Kerala House beef row: Hindu Sena leader Vishnu Gupta arrested by Delhi Police

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October 28, 2015

Hindu Sena leader Vishnu Gupta has been arrested by Delhi Police.

He has been arrested for allegedly making false complaint on beef being served at Kerala House in the national capital.

Earlier, he had been detained by Delhi police.

Meanwhile, the row over Delhi police ‘raid’ at Kerala House on a complaint its canteen served ‘beef’ persisted today with the state government threatening legal action if the Centre does not admit that it was a “mistake” even as buffalo meat was back on the menu.

Maintaining that the Delhi police action on Monday has affected Centre-State relations, the Kerala Cabinet at its meeting today discussed the matter and decided to take legal course if the Centre also stuck to the explanation given by Delhi police that “they only did their duty and carried out an inspection in accordance with law”.

“The raid conducted without the permission of state officials at the state-run official guest house crossed all limits of propriety, violated law and also affected Centre-State relations,” said Chief Minister Oommen Chandy after the meeting in Thiruvananthapuram.

Scrap reservation, merit should be basis of higher education: SC to government

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Afternoon Voice

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October 28, 2015

The Supreme Court on Tuesday observed that national interest requires scrapping all forms of reservation in institutions of higher education, and appealed to the Centre to take objective steps in this regard.

A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and PC Pant noted that the central and state governments have not made merit the primary criteria for admissions into super-specialty courses despite several reminders. The ground reality remains that reservation often holds sway over merit.

“The fond hope has remained in the sphere of hope… The said privilege remains unchanged, as if (it is) to compete with eternity,” the bench said.

The SC made these observations while ruling on petitions challenging the eligibility criteria for admissions into certain super-specialty medical courses in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. As per the criteria, candidates having domicile in three states can only appear for the examination.

The bench also recalled two judgments in 1988 in which the top court had said “there should really be no reservation”.

“We hope and trust that the Government of India and the state governments shall seriously consider this aspect of the matter without delay and appropriate guidelines shall be evolved…” these judgments stated.

The two-judge bench said they had the same messages to give after 27 years, reported the daily.

Over 53% voting registered in the high-stake third phase of Bihar Assembly elections

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Afternoon Voice

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October 28, 2015

The third phase of Bihar elections witnessed 53.32 per cent voting on Wednesday with highest being from Buxar at 56.58 per cent. The polling took place for 50 seats in the high-stake third phase, which has Rashtriya Janat Dal president Lalu Prasad’s two sons as candidates.

By the end of the voting time, Saran recorded 52.50% polling, Vaishali – 54.82%, Nalanda – 54.11%, Patna – 51.82%, Bhojpur – 53.33% and Buxar – 56.58%.

Voting started at scheduled 7 AM in 14,170 polling stations and ended at 4 PM in 10 constituencies due to security reasons and at 5 PM in the rest 40 constituencies, Additional Chief Electoral Officer R Lakshamanan said.

A total of 808 candidates were in the fray, out of which 71 were female.

The two sons of Lalu Prasad, Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejaswi Yadav, contested from Mahua and Raghopur seats respectively.

The former chief minister’s political turf Saran, which has 10 Assembly seats, and the seven-seat Nalanda, home district of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, were covered in the third phase.

Of the total 14,170 polling stations, 6,747 were declared as critical and 1,909 as Left Wing Extremist hit polling stations.

All the booths were manned by central forces and live webcasting was done from 716 polling stations.

Infuse young blood in Team India

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Afternoon Voice

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October 28, 2015

Cricket is a team game where performance counts very much. Team India’s survival in International Cricket without significant show in the last 5 years, was totally exposed at the Wankhede Stadium. The main drawback with the team is that the players are very much complacent but at the same time they are not confident enough to face challenge. South Africa chased tall score like the one at Mumbai and succeeded. But Team India is not able to face such ticklish situation and that too in a final game. The odds were against Team India as they could not achieve anything notable for the last four years and the recent T-20 defeats showed where the weakness lies. Fortunately for us the third T-20 match was washed out or else we would have faced a clean sweep. The team failed abroad repeatedly and now the trend continues at home as well. The path to glory should be achieved by all the team members. In Indian cricket we come across individual show and not a combined effort to accomplish such a huge target. Team is in total confusion to bat first or field first after winning the toss.

Opening partnerships count very much and that start is the fulcrum round which the team revolves round. We talk high about Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan but they were utter failures when it really mattered. The same can be said about Dhoni and his vice-captain Virat Kohli. All the four were no match for JP Duminy, Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers. There were failures in South African side as well with both Hashim Amla and David Miller could not click at the highest level. Their failures were well covered up by other members of the side including the captain. Whereas Team India could not stand up to pace and lost early wickets and could not steady the boat thereafter with superlative show. The tail could not wag as we were having passengers in that order who are neither considered a front line bowler nor considered as an useful batsman late in the order. As a result of this our middle order is exposed and the tail could not wag to add 20 – 30 runs to make of match of it in the end. Failure of Suresh Raina was talking point for some time but the selectors showed their deaf years in his case. Overall, there is no one to shoulder responsibility and take the team at the time of adverse circumstances.

