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Three security personnel were killed and 14 sustained injuries during an encounter with Maoists at a newly established police camp on borders of Sukma-Bijapur districts of Bastar region on Tuesday.

An encounter was still going on at the spot and the injured jawans were being airlifted to Raipur for treatment.

Three security personnel were killed and 14 sustained injuries during an encounter with Maoists at a newly established police camp on borders of Sukma-Bijapur districts of Bastar region on Tuesday.

West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar triggered a controversy when he made derogatory remarks against Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee while slamming her over the state's education policy.

In a viral video which was also shared by many TMC leaders on Monday, Majumdar is heard telling the people at a rally in Mathurapur in South 24 Parganas district to "slap" Banerjee.

A day after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar severed ties with the mahagathbandhan(grand alliance) to align with the Bharatiya Janata Party in Bihar, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in land-for-job scam on Monday.

Prasad reached the ED office in Patna’s Bank road at 11 a.m. and was grilled by ED officials for over eight hours. The ED officials, said sources, have presented a set of over 50 questions in the land-for-job scam case which saw the alleged sale of properties at throwaway prices or as ‘gifts’ to Mr. Prasad’s kinfolk during his term as Railway Minister in the 2004-2009 United Progressive Alliance government. The CBI is investigating the allegations of bribery in the case whereas the ED is probing the money laundering trail.

The United States issued a record 1.4 million visas for Indians in the year 2023, which is the highest so far, slashing the visitor visa appointment wait times by 75 per cent.

The US Embassy and Consulates in India released a statement saying that now Indians represent one out of every 10 US visa applicants around the globe.

"In 2023, the US Embassy and Consulates in India processed a record-smashing 1.4 million US visas. Demand across all visa classes was unprecedented, with a 60 per cent increase in applications compared to 2022. Indians now represent one out of every ten US visa applicants around the world," the statement read.

Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren on Monday told the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that he will be available for questioning on January 31 in connection with a money-laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.

In an email to the central agency in which he provided the date, Soren also attacked the ED for acting as per "motivated political agenda to disrupt state government functioning".

He further said that the ED’s insistence to record his statement again on or before January 31, 2024 "reeks of malice".