Launching a scathing attack on Rahul Gandhi over his visits to temples in poll-bound Gujarat, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader G V L Narasimha Rao today accused him of following in the footsteps of medieval sultans like Alauddin Khalji and Aurangzeb.

"Aurangzeb (a Mughal emperor) had destroyed many temples during his rule. However, when the common people opposed him, he promised to build two-three temples. Alauddin Khalji did the same...And now Rahul Gandhi is going in the same direction," Rao said.

During his campaign trail, Gandhi visited a string of temples in Gujarat, including the famous Akshardham shrine.

The BJP has accused him of playing the soft Hindutva card in a bid to attract the majority community.

Talking to reporters, Rao termed as 'good' the proposal of the Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board on resolving the Ayodhya issue and asked Gandhi to clarify the party's stand by breaking his 'silence'.

He also asked the Congress to explain how its viewed 'invader' Mughal emperor Babur, who is believed to have constructed the mosque in Ayodhya in 16th Century.

"Gandhi's visits to temples is a drama. Gandhi is trying to mislead the people by embarking on temple visits, which has become a compulsion for the Congress vice president in view of the elections," the BJP leader said.

He said the Congress' 'dream' of celebrating 'Muhammad Ghazni Jayanti' in Gujarat would never become a reality as the party would never win the polls.

"The Congress is celebrating Tipu Sultan 'jayanti' in Karnataka, and is now dreaming of celebrating Muhammad Ghazni Jayanti in Gujarat," Rao said. -- PTI

One soldier lost his life and two others were injured on Wednesday in an encounter between the security forces and terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district.

One terrorist was also killed in the encounter.

The encounter broke out at Choken Post in Keran sector near the Line of Control at about 7.30 am.

A search operation is still underway to locate remaining terrorists.  -- ANI

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Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Wednesday said his government will block the release of the Bollywood movie, Padmavati, in the state, because "we cant allow our history to be distorted".

This makes Gujarat the fourth state to oppose the film's release, after Rajasthan, UP and MP, all BJP-led states.


"The Government of Gujarat will not allow #Padmavati a movie hurting sentiments of Rajputs to get released in the State. We cant allow our history to be distorted. We believe in freedom of speech & expression but any foul play with our great culture is not tolerated, Rupani tweeted.


Rajputs and other fringe groups have been staging protests across the country demanding for a ban on the period film.


On Tuesday, Yogi Adityanath accused filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali of playing with publics sentiments.


Adityanath said the director was no less guilty than those issuing threats of beheading to actors involved with the film. He asserted that if there was any action, it will be against both the sides.


Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje had previously shot a letter to Information & Broadcast Minister Smriti Irani, asking her to release the film only after making necessary changes.


The CBFC is yet to certify the film. Film producers Viacom, however, had voluntarily deferred the release date.

In a unique move, the Centre has decided to hire 550 ex-paramilitary personnel to bolster manpower of short-staffed immigration counters at airports, including the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.


The Intelligence Bureau has written to various Central Armed Police Forces seeking nomination of their recently retired officials in the rank of sub-inspector.


Officials privy to the move said the aim of the first-of-its-kind move is to boost the strength of Bureau of Immigration as passenger traffic sees a rise every day at international airports.


Passengers have to stand in long queues for obtaining immigration clearance, especially at IGI, one of the most busiest airports. Ten new immigration counters were recently made operational in the departure area of the IGI airport after passengers complained of arduous queues. The home ministry subsequently had to make an intervention in the matter.

Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military general known as the "Butcher of Bosnia," has been found guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.


Mladic, the Serb warlord who terrorised Bosnia in the 1990s, was on Wednesday forcibly removed from court after a shouting outburst delayed the reading of the verdict in his trial for the last genocide committed in Europe. The long-anticipated verdict was previously delayed for half an hour after Mladic asked the judge if he could take a short bathroom break, reports the Guardian.

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Ahir on Thursday said efforts were being taken up by the government to bring the youth back to the right track in Jammu and Kashmir.


Ahir's statement has come in the wake of reports of the Ministry of Home Affairs asking the Mehbooba Mufti-led government in Jammu and Kashmir to consider withdrawing cases against first-time offenders involved in stone-pelting incidents in the valley.


Ahir told ANI, "We are taking up measures so that the youth, who have digressed from their paths come back on the right track. Those who have resorted to stone-pelting for the first time will be brought to mainstream.


"This is not hidden that Pakistan provokes the youth of Kashmir and funds all the wrongdoings. Since the NIA raids were conducted in various offices of the separatists, these people have not been funded," added Hansraj.


