SEEKS BSF ORDER RECALL, MAMATA SAYS LET STATES BE

An all-party meeting in Punjab, barring the BJP, Monday passed a unanimous resolution rejecting the Centre’s notification enhancing the BSF’s jurisdiction in border states, and said Punjab would take the legislative route if the government did not withdraw the move.

Addressing the media after the meeting that was called by him, Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi said the state will write to the Centre to withdraw the notification that expands the BSF’s jurisdiction for search, seizure and arrest to 50 km from the border — from the current 15 km — in Punjab, West Bengal and Assam. Channi said he and Deputy CM Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue, but were yet to receive a reply.

Addressing the media at a meeting in Siliguri, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also said she had written a letter to the PM against “the attempt to interfere with the federal structure of the country”.

Channi said all political parties in Punjab were on the same page on the matter. While AAP, the main Opposition party, and the Akali Dal attended the all-party meeting, the BJP stayed away.

The BSF has justified the expansion of jurisdiction on the grounds of uniformity, saying earlier it varied from state to state.

TRINAMOOL CONTINUES TO BLEED CONGRESS, INDUCTS UP LEADERS

The Congress continues to bear the brunt of West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee-led TMC’s ambition to expand beyond the borders of Bengal.

UP Congress leaders and father-son duo Rajeshpati Tripathi and Laliteshpati Tripathi on Monday joined the TMC at Siliguri in the presence of Mamata Banaerjee.

Laliteshpati, former MLA from Marihan in Mirzapur district of UP, who has remained vice-president of UP Pradesh Congress Committee, resigned from the Congress last month. He had then said that he would associate himself with a party whose ideology was similar to the Congress.

In Goa, the TMC on Monday initiated a move to bag some legislators who had switched over to the BJP after winning on the Congress ticket.

Sushmita Dev, who recently left the Congress to join the TMC, spearheads party’s expansion plans in Tripura.

KEY COVID NUMBERS

Current Active Cases Countrywide: 1,57,471

New Cases in last 24 hours: 11,870

Recovered in last 24 hours: 15,974

Change in no. of Active cases in last 24 hours: -4,461

No. of deaths in last 24 hours (Total Covid Deaths so far): 357 (4,55,100)

Daily Tests (Sunday): 9,98,397

Daily Positivity Rate (Proportion of Positives among total Tested): 1.2%

Percentage of Population Vaccinated (At Least One Dose / Two Doses): 53.8% / 23.0%

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE TAKE DOWN JAIR BOLSONARO VIDEO OVER FALSE CLAIM

Facebook and YouTube have removed from their platforms a video by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in which the far-right leader made a false claim that COVID-19 vaccines were linked with developing AIDS.

Both Facebook and Alphabet Inc's YouTube said the video, which was recorded on Thursday, violated their policies.

"Our policies don't allow claims that COVID-19 vaccines kill or seriously harm people," a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement on Monday, after taking down the video late on Sunday. YouTube confirmed that it had taken the same step later on Monday.

"We removed a video from Jair Bolsonaro's channel for violating our medical disinformation policy regarding COVID-19 for alleging that vaccines don't reduce the risk of contracting the disease and that they cause other infectious diseases," YouTube said in a statement.

PAK GIVING IN TO TLP DEMANDS

In what appeared to be total surrender, Pakistan’s government released 350 activists of the far-right Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) on Monday and promised to free the remaining Islamists in police custody as protests by the group continued for a fourth day. Hundreds of TLP protesters remain encamped on the main highway on Monday near Muridke, a town near Lahore that houses the headquarters of the banned LeT headed by Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed. The group has been asked by the government’s negotiating team to halt their march to Islamabad on the assurance that all their demands will be fulfilled.

TLP, which has been campaigning on the issue of blasphemy, has paralysed Pakistan several times in the last few years by resorting to countrywide demonstrations. The group is currently demanding the release of its incarcerated 27-year-old chief, Saad Hussain Rizivi, and the expulsion of the French ambassador from Islamabad as promised by the government in a past agreement.

The interior minister vowed on Monday to fulfil all the commitments the government had made to the group. The farright TLP was declared a “proscribed organisation” under anti-terrorism legislation by the Pakistan in April.

THE REST

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NCB CASE AGAINST ARYAN KHAN GETS VERY MURKY

The Narcotics Control Bureau has ordered a vigilance inquiry into the claims made by a witness in the cruise drugs case of an extortion bid of Rs 25 crore by some agency officials, including its Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede, and others for letting off accused Aryan Khan, son of actor Shah Rukh Khan, while the under-fire IRS officer came under fresh attack from Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on Monday.

On legal front, Wankhede, who the NCB asserted has an impeccable service record, failed to get any relief related to an affidavit on the sensational extortion claims made by the independent witness, Prabhakar Sail, with a special court saying it cannot pass a blanket order barring courts from taking cognisance of the document.

