Spooler News India

Listen to the latest news from India by Aastha in English for local, national, international, business, and entertainment stories that matter.

Podcasts are updated once a day.

Host: Aastha

Lead producer: Vishwapriya

Executive Producer: Khushboo Shah

Audio Branding: Side B www.sideb.in

Produced by: Spooler Studios www.spooler.in

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Transcript:

National News:

1. Intense rainfall will continue in over 22 states and Union Territories till October 21, India Meteorological Department said in a statement on Sunday. 

2. The body of Army personnel Captain Jayant Joshi was found at the Ranjit Sagar dam reservoir near Pathankot on Sunday, more than two months after the helicopter he was flying crashed at the site.

3. Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait Sunday said that the lynching of a man at the Singhu border was a “religious matter”, and has no connection with the ongoing farmers’ protest.

4. The WHO technical advisory group will meet on October 26th, to consider “Emergency Use Listing” for Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.

5. Several people have been injured and displaced while 23 have died as heavy rains pounded south and central Kerala causing flash floods and landslides in many parts of the state. Fourteen deaths were reported in Kottayam’s Koottickal and eight deaths were reported in Idukki. PM Narendra Modi has been speaking with Kerala CM Pinairayi Vijayan, and Home Minister Amit Shah said that the center is continuously monitoring the flood situation in the state.

6. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Sunday said 'Rail Roko' protests will be held across the country today - on October 18 - to demand the dismissal and arrest Union minister Ajay Mishra in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri incident.

 

International News:

1. India is likely to host a national security advisor-level meeting on Afghanistan in New Delhi next month, which will be the first-of-its-kind dialogue to be hosted by New Delhi, ANI reported. Pakistan and China are likely to be invited to take part in the meeting, apart from Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

2. A mass funeral ceremony has been held for the victims killed in Friday’s suicide bomb attack on a Shia mosque in Afghanistan’s southern city of Kandahar. Government officials say 47 people died in the attack but a community elder Haji Farhad said the death toll is 63

3. The Grand Mosque in the Muslim holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia operated at full capacity Sunday, with worshippers praying shoulder-to-shoulder for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began.

4. After one of the world’s most successful responses to the covid-19 pandemic, New Zealand geared up for a “Super Saturday,” a single day vaccination effort to break the country’s record for the maximum doses in 24 hours- previously 93,000.

5. Melbourne, which has spent more time under COVID-19 lockdowns than any other city in the world, is set to lift its lockdown restrictions, officials said on Sunday. By Friday, when some curbs will be lifted, the Australian city of 5 million people will have been under six lockdowns for nearly nine months, since March 2020

6. A Hindu temple has been vandalised in Bangladesh in a fresh case of communal unrest amidst days of violence unleashed by unidentified bigots who attacked the minority community’s places of worship during the Durga Puja celebrations, prompting a minority group to announce a countrywide hunger strike, media reports said on Sunday.

 

Regional News:

1. Mumbai did not record any Covid deaths in 24 hours on Sunday, for the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic last year.

2.As Delhi's air quality plunged into the ''very poor'' category on Sunday morning, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that increase in pollution was due to stubble burning in neighbouring states

3. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will be the face of the Congress’ election campaign in Uttar Pradesh, party’s newly-appointed campaign committee chief P L Punia said on Sunday

4. Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday hinted at reducing cess and sales tax on petrol and diesel in the state to ease the fuel prices, which have touched an all-time high all over the country

5. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday laid the foundation stone of a 1,430-bed government hospital in Shalimar Bagh, and said the facility will be ready in next six months.

6. A day after visiting the memorial of late party chief J Jayalalithaa, expelled AIADMK leader VK Sasikala  on Sunday visited the MGR Memorial in Chennai, hoisted the party flag and unveiled a plaque identifying herself as the General Secretary of the party.

 

Business News: 

1. Indian taxpayers will no longer have to pay ₹20 crore per day to keep the loss-making Air India flying. As on August 31, Air India had a total debt of ₹61,562 crore. About 75% of this debt will be transferred to a special purpose vehicle AIAHL before handing it over to the Tata Group.

2. Sri Lanka seeks USD 500 million loan from India to pay for its crude oil purchases amid a severe foreign exchange crisis.The energy secretaries of both India and Lanka are expected to sign an agreement for the loan soon

3. Bank of India has slashed interest rates on home loans and car loans ahead of the festive season. The state-run bank cut home loan interest rates by 35 basis points and vehicle loan interest rates by 50 basis points.

