"Refused To Meet Us In Delhi": Trinamool Leader vs Union Minister

Senior Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday slammed Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti for allegedly spreading falsehood about a meeting with the party's delegation in New Delhi and stated that the TMC is prepared to meet her at Raj Bhavan to discuss the MGNREGA issue.

Mr Banerjee, the TMC national general secretary, also condemned the union minister of state for rural development for allegedly asking the TMC delegation to come to the state BJP office for a discussion on the state's MGNREGA “dues”, labelling it as a manifestation of a "Zamindari" culture mindset.

"When we went to meet her in New Delhi, she not only refused to meet us after making us wait for a long time, but also instructed the police to remove us from Krishi Bhawan. Just yesterday, I had mentioned that senior BJP leaders, including Giriraj Singh and Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, would come to Kolkata to meet us sensing the people's anger," Mr Banerjee said during the sit-in near the Raj Bhavan which entered its third day on Saturday.

Mr Banerjee, who along with other TMC leaders, is holding an indefinite sit-in outside Raj Bhavan in Kolkata since Thursday, has said they will continue the demonstration till Governor CV Ananda Bose meets the protesters.

Earlier in the day, the minister denied allegations that she declined to meet the TMC delegation in New Delhi, emphasising her willingness to deliberate on the issue, while accusing West Bengal's ruling party of engaging in political theatrics.

During a press conference, she stated that the BJP-led central government had never intended to withhold MGNREGA funds from West Bengal but pointed out discrepancies in fund utilisation in the state. Jyoti expressed her readiness to hold talks with the TMC delegation at any time but questioned their sincerity.

"Today, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti came to Kolkata to address a press conference, and as expected, she spread falsehoods about the meeting. But I was surprised by her audacity in asking us to come to the state BJP office to meet her. Why would we go to the BJP office to meet her? If she is genuinely interested in meeting us, she can come to Raj Bhavan, and we will meet her there," Mr Banerjee said.

The Diamond Harbour MP, considered number 2 in the party, also played an audio clip in which BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar can be heard purportedly saying that just one phone call could secure the release of MGNREGA funds from the state.

"In this audio clip, Sukanta Majumdar is heard saying that only one phone call would ensure the release of MGNREGA funds from the state. I would urge all of you to call him and ask him to make that call to get the funds withheld by the Centre released," he said, as he made public the mobile numbers of the BJP leader.

PTI, however, could not independently verify the authenticity of the audio clip.

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

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BCCI To Release 14,000 Tickets For India-Pakistan Cricket WC 2023 Clash

The hype around the mega World Cup clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan has forced the BCCI to release 14,000 tickets for the contest to be played on October 14 in Ahmedabad. India and Pakistan will clash at the world's largest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad for which the demand for tickets has been at its highest. The Narendra Modi Stadium is expected to be a full house as the two rivals will be taking on each other in India after their 2016 World T20 clash in Kolkata, which the hosts won. "BCCI announces the release of 14,000 tickets for the highly anticipated India vs Pakistan match to be held on October 14, 2023, at Ahmedabad," the board said in a statement late on Saturday.

"The sale of tickets for the match will commence from 12 PM IST onwards on October 8th, 2023. Fans can purchase tickets by visiting the official ticketing website," the statement added.

The venue, which has a capacity of hosting more than 1,30,000, witnessed 47,000 people attending the opening match here last Thursday between England and New Zealand, which was the highest number of attendance recorded for a World Cup opening game.

While hosts India start their World Cup campaign on Sunday against Australia in Chennai, Pakistan did well to record a win over the Netherlands on Friday at Hyderabad.

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Army Major Who Fired On Soldiers In Rajouri Camp To Face Court Of Inquiry

A Court of Inquiry was ordered on Friday against an Army Major for allegedly opening fire on his colleagues and injuring five personnel, including three officers, inside a camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri, officials said.

