Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has instructed all banks in the state to remain open tomorrow and help the public deposit and exchange their notes. 

The government's recent demonetisation drive is proving to be a huge problem for almost everyone. Due to shortage of new currency notes, serpentine queues are seen in front of ATMs and banks almost everyday. 

Samajwadi Party state president Shivpal Yadav today claimed that 28 persons have committed suicide due to cash crunch in Uttar Pradesh, stating that the Centre's demonetisation move has created an atmosphere of 'uncertainty'.

'A total of 28 persons have committed suicide in the state due to cash crunch. This is saddening... (the) prime minister should consider the massive problems being faced by commoners and farmers...,' he said.

'I appeal to people of the state not to get distressed. Samajawadi Party is with them. Poor daily wage earning labourers have been rendered jobless. They neither have bank accounts nor ATMs, and their daily chores depend on cash. They are left to die. Their future is in the dark,' he tweeted.

Shivpal, however, did not specify the details of the people who took the extreme step.

JUST IN: Two hardcore naxals killed in an encounter with police in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada.

The cash crunch in banks and ATMs is expected to continue for at least one more week, according to an intelligence report which attributed the unprecedented situation to a huge gap in demand and supply of currency notes.

Based on a report prepared by the intelligence agencies, PTI quoted Union Home Ministry officials as saying that there has not been enough money in circulation.

People are hoarding smaller denomination and not spending Rs 100 notes which they are getting either after exchanging the defunct Rs 500 or Rs 1,000 currency notes or from the ATMs, they said.

Due to huge gap in demand and supply of currency, the cash shortage will continue for at least one more week, officials said.

The new notes of Rs 100 and Rs 500 are not in circulation in enough numbers, leading to the inconvenience faced by the people. The problem is acute in Delhi and a few major urban centres as not enough ATMs are working and refill remains very slow. Unless the ATMs are operationalised as early as possible, the long queues outside the banks will continue, the officials said. -- PTI

Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani and three of his associates were sent to judicial custody after they refused to apply for bail following their arrest in connection with a protest, police said on Wednesday.

Mevani, who has emerged as the face of Dalit protest after the Una cow vigilante incident, and 19 others were arrested by the police for allegedly trying to block a busy road near the Gujarat University in Ahmedabad on Tuesday evening.

They were arrested under Indian Penal Code Sections 143 (unlawful assembly) and 188 (disobeying orders of public servant), said inspector G S Bariya.

"When we produced them before the court late last night, 16 of them agreed to take bail while Mevani, Subodh Parmar, Dixit Parmar and Rakesh Maheria refused to seek bail. So as per the court's order we sent them in judicial custody at Sabarmati Central Jail," said inspector Bariya.

Mevani and other agitators from Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch had gathered outside the University demanding that the under-construction building of its law department be named after Dr B R Ambedkar.

Congress brings adjournment motion in Lok Sabha to discuss the issue of Demonetisation tomorrow, ANI reported.

Party vice president Rahul Gandhi is expected to speak on the issue.

The party is also likely to demand a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe in 'selective leakage of information' to some Bharatiya Janata Party leaders on the demonetisation issue, ANI said quoting sources.

Several opposition parties were planning to bring the adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha to target the government on the issue.

Opposition leaders said the move is being planned to highlight the hardship caused to people including farmers, labourers and small traders due to demonetisation of high-value currency notes.

JUST IN: An encounter between security forces and terrorists is underway in Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir; 2-3 terrorists are believed to be hiding, says ANI.

More details awaited.

Representative image.

President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday cautioned that a scenario opposite to job creation can spell disaster in the country.

Addressing a conference of heads of educational institutions, he said job creation figures were the lowest in past seven years and jobs creation is a priority.

"In India, we have enough talent. With the largest population of the young, we are poised to leverage a low dependency ratio. But that depends on the productivity of the population in the working age bracket. If there are enough jobs in the country, there will be content, refinement and perfection. An opposite scenario can spell disaster.

"The restlessness and frustration of youth manifests in unrest and upheaval. Let us not allow such a situation to appear on our horizon. We must turn our evolving demographic configuration into strength. For that, adequate job creation is a priority. The job creation figures of 1.35 lakh in 2015, which is the lowest in seven years, are not encouraging," the President said.

