HIGHLIGHTS

Following are the top stories at 5.25 PM NATION DEL30 PM-BJP-WEST BENGAL 3.10 PM Keep up fight against TMC, will win polls next year PM Modi tells West Bengal BJP MPs New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday asked BJP MPs from West Bengal to effectively counter the Trinamool Congress-led government in the state and work towards winning the assembly elections next year.

Following are the top stories at 5.25 PM NATION DEL30 PM-BJP-WEST BENGAL (3.10 PM) **** Keep up fight against TMC, will win polls next year: PM Modi tells West Bengal BJP MPs New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday asked BJP MPs from West Bengal to effectively counter the Trinamool Congress-led government in the state and work towards winning the assembly elections next year. **** DEL38 PM-NATURAL FARMING (3.44 PM) **** Impressed by natural farming in Tamil Nadu, PM Modi encourages all farmers to adopt it New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday called upon all farmers of the country to think of pursuing natural farming, saying it can address multiple agricultural challenges such as rising dependence on chemical fertilisers and pesticides which affect soil fertility, moisture and long-term sustainability among others. **** DEL28 RAHUL-CENSUS-GOVT (2.59 PM) **** Open betrayal of Bahujans: Rahul slams govt's reply to his poser in LS on caste census New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the Narendra Modi government on Wednesday of openly betraying the country's Bahujans by having ''no concrete framework, no time-bound plan, no discussion in Parliament and no dialogue with the public'' on the caste census exercise to be undertaken. **** DEL31 RAIL-OTP-COUNTER TATKAL (3.11 PM) **** Railway to soon make OTP must for all Tatkal tickets bought at reservation counters New Delhi: To book Tatkal train tickets from railway reservation counters, passengers will now have to provide a one-time password received on their mobile phones, a move officials say is aimed at curbing misuse of the last-minute ticket booking facility. **** PAR8 LS-LD SCINDIA (1.36 PM) **** Sanchar Saathi: Ready to make changes in order; snooping will never happen, says Scindia in LS New Delhi: Amid privacy concerns over the Sanchar Saathi app, Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday asserted that snooping is neither possible nor will it happen with the app. **** DEL34 CONG-SANCHAR APP (3.21 PM) **** Sanchar Saathi app row: Cong slams govt for 'brazenly snooping' on citizens New Delhi: Amid the Sanchar Saathi application row, the Congress on Wednesday accused the BJP-led government of ''brazenly snooping'' on citizens and giving a deceptive clarification when caught ''red-handed''. **** PAR12 LS-FM-TOBACCO BILL (2.54 PM) **** Excise duty to ensure tax incidence on tobacco remains same after GST cess ends: FM New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said the levy of excise on tobacco will ensure that incidence of tax on the demerit good remains same even after the expiry of the GST compensation cess. **** DEL32 MEA-JAISHANKAR-MOBILITY (3.16 PM) **** Countries creating roadblocks in flow of talents across borders will be 'net losers': Jaishankar New Delhi: Countries creating too many roadblocks in flow of professionals across borders will be ''net losers'' and India needs to convince other nations that the use of talent is for mutual benefit, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday. **** DEL16 PREZ-DISABILITY AWARDS (1.57 PM) **** President Murmu hails achievements of Divyang community, calls for equal participation, dignity New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday praised the achievements of persons with disabilities and urged society to ensure their full and equal participation. **** DEL20 AVI-LD-AIRPORTS-OUTAGE (2.11 PM) **** Check-in systems at airports face issues; flights delayed New Delhi: Check-in systems at various airports faced issues on Wednesday morning due to a system outage, according to a source. **** DEL49 DEF-INDIA-RUSSIA (5.13 PM) **** Defence ministers of Russia, India to hold key talks on Thursday New Delhi: India's keenness in procurement of S-400 missile systems, upgrade of Sukhoi 30 fighter jets and purchasing other critical military hardware from Russia will be on the agenda for talks between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart Andrey Belousov on Thursday. **** DEL42 INDIA-EU-UNDERSEA (4.43 PM) **** India, EU looking at cooperation to secure sensitive undersea cables in Indian Ocean New Delhi: Weeks ahead of the annual India-EU summit, senior officials from the two sides will this week deliberate on security and resilience of undersea cables as part of broader focus on boosting maritime security in the Indian Ocean region. **** DEL45 RENUKA-LD BHOW BHOW (4.57 PM) **** Dog row: Renuka says 'Bhow Bhow' on reports of privilege motion against her New Delhi: ''Bhow Bhow''! That was Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury's quick response