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Japan's Top Talent Agency To Dissolve After Sex Abuse Scandal By Founder

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Japan's Top Talent Agency To Dissolve After Sex Abuse Scandal By Founder

New president said the agency would change its name to “Smile-Up”

Tokyo:

Japan’s top talent agency Johnny & Associates said on Monday it would split into two entities – one devoted to compensating victims of sexual abuse by its late founder, adding that 325 people so far have sought damages. The agency will also be changing its name, disassociating itself from its founder Johnny Kitagawa.

The agency, which represents only male entertainers, last month admitted that Kitagawa, who died in 2019, had abused hundreds of boys and young men seeking stardom going back to at least the 1970s. Kitagawa’s niece Julie K. Fujishima last month resigned as agency president, apologising and promising reform and compensation.

New president Noriyuki Higashiyama said the agency, commonly known as Johnny’s, would change its name to “Smile-Up” and focus exclusively on compensating Kitagawa’s victims before being dissolved.

A separate company would be spun off to take over the talent management business, renewing contracts with those individuals or groups wishing to stay, he told a briefing. Its new name will be chosen by fans of its entertainers.

The first media reports of Kitagawa’s abuse were carried by the local tabloid Shukan Bunshun in 1999, but the scandal blew wide open this year as more victims came forward after a report by the BBC in March.

Following the agency’s acknowledgment of the abuse last month, dozens of major companies have said they would end their contracts with its entertainers.

In a statement by Fujishima read out in her absence, the former chief executive, who owns 100% of the agency, said it was her duty as Kitagawa’s relative to put an end to Johnny & Associates.

“I want to remove all traces of Johnny Kitagawa from this world,” her statement said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Business

Sangam India eyes close to Rs 4,000 crore revenue by FY25-Telangana Today

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Sangam India has also introduced a seamless garment manufacturing plant with 52 knitting machines capable of creating 5.4 million items per year.

Published Date – 03:19 PM, Mon – 2 October 23


Sangam India eyes close to Rs 4,000 crore revenue by FY25

Sangam India has also introduced a seamless garment manufacturing plant with 52 knitting machines capable of creating 5.4 million items per year.

Mumbai: Cotton, PV-dyed yarn and ready-to-stitch fabric producer Sangam India expects to achieve a revenue of around Rs 4,000 crore by 2024-25, following capacity expansion at its seven production units in Bhilwara in Rajasthan, a top company executive has said.

“We recorded Rs 2,730 crore revenue in FY23, and this financial year we are expecting to touch Rs 3,000 crore. With our capacity expansion in various product categories, we are targeting close to Rs 4,000 crore revenue by 2024-25,” Sangam India Managing Director and CEO S N Modani told PTI over phone.

However, in this financial year the company’s profit will be impacted as the market is under pressure following global economic conditions, he added.

The long-term debt of the company, which employs over 1,200 people, is Rs 600 crore.

The company has seven production units in Bhilwara with over 2,36,000 spindles and 3,000 rotors. It manufactures 35 million metres of PV (polyester viscose) fabric and 48 million metres of denim fabric annually.

Sangam India has also introduced a seamless garment manufacturing plant with 52 knitting machines capable of creating 5.4 million items per year.

“We had a capital expenditure of Rs 900 crore for expanding production capacity in a phased manner of cotton, denim, and synthetic weaving. We have already spent Rs 600 crore and this year we have plans to spend another Rs 300 crore for expansion of our production units, which will be done by December this year.

“We produce 0.6 million metres of fabric daily. Our annual production includes 45 million metres of denim, 95,000 tonnes of synthetic materials, and 12,000 tonnes of cotton yarn,” Modani stated.

The company, he said, continuously upgrades its manufacturing facilities for consistent quality and modernises with auto-doffing ring frames in PV-dyed yarn to save energy and labour costs.

“With technology integration we are able to maintain control and efficiency as we expand. We use automated systems for remote monitoring and addressing machine issues, supported by a skilled team of mechanical engineers. We focus on high-quality products, minimal rejections, and reducing delivery times through in-house processes,” he added.

The company exports 30 per cent of its products to 58 countries and the remaining 70 per cent of products are consumed in the domestic market, he said.

Sangam India’s major export destinations include Turkey, the USA, Latin America, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, said Modani.

“The market conditions are tough currently, with our exports down by around 20 per cent. However, this is compensated by 10-15 per cent growth in the domestic market. We are expecting a turnaround in exports from this month onwards. With this expansion, we are looking at strengthening our existing markets, both in India as well as overseas,” he added.

