Janata Dal (United) on Saturday made a scathing attack on the Centre for not disclosing information about black money and said the election campaign on the issue by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was based on false promises. “Before elections, BJP on top of its voice made promises that it will bring back black money in the country…what to talk about return of the black money now they are not even disclosing names of account holders,” senior JD(U) leader and former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said in a facebook post.
Kumar’s snide remark followed the Union Government telling the Supreme Court on Friday that not all information about black money received from foreign nations could be made public. Taking a jibe, Kumar said “If black money issue was a ‘Yogasan’ (yoga exercise) of Swami Ramdev? Was it an empty speech of Narendra Modi or thousands of crore worth ‘staple’ of BJP.” “Whether it was an empty promise to get votes or ‘sirsasan’ (upsidedown yoga exercise) of Modi government which has gone back on its promises?” he said. “Sari batein…jhoot ke dam par sasahan (all talks…coming to power on the basis of falsehood),” Kumar said.

Three people were arrested Friday in connection with an attack here on two youths from Nagaland, police said.
Aloto Chishi alias Sukoy and Awana alias James, working in a call centre here, were injured when they were attacked Wednesday night in Sikanderpur area here near the Mehrauli border.
“Police arrested Gaurav Yadav alias Pony, 23, and his two tenants Ram Bihari and Vijay Kumar for attempt to murder,” Nazneen Bhasin, deputy commissioner of police (east), told reporters.
Bhasin, who is also chief nodal officer for crime against people from northeast region, said the victims live as tenants in the home of Yadav’s cousin.
“Nagaland youths Wednesday night had scuffle over some issue with Yadav but they reached a settlement. Gaurav invited Sukoy and James to have drinks in the room of his tenant.
“The youths were attacked when they refused to have more drinks and were held hostage for whole night,” she said.
Ram Bihari hails from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh while Vijay Kumar is from Nadia district in West Bengal, the officer said. Both are in their 20s.
The arrested people were Friday presented in a court, which sent them to judicial custody.
The Naga youths – in the age group of 22 to 25 years – were admitted to a state-run hospital here. James was later shifted to a hospital in Delhi as his condition was stated to be critical.

Bangalore, Oct 18:
It’s a festive mood at the residence of J Jayalalitha in Poes Garden.
Unmindful of the heavy downpour, thousands of AIADMK cadres have been waiting patiently since morning to see their leader Jayalalithaa, who is on her way from Bangalore after being released from the jail there.
The crowd seems to be increasing in number steadily since afternoon even as Jayalalithaa is expected to arrive at her residence at around 7 p.m., party workers gathered outside her residence said.
D Ramesh, a party functionary from Royapuram, said “I don’t want to leave this place without seeing her.”
A large number of women too have gathered at Poes Garden since morning on the hope that their leader will say a few words – usually from the balcony on major occasions.
Sources said that Jayalalithaa is expected to arrive in Chennai by a charter flight shortly and likely to head directly to her Poes Garden residence. It is, however, not clear whether she will visit the party headquarters, where supporters have been celebrating since morning.
It is also learnt that a human chain is likely to be formed by her right from the Chennai airport till her residence.
PTI reports:
AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa was today released from jail here after 21 days, a day after Supreme Court granted her bail in an 18-year-old disproportionate assets case.
Jayalalithaa stepped out of Parappana Agrahara Central Prison shortly after Special Court Judge John Michael D’ Cunha issued the release order.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Pannerselvam, several ministers, MPs and legislators received her near the prison after which she headed to HAL airport to fly back to Chennai by a special flight.
Jayalalithaa had yesterday got a major relief when the Supreme Court granted her conditional bail and suspended the sentence of four years simple imprisonment given by the trial court in Bangalore in the 18-year-old illegal assets case.
Earlier, the release order by the Special Court came after a bond for Rs. two crore and surety on assets for more than Rs. one crore was furnished for Jayalalitha. Copy of the Supreme Court order was also produced by her lawyers.
Jayalalithaa’s close aide Sasikala and her relatives Sudhakaran and Elavarasi, who also fufilled similar conditions, also walked out of jail.
AIADMK supporters carrying Jayalalithaa’s photos and holding flowers broke into celebrations as her motorcade passed through the heavily guarded route from the prison.
Hundreds of policemen, including city armed reserve, were posted in and around the prison, with authorities clamping prohibitory orders anticipating huge flow of AIADMK supporters.
With the AIADMK chief enjoying ‘Z’ Plus category, police had stepped up security supervised by senior officials and barricaded the areas in and around the prison complex and blocked access one km away on the road leading to the prison.
Pannerselvam and his entourage had reached Bangalore in the morning.
At the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border point on Hosur also, police and city armed reserve kept a close vigil and regulated the movement of vehicles from the neighbouring state into the city. The jail is located about 20 km from the Hosur point.
Groups of AIADMK supporters had gathered at Hosur entry point chanting slogans hailing their leader.
Jayalalithaa and three others had moved the Supreme Court after failing to get relief from the Karnataka High Court.

Hong Kong chief secretary Carrie Lam said talks with student protesters will take place on Tuesday afternoon (Oct 21), and that discussions will be focused on constitutional reform

HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s embattled government said it will open talks with student protesters on Tuesday (Oct 21), after three nights of clashes between police and demonstrators who have staged huge pro-democracy rallies for nearly three weeks.