He said with machines fast replacing men, there is a need to have a look at a paradigm shift. -- as reported by PTI

Distressed over not being able to exchange old currency notes for the tilak ceremony of his daughter, a 40-year-old man died in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, after suffering a heart attack, his family members claimed on Wednesday.

The tilak ceremony of Suman, daughter of Suresh Sonar, a resident of Sahatwar Nagar panchayat, was scheduled for Wednesday.

But he was short of cash due to 'abrupt' demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, they said.

A dejected Suresh returned home on Tuesday evening after standing in a queue for hours at the State Bank of India branch.

He suffered a massive heart attack in the night and died, family members claimed.

Superintendent of Police Vaibav Krishna said, "The matter was being in looked into."

Around Rs. 1,200 crore in dues owed by Vijay Mallya's collapsed Kingfisher Airlines has been labelled a 'write-off' in the books of India's largest bank, the State Bank of India.

The bank said the Kingfisher loan has been moved, along with other bad loans, to a category called AUCA or "Advance Under Collection Accounts", which allows them to take the bad debt off their books while keeping alive the option of pursuing its recovery.

Confronting an opposition attack in parliament, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley asserted that the loans had not been waived.

"It only means that in accounting books, it is listed as a non-performing asset. A write off doesn't mean forgiving loans. The loan will still be pursued," Jaitley said in the Rajya Sabha.

Debating the stress caused to the public by the sudden ban on Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes, Left lawmaker Sitaram Yechury had questioned the SBI write-off to Mr Mallya while the government claims to crack down on black or untaxed money.

In effect, Mr Yechury said, "it is something that is not going to be realized."

Amid the backlash the government has been receiving from the Opposition in the wake of demonetisation, PM Narendra Modi welcomed an MP from the Congress at his office today.

Tongues haven't begun wagging because the PM has cut across party lines and lauded Congress MP  Shashi Tharoor earlier too, but it is Tharoor's warm response tweeted a while ago, that just might earn him a rap on the knuckles from his party. PM Modi tweeted a picture holding up with Tharoor's soon-to-be released book, An era of Darkness,   with this post: "Lok Sabha MP Dr. @ShashiTharoor called on the Prime Minister and presented a copy of his book to the PM."

Tharoor responded tweeting, "Honoured by @narendramodi ji's interest in the issues raised in #AnEraOfDarkness. Pleased that Pradhan Mantri is the book's Pradhan Pathak!"

1947: Another man, another time. Jawaharlal Nehru addressing the press (Photo- Kulwant Roy collection ). The picture was tweeted by @IndiaHistorypic

PM is speaking on the occasion of National Press Day in New Delhi's Vigyan Bhawan.

Highlights:

--Press was silenced during the Emergency.
-- Earlier journalists though a lot before filing a report. But perhaps challenges today are different.
-- External control of press not good for society
-- Press instrumental in upholding free speech.
-- Freedom of expression must be maintained.
-- I have been friends with journalists for a long time. They just need 10 per cent of information, they can then find the 90 per cent out. Then the government also becomes used to selective leaking. This needs to be changed.
-- Government should not have any interference in the working of the media
-- These days, reports of killings (of journalists) that came - they are especially worrying. Because they died trying to find out the truth
Just saying we are independent isn't enough, the government needs to deal with such cases sternly.
-- Indian media did a commendable job during the Nepal quake; it managed to unite all of India into helping its ally and neighbour.
-- Media has played a very good role in furthering the message of cleanliness.

Sitaram Yechury on notes ban in parliament. While the Lok Sabha adjourned after obituary references, in the Rajya Sabha, the Congress began the attack on demonetisation, followed by Ram Gopal Yadav and Sitaram Yechury. Highlights of what Yechury said in the RS...


-- If you stop Rs 500/1000 notes, do you think corruption will stop? Now corruption will double with Rs 2000 notes.

-- If none of the objectives are to be fulfilled by this, what is the meaning of this move?


-- In the French revolution, they said if you don't have bread eat cake. Now Modi says if you don't have paper, pay by plastic. Now we have Modi Antoinette. What is the coverage of your plastic money. People are suffering and the suffering is increasing by the day.

-- Why are you agonising people. What is this fascistic way of controlling people's personal lives.

-- There is a 'chamakta' (shining) India, for them Paytm and electronic wallets are viable. What about the 'tarasta' (troubled) Bharat.