Sail has been provided police protection by the Maharashtra government after he claimed threat to his life.

The NCB and Wankhede had earlier in the day filed two separate affidavits before the special court, designated to hear cases related to the Narcotics Drugs Psychotropic Substances (MDPS) Act, against the allegations of extortion attempt levelled against them.

The affidavits had sought the court to pass an order saying no court should take cognisance of the affidavit prepared by Sail, who has alleged that Wankhede and others had attempted to extort money from Shah Rukh Khan to let off his son in the drugs case.

Meanwhile, Kiran Gosavi, an 'independent witness' of the NCB in the current case, who is absconding, on Monday refuted the extortion claims made by his aide and another witness in the case, Prabhakar Sail, and said he will surrender shortly before the Lucknow police.

After remaining untraceable for several days, Gosavi, who is facing a cheating case in Pune, spoke to TV news channels from an undisclosed location and dubbed the extortion claims made by Sail as false and baseless.

Asked why he was surrendering in Lucknow when the drugs case, in which he is a witness, has been filed in Mumbai and the cheating case, in which he is an accused, in Pune, Gosavi told channels he feels 'threatened' in the financial capital and does not trust the Maharashtra police.

ISI LINK? AMARINDER SHOWS PHOTOS OF PAK FRIEND WITH OTHER LEADERS

Amid a row over his friendship with Pakistani journalist Aroosa Alam, former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday released her pictures with some politicians and actors on his Facebook page.

Asking that if all these leaders and actors accompanying the Pakistani journalists are Inter-Services Intelligence's contacts, Singh asserted that he would have invited her again had there been no visa restrictions between India and Pakistan.

Amarinder Singh, who had faced an unceremonious exit from the state government, has been under attack from several Congress leaders over his friendship with Aroosa Alam.

Singh on Monday released purported pictures of Aroosa Alam with former Union ministers Sushma Swaraj, Yashwant Sinha, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, former UP CM Mulayam Singh Yadav, actors Shatrughan Sinha, Dilip Kumar, film director Mahesh Bhatt and some other dignitaries.

'I am posting a series of pictures of Mrs Aroosa Alam with various dignitaries. I suppose they are all also contacts of the ISI. Those who say so should think before speaking,' said Amarinder Singh on his Facebook page.

CONGRESS’ RADHIKA KHERA GETS TROLLED AFTER CRYPTIC TWEET

Congress national media coordinator Radhika Khera has been in the eye of a social media storm following a tweet that is being perceived as one celebrating India’s loss in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup match against Pakistan Sunday.

In a cryptic tweet late Sunday night, shortly after the country’s 10-wicket loss to Pakistan, Khera tweeted, “Kyon bhakton, aa gaya mazaa? Karwa li beizzatti?)

Controversy erupted almost immediately, as the tweet went viral, with many accusing her of rejoicing in India’s loss and siding with Pakistan. Among those who hit out at Khera and the Congress were BJP leaders Gaurav Bhatia, Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, and Kapil Mishra.

In a tweet Monday, Khera claimed her tweet had been “twisted and turned”, as “there was no reference whatsoever to cricket, or any one losing or winning” in her original tweet.

DON’T CAST DOUBT ON COVID-19 VACCINATION, SAYS SC; REJECTS PIL AGAINST IT

Maintaining that vaccination was key to protecting people from Covid-19, the Supreme Court Monday dismissed a petition seeking directions to stop mass vaccination of Covishield and Covaxin till all stages of clinical trials were completed.

“Let’s not cast doubt on the vaccination process. It’s a key to protecting the population. We don’t want the petition to be argued at all. Even issuing notice on this appeal will be subject to great mischief,” a Bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud told the petitioner’s counsel.

The petitioner’s counsel submitted that allowing mass vaccination without completion of the clinical trial violated the relevant rules and, therefore, administering Covishield and Covaxin vaccines was harmful and illegal. But the Bench wasn’t convinced at all.

NATIONAL FILM AWARDS 2021: DADASAHEB PHALKE AWARD FOR RAJINIKANT

The 67th National Film Awards ceremony took place on Monday, October 25. Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu presented the awards to those who won this year.

Kangana Ranaut was awarded the Best Actress Award for her performances in Manikarnika: Queen of Jhansi and Panga. This is her fourth National Award. She previously won Best Supporting Actress for her role in Fashion and Best Actress Awards for Queen and Tanu Weds Manu Returns.

Manoj Bajpayee was awarded the Best Actor Award for his performance in Bhonsle.

Tamil actor Dhanush also received the Best Actor Award for his role in Asuran.

Rajinikanth was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his contribution to Indian cinema.

Sushant Singh Rajput's last theatrical release Chhichhore was awarded the best Hindi film award.

In the regional languages, Asuran won for Best Tamil film and Jersey won for Best Telugu film. Vijay Sethupathi won the Best Supporting Actor award for Super Deluxe.

