Breaking News, February 10

In a first, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday awarded appreciation certificates to the top 10 best-performing federal ministries and divisions for achieving their targets under his government. A ceremony was held in Islamabad to distribute certificates which were based on the basis of a "The Performance Agreement" signed last year by each ministries with the PM Office. Based on the criteria set by the PM Office, the communications ministry got first position, followed by the planning ministry and poverty alleviation division as the second and third respectively. The ministers heading the respective ministries and divisions received the certificates.

UPA Govt had given away our rights to secure food procurement policy. If their 2013 agreement with WTO had been implemented, this country could not have procured rice from farmers from 2017. Today, they are asking what we are doing for farmers: FM Nirmala Sitharaman in LS

Gujarat reports 2,275 fresh COVID cases, 8,172 recoveries, and 21 deaths today 

Total recoveries: 11,78,289
Active cases: 21,437
Death toll: 10,761

Voting for the first phase of UP Assembly elections has been completed successfully. Wherever we got complaints, EVMs & VVPATs were replaced immediately. There was no incident of violence: Ajay Kumar Shukla, Chief Electoral Officer, Uttar Pradesh

Congress, IUML, and DMK staged a walkout during FM Nirmala Sitharaman's reply to MPs' questions on the Union Budget 2022 in the Lok Sabha

"Congress does not have the patience to sit in the House and face the truth. Instead, they run away," the minister said.

44 Unicorns have been identified in this country. They have created wealth. They showcase India's talent and innovation. This has happened between 2020 and 2021: FM Nirmala Sitharaman replying on the Union Budget 2022 in the Lok Sabha

Kerala reports 18,420 new COVID cases, 1205 hospitalizations, 43,286 recoveries, and 20 deaths today

Active cases: 2,32,980 
Death toll: 61,134

ISRO has launched a total of 129 satellites of Indian origin and 342 foreign satellites belonging to 36 countries since 1975: Union Minister of State (I/C) for Atomic Energy & Space, Jitendra Singh tells Rajya Sabha

The Border Security Force (BSF) seized nine Pakistani fishing boats in Harami Nala creek area along the Indo-Pak maritime border near Kutch district of Gujarat on Thursday morning, officials said. After the seizure, the security agency launched a search operation in the creek area to find out if any more such boats from the neighbouring country have entered Indian waters, they said. "During a routine patrolling, BSF personnel had released a camera-mounted UAV in the sky to get a bird's eye view of the area. During one such UAV mission, we found nine fishing boats in Harami Nala. BSF patrol boats quickly reached the spot and seized those boats belonging to the fishermen from Pakistan," G S Malik, Inspector General of the BSF's Gujarat Frontier, told PTI.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan appreciated the feat achieved by an auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM) who administered over 1 lakh doses of the COVID-19 vaccine without taking a single day off in the last one year, an official said on Thursday. In a message on Wednesday, the chief minister praised ANM Maya Ahirwar for her dedication. “Maya has set an example of obedience in performing her duties by not taking a single day off to administer over 1 lakh doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in a year from January 16, 2021 to February 7, 2022,” Chouhan said.

Lakhimpur Kheri violence case: Allahabad High Court grants bail to prime accused Ashish Mishra

A man found 4.57 carat diamond, with an estimated value of Rs 10 lakh, in a shallow mine of world-famous Panna mines in Madhya Pradesh, an official said on Thursday (February 10). Rana Pratap Singh, who hails from neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, found the stone in Bharkha area earlier this week, he said. Singh had taken a shallow mine on lease to mine diamonds in Bharkha area and fate smiled on him when he found a precious stone weighing 4.57 carat, the official said. As per private estimates, the diamond is likely to fetch around Rs 10 lakh. The stone will be auctioned on February 24 and the proceeds will be given to the miner after deducting 11.5 per cent royalty, diamond inspector Anupam Singh said. 