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Video: Rahul Gandhi Visits Amritsar's Golden Temple, Performs 'Kar Sewa'

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Rahul Gandhi visited Golden Temple in Punjab’s Amritsar today

Amritsar:

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi visited the Golden Temple in Punjab’s Amritsar today.

 After offering prayers at the Golden Temple, Rahul Gandhi also took part in ‘kar sewa’. He was seen washing the dishes along with other party members and Gurudwara volunteers.

“He will spend the night in the city,” a Congress official said.

“This is his personal, spiritual visit, let’s respect his privacy. Request all party workers to not be physically present for this visit. You all can show your support in spirit & meet him the next time,” Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Waring posted on X – formerly known as Twitter – earlier in the day.

Rahul Gandhi’s Amritsar visit comes amid tensions between Congress and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over the arrest of MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira.

Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira was arrested by the Punjab police last week for alleged involvement in drug smuggling and money laundering.

The Congress leader has accused the AAP and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann of being “thirsty for blood”. “I will not be surprised if he gets me physically eliminated also,” he declared.

The AAP government has claimed “fresh evidence” – in a 2015 case – led to Mr Khaira’s arrest.

The AAP and the Congress’ national leadership may be pulling for the INDIA bloc but Mr Khaira’s arrest has thrown open regional rivalries that could make it difficult for the two to work together,

Middle East

Iranian FM: Infanticide characteristic of Israeli regime

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This photo shows Jamal al-Durrah trying to protect his son, Muhammad, from Israeli fire on September 30, 2000 in Gaza. (Photo by AFP)

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says the Israeli regime is notorious for killing Palestinian children as dozens have been killed so far this year.

Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks in a tweet on the occasion of the death anniversary of the 12-year-old boy Muhammad al-Durrah in his father’s arms in the Gaza Strip.

Mourning the loss, the minister said, “Infanticide is a characteristic of the Israeli regime”, noting that “since the beginning of 2023, 40 Palestinian children have been martyred by the apartheid, fake Zionist regime.”

Muhammad al-Durrah was killed by Israeli fire on September 30, 2000, the second day of the Second Intifada (uprising) against the Israeli regime.

A video showing Muhammad and his father, Jamal, sheltering by a concrete water barrel in a hail of bullets shortly before Muhammad’s death sparked anger across the world.

Over the past months, Israel has ramped up attacks on Palestinian towns and cities throughout the occupied territories. As a result of these attacks, dozens of Palestinians have lost their lives and many others have been arrested.

More than 200 Palestinians have been killed this year in the occupied Palestinian territories and Gaza. The majority of these fatalities have been recorded in the West Bank.

The United Nations said 2023 is the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since it began keeping track of fatalities almost two decades ago.

Previously, 2022 had been the deadliest year with 150 Palestinians killed, of whom 33 were minors, according to the UN.

The rising number of fatalities last year prompted UN experts to condemn the treatment of Palestinians, including attacks on their homes and destruction of their property.

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"I Love Him So Much": What Vladimir Putin's "Girlfriend" Said In Old Interview

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'I Love Him So Much': What Vladimir Putin's 'Girlfriend' Said In Old Interview

Alina Kabaeva became an MP for Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party after retiring from gymnastics.

There is always a lot of interest in the life of Vladimir Putin, the influential Russian leader and former intelligence (KGB) officer. And this interest has been renewed since Russia attacked Ukraine in February last year. Now, an old interview of former Russian gymnast Alina Kabaeva, considered to be Mr Putin’s “lover” is doing the rounds on the internet in which she talks about her ideal man. It was originally recorded in 2008, the year a Moscow-based newspaper first reported on the affair. However, both Mr Putin and Ms Kabaeva have never admitted to being romantically involved with each other.

Still, a lot has been said about the Russian President and his “close associate” Ms Kabaeva.

In the interview, Ms Kabayeva, then 24, is seen interacting with a group of Russian schoolchildren. She had won a gold medal at the Athen Olympics in 2004 that made her the most famous people in Russia.

As per a report in The Telegraph, that carried the excerpts of the interview, a boy asks Ms Kabaeva, “Have you met your ideal man?”

She pauses for a few seconds, swivels in her chair and plays with a pen before declaring: “I have met him.” She giggles before saying that she was “so happy”.

Another girl asks who the mystery boyfriend is.

“A man, a very good man, a great man,’ Ms Kabaeva said, adding: “I love him very much.”

In 2008, the year this interview was recorded, Mr Putin was married to his first wife, Lyudmila Ocheretnaya. The couple divorced in 2014.

In the video, Ms Kabaeva was also asked if she would ever steal a married man away from his wife and family.

“If a man is already looking at another woman and is already talking to her then the problem in the family has already happened,” she said. “In that case, there can be no good in that family.”

