QBullet: Sabarimala Gates to Open Today; Delhi Air Quality Worsens
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1. Sabarimala On the Boil as Temple Gates Open Today
A day before the opening of Kerala’s Sabarimala temple for monthly rituals, tension mounted over the entry of women of all ages into the hilltop shrine on Tuesday, 16 October, after key talks on the contentious issue collapsed and protesters threatened suicides and stopped vehicles to thwart women of menstruating ages from going on the pilgrimage.
Pinarayi Vijayan, chief minister of Kerala’s Left government, reiterated that his administration will not file any review petition against last month’s Supreme Court order that allowed women between 10 years and 50 years to enter Sabarimala in what has been hailed as a landmark verdict. He said no one will be allowed to stop devotees from visiting the temple in the Western Ghats.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. Drama at Hyatt Regency as Former MP’s Son Brandishes Pistol
High drama was witnessed at Hyatt Regency hotel on Saturday night (13 October) as the son of a former BSP Parliamentarian brandished a gun to threaten a man and a woman, following an argument inside the premises. The incident, captured on a phone camera by one of the accused’s companions, went viral on Tuesday, prompting the Minister of State for Home, Kiren Rijiju, to intervene.
Following a complaint by a staffer at the RK Puram hotel, Delhi Police issued a lookout circular against the accused Ashish Pandey (40), who hails from Lucknow and is the son of former BSP MP Rakesh Pandey. His brother, Ritesh, is a sitting Uttar Pradesh MLA from Ambedkar Nagar. The man he threatened, Kanwar Gaurav, is the son of ex-MLA Kanwar Karan Singh.
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. After Meeting With Amit Shah, 2 Goa Congress MLAs Quit to Join BJP
Two lawmakers from Goa quit the Congress on Tuesday, 16 October, in a major blow to the party, which is trying to cobble together numbers at a time when the political situation in the state is fluid because of the ill health of chief minister Manohar Parrikar.
The two MLAs, Dayanand Sopte and Subhash Shirodkar, sent their resignation letters to the state Congress leadership after a meeting in New Delhi with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. ‘You Opened the Door in Your Underwear,’ Another Ex-Colleague Speaks out Against MoS MJ Akbar
A day after Union minister MJ Akbar filed a criminal defamation complaint against journalist Priya Ramani over sexual harassment allegations, another former colleague of his on Tuesday, 16 October, came forward to make similar charges.
Writing in web portal Scroll, Tushita Patel, who was part of the team that started The Asian Age, headed by Akbar, spoke about three separate incidents, one in which he had greeted her in his underwear and twice when he had forcibly kissed her.
The number of women who have now made sexual harassment allegations, including assault, against the former editor is over ten.
(Source: The Indian Express)
5. Rahul Gandhi Taunts PM Modi Over MJ Akbar, Tells MP Voters ‘Beti Bachao From BJP Leaders’
Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ slogan, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday, 16 October, said that the slogan should be changed to “Beti Padhao, BJP ke netaonse, mantrionse, MLAs se beti bachao” (save the daughter from BJP leaders, ministers, and MLAs) in the wake of recent allegations of sexual harassment against BJP ministers.
Addressing a rally in Sheopur district of poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, the Congress president said, “Modiji ne bahot accha nara diya tha Beti Padhao Beti Bachao. Narendra Modi ke mantri par sawal uthaya jaata hai. Uttar Pradesh me BJP ka MLA balatkar karta hai rape karta hai. Pradhan Mantri ke muh se ek shabd nahi nikalta (Modiji had given a good slogan Beti Padhao Beti Bachao. Narendra Modi’s minister is questioned. A BJP MLA in Uttar Pradesh commits rape but the prime minister does not utter a word).”
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. Law Ministry Clears Scrapping Time Limit to Report Child Rape
The Ministry of Law and Justice has ratified the proposal of the Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry to remove the clause of age limit for reporting cases of child sexual abuse, WCD Minister Maneka Gandhi said.
The WCD Ministry had consulted the law ministry in view of the overriding provisions of the POCSO Act over other laws and provisions of mandatory reporting of such offences.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
7. India Frets as ‘Pro-China’ Oli Is Still to Appoint Envoy
Eight months after the KP Oli government took office in Kathmandu, Nepal is yet to send an ambassador to India. This is a matter of growing concern given that Nepal, despite all the recent troubles between the two countries, remains one of India’s closest partners.
The Nepal mission in New Delhi has been without an ambassador since October 2017, when Deep Kumar Upadhyay left to run for office. The mission is currently headed by deputy chief of mission Bharat Regmi.
(Source: The Times of India)
8. Delhi's Air Quality Nosedives Towards 'Very Poor' Category
Delhi's air quality nosedived towards ‘very poor’ category on Tuesday, 16 October, even as authorities put several key measures in place to combat air pollution. The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi was recorded at 293, just eight points below the ‘very poor’ category, according to the Centre-run System of Air Quality Forecasting And Research.
An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’ and that between 401 and 500 is categorised as ‘severe’.
(Source: PTI)
9. Apple Allows DND App, but Bars Call Logs
iPhone users can look forward to reporting spam messages and calls with ease as Apple’s new operating system iOS12 offers enabling provisions that allow third-party do-not-disturb (DND) apps to work on its handsets.
The Cupertino-headquartered company has, however, not allowed access to call records and message logs of an iPhone user to such apps that aim to block unsolicited commercial communication (UCC).
Trai had demanded targeted reporting of spam from Apple, especially after the telecom regulator’s in-house DND app had been given access to a customer’s call and message log by Google’s ubiquitous operating system Android.
(Source: The Times of India)
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