4. Eight of the top-10 most valued companies together added Rs 1,52,355.03 crore in market valuation last week, with HDFC Bank and State Bank of India emerging as the biggest gainers.

5. The Income Tax department’s recent raids on digital marketing and campaign management firms in several states, including Karnataka, has unearthed unaccounted investments worth Rs 7 crore and bogus expenses of around Rs 70 crore. IT department sources further said these firms were also working for the Congress to build a political campaign on digital platforms.

 

Sports News: 

1.Ludhiana-born Jatinder Singh scored an unbeaten 73 as Oman beat Papua New Guinea (PNG) by 10 wickets in the opening Group B first round match of the T20 World Cup on Sunday.

2. Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan set a new T20I record while bowling for his side in their T20 World Cup opener against Scotland in Al Amerat on Sunday. He surpassed Lasinth Malinga's record of 107 wickets to become the highest-wicket taker in T20 internationals.

3. Former India batsman Suresh Raina has pleaded the Team India players, competing in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2021, to win the prestigious trophy for outgoing Twenty20 skipper Virat Kohli.

4. Former India captain MS Dhoni has joined Team India as the Mentor, ahead of the T20 World Cup. India is all set to play vs. Pakistan at 7:30 pm on the 24th October in Dubai.

5. Newcastle United's Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur at St James' Park on Sunday was halted due to a medical emergency in the stadium, forcing both sets of players to leave the pitch before half-time.

 

Entertainment News:

1. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) has announced the 2022 edition of Golden Globe Awards. In a statement, posted on its website, the HFPA said the 79th ceremony of Golden Globes is scheduled to take place on January 9

2. Katrina Kaif and Vicky Kaushal have been rumoured to be dating for a while now. But during Udham Singh film promotions, Vicky Kaushal shut down rumours of roka with Katrina Kaif and ‘Will get engaged soon enough, when the time is right’

3. Netflix estimates that its latest megahit, “Squid Game,” will create almost $900 million in value for the company, according to figures seen by Bloomberg

4. Actor Kunal Kemmu has announced his latest film, Kanjoos Makkichoos on Instagram. The film also stars Shweta Tripathi of Masaan, Mirzapur and Mehndi Circus fame

5. Actor Kriti Sanon has wrapped up her shooting schedule for the Om Raut directorial Adipurush. The film stars Kriti as Janaki while Prabhas plays Lord Ram.

Fin.

Listen to the latest news from India by Aastha in English for local, national, international, business, and entertainment stories that matter.

Podcasts are updated once a day.

Host: Aastha

Lead producer: Vishwapriya

Executive Producer: Khushboo Shah

Audio Branding: Side B www.sideb.in

Produced by: Spooler Studios www.spooler.in

Download Alexa Skill: https://amzn.to/3yQWQ6g

Social: https://www.instagram.com/spoolerstudios/

 

Transcript:

National News:

IMD has predicted and notified for isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall in Kerala and south interior Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry. Apart from this. This may go on till October 19. rain in Kerala and 16 other states and UTs including Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Chattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh among other regions.

A Nihang member Sarvjit Singh killed a daily wager named Lakhbir Singh at Delhi’s Singhu border. The police said they have arrested him after which another member named Narain Singh and 2 others have surrendered themselves for the Singhu border lynching. A total of 4 people have been arrested so far.

AIIMS officials said that Former PM Manmohan Singh has been diagnosed with dengue but his health condition is improving.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kedarnath on November 5 to offer prayers and inaugurate Kedarpuri reconstruction projects worth Rs 250 crore. This will be his second visit to the state within a month.

India reported 15,981 fresh COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours 5.7% lower than yesterday. Over 97.23 crore Covid vaccine doses have been administered in the country till now under the nationwide vaccination drive.

 

International News:

An earthquake of magnitude 4.8 struck Indonesia’s Bali island on Saturday morning, killing at least three people, Indonesia’s search and rescue agency said.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the suicide bomber attack at a Shi’ite mosque in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar which left dozens killed and injured. The statement added that two Islamic state fighters broke in and blew themselves up between two groups of worshippers, one of which consisted of around 300 people.

Violence erupted at the protests against the Berlin camp eviction. Police say officers were attacked and cars torched as thousands of people gathered in opposition to the clearance of the radical left-wing Köpi-Platz encampment in central Berlin.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said The Taliban has directed local officials to refrain from carrying out punishments in public unless Afghanistan's "top court" issues the order for public execution.

The US Defense Department said Friday that it is committed to offering condolence payments to relatives of the 10 people who were killed in an errant US drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, in August.