It was reported yesterday that the Centre was keen on announcing the amnesty scheme for stone-pelters in the Kashmir Valley on the suggestion of its special representative Dineshwar Sharma, and reportedly, over 4,500 cases against the youth involved are likely to be dropped.  -- ANI


Image: Majid Arshid, the footballer-turned militant, being presented before the media last week during a joint press conference at Awantipora in Pulwama district of south Kashmir. Photograph: S Irfan/PTI Photo

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film, Padmavati, has now been banned in Gujarat. 

the Pakistan's Punjab Judicial Review Board orders release of Mumbai terror attack mastermind and JuD chief Hafiz Saeed. Saeed has been under house arrest since January 31. He was detained along with his four aides - Abdullah Ubaid, Malik Zafar Iqbal, Abdul Rehman Abid and Qazi Kashif Hussain - by the Punjab government for 90 days under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 and the Fourth Schedule of Anti- Terrorism Act 1997.


The JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the banned Lashkar-e-Toiba, which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attack. The US has offered a $10 million bounty for Saeed for his alleged role in the Mumbai attack.


The 2008 attacks lasted four days across Mumbai. The attacks, which drew widespread global condemnation, began on Wednesday, 26 November and lasted until Saturday, 29 November 2008, killing 164 people and wounding at least 30.

A sessions court in Ahmednagar will pronounce the quantum of sentence for the three convicts in the Kopardi rape and murder case on November 29. The court had convicted three men for raping and murdering a 15-year-old girl in Kopardi village in 2016, sparking a huge outcry across the state, especially from the Maratha community.


Jitendra Babulal Shinde, Santosh Gorakh Bhawal and Nitin Gopinath Bhailume were held guilty of rape, murder and criminal conspiracy. Bhawal's lawyer Balasaheb Khopade pleaded that Bhawal may not be given the capital punishment.


However, special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam argued that this was a "rarest of the rare case" and hence the tree convicts should be awarded the death sentence.


The victim, who belonged to the Maratha community, was found murdered after being raped on July 13 at Kopardi village in Ahmednagar district. District and Additional Session Judge Suvarna Kevale today said she would pronounce the quantum of sentence on November 29. -- PTI

In a major milestone, the Brahmos supersonic cruise missile was on Wednesday test- fired for the first time from a Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jet of the Indian Air Force. The missile hit a sea-based target in the Bay of Bengal from the combat jet. "The successful maiden test firing of Brahmos Air Launched Cruise Missile from Su-30MKI will significantly bolster the Indian Air Force's air combat operations capability from stand-off ranges," the defence ministry said.

Two injured in a knife attack inside court room in Mumbai's Bhoiwada District Court. Culprit has been arrested

A Tamil film producer allegedly committed suicide at his house, with a suicide note recovered from the spot blaming a Madurai-based film financer for pushing him to take the extreme step, police said.


The alleged suicide of Ashok Kumar has shocked the industry, bringing back grim memories of the alleged suicide of well-known producer G Venkateswaran, brother of ace director Maniratnam.


A purported suicide note of Kumar, a relative of well-known actor-director Sasikumar, blamed a Madurai-based film financier for allegedly pushing him to the extreme step, police said.


Kumar reportedly accused the financier of charging exorbitant interest on some loans obtained by him, and harassing him over the same. Kumar was found hanging at his house in Chennai. -- PTI

Sri Lankan author Anuk Arudpragasam, who won the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature on Saturday, has now bagged the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize 2017 for his debut novel "The Story of a Brief Marriage", set in the backdrop of the civil war.


The jury of Kamila Shamsie, Rohini Mohan and Margaret Mascarenhas chose Arudpragasam's book over Prayaag Akbar's "Leila", Hirsh Sawhney's "South Haven", "How I Became a Tree" by Sumana Roy, Tripti Lahiri's "Maid In India" and "These Circuses that Sweep Through the Landscape" by Tejaswini Apte-Rahm.


Now in its tenth year, the prize was set up in 2008 in memory of young writer Shakti Bhatt to encourage authors from the sub-continent. The prize is a cash award of Rs 2 lakh and a trophy. The award ceremony will take place on December 20.  -- PTI

Two billionaire brothers, two bonds, two very different fates. This isn't the plot of yet another sequel to Jeffrey Archer's Kane and Abel, though it could very well be.Mukesh Ambani, India's richest man, sold 10-year dollar notes at just 130 basis points over U.S. Treasuries on Monday. None of the existing debt of Indian nonfinancial issuers, including state-owned firms, was raised this cheaply, according to Bloomberg News reporters Carrie Hong and Neha D'silva. 
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A soldier was killed today in an encounter between security forces and militants in Keran sector of Kupwara district in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. The gun-battle broke out at Choken Post in Keran sector near the Line of Control at around 7.30 am, they said, adding a soldier was killed in the exchange of firing between the two sides. The operation was going on when reports last came in, the officials added. -- PTI

The very erudite Jairam Ramesh has tempered his comments on his party. No sarcasm, no jibes, just facts.

Speaking at the Tata Litfest 2017 on 'Remembering Indira Commemorating Her Centenary', the Congress leader said the BJP is friendlier to Mrs Indira Gandhi than her father Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, as she was steeped in the Upanishads and Vedas.

Pandit Nehru would also do so but he was careful about his "public display of religiosity", Ramesh said.