-- What is this mayhem you have created?  There so many suicides. People can't get their father, mother treated in hospital

-- PM said 50 days more required for alternative arrangement to come into place. Till those alternative arrangements are not in place, allow these notes to be transacted for all white transactions, public purposes.

Meanwhile, in Mumbai, a speeding double decker bus rams into a tree at Bandra Kurla Complex; 6 injured rushed to hospital. Details awaited.


Image: The severely damaged upper deck of the BEST bus. The picture was tweeted by ShetraPC ‏@Pravinshetra.

US President-elect Donald Trump today refuted reports of infighting among advisers in his transition team over key Cabinet appointments, saying a "very organised" process is taking place to select the finalists.


"Very organised process taking place as I decide on Cabinet and many other positions. I am the only one who knows who the finalists are!" Trump said in a tweet. Trump's tweet came as media reported that differences have come up within his camp on finalising his Cabinet. A week after Trump, 70, was elected in a historic election, the President-elect is yet to name a member of his Cabinet.

In the era of Donald Trump and Brexit, Oxford Dictionaries has declared "post-truth' to be its international word of the year, reports the Guardian.


Defined by the dictionary as an adjective "relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief', editors said that use of the term "post-truth' had increased by around 2,000% in 2016 compared to last year.


The spike in usage, it said, is "in the context of the EU referendum in the United Kingdom and the presidential election in the United States'.

Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee addressing the press outside Rashtrapati Bhavan. She is flanked by NC chief Omar Abdullah, leaders from BJP ally Shiv Sena and former AAP leaders. Banerjee had led the march to Rashtrapati Bhavan today to present a 2-page memorandum to President Pranab Mukherjee detailing the issues with the government's demonetisation move.

"We have requested the President to speak to the government and decide on this and bring back normalcy in the country. The common man is suffering because of the government's move," the West Bengal Chief Minister said and quipped, "Initially ATM meant "All time Money" now it is "Aayega tab milega".


She said the TMC will move an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha tomorrow.

In fact all opposition parties have said they will move for an adjournment motion tomorrow because they want a discussion on demonetisation. The government has said it has no problems disccusing the issue, but the oppostion wants the PM to reply to their questions.


Banerjee says the President was once the Finance Minister and knows the country's situation better than anyone else. Farmers don't have money, people are dying and the government is protecting people with black money.


Earlier, Kejriwal met Mamata after her arrival in the national capital on Tuesday and both discussed the issue for about 40 minutes.

TMC leader Derek Obrien said, Our CM is the first person to speak against the demonetisation and we are also first to give notice in Parliament on this. We have already realised that the quicker we found the solution to this problem, the better it is.


Image: Mamata Banerjee with NC's Omar Abdullah and AAP leader Bhagwant Mann outside Rashtrapati Bhavan

If the government can hear anything other than their own chest thumping, it should listen in to writer, journalist P Sainath's warning on the devastation faced by farmers post demonetisation. Sainath focusses on social and economic inequality and if you have time to read only one thing today, let it be this.

On Day 8 of demonetisation, the cash crisis has not eased.


Chaotic scenes and seemingly never-ending queues could still be seen outside banks and ATMs as people hustled to get valid currency notes for meeting their daily expenses after the Centre last week demonetised the old higher value bills.


Cash-strapped people were seen waiting in frustration as most of the cash dispensing machines ran out of cash within hours after being stocked, while thousands of ATMs are still not functional.


Adding to the customer woes, there have been reports of bank servers facing technical glitches. The Centre on November 8 had banned the use of old 500 and 1,000 rupee banknotes in a bid to curb black money and sources of terror funding.


Even ATMs at the Finance Ministry and Parliament House witnessed long queues with average waiting time of an hour. It may take two more weeks before ATMs start dispensing new high-value Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes.


Currently, they are mainly dispensing Rs 100 notes. More and more people across the country are complaining about problems with regard to their daily basic needs as local stores have stopped lending goods and other essential items on credit.


Grappling with unending queues and frayed tempers in banks and to check operation of syndicates, the government yesterday decided to introduce a system of marking customers exchanging defunct currency notes with indelible ink from today onwards in major metro cities.


This, according to the government, would prevent syndicates and certain kind of people coming to a branch again and again and misusing the note-exchange facility.

Sacked Samajwadi Party (SP) general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to demonetise high value currency notes has hit the common people and created a crisis.


