QBullet: Akbar Denies MeToo Allegations; Judge’s Wife, Son Shot At
Catch your morning news wrap for the day here.
1. Akbar Digs in Heels, Says Allegations ‘Fabricated’, Threatens Legal Action
Union Minister MJ Akbar, who has been accused by his former colleagues of sexual misconduct released his statement on Sunday, 14 October, in response to the allegations. The senior journalist-turned-minister, who returned to India Sunday morning, denied all accusations and said he will take legal action against the accusers.
“My lawyers will look into these wild and baseless allegations in order to decide our future course of legal action," said Union Minister MJ Akbar in response to the charges of sexual harassment.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. Gurugram Shooter Mentally Sound, Motive Still Unclear
A day after the wife of an additional sessions judge died and their son has been struggling for his life after being allegedly shot by their personal security officer (PSO), motive behind the shooting was still not completely clear, police said on Sunday, 14 October.
Meanwhile, the accused Mahipal Singh, 32, a head constable, who was arrested on Saturday evening was terminated from the police department and sent to police custody for four days by a city court on Sunday, Subhash Boken, spokesperson of Gurugram police.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. Parrikar Flown to Goa, Doctors to Treat CM at His Residence
Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar was shifted to his residence back in the state on Sunday afternoon,14 October, from New Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) after being treated at the hospital in the capital for almost a month.
Parrikar, who is being treated for a pancreatic ailment, was flown to his home state on board a special plane. He landed in Panaji at around 2.30pm and was shifted to a waiting ambulance to be moved to his private residence at Dona Paula amid tight security. A team of doctors from the Goa Medical College and Hospital has been put on standby to attend to the chief minister.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. #MeToo-Hit BCCI CEO Rahul Johri Asked to Skip ICC Meeting
BCCI CEO Rahul Johri, who was accused of sexual harassment on social media, will not be representing India at the upcoming International Cricket Council’s (ICC) chief executives’ meeting in Singapore.
The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) told Johri of the decision Sunday, and has now asked BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary to attend the two-day meeting. The ICC will discuss the possibility of including cricket at the Olympics and how to tighten various T20 and T10 leagues sanctioned in the future.
(Source: The Indian Express)
5. Actor Kate Sharma Files Police Complaint Against Subhash Ghai
Model and actor Kate Sharma has filed a police complaint against film director Subhash Ghai for sexually harassing her. Ghai is among many high-profile people of Bollywood who have been accused of sexual harassment.
Nana Patekar, Alok Nath, Vikas Bahl and Bhushan Kumar are some of the other people whose names have cropped up in the ongoing #MeToo campaign for misbehaving with women. Ghai has been accused anonymously on Twitter as well of raping a woman.
“We were friends, but he spoiled things between us… I never expected this thing from such a legend,” Kate Sharma told reporters on Saturday, 13 October.
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. Pollution Plan Kicks In, Gensets Banned in Delhi
The national capital’s emergency action plan to fight ‘very poor’ and ‘severe’ air pollution level will be rolled out from Monday, 15 October, starting with a ban on diesel generator (DG) sets in Delhi, at a time when the city has already encountered nine days of ‘poor’ air quality in the first two weeks of October.
This will be the second year of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), which was implemented in 2017.
“Measures listed under GRAP to fight ‘very poor’ and ‘severe’ categories of air pollution will be rolled out from 15 October. This will continue till March 2019,” said Sunita Narain, member of the Supreme Court-appointed panel Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA), which enforces GRAP.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
7. Lawsuit Against US Immigration Body Over Shorter H-1B Visas
Taken aback by recent policy changes introduced by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which have resulted in grant of H-1B visas for a few days or months as opposed to the typically requested three-year period, a US-based trade association has recently filed a lawsuit in a US district court. In some cases, the notices of approval were sent after the approved visa tenure had expired.
ITServe Alliance, which is a non-profit trade association of over a thousand companies in the IT service sector, in its lawsuit petition filed on 11 October, points out that US laws prescribe a three-year duration period for an H-1B visa, unless the sponsoring employer requests a lesser period of time.
(Source: The Times of India)
8. After Didi, Naidu Now Looks to Rally Opposition Parties Against BJP
After West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has also got down to working actively to consolidate Opposition unity by reaching out to most opposition parties including Congress, to ensure a formidable fight to oust the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.
Naidu, a later entry to the united Opposition front, joined it after relations soured with BJP and he quit the ruling NDA in March, 2018. Having bitterly fallen out Naidu has now decided to work overtime to strengthen the Opposition front against BJP, according to TDP sources close to him.
A seasoned politician, he has decided to put in his best efforts to play “kingmaker” rather than scramble for the throne for himself, as that could spoil the game, it is learnt. Also, with reduced seats after bifurcation of the state, even numbers don’t add up, sources said.
(Source: The Times of India)
9. 2019 Polls: Brijesh Goyal, Rajpal Solanki AAP In-Charge for West Delhi LS Seats
The AAP on Sunday, 15 October, announced that Brijesh Goyal and Rajpal Solanki will be in-charge of New Delhi and West Delhi parliamentary constituencies in the national capital for 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
The announcement halted conjecture that rebel BJP leaders Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha will be Aam Aadmi Party candidates on the two seats. Making the announcement, Delhi AAP convener Gopal Rai said there were talks with Yashwant Sinha for him to contest from New Delhi seat but he has expressed willingness to campaign against the Modi government across the country.
(Source: PTI)
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