Asked about the last thing she gave her mystery man, Ms Kabaeva said she had gifted him “an Alaska coat, a coat with fur, very beautiful”.

In the wake of the tension with the West over Ukraine invasion, many of Mr Putin’s aides, including Ms Kabaeva, faced sanctions. 

She retired from gymnastics in 2006 and became an MP for Putin’s United Russia party before becoming a director at a pro-Kremlin private media company, The National Media Group.

It is a holding firm that owns stakes in almost all main Russian media outlets that spread government propaganda.

In March this year, Independent reported that Mr Putin has secretly spent millions on big properties for Ms Kabaeva (now 39) and their children.

The report was based on the investigation done by news portal The Project, a Russian opposition website banned by the Kremlin. It had said that Ms Kabaeva and Mr Putin have been living together in a luxurious palace about 250 miles north-west of Moscow.

India

Researchers find how breastfeeding is linked to lower levels of body fat

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Children who were not given soda before 18 months also had a lower fat mass at the age of nine. The finding supports the theory that the way a child is fed in infancy may be linked to their susceptibility to obesity later in life.

Published Date – 03:00 PM, Mon – 2 October 23


Researchers find how breastfeeding is linked to lower levels of body fat



Washington: New research has connected newborn formula and the early introduction of fizzy drinks to higher levels of body fat later in childhood.

The research was presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) Annual Meeting in Hamburg, Germany.

Children who were not given soda before 18 months also had a lower fat mass at the age of nine. The finding supports the theory that the way a child is fed in infancy may be linked to their susceptibility to obesity later in life.

“Numerous prior studies have examined the link between infant feeding and child overweight or obesity risk based on body mass index (BMI),” said lead researcher Catherine Cohen, of University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, USA.

“However, BMI is a crude measure of adiposity in childhood. In this study, we aimed to expand on this prior research by examining associations of infant feeding practices with a more precise measure of childhood adiposity (percent fat mass).”

Dr Cohen and colleagues analysed data on over 700 mother-child pairs who were taking part in Healthy Start1, a longitudinal cohort study into how a mother’s lifestyle and environment during pregnancy can affect her child’s growth and development. The mothers had an average age of 29 years at recruitment, 51% of the infants were boys.

At interviews when their offspring were six and 18 months old, the mothers were asked about feeding practices, including the duration and exclusivity of breastfeeding versus formula feeding and the age when their children were introduced to complementary foods, a term covering solids/any liquid other than breast milk or formula. The researchers then grouped the infants according to the duration of breastfeeding (6 months or more vs. less than 6 months); age at which their baby was introduced to complementary foods (at or before 4 months or 5 months and over); age at which they were introduced to soda (18 months or more vs. less than 18 months).

More than half of the infants (65 per cent) were breastfed for at least six months, 73 per cent were introduced to complementary foods at 5 months or older, and 86 per cent were introduced to soda after 18 months.

Percentage fat mass (proportion of total weight that can be attributed to body fat) was assessed twice. During the first assessment (median age of five years), it was 19.7 per cent, on average. During the second assessment (median age of nine years), it was 18.1 per cent, on average.

Infant feeding patterns were not associated with differences in body fat at the age of five. However, shorter breastfeeding duration and early soda introduction were associated with faster increases in body fat across the two visits in childhood and, thus, a higher percentage of body fat at the age of nine.

Infants who were breastfed for less than 6 months had 3.5% more body fat, on average, at age nine, than those who were breastfed for 6 months or more.

Dr Cohen said: “While this study cannot elucidate the potential mechanisms at play, previous research suggests that the link between breastfeeding and obesity risk may be related to differences in the nutrient composition of human milk versus infant formula. Differences in appetite regulation and the impact of the human milk on the infant’s microbiome are also being investigated as potential biological effects.”

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Bihar Caste Survey: 27% Backward Classes, 36% Extremely Backward Classes

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New Delhi:

Bihar has become the first state to release data from a caste-based survey. The report indicates 36 per cent of the population are from Extremely Backward Classes, 27.1 per cent are from Backward Classes, 19.7 per cent are from Scheduled Castes and 1.7 per cent are from Scheduled Tribes. The general population is 15.5 per cent. The state’s total population is over 13.1 crore.

The survey also said the Yadav community – the group to which Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav belongs – is the largest sub-group, accounting for 14.27 per cent of all OBC categories.

The report’s fallout, which will almost certainly kick-up a political row, will likely also include calls to increase quotas for OBCs, which is capped now at 27 per cent. According to the data – released months before the 2024 Lok Sabha election, they are now 63.1 per cent of the state.

The report underlines the numerical superiority and electoral influence of OBCs in Bihar.