The city’s leader Leung Chun-ying made a dramatic U-turn on Thursday as he announced a resumption of talks with the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS), one of the groups leading the protests, after abruptly pulling out of discussions a week earlier.

“Right now we are planning that it will take place on the afternoon of Tuesday, October 21,” Leung’s deputy Carrie Lam told reporters on Saturday (Oct 18). Lam said the talks would be focused on constitutional reform.

There was no immediate response from protesters, who have held sit-ins at three major intersections causing significant disruption to a city usually known for its stability.

Demonstrators are calling for Beijing to grant the former British colony full democracy and for Leung to resign. Beijing insists that candidates for the 2017 vote must be vetted by a loyalist committee – and Leung warned that China’s Communist authorities have no intention of backing down.

Violent clashes took place late Friday night where police used batons and pepper spray against protesters shielding themselves with umbrellas on a normally busy road in the Mongkok region of the city.

According to a survey done by Real News of India the exit poll results of Maharashtra Assembly elections is as follows.

Army Chief tells commanders to assess security situation

Army Chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag on Saturday asked his commanders to “continuously assess” the situation in view of the security transition taking place in the neighbourhood and directed them to maintain relentless pressure on terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir to ensure peaceful polls. In his address on culmination of the Army Commanders Conference here, Gen Singh also expressed satisfaction over the situation in North East and stressed upon all stakeholders to be made a part of the conflict resolution mechanism.

While addressing the external security concerns, he asked the commanders to continuously assess the situation in the sub-continent with respect to the force and security transition taking place and its concomitant effect on the nation’s security, Army sources said. His remarks came in the backdrop of NATO forces starting the process of withdrawing from war-torn Afghanistan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while on a visit to the US in September, had cautioned the American government against hasty withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan, citing the mistakes committed while pulling out from Iraq.

On the internal security plane, the Army chief stressed on the need to maintain relentless pressure in Jammu and Kashmir so that terrorists could not carry out any meaningful operations to interrupt the forthcoming elections. He also expressed satisfaction on the situation in North East and stressed upon all stakeholders to be made a part of the conflict resolution mechanism.

Gen Singh praised the Northern and Western commands for their exemplary response to the floods in Jammu and Kashmir which saw spontaneous mobilisation of Army resources, both manpower and equipment, without waiting for any formal requisition. He lauded the selfless commitment of Indian soldiers, who never once turned back to look at their posts and families that had suffered equally in the floods, the sources said. The Army should not forget that the human dimension would always remain the biggest battle winning factor, he said, adding the focus must remain on training, equipping and character development of the soldier.

On the issue of modernisation, the Army chief said the force had the support of Defence Minister Arun Jaitley and commitment of the Ministry of Defence towards fulfilling the Army’s requirements. He also exhorted all to streamline and refine in house procedures aimed at preserving and enhancing the life of all service equipment. Gen Singh expressed hope that the measures being planned to address the issue of shortage in officer cadre would fructify at the earliest.

He also voiced concern over isolated issues of unethical behaviour and directed zero tolerance towards them. The Chief of Army Staff asked all to stay committed towards welfare of the veterans, who were the “bedrock of the Army” and applauded the recent initiatives including the functioning of Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme. The Army Chief stressed that the “Indian Army must remain the pride of the nation”

Badrinath: Taking forward Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative to rid the country of litter and rubbish, Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani ojn Saturday cleaned the Badrinath and Kedarnath temple premises and area around it to spread the message of ‘Swachh Bharat’.

After cleaning the Badrinath temple, Ambani said, “Today, I am here for two important reasons. First, to take the blessings of Badrinath ji and Kedarnath ji and second important reason that I would like to share with you is, we do not keep our temples and places around it as clean as they should be. So let us all take this responsibility from today, to keep our religious places clean.”

Ambani, who was among the nine celebrities named by Modi to carry the Swachh Bharat campaign forward, was accompanied by his wife Tina.

Other celebrities named by Modi included cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar and film stars Salman Khan and Priyanka Chopra, yoga guru Ramdev and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor.

“At this very religious place, I would like to take this pledge in the name of Badrinath and Kedarnath, lets make each and every temple and place of worship clean in order to accomplish the Swachh Bharat Mission,” Ambani added.

He said that Swachh Bharat Mission can only be successful if all of us work towards it together.

Ambani had last week, along with his friends, cleaned the area outside Churchgate Station in Mumbai and in turn had invited nine other prominent personalities, including Asian Games gold medallist boxer Mary Kom, legendary film star Amitabh Bachchan and tennis star Sania Mirza to take the Swachh Bharat campaign forward.

Others named by Ambani include columnist Shobha De, leading journalist Shekhar Gupta, lyricist Prasoon Joshi, Bollywood superhero Hrithik Roshan, Telugu superstar Nagarjuna and Runners Clubs of India.

Applauding the initiative, Modi had tweeted, “Wonderful effort by Shri Anil Ambani, who cleaned the area around Churchgate Station in Mumbai along with his friends. #MyCleanIndia.”

Modi had used Gandhi Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, to start the cleanliness drive and ordered ministers to sweep areas clean.

“I have invited nine people and asked them to come to public places and work towards a Clean India. I ask them to invite nine more people too… I am sure these nine people will do the work and each will invite nine more people to form a chain and clean the country,” Modi had said then.