The most loved couple of India, Bollywood star Anushka Sharma and Indian captain Virat Kohli, has been making news in media for quite some years now. But the fans of the duo recently had a meltdown when the news about their hush-hush marriage had come out in the media. Virat and Anushka had tied the knot with each-other on 11 December in Italy. After their marriage, the duo had two receptions in Delhi and Mumbai.

Taking a short break from her busy life ‘Rab ne bna di jodi’ star Anushka Sharma is accompanying her hubby Virat Kohli in South Africa. And it seems Virat is quite good in balancing his personal life and work in Cape Town.

Virat Kohli has shared a new selfie with his ‘one and only’ on photo-sharing website Instagram and wrote, “Cape Town is such a beautiful place anyways, and even more beautiful with my one and only.”

Cape Town is such a beautiful place anyways, and even more beautiful with my one and only! 👌❤

A post shared by Virat Kohli (@virat.kohli) on Jan 2, 2018 at 10:11pm PST

In the photograph shared by Virat, Anushka looks radiant and the post has almost 11 lakh likes till the time story has been written.

Earlier, in the photo shared by Virat Kohli Anushka Sharma fan club, the duo was spotted with the Indian superhero Pad man aka Akshay Kumar.

#virushka with Akshay Kumar… ————————————— #marriage #virushka #viratkohli #viratanushka #virushkawedding #viratwedsanushka #anushkasharma #reception #delhi follow @virushka_lov for more updates

A post shared by Virat ❤️ Anushka (@virushka_lov) on Jan 2, 2018 at 6:31pm PST

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Wednesday issued a consultation paper seeking stakeholders’ view to formulate the National Telecom Policy 2018.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), through its letter dated August 21, 2017 requested the TRAI to suggest its policy inputs for formulation of National Telecom Policy – 2018.

The DoT, on its web-site, has stated that the new telecom policy will be governed by the key guiding principle of alignment with the national vision. Its major themes will be regulatory and licensing frameworks impacting the telecom sector, connectivity-for-all, quality of services, ease of doing business, and absorption of new technologies including 5G and Internet of Things (IoT).

The policy has, “common Strategies to leapfrog India amongst top-50 nations in international rankings in terms of network readiness, communications systems and services, to attract an investment of USD 100 billion in telecommunication sector, and to attain average speed of 20 Mbps for wireless and 50 Mbps for wireline internet connectivity.”

The government through the new telecom policy seeks to spur the socioeconomic development up to the bottom of the pyramid by ensuring voice, video and data connectivity for all, provide reliable and secured connectivity with assured quality of service.

Stakeholders are requested to furnish their written comments by January 19, 2018.

The Indian telecom sector is the second largest in the world by number of telephone subscribers with 1.2 billion subscribers as on October 31, 2017. India also has the world’s second-largest internet subscriber base with 340 million internet subscribers as on October 31, 2017. It has one of the lowest tariffs for telecommunication services in the world.

The mission of the policy is to fulfil the communication needs of the people, enterprises, and industries at affordable prices. Also to develop state-of-the-art secured communication infrastructure for delivering high-quality quality services to man and machines in urban as well as rural area.

“To establish India as global hub for internet and data communication systems and services in a net-neutral environment. To aim for self sufficiency in telecom equipment manufacturing ,” the consultation paper said.

It has the objective to increase rural tele-density to 100 per cent. “To leapfrog India amongst top-50 nations in international rankings in terms of network readiness, communications systems, and services.”

The Iranian government has clamped a nationwide block on the country’s most popular encrypted messaging platform Telegram after days of anti-government unrest.

“The Iranian government also requested suspension for a number of other channels that had not violated the policy on violence. When Telegram refused, the government placed a nationwide block on the app,” Pavel Durov, founder of Telegram, was quoted as saying by The Verge.

Iran state TV announced that Telegram was suspended to “preserve the peace and security of citizens”, according to BuzzFeed.

Internet access has been sporadically cut off to several cities where anti-government protests have taken place, and access to other social media platforms like Facebook-owned Instagram has also been intermittent.

Meanwhile, officials say that over 20 people have been killed and hundreds arrested in Iran since the protests broke out on Thursday in the northeastern city of Mashhad and spread to the capital Tehran and several other provinces.

The unrest was ignited by frustration at Iran’s sluggish economy but has widened to include open defiance of Iran’s ruling clergy.

