THE HEADLINES:

• Polling begins for second and final phase of assembly elections in Gujarat.

• Voting also underway for bypolls to Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat and 6 Assembly constituencies in 5 States.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate two-day National Office-bearers' meeting of BJP in New Delhi today.

• Millets-Smart Nutritive Food Conclave being held in national capital today.

• External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to hold talks with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock in New Delhi today.

• Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh clinch Mixed Team Pistol title at National Shooting Championship in Bhopal.

• And in football, England and France enter quarter-finals of FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

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Polling has begun for second and final phase of assembly elections in Gujarat. Voting, which began at 8 this morning, will conclude at 5 PM. Voting is taking place for 93 constituencies spread over 14 districts including Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Gandhinagar. A total of 833 candidates including 69 women are in the fray. Prominent among them are Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and seven of his cabinet colleagues. Other BJP leaders in the fray include Hardik Patel and Alpesh Thakur. Congress leaders Sukhram Rathava and Jignesh Mavani and Aam Aadmi Party leaders Bharat Singh Vakhala and Bhema Bhai Choudhury are also contesting in this phase.

Election Commission has made elaborate arrangements to ensure free and fair polling. Over 26 thousand polling booths have been set up. State Chief Electoral Officer P Bharati has appealed the people to vote in large numbers. The Counting of votes will be taken up on the 8th of December.

Now, we go over live to our correspondent Sushil Chandra Tiwari in Vadodara.

Question 1 : Sushil, How is the polling progressing there?

Question 2 : Sushil, What is the significance of second phase of polling?

Thank you Sushil , for that update.

Now, we go over live to our correspondent Aparna Khunt in Ahmedabad.

Question 1 : Aparna, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will cast his vote in Ahmedabad. What latest update you have for our listeners?

Thank you Aparna, for your update.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged the people to vote in large number for the second phase of Gujarat assembly elections. In a tweet, Mr Modi specially urged the young voters and women to vote in large numbers. The Prime Minister informed that he will be casting his vote in Ahmedabad this morning.

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Polling has also begun for byelections to Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat and Rampur and Khatauli Assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh. Bypolls to Padampur Assembly seat in Odisha, Sardarshahar in Rajasthan, Kurhani in Bihar and Bhanupratappur in Chhattisgarh are also underway. The counting of votes will take place on 8th December.

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Around 50.47 per cent voters turnout was recorded in the elections to the 250 Wards of  Municipal Corporation of Delhi, MCD. Delhi State Election Commission has said that barring a few stray incidents of Model Code of Conduct  violations and a couple of other scattered incidents of impersonation, the polling remained peaceful throughout the day and no untoward incident of any kind was reported from anywhere. A total of 1349 candidates are in fray for the MCD elections. The counting of votes will take place on Wednesday.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the two-day National office bearers' meeting of BJP at Party Headquarters in New Delhi today. He will also address the party office bearers and provide guidance to them. The BJP in a statement said that the Prime Minister will immediately leave for New Delhi to attend the party's National office bearers meeting after casting his vote at Ahmedabad in Gujarat Assembly Polls today.

The meeting will be presided over by BJP President JP Nadda. In the meeting, future strategies of the party will be discussed along with reviewing of preparations for the upcoming assembly elections in some States next year. Discussion will also take place from booth committees to various organizational activities of the party.

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President Droupadi Murmu has said the Indian Navy has a huge responsibility of ensuring an umbrella of security for national maritime interest. She was addressing the 'Operational Demonstration' programme held on the occasion of Navy Day at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh yesterday.

President Murmu yesterday inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of several development projects. During her visit to Andhra Pradesh, the President attended several events.

Today, President Droupadi Murmu will visit Sri Padamavati Mahila Vishvavidyalayam where she will interact with students, faculty members and Women Achievers.

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To promote the export of millets, the government is organising a day-long 'Millets-Smart Nutritive Food' Conclave in New Delhi today. The conclave is a pre-launch event of the International Year of Millets - 2023 organised by Ministry of Commerce and Industry through its apex agricultural export promotion body and Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority. Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal will be the chief guest at the conclave. At the first-of-its-kind Millets Conclave, the government will release an e-catalogue on 30 potential importing countries and 21 millet producing states of India.

