New Delhi, Dec 10: Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Wednesday criticised Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi over his foreign travels, saying that he is mostly abroad whenever Parliament is in session.

“Gandhi later claims that he didn’t get a chance to speak in Parliament. However, in reality, he is often absent, calling him “a part-time, non-serious political leader,” the Union Minister said.

“Let him go. He is mostly abroad whenever Parliament is in session. Later, he claims he doesn’t get a chance to speak, but the truth is, he isn’t even here… He is a part-time, non-serious political leader,” he said.

Meanwhile, NCP(SP) MLA Rohit Pawar offered a more measured, though still sceptical, observation: “Whenever Rahul Gandhi goes abroad, he visits some university or speaks with Indians there. But why will he visit Germany? I cannot specifically mention. We will come to know later why he went there…”

According to recent media reports, Gandhi is slated to visit Germany, where he plans to meet with members of the Indian diaspora and German government ministers.

This decision to travel abroad has already triggered sharp reactions from critics within the ruling and allied parties.

As noted by one prominent BJP leader, Gandhi has been repeatedly dubbed ” ‘Videsh Nayak’, going for a foreign tour while Parliament is in session”.

With the Winter Session of Parliament to continue until December 19, the timing of the trip has drawn questions over Gandhi’s commitment to his parliamentary responsibilities.

Gandhi has previously voiced concern over the government’s alleged discouragement of foreign dignitaries from meeting him in his capacity as Leader of the Opposition.

However, the government counters that decisions about meetings with dignitaries lie solely with the visiting delegations, not with Indian authorities, and points to recent instances where Gandhi did meet visiting foreign leaders.

Mumbai: The Malad police arrested a 54-year-old autorickshaw driver under the POCSO Act (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) and on charges of attempt to murder. He allegedly molested a 17-year-old college student in his autorickshaw. When she began to shout for help, he pushed her out of the moving vehicle. The incident occurred on December 8. The accused has been identified as Keshav Yadav, a resident of Kandivali West.

According to the Malad police, the victim is a student of a well-known college in Malad West. After college, around 4.30 pm, she was looking for an auto rickshaw on S.V. Road. She stopped an auto and asked the driver to take her to Surana Hospital, Orlem, Malad West. She initially sat on the right side of the autorickshaw. The driver told her that road work was underway and requested her to sit in the middle seat since she was alone.

However, he did not take the route she had instructed. Instead, he drove through a different route. He looked at her through the rear-view mirror and made obscene gestures several times. She became frightened and asked him to stop the autorickshaw. Instead, he increased the speed. Terrified, she started shouting, but he threatened her. After a brief silence, she shouted again. This time, he pushed her out of the autorickshaw, allegedly intending to kill her as other vehicles were passing on the busy road.

The girl went home and, along with her mother and sister, approached the Malad police station to file a complaint. The police registered a case under Sections 79 (outraging a woman’s modesty) and 109 (attempt to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with Section 12 (sexual harassment of a child) of the POCSO Act, on Monday.

The Malad police immediately began the investigation. Assistant Police Inspector Raiwade and Police Sub-Inspector Tushar Sukhdeve from the detection team, visited the spot and worked on detecting the case. The police reviewed around 30 CCTV camera footage from the vicinity and identified the autorickshaw’s number.

They traced the auto’s last location to Kandivali West. Within a few hours, the police found the autorickshaw at Mathuradas Road, Kandivali West. The accused, Keshav Yadav, was asleep inside the vehicle. He was arrested, and the court remanded him to police custody until December 11.

The police officer stated that the accused resides in his auto-rickshaw itself. While the vehicle is registered under another individual’s name, the accused is its actual owner. No prior cases have been filed against him.

The operation was carried out under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police Sandeep Jadhav and Senior Police Inspector Dushyant Chavan of Malad police station.

Mumbai, Dec 10: Indian benchmark indices opened in green zone on Wednesday after two days of consecutive losses, amid mixed global cues and investor optimism of a US Fed rate cut.

As of 9.30 am, Sensex advanced 231 points, or 0.27 per cent at 84,898 and Nifty added 66 points, or 0.26 per cent to 25,906.

The broadcap indices performed in line with the benchmarks, with the Nifty Midcap 100 up 0.47 per cent and the Nifty Smallcap 100 adding 0.50 per cent.

All the sectoral indices on NSE were trading in the green, with metal, power and realty being the major gainers, up around 0.5 per cent.

Analysts said that liquidity has kept valuations high, justifying selling in the broader markets. A major concern is the excessive delay in the finalisation of the US-India trade deal. US President Donald Trump’s statement on action against India for dumping rice in the US can hurt traders’ sentiments.

Traders expect a third consecutive Fed rate cut on Wednesday (US time) and will focus on the central bank’s latest dot plot, economic projections, and Chair Jerome Powell’s comments, according to reports.

Market fundamentals are turning in favour of India, while higher growth and corporate earnings are achievable in the quarters ahead. The fiscal and monetary stimulus provided this year have started producing results, they added.

The US markets ended mostly in the red zone overnight, as Nasdaq advanced 0.13 per cent, the S&P 500 dropped 0.09 per cent, and the Dow dipped 0.38 per cent.

Most of the Asian markets were trading lower amid investor caution ahead of US Federal Reserve interest rate decision following a weak session on the Wall Street. Further, China’s inflation data also influenced traders’ sentiments as consumer prices edged up 0.7 per cent from a year earlier, its highest level since February last year.

In Asian markets, China’s Shanghai index dipped 0.72 per cent, and Shenzhen dropped 0.56 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei dipped 0.38 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.31 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.17 per cent.

On Tuesday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 3,760 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of equities worth Rs 6,225 crore.