Breaking News, November 13 | HIGHLIGHTS

Days after a scuffle broke out between two groups, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has declared the campus "out of bounds" for four students involved in the fight till its inquiry into the incident is completed. The police have registered two FIRs in connection with the scuffle that broke out near the Narmada hostel of the university between two groups of students on Thursday. JNU's chief proctor has issued identical notices against four students- two BA students, one MA student and one MPhil student- saying they were involved “in a physical fight with a fellow student of JNU on 9th November 2022, at midnight at Narmada hostel”.

A clash broke out on the premises of a college hostel in Punjab's Moga district between students from Jammu and Kashmir and Bihar following the cricket T20 World Cup final match between Pakistan and England on Sunday, police said. The incident caused minor injuries to a few students, they said. A group of students were watching the Pakistan versus England in the hostel of an engineering and management college. Pakistan was defeated by England in the match which took place at Melbourne in Australia. Soon after the match got over, some students from Jammu and Kashmir and Bihar entered into a heated argument over some issues. Soon they started pelting stones at each other, the police said. A team of local police officials reached the spot and brought the situation under control, they said. Police personnel were deployed at the college and its hostel. An investigation into the incident is underway, the police said.

The schools and colleges for the Mayiladuthurai district of Tamil Nadu will remain closed tomorrow in view of incessant rainfall in the state, announced the Mayiladuthurai District Collector. Earlier in the day, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin inspected rain-affected and waterlogged areas and said that the water drainage department and public works department are working in the waterlogged areas of the state. He informed that the state will continue to experience rainfall but there is no danger.He further said that he will be visiting Seerkazhi area in the Nagapattinam District of the state to do inspection rain-affected areas."Tonight I am travelling to Seerkazhi and after Mayiladuthurai and Cuddalore to do an inspection," said Stalin. Earlier on November 11, amid the alert issued by India Meteorological Department (IMD), a holiday was declared in all schools and colleges located in Tiruvallur, Sivaganga, Madurai, Kancheepuram and Dindigul. "Based on the rain forecast for tomorrow, a holiday has been declared for all schools and colleges in Tiruvallur district for tomorrow," the Tiruvallur district collector tweeted on Thursday. Schools and colleges will also remain closed in Kancheepuram and Madurai districts while in the Sivaganga district and Dindigul districts only the schools will remain closed. The IMD had said that a low-pressure area over the Southwest Bay of Bengal off the Sri Lanka coast with associated cyclonic circulation which it said is likely to become more marked during the next 24 hours. 

Police here apprehended 16 people and seized their motorbikes in their crackdown against people who perform stunts with them, officials said on Sunday. Some bikers were said to be performing stunts in the Sidhra road area, when police accosted them, they said. Bikes were seized under relevant sections of the Motor Vehicles Act at Nagrota Police Station, they said. 

The Congress on Sunday released two lists of 39 candidates for the Gujarat Assembly elections, fielding Jignesh Mevani from the Vadgam constituency. The party first released its fifth list with six candidates including Manhar Patel from Botad in place of Ramesh Mer. Later in the evening, it released a list of 33 candidates, taking the total number of candidates declared so far to 142.
The candidates named in the fifth list were Jayanti Jerajbhai Patel from Morbi, Jivan Kumbharvadiya from Jamnagar Rural, Chhattarsinh Gunjariya from Dhrangadhra, Mansukhbhai Kalariya from Rajkot West and Divyesh Chavda from Gariadhar.
In the sixth list of 33 candidates, the candidates fielded by the Congress included Mevani from Vadgam (SC) seat, Thakor Mohansinh from Mansa, Baldevji Thakor from Kalol, Imran Khedawala from Jamalpur-Khadia, Amit Chavda from Anklav and Bal Kishen Patel from Dabhoi.

