QBullet: 8% Turnout in J&K Local Polls; Guj Govt Appeals for Calm
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1. J&K Local Polls: Just 8% Turnout in Valley, Nearly 70% in Jammu
The first phase of the local body polls in J&K, being held after a gap of over a decade, witnessed a poor turnout across the Valley where most of the polling booths remained deserted Monday, 8 October, with only Kupwara recording a relatively higher voter interest.
According to officials, the official overall voting percentage in the Valley was 8.2 percent. The overall percentage for the Kashmir division, including Ladakh, was 18.6 percent.
The polls were held in eight districts of the Kashmir division, including Leh and Kargil — 11 municipal committees, a municipal council — and three wards of Srinagar. Of the 149 wards that went to polls in the Valley, there was no voting in 92 wards. In 69 wards, candidates were elected unopposed.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. Migrants’ Exodus: Gujarat, Bihar CMs Appeal for Calm, Extra Forces Out
The issue of attacks on migrant labourers in parts of Gujarat took a political turn on Monday with the Opposition Congress accusing the ruling BJP government of supporting the attackers.
Amid reports of migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar continuing to flee to their native places, the administration launched confidence-building measures. Flag marches by police and community meetings in affected pockets of Ahmedabad city and parts of Gandhinagar, Mehsana and Sabarkantha districts in north Gujarat were also organised.
Government officials said the police have been told to hold mohalla meetings and the district collectors instructed to involve locals in the confidence-building measures.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. AIB Ends Association With Tanmay Bhat, Sends Gursimran Khamba on Leave
A week after Mumbai-based comedy collective AIB cut all ties with writer-comedian Utsav Chakraborty following allegations of sexual harassment and drew sharp criticism for failing to take action despite complaints, AIB announced Monday that founding member and CEO Tanmay Bhat will be “stepping away” as his role in the controversy could not be “overlooked”.
Another founding member of AIB, Gursimran Khamba, who has also been accused of sexual misconduct, has been asked to go on temporary leave.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. Petitions Filed Against SC’s Sabarimala Order
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday reiterated that his government would not file a review petition in the Supreme Court against its verdict allowing women of all ages to worship at the Sabarimala temple and accused the Congress and the BJP of doublespeak on the controversy.
His response came after several Hindu organisations in Kerala moved the Supreme Court on Monday with review petitions against its earlier verdict. He also blamed the RSS for fishing in troubled water.
“RSS is trying to create a law and order situation in the state taking advantage of this verdict. Government is bound to implement the Supreme Court verdict,” Vijayan told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. MeToo Finger at Union Minister
The MeToo movement rippling across several newsrooms in India has reached the Narendra Modi government with a journalist naming former editor and junior external affairs minister MJ Akbar.
“I began this piece with my MJ Akbar story. Never named him because he didn’t ‘do’ anything,” journalist Priya Ramani tweeted, referring to an article she wrote for the Vogue magazine in 2017.
The Vogue article was an open letter to “Dear Male Boss” that referred to a purported job interview in a hotel room in Mumbai that appeared to have taken place in 1994 as the age of the “Boss” then was put at 43.
The account said “I escaped that night, you hired me, I worked for you for many months even though I swore I would never be in a room alone with you again”.
(Source: Telegraph India)
6. BrahMos Aerospace Engineer Arrested for Allegedly Leaking Information to Pakistan
An engineer working at the BrahMos Missile Research Centre in Nagpur was arrested on Monday, 8 October, on charges of spying for Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI and other countries. Nishant Agrawal, the arrested scientist, is suspected to have leaked information about India’s Brahmos missile, police said.
Agrawal, 28, was arrested in a joint operation by the Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squads (ATS) in Ujjal Nagar on Monday. His home and the Brahmos Aerospace office in Dongargaon, 40 km south of Nagpur, were searched.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
7. Gurgaon: Woman Dead in Fire at Condominium
It was less than six months ago that 33-year-old Swati and her husband Girish moved to a three-bedroom apartment in Tulip Orange, a gated condominium in Gurgaon’s Sector 70. After living in Sector 4 for 10 years, the couple wanted to move to a “better area” for their four-year-old daughter Anjali.
“We felt good schools would be closer, and there would be more children around for her to make friends,” said Girish, who hails from Madhya Pradesh and works at a multinational corporation. “Things had been looking up. Swati had only recently joined a private company as an interior designer.”
Their dreams were shattered on Sunday night (7 October) when a fire broke out in tower B6 of Tulip Orange, where they lived on the fifth floor. As the family tried to escape, Swati died of suffocation.
(Source: The Indian Express)
8. India to Keep Buying Iran Oil Even After US Curbs Kick In Next Month
India looks set to continue buying oil from Iran even after the sectoral sanction imposed by the US administration kicks in on 4 November, even as there is no clarity on whether New Delhi will get a waiver from Washington.
An indication of India’s intent came from oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday, 8 October, who said two state refiners have placed orders for importing oil from Iran in November.
“Two of our oil companies have made nominations to purchase Iranian oil in November,” he said at an industry function. “We do not know if we will get waiver (from US sanctions) or not.”
(Source: The Times of India)
9. After Argument Over Rs 80, 4 Boys Stab Auto Driver to Death
Four juvenile passengers stabbed a 26-year-old auto driver to death on Kasturba Gandhi Marg, near Connaught Place, late on Sunday, 7 October, after the driver asked them to pay Rs 20 extra per head as night charge – a total of Rs 80.
The boys were heading to CP from Khanpur but got into an argument with the driver on the way over the extra charge, police said. One of them allegedly whipped out a button knife and stabbed the driver, identified as Jahangir Alam, in the chest at KG Marg. All four have been arrested.
(Source: The Times of India)
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