As goes the tradition, Patna has been dominated by the BJP for the last ten years. Rajdeep Sardesai, Consulting Editor of the India Today group, took to the streets of Patna, talking to morning walkers at Sanjay Gandhi Zoological Park to understand what the middle class expects from their government. Sardesai met retired police officers in the park and asked them of their expectations from the ongoing assembly elections. “We will vote for ‘vikas’ (development),” said the retired police officers in unison. “But what does ‘development’ mean for Bihar?” asked Sardesai. While few said that development is synonymous with Narendra Modi, there were others who said they were happy with the present government headed by Nitish Kumar. However, one thing that all the retired police officers agreed on was,

“Bihar cannot develop with Lalu Prasad Yadav.” “I have worked in different parts of the country like Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai, and I have realised that Patna is the least developed capital in the entire country,” shouted a resident from the crowd. On being asked about whose idea of development they would go for, a woman who was present in the group said, “Narendra Modi has presented India well in the global market, but he has not done much for Bihar. So we don’t have an option but to go with Nitish Kumar.” Veteran politician Shivanand Tiwari, joined the crowd, “Bihar elections is not only about development. It is about caste and women security.” Women in Patna are in favour of Nitish Kumar as he has changed the law and order situation in the state. “Modi might have worked for our development, but I do not trust the team that is working with him. Women feel secured under Nitish Kumar’s government,” said another lady who had come for her morning walk. For all the details, watch the full episode here:

Gangster Chhota Rajan, who was arrested in Bali, Indonesia on Sunday, had pleaded the police officers to deport him to Zimbabwe claiming threat to his life in India. In an exclusive interaction with India Today, Bali CID officer Major Reinhard, who arrested Rajan at the airport, said the underworld don had pleaded him to be sent to Zimbabwe and not to India. “When we took him for interrogation, he first refused to accept that he was Chhota Rajan. He kept on flashing his passport which mentioned his name as Mohan Kumar. But, later confessed that he indeed is Chhota Rajan,” Major Reinhard said. “There is a threat to my life in India, please take me to Zimbabwe,” the CID official quoted Rajan as saying. Rajendra Nikalje, widely known as Chhota Rajan, has been on Interpol’s wanted list since 1995 for running a crime syndicate that engaged in extortion, arms smuggling and contract killing.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Anil Sinha had said on Monday that the Mumbai Police six months back with an intent to surrender. Intelligence agencies also believe that Chhota Rajan may lose his value with the passage of time and he may not have much to share on Dawood network. Rajan had been living in Sydney and maintaining a low profile in the last 2-3 years. Earlier on Tuesday, a high level meeting was held at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) t to discuss the process to bring back Rajan and future course of action. Officials from RAW, IB and Ministry of Home Ministry were present in the meeting but they refused to divulge any detail. Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Anil Sinha had said on Monday that the agency is making arrangements to bring Rajan back from Bali.

“We tracked Chhota Rajan’s movements closely and informed the police in Indonesia and Australia. Eventually the Indonesian police managed to arrest him. We are making arrangments to bring him to India and pursue all criminal cases against him,” Sinha said. Rajan’s arrest has come at a time when the Modi government is stepping up diplomatic pressure on Pakistan to hand over his former partner and underworld boss, Dawood Ibrahim, suspected of militant links. Dawood masterminded India’s deadliest bombings, which killed at least 250 people and wounded more than 700 in Mumbai in 1993.
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Pakistani doctors treat patients at a hospital after an earthquake hit, in Peshawar, Pakistan on October 26, 2015. (Photo: AP) Rescuers on Tuesday rushed to deliver relief aid to victims of a massive earthquake that hit northern Afghanistan and Pakistan, killing at least 275 people over a wide swath of mostly mountainous terrain. Thousands spent the night outdoors in near-freezing temperatures reluctant to go back inside for fear of aftershocks, Pakistani media reported. “Rescue work is ongoing, and tents, blankets and sleeping mats are being provided,” Latif ur Rehman, a Pakistani disaster management official, told Reuters from the northwestern city of Peshawar.

Pakistan’s military and civilian authorities dispatched several helicopters to affected areas to assess damage and run rescue operations, the National Disaster Management Authority said. Landslides in mountainous northern Pakistan over the weekend caused by heavy rain and snow had already left thousands of touristsstranded. The earthquake struck almost exactly six months after Nepal suffered its worst quake on record on April 25. Including the toll from a major aftershock in May, 9,000 people lost their lives there and 900,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. Afghan boys receive treatment at a hospital after an earthquake hit, in Jalalabad province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan on Monday, October 26, 2015. (Photo: AP) In Afghanistan, where rescue and relief work is likely to be complicated by security threats created by an escalating Taliban insurgency, more than 50 people were reported dead in several provinces including Badakhshan, where hundreds were killed in mudslides last year. In pics: See extensive damage in Pakistan caused by 7.7 quake Hundreds of houses were destroyed, creating additional hardship with winter temperatures setting in.

The death toll could climb in coming days because communications were down in much of the rugged Hindu Kush mountain range where the quake was centred. In Pakistan, 228 people were confirmed dead. The initial magnitude 7.5 quake on Monday afternoon was followed by seven aftershocks, measuring as high as magnitude 4.8, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The latest aftershock came just before dawn on Tuesday. The United States and Iran were among countries that offered to provide humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, which already depends heavily on foreign aid after decades of war that have wrecked its economy and infrastructure. The quake was 213 km (132 miles) deep and centred 254 km (158 miles) northeast of Kabul. People stand outside their offices after a severe earthquake is felt in Lahore, Pakistan on Monday, October 26, 2015.(Photo: AP) Dr. John Ebel, chairman of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Boston College in the United States, said the depth of the earthquake had limited its severity and meant damage was likely to be spread broadly rather than focused in one disaster zone.