Least said about the bowling is better. Just beating the bat is not clever bowling strategy. The bowlers should be able to penetrate and give the side an early breakthrough or break a partnership when the going is good for the opposition. The team needs a bowling all-rounder, who can shoulder the responsibility of bowling single handedly and make sure of taking vital wickets at crucial time of the match. Instead our bowlers bowl negative line and find the way difficult to curtail an onslaught when the ball is hit all over the place. A bowler should face the challenge and not back out at the time of crisis. Despite having MRF Pace Foundation and National Cricket Academy (NCA), we are not able to produce genuinely quick bowlers and quality all-rounders and the responsibility wrest with utility players, who could not perform in a big way to fashion a win. The crux of the problem is the weak bowling line up. To back our bowlers, the fielding should be razor sharp. The dropping of catches in a final game cost very much. Infusing young blood is the only solution to overcome this perennial problem. It is a wake-up call for Team India before the T-20 WC.

C.K. Subramaniam

Halle Berry, husband file for divorce

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Afternoon Voice

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October 28, 2015

Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez have officially filed for divorce after two years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences.

Both have listed their date of separation as Monday, according to court paperwork obtained, reported People magazine.

The couple announced their divorce publicly on Tuesday, saying in a joint statement, “We move forward with love and respect for one another and the shared focus of what is best for our son.”

The split was in part caused by disagreements over their living situation, according to sources.

Berry, 49, had planned to raise her two children (she has a daughter, Nahla, from another relationship) in Europe, but was never able to make the move because of ongoing custody issues with Nahla’s father, Gabriel Aubry.

Meanwhile, Martinez “never loved living in LA full time,” according to a source. “(He) just isn’t happy in LA.”

While Berry asks for no spousal support for either party, and for the costs of raising their child to be shared as per terms of their prenup, Martinez asks for issues of spousal support to be sorted out at a later date.

The “Die Another Day” actress states that all of her earnings and assets are her property per their pre-nup.

Both are seeking joint custody of their two-year-old son, Maceo-Robert, but Berry’s filing has an attached form about visitation, saying they will “share custody as is in the best interest of the child” but that Martinez should provide transportation to and from visits and need permission to take Maceo out of California.

The 49-year-old French actor is represented by Hollywood divorce guru Laura Wasser, who has previously handled divorce cases for the likes of Kim Kardashian, Heidi Klum, Ryan Reynolds, and many more.

Kimberly Wyatt saw psychiatrist for depression

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Afternoon Voice

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October 28, 2015

American singer Kimberly Wyatt says she was forced to see a psychiatrist and put on a strong dose of medication for her battle with depression when she was 14-years-old.

The 33-year-old was emotionally unstable throughout her teenage years and was referred to a medical professional to help beat her demons.
“When I was 14, I went through quite bad depression and saw a psychiatrist. She used games and workbooks to get into my head as I wouldn’t talk to her,” Wyatt told.

Wyatt was diagnosed with social anxiety and put on a strong dose of medication to treat her mental condition but found dancing was her best form of escapism.

She added: “She diagnosed social anxiety and put me on medication called Paxil. I hated it and only took it for a month. It made me feel numb. Instead, I did more dancing, which helped.”

Emraan Hashmi-Esha Gupta team up again for a music video

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Afternoon Voice

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October 28, 2015

Actor Emraan Hashmi will soon be seen pairing up with his ‘Jannat 2’ co-star Esha Gupta in Bhushan Kumar’s next music video ‘Main Rahoon Ya Na Rahoon’.

The soft, romantic track has been sung and composed by Amaal Mallik, who shot to fame with the song ‘Naina’ from Fawad Khan-starrer ‘Khoobsurat’.

The song, penned by Rashmi Virag, is being shot in Goa and directed by Amit Sharma, who helmed Arjun Kapoor-starrer ‘Tevar’.

“I was offered this song two and a half months ago while I was shooting for ‘Azhar’. But I only listened to it last month and immediately fell in love with it. Its a beautiful song that celebrates love,” Hashmi said in a statement.

The 36-year-old ‘Murder’ actor began shooting for the song yesterday and is expected to wrap it up in the next three days.

“We’ve shot at the Chapora Fort (a tourist spot in Goa that rose to fame after being featured in ‘Dil Chahta Hai’) and in Panaji…”

Hashmi reunites with his ‘Raaz 3’ co-star after two-and-a half-years and said Esha has “grown as an actor” and it is “fantastic to work” with her again.

