Morning briefing: Ashok Gehlot ex-aide’s claim on phone tapping

Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s former aide, Lokesh Sharma on Wednesday claimed that the purported audio clip of an alleged telephonic conversation between Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and party leaders on “toppling” the state’s Congress government in 2020, was given to him by the Congress veteran. Addressing a press conference in Jaipur, Sharma claimed that Ashok Gehlot gave him a pen drive with some audio clips, which were later leaked to the media following the 2020 political crisis in Rajasthan. Dig deeper
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking at the Vijay Sankalp Shankhnaad Maharally in Chhattisgarh’s Surguja on Wednesday, accused the Congress party of attempting to appease America. He claimed that Urban Naxals had gained influence within the grand old party. “There was a storm in their (Congress) party when I said Urban Naxals have taken control over the Congress party. They felt that efforts should be made to make America happy. Modi has made such a big allegation, so they are pretending to turn towards them and doing a drama to create balance. But they want to steal your property,” the Prime Minister said. Dig deeper
Ashneer Grover’s dig at Sam Pitroda? ’Taxpayers are meaningless minority…’ Dig deeper
Teacher’s way of recording video leaves students giggling. Wholesome moment from Tamil Nadu Montessori goes crazy viral Dig deeper
Tibetan leadership opened back channels talks with China, says head of govt in exile Dig deeper
Private property not outside state purview: Supreme Court Dig deeper
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Rishabh Pant’s return to full fitness has been one of the many sub-stories in the 2024 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and on Wednesday, the Delhi Capitals captain showed that he is well and truly back to his athletic best. Pant smashed an unbeaten 88 off 43 balls in an innings that included five fours and a whopping eight sixes. Most of those shots had the touch of wild-eyed magic that Pant is famous for bringing to the game, particularly in Test cricket. Dig deeper
Tamil superstar Rajinikanth’s 171st film Coolie was announced with much fanfare recently, while Ulaganayagan Kamal Haasan is shooting for Thug Life in Delhi now. Over at Kannada film industry, Dr Shiva Rajkumar is busy working in the film Uttarakaanda, and Malayalam superstar Mohanlal has just started shooting for his 360th film. Meanwhile, Malayalam star Mammootty’s film Turbo is set to hit screens in June and Telugu star Nandamuri Balakrishna aka Balayaa is working on NBK 109 and Megastar Chiranjeevi is shooting for Vishwambhara. At first glance, none of this is surprising given that they are well-known actors but what unites them and makes them stand out in the Indian film industry is that these stars are all more than 60 years old and continue to deliver strong box office numbers, far better than some younger stars in fact. Dig deeper
Sanjay Leela Bhansali hosted a special screening of his upcoming debut Netflix web series Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar in Mumbai. On Wednesday, the biggest names from the film industry descended on the red carpet to attend the star-studded event, including the star cast of Heeramandi – Aditi Rao Hydari, Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Sanjeeda Shaikh, and Sharmin Segal. Alia Bhatt, Ananya Panday, Salman Khan, Vicky Kaushal, Rekha, Karan Johar, Pulkit Samrat, Kriti Kharbanda, Mrunal Thakur, Rashmika Mandanna, Bhumi Pednekar, Vijay Varma, Randeep Hooda, Soni Razdan, Neetu Kapoor, Sussanne Khan and others arrived at the affair dressed in dazzling outfit. Dig deeper