News updates from Hindustan Times at 9 PM: Rajnath Singh receives India’s first Rafale jet in France, takes off for sortie and all the latest news at this hour

Here are today’s top news, analysis and opinion at this hour curated for you at 9 PM. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times.

After receiving India’s first Rafale jet, Rajnath takes off for sortie

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday formally received the first Rafale fighter jet from the series of 36 aircraft bought from France at Dassault Aviation’s Merignac air base near Bordeaux in the southwestern part of the country.

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India-born AQIS chief Asim Umar killed in Afghanistan

Asim Umar, the India-born terrorist who led al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) since its creation in 2014, was killed in a joint US-Afghan raid on a Taliban compound last month, Afghanistan’s spy agency announced on Tuesday.

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Pak’s Gen Bajwa meets China’s PLA, focuses on J&K ahead of Xi’s India visit

On a visit to China timed right ahead of President Xi Jinping’s visit to India for an informal summit, Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Tuesday met top military commanders of China’s People’s Liberation Army.

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SC must uphold justice, says Kamal Haasan on sedition case against celebrities

Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan on Tuesday hoped that the Supreme Court will uphold justice in the sedition case filed against 49 eminent personalities pointing out that the case was against the letter and spirit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s aspirations of ’harmonious India’.

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Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad defends Kashmir remarks that angered India

Days after India asked the Malaysian government to desist from commenting on the Kashmir issue, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad defended his remarks that were critical of India and said he had told Prime Minister Narendra Modi the same thing at their last meeting.

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Saif Ali Khan: ‘Not as happy with response to Sacred Games season 2 as I was with season 1’

It has been weeks since Sacred Games season 2 debuted to widely different responses. While the first season of the Netflix show was universally appreciated and has since been nominated for international Emmys, the reaction to second season was divisive.

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‘Money can’t buy class’: Fans slam Hardik Pandya for his cheeky birthday wish for Zaheer Khan

India cricketer Hardik Pandya invited wrath of fans after putting up a distasteful birthday wish to former fast bowling great Zaheer Khan. The 2011 World Cup winning pacer turned 41 on Monday and Hardik wished the former pacer by uploading video of him hitting a six off Zaheer during a domestic competition. Hardik’s post read: “Happy birthday Zak ... Hope you smash it out of the park like I did there.” But the post has not gone down well with fans.

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