October 21: Top 5 news of the day, that you should not miss

From Pakistan has said that the meeting between its High Commissioner in New Delhi and Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj earlier this week was customary to Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar sending out a special video message for Indian soldiers to greet them ahead of the festival of Bhai Dooj, here is the top 5 news of the day.

1- Bots behind rise in Rahul Gandhi's twitter popularity?

Rahul Gandhi's twitter handle 'OfficeofRG' has been the topic of various news outlets recently, citing a rise in retweets as evidence of a resurgence of Rahul Gandhi's interaction on social media. However, a cursory glance at the twitter handles retweeting the Congress Vice President's tweets does throw up some questions...are these automated 'bots' mass retweeting Rahul Gandhi's tweets?

On October 15th, 'OfficeofRG' retweeted US President Donald Trump's tweet praising American-Pakistani relations with a caption 'Modi ji quick, looks like President Trump needs another hug'. The tweet quickly reached 20,000 retweets and currently has touched 30,000.

2- Meeting between Pak envoy and Swaraj was 'customary': Islamabad

Pakistan has said that the meeting between its High Commissioner in New Delhi and Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj earlier this week was customary.

Commenting on media reports about Pakistani High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood's meeting with Swaraj, the Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson said, "Mr. Sohail Mahmood has recently assumed office as Pakistan's new High Commissioner to India. It is customary for the newly-posted envoys to make courtesy calls on local dignitaries. Accordingly, the high commissioner had a meeting with India's Minister of External Affairs, Mrs. Sushma Swaraj, on 17 October 2017."

3- Lata Mangeshkar shares special message for soldiers ahead of Bhai Dooj

Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar has sent out a special video message for Indian soldiers to greet them ahead of the festival of Bhai Dooj.

In the video, which she shared on Friday night on Twitter, Mangeshkar greeted the soldiers and said: "I salute the soldiers of our Indian Army. I am one of your sisters, who really respect you. It's a truth. India is because of its soldiers. And we are because of India." she added.

4- Denmark Open: Srikanth beats Viktor Axelsen to reach semi-finals

Ace Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth on Friday beat World Champion Viktor Axelsen in three games to reach the semi-finals of the Denmark Open after Saina Nehwal and HS Prannoy lost their respective quarter-final matches yesterday.

The 24-year-old, came from a game down to beat Axelsen 14-21, 22-20, 21-7 in a hard-fought last-eight contest to enter the semi-finals.

5- Siddaramaiah involved in Rs 450 crore coal scam: Yeddyurappa

Former Karnataka chief minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state President B.S. Yeddyurappa on Saturday charged incumbent Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Power Minister D.K. Shivakumar of being involved in Rs 450 crore coal scam.

Yeddyurappa told ANI, "CM Siddaramaiah, who is the chairman of KPCL, paid the full amount of Rs 450 crore on behalf of some other company. Power Minister D.K. Shivkumar is equally responsible for this scam."

-With ANI inputs