But he said landslides on the unstable slopes of the mountainous region could pose a major problem. “Obviously if a landslide comes into a village, it will take out buildings, but landslides can also take out roads and communications and power systems, so you lose the ability to access remote areas,” he said. In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the U.S. Agency for International Development was ready to provide emergency shelter and relief supply kits. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, in London en route from an official visit to the U.S., said he would personally oversee the rescue efforts. “We will try our best to deal with this disaster using our own resources,” he said.

New Delhi, Oct 27 (IANS) All 54 countries, which have been invited, will be represented at the third India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) that got underway here on Monday, a senior external affairs ministry official said. “This is a summit of 56 representatives – 54 (countries) from Africa, the African Union and our prime minister,” Syed Akbaruddin, additional secretary in the ministry and the chief coordinator of IFAS, told the media. “We are confident that every institution and country invited will be present when our prime minister will take the floor on October 29. This summit will be a gathering of every country in Africa, the African Union and India, which is unprecedented in the annals of any summit between Africa and any other country,” he said. Though he did not give the exact number of heads of government and state who will be coming, he said that even countries that had elections or where new governments have been formed will be represented at the highest level.

(26 Oct) In a press release, SP(Crime) &PRO, Nagaland Police, M Tungoe said police may manage to book the culprits but in such cases it is very difficult to recover the lost money. He cited one such recent case in which police arrested the CEO of one such company but he did not have any money to pay back what he owed. The SP said if any company approaches with such offers, the police should be contacted immediately. The police release informed the public that there are fake companies/financial institutions/organisations operating from within and outside of Nagaland running many prize chits and money circulation schemes.

Hundreds of people from Nagaland have already been duped of several lakhs of rupees. Police also named some of those fake companies operating in Nagaland as Queensberry Foundation, Everlight Realty Infrastructure Limited/Everlight Realcon Infrastructure Limited ( ERIL), Progressive Youth Welfare Society, Progressive Youth Thrift and Credit Cooperative Society Ltd, etc. Money circulation schemes are being promoted in the name of direct marketing (DM), multi-level marketing schemes (MLM), network marketing (NWM), referral marketing, introduction marketing, chain marketing, etc. The police said these schemes are nothing but camouflaged money circulation schemes. In the front end, the promoters display products and services but at the back end, it is nothing but money circulation schemes banned under the provisions of Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978.

The release explained that money circulation scheme means any scheme by whatever name called wherein the person has to enroll into the scheme through an already enrolled member by subscribing to the scheme by paying initial kit/membership amount and purchasing goods and services, whereby this introducer will get benefits and the company which promotes the scheme earns quick money. The newly enrolled member again has to enroll further members to get his amount back and also the benefits. Such a system of chain that works endlessly to provide profit to everyone concerned would ultimately breakdown at some stage, resulting in financial benefit to some who joined the scheme at initial stages and financial loss to those who joined at a later stage. By the time the people realise that they were taken for a ride, it will be too late, police added.

(26 Oct) Probably the most anticipated game of the weekend, the Manchester derby, took a place at Old Trafford. United and City entirely disappointed in a scoreless draw. It was one of the worst city derbies ever. The 170th duel between two bitter rivals provided no excitement, no goals and no scoring chances. Not until the 82nd minute when we saw the first shot on target. It’s pretty clear what the game was. The first half of the big derby was the poorest this season in the Premier League. The ball was a little more in the possession of players in red; both teams were lacking passion and after the first 45 minutes neither team made a single shot on target! It was a bit bloody, though. After a head collision with Vincent Kompany, Wayne Rooney had to go off for medical treatment. Yaya Toure had a half-chance after De Bruyne’s corner and sent the ball narrowly wide. Only Martial showed some passion, creativity and lucidity.
Neither the second half had much to offer from the tart.

The game was played in the middle, but teams failed to connect more than three or four accurate passes before losing a ball. The first exciting situation, if you can call it, was after 62 minutes when Mata got the ball into space. The visitors’ keeper Joe Hart was quick off the line and picked up the ball. Van Gaal’s players finally managed to create something in the 84th minute, Martial superbly noted the substitute, Jesse Lingard. He sent the ball behind the City’s defense, found a 22-year-old midfielder who escaped Kolarov’s attention, but Lingard’s attempt to lob ended up on the crossbar. It was an energy injection to United’s footballers, who then took the whole initiative in the final several minutes.

Four minutes after the crossbar, United had another scoring opportunity. After the cross, Fellaini was able to head the ball down in the six-yard box, Smalling was on the receiving end, and Joe Hart stopped his shot. The scoreboard remained 0:0. Over 75,000 people at Old Trafford saw very little from a two most expensive starting lineups in Premier League’s history. Speaking of which, Raheem Sterling was substituted in the 53rd minute after the forgettable performance. Wilfried Bony missed the first touch and willingness. The only bright spot in the Derby was Nicolas Otamendi. The Argentinian was the man of the match and deserved that with an impressive and flawless showing. He successfully closed all the doors for the home team’s forwards and took most of the credits for a clean sheet.

Wayne Rooney struggled to connect with Martial in final third; Yaya Toure couldn’t create a spark for the visitors. Aguero’s and Silva’s absence was evident in City’s game, and they are the game-winning players. De Bruyne won the game against Sevilla, but today was unnoticeable. Pellegrini even replaced Toure for Demichelis and at that moment he just wanted to escape with a goalless draw. After this game, City has kept the leading position with 22 points while United is now fourth with two points behind.
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