Breaking News, April 9

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has alleged that Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was seeking military intervention in the country's political affairs by delaying voting on a no-confidence motion in the National Assembly and to create a constitutional crisis, the media reported.

Union Minister of AYUSH Sarbananda Sonowal on Saturday said a transformative shift is underway in education, practice and drug development sectors of Ayush.

Several students and social activists were on Saturday detained while staging a protest outside the Uttar Pradesh Bhawan in the national capital demanding arrest of a Hindu seer, Bajrang Muni.

Delhi Police has busted a fake job racket that used to dupe people on the pretext of providing them jobs in private airlines, and subsequently arrested five persons in this connection, an official said on Saturday.

J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday said that the security grid of the Union Territory is alert and there is no need for any panic by anyone living in the region.

The number of civilians killed in the Russian strike on a train station in Ukraine's Kramatorsk has increased to 52, with 109 people injured, a top official announced on Saturday.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is holding a meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev, the media reported.

A top terrorist of proscribed terror outfit LeT was eliminated in an encounter at Sirhama area of Anantnag on Sunday, police said.

Indian fishermen are hoping that the Narendra Modi government will get back Katchatheevu island from Sri Lanka as a goodwill gesture for helping the island nation financially and materially as it is facing a dire economic situation.

Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu on Saturday slammed the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab over deteriorating law and order situation by sharing a photo of a girl found dead with her hands and legs tied on a highway.

CPI-M's top J&K leader Mohamad Yousuf Tarigami fell sick on Saturday while taking part in the 23rd CPI-M party Congress being held at Kerala's Kannur and was taken to a hospital.

After the country's first case of coronavirus variant XE was reported in Mumbai, the Gurugram district health department has issued directions for the private and government health facilities to monitor the newly reported Covid cases here.

With a day to go for the beginning of the administration of precaution doses of COVID-19 vaccines to all beneficiaries aged above 18 years, doctors at private vaccination centres in Delhi on Saturday said they are all prepared for the exercise and that the third shot will provide "stronger protection" against the coronavirus. The Union health ministry announced on Friday that the precaution dose will be available for all aged above 18 years at private vaccination centres from April 10. Doctors and administrators at several leading private hospitals in Delhi asserted that they are prepared for the exercise starting from Sunday. Dr Sandeep Budhiraja, group medical director, Max Healthcare group, said, "We have been at the forefront among the private healthcare players in administering Covid vaccines. With the government allowing the third dose (booster dose), we are fully prepared to extend our support and carry it out.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Saturday said that Indian cultural ethos view the world as a global family and Indians believe that all international disputes should be resolved through dialogue. He said that India regularly holds talks with other countries to resolve pending issues to ensure peace and stability, which are requisite for development. Addressing the inaugural session of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) mid-year executive committee meeting here, Birla said, "Our Indian cultural ethos view the world as a global family. We believe that all international problems should be resolved through dialogue." "Peace and stability are needed for development. Hence, India regularly holds talks with other countries to resolve pending issues," he said.
 

Sixteen villages of Assam's Hailakandi district will be developed as model villages during the current financial year, an official said on Saturday. Of the 16 model villages, Pradhan Mantri Aadarsh Gram Yojana will be implemented in 10 villages and they will receive rupees twenty lakh each for various works, District Development Commissioner Ranajit Kumar Laskar said. Asam Adarsha Gram Yojana will be implemented in the remaining six villages, he said. Laskar said that the benefits of the schemes will be given to beneficiaries when the account is opened in any nationalised bank located near the village.

Former Jammu and Kashmir minister Jatinder Singh alias 'Babu Singh', the main accused in a case related to the recent recovery of Hawala money meant for subversive activities, was arrested from Kathua district on Saturday, a police officer said. Singh was at large since March 31 after police busted a Hawala racket here and issued a lookout notice for him on April 6. "He (the former minister) was arrested from Kathua district and is being brought to Jammu for questioning," Senior Superintendent of Police, Jammu, Chandan Kohli, told PTI. Singh was a minister in the PDP-Congress government in 2002-2005 and now is the chairman of an organisation, Nature-Mankind Friendly Global Party.

