Some MPs call for Trudeau's resignation by Monday

 During the closed-door meeting, dissenting MPs conveyed their grievances to Trudeau, reflecting growing discontent within the party. This gathering was part of the weekly caucus meetings that take place while the House of Commons is in session. 

The Wednesday meeting served as a platform for MPs to voice their concerns and frustrations directly to PM Trudeau. Trudeau is facing mounting pressure from within his own party, with dissident Liberal MPs giving him an ultimatum to decide his future by October 28. During the caucus meeting on Wednesday, a document was presented outlining the case for Trudeau's resignation, but it didn't specify any consequences if he fails to meet the deadline. 

 Sources speaking to Radio-Canada said that 24 MPs signed an agreement to call on Trudeau to step down as Liberal leader, CBC News reported. During the meeting, British Columbia MP Patrick Weiler presented a document that argued in favour of Trudeau's resignation. 

The document suggested that the Liberal party could experience a resurgence similar to what the Democrats saw after US President Joe Biden opted not to run for re-election for the upcoming presidential elections in the country.

By 2026, 20 per cent of organizations will use AI to reduce more than half of their current middle management roles.

The cyclone is likely to make landfall between Bhitarkanika National Park and Dhamra Port in Odisha early Friday with wind speeds of up to 120 kilometres per hour (kmph), it said. 

 The weather system over the Bay of Bengal moved north-northwestwards with a speed of 12 kmph during past the six hours, and lay centred about 260 km southeast of Paradip (Odisha), 290 km south-southeast of Dhamra (Odisha) and 350 km south of Sagar Island (West Bengal) at 5.30 am. 

 It is very likely to move northwestwards and cross north Odisha and West Bengal coasts between Puri and Sagar Island close to Bhitarkanika and Dhamra during midnight of 24th to morning of 25th October as a severe cyclonic storm with a wind speed of 100-110 kmph gusting to 120 kmph, it said in the latest bulletin. 

 The highest rainfall of 62 mm was recorded at Paradip, while Rajnagar in Kendrapara district received 24 mm rain, in the last four hours, the Met Department said. Moderate to intense rain and thunderstorms with wind speeds of 30-40 kmph are likely to lash some parts of Bhadrak, Balasore, Jajpur, Cuttack, Khurda, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada and Puri districts during the day, it said.

 Taking to 'X', office of the Prime Minister of India (PMO India) posted: "Anguished by the loss of lives due to the collapse of a building in Bengaluru. My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that the injured recover soon" 

 "An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakhs from PMNRF would be provided to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given Rs 50,000: PM @narendramodi," it stated. 

 Eight persons were killed and 13 rescued after an under-construction building collapsed at Babusapalya near Hennur on Tuesday. The building owner, his son and contractor have been arrested in connection with the incident, police said. PTI

 The BSE Sensex climbed 177.84 points to 80,259.82 in early trade. The NSE Nifty went up by 45.15 points to 24,480.65. However, soon the benchmark indices faced selling and were trading lower. 

The BSE benchmark gauge quoted 219.12 points lower at 79,862.86 and the Nifty traded 74 points down at 24,361.50. From the 30 Sensex pack, Hindustan Unilever fell over 5 per cent after the FMCG major reported a 2.33 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,595 crore for the second quarter ended in September 2024 impacted by moderation in demand from the urban market.

The IMD has indicated that Cyclone Dana is likely to move north-westwards and intensify into a severe cyclonic storm over the northwest Bay of Bengal by the early hours of October 24.Odisha Fire Services Chief Sarangi told ANI, "We are fully geared up for the cyclone. We have 182 teams of Fire and Rescue Services of Odisha which is nearly about 2000 people. We will cover all the 14 districts which will be affected...we have 20 teams of NDRF...we also have 400 personnel of State Disaster Force...we have mobilized some team from Forest department."

Khorda Sub Divisional Magistrate Dipti Ranjan Sethi highlighted that all the blocks have been given evacuation plans and wherever there are hoardings in the town area, they have been removed and the officers in the area have also been called and the evacuation plan is ready.

"If needed we will evacuate people, there are also arrangements for food and water for them. We are sure that we can deal with the cyclone," SDM Sethi said.

On Wednesday, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi convened a meeting to assess the state's readiness for Cyclone Dana and announced that evacuation efforts are in progress, with the goal of relocating 90 per cent of residents by 11 AM the following day, and noted that between 3-4 lakh people have already been evacuated.

 They said Kumar has been rushed to a hospital for treatment. This is a third attack on non-local labourers in Kashmir in the past one week. Six non-local labourers and a local doctor were killed in a terror attack on a construction site in Ganderbal district on Sunday, while a labourer from Bihar was shot dead by terrorists in Shopian district on October 18. PTI

The severe cyclonic storm DANA over central & adjoining northwest Bay of Bengal moved north-northwestwards with a speed of 12 kmph during the past 6 hours, and lay centred at 0530 hrs IST of today, the 24th of October, over northwest & adjoining central Bay of Bengal, near latitude 18.5 N and longitude 88.2E, about 260 km southeast of Paradip (Odisha), 290 km south-southeast of Dhamara (Odisha) and 350 km south of Sagar Island (West Bengal).

"It is very likely to move northwestwards and cross north Odisha and West Bengal coasts between Puri and Sagar Island close to Bhitarkanika and Dhamara (Odisha) from midnight of 24th to the morning of 25th October 2024 as a severe Cyclonic Storm with a wind speed of 100-110 kmph gusting 120 kmph," IMD says.