The Kerala government will create awareness among school students against body shaming and will consider making it part of the education curriculum, State General Education Minister V Sivankutty said on Sunday. The minister said body shaming was a heinous act and there are many who have lost sanity, being victims of it. In a Facebook post, Sivankutty said someone had commented on his photo asking him to reduce his tummy. "I had replied saying that body shaming is a heinous act. No matter what the explanation is, body shaming phrases are the worst. It is said as though in a loving manner. This happens in our society on many levels. There are many among us who have lost our sanity, being victims of body shaming," Sivankutty said. He shared the experience of one of his friend's brother, a school student, who had to face discrimination due to his colour. The boy later complained to the teachers after which the other students turned against him. The minister said the boy had to change schools and suffered a lot of trauma. "I repeat, we should end body shaming. Let's be modern people," the minister said. "Let's discuss how such awareness can be made a part of the education curriculum. Simultaneously, let's discuss how to deal with such situations during teachers' training programmes," Sivankutty said. The minister, in his Facebook post, said he will talk to the boy who faced discrimination and will ask his family to give him confidence. He underlined that it's not one's colour or wealth that matters but ideals like goodness of heart." 

The Congress on Sunday released its list of 250 candidates for the upcoming Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections, party officials said. The 250-ward MCD goes to polls on December 4 and the counting of votes will take place on December 7. Attaching the list of candidates, the party's Delhi unit president Anil Chaudhary said on Twitter, "I am pleased to announce the approved list of Congress candidates for MCD Election 2022. Best wishes to all warriors." 

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday said the accused in the Udaipur track explosion will be severely punished and the NIA along with other investigating agencies was at the site. An explosion occurred on a railway track in the Rajasthan district on Sunday, hours before the recently inaugurated Asarwa-Udaipur Express train from Ahmedabad was supposed to pass. Police said they are investigating all angles, including sabotage. "We will start running trains on the section as soon as the preliminary investigation is done, within 3-4 hours. Our best teams have been deployed to investigate the matter. "An explosion was reported in the tracks about 35 km from Udaipur and we have our best on the spot - ATF, NIA and RPF. The accused will be severely punished. The bridge restoration team is also on the site," Vaishnaw told PTI. 

Leaders of the Congress, the BJP and the AAP have expressed their resolve to popularise the Maithili language and include it in the curriculum in schools in the national capital. BJP leader Sanjay Mayukh, AAP MLA Sanjeev Jha and Congress leader Pranav Jha made the resolve during the Mithila Festival and Maithili Literature Festival organised here on Saturday. The three leaders said they will make every effort to promote the Maithili language by raising the issue at various fora such as the state assembly and legislative councils. Mayukh is a member of the Bihar Legislative Council and Sanjeev Jha is a member of the Delhi Assembly. The festival was attended by senior journalists and litterateurs hailing from the Mithila region of Bihar. 

The Delhi University on Sunday declared the third list of seat allocation for undergraduate admission, registrar Vikas Gupta said. The total number of students admitted to the varsity so far has gone beyond 61,500 as against 70,000 undergraduate seats. In the third round of the common seat allocation system (CSAS), admissions will be done to all supernumerary quotas, including extracurricular activities (ECA), sports, CW (children and widows of armed forces), and Kashmiri migrants, along with regular admissions.

Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday promised to be the "prime minister for everyone" after Israeli President Isaac Herzog officially invited the country's longest-serving premier to form the new government. Netanyahu, who has won the backing of 64 Members of the Knesset (Israeli Parliament), has been assigned the task to form the next government, a statement from the Presidency said, days after the November 1 election, the fifth in four years, to break the political impasse that had paralysed the Jewish nation. "I decided to bestow upon you, MK Benjamin Netanyahu, the mandate to form a government," President Herzog told Netanyahu during a meeting at the president's residence. Israel's longest-serving leader, 73-year-old Netanyahu has won a record five elections to hold office five times - more than any other prime minister in the country's 74-year history.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have around 20 engagements during his nearly 45 hours of stay in Bali, Indonesia where he will attend the G20 summit, official sources said. PM Modi, who will leave for the Indonesian city on Monday, will hold bilateral meetings with around 10 world leaders and will also attend a community event to connect with Indian diaspora in Indonesia, the sources said.