Tension gripped areas around the Neeli post in the Thanamandi area on Thursday and senior officials rushed to the camp for first-hand information about the incident.

According to information gathered through various sources, the Major, who has been identified as 'Prince', created a hue and cry about a possible terror attack prompting his commanding officer to rush his second-in-command from Thanamandi, 18 km from the Neeli post.

Attempts were made to pacify the officer who seemed to be having panic attack. The officer ensured all weapons in the post were deposited in the armoury.

As soon as attempts were made to pacify him, he allegedly started firing indiscriminately and throwing grenades, injuring two middle-rung personnel and the unit's second-in-command.

This prompted the commanding officer of the unit, along with the Regimental Medical Officer (RMO), to rush to the scene. They too were injured and reportedly suffered from splinter injuries.

The injured were taken to Thanamandi, from where three were airlifted to the Command Hospital in Udhampur.

The Major has been detained and is being questioned, the officials said, adding that a Court of Inquiry has been ordered into the incident.

The tense situation at the camp lasted nearly eight hours before the officer was overpowered inside the armoury late last evening.

The army posted on X that an officer was injured in a likely grenade accident at a post in Rajouri.

"On 05 Oct 23 one officer was injured in a likely grenade accident at a post in Rajouri sector. Officer evacuated and stable post initial treatment. Further investigation of the incident in progress," the White Knight Corps of the army posted on X.

Official sources said there was a firing practice session at the camp for the past several days and the accused officer started firing on his colleagues and subordinates without any provocation on Thursday afternoon.

Later, he took shelter inside the armoury of the camp and hurled grenades when the commanding officer, along with his deputy and the medical officer, moved near the building in an effort to persuade him to surrender, the sources said.

On the incident, Jammu-based defence PRO Lt Col Suneel Bartwal in a message said, "I have received calls about some firing/terrorist attack on army camp in General Area Rajouri. I would like to inform you that no terrorist attack has occurred, it is an unfortunate internal incident of the camp."

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बाबर आजम ने ली राहत की सांस, हारिस रउफ की 2 बॉल ने पलटा मुकाबला

पिछले 5 में चार मौकों पर टीम को हार मिली थी. भारत में खेले जा रहे विश्व कप में बाबर आजम की टीम नीदरलैंड्स के खिलाफ पहले मुकाबले में मुश्किल में नजर आ रही थी लेकिन बेहतर बल्लेबाजी और शानदार गेंदबाजी के दम पर बाजी पलट कर रख दी.

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Cop Dies By Suicide In Arunachal Pradesh

A constable on duty at a minister's bungalow here allegedly shot himself to death on Thursday, a senior police officer said.

Constable Kabak Soni of the first Arunachal Armed Police battalion, who was on duty at Environment & Forest Minister Mama Natung's residence, shot himself at his head from point blank range with his gun, Capital Superintendent of Police (SP) Rohit Rajbir Singh said.

"One round was used by him, to shoot in the temple...," Mr Singh said, adding the 33-year-old constable hails from the Papumpare district of the state.

Inquest proceedings were conducted by Niti Vihar police station, he said.

The body of the policeman was handed over to the family members after conducting postmortem at the Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (TRIHMS) near here, the SP added.

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Ashwin Trains Intensely At Nets Ahead Of World Cup 2023 Match vs Australia

Veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin went through an engaging net session in Chennai, ahead of World Cup 2023 match between India and Australia. Ashwin could be included as the third spinner behind Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav against the Aussies ahead of pacer Shardul Thakur considering a possibly gripping pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, and his hold over veterans David Warner and Steve Smith. Ashwin, who takes the ball away from the left-handers with his off-breaks, has had the measure of Warner in the past, dismissing him 11 times in the Tests.

The Aussie had batted right-handed in the recent second ODI against India at Indore to counter Ashwin.

Smith, a consistent run-scorer in ODIs, too had his struggles against the Indian maestro, especially in Test cricket.