Even before the protests began, Iran’s government blocked popular social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube and any VPN services that might be used to circumvent the block.

In the history of cricket, Indian team have never won a Test series in the rainbow nation. But if the cricket experts and cricket Pandits are to be believed then Virat Kohli’s boys can create history by winning their maiden Test series in South Africa. The year 2017 was a very beautiful and exceptionally good year for skipper Kohli.

In 2017, Kohli was in prolific form and the skipper has shattered many international records, including Don Bradman’s maximum number of double centuries in Test cricket as a captain. But the year 2018 brings a new challenge for Virat and Co. The Indian squad will face Proteas in three-match Test series starting from Jan 5. The first Test match of three-match series will be played at Newlands stadium in Cape Town, South Africa. Both, India and South Africa, will try their best to win the first match so that they can dominate the series.

Even though the Indian squad did not have a warm-up match, yet cricket great Sachin Tendulkar believes that Kohli-led side is “very well prepared”.

When Tendulkar was asked whether 2018 is going to be the “toughest phase” for Virat Kohli’s boys, Sachin agreed.

“Yes. It will be a good challenge to play in seaming conditions in South Africa and England. It’s about the Indian team and not about any individual. As a team India is very well prepared,” Tendulkar said while talking to “Hindustan Times”.

“Virat Kohli will succeed if the team succeeds. Virat should just play his normal game and stick to the basics. The team should rally around him. India can only succeed if they can put up good totals. Runs will matter and not only Virat, but the entire team has to contribute. So, it’s not only about Virat Kohli,” Tendulkar added.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Wednesday issued a consultation paper seeking stakeholders’ view to formulate the National Telecom Policy 2018.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), through its letter dated August 21, 2017 requested the TRAI to suggest its policy inputs for formulation of National Telecom Policy – 2018.

The DoT, on its web-site, has stated that the new telecom policy will be governed by the key guiding principle of alignment with the national vision. Its major themes will be regulatory and licensing frameworks impacting the telecom sector, connectivity-for-all, quality of services, ease of doing business, and absorption of new technologies including 5G and Internet of Things (IoT).

The policy has, “common Strategies to leapfrog India amongst top-50 nations in international rankings in terms of network readiness, communications systems and services, to attract an investment of USD 100 billion in telecommunication sector, and to attain average speed of 20 Mbps for wireless and 50 Mbps for wireline internet connectivity.”

The government through the new telecom policy seeks to spur the socioeconomic development up to the bottom of the pyramid by ensuring voice, video and data connectivity for all, provide reliable and secured connectivity with assured quality of service.

Stakeholders are requested to furnish their written comments by January 19, 2018.

The Indian telecom sector is the second largest in the world by number of telephone subscribers with 1.2 billion subscribers as on October 31, 2017. India also has the world’s second-largest internet subscriber base with 340 million internet subscribers as on October 31, 2017. It has one of the lowest tariffs for telecommunication services in the world.

The mission of the policy is to fulfil the communication needs of the people, enterprises, and industries at affordable prices. Also to develop state-of-the-art secured communication infrastructure for delivering high-quality quality services to man and machines in urban as well as rural area.

“To establish India as global hub for internet and data communication systems and services in a net-neutral environment. To aim for self sufficiency in telecom equipment manufacturing ,” the consultation paper said.

It has the objective to increase rural tele-density to 100 per cent. “To leapfrog India amongst top-50 nations in international rankings in terms of network readiness, communications systems, and services.”

A Delhi court has acquitted a man of the charge of raping a woman after intoxicating her, saying they were in a live-in relationship and the physical relation between them was consensual.

Additional Sessions Judge Ramesh Kumar II absolved the man, who was accused of raping the woman on the false promise of marriage, noting that she was married already so there was no question of being misled by the accused.

“As per the prosecutrix (woman) she had not taken divorce from her husband and her marriage with him was still persistent, hence, there is no question of her being misled by accused on false promise of marriage. More so from her testimony it is crystal clear that prosecutrix and accused were in a live-in relationship,” the judge said.

According to the prosecution, an FIR was lodged on January 1, 2015 under sections 328 and 376 of the IPC against accused Sita Ram Sharma on the complaint of a woman alleging that on the night of December 31, 2014 he made her consume a sedative laced coffee after which she became unconscious and then taking advantage of her condition, he raped her.

