Mumbai Bollywood actor Alok Nath, who is alleged to have sexually harassed writer-producer Vinta Nanda 19 years ago, was on Tuesday expelled by the Cine And Television Artistes Association (CINTAA).

The association wrote on Twitter, “In view of the various allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct against Alok Nath, after due diligence and consideration, the Executive Committee of CINTAA has decided to expel him from the Association.”

As the #MeToo Movement gained momentum, with women coming out with their horror stories vis-a-vis sexual harassment at workplace, Nanda shared her account of harassment by Alok Nath who was acting in the television show ‘Tara’ in which she was a producer and writer.

After sharing her experience of harassment on social media, she filed a case against Alok Nath at the Oshiwara police station.

Since both Nanda and Alok Nath were members of CINTAA, the association sent a letter to the accused seeking an explanation on the allegation.

The association had condemned the act of sexual harassment in October. Ashok Pandit, one of the members of CINTAA, had told IANS: “When the victim is complaining to us, we as the member of the federation will have to take a stand and we will do that.”

(IANS)

Kolkata Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi on Tuesday urged the party’s West Bengal unit to work on strengthening its infrastructure to fight the 2019 General Elections on its own instead of looking for alliances with other political forces.

Terming the activities of West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress as “undemocratic”, Gogoi, who held a meeting on poll strategies with senior state Congress leaders here, said the party workers may oppose an alliance with Trinamool in the coming elections.

“Gogoi has asked us to make the party stand firmly on its own feet in the state,” a state Congress leader said on the condition of anonymity.

“He said the way Trinamool is trying to undemocratically destroy Congress in Bengal, it is natural for the party workers to oppose any coalition with the Trinamool. He has also asked the party to conduct protest demonstrations wherever the Congress activists are attacked or heckled by the state ruling party,” he added.

State Congress president Somen Mitra claimed that no other party has the guts to fight against the atrocities of the Trinamool government in Bengal or the BJP-led NDA at the Centre apart from Congress, and announced the party would hold a meeting against the policies of the state and centre on December 12.

“We have called a meeting on December 12 in Kolkata’s Rani Rashmani Road against the atrocities and corruption of the state and central governments. We would be able to assess our party’s strength by seeing the turnout in that meeting,” Mitra told reporters after the first meeting of the state Congress office bearers following the recent reformation in party’s state unit.

Accepting that the party has gone weak in the state for the last few years, he said the Congress support base in Bengal is currently inadequate to hold big rallies in Kolkata’s iconic Brigade Parade Ground like the Trinamool Congress or CPI-M.

Other senior state party leaders including leader of opposition Abdul Mannan, party MP Mausam Benazir Noor and Deepa Dasmunsi also attended the meeting.

(IANS)

Flipkart Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Binny Bansal resigned on Tuesday over an alleged ‘serious personal misconduct’, the company said.

“Bansal’s decision to quit came after an independent investigation done on behalf of Flipkart and Walmart into an allegation of serious personal misconduct,” the city-based e-commerce and its parent American retail giant Walmart said in a joint statement here.

Bansal, however, denied the allegation, the statement said.

“He (Bansal) denies the allegation. Nevertheless, we (Flipkart and Walmart) had a responsibility to ensure the investigation was deliberate and thorough,” the companies said.

The investigation also revealed lapses in Bansal’s judgement, the statement added.

“While the investigation did not find evidence to corroborate the complainant’s assertions against Binny, it did reveal other lapses in the judgement, particularly lack of transparency related to how Binny responded to the situation. Because of this, we have accepted his decision to resign,” the statement said.

“Binny has been an important part of Flipkart since co-founding the company, but recent events risked becoming a distraction and Binny has made a decision to step down,” said the statement.

With Bansal quitting, the group said it had accelerated the succession plan.

Going forward, Kalyan Krishnamurthy will continue to be the CEO of e-tailer Flipkart, which will include online fashion portals Myntra and Jabong, though they would operate separately.

As the country’s largest e-commerce player, the 11-year-old Flipkart Group includes e-tail sites Flipkart, Myntra, Jabong and digital payment platform PhonePe.

Though Binny and Sachin Bansal co-founded Flipkart in 2007, the latter left the company in May when Walmart bought a 77 per cent equity stake in the company for a whopping $16 billion (Rs 1,16,256 crore).

(IANS)

Hyderabad The first list of candidates announced by the Congress in Telangana for next month’s Assembly elections triggered discontent in the party, with those denied ticket threatening to enter the fray as rebels.

The main opposition party late on Monday announced 65 candidates for the December 7 elections to the 119-member Assembly. The Congress, which is heading a four-party opposition alliance, has agreed to leave 24 seats for its three allies.