That is a departure from his sharp criticism of his party in August when he said the Congress was facing an "existential crisis", and pitched for "a collective effort" by party leaders to "overcome" the challenges it faced from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah.

Jairam has been maintaining a stoic silence since this statement and party watchers say he has fallen from grace.

There is also reason to believe that Ramesh may be out of the Ahmed Patel camp. In fact, after the Gujarat elections, if the Congress loses, Patel's political  future will be in question. 

The Winter session of Parliament is likely to be held from December 15 to January 5, says CNN-News18.


Yesterday, parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar said the government would call the session in December. The party also denounced the Congress for making it appear like the session was being delayed for the first time.


"Delay has happened on several occasions and on two occasions, the session took place after Christmas," Kumar said.


The minister said the Opposition party was suffering from 'selective amnesia' as the winter session was held in December in 2008 and 2013 as well.


Senior leader Ravi Shankar Prasad reiterated the party's stand that assembly polls often played a role in the timing of sessions and said Congress governments, including the UPA, had done so in the past.


"It has been an established tradition to schedule a session so that its timing does not clash with state polls. It also happened when Indira Gandhi and Chandrashekhar were PMs," he said.


Claiming that the winter session had twice started after Christmas in the past, Prasad said Congress had accepted defeat in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh and was looking for an excuse.  

Actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha has questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi and megastar Amitabh Bachchan's silence over the "burning" issue of the film Padmavati.


"As 'Padmavati' becomes a burning controversy, people are asking why the legendary Amitabh Bachchan, most versatile Aamir Khan and most popular Shah Rukh Khan have no comments. And how come our I&B Minister or our most popular Honourable PM (according to PEW -- American think tank PEW poll) are maintaining stoic silence. High time!" Shatrughan tweeted on Wednesday.


The tweet also said that he will speak about the controversy keeping in mind the interest of filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali and the sensitivity of the Rajputs.


"As for me, I would and should speak on 'Padmavati' issue only after the 'great filmmaker, producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali' speaks up. I speak only when I am spoken to and I will speak keeping in mind the interests of the filmmaker as well as the sensitivity, valour, loyalty of the great Rajputs," he added.


In Padmavati, actor Ranveer Singh plays Delhi Sultan Alauddin Khilji, which Bhansali says is a tribute to the valour of Rajput queen Padmavati, played by Deepika Padukone.A BJP leader has announced a reward of Rs 10 crore for beheading Bhansali and Deepika.


The film is in the eye of a storm following protests from conservative groups over alleged tampering with historical facts -- a contention Bhansali has denied repeatedly.The release of the film, which was earlier slated for December 1, has been deferred as the filmmakers are yet to secure a censor certificate.

Unified AIADMK MP V Maitreyan today hinted at discontent among leaders of the erstwhile factions led by E K Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam which merged over three months ago.


"It has been three months now since the merger of EPS-OPS faction. Months are passing by, what about hearts?," Maitreyan, who is a member of Rajya Sabha, said in his Facebook post.


Asked about his remarks, Maitreyan, who was in the OPS faction, said he had already expressed his views and did not wish to say anything more. Senior party leaders K P Munuswamy and Manoj Pandian refused to comment on Maitreyan's remarks.

"She was revealed to be a young woman of European descent -- German and Polish -- who was married to an Indian architect, Cyrus Jhabvala, and lived in rooms in a sprawling bungalow just off Alipur Road. When her mother, a German Jewish woman from London, visited her, Ruth searched for someone she could talk to."

Author Anita Desai on her literary apprenticeship with Ruth Prawer Jhabvala.

Do read

US Navy aircraft carrying 11 crew and passengers crashes into the sea off Japan south-east of Okinawa, reports the BBC.

Zimbabwe's recently fired vice president -- Emmerson Mnangagwa -- is set to return today to be sworn in as the country's new leader. 

The minimum temperature in Kashmir division, including Ladakh region, continued its downward slide as Leh and Srinagar recorded the coldest night of this season so far. Leh, in Ladakh region, was the coldest recorded place in the state as it registered a low of minus 11.4 degrees Celsius last night, a decrease of over one degree from minus 10.2 degrees Celsius the previous night, an official of the MeT department said. Srinagar also saw the mercury dip slightly to minus 2.0. -- PTI

File pic

The Joint Cooperation Committee of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor approved on Tuesday the Long-Term Plan envisaging broad parameters for future cooperation, but could not conclude agreements on development projects and special economic/industrial zones. Informed sources said the Chinese delegation complained about the political instability in Pakistan that would negatively impact on the pace of CPEC progress.  Read more

The Election Commission is likely pronounce its ruling on the dispute over the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's symbol, Two Leaves, on Thursday. 

Poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar has insulted the Rajputs, the Karni Sena, a group that has been spearheading the protests against Bollywood film Padmavati, has alleged. 

The Congress's chai-wala meme has started a battle of the barbs between the two national parties.