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Sonia Gandhi hospitalised again

Congress president Sonia Gandhi was on Tuesday admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in New Delhi. She is reportedly being treated for a viral fever. This is the second time in three months that the Congress chief has been admitted to hospital. In August, she spent several weeks in hospital after falling sick in the midst of a roadshow in Varanasi, which is the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She was flown back to Delhi with a fractured shoulder, the result of a fall during the Varanasi tour. She also underwent surgery on her left shoulder on August 3. Sonia Gandhi has been a central figure in the opposition's unified attack on the government over its sudden decision to cancel 500 and 1,000-rupee notes earlier this month, a reform aimed at unearthing black money. More details on her health condition are awaited.

Modi thanks Fadnavis after poll success

Winning 851 seats across 164 urban local bodies the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as a major gainer in the first phase of municipal council polls in Maharashtra on Monday. This election was also a major litmus test for Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The demonetisation exercise, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 8 November, was expected to spell trouble for the party in the state since the announcement came at the time of poll campaign. But it proved otherwise. The BJP made inroads into the Congress and NCP strongholds. In the last elections, BJP tally was 298, Sena 264, Congress 771 and NCP 916. While this time Shiv Sena won 514, NCP 638, Congress 643, MNS 16, BSP 9. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was all praises for his party and the Chief Minister of the state. He tweeted, "I laud BJP Karyakartas, CM @Dev_Fadnavis & @raosahebdanve. Their grassroot level work ensured people place their valued trust in BJP".

Only protest no Bandh says congress

Eighteen Left and other parties have called a 12-hour general strike on November 28 to protest the harassment faced by people following the Union government's demonetisation move. The Congress on Sunday said it has not called for a Bharat bandh on Monday to protest withdrawal of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes and said the party was against such shutdown. The main Opposition party also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cashless society slogan as a “ridiculous proposition”. Congress was the first to give the call for the protest on November 28. It will be joined by five Left parties that stage separate demonstrations across Odisha and West Bengal today. Banks, ATM services, post offices, hospital and medical clinics, ambulance, milk, water and power supplies, newspapers and marriages would be out of the purview of the strike.

Yuvraj's dad to miss his wedding

Cricketer Yuvraj Singh is all set to get hitched to the love of his life, model Hazel Keech on Novermber 30th. The wedding will be at a gurdwara in Fatehgarh Sahib in Punjab. But Yuvraj's father will not be attending the wedding. When asked about it, he said, “It is my misfortune that I will not be attending the traditional wedding of my son ... I had told Yuvraj’s mother that I will not attend the wedding if it is solemnised at any guru or dera sect or involves any religious guru. It’s destiny, I will not go. I only believe in God and not religious gurus”. Talking about his daughter in law, he said, “Even though she has been brought up in a western culture, she is rooted and gives a lot of importance to values and traditions. I know she will bring a positive change in the family and bring the brothers and sisters close to each other. Yuvraj and Hazel are like parents to their younger brother and sisters,” he said.

Escaped Khalistani terrorist arrested

According to reports the Khalistan Liberation Front chief Harminder Mintoo who had escaped along with five others from Nabha jail in Punjab on Sunday has been arrested by Delhi police. This comes twenty four hours after the manhunt launched by the the Special Cell of Delhi police. On Sunday morning, 10 armed men raided the Jail and managed to free Mintoo and six others. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal suspended top jail officials and formed a SIT to probe the jailbreak. A self-loading rifle (SLR), three rifles and several rounds of ammunition were recovered from the SUV during the search, UP's Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Daljit Singh Chaudhary said. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal said Pakistan could be behind the incident as it was desperate to revive terrorism in the state post-surgical strike across LoC and assured that the "conspiracy" will be unravelled soon.

RBI Chief breaks silence on demonetisation

Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel finally broke silence on currency ban and said that the RBI is taking all possible steps to ease people's pain. Urjit Patel also said the RBI has announced an incremental CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) of 100 per cent "because of the large increase in deposits of banks on account of the return of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes" and the decision would be reviewed immediately once the government issues adequate quantum of MSS (Market Stablisation Scheme) bonds which they have promised to do. "The RBI is taking all necessary actions to ease the genuine pain of citizens who are honest and who have been hurt," the RBI governor said. On why there have been long queues and a reduction in trade and business, Dr. Patel said: “This is a once in a lifetime event. It is very rare to remove 86 per cent of the currency in circulation in one go. The logistics of such an operation is mammoth.”