Followers of some aspirants, whose names did not figure in the list, staged protests at the party office Gandhi Bhavan here while some others decided to quit the party and contest as independent candidates.

Party spokesman M. Krishank has opposed the party’s decision to give ticket to his father-in-law and former central minister Sarve Satyanarayana from Secunderabad Cantonment constituency. Krishank’s supporters staged a sit-in at Gandhi Bhavan.

Krishank announced that he would contest as an independent from the same constituency. He wondered how the party can field a man who was defeated thrice in the past.

Senior leader and former minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah, whose name did not figure in the first list, said he was surprised as he had been with the same party and contesting from the same constituency for last 35 years.

He was confident that the party will give ticket to him from Jangaon. He said there was no truth in reports that the Congress was planning to leave the seat for TJS leader M. Kodandaram.

Another senior leader and former central minister Renuka Chowdary also expressed displeasure over the first list.

She said the balance among various castes was not maintained. She also found fault with Ponnala’s name missing from the list. She said the selection of candidates could have an impact on the party’s prospects.

The Congress is also facing protest from its leaders who were unhappy over leaving some seats for allies.

Former legislator Bhikshapathi Yadav, an aspirant from Serilingampally constituency in Hyderabad, announced he will contest as an independent after the party left this constituency for the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

NSUI state president Balmuri Venkat, who was aspiring for ticket from Peddapalle constituency, resigned from the Congress after the party named Vijay Ramna Rao its candidate.

Narayana Rao, former MLA from Tandur in Vikarabad district, announced that he too was resigning from the party.

Supporters of Mala Mahanadu President and Congress leader Addanki Dayakar staged a protest in Mahabubabad district headquarter, demanding party ticket for him from Tungaturti constituency.

In Vemulawada, supporters of E. Manohar climbed on a water tank to protest against the ticket allocation to Aadi Srinivas.

In Warangal East, local Congress leader Poshala Padma resigned from the party to protest the decision to leave the seat for Telangana Janata Samithi (TJS).

The TDP, which announced nine candidates late on Monday, is also facing rebellion from disgruntled leaders.

Tension prevailed at TDP headquarters NTR Trust Bhavan on Tuesday as a supporter of M. Satyanarayana tried self-immolation over denial of party ticket to him from Serlingampally. The TDP has fielded B. Anand Prasad from this constituency.

(IANS)

New Delhi It was a misty morning here on Tuesday with the minimum temperature recorded at 14.2 degrees Celsius, one notch above the season’s average, the weather office said.

Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) witnessed “very poor” air quality. The MeT has predicted light rains for the day ahead.

“It will be a generally cloudy sky with light rains/thunder showers likely to occur,” an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official said.

The humidity at 8.30 a.m. was 86 per cent. The maximum temperature was likely to hover around 30 degrees Celsius.

Monday’s maximum temperature settled at 30.2 degrees Celsius, two notches above the season’s average while the minimum temperature was recorded at 13.4 degrees Celsius, at par with the season’s average.

The air-quality which was “severe” on Monday came down to “very poor”, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).

(IANS)

Amsterdam, Nov 13 India has emerged as a major seed hub in Asia, with four Indian seed companies featuring in top 10 of the first ever “Access to Seeds Index for South and Southeast Asia”, a study said.

While the list was topped by the Thailand-based East-West Seed, the four Indian companies to lead seed industry on increasing smallholder farmer productivity were Advanta, Acsen HyVeg, Namdhari Seeds and Nuziveedu Seeds.

The other five companies in the list of top 10 were globally active seed companies from outside the region, said the “Access to Seeds Index for South and Southeast Asia” study published on Monday by the World Benchmarking Alliance, a global multi-stakeholder initiative.

“With many foreign seed companies investing in India and strong-performing companies from India itself, the country shows itself as a real powerhouse for the development and supply of quality seeds for smallholder farmers in the region,” Ido Verhagen, Executive Director of the Access to Seeds Index, said in a statement.

Nearly 21 companies sell seeds in India and 18 have invested in breeding and production activities in the country.

In comparison, only 11 companies invest in breeding activities in Thailand and eight in Indonesia, the two other major regional seed hubs, according to the ASI, said the study.

Namdhari Seeds and Nuziveedu Seeds scored high points due to breeding programmes with a strong focus on the preferences and needs of small-holder farmers.

(IANS)

Pakistan authorities have seized smuggled Indian and other Direct-To-Home (DTH) equipment worth Rs 7.83 crore from various markets in a nation-wide crack down against the illegal devices, revealed a report.

The report was submitted to the Supreme Court on Wednesday after it took up a suo motu case relating to easy availability of Indian DTH or magic box in the Pakistani market.