Bhushan Kumar, who got a successful response for his previous singles ‘Zindagi Aa Raha Hoon Main’ and ‘Chal Wahan Jaate Hain’ with Tiger Shroff, and the recent hit ‘Dheere Dheere’ starring Hrithik Roshan and Sonam Kapoor, is keen on getting the era of singles in the Indian music industry.

The song promises to take listeners through a ride of different emotions like love, friendship, nostalgia, craziness, yearning and heart break.

Kriti Sanon goes green in Rohit Shetty style!

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Afternoon Voice

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October 28, 2015

She made her impressive debut in ‘Heropanti’ lasy year opposite star kid Tiger Shroff. Model-turned-actress Kriti Sanon is slowly making her presence felt on the big screens by carefully choosing her projects.

After ‘Heropanti’ Kriti will be seen in Rohit Shetty’s big budget ‘Dilwale’ which stars Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Varun Dhawan in the lead. ‘Dilwale’ releases on December 18, 2015.

Anushka Sharma denies marriage rumours with Virat Kohli

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Afternoon Voice

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October 28, 2015

Dil Dhadakne Do actress Anushka Sharma has refuted rumours that she is tying the knot with cricketer boyfriend Virat Kohli.

Anushka, 27, opened about her relationship with Virat last December and since then they have been facing marriage rumours.

The latest grapevine suggested that the 26-year-old cricketer was planning to move in with the actress in Mumbai.

“There is no truth to the stories/rumours about Anushka Sharma’s impending wedding. Currently she is busy and happy with her work commitments,” read a statement on the behalf of Anushka.

“She has always been open about her life and would appreciate it and request everyone to wait for her to make announcements about her life instead of speculating,” the statement added.

Earlier, Anushka reportedly dated actor Ranveer Singh, with whom she worked on “Band Baaja Baaraat”, “Ladies vs Ricky Bahl” and this year’s release “Dil Dhadakne Do”.

Chhota Rajan suffering from kidney ailment?

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Afternoon Voice

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October 27, 2015

The Indian Intelligence agencies revealed that Rajan’s health has deteriorated which makes him weak to travel from one destination to the other.

Underworld don Chhota Rajan who was arrested in Bali by Indonesia police was not keeping well since a long time and is suffering from serious kidney ailment. Highly placed sources from the Indian Intelligence agencies revealed that Rajan’s health has deteriorated which makes him weak to travel from one destination to the other. The Indian government is trying to nab gangster Dawood Ibrahim after Rajan’s arrest. Rajan’s gang has been keeping an eye on the movement of Dawood Ibrahim. The current regime is hoping to get crucial evidence on global terrorist Dawood and his activities through ailing Rajan who is struggling to escape from his rival gangs.

Notably, in September 2000, Dawood’s men led by Chhota Shakeel tracked down Chhota Rajan to a hotel room in Bangkok. Posing as pizza delivery boys, they opened fire at him. A stunned Chhota Rajan jumped out of the hotel’s first floor room and escaped but was seriously injured in the fall, breaking his back. But he survived and slipped out of Thailand.

Rajan was a key aide of Dawood but he parted ways with latter after the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts. Differences between the both had arisen after Dawood henchman Subhash Thakur killed three Chhota Rajan groupies. After the bomb blasts even the Mumbai underworld was divided on religious lines as Chhota Rajan positioned himself as a Hindu gangster. To demonstrate his claims of being a Hindu don, Rajan threatened to kill those accused of engineering the Bombay bomb blasts.

Few months back, there were reports of Rajan kidney’s failing and him being rushed to a coastal hospital and also reportedly going through a transplant which failed. As per reports, Rajan is constantly going through kidney dialysis and therefore the gangster has purchased an expensive miniature dialysis device which is belted across his stomach throughout his long distance travels.

“Rajan is definitely not fit and has a lot of health complications, he has also gone under knife several times post the attack on him in Bangkok in 2000. One of the six bullets had brushed his vital organs too resulting to a transplant too,” confirms a source from the Intelligence agency.

Even as these reports have been doing the rounds, there is one theory that the arrest may have been stage-managed by Rajan himself as he wanted to return to India due to his ill health and feared being killed by rival Chhota Shakeel.

“By December 2014, Rajan virtually had no members in his gang. He was in touch with some people from Uttar Pradesh and other states to get men for any job temporarily. He was finished as a ganglord,” said an official who had been tracking Rajan’s movements.

The Intelligence Bureau and particularly the Research Analysis Wing (RAW), have in the past used Rajan against Dawood.

Born into a Marathi family in Mumbai, Rajan Nikalaje grew up in the lower middle class locality of Tilaknagar in Chembur, a suburb in central Mumbai. It is alleged that selective police action against the Dawood gangsters during the Shiv Sena regime and their elimination in encounters helped strengthen Rajan’s position, just as Dawood himself had benefitted in the 1980s.