Breaking News, March 10 | HIGHLIGHTS

Belgium is banning TikTok from government phones over worries about cybersecurity, privacy and misinformation, the country's prime minister said Friday, mirroring recent action by other authorities in Europe and the U.S. The Chinese-owned video sharing app will be temporarily prohibited from devices owned or paid for by the Belgium's federal government for at least six months, according to a post on Alexander de Croo's website. TikTok didn't respond immediately to a request for comment. Owned by China's ByteDance, the company has long maintained that it does not share data with the Chinese government and that its data is not held in China.

A man was booked on Friday for allegedly forcing to marry a Class 9 female student and threatening to pour acid on her if she continues to refuse, police here said. The girl, a resident of Kashiram Colony of Chhibramau Police Station area, in her complaint alleged that a youth stalks her on her way to school and keeps proposing to her for marriage, they said. Police said that after she told her mother about the incident, she went to the house of the accused, Mohd Sakleen, but he threatened to shoot her. The victim's mother has also written a letter to the Chief Minister which is doing rounds on social media.

As many as 23 surgical blades, drugs, smartphones and a SIM card were recovered from an inmate in Tihar jail, prison officials said on Friday. On noticing some suspicious movement of some inmates on Thursday around 6.40 am, the staff of Central Jail number 3, Tihar intercepted them and carried out checking, a senior official said. They recovered a packet containing 23 surgical blades, drugs, two smartphones and a SIM card among other things were recovered from the possession of one inmate, officials said.

Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar on Friday held talks with his Australian counterpart Vice Admiral Mark Hammond with a focus on boosting cooperation towards achieving a free and open Indo-Pacific. The talks between the two Navy chiefs came on a day Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese explored ways to enhance the already close defence cooperation between the two countries. Vice Admiral Hammond, the Chief of Royal Australian Navy, is on a three-day official visit to India from March 9 to 11.

 After Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP said inside the Assembly on Friday that a minister will be put behind bars within a month, Speaker Biman Banerjee cautioned that such comments should not be made in the House. Several leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress were arrested by the CBI and the ED in the recent past in connection with the alleged school jobs scam and cattle smuggling cases.

A 26-year-old man in Nepal had to undergo surgery to get a Vodka bottle removed from his stomach, leading to the arrest of a person, according to a media report on Friday. The Vodka bottle was found during a medical check-up after Nursad Mansuri of Gujara Municipality in Rautahat district complained of severe abdominal pain. He was admitted to a hospital five days ago and underwent a two-and-a-half hour-long surgery for the successful extraction of the bottle, The Himalayan Times newspaper reported.

Delhi Excise Policy Case: ED recently revealed major highlights of Manish Sisodia's WhatsApp chats. As per ED, 'V Need Money' was written on the chat, where V is suggested to stand for 'Vijay Nair.' 

Taking serious note of the administration's failure in tackling the still-smouldering fire at the Brahmapuram waste plant here, the Kerala High Court on Friday appointed a committee to monitor the situation. The committee comprises the Ernakulam district collector, Pollution Control Board officials and the secretary of the Kerala State Legal Services Authority. A bench of justices S V Bhatti and Basant Balaji directed the state Chief Secretary to inform the court in detail about the steps taken by the government to tackle the issue.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will review the 54th Raising Day Parade of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to be held in Hyderabad on March 12. For the first time, the CISF is holding its annual Raising Day celebrations out of Delhi national capital region (NCR) at the CISF National Industrial Security Academy (NISA) in Hakimpet here, senior officials said on Friday. "This is the first time in the history of CISF that this Raising Day Parade is being held outside the NCR. This was the government's directive. A decision was taken that we should go to locations outside NCR. NISA, a training academy, is a centre of excellence of CISF. It was decided that this Raising Day Parade will be held in NISA on March 12," CISF ADG (North) Piyush Anand told reporters here. Shah will be the chief guest for the Raising Day Parade, he said.

ran and Saudi Arabia on Friday agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations and reopen embassies after years of tensions between the two countries, including a devastating attack on the heart of the kingdom's oil production attributed to Tehran. The deal, struck in Beijing this week amid its ceremonial National People's Congress, represents a major diplomatic victory for the Chinese as Gulf Arab states perceive the United States slowly withdrawing from the wider Middle East.

A pigeon fitted with devices, with the police suspecting that the bird was being used for spying, will be sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) for examination, police said. The bird was caught from a fishing boat off the Paradip coast of Odisha's Jagatsinghpur district. Some fishermen found the pigeon perched on their trawler a few days ago. The bird was captured and handed over to the marine police at Paradip on Wednesday.

Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio will pay a visit to India on March 20 and 21 to explore ways to expand bilateral cooperation in a range of areas including trade and investment.
The Japanese prime minister will hold wide-ranging talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, covering the entire expanse of bilateral ties. "Prime Minister of Japan Kishida Fumio will pay an official visit to India on March 20 to 21," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said the state government would hold comprehensive discussions with all stakeholders on the demand for reintroduction of the old pension scheme (OPS). Fadnavis, who holds the Finance portfolio in the Eknath Shinde government, was replying to a discussion in the Maharashtra Legislative Council. Representatives from the teachers' and graduates' constituencies, while speaking in the Council, had sought the reintroduction of the OPS in place of the current National Pension System (NPS).

A city court on Friday sent former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, arrested in a money laundering case related to the excise policy, to the Enforcement Directorate's custody till March 17. Special judge M K Nagpal allowed the anti-money laundering probe agency to interrogate the senior AAP leader in custody. The ED had sought Sisodia's custody for 10 days. Earlier the court heard arguments of the ED and Sisodia's lawyers on the AAP leader's custody.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Friday distributed portfolios to new ministers, keeping the important Home department with himself. Saha has kept the Home, Health and Family Welfare and PWD department with him while Ratan Lal Nath has been given the charge of Power, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, according to an official notification issued by Chief Secretary J K Sinha. Pranajit Singha Roy has got the Finance portfolio along with Planning and Coordination and Information Technology.

A 56-year-old man from Haryana, a lung cancer patient who died recently, had tested positive for the H3N2 virus in January, a health department official said on Friday. "As per preliminary information, patient, 56-year-old male, resident of Jind district, died on 08-02-23 at home, was a lung cancer patient. He had tested positive for H3N2 virus in January at PGIMS hospital in Rohtak," the official said. The official said the patient had tested positive for the Influenza A subtype H3N2 virus on January 17.

As the community marked the 64th Tibetan Uprising Day, spiritual leader Dalai Lama on Friday called for ending violence on the basis of religion in the world. In his address, the Dalai Lama said, the Dalai Lama said, “It is totally wrong to say my nation, their nation, my religion, their religion and fight and kill on this basis. We, through generations, used weapons to kill each other. Now, I think we must say enough, enough, enough." “When I was young and played with other children, I had no idea about their religion and nationality," he said.

Maharashtra assembly on Friday witnessed heated exchanges over Women and Child Development Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha’s statement in the House that there have been over 1 lakh “love jihad” cases in the state. Nationalist Congress Party MLA Jitendra Awhad said that the number of “love jihad” cases cited by Lodha two days ago was factually incorrect and that there have been nearly 3,000 cases of interfaith marriages.

FMCG major HUL on Friday announced the appointment of Rohit Jawa as the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer. Jawa, presently the Chief of Transformation for Unilever, would take over the leadership role for five years with effect from June 27, 2023. "The appointment of Rohit Jawa as a whole-time Director and MD & CEO will be subject to approval of shareholders and other statutory approvals as may be applicable," HUL said in a regulatory filing. Jawa will succeed Sanjiv Mehta as the MD & CEO of the company with effect from June 27, 2023.

The Congress on Friday accused AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal of "promoting" corruption in Delhi and Punjab, and said it is very unfortunate that a party born out of an anti-graft movement is busy defending its leaders who are in jail for alleged corruption. Congress leader Alka Lamba also said that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have been "misused" so much that even when there may be legitimate grounds for their actions, suspicions and fears are natural.

A man has been booked for allegedly molesting a 10-year-old girl at a village here, police said on Friday. On a complaint from the girl's uncle, a case was registered against the 76-year-old man under the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, Pakri police station in-charge Shatrughan Kumar said. He said that according to the complaint, the accused took the girl to a field on March 8 evening and molested her.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to launch a special campaign to strengthen the 160 Lok Sabha seats the party had lost in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and under this strategy, the party is planning to organise over 45 rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in these constituencies.BJP national President JP Nadda has been developing strategies coninously on the basis of feedback received on these seats, according to party sources.

The annual Class 10 board examination began in 318 centres across Odisha on Friday with more than 5.4 lakh students appearing in the test. The summative assessment II of Class-10 students is conducted by the Odisha Board of Secondary Education (BSE). The examination will continue till March 20. Odisha BSE President Ramashis Hazra said the examination started at 8 am. Students have been instructed to reach one hour early. All exams are being held in the first sitting. The official said the students were directed to only carry their admit cards, blue and black pens, pencils and geometry boxes. No other items including electronic watches were allowed inside the examination centre. Odisha's School Mass and Education Minister SR Dash said, "The examination started peacefully everywhere. The question papers were distributed to the students at 7:45 am in the first sitting." The minister said all necessary precautions have been taken for the peaceful conduct of the exam. The examination is being started at 8 am keeping in view the rising heat across the state.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said those serving the country and children are being put behind bars, drawing parallels of the recent events with the mythological episode of Hiranyakashipu and Prahlad. Without naming anyone, he said just like Hiranyakashipu could not stop Prahlad from worshipping God, the modern-day Prahlad too cannot be stopped. He apparently referred to his former deputy Manish Sisodia as Prahlad. "Hiranyakashipu had started considering himself God. He made several attempts to stop Prahlad from walking on the path of God and committed atrocities on him. Even today, some people have started considering themselves God. Prahlad, who is serving the country and children has been put in jail. Neither were they able to stop Prahlad at that time, nor will they be able to do so now," he said in a tweet in Hindi.