British lawmaker David Amess was stabbed to death in an Essex church on Friday by an assailant who lunged at him as he met voters, in what police said was a terrorist attack. Amess, 69, from Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party, was knifed repeatedly in the attack at about midday in the Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea

Southeast Asian countries will invite a non-political representative from Myanmar to a regional summit this month, delivering a snub to the military leader who led a coup against an elected civilian government in February.

Regional News:

10 killed, 18 missing as heavy rain pounds Kerala. A total of 5 districts in Kerala were on red alert, while an orange alert was issued in at least seven other districts as well. Several people lost their lives in Kerala’s Idukki, while many are missing in Kottayam due to landslides. Kerala’s CM Pinarayi Vijayan has sought the Indian Air Force’s help in the rescue operation.

Sabarimala Ayyappa temple re- opened yesterday for ‘Thula masam’ poojas. Devotees will be allowed to enter Sabarimala from October 17 to 21 and entry would be permitted only through virtual queue booking.

Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai to organise a meeting either today or tomorrow to ease the covid- 19 norms and curbs. He stated that they will discuss various issues like reopening of schools for all the classes, of all commercial establishments and movement of people in the border states.

A Vadodara court took Salauddin Sheikh, the managing trustee of AFMI Charitable Trust, and Umar Gautam of the Islamic Da’wah Centre in Delhi into judicial custody on Saturday. Earlier, both were in judicial custody in Lucknow after being arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) in an alleged case of a ‘forced conversion racket’.

Keeping up his attack on the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Maharashtra state minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik alleged on Saturday that in three cases, the agency used a panch witness who was known to its officers.

Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday administered the oath of office to Justice Prakash Srivastava who was sworn in as the new chief justice of Calcutta High Court. Srivastava earlier was a Madhya Pradesh High Court judge.

Business News:

Aviation regulator DGCA has suspended SpiceJet's license for the transportation of 'dangerous goods' for alleged violations. The suspension is for 30 days, and during this period, SpiceJet will not be allowed to carry dangerous goods on its domestic as well as international flights

As per Broker Chooser, India has the highest number of cryptocurrency owners in the world, at 10.07 crore. This means, up to 7.3% of the national population are cryptocurrency owners.

The coal ministry says it has taken various measures, including diverting the output from captive coal mines, to augment fuel supply to the power sector. This is significant development in the wake of the country's power plants facing coal shortages, and the country being on the verge of massive power outages.

Reliance Brands Ltd has bought a 40 per cent minority stake in renowned fashion designer Manish Malhotra's MM Styles Pvt Ltd, for an undisclosed sum. The partnership is aimed at accelerating the 16-year-old couture house's growth plans in India and across the globe.

Questions around how the $100 billion yearly commitment towards climate finance will be measured, and related technology transfer accounted for, remain unanswered, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at the conclusion of the Washington DC leg of her U.S. visit. However, she also discussed how the Biden administration as well as leaders from the corporate sector in the United States have welcomed as a very positive step the reforms undertaken by the Indian government, particularly the withdrawal of the retrospective tax.

Sports News:

INDIA WON THE SAFF CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE EIGHTH TIME. Sunil Chhetri, Suresh Singh, Sahal Abdul Samad on target as India defeats Nepal 3 - 0. The final was played against Nepal at the Maldives National Football Stadium.

MS Dhoni will don the mentor's hat for the upcoming T20 World Cup. Captain Virat Kohli is extremely delighted and said that Dhoni’s “eye for intricate details" and "practical advice" will help in enhancing the confidence of the squad.

Rahul Dravid has confirmed he will be the National cricket team’s head coach following the T20 World Cup in the UAE. He will draw a salary of Rs 10 crore and has been given 2-years contract. Paras Mhambrey has been appointed as the bowling coach.

Cricket South Africa on Saturday posted a message congratulating only Lungi Ngidi (pronounced as N-gidi) but ignored Faf Du Plessis and Imran Tahir who also played for Team Chennai in the Indian T20 tournament. This shocked the cricketers including Dale Steyn and asked them to delete the post. CSA retracted their initial post and congratulated all 3 South African players in the new one.

Entertainment News:

Ranveer Singh has revealed that he has been shortlisting names for his future baby. In a new promo for his TV debut, Ranveer is seen talking about his marriage and future kids stating that he will have a baby in 2-3 years and wants a daughter just like wife Deepika Padukone.

After a retired Indian Army officer pointed out that the shape of khukri was incorrect in the poster of Akshay Kumar’s upcoming film, Gorkha, the actor promised to ‘take utmost care’ to maintain authenticity during shoot.