"This did not happen even during the Emergency. The common man has become a beggar. If you go to villages today to ask for votes, women will pick up their rolling pins and teach you a lesson," he said.


He said that the demonetisation of the high value currency notes did not affect the rich or the business class but affected people from the villages and women.


"People are very much disturbed by this demonetarization. Farmers are not getting seeds and fertilizers. And the biggest problem facing are the women of our country. Prime Minister should think that when even his mother is forced to stand in queue then what about others, it's a crisis," he added.


The former SP leader said the situation in the rural areas is very bad as the banks have failed to transport the stock of the new currency in the ATMs and branches in rural and semi urban areas.


When asked about Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's presence in a queue to withdraw money from ATM, Yadav said it was just a 'show off'.

Jakarta's Christian governor was formally named a suspect on blasphemy allegations Wednesday, after claims that he insulted Islam sparked a violent mass protest by Muslim hardliners in the Indonesian capital. Read more

Sharpening his attack on Narendra Modi over demonetisation, Rahul Gandhi today charged that no action was being taken against the "real black marketeers" and the "industrialist friends" of the Prime Minister.

After addressing supporters in Bhiwandi near Mumbai where he was present for the hearing of his court case against the RSS, Rahul headed to Vakola near the domestic airport at Santacruz and queued up at an ATM. 

"I want to request the Maharashtra CM to make some arrangements to help people who are struggling to withdraw cash," the Congress Vice president said. "Those who are real black marketeers, those who have Rs 10-20000 crore, those who go with Modi in planes, action should be taken against them. No action is being taken," he said.


Outside the Bhiwandi court after being granted bail in a defamation case, Rahul said, "You are being made to stand in queues. Your money will be given to those select 15-20 industrialists. You all know their names. He (Modi) is running their government," the Congress leader alleged.


Rahul said long queues before banks and ATMs had caused problems for the common man. "The masses are standing in a queue. Do you see any rich person, a big industrialist standing in queue," Rahul sought to know. "Did you get Rs 4000 notes? Did you get indelible ink mark on your hands," he said.

NC chief Omar Abdullah with former AAP leader HS Phoolka at the march there. 

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee leads an almost-united opposition to knock on President Pranab Mukherjee's door to protest the demonetisation woes. The NC and BJP ally Shiv Sena joined Mamata Banerjee today marching towards Rashtrapati Bhavan.  They will be presenting a two-page memorandum to the President on how the move has caused immense hardships to the common people.

The main opposition party -- the Congress -- refused to play ball, insisting on exhausting other options available in a Parliamentary democracy. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal however decided to sit it out.


A meeting of Opposition leaders, convened by Congress veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad to thrash out a "joint strategy' to corner the Narendra Modi-led government, decided to raise the issue in Parliament first, at its Winter Session  today.


"There was a feeling that we should not meet the President on the very first day," Azad, Leader of the Opposition in  Rajya Sabha, told reporters after the meeting of Opposition parties, which was attended by representatives of the Trinamool Congress, BSP, SP, CPM, JD(U), CPI, RJD, JMM, NCP, DMK and RSP.

Even as the government defends the demonetisation exercise amid growing opposition, it has emerged that former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan didn't think much of it.'He said there are other ways of tackling black money.


In August, at the annual Lalit Doshi memorial lecture, Rajan said, "I am not quite sure if what you meant is demonetise the old notes and introduce new notes instead. In the past, demonetisation has been thought of as a way of getting black money out of circulation. Because people then have to come and say "how do I have this 10 crores in cash sitting in my safe and they have to explain where they got the money from. It is often cited as a solution. Unfortunately, my sense is, the clever find ways around it."


On November 8, in a sudden announcement that took everyone by surprise, the government demonetised high denomination bank notes -- 500 and 1,000 currency notes .

Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till 2pm

ANI reports: Peter Mukherjea's bail plea in the Sheena Bora murder case has been rejected by the Bombay High Court.

Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad says Prime Minister Narendra Modi must respect the views of the parties and be present in the House during the discussion on demonetisation.

Demonetisation is a sensitive issue; we want the PM to come to the Rajya Sabha and take part in this discussion: Mayawati 

Congress leader Anand Sharma is speaking on the currency ban in the Rajya Sabha. Highlights....

-- Take a decision, but don't tarnish the entire nation.

-- 86 per cent of currency scrapped in one move. Does that mean all of it was black money?

