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“CBI goes after CBI” is The Indian Express’s leading piece and, in short, the latest development of the bitter dispute between Director Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana.
“The feud within the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) further deepened,” says The Economic Times, because “CBI has alleged that Devender Kumar (Deputy Superintendent of Police) fabricated the statement at the behest of Asthana to falsely implicate the CBI director.” Said statement claimed Verma accepted a bribe from businessman Sathish Babu Sana, who was a witness to another money laundering case involving meat exporter Moin Qureishi.
“Modi steps in as CBI begins to probe its own leadership” is how The Hindu titles its piece. But his intervention was not so much to save the CBI as it was “to ensure the government’s image was not tarnished.”
According to the Hindustan Times, Modi “told CBI chief Alok Verma on Sunday” to “let the law take its own course” when the latter briefed him on the allegations against agency special director Rakesh Asthana.”
Also making headlines is the suspicious death of Father Kuriakose Kattithara, a witness in the case against rape-accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal. While preliminary reports suggest the death was natural, The Indian Express writes, “But the priest’s brother and supporters of the nun demanded a probe while claiming Kattithara had faced threats to his life for his involvement in the rape case.”
Hindustan Times puts the story deep within its pages, saying he “was suffering from multiple health ailments, including diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart problem.”
Prime Time
Is the Hindutva card going to work in Telangana?
India Today discussed the possible political implications of Swami Paripoornananda joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Paripoornananda, considered close to the Sangh Parivar, formally joined the BJP on 19 October in presence of party president Amit Shah. It is speculated that Paripoornananda could contest the assembly elections from the Hyderabad region in the upcoming Telangana elections. During the show, BJP member Vivek Reddy and Congress leader Aishwarya Mahadev both accused each other’s political party of playing the divide-and-rule game in the country.
Reddy said, “We have seen in the history how Congress has tried to set up Hindus against the Muslims and vice versa in order to create vote banks.”
Mahadev said, “BJP’s modus operandi is to inflame, divide & destroy society for narrow electoral gain.”
Who is responsible for the railway accident in Punjab?
CNN News 18 anchor Bhupendra Chaubey discussed where the responsibility of the Punjab railway accident lies. At least 50 people were killed on 19 October after a crowd of Dussehra revellers were run over by a train while they were watching the Ravana effigy burn. BJP spokesperson Syed Zafar Islam said that Congress should take action in the state while Congress leader Aadil Singh Boparai said the party is waiting for enquiry results.
Islam said, “The driver did what he could have done. But Congress should have sacked the local administration and the Police Commissioner.”
Boparai said, “An enquiry is being done and the purpose of an enquiry is to investigate the truth. If there were lapses we will look into it.”
News it’s kinda cool to know
A new study published in the journal Science said the inner core of the Earth is solid and softer than earlier thought, reports PTI.
The findings were reported after Australian National University researchers tried to detect shear waves, or “J waves” in the inner core — a type of wave which can only travel through solid objects.
Hrvoje Tkalcic, an associate professor at ANU was quoted as saying, “It turns out — if our results are correct — the inner core shares some similar elastic properties with gold and platinum. The inner core is like a time capsule, if we understand it, we will understand how the planet was formed, and how it evolves.”