The accused, through his counsel Prashant Diwan, denied the allegations and contended that he had arranged a rented accommodation for the woman and they were living in together but she wanted extort money from him so implicated him in the false rape case.

The court accepted the contention of the accused and said the woman’s story was untruthful.“Circumstances emanating from the evidence adduced by prosecution, story put by prosecutrix gets belied and the case which comes out from the evidence is that prosecutrix has been live-in relation with the accused, who established physical relation with her with her free will,” it said.

While allowing the accused to walk free, the court said, “The circumstances emerging from the evidence clearly establish that it was the case of consensual relation. Hence this court is of the view that prosecution has failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt against the accused. Accordingly he is acquitted.”

A criminal carrying a bounty of Rs 1 lakh was shot dead while an Inspector and a Constable were injured during a gun battle in Uttar Pradesh’s Kairana district early on Wednesday, police said.

Sabir was killed while Constable Ankit was critically wounded with bullet injuries to his chest and head. Inspector Bhagwat Singh was also injured.

Sabir, who had escaped from police custody in Barabanki 10 months ago, belonged to the Mukeem Lala gang, a police officer said. The police had been looking for him ever since.

After a tip, the Special Operations Group (SOG) and police officers from various police stations surrounded Sabir’s house around Tuesday midnight.

Sabir was with his wife then. Sabir allegedly opened fire in which the two policemen were injured.

He then tried to escape by jumping off the roof but the police team shot him dead with automatic weapons.

Sabir was wanted in many cases of murder, extortion and kidnappings in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

The injured Constable was rushed to a private hospital in Meerut. As his condition deteriorated, he was referred to Fortis Hospital in Noida where he was said to be in critical condition.

North Korea on Wednesday opened its hotline to South Korea for the first time in almost two years, a major diplomatic breakthrough that could pave the way for future talks following a year of escalating hostility.

The North opened the dialogue channel at the shared border village of Panmunjom at 3 p.m., reports CNN

“By upholding a decision by the leadership, we will make close contact with South Korea in a sincere and faithful manner,” Yonhap News Agency quoted Ri Son-gwon, the head of North Korea’s agency handling inter-Korean affairs, as saying.

“We will discuss working-level issues over our potential dispatch of the delegation.”

The announcement comes a day after Seoul proposed high-level inter-Korean talks on January 9 to discuss North Korea’s possible participation in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics slated to be held from February 9 to 25, and ways to improve ties.

But Ri did not specify whether the country would accept Seoul’s offer for the talks.

On New Year’s Day, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said that Pyongyang was willing to send a delegation to the Olympics in South Korea and is open to inter-Korean talks over the matter.

The North cut off two inter-Korean communication channels — a hotline installed at the liaison office at the truce village and a military channel — in February 2016 in protest of Seoul’s shutdown of a joint industrial complex.

According to Ri, Kim “highly appreciated and welcomed” President Moon Jae-in’s support of his peace offer.

“The leader stressed that whether inter-Korean ties can be improved totally depends on North and South Korea,” the official said.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry welcomed the North’s restoration of the cross-border channel.

“We will consult with North Korea over working-level issues in connection to our dialogue offer through the hotline,” the ministry added.

Drinking formula made from cow’s milk may not put babies at higher risk of developing Type 1 diabetes, the first large international trial showed.

Type 1 diabetes, once known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes, is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin.

Previous studies have reported that early exposure to complex foreign proteins, such as cow’s milk proteins, may increase the risk of Type 1 diabetes in young children with genetic risk for the condition.

For the new study, the team led by University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre, examined 2,159 infants from 15 countries with genetic risk for Type 1 diabetes to find out whether delaying the exposure to complex foreign proteins such as cow’s milk proteins would decrease the risk of diabetes.

After breastfeeding, infants were either weaned to a special formula (extensively hydrolysed casein formula), with the cow’s milk proteins split into small peptides (small pieces of the protein), or a regular cow’s milk-based formula with intact cow’s milk proteins.

Infants were fed the study formula for at least two months until the age of six to eight months and at the same time were given no cow’s milk proteins from any other food sources and were followed for over 10 years.

The findings, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, revealed that no association was found between children fed formula with whole-milk proteins or those with the proteins broken down.