-- Do farmers have credit cards?

-- Which country is cashless?

-- Monetary policy is under the Reserve Bank of India's jurisdiction. An atmosphere has been created by Govt where questioning the Govt has become the parameter to decide one's nationalism.

--  If you are trying to give the impression that it is this government who has taken all actions to fight black money then you are wrong.

-- The PM does not have the grace to admit it was the previous government, and you are just continuing it.

-- Today you have created an environment where you cannot ask questions
If you ask questions then questions are raised on your patriotism.

-- You beat Pakistan, good. But what about currency ban? You have a list of Indians who have money in Swiss Banks, in the HSBC lists. We demand you to share the list.

Demonetisation has had a major impact on the behaviour of BJP MPs on the 1st day of the winter session of Parliament today.

Our source tells us that there was no jubiliation or cheers or for that matter enthusiasm among the ruling party MPs in the Central Hall of Parliament as is the norm when the Parliament convenes.

BJP MPs were exchanging greetings but the smile was absent. Neither were any goodnatured digs made at the Congress.

Congress MPs were not seen in Central hall either, but when Sonia Gandhi walked in from the Congress Parliamentary Office towards the Lok Sabha, many Congress MPs rushed to greet her.

TMC MPs were distributing black capes as they walked towards the main gate  #1 from Central hall.


PM Narendra Modi met Congress President Sonia Gandhi in the Lok Sabha and enquired about her health; also met other Opposition leaders.

Congress leader Anand Sharma is speaking on the currency ban in the Rajya Sabha. "Take a decision, but don't tarnish the entire nation," he says. 

Rahul Gandhi takes on PM Modi in Bhiwandi. The Congress vice-president was granted bail by a Bhiwandi court Wednesday in a criminal defamation case filed against him for his alleged remarks on RSS' alleged involvement in the Mahatma Gandhi's murder.


Rahul said that Narendra Modi is running a government for 15 people. "India is queuing up, but Modi is smiling and crying. Mark my words, Modi will take your money give it to the rich.  There are no rich people in queue," Rahul said reacting to the PM's claim that the poor were sleeping peacefully, while the rich were queuing up.


He added, "BJP is looting poor to pay the rich. PM Modi wants Indians to cower down. RSS wants to make all Indians slave. Happy I was able to fight this fight."
Rahul Gandhi was granted bail on a personal surety and next date of hearing has been set for January 28.

PM Narendra Modi met Congress President Sonia Gandhi in the Lok Sabha and enquired about her health; also met other Opposition leaders.

Congress Party vice-president Rahul Gandhi has been granted bail in the defamation case being heard in a a Bhiwandi court in Mumbai's outskirts.  The next hearing of the case is on January 28. Senior Congress leader Shivraj Patil furnished the surety.

The Bombay high court had last year declined to grant Rahul Gandhi any relief in the proceedings stemming from a private complaint filed in 2014 by an RSS worker who claimed that he had alleged that Mahatma Gandhi's assassin was a RSS worker.

The HC dismissed Rahul Gandhi's plea to quash the criminal defamation case, but exempted him from a personal appearance before a magistrate in Bhiwandi. The defamation case was filed by RSS activist Rajesh Kunte.


Gandhi had then moved the Supreme Court with a special leave petition (SLP) for permission to challenge the HC dismissal of his plea, but had eventually withdrawn his SLP. Last May he had appeared before the Bhiwandi magistrate in the matter.


Kunte had alleged that Gandhi during a pre-election speech at a rally in Bhiwandi in March 2014 "obliquely hinted that an RSS worker killed Mahatma Gandhi''."Kunte's entire case is based on his personal belief unsupported by any relevant material,'' said Gandhi's plea in HC.

Lok Sabha adjourned for the day after the obituary announcements are read. The obits are still being read in the Rajya Sabha now. 

Just in: Parliament's winter session begins.

Assam: Cash van attacked in Tinsukia, 1 dead and 2 injured.

PM Narendra Modi speaks ahead of the beginning of the winter session of Parliament. The PM appealed to opposition to allow Parliament to function.


"Today the session of the Parliament is commencing. The last session witnessed the historic GST passage. It was a big step. I thanked all parties then," the PM said. The Government believes in debating every issue in an open manner, as this sets the stage for very good decisions. Am sure we will have good debates on various issues, parties will present their views on issues. We will talk about people's aspirations," the PM said.