Bhadrak assistant fisheries officer, Sandeep Kumar Behera says, "In Bhadrak's jurisdiction there are 911 registered boats, 10 FLC and all the boats have been docked in the landing centre. Fishing has been prohibited till October 26."

West Bengal Raj Bhavan tweets, "In view of the impending landfall of Cyclone DANA, Governor has cancelled all his programmes and shall be monitoring the activities of the Cyclone Dana from the Control Room in Raj Bhavan. He will also be keeping a watch over the unfolding situation across the vulnerable districts."

In a video statement, Governor CV Ananda Bose says, "We are now, in a moment of crisis. #CycloneDana is nearing but we in Bengal have braved many storms. We will face Dana also with confidence and fortitude. Bengal will stand together. India will stand together. We shall overcome...Please follow all instructions issued by the Government and Disaster Management Authorities...All Disaster Management machinery of the State Government and the Government of India are kept well-oiled and fit..."

: IMD

Launching a scathing attack on her Republican rival former president Donald Trump, Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris on Wednesday charged that he is "unfit" to lead the country.

          

"Yesterday we learned that Donald Trump's former chief of staff, John Kelly, a retired four-star general, confirmed that while Donald Trump was president, he said he wanted generals like Adolf Hitler had," Harris told reporters at her official residence in the American Capital.

          

"Donald Trump said that because he does not want a military that is loyal to the United States Constitution. He wants a military that is loyal to him. He wants a military who will be loyal to him personally, one that will obey his orders even when he tells them to break the law or abandon their oath to the Constitution of the United States," she said.

"In just the past week, Donald Trump has repeatedly called his fellow Americans the enemy from within, and even said that he would use the United States military to go after American citizens," Harris said.

Harris, who became the nominee of the Democratic Party a little over 100 days ahead of the November 5 general elections, said this a day after Kelly, Trump's former chief of staff, spoke against him.

"Certainly, the former president is in the far-right area, he's certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators -- he has said that. So, he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure," Kelly told The New York Times in an interview.

"He certainly prefers the dictator approach to government," Kelly alleged. Trump never accepted the fact that he wasn't the most powerful man in the world and by power, I mean an ability to do anything he wanted, anytime he wanted," he said.

Trump dismissed the allegations. "Thank you for your support against a total degenerate named John Kelly, who made up a story out of pure Trump Derangement Syndrome Hatred! This guy had two qualities, which don't work well together. He was tough and dumb," Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social.

"The problem is his toughness morphed into weakness, because he became JELLO with time! The story about the Soldiers was A LIE, as are numerous other stories he told. Even though I shouldn't be wasting my time with him, I always feel it's necessary to hit back in pursuit of THE TRUTH," he said.

"John Kelly is a LOWLIFE, and a bad General, whose advice in the White House I no longer sought, and told him to MOVE ON! His wife once told me, at Camp David, John admires you tremendously, and when he leaves the Military, he will only speak well of you. I said, Thank you!" Trump said. -- PTI

BEST sources said that as a result, the 280 red-coloured air-conditioned mini-buses that BEST had hired under the wet lease model -- where private contractors handle driver salaries and bus maintenance -- will no longer operate on Mumbai's roads. 

"In today's meeting, the wet lease contractor again expressed its inability to execute the contract. Hence, legal proceedings for the termination of the contract will be initiated shortly," BEST spokesperson Sudas Sawant said. 

Over 500 mini buses, which BEST had introduced in 2019, will now be removed from service. 

Last year, BEST had terminated the contract of another bus operator, sending 285 buses off the roads. 

Aiming to improve last-mile connectivity on shorter routes, BEST introduced the "smallest" mini-buses into its fleet in 2019, instead of mid- or full-sized buses, due to worsening traffic and the difficulty of maneuvering larger buses on crowded roads. 

The mini buses were expected to have a better turnaround time because of their smaller size and fewer seats compared to regular-sized buses. -- PTI

Bapusaheb Bhegde, state vice-president of the NCP, also revolted and said he would contest the November 20 Maharashtra assembly election. 

Bala Bhegde told reporters that he and his supporters had announced their resignations. 

They would support Bapu Bhegde and work to defeat Shelke, he added. Sitting MLA Shelke had defeated Bala Bhegade, a former BJP MLA, in 2019 from this seat. 

Bapu Bhegde said he was confident of getting the ticket from the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, but the promise was not kept. 

"I have decided to contest elections as I was assured ticket by the party," he said. -- PTI

The PWP led by Jayant Patil had staked claim to these three constituencies. "We will talk to (NCP-SP chief) Sharad Pawar about this," Patil said. 

He also visited Sangola during the day, he said. The PWP has sought a total of six seats from the MVA: Panvel, Uran, Pen, Alibaug, Sangola and Loha. 

The Sena-UBT fielded Eknath Pawar from Loha, Deepak Salunkhe Patil from Sangola and Manohar Bhoir from Uran. The Loha seat is currently represented by a PWP MLA. -- PTI

The accused was identified as Shaikh Hussain Shaikh Mausin (24), a Jamshedpur-based vegetable seller. 

A threat message demanding Rs 5 crore from the actor was received on the Mumbai Traffic Police's WhatsApp helpline last week, prompting the police to register a case and launch an investigation. 

The police tracked down the number to Jharkhand and teams were dispatched to nab the accused, an official said, adding that another team visited Guwahati. 

Even as the police widened the dragnet to trace the sender of the message, the Mumbai traffic police received an "apology" from the same mobile phone number, officials had said on Tuesday. 

Notably, Khan had earlier received death threats from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. 

Suspected members of the gang had opened fire outside the actor's Bandra home in April this year.  -- PTI