A handwritten note by US President Donald Trump over the ongoing impeachment hearings against him has gone viral on social media. Trump’s note quoted the testimony given by the US Ambassador to the EU, Gordon Sondland, to the House Intelligence Committee. Trump said that he had told Sondland that he wanted nothing from Ukraine.

MNM founder-President Kamal Haasan on Monday met Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik here to seek advice on his political future. “Basically, it was one-side receiving advice as a politician. I was asking my questions and I got some great answers. We are watching him and learning from his wisdom,” Hasan said after meeting Patnaik at the latter’s residence. The CM said they discussed the political career of the actor-turned politician. “We had a discussion this evening about his future political career and also about the films he is doing,” said Patnaik.

Vice President Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday said the core values of journalism are getting eroded as TV channels and newspapers are being set up by some business groups or political parties. Naidu added that news and views are being clubbed together these days. “In the past, news used to be news, never it was interpreted or misinterpreted,” Naidu further said.

While the recent SPG withdrawal of Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka made much news, it was hardly noticed when former PM Deve Gowda sought its removal. Gowda had been after the Union government for SPG withdrawal. Reason: He cited difficulties in meeting voters. Though the Centre refused initially, the government finally gave in by bringing him closer to his voters and, of course, a smile on his face.

A total of 15,715 schools in Andhra Pradesh will be renovated at a cost of ₹3,500 crore in the first phase of the ‘Nadu-Nedu’ scheme of the state government, CM Jagan Mohan Reddy said. “The teachers will be trained as the medium of instruction is shifting to English from classes 1 to 6 from the next academic year,” Jagan said.

TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday said that the Supreme Court judgment in Ayodhya title dispute case must be respected. “The unanimous decision taken by the panel of esteemed judges must be respected. I request all to maintain peace and harmony,” tweeted Naidu after the apex court pronounced its judgment. “It is imperative that we do not get carried away due to our religious affiliations. Let us all respect the Supreme Court’s judgment and unite to preserve peace and harmony in the society.”

Notwithstanding its claims of being strapped for resources to take on a funds-rich BJP, Congress spent over Rs 820 crore on its campaign for the general elections to the Lok Sabha and assemblies of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Telangana, Oisha and Sikkim. The amount is way higher than the Rs 516 crore it had spent during the 2014 general elections. Even BJP’s 2014 election expenditure was at Rs 714 crore. BJP is yet to submit accounts for its spending in the 2019 LS elections.

Andhra Pradesh Police have arrested Vellanki Simhadri, who allegedly killed 10 people in the last two years, including his grandmother and sister-in-law, by giving them cyanide-laced ‘prasadam’. Police said after suffering losses in business, Simhadri started cheating people with claims of having supernatural powers. He collected money from his victims, after which he gave them the ‘prasadam’.

Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa is getting offers of support from unexpected quarters. His predecessor HD Kumaraswamy of JDS has offered to back his regime in the event of a crisis, triggering all kinds of speculations. With CBI, ED et al on the prowl in Karnataka, the grapevine has it that the former CM is humouring BJP to ward off the long arm of investigative agencies.

US President Donald Trump has tweeted a photoshopped photo of him honouring the military dog who chased ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi during US raid. “AMERICAN HERO,” he captioned the image. He reportedly edited the image of James McCloughan, whom he had given a medal in 2017 for saving the lives of 10 men in a days-long battle in Vietnam.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday revealed the name of the military dog, which was injured in the raid that killed ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as Conan. Trump has tweeted, “Conan will be leaving the Middle East for the White House sometime next week!” This comes days after Trump refused to reveal the dog’s name, stating it was confidential.

Talking about his Bollywood journey, actor Neil Nitin Mukesh in an interview said that the industry has taught him to fight for himself. “You have got to prove, not in a bad way, but an empowering way,” he added. The actor further said that the journey has been “extremely educational” for him and he is evolving every day.

In a bid to promote artificial intelligence (AI) and encourage innovators to leverage this emerging technology to come up with solutions for problems faced by the aam aadmi as well as different sectors such asagriculture, transportation and healthcare among others, the Telangana government on Friday said it will be declaring the year 2020 as the year of AI. The announcement was made by state IT minister KTR during a meeting with Nasscom president Debjani Ghosh. Rao stated that the government would be hosting aseries of events throughout the year centered around the AI theme.

With the much awaited results of the Haryana and Maharashtra Assembly elections on Thursday, the Congress has decided to boycott television debates. But party leaders will be available to give solo interviews where there is no panel. The boycott is in continuation with the Congress’ strategy not to send spokesperson on TV debates after the poll debacle in the general election in May. The party had lost the general election badly and could not cross double digits. It is upset as the debates are on India-Pakistan ties and along communal lines. Party spokesperson will also be available in AICC headquarters.

The Congress appears to be facing a setback in Punjab. Former Amritsar MLA and wife of former cricketer Navjot Kaur has distanced from the party. Her husband, Navjot Singh Sidhu, is Congress MLA from Amritsar East. Navjot Kaur has said she is no more associated with any party now, and that she will focus on social work. Her remarks came at Verka, a suburb near Amritsar, where she had gone for inaugurating a social event. She is upset as she was denied ticket for Lok Sabha elections early this year.