BJP president JP Nadda on Friday appointed Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai as the chairman of the election campaign committee for the assembly poll due later this year. Union minister Shobha Karandlaje has been appointed as the convener of the election management committee, according to a statement issued by party national general secretary Arun Singh. The party has tried to strike a balance between two dominant castes by appointing Bommai a Lingayat as head of one committee and Karandlaje a Vokkaliga as convener of the other panel. Besides them, former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has been appointed as a member of the committee. The party has also appointed its Union ministers from Karnataka and party's state unit leaders as members on both the committees.

An all-women crew on Friday operated Ranchi-Tori passenger train to mark the International Women's Day, which was celebrated worldwide on Wednesday, an official said. Since the Women's Day fell on the occasion of Holi festival, the running of the train by all women-crew was decided for Friday, the railway official said. Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of Ranchi railway division Nishant Kumar told PTI, "The occasion was dedicated to women. A woman officer flagged off the train and it is being manned by all women crew."

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday called on Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and discussed key aspects of the fast deepening India-Australia ties. Jaishankar met Albanese ahead of the visiting leader's summit talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Delighted to call on Prime Minister @AlboMP of Australia this morning. His visit and today's Annual Summit will take our ties to a higher level," Jaishankar tweeted. In their talks, Modi and Albanese are expected to focus on boosting overall bilateral ties in areas of trade and investment, defence and critical minerals. The two leaders are also expected to review the situation in the Indo-Pacific amid growing concerns over China's increasing military assertiveness in the region, people familiar with the matter said. Days ahead of his visit to India, Albanese said a stronger India-Australia partnership is good for regional stability and that it also means more trade and investment. It is his first visit to India after becoming the prime minister in May last year. The last visit to India by an Australian prime minister was in 2017. 

India and Australia are great friends and both sides are making the partnership stronger every day, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday ahead of talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi. Albanese also said that India and Australia are competing on the cricket field to be the world's best team but together the two countries are building a better world. The Australian prime minister made the comments after he was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan this morning. Albanese arrived in Delhi on Thursday evening after completing his engagements in Ahmedabad and Mumbai. On Thursday morning, Modi and Albanese watched the fourth Test match between India and Australia in Ahmedabad. "Australia and India are great friends We are partners and we are building that partnership even stronger each and every day," Albanese said. The Australian prime minister said Canberra wants to cooperate with India to build a stronger relationship in areas of culture, economic relations as well as security.

The Enforcement (ED) Friday conducted searches in multiple cities of Bihar in connection with a money laundering investigation into the land for jobs 'scam' case in which RJD leaders Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi were questioned recently by the CBI. The searches are covering some leaders linked to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in towns like Patna and Phulwari Sharif, officials said. The case pertains to people allegedly given employment in the railways in return for land parcels gifted or sold at cheap rates to the Yadav family and its associates, they said. The CBI has filed a charge sheet in the case against Prasad, his wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi and 14 others under charges of criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, and all the accused have been summoned on March 15, officials had said. The ED case, filed under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, stems from this CBI complaint. Both Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi were questioned by the CBI in this case recently.

Enforcement Directorate conducts a raid at ex-RJD MLA Syed Abu Dojana's premises at Phulwari Sharif in Patna

Two youths were killed while another was seriously injured in a road accident here, police said on Friday. Sumit (19), Ayush Singh Rathore (20) and Neeraj Gupta (19) fell off a pickup vehicle and were crushed by a truck coming from behind, Inspector-in-charge Dinesh Prakash Pandey said. While Sumit and Ayush died on the spot, Neeraj was seriously injured and admitted to a hospital, he said. The bodies have been sent for postmortem.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday lauded the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on its raising day, asserting that it has a vital role in the security apparatus as it provides round the clock security at key locations. One of the central armed police forces in India, the CISF was set up in 1969 and is tasked with the security of vital government and industrial buildings. "On their Raising Day, best wishes to all @CISFHQrs personnel. The CISF has a vital role in our security apparatus. They provide round the clock security at key locations including critical and strategic infrastructure," Modi said in a tweet. The force is known for its hardwork and professional outlook, he added.