The Opposition, despite differences in the ranks, put up a united front, calling the demonetisation of higher denomination notes a "currency scam" that needed to be probed.


Ally Shiv Sena also dealt the ruling BJP a blow when it announced it would join the march to Rashtrapati Bhavan, to be led by West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee, because the hardship caused to the public by "demonetisation is not a party matter the country is in a state of financial anarchy".

Sartaj Aziz, Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs, said that he would travel to India to attend the Heart of Asia Conference in December, asserting that his visit could be a "good opportunity" to "defuse the tension" between India and Pakistan.


The conference is scheduled to be held in India on December 3 in Amritsar.Aziz would be the first senior Pakistani official to visit India since the September 10 Uri attack, blamed on Pakistan-based militants, that led India to pull out of the SAARC Summit in Pakistan in November.


"Unlike India, that had sabotaged SAARC summit in Pakistan by pulling out, Pakistan will respond by participating in the Heart of Asia being held in India," Aziz told the media. "It's a good opportunity to defuse the tension," PTV quoted Aziz as saying.

Pakistan Interior Ministry has asked the Turkish staff of Pak-Turk schools and colleges to leave the country by November 20 ahead of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit.


This comes as in August, Islamabad had promised visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavusoglu that it would look into the affairs of the chain of Pak-Turk schools and colleges that Ankara wanted to be closed for its alleged links with US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom it holds responsible for the recent military coup.


The management of the educational network on Tuesday, however, expressed concern over the "abrupt move" and assured the students and parents involved that it stood firmly against any proposal for "ingress of some other organisation into the teachers and staff of the schools", reports the Dawn.


A senior official of the Ministry said the visas of the educational chain's staff had been cancelled and that letters had been sent to them on Sunday, informing them that they had only one week to leave the country.

The decision was in line with the advice of the foreign affairs ministry.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who has over 6.52 million followers on Twitter is easily one of the most followed female world leaders.

The foreign affairs minister has time and time again offered her assistance to those who've reached out to her on Twitter including people with faulty refrigerators and cars. Or labourers stuck in foreign shores or honeymoon couples without a visa.

But her tweet just a few minutes ago is as heartbreaking as it is brave. 

The External Affairs minister tweeted, ‏@SushmaSwaraj  6m6 minutes ago "This is to update you on my health. I am in AIIMS because of kidney failure. Presently, I am on dialysis. I am undergoing tests for a Kidney transplant. Lord Krishna will bless."


She was admitted to AIIMS on November 7 and is being monitored by a team of doctors. Swaraj is admitted at the cardio-neuro centre under the supervision of Balram Airan, Chief of the Cardio Thoracic Centre.


Doctors said her condition is stable and her history of chronic diabetes has affected her kidney functioning. She is on dialysis.


Our prayers are with you , ma'aam. Get well soon!


Image: Sushma Swaraj and her husband Swaraj Kaushal outside Parliament House during the monsoon session in August. Congress MP Digvijaya Singh and BJP MP Vinay Katiyar look on.

A gun battle between security forces and terrorists has erupted in the Marwal forest area of Zaloora on the outskirts of Sopore district of Jammu and Kashmir. One policeman has been killed, police said.

The Srinagar police received specific inputs about the presence of terrorists based on which an operation was launched, police added.

The encounter is ongoing and more details are awaited.

The 2003 India-Pakistan ceasefire agreement has virtually become redundant with a whopping 286 incidents of firing and shelling along LoC and IB in Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistani troops that resulted in death of 26 people, including 14 security personnel, since the surgical strike on terrorist launch pads in PoK.

There have been 186 ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops along the over 190km International Border (IB) in Jammu frontier, while 104 violations of the agreement took place along the over 500km Line of Control (LoC).


Representational image

Pakistan's foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz on Tuesday said United States president-elect Donald Trump would deserve a Nobel prize if he intervenes and succeeds in resolving the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan.


"Trump would deserve Nobel prize if he helps resolve Kashmir dispute," he said on a lighter note while responding to a question regarding Trump's offer to mediate between Pakistan and India.Aziz indicated that Pakistan will welcome any such intervention by the US president-elect Donald Trump.

Policeman killed in encounter with terrorists in Sopore area of Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Rahul Gandhi is on his way to Bhiwandi court in connection with the RSS defamation case.