“The study puts to rest the controversy regarding the potential role of cow’s milk formula in the development of Type 1 diabetes,” said Dorothy Becker, Professor at the varsity.

The study also showed that “there is no evidence to revise the current dietary recommendations for infants at high risk for Type 1 diabetes,” Becker noted.

For the purpose of developing analytic thought and reducing mistaken alterations in data received by children with sight disabilities, a group of students in Mexico City designed a multi-sensory system that includes stories, jigsaw puzzles and stuffed tos.

“Mati Mati: Makes Visible the Invisible”, is a system that reduces the difficulties of learning by developing analytic thought in blind children, said the creators, students at the Metropolitan Autonomous University (UAM).

The work focuses on a strategy of sensory instruction that reduces the reception of data in a mistakenly altered form due to the lack of sight, reports Efe news.

“The solution we propose offers information to each of the senses, since it is based on hearing, touch, haptics (related to touch) and smell,” according to the system’s developers.

The bases of the project are two stories written by the students about endangered species in Mexico: the ajolotl salamander that lives in Xochimilco and the quetzal bird indigenous to the forests of Chiapas.

The system consists of stuffed animals that can be taken apart, two 3D jigsaw puzzles and stories with visual information printed in ink, whose editorial design was executed according to the needs of youngsters either blind or with very limited vision, and includes a series of watercolour illustrations that complement each story.

The stories include haptic images and the Braille system, which correspond to the sense of touch, while each one has its own audiobook so that users can hear the story narrated by the characters in the story, and whose soundtrack enriches the project, the inventors said.

Both the stuffed animals, with textures and materials that simulate the real feeling of the species, plus the odours related to the story and the jigsaw puzzles are all calculated to strengthen the analytic thought processes of blind youngsters as they try to dismantle and assemble each object without anybody helping them.

The jigsaw puzzles were designed and cut with a laser beam, possess geometric forms identifiable to the touch, and present textures through which users can identify each part of the animal through active feeling.

Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik was arrested here on Wednesday while senior separatist leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq was put under house arrest.

Malik was taken into preventive custody from his uptown Abi Guzar Party office.

Earlier, authorities placed Mirwaiz Farooq in house arrest at his residence at Nigeen on Srinagar’s outskirts.

Reacting to his house arrest, Mirwaiz Umer said tweeted: “After three days, again put under #HouseArrest! Panic and fright of the paranoid Autocratic State getting more and more chronic by the day!”

The New Year is upon us. It has been 17 years into the 21st century and if one word has to define this period, ‘innovation is bound to reign supreme. Technological innovation in every field has taken place at such a rapid pace over the last two decades that most of it is taken as given.

It is hard to imagine that a world obsessed with acronyms like AI, VR, and EV was still very much dependent on the post office barely 17 years ago. It is unfathomable and potentially scary from some aspects as to what the future holds for mankind.

With the world innovating at breakneck speed, no country wants to be left behind the curve. China is the latest kid in the block. It is no longer the low-labour-cost country that makes it the manufacturing powerhouse of the world. Now, the country’s manufacturing strengths lie in its strong supply chain networks and advanced production knowhow. In fact, in its 13 Five Year Plan that began in May 2016, China laid out a roadmap to become an “innovative nation” by 2020 and an “international innovation leader” by 2030.

Even before these goals were set, the country had doubled its spending on R&D between 2000 and 2016 from 0.9 percent of its GDP to 2.1 percent. It is no surprise then, that the greater Shenzhen-Hong Kong area finds itself ranked second in terms of global inventive clusters as measured by patents.

It is clearly time for India to adopt innovation as a paradigm and a long-term principle to be competitive on the world stage. Like China, it is critical that India works upon building an enabling conducive environment for innovation to take place. This includes, but is not limited to, access to technology required for scaling, availability of funding, leadership and skill, and also a market for all this.

As per the Global Innovation Index, India has shown consistent improvement since 2011 and its performance has been ahead of the average lower-middle- and upper-middle-income countries of the world. However, the India State Innovation Report 2017 has brought out some interesting highlights on the state of innovation in India.

First, on a national scale India lags considerably behind the major economies of the world. As of 2015, India spent 0.88 percent of its GDP on R&D while Brazil, the US and Japan spent 1.2, 2.8 and 3.4 percent respectively. As for patents, India had filed 17 per million people while Brazil, China, the US and Japan were at 34, 541, 910 and 3,716 respectively. Finally, the India’s share of global publications stood at 4.2 percent while China and the US were at 20.2 and 25.3 respectively. Therefore, there remains a vast gap for India to cover if it to catch up with the global economies in the field of innovation.

