BJP tears into Sam Pitroda, dubs his "East Indians look like Chinese" comment as racist

The Prime Minister, who arrived here on a two-day Odisha visit, convened a meeting of party leaders and election managers at the office. He visited the BJP State office for the first time after becoming the Prime Minister. 

On the occasion, he thanked leaders working hard despite being denied a ticket to fight polls. He too thanked the workers for their hard work in the ongoing elections. He talked to all present in the office and enquired about their well-being. 

He recalled his first visit to the BJP State office in 1986 while he was the organization minister of the party. 

The Prime Minister spent about 30 minutes at the party office before moving to the Raj Bhawan where he would spend the night.  

Among others, BJP state president Manmohan Samal, former president Samir Mohanty, state election in-charge Vijaypal Singh Tomar, co-election in-chart Lata Usendi, and vice-president Golak Mohapatra were present. 

The Prime Minister is scheduled to visit the Shreemandir in Puri tomorrow morning. After having Darshan of Lord Jagannath and His siblings Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra, he would hold a mega rally on the Bada Danda (Grand Road) in the pilgrim city.

A tight security arrangement has been made by the Odisha police for this purpose. 

Later, he would go to Angul to address a Bijay Sankalpa Samavesh. Then, he would come to Cuttack to attend another Vijaya Sankalpa Samavesh.

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Raisi, who is on a one-day trip to neighbouring Azerbaijan, met his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev and the two leaders inaugurated the Qiz Qalasi Dam, which is a joint project of both countries.

Iran's Tasnim News Agency said that there were three helicopters in the convoy, two of which carrying ministers and officials "arrived at their destination safely". The agency said that Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian was also reportedly on the helicopter with Raisi.

"However, some of the president's companions on this helicopter were able to communicate with Central Headquarters, raising hopes that the incident could have ended without casualties," it said in a post on X.

Without elaborating on the details, Iranian state television also reported that the helicopter carrying the Iranian President suffered a "hard landing".

Meanwhile, Iran's Mehr News Agency reported that Raisi has labelled reports of the accident as a "rumour" and said that the President and his convoy were travelling from Khodaafarin to Tabriz by land.

"Mehr reporter's investigations indicate that a few minutes ago, the helicopter carrying the President landed on the ground due to the foggy weather in the northern region of east Azarbaijan, and now the President's convoy is on its way to Tabriz," it said.

(IANS)

Chasing 215 on their home ground, Hyderabad suffered an early blow as they lost opener Travis Head (0) on the first ball of the innings -- Arshdeep Singh clinching the wicket for Punjab in the power-play.

Rahul Tripathi came in to bat at No. 3 and joined Abhishek in the middle. The duo kept the scoring rate high, firing boundaries at regular intervals. In no time, SRH crossed the 50-run mark and went on in cruise mode before Harshal Patel gave PBKS a slight respite with the wicket of Tripathi in the fifth over. He was dismissed for 33 runs which included four fours and two sixes.

Nitish Reddy walked out to bat and kept the momentum going as SRH posted their third-highest power-play total after finishing 84-2 in six overs.

Meanwhile, Abhishek slammed his third fifty of the season, off 21 balls. He scored 66 runs in 28 balls including six sixes and five fours before losing his wicket to Shashank Singh in the 11th over. During his knock, he also created history by becoming the first Indian batter to smash 39 sixes in an IPL season. Previously, Virat Kohli held the record with 38 maximums in the 2016 edition of the tournament.

Nitish and Heinrich Klaasen continued the onslaught as SRH controlled the pace of the match throughout their innings. Reddy played a 37-run knock while Klaasen scored 42 off 26 runs to keep them ahead in the chase. Despite losing Shabaz Ahmed (3) and Klaasen (42) in the death overs, the win was a cakewalk for the home franchise. In the end, Abdul Samad (11*) and Sanvir Singh (6*) remained unbeaten as Hyderabad chased the target with five balls to spare.

For Hyderabad, Arshdeep and Harshal bagged two scalps apiece.

Earlier, Prabhsimran Singh's half-century coupled with Rilee Rossouw's 49 powered Punjab Kings to 214/5.

Playing his second game of the season, the left-handed opener Atharva Taide along with partner Prabhsimran gave PBKS a blazing start. The duo set the foundation for Punjab's total by unleashing carnage in the power-play. The openers scored at the rate of over 10 runs per over to make the most of the field restriction. After six overs, Punjab were 61 for no loss. Pacer T. Natrajan finally broke the partnership in the 10th over as Taide hit the ball into the hands of Sanvir Singh at point.

Rilee Rossouw joined Prabhsimran in the middle and carried the momentum forward in the middle overs. Meanwhile, the latter also completed his second half-century of the season. The batters steered Punjab to the 150-run mark and stitched a 54-run partnership for the second wicket before Prabhsimran departed after scoring a 45-ball 71 studded with seven fours and four sixes. This time, Sri Lanka spinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth did the job for the home team.

The in-form Shashank Singh (2) failed to make his final game of the season memorable as his stay at the crease only lasted for four balls following a mix-up with Rossouw between the wickets in the 16th over.

Meanwhile, SRH skipper Pat Cummins trapped Rossouw on a slow full-toss in the 18th over and left Punjab without a set-batter for the final overs. The South African batter played a knock of 49 runs off 24 balls including four sixes and three fours.

Ashutosh Sharma (2) lost his wicket cheaply to Natrajan in pursuit of scoring at a brisk pace.

In the end, stand-in captain Jitesh Sharma's cameo of 14-ball 26 not out, laced with two sixes and as many fours, enabled them to touch the 200-run mark in the final over of the innings. For Hyderabad, Natrajan bagged two wickets while Cummins and Viyaskanth claimed one scalp each.

Brief scores:

Punjab Kings 214/5 in 20 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 71, Rilee Rossouw 49; T. Natrajan 2-33, Pat Cummins 1-36) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 215/6 in 19.1 overs (Abhishek Sharma 66, Heinrich Klaasen 42; Arshdeep Singh 2-37) by four wickets.

(IANS)