Indian Team Visits Kabul For Talks With Taliban

HT Daily News Wrap

Indian team visits Kabul for talks with Taliban, RTI activist shot dead outside PWD office in MP's Vidisha, Akshay Kumar requests fans who watch Samrat Prithviraj to 'not give out spoilers' that reveal 'several aspects' of film, and other top news in this bulletin.
India has sent a team led by the external affairs ministry’s point-person on Afghanistan to Kabul for meetings with senior members of the Taliban and to oversee humanitarian relief efforts, the first such visit since the collapse of the Ashraf Ghani government last August. India, like other countries, has not recognised the Taliban setup in Afghanistan, though there have been both backchannel contacts and meetings with the group in third countries such as Qatar. India ended its diplomatic presence in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover and evacuated thousands of nationals from the war-torn country in civilian and military flights. The Centre appeared to pull a draft proposal to set up a grievance appellate panel to take final calls on content on social media, hours after it was disclosed on Thursday, when it triggered a pushback from experts who said the plan was aimed at “bringing social media companies under direct government control”. The plan — officials said it is now being reviewed — was in the form of proposed amendments to the Information Technology Rules, 2021, which in itself has been controversial and suspended by several high courts in the country. A migrant labourer was killed while another was injured after terrorists opened fire at them in Budgam district of Jammu & Kashmir late on Thursday, police said. Dilkhush Kumar, a resident of the Arnia area of Bihar, and Rajan (who goes by one name), a resident of Punjab, were working at a brick kiln in Magraypora village of Chadoora area when they were shot at by terrorists at around 9.20 pm, a police spokesman said. A 36-year-old RTI activist was shot dead in front of public works department (PWD) in Madhya Pradesh’s Vidisha on Thursday afternoon, police said. A resident of Ashok Nagar, Ranjeet Soni was an RTI activist and also a contractor of PWD. “Soni was going to the PWD office when he was shot dead. The murderer shot at his head. He died on the spot,” Vidisha additional superintendent of police (ASP) Sameer yadav said. Actor Akshay Kumar on Thursday shared a note for his fans and followers ahead of the release of his film Samrat Prithviraj. Taking to Instagram, Akshay requested those who watch the period drama ‘to not give out spoilers that reveal several aspects’ of the film. Calling the film ‘an authentic historical’, Akshay said that there are many aspects of the character’s life that are ‘lesser known to the people of our country’. Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan will return as the team’s Test captain, replacing Mominul Haque, the country’s cricket board (BCB) announced on Thursday.