Anna Ben (for the film Kappela) and Jayasurya (For the film Vellam) won Best Actress and Best Actor awards at the 51st Kerala State Film Awards. The Great Indian Kitchen, directed by Jeo Baby, was adjudged as the Best Film of 2020.

Shoojit Sircar directorial and Vicky Kaushal starrer Sardar Udham has finally been released on Amazon Prime Video. Katrina Kaif is among the first ones to appreciate the film and called it ‘raw, honest and heartbreaking’. Initially, Late actor Irrfan Khan was to play the role in the film.

FIN

Listen to the latest news from India by Aastha in English for local, national, international, business, and entertainment stories that matter.

Podcasts are updated once a day.

Host: Aastha

Lead producer: Vishwapriya

Executive Producer: Khushboo Shah

Audio Branding: Side B www.sideb.in

Produced by: Spooler Studios www.spooler.in

Download Alexa Skill: https://amzn.to/3yQWQ6g

Social: https://www.instagram.com/spoolerstudios/

Transcript

NATIONAL:

India resumed Covid-19 vaccine export and sent 10 crore doses each to Nepal, Myanmar, Iran and Bangladesh. Earlier, India had suspended exports of vaccines in April to focus on inoculating its own population after the second wave.

In Uttar Pradesh, one person was killed and 16 others injured after a speeding car ran over a group of devotees in Pathalgaon of Chhattisgarh’s Jashpur district during Durga idol immersion. The two accused, who were arrested shortly after the crime, are residents of Madhya Pradesh, and were passing through Chhattisgarh.

A terrorist involved in the targeted killings of civilians from minority communities in Srinagar was gunned down Friday in an anti-terror operation in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir.

India was re-elected to the U.N. Human Rights Council for the 2022-24 term on Thursday with an overwhelming majority in the General Assembly.

In an update on the gruesome lynching and killing of a Tarn Taran resident at the Singhu border earlier today, the Haryana government said the police had detained several suspects. Home Minister Anil Vij, ACS (Home) Rajeev Arora, Haryana DGP PK Agrawal and ADGP (Law and Order) Navdeep Singh Virk, who were present at the meeting chaired by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar at his residence, discussing the incident.

INTERNATIONAL:

India has “noted” and expressed wariness, at the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Thursday between Bhutan and China on “three-step roadmap for expediting the boundary negotiations” which may also include discussions on Doklam.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Thursday that those involved in the recent vandalism of Hindu temples in the country will be “hunted down and punished.”

A suicide bomber attacked a Shia mosque in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar during Friday prayers, Taliban officials said, killing at least 33 people and injuring 74 others.

US former president Bill Clinton was in a California hospital on Thursday with an infection and responding well to two days of treatment, his doctors said.

The UK has eased the travel rules for fully vaccinated passengers. Now passengers arriving in England from low-risk countries from October 24 will no longer have to take expensive Covid-19 tests, but will have to take the lateral flow tests instead.

The United States will reopen its land and air borders on November 8 to foreign visitors fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

India will attend the Moscow Format talks on Afghanistan that will take place on October 20 and will see participation by the Taliban, the government said Thursday.

REGIONAL:

Kochi is all set to become India's first 'dementia-friendly city'. The official announcement will be made by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan online on Saturday at CUSAT Science Seminar Hall.

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to BJP leaders Kailash Vijayvargiya, Jisnu Basu and Pradeep Joshi in a case of alleged assault on a woman and criminal intimidation.

AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam and joint coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami will pay floral tributes at the memorials of former chief ministers C N Annadurai, M G Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa in Marina on Sunday to mark the 50th founding day of the party.

Energy minister V Sunil Kumar on Thursday dismissed speculations that coal shortages have resulted in thermal plants being shut down in the state and blamed it on lack of demand for power in Karnataka for restricted generation of power.

A doctor with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) was allegedly raped by a senior doctor in South Delhi’s Hauz Khas. The police said the accused is absconding and teams have been sent to arrest him.

Speaking at Shiv Sena’s annual Dussehra rally, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said there is a need to have an honest discussion on federalism and rights of states in the country.

BUSINESS:

PM Narendra Modi has hailed the Indian economy's swift recovery after the brutal second wave of the coronavirus. Addressing an event yesterday, PM Modi was referring to IMF's latest report, which has made a projection that India will grow at 9.5% in the current fiscal. India will be the fastest growing economy among big countries of the world, says the IMF.