Trump's shocking reaction on Castro's death

Cuba's former president Fidel Castro, one of the world's longest-serving and most iconic leaders, has died aged 90 and US President-elect Donald Trump's reaction to this news shocked one and all. "Today, the world marks the passing of a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades.   Fidel Castro's legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights," Trump said in a statement. “All of the concessions that Barack Obama has granted the Castro regime were done through executive order, which means the next president can reverse them and that I will do unless the Castro regime meets our demands,” he said in September during the election campaign.

Hillary's team to join recounting

Hillary Clinton's campaign said Saturday it will take part in efforts to push for recounts in several key states, joining with Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who has raised millions of dollars to have votes counted again in Wisconsin. The Clinton campaign held out little hope of success in any of the three states, and said it had seen no “actionable evidence” of vote hacking that might taint the results or otherwise provide new grounds for challenging Donald J. Trump’s victory.   But it suggested it was going along with the recount effort to assure supporters that it was doing everything possible to verify that hacking by Russia or other irregularities had not affected the results. The campaign’s general counsel, Marc Elias, said in an online post that while it had found no evidence of sabotage, the campaign felt “an obligation to the more than 64 million Americans who cast ballots for Hillary Clinton”.  

PM urges traders, farmers to go cashless

Learn how this digital economy works. Learn the different ways you can use your bank accounts and internet banking. Learn how to effectively use the apps of various banks on your phones. Learn how to run your business without cash...Learn about card payments and other electronic modes of payment. Look at the malls and see how they functioning, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing the nation in Mann Ki Baat.   "I need your support," Modi said in his monthly radio broadcast and asked young men and women of the the country to teach at least 10 families everyday how to go cashless and make electronic payments. "Take pledge to be a part of a cashless society from today. Not only this, you will also have to take time to educate at least 10 families everyday. Educate them on how to download apps, how to spend money using mobile phones , how to make payments. How to do business."

Heartbreak for Sindhu

India’s PV Sindhu couldn’t make it two Super Series titles in two weeks as she lost to world No. 3 Tai Tzu Ying 15-21, 17-21. Sindhu had come into this tournament closely on the heels of an unbeaten run of nine matches panning China Open Superseries last week.  It took her 41 minutes to dispatch Sindhu despite playing a marathon semi-final against Carolina Marin who isn’t an easy customer herself.   Sindhu was her usual gritty self but her power game came up short against the clinical Ying. Both games started with the players toe-to-toe but as the game progressed, Tai Tzu got better with her execution of shots and in reading Sindhu’s play. However, the Indian can’t quite say that with the Taipei player providing plenty of examples of deft touches at the net and dogged persistence to return points.

India will shine like Gold

"Just like gold we will emerge glowing from this fire. The main reason behind this confidence is our people," said the Prime Minister, defending the demonetisation move in his monthly radio broadcast "Mann ki Baat". "We are such a massive nation, with 125 crore people. This is among the largest initiatives of demonetisation ever undertaken", he said. "I had said it will take about 50 days for the situation to normalise. It is not easy to get rid of the 70-year-old problem" of corruption and black money, he emphasised. "Your support despite severe problems touched me. You have not wavered despite efforts to misguide you," he said. "I understand the inconvenience this has caused. But to treat a disease that has plagued our nation for 70 years, you can be assured the treatment cannot be simple" he added.

Major jailbreak in Punjab

Ten armed men raided the high security Nabha Jail in Punjab on Sunday morning, rained bullets at security guards, and managed to free Khalistan Liberation Force (KLO) chief Harminder Singh Mintoo and four others. The incident took place around 9 am and the attackers came in police uniforms. “They sprayed more than 100 rounds of ammunitions before our security guards could react to the situation,” police sources said. "DG Jails has been suspended and Jail Superintendent and Deputy Jail Superintendent have been dismissed," Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, who also holds the home portfolio, told reporters. The attack took place when the prisoners were brought out of their barracks for morning chores, jail sources said. Mintoo is an accused in 10 terror cases. He was arrested at the Delhi airport in 2014. Mintoo left Babbar Khalsa in 2009 to form KLF. 