Hence, it would not be a big surprise to see Ashwin getting a nod ahead of Thakur in the first match at Chepauk.

Ashwin, who replaced injured Axar Patel in India's World Cup squad, bowled for an extended session at the nets here to Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Thakur among others.

Before rolling his arm, the Chennai man also spent considerable time at nets polishing his batting skills.

Ashwin started the batting session facing throwdowns from the side-arm specialists in the squad before testing his skills against regular India bowlers and a set of local net bowlers.

Ashwin, who has always been a sweet timer of the ball, impressed with his ability to play the aerial shots, something that will be handy if he comes out to bat at No. 8.

It was the second practice session of India ahead of their match against Australia, and everyone except Shubman Gill turned up for the action.

Star batter Virat Kohli looked in fine touch during his nearly 45 minutes stint at nets, unfurling his trademark drives against pacers and throwdown specialists.

Shreyas, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja and Kishan too had a good hit.

While Surya, Kishan and Jadeja looked in fine touch playing those big shots, Iyer was occasionally tested with short-pitched deliveries, which he connected well while playing the pull shots over square leg and deep fine-leg.

Later, the bowlers such as Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep, Thakur too devoted a bit of time to strengthen their abilities with the bat.

Rahul, who returned to top-level action during the Asia Cup after a long injury layoff, was also seen spending some time with head coach Rahul Dravid, who gave the batter some throw-ins.

Among the bowlers, pacers Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj came out with full intensity and occasionally troubled Iye and Thakur with deliveries that moved away from the batters.

However, there was no extra preparatory session against the left-arm pace of Mitchell Starc. It may be recalled that Indian batters had engaged in full-scale training during the Asia Cup to tackle Pakistan left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Starc was lethal in the warm-up match against Netherlands, taking a hat-trick while swinging the ball prodigiously in.

However, the conditions in Chennai could be vastly different from the rainy Thiruvananthapuram.

Starc has traditionally troubled the Indian batters. In India, he has taken 12 wickets in eight ODIs, including a fifer, against the Men in Blue at an average of 39.41 and his economy stands at 6.50.

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Centre Has Cleared Ken-Betwa River Linking Project: Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Wednesday that the Centre has cleared the Ken-Betwa River Linking Project, which will provide water to the impoverished Bundelkhand region.

It is a lucky day for Madhya Pradesh and Bundelkhand, the CM said in a video message. The project will irrigate the 10.6 lakh hectares of land besides providing drinking water to 62 lakh people in the region, he said.

The parched Bundelkhand region straddles Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The project to link the Ken and Betwa rivers has been envisaged under the Centre's national river interlinking policy.

Mr Chouhan said two electricity projects – 103 MW hydropower and 27 MW solar plants – will be set up under this river-linking initiative. Two other power projects of 72 MW capacity will also be put up, he said and added, “Congress did nothing for this region… They only stalled the project.” Assembly elections in the BJP-governed MP are due by the year-end.

He said that irrigation facilities in the state have been increased to 47 lakh hectares from seven lakh hectares in 2003 and work is underway to take it up to 65 lakh hectares.

The “double engine” government of the BJP – at the Centre and state – has transformed Madhya Pradesh, Chouhan said thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for clearing the project.

State BJP president V D Sharma, who represents the Khajuraho Lok Sabha seat in Bundelkhand, said the Centre has cleared the proposal for using 6,017 hectares of forest land for the Ken-Betwa River Linking Project.

After this clearance, the work on the project will speed up, he said. This project will transform the Bundelkhand region in MP and neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, he said.

During the monsoon season, Mr Sharma said, MP will get 1,834 million cusecs of water through this project.

Chhatarpur, Panna, Tikamgarh, Niwari and Damoh districts of Madhya Pradesh and Banda, Mahoba, Jhansi and Lalitpur districts of Uttar Pradesh will benefit through this project, said Mr Sharma, adding that his parliamentary constituency will also be a gainer. 

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