on Wednesday to reports that some ruling party members are seeking to bring a privilege motion against her for bringing a dog to Parliament. **** BOM15 CG-NAXAL-LD ENCOUNTER (3.59 PM) **** Five Naxalites, cop killed in encounter in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur Bijapur: Five Naxalites and a jawan of the police's District Reserve Guard (DRG) were killed in an encounter in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Wednesday, officials said. **** BOM6 MH-WINTER SESSION (1.21 PM) **** Winter session of Maharashtra legislature from Dec 8 to 14 Mumbai: The winter session of the Maharashtra legislature will be held from December 8 to 14 in Nagpur, officials said on Wednesday. **** CAL21 BH-SESSION-LD GUV (2.48 PM) **** 1 crore jobs will be created in next 5 years: Guv tells Bihar legislature Patna: Bihar Governor Arif Mohammad Khan on Wednesday asserted that the Nitish Kumar government in the state has set a target of creating 1 crore jobs in the next five years. **** CAL25 WB-MAMATA LD -SIR RALLY (3.38 PM) **** Amit Shah behind SIR 'ploy' in Bengal; BJP dug its own grave by rushing it: Mamata Malda: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday tore into the BJP over the Election Commission's rollout of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls months before the Assembly polls, accusing Union Home Minister Amit Shah of ''orchestrating'' the exercise to unsettle voters and ''capture West Bengal by trickery''.**** MDS12 KL-MAMKOOTATHIL-2NDLD CONGRESS (1.36 PM) **** Time to use 'Brahmastra' against Mamkootathil: Congress leader K Muraleedharan Thiruvananthapuram: Demanding stringent action against suspended party MLA Rahul Mamkootathil, who is facing fresh sexual assault allegations from another woman, senior Congress leader K Muraleedharan on Wednesday said ''it is time to use the Brahmastra''. **** MDS15 KA-DELHI-LD CM (4.28 PM) **** No Delhi trip without invitation, says CM Siddaramaiah as Shivakumar flies to capital Mangaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said he would not travel to New Delhi unless he is formally invited. **** LEGAL LGD14 DL-COURT-BLAST-LD JASIR (2.50 PM) **** Court extends NIA custody of Delhi blast accused Jasir Wani by 7 days New Delhi: A Delhi court on Wednesday extended the NIA custody of Jasir Bilal Wani, a key accused in the Red Fort blast case, by seven days. **** LGD16 SC-DELHI RIOTS-BAIL (3.55 PM) **** Restrict arguments to 15 minutes: SC to accused in Delhi riots case New Delhi: Observing that a time schedule is required to be fixed for arguments, the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the lawyers appearing for the accused in the February 2020 Delhi riots to restrict their oral arguments to 15 minutes. **** LGD18 SC-LAWYER-RUCKUS (4.35 PM) **** Woman lawyer escorted out of CJI's courtroom after she creates ruckus New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday saw moments of high drama as a woman lawyer was escorted out of the Chief Justice of India's courtroom after she disrupted proceedings by persistently raising an unlisted case despite directions to stop by the bench.**** BUSINESS DEL46 BIZ-LD SANCHAR APP-REVOKE (4.55 PM) **** Govt drops order for mandatory cybersecurity app on smartphones amid privacy concerns New Delhi: The government on Wednesday withdrew its directive requiring smartphone makers to pre-install a state-run cybersecurity application on all new devices, as it moved to quell rising concerns that the measure could have compromised user privacy or enabled surveillance. **** DEL22 BIZ-RUPEE-CEA (2.58 PM) **** Not losing sleep over falling rupee against dollar: CEA New Delhi: Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran on Wednesday said the government is not losing sleep over declining rupee, which has breached the 90-level against the greenback. **** DEL47 BIZ-PAN MASALA-REGULATIONS (5.11 PM) **** Pan masala packs must now display retail price, says govt New Delhi: The Department of Consumer Affairs has mandated that all pan masala packages, irrespective of size or weight, must display the Retail Sale Price (RSP) and other mandatory declarations under the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011. **** FOREIGN FGN48 BANGLA-LD ZIA (5.13 PM) **** UK medical team joins effort to treat Bangladesh's critically ill ex-PM Khaleda Zia Dhaka: A four-member specialist medical team from the UK arrived in Bangladesh on Wednesday to assist in the treatment of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, who remains in a critical condition in a private hospital here. **** FGN49 BANGLA-YUNUS-ARMY (4.43 PM) **** Bangladesh Chief Adviser Yunus asks army to play 'historic role' in conducting Feb elections Dhaka: Bangladesh interim government's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus on Wednesday lauded the contribution of the armed forces and asked it play a historic role in conducting the upcoming elections scheduled in February. ****

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