Fidel Castro No More

Cuba's former president Fidel Castro, one of the world's longest-serving and most iconic leaders, has died aged 90. Castro toppled the government in 1959, introducing a Communist revolution. He defied the US for decades, surviving many assassination plots. His supporters said he had given Cuba back to the people. Critics saw him as a dictator. Fidel Castro had held on to power longer than any other living national leader except Queen Elizabeth II. He became a towering international figure whose importance in the 20th century far exceeded what might have been expected from the head of state of a Caribbean island nation of 11 million people. During Castro's long illness, the tightly wrapped secrecy about his family started unravelling as his youngest sons and their mother, Dalia Soto del Valle, rallied around him.

2 variants of new Rs.500 note?

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today admitted that there is a defect in the new Rs 500 notes. The submission from the central bank came after two variants of the new Rs 500 note surfaced and went viral on social media. RBI spokesperson said, "It's not a variant. Such a printing deficiency can happen once in a million. It is a valid legal tender and can be freely used in transactions. But if someone does not want to use it and return it to RBI, that too can be done and we will give them full value". The differences in the two sets of notes shadow of Mahatma Gandhi’s picture, placement of the national emblem, colour shade and border size are printing errors given the rush to meet the increasing demand, an official has said.

Virat laughs at Ball tampering allegations

Indian Test Cricket captain Virat Kohli spoke out on the ball tampering issues. Certain sections of the foreign media hinted at possible ball tampering by Virat Kohli during the Rajkot Test against England. Ahead of the third India v England Test to be played at Mohali starting Saturday, the Indian skipper said, "This (ball-tampering allegations) is just to take focus away from series; to me newspaper article doesn't matter over ICC's decision. I don't read newspapers, was told 5 days later that such things happened, I just laughed it off". This came closely on the heels of South African captain Faf du Plessis was found guilty of ball tampering during the Hobart Test against Australia and consequently, he was fined 100 per cent of his match fee.

Modi's strong message to Pak

Pakistan is not far from here. Look at the valour of our army jawans when they conducted surgical strike, it created havoc across border said Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the inauguration ceremony of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Bhatinda. Want to speak to people of Pakistan once again. They must talk to their rulers; must decide if they want to fight against India then let's wage a fight against corruption, against black money, poverty. When school in Peshawar was attacked every Indian was sad. People of Pakistan should tell their rulers to fight corruption, fake notes, he added. He also said he would stop "every drop" of Indus water from going to Pakistan, and that he would keep it for the farmers of Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and (the rest of) India.

Old notes can be exchanged in RBI

With banks not exchanging the old Rs.500 and Rs.1000 notes any longer, the Reserve Bank of India has come up with another option for the general public to change their money. "The Reserve Bank of India advises members of public that exchange of banknotes in Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations, whose legal tender status has been withdrawn, will continue to be available at the counters of the Reserve Bank up to the current limits per person as hitherto", the central bank said in a statement. The RBI said the facility of exchanging demonetised currency notes "is no longer available at other banks' counters. Only Rs.2000 can be exchanged per person.

Ace cricketer invites PM for wedding

Ace cricketer Yuvraj Singh arrived at  Parliament along with his mother to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to extend an invitation for his marriage with model and actress Hazel Keech. His mother said, “We have invited Modi Ji for the reception in Delhi. We carried a box of dry fruits and chocolates with the wedding card”. While the reception guest list is a closely guarded secret, the who's who of politics, showbiz and sports are expected to attend the Delhi reception on December 7. Shabnam also shared that Modi remembered meeting Yuvraj during 2011 World Cup. “They were remembering the time when Modi Ji had given Man of the Match title to Yuvi in Gujarat after 2nd Quarter-Final match between India and Australia in March 2011.” When she was asked what did the PM have to say to groom-to-be “He was very happy for my son and asked him about his health and how he was doing now. He expressed his concern when Yuvi was not well and shared how he used to send messages to him through social media”, she said.

At 68.86 Rupee hits all-time low

The rupee closed at 68.75 a dollar -- a level last seen on 28 August 2013, down 0.27% from its previous close of 68.57. The domestic currency has fallen around 4 per cent since the demonetisation of higher currency notes by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8. Traders spotted the Reserve Bank of India intervening when the rupee fell to around 68.83 per dollar and more heavily later in the morning, sending the rupee sharply higher to 68.74. The central bank likely sold around $500 million so far in the morning, the traders said. As per current estimates, banks have received nearly Rs 6 lakh crore by the way of deposits. Since November 12 RBI has been accepting bids in the reverse repo window that has lead to absorption of nearly Rs 80,000 crore on an average each day.