During his annual Vijay Dashmi speech in Nagpur, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat said that 'uncontrolled’ currency such as Bitcoin has potential to destabilise the economy of all countries. The statement by Bhagwat comes at a time when the bitcoin craze is spreading among the young investors with India having the largest number of cryptocurrency owners globally .

Acer has confirmed a cyberattack on its India servers earlier this week. The hackers, the Desorden Group, claimed to have stolen 60GB of data after breaching the company’s servers. Acer is notifying all customers potentially affected by the breach.

After many red flags, PNB Housing Finance calls off its share subscription agreements executed with Pluto Investments, an affiliated entity of Carlyle Asia Partners IV, and Carlyle Asia Partners V.

The Sensex on Thursday soared 569 points, or 0.94 per cent, to close above the 61,000 mark amid favourable inflation data and bullish fervour in IT stocks.

SPORTS:

In the thrilling Indian t20 tournament finals, Chennai scored a 192 for 3 wickets, in 20 overs. With Team Kolkata being unable to chase the target of 193, Team Chennai emerged victorious for the 4th time in the tournament. MS Dhoni on Friday, became the first player to captain 300 T20 games.

Ace cueist Pankaj Advani, who recently won the Asian Snooker Championship and World 6-Red crown, will be the star attraction in the ‘GSC World Snooker Qualifiers’, a national selection tournament, that will be played from Sunday at the Goregaon Sports Club (GSC) from October 17 to 27, 2021.

Seven-time champions India will start title favourites when they take on first-time finalists Nepal in the summit clash of the SAFF Championships today.

Neymar dismissed the reservations voiced by many after his poor performance in a World Cup Qualifying match earlier this week. All by providing key elements in all of the Brazil goals in Thursday’s 4-1 win against Uruguay

ENTERTAINMENT:

The teaser of Suriya’s upcoming courtroom drama Jai Bhim was released yesterday. The film is directed by TJ Gnanavel, and produced by Suriya and Jyotika’s 2D Entertainment, and will release on November 2.

Hrithik Roshan has started shooting for his upcoming film Vikram Vedha on the auspicious occasion of Dussehra. the film also stars Saif Ali Khan.

Honsla Rakh, the Punjabi Rom-Com also starring Diljit Dosanjh, Shehnaaz Gill and Sonam Bajwa has received positive reviews for the storyline, comedic timing and the performances of the actors.

Samantha Ruth Prabhu has signed her next film, a bilingual production by Dream Warrior Pictures. The film will be released in Tamil and Telugu, and will be directed by Shantaruban Gnanasekharan.

Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar has announced yet another film. He has collaborated with filmmaker Sanjay P S Chauhan for a war film titled, Gorkha. The film will be based on war hero Major General Ian Cardozo.

FIN

Listen to the latest news from India by Aastha in English for local, national, international, business, and entertainment stories that matter.

Podcasts are updated once a day.

Host: Aastha

Lead producer: Vishwapriya

Executive Producer: Khushboo Shah

Audio Branding: Side B www.sideb.in

Produced by: Spooler Studios www.spooler.in

Download Alexa Skill: https://amzn.to/3yQWQ6g

Social: https://www.instagram.com/spoolerstudios/

 

TRANSCRIPT:

NATIONAL:

India resumed Covid-19 vaccine export and sent 10 crore doses each to Nepal, Myanmar, Iran and Bangladesh. Earlier, India had suspended exports of vaccines in April to focus on inoculating its own population after the second wave.

The central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is planning to conduct the term-1 board exam for class 10 and 12 in offline mode in November - December. The exams will be objective-type of 90-minute durations and will start from 11:30 am instead of 10:30 am due to winter.

India's nationwide covid vaccine coverage on Thursday reached 97 crores. The Union Health Minister stated that announcements will be made at public places, including airports and railway stations, when India completes administering 100 crore covid-19 vaccines. 

Development on Lakhimpur Kheri Violence case: Special Investigation Team took Ashish Mishra and 3 others arrested to recreate the sequence of events leading to the incident in UP’s Tikonia village as a part of their ongoing investigation.

INTERNATIONAL:

The Global Hunger Index launched on Thursday ranked India at 101 position out of a total 116 countries. India is also among the 31 countries where hunger has been identified as serious. India ranked 94 among 107 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) released last year.

A fire in a residential building in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung has killed at least 46 people and injured another 41, according to officials.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday its newly formed advisory group on dangerous pathogens may be "our last chance" to determine the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and urged China to provide data from early cases.