Puducherry reported 162 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday raising the overall tally to 1,64,922, a senior official said. In a press release, Director of Health G Sriramulu said the 162 new cases identified at the end of examination of 2,417 samples during the 24 hours ending 10 am on Thursday. The fresh cases in the Union Territory were spread over Puducherry (102), Karaikal (36), Yanam (22) and Mahe (two). The Director said there were 2,506 active cases of whom 58 patients were in hospitals undergoing treatment and the remaining 2,448 patients staying in home quarantine. He said 741 patients recovered and were discharged during the last 24 hours while the overall recoveries were 1,60,460. The Director said one more patient from Yanam succumbed to the infection raising the overall death toll in the UT to 1,956.

The Gujarat government has indefinitely postponed a clerk recruitment exam, to be held on February 13, citing administrative reasons. This is for the third time since 2019 that the written exam for the recruitment of class III non-secretariat clerks and secretariat service office assistants in the state government has not been conducted for different reasons. In a public notice on Wednesday night, the Gujarat Subordinate Service Selection Board (GSSSB) announced that the exam, scheduled on February 13, has been postponed for the time being and new dates will be announced soon.

The Ministry of Health issues revised guidelines for international arrivals, to come in effect from 14th February. The demarcation of countries ‘at-risk’ and other countries removed. Recommends 14 days self-monitoring post-arrival as against 7 days home quarantine as was mandated earlier. Besides uploading negative RT-PCR report (taken 72 hours prior to journey), option to upload the certificate of completing full primary vaccination schedule of COVID-19 vaccination provided from countries on a reciprocal basis. 

CBI arrested a Manager, Awantika Gas Ltd, Indore (MP) while demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000 from complainant for clearing payments of his bills. Searches were conducted at office and residence of accused. He will be produced before Special Judge for CBI Cases at Indore today.

The voluntary retention route (VRR) cap for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) will be enhanced by Rs 1 lakh crore to Rs 2.50 lakh crore, given the increased interest shown by them, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das announced on Thursday. The enhancement of VRR, which seeks to provide a separate channel, broadly free of macroprudential controls, to FPI investments in government and corporate debt securities will be applicable from April 1, Das said. He said a dedicated investment limit of Rs 1,50,000 crore was set for investments under the VRR earlier. The enhancement is being done “given the positive response to the VRR as evident from the near exhaustion of the current limit”, Das noted.

Sonia Gandhi made a big deal about paying for tickets of migrant workers. Turns out she has not paid her own house rent for one and a half year, tweets the In-charge of BJP's National Information and Technology Department Amit Malviya. 

India has expressed dismay at the failure of the UN Secretary General's report on ISIS to take note of the close links between proscribed terrorist groups such as Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad despite New Delhi repeatedly flagging these concerns. The '14th report of the Secretary-General on the threat posed by ISIS to international peace and security and the range of United Nations efforts in support of Member States in countering the threat' notes that the security landscape in Afghanistan changed dramatically on August 15, following a Taliban military campaign that took control in the country, including Kabul.

Madurai bench of Madras High Court quashes case against YouTuber Maridhas over his video on Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests. 

Indrani Mukerjea files a bail plea in Supreme Court. The matter adjourned for Monday, 14th February as the Court did not receive the order copy.

India logged 67,084 new coronavirus infections, taking the country's total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,24,78,060, while the active cases declined to 7,90,789, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday. The death toll climbed to 5,06,520 with 1,241 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated. The active cases comprise 1.86 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has further improved to 96.95 per cent, the ministry said. A reduction of 1,02,039 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 4.44 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 6.58 per cent, according to the ministry. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,11,80,751, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent. 

A 16-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a shopkeeper who also filmed the act, police said on Tuesday. Family members of the victim told police that she had gone to buy some goods from a shop where the shopkeeper sexually assaulted her. He also made a video of the act and shared it on social media, the police said. The incident took place on Sunday in the Purkazi area of the district, they added. Police said a case under the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has been registered against the accused and he has been arrested.

