Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday said that senior Congress leader Kamal Nath is an “outsider” for the state and can’t be trusted. Mr Chouhan was addressing a rally in the Berasia assembly seat of Bhopal district.

The CM said that the opposition Congress would create confusion and make false promises and cautioned people not to make “mistakes”.

“They will not fulfil their promises as they have nothing to do with the people. Anyway, Kamal Nath Bhaiya is not from Madhya Pradesh. We were born here. Where was he (Nath) born, tell me,” he asked.

Modifying a line from a popular Hindi song, he sang, “Ye to thahre pardeshi, sath kya nibhayenge” (he is a stranger, won’t stay with us).” Mr Chouhan said Mr Nath, the state Congress chief, can’t be trusted.

He said that when Mr Nath was the chief minister, he would rue about a shortage of money for developmental works.

“I am saying that there is no shortage of money with me for developmental works,” Mr Chouhan said, assuring people that he would carry out all works.

Mr Chouhan also addressed rallies in the Khurai assembly seat of Sagar district, Sarangpur of Rajgarh district, and Kukshi in Dhar district to canvass for BJP candidates. 

A leopard sought sanctuary inside a house at Coonoor in Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris district, fearing Diwali crackers, said a forest official on Sunday.

The wild cat entered the house at 3 a.m. today and has been lying inside the house for 15 hours.

Meanwhile, the forest officials have deployed three CCTV cameras and an automatic camera in order to keep an eye on the leopard, said the official.

“We hope that the leopard moves out by tonight. We are monitoring the CCTV to keep a close eye on the movements of the large cat”, said Arun, Deputy Director, Mudumalai Tiger Reserve.
 

Israel’s defence ministry on Sunday announced a 317 million euro ($340 million) deal for the sale of its David’s Sling air defence system to new NATO member Finland.

Calling it a “historic agreement,” the ministry said the system jointly developed by Israeli and US companies can intercept ballistic and cruise missiles, aircraft and drones.

The announcement comes after Israel in September signed a $3.5-billion deal — the biggest ever for the small country’s outsized arms sector — to sell its Arrow 3 hypersonic missile system to Germany.

The long-range Arrow 3 system was also jointly developed and produced by companies in Israel and its top ally the United States, and the sale had to be approved by Washington before it could be finalised.

That deal came as Germany has led a push to bolster NATO’s air defences in Europe after the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year, urging allies to buy deterrence systems together.

Newly minted NATO member Finland was also quick to announce plans to buy an Israeli defence system against aircraft, rockets and missiles.

Analysts say the ongoing war in Ukraine is likely to further increase European demand for Israeli arms.