It is not a preposterous argument to make that the economy which stays ahead in the race for innovation will dictate global dominance. As things have panned out over the last year, USA seems to have been ceding that ground to China. Denying realities like climate change to support industries of yesteryears like coal and closing doors on the very people who built the country seem inimical to the innovative spirit that has come to define America. A huge vacuum will probably be left behind, and India needs to grasp the opportunity while the time is ripe.

Second, coming to the sub-national level, India shows a very mixed performance. Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra were the most innovative states in 2017. A three-way categorisation was also done based on the classification for developmental stages of economies by Michael Porter, considered the guru of competiveness. Delhi, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh turned out to be the leading states in their respective stages.

A striking feature of the state performance on innovation is that there is a clear demarcation running across India where the western and southern belt of states score considerable better than the rest of the country. This belt of states also performs economically well than the rest of India, but per capita income explains only 60 percent of the innovation scores. Higher industry presence and better prevalence of institutes of higher education along with improving linkages between the two has a substantial impact making the environment conducive for innovation across these states.

However, there are a multitude of challenges faced even by these states in undertaking innovation. The first and most basic one is that the university system in India lacks focus on research and innovation. Inadequate funding dedicated to education does not help in building adequate facilities for research either. Second, the patenting process is quite cumbersome in India and significant amount of resources need to be devoted towards it, something which the industry typically lacks. Finally, India lacks stringent regulations and IP laws, which hinder any innovative activities. It is a telling fact that in the International IP Index released by the US Chamber of Commerce, which ranks 45 economies based on patents, trademarks, copyrights, enforcement and international treaties, India ranks 43.

There is simply no time for complacency for India when it comes to matters of innovation. The country has a perfect opportunity to get onboard the innovation train that is swiftly chugging away beyond its reach. Almost 15 percent of the start-ups in Silicon Valley have been founded by Indians. We clearly have the capability to do the same in India. Only the enabling factors are lacking.

A total of 141 Kerala fishermen remain missing following Cyclone Ockhi that hit the southern districts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu on November 30, according to official figures released here on Wednesday.

Another 75 fishermen from other states who went fishing from the Kerala coast are also untraced. A total of 79 Kerala fishermen have been declared dead.

There are 33 unclaimed bodies in various mortuaries of Kerala, with the Kozhikode Medical College having the most with 13. Three bodies were handed over on Wednesday to the kith and kin after DNA tests.

On Monday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan presented cheques for Rs 2.2 million each to the families of 25 of the dead fishermen.

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian says her two-year-old son Saint West, who was hospitalised due to pneumonia last week, is now better. Kim took to Instagram on Tuesday to share the health condition of her son, reports aceshowbiz.com.

“My precious baby boy is so strong. After spending three nights in the hospital and seeing my baby get multiple IVs and hooked up to oxygen machines, our end of year was challenging. Pneumonia is so scary,” Kim wrote. Kim went on to say that her son “is home and all better” now, thanking the doctors who helped her get through her “challenging” time.

“I just want to thank every nurse and doctor out there who works so hard round the clock. We are so grateful for you all. He’s home and all better. He’s so resilient I’m sure he will still say the ambulance ride was cool! My strong Saint,” she added.

It was not long ago when singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh confessed his admiration for model and actress Kylie Jenner, but now it seems like the beloved ‘Disco Singh’ has found a new crush from Hollywood and you’ll be surprised to know who is the celebrity that has got the singer’s attention.

It’s none other than Hollywood’s Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot, who just got one more admirer in her long list all the way from India.

Recently Gadot shared an image of herself on Instagram and it got the attention of the Patola singer.

Diljit was awestruck by the gorgeous Gadot and commented something that only proves his admiration for the actress.

Looking forward to the New Year..

A post shared by Gal Gadot (@gal_gadot) on Dec 27, 2017 at 10:52am PST

Diljit commented: “Kudi Punjabn lagti ah” (The girl is of Punjabi decent)

Well that’s quite the way to make a statement and confess your admiration for someone. But that didn’t stop there as after reading Diljit’s comment many fans replied to the singer and their replies are something you can’t miss to read.