The rupee declined 21 paise to 75.02 against the US dollar in opening trade on Thursday after the Reserve Bank of India kept benchmark lending rate unchanged and said it will continue with the accommodative stance. RBI kept benchmark lending rate unchanged for the 10th time in a row at 4 per cent. The Monetary Policy Committee decided to keep reverse repo rate unchanged at 3.35 per cent. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened flat at 74.90 against the US dollar, then slipped further to 75.05, registering a decline of 21 paise from the last close. On Wednesday, the rupee had settled at 74.84 against the US dollar.

READ FULL STORY HERE:

More than a half-dozen public high schools in Washington, D.C., were evacuated Wednesday afternoon after receiving anonymous bomb threats. In each case, police found no explosives. The Metropolitan Police Department announced that seven schools received bomb threats over the phone: Dunbar High School, Theodore Roosevelt High School, Ron Brown High School, KIPP DC College Preparatory, IDEA Public Charter School, Seed Public Charter School and McKinley Tech High School. In each case, students were evacuated and the building searched and “cleared with no hazardous material found,” the MPD announced on Twitter. An eighth school, Friendship Public Charter School, also received a threat, but school was not in session. The string of threats comes a day after Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, was quickly escorted out of a Black History Month event following a bomb threat during a visit to Dunbar High School. The MPD said it was “working to thoroughly investigate these threats with the assistance of our federal partners” at the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

A 9-year-old girl was shot in the head in what Houston police suspect was a road-rage shooting after her family's sport utility vehicle came between two racing vehicles, police said. The incident happened shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday on Interstate 69 in southwestern Houston. A police statement says the family's SUV was inbound when it got between two vehicles that appeared to be racing. One of the vehicles, a white pickup truck, cut off the SUV several times, then pulled behind the SUV. Someone in the truck then fired shots at the SUV, wounding the girl, who was hospitalized in critical condition. No suspects have been identified nor arrests made. 

A total of Rs 3,358.14 crore wages under the employment guarantee scheme Mahatma Gandhi NREGS are pending till January 27, with the maximum pendency in West Bengal followed by Uttar Pradesh, Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday. In a written reply, Minister of State (MoS) for Rural Development Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti shared the details of state-wise pending liabilities for wage component under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). According to the details, West Bengal has the maximum pending wages of Rs 752 crore in the current financial year 2021-22, followed by Uttar Pradesh at Rs 597.07 crore and Rajasthan at Rs 555.08 crore.

A six-year-old girl drowned in Parvati river while playing in Himachal Pradesh's Kullu district, police said on Wednesday. Divya was playing with her friend Deepa near the river close to her house at Tipri Manikaran on Tuesday when she slipped into it, they added. Her body was recovered by the rescue team on Wednesday, police said. The body was handed over to her father after a post-mortem at the Kullu regional hospital.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said the projected fiscal deficit of 6.9 per cent for the current financial year is a "responsible" target as the government has tried to ensure a balance between keeping up expenditure and being fiscally prudent. Making an intervention during the discussion on the Union Budget 2022-23 in the Lok Sabha, the minister also said the Rs 1 lakh crore loan for states will help in speeding up infrastructure development and capital expenditure.

Nobel laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee on Wednesday said the lockdown has impeded the basic learning of students and schools in West Bengal should reopen as soon as possible in view of the present COVID situation. He also underscored the need to curtail the curriculum once the classes resume at the junior level and help children make up for the lost time. The economist, who heads the Global Advisory Committee formed by the West Bengal government to combat the COVID situation, was taking part in a programme in which the Annual Status Report of Education (ASER) of December 2021 was launched. The survey for it was carried out among 11,189 students in 17 districts of Bengal by Pratham Education Foundation and Liver Foundation, which jointly hosted the launch of the report launch.