Former state House Speaker Larry Householder and former Ohio Republican Party Chair Matt Borges were convicted Thursday in a USD 60 million bribery scheme that federal prosecutors have called the largest corruption case in state history. A jury in Cincinnati found the two guilty of conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise involving bribery and money laundering, after about 9 1/2 half hours of deliberations over two days. US Attorney Kenneth Parker said the government's prosecution team showed that "Householder sold the Statehouse, and thus he ultimately betrayed the people of the great state of Ohio he was elected to serve." He called Borges "a willing co-conspirator." "Through its verdict today, the jury reaffirmed that the illegal acts committed by both men will not be tolerated and that they should be held accountable," Parker said. Attorneys for Householder and Borges did not immediately respond to messages left by The Associated Press on Thursday. Prosecutors alleged that Householder orchestrated a scheme secretly funded by Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. to secure his power in the Legislature, elect his allies- and then to pass and defend a USD 1 billion nuclear power plant bailout benefiting the electric utility. They alleged that Borges, then a lobbyist, sought to bribe an operative for inside information on the referendum to overturn the bailout.

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC and Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao's daughter K Kavitha on Thursday (March 9) said that a hunger strike will be held in the national capital today and that 18 political parties have said that they will participate in the protest launched to seek introduction of the Women's Reservation Bill in the current session of Parliament. The BRS leader also said that she will face Enforcement Directorate (ED) as she has not done anything wrong. Addressing a press conference, Kavitha, who received summons from the Enforcement Directorate for questioning in the Delhi excise police case said that if a woman has to be interrogated by a central agency, then as per law, she has a "fundamental right" to be questioned at her home."We released a poster on March 2 about the hunger strike in Delhi over the Women's Reservation Bill. 18 parties confirmed their participation...ED summoned me on March 9. I requested for March 16 but don't know what haste they're in, so I agreed for March 11." "When an agency wants to interrogate a woman, she has a fundamental right that it be done at her home," she stated."So, I requested ED that they can come to my house on 11th March to investigate but they said that I will have to come to them," the BRS leader said. Kavitha arrived in Delhi and said that she will be appearing before the Enforcement Directorate on March 11.

Two employees of a jewellery making unit were arrested by the Mumbai police from West Bengal on Thursday for allegedly stealing gold ornaments from their workplace, an official said. According to the Dahisar police station official, the duo worked in the city-based unit along with 17 other employees and last month fled with gold. After the incident came to light, the jewellery making unit owner lodged an FIR. The Mumbai police eventually tracked them down to West Bengal and arrested them after following their mobile phone locations and other clues, he said. Some of the stolen gold was sold in Ahmedabad and a few other places, said the official without revealing the total value of the precious metal. The accused were booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 381 (theft by servant), and further investigation was underway, he added.

US President Joe Biden on Thursday unveiled a USD 6.9 trillion annual budget for the year 2024, which proposes a hefty tax on the rich, massive spending on social measures and investment on building key infrastructure. The budget was termed a "non-starter" by the Republicans who have a majority in the House of Representatives. Biden at a rally in Philadelphia asserted that his budget reflects what "we can do to" lift the burden on hard working Americans and it would reduce the deficit this year by USD 160 billion. "To support working parents, my budget expands access to affordable childcare for millions of families. And it's going to invest in paid family medical leave," Biden said, adding that his budget also invests in elder care and home care and restores the child tax credit. Biden said the budget will deliver funding to help the US lead the world again. "My budget also invests in critical issues that matter to families, increasing the supply of affordable housing, lower rental costs, and make it easier to buy a home, all of which will generate economic growth and prosperity," he said. Asserting that he brought down the deficit of USD 1.7 trillion more than any president in American history, Biden said his latest budget is going to reduce the deficit by nearly USD 3 trillion over 10 years. The budgetary proposals call for imposing a 25 per cent minimum tax on the wealthiest 0.01 per cent of households, quadrupling a one per cent surcharge on corporate stock buybacks, restoring the top marginal income tax rate to 39.6 per cent. It proposes to raise the corporate income tax rate from 21 per cent to 28 per cent.

The United States Thursday urged Pakistan to improve its business environment which would make the South Asian country more attractive and competitive around the world. Pakistan is under a severe economic crisis and is in an advanced stage of talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial assistance. State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at a news conference here that Pakistan has encountered economic headwinds of late. "The Pakistani people are facing record levels of inflation. Of course, this comes on the back of the extensive flooding through parts of the country. And it has only put a spotlight on our need to continue to work together to help the Pakistani people to help put themselves on a sustainable economic path and a durable path to the prosperity that we seek for the Pakistani people," he said. There's a reform agenda that the Pakistani government is in the midst of. "We encourage Pakistan to continue working with the IMF, especially on reforms that will improve Pakistan's business environment. And we know that doing so will ultimately make Pakistani businesses more attractive and competitive around the world," Price said.