A Danish man who is in custody in Norway suspected of a bow-and-arrow attack on a small town that killed five people and wounded two others is someone who had previously been flagged as having being radicalized 

Japan's new prime minister Fumio Kishida dissolved the lower house of parliament on Thursday, setting the stage for national elections later this month.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) suspended flights to the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Thursday after what it called heavy handed interference by Taliban authorities, including arbitrary rule changes and intimidation of staff.

REGIONAL:

The Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party had been opposing the closure of temples during weekends for some time now. BJP chief Annamalai also gave an ultimatum to chief minister MK Stalin over the temple closure. However, after the key meeting, CM Stalin has now allowed temples to open during weekends in the state.

The Delhi BJP will launch ‘Jhuggi Samman Yatra’ Friday on the occasion of Vijayadashami to reach out to slum dwellers in the city ahead of the corporation polls. Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta said that in the first phase of the campaign, BJP workers will cover 33 Assembly segments between October 15 and November 29.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that the BJP was set to return to power with a full majority in Goa. On the other hand, Congress veteran P Chidambaram on Thursday expressed confidence that his party will win the Goa Assembly elections due next year and also the next Lok Sabha polls in 2024. Goa is expected to go to Legislative Assembly polls in February-March next year. 

Karnataka' Chief Minister, Basavaraj Bommai, who was on a visit to Mangaluru and the Dakshina Kannada region in coastal Karnataka, when asked seemed to perceive nothing illegal in individuals taking the law into their own hands to engage in moral policing. His comments drew criticism from all over, including former Congress chief minister Siddaramaiah.

Condemning the Union government’s decision to extend the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF) from 15 km to 50 km in Punjab along the international border, Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Punjab unit termed it a direct attack on the federal structure of the country under a big conspiracy by the central government

Talks were held in Chandigarh where Hussan Lal, principal secretary to CM Charanjit Singh Channi and few other officials met five farm union leaders of BKU (Ugrahan). However, the Talks ended in a stalemate.

BUSINESS:

Four Indian companies were among the top 100 in Forbes ‘World’s Best Employers rankings 2021’. The names that made it are Reliance AT 52, ICICI Bank at 65, HDFC Bank at 77 and HCL Technologies at 90. 

Apple has announced a special event on October 19 where AirPods 3 could launch alongside the M1X MacBook Pro. 

RBI Deputy Governor addressed the 5th annual day of Foreign Exchange Dealers’ Association of India on Thursday. She stated that India is on the cusp of fundamental changes in direction of fuller capital account convertibility, that is, the ability or freedom to convert domestic currency for capital account transactions is increasing.

BMW on Thursday launched its new BMW 3 Series Gran Limousine 'Iconic Edition' in India with price starting at Rs 53.5 lakh. Locally produced at BMW Group Plant in Chennai exclusively for the Indian market, the car is available with immediate effect across BMW dealerships in the country in both petrol and diesel variants.

SEBI has given its approval for Nykaa’s Rs. 4000 Crore IPO. Nykaa is looking to raise Rs. 525 crore via fresh issuance of equity, the company is also looking at secondary share sale of 43.1 Million shares.

SPORTS:

Rahul Dravid is likely to be interim coach for India’s home series against New Zealand. It’s learnt that a few Australian coaches expressed interest in the job, but the BCCI isn’t keen as they are focussing on an Indian for the role, before they look elsewhere. 

Update on SAFF Championship 2021: Sunil Chhetri broke Brazil legend Pele's 77 international goals. India captain Sunil Chhetri now has 79 international goals to his credit and He is now the third-highest active international goal-scorer. India beat Maldives to enter the final on Wednesday and will play against Nepal on Saturday.

Team Kolkata will face Team Chennai in a thrilling final that will be held today at 7:30 pm IST in Dubai International Stadium for the Indian T20 tournament.

Shardul Thakur has replaced Axar Patel in the 15-man main squad for the forthcoming T20 WC. The left-arm spinner takes Thakur's place in the list of standby players, that also includes Shreyas Iyer and Deepak Chahar.

Indian women’s football team beat higher-ranked Chinese Taipei 1-0 in an international friendly match to end their four-match exposure tour on a winning note.

ENTERTAINMENT

A film ‘Inja’, was conceptualised by the DLSA and funded by the state government. With cases rising under POCSO, the film aims to warn tribals in Kerala about perils of underage marriages.

Actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas shared another picture on Instagram from the streets of Spain. She is currently shooting from Spain for her upcoming web series Citadel. Backed by Avengers: Endgame director's Russo Brothers, Citadel also stars Game of Thrones actor Richard Madden.