This is not the first time when Diljit expressed his feelings for someone who is miles and miles away. In the past, he posted a series of hilarious tweets, when he got to know his crush’s (Kylie) post pregnancy news.

https://t.co/LZ32LtuHbk 5 Taara Theke Uttey Beh Ke Taareya Mai Tera Sara Gussa

— DILJIT DOSANJH (@diljitdosanjh) September 23, 2017

Main theek theek an.. Theek an Mai.. https://t.co/VUiThcflFz

— DILJIT DOSANJH (@diljitdosanjh) September 23, 2017

But for now it’s Gadot who has got all the attention from Diljit and everyone is waiting for the Israeli beauty to reply to Diljit’s comment. And who knows if her reply might just spark a hilarious conversation between the two and something which their fans won’t miss for sure.

The AAP on Wednesday named veteran leader Sanjay Singh, businessman Sushil Gupta and chartered accountant Narain Dass Gupta as its debutants for the Rajya Sabha, sparking criticism from founding member Kumar Vishwas and other political parties.

The decision was finalised at a meeting of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC), the AAP’s highest decision making body, at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence. The meeting was attended by an overwhelming majority of Aam Aadmi Party MLAs.

Three Rajya Sabha seats from Delhi will fall vacant by the end of this month when the tenure of Congress members Janardhan Dwivedi, Parvez Hashmi and Karan Singh end.

It would be for the first time that the AAP, which officially has 66 members in the 70-member Delhi Assembly including some dissidents, will elect members to the upper house. The Congress has no presence in the House.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, announcing the names of the three nominees, said party convenor Kejriwal wanted a “mix” of people from outside and those already associated with the party.

He said Kejriwal wanted to nominate people who have contributed in the field of media, economics, law and academics and thus “18 such big names were considered”.

“Sanjay Singh has not only been working for the party since the very beginning but has also had a contribution in the fight against corruption,” he said.

Sisodia said Narain Gupta, a former President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, was an expert on taxation who had been keeping a “close eye” on how the Narendra Modi government hastily implemented the Goods and Services Tax.

An alumnus of Delhi University’s Shri Ram College of Commerce, Narain Gupta has been on the Board of International Federation of Accountants — an amalgam of 164 regulatory accounting bodies in 116 countries.

Sisodia said Sushil Gupta had contributed in the education and health sectors in Delhi and Haryana. “He provides free education to 15,000 children.”

The selection of the nominees, particularly businessman Sushil Gupta, did not well with Vishwas, who expressed his disappointment over not being considered for the Upper House of Parliament and said he was being “punished” for speaking the truth.

“I congratulate (Sushil) Gupta for working with Sisodia for the last 40 years, with Kejriwal for 12 years, with party workers for seven years and for party legislators for the last five years,

“For the last one-and-a-half years, be it the PAC or my elder brother Arvind’s decision on issues like surgical strike, taking a soft stand on terrorists, his silence on ticket distribution and JNU…whatever truth I spoke, I have been punished today,” he said.

Vishwas’ supporters had picketed the party office demanding that he be sent to Parliament.

Clearly blaming Kejriwal for the decision not to nominate him, he said nothing happens in the AAP without Kejriwal’s consent. “It is impossible for anyone to survive in the party by speaking against you.”

Sisodia, however, said there was no discussion in the party over Vishwas’ nomination. “There were discussions in the media, not among the party members,” said Sisodia, whose personal friendship with poet-activist Vishwas goes a long way back.

The Congress, the BJP and the Swaraj Abhiyan of former AAP leader Yogendra Yadav too criticized the AAP.

Delhi Congress President Ajay Maken said Sushil Gupta resigned from the Congress because the AAP promised him a Rajya Sabha nomination.

“On November 28, Sushil Gupta came to submit his resignation. Less than 40 days. Less said the better! Otherwise, Sushil is a good man known for his charity,” he said.

Sushil Gupta’s nomination also triggered an angry reaction from Yogendra Yadav. “Speechless, ashamed and numb,” he tweeted.

Delhi BJP President Manoj Tiwari hit out at Kejriwal, saying he had “betrayed” the people of Delhi. “Kejriwal came to power seeking to fight corruption. Now, he is sending two businessmen to the Rajya Sabha. He has betrayed not only Delhi but also the whole country.”