A Supreme Court lawyer who worked as a legal advisor to governors of several states joined the BJP here on Sunday. Vikas Bansode joined the party at its headquarters in the presence of its national general secretary CT Ravi. Ravi told reporters that Bansode had worked as a legal advisor to former governors, including late Congress leader Hansraj Bhardwaj, of states of Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. He knows many opposition leaders inside out and that is why some of them are losing sleep at his decision to join the BJP, Ravi said. Bansode's induction into the party will strengthen it in south India, he said. 

Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande on Sunday left for France on a four-day visit with an aim to further strengthen the "bonds of trust" between the Indian and French armies amid the fast-evolving security matrix and the geopolitical situation. Gen Pande will hold extensive talks with the top military brass of France including the Chief of the Defence Staff, the Chief of the Army Staff and the Commander of the Land Combat Forces. "The Chief of the Army Staff has proceeded on a visit to France from November 14 to 17. "During the four-day visit, he will be meeting his counterparts and senior military leadership of France with an aim to enhance defence cooperation between both the nations," the Army said.

In a first, Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has authorised the Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB) to recruit group 'B' & 'C' non-judicial subordinate staff for the Delhi High Court, official sources said on Sunday. Saxena cleared impediments restricting the DSSSB to recruit only for the Delhi government and its undertakings, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, New Delhi Municipal Council, they said. It was also desired by the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court that DSSSB, being a professional government recruiting body, may organise and conduct open examination on behalf of the Court for certain posts, claimed the sources.

Under fire from opposition parties over the law and order issue, the Punjab government on Sunday took various measures, including imposing a ban on songs promoting gun culture and violence and public display of firearms. The state government also ordered a review of arm licenses within the next three months, according to an official order. Direction were also issued for registration of an FIR against those who indulge in hate speech against any community, the order said. The AAP government has been facing flak from opposition parties for the alleged deteriorating law and order situation in the state. The state witnessed two major incidents — killing of Shiv Sena (Taksali) leader Sudhir Suri on November 4 and Dera Sacha Sauda follower Pardeep Singh on November 10.The state's Home department in a missive to police head, commissioners of police and senior superintendents of police said the chief minister had issued directions to take steps to maintain law and order in the state. According to the order, songs which glorify weapons and violence should be completely banned. There should be a complete ban on public display of weapons including on social media, the order said.

A complete ban should be imposed on carrying and displaying weapons at public gatherings, religious places, wedding ceremonies and other events, read the order issued on Sunday. The order further stated that there should be a review of arm licenses within three months and if any arm license is found issued to any wrong person, it should be cancelled immediately.

In the coming days, surprise checks should conducted at different places, the order said. 

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The 'local committees' formed to deal with taxpayers' grievances arising out of 'high-pitched' scrutiny assessments shall submit their report within about two months, the CBDT has reiterated in a public communication. A set of "revised" guidelines were issued by the Board in this context in April and these were applicable for cases being scrutinised under both the faceless and non-faceless assessment system. The local committees have been created in each region of the income tax department, that are headed by a principal chief commissioner rank officer (Pr. CCIT), and will comprise three officials of the I-T department in the rank of principal commissioner or commissioner.

A showdown between Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin isn't happening, but fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine and growing tensions between China and the West will be at the fore when leaders of the world's biggest economies gather in tropical Bali this week. The Group of 20 members begin talks on the Indonesian resort island Tuesday under the hopeful theme of “recover together, recover stronger.” While Putin is staying away, Biden will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and get to know new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Italy's Giorgia Meloni. The summit's official priorities of health, sustainable energy and digital transformation are likely to be overshadowed by fears of a sputtering global economy and geopolitical tensions centered on the war in Ukraine.