A special NIA court here on Wednesday convicted a Bangladeshi terrorist of the JMB terror group in connection with a blast at the Mahabodhi Temple complex in Bodh Gaya in 2018, an official said. Jahidul Islam, a member of the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) terrorist group, was convicted under sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Explosive Substance Act and the Foreigners Act, the official of the premier investigation agency said The quantum of punishment against him would be announced in due course, the NIA official said. The case, registered in February 2018, pertains to planting of three improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in and around the premises of the temple, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) official said.

The Railway Board has sanctioned Rs 4.35 crore to conduct the final location survey for the proposed Jalna-Jalgaon railway line in Maharashtra, Minister of State for Railways Raosaheb Danve said on Wednesday. The survey will be conducted from Jalna to Jalgaon en route Pimpalgaon, Rajur, and Ajanta for the 147-km line. This railway line will encourage the economic growth of rural areas in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra, said Danve, who represents Jalna Lok Sabha seat, in a release.

Three Iraqi soldiers and a civilian were killed in a roadside bomb explosion in Iraq's western province of Anbar, a security source said. The incident took place on Wednesday morning when a roadside bomb detonated near a vehicle carrying soldiers on a highway near the town of Rutba, nearly 390 km west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, Lt. Col. Sabhan Jassim from the Iraqi Army told Xinhua. The blast destroyed the vehicle, killing three soldiers and the driver, Jassim said, adding that the security forces have launched an investigation into the incident, Xinhua news agency reported. The security situation in Iraq has been improving since the Iraqi forces defeated the Islamic State (IS) in 2017. However, IS remnants have since melted into urban centers, deserts and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians.

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday allowed a cafe to serve herbal hookah with certain restrictions. The petitioner had challenged the August 2020 Delhi Government order and interference in the operation by the authorities concerned.Justice V Kameswar Rao allowed the Punter House Cafe to serve the herbal hookah only with disposable pipes on its premises. He issued notice to the Health and family welfare department of the Delhi Government, Delhi Police and Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) to file their reply on the petition. The court directed to file a reply within 4 weeks and listed the matter along with two similar petitions on 28 April 2022. The High court said that the petitioner is allowed to serve strictly herbal hookah only with disposable pipes till the next date of hearing. The petitioner shall file an affidavit to this effect.

The Assam State Election Commission (ASEC) on Wednesday announced that polling to 80 municipal boards across the state will be held on March 6 and votes will be counted three days later. Addressing a press conference, State Election Commissioner Alok Kumar said the polling will be conducted through electronic voting machines (EVMs) for the first time in the history of civic elections in Assam. In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ASEC banned roadshows, rallies and processions related to campaigns till February 15 as per the guidelines of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority. Door-to-door campaigning is allowed with a maximum of 15 persons. "The model code of conduct comes into force with the announcement of the poll date," Kumar said.

A coal-laden goods train travelling on Howrah-New Delhi route caught fire at Nimiyaghat police station area in Giridih district on Wednesday disrupting train services for several hours, a railway official said. Six coal-laden wagons of the goods train caught fire which could be doused with the help of fire tenders averting any mishap, Railway Manager at Parasnath Station, Shashikant Bharti said. The goods train was on its way to Haryana from Mahuda, Dhanbad.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said he held productive talks with his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and discussed the broad-based political, economic, digital and security partnership. Jaishankar, who is visiting the Gulf country, also exchanged views on global and regional developments, including Afghanistan. In his talks with Al-Thani, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister of Qatar, the external affairs minister appreciated the interest in expanding investment and trade.

Slovenia's Prime Minister Janez Jansa has tested positive for Covid-19. Jansa on Wednesday said on his Twitter account that self-tests showed that his two sons were Covid-positive on Tuesday, and he tested positive for the infection on Wednesday . "All classic symptoms. Mild ones for now. Let it stay that way," he tweeted. Slovenia's daily number of Covid-19 cases fell to 5,076 on Tuesday from 11,119 on Monday and the record 24,178 on February 1, the National Institute of Public Health said on Wednesday. To date, only 57.8 per cent of the country's 2.1-million population has been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, Xinhua news agency reported.