Minutes after the data was released Chief Minister Nitish Kumar posted on X (formerly Twitter) to hail the release of data on Gandhi Jayanti (Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary).

“Soon a meeting of the nine parties in the Bihar Assembly (including the Deputy Chief Minister’s Rashtriya Janata Dal and allies-turned-fierce rivals BJP) will be called regarding caste-based census in Bihar. They will be informed about the results…” Nitish Kumar said.

Mr Yadav called the report a “watershed” moment and the result of “decades of struggle”. “Now both the policies and intentions of the government will respect (this) data…” he said.

Mr Yadav’s father and party boss Lalu Prasad Yadav also reacted. The former Chief Minister also hailed the release on Gandhi Jayanti and said, “Despite many conspiracies of the BJP, legal hurdles and all the conspiracies, today Bihar government released caste-based survey (data).”

The BJP’s reaction, however, has been predictably critical, with Giriraj Singh, a Union Minister and Lok Sabha MP from Bihar, slamming the caste-based survey report as “eyewash”. “The survey should have been done on development… this survey will spread doubts among people.”

In August, after the exercise was completed, Mr Kumar stressed the survey will be “beneficial for all” and “enable the development of various sections of society, including the deprived”.

Also in August, when pressed on some political parties opposing the caste-based headcount, the Chief Minister said the exercise had been ordered with the support of all state parties.

This cross-party support, he indicated then, included ally-turned-rival BJP. Earlier this year, former Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha, a senior leader from Mr Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), took a swipe at his party’s former allies, suggesting they “set their house in order” on this topic.

The opposition has pressed the centre for a national caste-based survey or headcount, and this has been announced as a key demand of the mega INDIA bloc; at present, though, there are also divisions within the group on this count after the Trinamool Congress raised objections.

The release of this data comes as the Supreme Court continues to hear petitions challenging a Patna High Court’s judgment that paved the way for this controversial “caste-based headcount”.

However, the court had refused an interim stay unless critics made out a prima facie case.

The decision to conduct a caste survey was taken by the Bihar government in June last year.

The Chief Minister has repeatedly said the state is not conducting a census – of which the centre first told the Supreme Court “no other body is entitled to conduct…” before backing down – but only collecting data on economic status and caste for targeted development initiatives.

Hyderabad

Hyderabad to witness final lunar eclipse of the year

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According to meteorological reports, Hyderabad is expected to have an average cloud cover of 54 percent on the night of October 28.

Published Date – 02:53 PM, Mon – 2 October 23


Hyderabad to witness final lunar eclipse of the year



Hyderabad: Sky gazers and astronomy enthusiasts in Hyderabad have a celestial treat to look forward to as the final lunar eclipse of the year is set to grace the city’s skies on October 28. The lunar eclipse, which is also visible in Hyderabad, is expected to commence at 11:31 pm. The eclipse will reach its peak at 1:08 am on October 29, and it will conclude at 3:56 am.

According to meteorological reports, Hyderabad is expected to have an average cloud cover of 54 percent on the night of October 28.

In addition to the lunar eclipse, there is another celestial event that has garnered attention—the solar eclipse on October 14. However, residents of India will not be able to witness this phenomenon. According to the Planetary Society of India Director, Raghunandan, the solar eclipse will not be visible anywhere in India.

World

Army to hold large-scale drone drills across Iran

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The drone drill will be participated by troops from the four units of the Army, namely the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force and Air Defense Force.

The war game will be held across large parts of central and southern Iran within the coming days.

Iranian military experts and engineers have in recent years made remarkable breakthroughs in manufacturing a broad range of indigenous equipment including drones, making the armed forces self-sufficient.

In August, the spokesperson for the Defense Ministry said a number of European countries have asked to purchase Iran’s unmanned aerial vehicles.

MNA/TSN2965106

Middle East

Ukraine may get enhanced Bayraktar drones from Turkey: CEO

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“With regard to Bayraktar Akinci, this matter is currently under consideration,” the businessman said.

“We have permits from our government for this, which demonstrates how close we are to implementation,” TASS quoted him as saying.

At the first International Defense Industries Forum in Kyiv on September 29, Bayraktar announced plans to complete the construction of a Bayraktar drone plant in Ukraine within the next 18 months. According to him, the company is investing a total of some $100 mn in Ukraine. Apart from building a plant, the Turkish manufacturing firm will spend the funds on a service center and its main office in Ukraine, he explained.

In August 2022, plans to build a Bayraktar drone plant in Ukraine were revealed. Ukrainian Ambassador to Turkey Vasily Bodnar said that the construction would take several months and that production could be launched before late 2023. However, the Ukrainian envoy said later that some adjustments were made to the original plan.

MP/PR