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In our bilingual live phone-in programme “Public Speak” at 9.30 pm tonight, we will bring you a live discussion on Importance of Millets and Millets promotion initiatives with our experts Dr. D.K. Yadav, Additional Director General (Seed), Indian Council of Agricultural Research and  RP Singh, Additional Commissioner (Crops), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

Listeners can ask questions to the experts on Benefits and Nutritional value of Millets, Government initiatives to boost millet production, consumption and exports, Environmental impact of millet production and Significance of Celebration of International Year of Millets- 2023.

Listeners can ask the questions from 9:30 PM onwards on telephone numbers: 011 - 23717106 and 011-23314444. You can also post your queries on our Twitter handle @airnewsalerts by #tag Askair.

This Live Programme can be heard on FM Gold Channel and additional frequencies. This programme will also be available on our website NEWS ON AIR DOT NIC DOT IN and on our YouTube Channel NEWS ON AIR OFFICIAL.

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The G20 Sherpas have extended their support to India's G20 presidency and said that they will contribute in pushing forward the agenda that will be put forward today at the Sherpas meeting in Udaipur, Rajasthan. 

Talking to AIR News, Co-Sherpa of Indonesia, Dian Djani expressed confidence that India will fight for the interest of developing countries. He said India and other countries which are part of G20 should work together to achieve the sustainable development goals.

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External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will hold talks with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock in New Delhi today. Ms Baerbock is on a two-day visit to India beginning today. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that the two leaders will discuss various bilateral issues.

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In Shooting, Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh won the 10 metre air pistol mixed team title at the 65th National Shooting Championship Competitions (NSCC) at the MP Shooting Academy range in Bhopal yesterday. The Haryana duo trounced Karnataka’s Divya TS and Imroz 16-4 in the gold medal encounter.

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In the FIFA World Cup Football, England has comfortably defeated Senegal 3-0 at the Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor, Qatar last night to set up a quarter-final clash with France on Saturday. Earlier, France stormed into the quarter-finals after defeating Poland 3-1 in the knockout match at the Al-Thumama Stadium, Doha.

With a 3-0 win over Senegal in the Round of 16 phase of the FIFA World Cup 2022, Harry Kane-led England side has set a date with defending champions France. Kylian Mbappe-starrer France will meet England in the quarter-finals of the Qatar World Cup on next  Sunday. Goals from Jordan Henderson, Bukayo Saka and Harry Kane have secured England's 3-0 win. Most important aspect of the game was Harry Kane ends his goal drought at the Qatar World Cup. Kane has now netted 11 times at major tournaments, overtaking Gary Lineker as England’s all-time top scorer in those competitions. But at the tender age of 19, it is Bellingham who has emerged as England’s driving force. In another match Mbappe struck twice as France defeated Poland 3-1 to qualify for quarter-finals. However a late Robert Lewandowski penalty saw Poland salvage some pride. With Pratyush ghosh Anupam Mishra spprts desk."

Today, in the another round of 16 match, Japan will take on Croatia at the Al-Janoub Stadium in Qatar at 8:30 PM Indian Time.

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TODAY'S NEWSPAPERS HEADLINE:

As the sherpas from 40 countries gather in Udaipur for the G 20 meet , Hindustan times writes about the Prime Minister's efforts to evolve a  political consensus on india's goals during its first presidency,chairing a meeting with heads of all major parties under the headline "PM to brief leaders on G20 at all-party meet."

expecting the worse still to come in delhi, The Indian Express says "construction, demolition ban in delhi as AQI turns 'severe'."

And finally, The Tribune reports about the much awaited aerial connectivity under the headline "Fly from Shimla to Kullu, Dharamsala from December 9."

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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN:

• Polling begins for second and final phase of assembly elections in Gujarat.

• Voting also underway for bypolls to Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat and 6 Assembly constituencies in 5 States.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate two-day National Office-bearers' meeting of BJP in New Delhi today.

• Millets-Smart Nutritive Food Conclave being held in national capital today. 

• External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to hold talks with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock in New Delhi today.

• Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh clinch Mixed Team Pistol title at National Shooting Championship in Bhopal.

• And in football, England and France enter quarter-finals of FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

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