Malayalam film Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham (Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea) received the National Film Award for Best Feature Film. The film has been written and directed by Priyadarshan, and stars Mohanlal.

The Tashkent Files won two awards - Dialogue Writer and Best Supporting Actress, which went to Pallavi Joshi.

IPL GETS TWO NEW TEAMS: GOENKA GETS LUCKNOW; CVC BAGS AHMEDABAD

Kolkata-based business tycoon Sanjiv Goenka's RP-SG Group claimed the Lucknow franchise for a whopping Rs 7090 crore, while international equity investment firm CVC Capital won the bid for Ahmedabad with a Rs 5625 crore offer as the eagerly-awaited two new IPL teams were unveiled in Dubai on Monday.

The BCCI was expecting a windfall in the range of Rs 10,000 crore but to their surprise, earned Rs 12,690 crore from the two new teams that will take part in the 2022 IPL.

Goenka was one of the favourites to win a team after having been in the IPL for two years in 2016 and 2017, when he owned the Rising Pune Supergiants.

One of the major companies that lost out was Gautam Adani's Adani Group which bid around Rs 5000 crore, while bids of Glazers from Manchester United and Torrent Group also fell short of the mark.

22 companies have picked up tender document worth Rs 10 lakh but with base price for new teams pegged at Rs 2000 crore, only five to six serious bidders were in fray.

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly said the addition of two new teams will give more opportunities to India's domestic players.

One of the major companies that lost out was Gautam Adani's Adani Group which bid around Rs 5000 crore.

SHAMI GETS AMPLE SUPPORT AFTER BEING TROLLED ONLINE

Former and current players on Monday extended their support to pacer Mohammad Shami, who was subjected to a fierce online attack following the Indian team's crushing loss to Pakistan in a T20 World Cup match.

Politicians also rallied behind the cricketer with former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah and Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi condemning the targetting of Shami's religious identity by social media trolls.

"When we support #TeamIndia, we support every person who represents Team India. @MdShami11 is a committed, world-class bowler. He had an off day like any other sportsperson can have. I stand behind Shami & Team India," tweeted the iconic Sachin Tendulkar.

"The online attack on Mohammad Shami is shocking and we stand by him. He is a champion and anyone who wears the India cap has India in their hearts far more than any online mob. With you Shami. Agle match mein dikado jalwa (Show your bowling prowess in the next game)," stated former India opener Sehwag.

Former India pacer Irfan Pathan described the attack on Shami as unprecedented. "Even I was part of #IndvsPak battles on the field where we have lost but never been told to go to Pakistan! I'm talking about of few years back. THIS CRAP NEEDS TO STOP. #Shami," he posted.

The trolls on social media linked his ordinary performance on Sunday to his religion which did not go down well with fellow netizens with several of them offering support to the 31-year-old.

T20 WORLD CUP MATCH 17: CLINICAL AFGHANISTAN ROUT SCOTLAND

Afghanistan produced a dominating display of power-hitting before Mujeeb Ur Rahman ripped apart the rival batting line-up with his five-wicket haul as the strife-torn Asian nation routed Scotland by 130 runs in a Super 12 match of the T20 World Cup, in Sharjah, on Monday.

Afghanistan posted a challenging 190/4 after opting to bat before they bundled out Scotland for just 60 in 10.2 overs to pull off a huge win in Group 2.

INDICATORS

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US$-Rs. 74.97 GBP-Rs. 103.22, Euro-Rs. 87.17, UAE Dhm-Rs.20.40, Can$-Rs. 60.61, Aus$- Rs. 56.13

GBP 0.72 /US$, Euro 0.85 /US$, Jap.Yen 113.67 /US$, Aus$ 1.33 /US$, Sing 1.34 /US$, Bang Taka 84.05 /US$, Can$ 1.23 /US$, Mal Ring 4.14 /US$,

Pak Re 173.87 /US$, Phil Peso 50.67 /US$, Russian Rouble 69.99 /US$, NZ$ 1.39 /US$, Thai Baht 33.07 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 26.10 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 62,716

Dollar Index 93.89, Brent Crude 86.24 BDI 4,257

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,804 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 4,776 / 4,676, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 70,300

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

A problem well stated is a problem half solved. – C. F. Ketterring

OFF TRACK

At a posh Manhattan dinner party, a Latin American visitor was telling the guests about this home country and himself. As he concluded, he said, "And I have a charming and understanding wife but, alas, no children."

As his listeners appeared to be waiting for him to continue, he said, haltingly, "You see, my wife is unbearable."

Puzzled glances prompted him to try to clarify the matter: "What I mean is, my wife is inconceivable."

As his companions seemed amused, he floundered deeper into the intricacies of the English language, explaining triumphantly, "That is, my wife, she is impregnable!"