The Delhi High Court has directed the Delhi government to make necessary arrangements to provide court documents to visually impaired litigants in Braille script. Dealing with a plea of anticipatory bail filed by a visually impaired rape accused, Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta said the right to access to justice includes the right to receive documents in a language and means of communication preferred by the parties involved. He directed that the accused as well as the prosecutrix, both of them visually impaired, be provided court records in Braille script.

Two persons were killed and 12 others injured in separate incidents of lightning strike in parts of Madhya Pradesh's Seoni district that witnessed unseasonal rains and thunderstorms, an official said on Saturday. The incidents occurred on Friday evening, he said. "The weather suddenly changed between 5 pm and 6 pm. Sudden unseasonal rains and lightning strikes resulted in loss of human lives, besides damage to a property and electricity lines," a district administration official told news agency PTI.

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The global coronavirus caseload has topped 497.2 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 6.17 million and vaccinations to over 11.08 billion, according to Johns Hopkins University. In its latest update on Saturday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 497,201,342 and 6,173,644, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered has increased to 11,089,615,113. The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 80,385,966 and 985,100 respectively, according to the CSSE. India accounts for the second highest caseload at 43,033,067. The other countries with over 10 million cases are Brazil (30,125,540) France (26,887,490), Germany (22,478,703), the UK (21,716,180), Russia (17,707,591), Italy (15,173,707), South Korea (15,169,189), Turkey (14,946,379), Spain (11,551,574) and Vietnam (10,070,692), the CSSE figures showed.

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Thirty-two people including 26 students were arrested Friday in connection with the recent paper leak of the Bundelkhand University's B.Sc examination, police said. A local court, however, granted bail to all the 32 people. On April 6, the said paper was leaked by the employees of an examination centre and delivered to various students through WhatsApp just a few hours before the examination, Jhansi DM Ravindra Kumar and SSP Shiv Hari Meena said in a joint press conference on Friday. They said a joint team of police and administration was set up to probe the matter. 

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar expressed grief at the killing of a 21-year old Indian student in Toronto who succumbed to his injuries after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds. The Toronto Police Service said that on the evening of April 7, police responded to a radio call at a local subway station for a shooting. The victim, identified as Kartik Vasudev, had been shot at an entrance of the subway station in Toronto.

At least three persons were arrested on Friday for their alleged involvement in a suspected lynching case in the city's Narkeldanga area, police said. The body of a youth, identified as Sheikh Shamim, was on Thursday found floating in a pond on East Road, after which his mother lodged a complaint with the Narkeldanga Police Station, they said. The post-mortem report revealed that he was badly beaten up, which resulted in his death, a senior police officer said.

The parents of a Rajasthan toddler suffering from a rare genetic disorder on Friday met Health Minister Parsadi Lal Meena and sought his support for procuring a life-saving injection that costs Rs 16 crore. Hailing from Narwa village of Nagaur district, 18-month-old Tanishk suffers from spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). His parents, Deepika Kanwar and Shaitan Singh, met Meena, who in turn asked them to seek help from Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

Haryana BKU (Chaduni) chief Gurnam Singh Chaduni on Friday asked the farmers to make passage of vehicles through various toll points free for three hours across the state on Saturday over various demands of the peasants. In a video message on Friday evening, he appealed to the farmers to gather at toll points and make passage of vehicles through the toll plazas free for three hours from 10 am to 1 pm, he said. Chaduni said a memorandum regarding the farmers’ demands, which include Rs 500 per quintal bonus on wheat purchase, will be given to the government officials concerned at the toll points. "We have to give a memorandum demanding Rs 500 per quintal to the farmers on their wheat purchase. These memorandums have to be given to the government officials at toll points," Chaduni said in his message to the farmers.

A day after bulldozing a petrol pump of Samajwadi Party MLA Shazil Islam Ansari, authorities here on Friday recommended the cancellation of its licence and a probe into the ownership of the land on which it was built. The Bhojupura MLA had hit headlines earlier this month after he made a "provocative remark" against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. A senior administrative officer said Bareilly Development Authority (BDA) vice-chairman Joginder Singh has written a letter to the district magistrate recommending cancellation of the licence of Ansari's petrol pump for non-compliance of conditions of the no objection certificate (NOC).