In Bollywood, the latest movie to face the ire of the audience is Sanya Malhotra and Abhimanyu Dassani starrer ‘Meenakshi Sundareshwar’. As soon as the film’s trailer was released, netizens took to Twitter to express their displeasure for stereotyping Tamil culture and hiring two North Indian actors and thereby depriving South Indian actors of representation in mainstream Hindi cinema

Actors Nora Fatehi and Jacqueline Fernandez have been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering case filed against alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekar.

Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha on Thursday announced his next feature film, a social drama titled Bheed with Rajkummar Rao as the lead. This marks the first collaboration between the two.

FIN

Listen to the latest news from India by Aastha in English for local, national, international, business, and entertainment stories that matter.

Podcasts are updated once a day.

Host: Aastha

Lead producer: Vishwapriya

Executive Producer: Khushboo Shah

Audio Branding: Side B www.sideb.in

Produced by: Spooler Studios www.spooler.in

Download Alexa Skill: https://amzn.to/3yQWQ6g

Social: https://www.instagram.com/spoolerstudios/

 

Transcript:

NATIONAL:

The Covid-19 vaccination drive for children is likely to begin by the second half of November. The vaccination drive will first cater to children suffering from chronic or severe health conditions; the priority list of diseases may take up to 3 weeks to get ready.

India will reach the 1 billion vaccine milestone in the next few days, said the health ministry. Sources also stated that PM Narendra Modi may address the nation to thank healthcare workers for their immense contribution to India’s vaccine drive.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was on Wednesday evening admitted to AIIMS in Delhi. Singh had complained of weakness following fever and is currently on fluids. AIIMS officials confirmed last night that the former PM’s condition is stable now.

Two more persons were arrested in connection with the Lakhimpur violence case and the court denied bail to Ashish Mishra.

The National Investigation Agency arrested 4 persons for their alleged links with The Resistance Front, which has claimed responsibility for the recent attacks on civilians in Kashmir valley.

India on Wednesday strongly rejected China's objection to a recent visit to Arunachal Pradesh by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, asserting that the state is an integral and inalienable part of India. China has been objecting to visits of Indian leaders after military talks on the eastern Ladakh standoff that ended in a stalemate.

INTERNATIONAL:

China urged the international community to push the Taliban government to adopt a “zero-tolerance” approach to terrorism and create an inclusive government at Tuesday’s special G20 summit

The Taliban held their first face-to-face talks with a joint United States-European Union delegation on Tuesday in Qatar as Brussels pledged €1 billion ($1.2 billion) in aid for Afghanistan.

The International Monetary Fund issued a warning that the threats to the economic recovery from last year’s COVID-19 disruptions are growing, along with a “dangerous divergence” between richer and poorer countries.

The US will reopen its land borders to nonessential travel next month, ending a 19-month freeze due to the Covid-19 pandemic as the country moves to require all international visitors to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Shia Muslim religious leader Muqtada al-Sadr’s party is set to be the biggest winner in Iraq’s parliamentary election

REGIONAL:

Maharashtra’s Higher and Technical Education Minister Uday Samant announced that colleges in the state will reopen from the 20th of October. Only fully vaccinated students will be allowed to attend physical classes, he said.

IMD has declared an Orange alert in 9 Kerala districts. The very heavy rainfall alert will continue for Ernakulam, Idukki, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur, and Kasaragod.

The Delhi High Court sent a 16-year-old ‘rape survivor’ to a government shelter home and handed the custody of her child to his biological father. While the girls’ family accused the 19-year-old man of abduction and rape, the 16-year-old later gave a statement that it was a consensual relationship and that she married him out of her own free will.

Rs 5 lakh was handed over to the family of farmer Labh Singh of Sirthala village of Payal in Ludhiana on Wednesday. Singh had died during the ongoing protest against the three farm laws at Singhu Border.

Karnataka Congress’s former MP and media coordinator were caught on camera making serious corruption allegations against the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president D K Shivakumar. Minutes before addressing a press conference, the duo were having a private conversation on the dais where the dais microphones and cameras documented the entire conversation

The Tamil Nadu ruling party DMK maintained its winning streak in the two-phase local body elections in the nine newly created districts in Tamil Nadu.

BUSINESS and FINANCE:

Infosys CEO said the company is seeing steady progress in implementing India's ambitious new income tax portal project, with 1.9 crore returns being filed so far, months after it came under fire for technical glitches plaguing the project.