The DTH Satellite TV is the latest technology to deliver digital TV satellite service to households.

The report, which was furnished before the apex court through Additional Attorney General Nayyar Abbas Rizvi, said that the nationwide enforcement operations has ended the commercial sale and availability of smuggled DTH equipment in the local markets.

During the last hearing, the apex court had constituted a committee consisting of member (customs), the FIA’s additional director general and a member of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to find out the source of smuggled goods and to take steps to curb the smuggling.

The report recalled that the Federal Board of Revenue has also enhanced enforcement measures adopted by the customs field formations which resulted in seizures of goods and other contraband items, including DTH equipment worth Rs24.8 billion during 2017-18.

However, the report conceded that mere enforcement measures would not be sufficient to completely root out the transportation or availability of DTH equipment used for illegal broadcasting of Indian content in the country. Therefore, a holistic strategy needs to be worked out by all agencies/regulators to address this issue.

The committee constituted by the apex court proposed measures like the PEMRA’s suggestion to grant concessions from duty or taxes for the import of equipment and other accessories to successful bidders in the awarding of DTH licences a process which is in progress and likely to be completed soon.

In the absence of local DTH, the subscribers were opting for other illegal means, which include Indian DTH services, the report said.

The PEMRA has also suggested a technological solution which can effectively disrupt the reception and rebroadcast of Indian content using smuggled DTH equipment or those imported through regular channels after modifications by the local vendors, the report said.

However, the report called for support from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority for blocking the internet protocols addresses of the websites which were either running the illegal C-Line/CC-CAM or advertising the illegal Indian DTH in Pakistan.

PTI

Shimla Himachal Pradesh Governor Acharya Devvrat and Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Wednesday greeted the people on Diwali and urged them to celebrate the festival of lights by saying no to crackers.

The Governor said the festival symbolised joy and happiness and celebrates victory of good over evil and light over darkness.

He hoped the festival would bring joy and happiness into the lives of the people.

Thakur expressed hope that Diwali would shower enlightenment on the people and would bring prosperity besides strengthening the bonds of brotherhood and unity.

(IANS)

Guwahati The United Liberation Front of Asom’s (Ulfa) pro-talk faction’s General Secretary, Anup Chetia on Wednesday dismissed media reports that said Paresh Baruah, the commander-in-chief of the rebel group’s anti-talk faction, has died.

Assam-based news portals on Wednesday reported that Baruah met with an accident and succumbed to his injuries last week in Ruili, located on the Myanmar-China border.

“I do not think that there is truth in the news. Paresh Baruah met with an accident about three months back in Ruili while he was on a motorcycle. However, he called me up at least three times after that and told me that he was recovering,” Chetia told IANS on phone.

“He told me that there some of his bones and a toe was fratctured. I received a call from him last Sunday which I could not receive as I was in a meeting. So, considering all these facts I do not think that the news of his death is true.”

Chetia said that it was basically a one way communication between him and Paresh Baruah always.

“We cannot contact him, it is always he who contacts me. I think nothing untoward has happened with him,” Chetia said.

Assam Police and intelligence officials were yet to confirm the news of death of the Ulfa leader.

The Ulfa was divided into two factions after some leaders of the outfit including chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa, were arrested in Bangladesh and were handed over to Indian authorities.

These leaders later decided to sit for peace talks while the faction led by Baruah decided to continue the armed struggle for a “sovereign” Assam.

Chetia, who was in a jail in Bangladesh, was extradited to India later and he also decided to join the faction who is negotiating the peace talks.

(IANS)

New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate two national highways in Varanasi on November 11. The highways have been built at a cost of Rs 1,571.95 crore and have a combined length of 34 km, the government said on Tuesday.

“The 16.55-km Varanasi Ring Road Phase-I has been completed at a cost of Rs 759.36 crore, while the work of four-laning and construction of 17.25-km Babatput-Varanasi road on NH-56 cost Rs 812.59 crore,” the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways said in a statement.

“This will reduce travel time, fuel usage and pollution in the area. The Ring Road will provide easier and more convenient access to Sarnath, an important site for Buddhist pilgrimage,” it said.

The Babatpur Airport highway will link Varanasi to the airport and go on to Jaunpur, Sultanpur and Lucknow.

In a separate event, Modi will also dedicate to the nation an inland waterways terminal on the river Ganga in Varanasi.

Currently, there are National Highway projects with a combined length of 2,833 km under or awaiting execution at an estimated cost of Rs 63,885 crore to link Varanasi to other places in eastern Uttar Pradesh. Of these 15 road projects of 1,143 kilometre length are under various stages of construction.

(IANS)