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Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday released the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) manifesto for the upcoming Chhattisgarh assembly elections during a function at Kushabhau Thakre Parisar in the state. The manifesto titled ‘Modi ki guarantee 2023’ includes several promises including yearly financial assistance to married women, and providing cooking gas cylinders at ₹500 to poor families. Launching the manifesto, Shah said that an “election manifesto is not just a manifesto for the BJP, but a ‘Sankalp Patra’ (document of resolution) for us.” “Fulfilling our resolution, we (BJP-led central government) had established Chhattisgarh state (in 2000)…Chhattisgarh was transformed into a good state from being a BIMARU (laggard) state during 15 years of the BJP rule (2003-2018). Now I assure you on behalf of the BJP that we will work with the aim of making it a developed state in the next five years,” Amit Shah said. Dig Deeper
AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday asserted that the Congress party’s role in the demolition of the Babri mosque was akin to that of the BJP and RSS. During a press conference in Hyderabad, Owaisi also announced his party will put up candidates in nine constituencies for the November 30 assembly polls. “I have seen Congress leader Kamal Nath’s statement. I have been saying that the Congress’ role in the Babri mosque demolition was similar to the BJP, RSS’ role. Kamal Nath’s statement has once again proved that Congress was equally responsible for the demolition of Babri mosque,” Owaisi said. This assertion by Owaisi comes after Kamal Nath’s interview with The Indian Express in which he made reference to Rajiv Gandhi’s role in the Ram temple issue, particularly highlighting the unlocking of the make-shift Ram temple at the Babri mosque site. Dig Deeper
India ‘bright spot’ amid global churn, uncertainties: Army chief. Dig Deeper
Moitra created ruckus to avoid investigation: Ethics panel chief Vinod Sonkar. Dig Deeper
Gehlot challenges Raje for debate on Congress’s poll guarantees. Dig Deeper
Telangana election: YS Sharmila’s party opts out of contest, to support Congress. Dig Deeper
Income Tax officials carry out searches against Tamil Nadu minister EV Velu. Dig Deeper
Madhya Pradesh polls: Premchand Guddu quits Congress for second time. Dig Deeper
Russia’s Wagner group to enter Israel-Hamas war and provide air support to Hezbollah; Pentagon expresses concern. Dig Deeper
Fire at drug rehabilitation centre in Iran kills 32, injures 16. Dig Deeper
Israel sends cross-border Palestinian workers back to Gaza amid war with Hamas. Dig Deeper
It may seem too soon for businessman Raj Kundra, better known as actor Shilpa Shetty’s husband, to get a biopic made on him. But when you have the funding and a story to tell, it’s always the right time to go all out. Though after watching UT 69, it seems as if only Kundra and debutant director Shahnawaz Ali saw merit in this so-called story, and decided to make a film on it. After watching the jail drama for 117 minutes, the only thing I asked myself was, ‘What was this? Why was this?’ Making his debut as an actor and narrating his ordeal of spending 63 days in prison, Kundra stars in UT 69 that traces his time spent in Arthur Road Jail after his alleged involvement in a pornography scandal in 2021. While anyone would have thought that the intention behind the film was to clear Kundra’s image or prove his innocence, strangely enough, the film doesn’t touch upon the case at all, maybe because the matter is subjudiced. That somehow was quite a put off for a lot of people who couldn’t see a point or purpose in watching a nearly 2-hour film based on someone’s life in prison. We definitely needed more. Dig Deeper
The cricketing world can’t stop raving about the collective efforts of India’s pace trio – Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj – following their hostile spell of bowling against Sri Lanka in the World Cup 2023 match at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. Shami, Bumrah and Siraj were breathing fire, combining to scalp 9 out of the 10 wickets which skittled Sri Lanka for their second-lowest ODI total of 55 in chase of 359. The India pace troika now has taken a total of 38 wickets between them. If that isn’t the best pace attack going around in the world right now, not sure what is. But while Shami, Siraj and Bumrah have captured the imagination of a plethora of former cricketers and garnered praises from them for their spellbound bowling yesterday, there are those who continue to belittle their efforts. Hasan Raza, the former Pakistan cricketer, who is no stranger to controversies, has levelled a strong allegation against the Indian team, accusing them of foul play. Raza believes that the ICC and the BCCI are favouring the Indian team by delivering special balls and urged the matter to be looked into. Dig Deeper
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