Reliance Industries has invested 25 million EURO in German solar wafer maker NexWafe to use the firm's technology to set up giga-scale wafer manufacturing facilities in India.

Salman Khan will launch non-fungible tokens in partnership with BollyCoin in December 2021, the actor announced on Wednesday.

PM Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched Rs 100 lakh crore Gati Shakti Master Plan to provide multi-modal connectivity to more than 1,200 industrial clusters, including 2 defense corridors across the country.

PNB reduces gold loan rates by 1.45% points. PNB is also offering a full waiver of service charges/processing fees on the loans against gold jewelry and SGB, similar to home loans and vehicle loans announced recently.

SPORTS:

The Indian cricket team’s fan-inspired jersey for the upcoming T20 World Cup was unveiled on Wednesday, days before the country opens its campaign with a much-awaited clash against arch-rivals - Team Pakistan in Dubai.

In the 2nd Qualifier, Team Kolkata emerged victorious after chasing the target of 136 set by Team Delhi. Team Kolkata will now face Team Chennai, in a thrilling final that will be held on Friday, October 15th.

The Indian Men’s Badminton team emerged victorious against Tahiti in a Group C match, to enter the quarterfinals for the ongoing Thomas Cup in Denmark.

Cristiano Ronaldo emerges as the first men’s player to score 10 international hat tricks when Portugal beat Luxembourg on Tuesday Night.

ENTERTAINMENT:

Kartik Aaryan and Kriti Sanon are all set to share screen space in their upcoming film ’Shehzada’. The tagline of the film goes: ‘Duniya ka Sabse Gareeb Prince’. The film is said to be the remake of a popular Telugu film Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo starring Allu Arjun.

Prabhas wished Pooja Hegde Happy Birthday with the new poster of their film ‘Radhe Shyam’. The poster features the actress wearing a beautiful white gown. The gesture has put a stop to all rumors about a possible rift between Prabhas and Pooja Hegde. The film is releasing in theatres on January 14, 2022.

Tiger Shroff’s fitness trainer, Kaizzad Capadia, died on Wednesday. The actor paid tribute to him on social media. The reason for death is unknown.

South Korean drama ‘Squid Game’ has officially become Netflix's most popular series launch ever, drawing 111 million fans since its debut less than 4 weeks ago. Squid Game has topped Netflix charts in more than 80 countries.

Salman Khan and Aayush Sharma starrer Antim: The Final Truth is set to release in theatres on November 26. The makers made it official with an action-packed motion poster.

FIN

Listen to the latest news from India by Aastha in English for local, national, international, business, and entertainment stories that matter.

Podcasts are updated once a day.

Host: Aastha

Lead producer: Vishwapriya

Executive Producer: Khushboo Shah

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Produced by: Spooler Studios www.spooler.in

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Listen to the latest news from India by Aastha in English for local, national, international, business, and entertainment stories that matter.

Podcasts are updated once a day.

Host: Aastha

Lead producer: Vishwapriya

Executive Producer: Khushboo Shah

Audio Branding: Side B www.sideb.in

Produced by: Spooler Studios www.spooler.in

Download Alexa Skill: https://amzn.to/3yQWQ6g

Social: https://www.instagram.com/spoolerstudios/

Listen to the latest news from India by Aastha in English for local, national, international, business, and entertainment stories that matter.

Podcasts are updated once a day.

Host: Aastha

Lead producer: Vishwapriya

Executive Producer: Khushboo Shah

Audio Branding: Side B www.sideb.in

Produced by: Spooler Studios www.spooler.in

Download Alexa Skill: https://amzn.to/3yQWQ6g

Social: https://www.instagram.com/spoolerstudios/

Listen to the latest news from India by Aastha in English for local, national, international, business, and entertainment stories that matter.

Podcasts are updated once a day.

Host: Aastha

Lead producer: Vishwapriya

Executive Producer: Khushboo Shah

Audio Branding: Side B www.sideb.in

Produced by: Spooler Studios www.spooler.in

Download Alexa Skill: https://amzn.to/3yQWQ6g

Social: https://www.instagram.com/spoolerstudios/

Listen to the latest news from India by Aastha in english for local, national, international, business, and entertainment stories that matter.

Podcasts are updated once a day.

Host: Aastha

Lead producer: Vishwapriya

Executive Producer: Khushboo Shah

Audio Branding: Side B www.sideb.in

Produced by: Spooler Studios www.spooler.in

Download Alexa Skill: https://amzn.to/3yQWQ6g

Social: https://www.instagram.com/spoolerstudios/