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday arrived in the resort town of Siem Reap in northwestern Cambodia where he will review the preservation and restoration work being undertaken by India at Cambodian heritage sites. Dhankhar, accompanied by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, is scheduled to visit Ta Prohm Temple and Angkor Wat Temple. Angkor Wat temple, built in the 12th century by King Suryavarman II , is the world’s largest religious structure and it marks the high point of Khmer architecture. Ta Prohm is one of the most visited complexes in Cambodia’s Angkor region.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat to arrive in Chhattisgarh for 4-day visit  Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat will arrive in Chhattisgarh on Sunday evening for a four-day visit during which he will unveil the statue of former BJP MP and Union minister late Dilip Singh Judev in the tribal-dominated Jashpur district, a Sangh functionary said.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday claimed Maharashtra's political atmosphere has become polluted where many people are out to "destroy" each other. Raut said he realised this again after coming out of jail on November 9. The Rajya Sabha member was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case on August 1 this year and granted bail by a court in Mumbai on November 9. On Sunday, he resumed his weekly column Rokhthok in 'Saamana', the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena faction's mouthpiece of which he is the executive editor.

Kargil native Taslima Naaz is currently undergoing a rigorous academic coaching in Kashmir as part of the Army's prestigious Super 50 programme, and the 18-year-old says she is determined to secure admission in a good medical college for an MBBS course before going back to her hometown. She is among the four girls from Ladakh Union Territory -- three from Kargil and one from Leh -- who have been chosen this year after a tough screening process under the educational programme of the Army that coaches 50 youths for the competitive NEET examination.

The Coast Guard has apprehended two Sri Lankan fishing boats with 11 crew onboard for fishing in Indian exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and escorted them to Kakinada for further investigation. The fishing boats from the neighbouring country were apprehended by ICGS Vigraha, about 175 nautical miles from Kalingapatnam, on November 10 and brought to the shore on Saturday for interrogation.

The demand for restoration of the old pension scheme (OPS) has emerged as a major poll plank in Gujarat with both the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party promising to implement it if voted to power in the state where the Assembly elections are scheduled next month. With this promise, the opposition parties aim to garner the support of lakhs of government employees who are up in arms against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government over the new pension scheme.

A 47-year-old man in Manipur's Imphal West district has converted barren land into a 300 acre forest with a wide variety of plant species in 20 years. Moirangthem Loiya, who hails from Uripok Khaidem Leikai area of the district, started planting trees on the outskirts of Imphal town in the Langol Hill range about 20 years ago.

In view of the availability of a sizeable defence industrial base, a startup ecosystem, and a considerable talent pool in southern states, a Regional Technology Node (RTN) of the Army Design Bureau (ADB) is being established in Bengaluru. RTN-B will be inaugurated at ASC Centre & College, Bengaluru, on November 14.

Union minister Jitendra Singh has said that Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district would be recognised as a role model in lavender farming owing to farmers cultivating the plant on a commercial scale there. Singh chaired the district development coordination and monitoring committee (DISHA) meeting on Saturday to review the progress of various centrally sponsored schemes (CSS) being implemented in Doda district.

Tripura may soon get a tea auction centre as the Tea Board of India is actively considering such a centre. Tripura Tea Development Corporation (TTDC), Chairman Santosh Saha said, "The Tea Board of India informed us that it was actively considering to set up a tea auction centre in Tripura. Now we need to build up a warehouse to support it". He said the auction centre could be set up at Dharmanagar, the headquarters of the North district, so that tea planters from neighbouring Karimganj and Cachar district of Assam also could sell their tea besides the planters from Tripura.

Former Maharashtra minister Jitendra Awhad, who was arrested two days back in a case of disrupting a show of Marathi film "Har Har Mahadev" at a theatre here, has said distorting history will give a wrong message to the future generation. Talking to reporters in Maharashtra's Thane city after being granted bail by a court here on Saturday, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader maintained that the movie distorted the history of Chhatrapati Shivaji Mahara. This has not only defamed the Maratha king but also the tarnished the state's image and it will not be tolerated, he said.

Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has emerged as the top performer among public sector lenders in terms of loan growth in percentage terms during second quarter of 2022-23. The Pune-headquartered lender recorded 28.62 per cent increase in gross advances at Rs 1,48,216 crore at the end of September 2022, according to published quarterly numbers of public sector banks (PSBs).

The construction of a mosque in Ayodhya, being built pursuant to the Supreme Court verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case, is expected to be completed by December next year, the trust entrusted with the task has said. "We hope to get approval to the map of the proposed mosque, hospital, community kitchen, library and research centre from the Ayodhya Development Authority by the end of this month. Soon after we will start the construction of the mosque," Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation Trust secretary Athar Hussain told media. 

The CPIML(L), a part of the ruling coalition in Bihar, demanded that the Nitish Kumar government enact a law raising the job reservations offered for different categories to 77 per cent, similar to a legislation passed in the Jharkhand assembly. In a statement, the party's state secretary Kunal on Saturday said that as the Jharkhand assembly on Friday passed a bill to raise the total reservation, the Bihar government should also bring a similar bill in the winter session.

Rahul Gandhi's ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra will establish the Congress MP as a serious politician and provide him heft to take on his formidable opponent BJP, but the cross-country march should have focused on specific issues to leave a lasting impact, according to political observers. The 3,570-km-long foot-march of the Congress, which started from Tamil Nadu on September 7, entered Maharashtra on November 7. The Gandhi-led yatra will reach almost halfway mark after entering Madhya Pradesh on November 20 in Burhanpur district.

Political strategist turned activist Prashant Kishor ruled out the possibility of contesting elections himself but reiterated his pledge to build a "better alternative" for his home state of Bihar. Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, he also lambasted JD(U) leaders for alleging that he was a "dhandhebaaz" (trader) with little political acumen, and challenged them to ask Chief Minister Nitish Kumar "why he had me put up at his residence for two years".

The Archaeological Survey of India will complete the work of illuminating Bibi Ka Maqbara, a 17th-century monument in Maharashtra's Aurangabad city, by the end of this year, an ASI official said on Sunday. One of the popular monuments in Aurangabad, the tomb receives a heavy footfall of tourists.

The BSF has been "bombarded" by the onslaught of drone flights from across the Pakistan border on the western front, and instances of the aerial vehicles bringing drugs, arms and ammunition more than doubled in 2022, the force's Director General Pankaj Kumar Singh has said. He said the force has recently established a state-of-the-art laboratory at a camp in Delhi to study drone forensics and the results have been very encouraging.

The family of an 18-month-old girl, who was declared brain dead at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences here, has donated her organs, offering fresh lease of life to two patients. Mahira, a native of Mewat in Haryana, had suffered a fall from the balcony of her house on November 6 and was rushed to AIIMS Trauma centre in an unconscious state with evidence of severe brain damage. "She was declared brain dead on November 11 morning," Professor of Neurosurgery at AIIMS, Dr Deepak Gupta told media. 

Army chief General Manoj Pande said that China do quite different from what it says, and thus India need to focus on Chinese actions rather than "what is there in their written texts or scripts or their articulation". The Army chief made the remarks while addressing the 'Chanakya Dialogues', organised by Delhi-based think-tank Chanakya Forum, at India International Centre here.

Hundreds of environmental activists on Saturday called on industrialised nations at the UN climate summit in Egypt to pay for the impact of global warming, the largest demonstration yet that came as German officials raised concerns about possible surveillance and intimidation of delegates and other conference attendees. Protests have mostly been muted at the conference, known as COP27, which is taking place in the seaside resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Activists blamed high cost of travel, accommodation and restrictions in the isolated city for limiting numbers of demonstrators.