Breaking News, April 17 | HIGHLIGHTS

A 36-year-old factory worker was allegedly attacked with stones and killed before being robbed by unidentified people here, police said on Monday. Jinder Singh, a native of Nalanda in Bihar, was found lying in a pool of blood near a warehouse in sector 37 on Sunday, they said.

A private school in Madhya Pradesh's Indore allegedly received an email claiming that a bomb had been planted on its premises, police said on Monday. The police have, however, said that the email, which was received on April 14, appears to be "a prank".

Maharashtra on Monday reported 505 COVID-19 cases, which took the tally to 81,56,344, while the death toll stood unchanged at 1,48,479, a health department official said.

Workers of BJP and Congress got into a minor scuffle in Santhekatte in Belthangady taluk of Dakshina Kannada district on Monday after an angry mob damaged a car that belonged to a BJP worker.

"Roshni, a 20-year-old woman, was shot dead in broad daylight. While returning home two unidentified youth shot at her and she died due to blood loss. According to her family, known people might have committed the act. The Police constituted 4 teams, are raiding all possible hideouts and will arrest the culprits soon", said Iraj Raja, SP Jalaun

The customs officials have arrested three men at the international airport here for allegedly smuggling into the country gold valuing about Rs 1.67 crore . The accused were arrested in separate cases. Two men, who had arrived from Riyadh in a same flight, were intercepted after their arrival here on Saturday, officials said on Monday.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday announced a new experts-led review into how to ensure all pupils in England study some form of mathematics up to the age of 18 as part of his strategy to change an “anti-maths mindset” that is holding the country back.

The registration for the annual Amarnath pilgrimage began on Monday with scores of people lining up at designated bank branches across the country to secure a permit. The 62-day pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine in south Kashmir is scheduled to start on July 1 and continue till August 31.

NCP MP Supriya Sule on Monday targetted the Maharashtra government over the death of 12 people due to sunstroke after a state award event in Navi Mumbai and demanded the formation of a panel to probe the incident.

Mayor Shelly Oberoi and Deputy Mayor Aaley Mohammad Iqbal on Monday filed their nominations for the April 26 mayoral elections for a possible second consecutive term, with the AAP confident its candidates are poised for a win. "We will repeat Shelly Oberoi and Aaley Mohammad Iqbal as candidates for mayor and deputy mayor posts respectively. AAP had emerged victorious despite the BJP's attempts to disrupt the mayoral polls earlier. Our candidates will win the polls this time too," AAP leader Sanjay Singh said in a press conference earlier in the d

The United States, South Korea and Japan conducted a joint missile defence exercise Monday in waters near the Korean Peninsula as they expand military training to counter the growing threats of North Korea's nuclear-capable missiles.

The Gujarat police have arrested 18 persons from different parts of the state in the last one week for allegedly activating and selling SIM cards using forged documents and photographs of unsuspecting customers, an official said on Monday. According to the Gujarat Crime Investigation Department (CID), an investigation by the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) had revealed that more than 29,000 cards had been sold by SIM card sellers or through point of sale (PoS) across the state using fake identity documents and photographs of people and customers who submit their documents to get numbers of their choice, the official said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday slammed Home Minister Amit Shah for his "undemocratic" and "unconstitutional" remarks that the TMC government won't survive beyond 2025 if the BJP wins 35 seats in the next year's Lok Sabha polls.

 The Indian road logistics industry is expected to clock a high single-digit growth this fiscal on an elevated base of the previous year, ICRA said on Monday.

The credit ratings agency also expects the demand momentum to continue in FY24, aided by stable domestic consumption and investment demand, ICRA said.

The Indian road logistics industry's revenue growth is pegged at a high single-digit on an elevated base of FY2023, Icra said, adding that the outlook is stable.

The downside risks to the estimates remain from any material tapering of demand due to high inflationary and interest rate regime, the emergence of any further Covid waves, or a sub-par monsoon impacting the overall economic health, given its strong linkage to economic activity on an aggregate basis, it said.

According to ICRA, quarterly revenues for the logistics sector witnessed a marginal contraction of 2 per cent in Q3 FY23, compared to the earlier quarter of the same year.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused the ruling BJP and RSS of attacking democracy and spreading hatred and violence in the country.

He also appealed to the people to support the Congress and ensure that the party wins at least 150 seats in the May 10 Assembly polls in Karnataka, and comes to power with a full majority.

"Bidar is Basavanna's (12th century social reformer) 'karma bhoomi'.
If someone first spoke about democracy and showed the path towards democracy it was Basavanna.
It is sad that today across the country, people from RSS and BJP are attacking democracy," Gandhi said.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said he is deeply pained over the deaths in the suspected hooch tragedy at Motihari in East Champaran district, and announced an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased.

The death toll rose to 26 on Monday, with four more people losing their lives after consuming the spurious liquor, police said.

“I am deeply pained at what happened in Motihari… I know that the majority of people who die in such incidents belong to the economically weaker sections… Despite our best attempts, hooch incidents are taking place in the state and people are dying after consuming spurious liquor,” Kumar told reporters.

Observing that the Mumbai Metro has made an attempt to overreach the court's jurisdiction, the Supreme Court on Monday directed it to pay Rs 10 lakh fine within two weeks for felling of trees in Aarey forest beyond permission.

A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala said it was improper on Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited's (MMRCL) part to move the tree authority for felling of any trees in excess of 84.

The top court, however, permitted the company to remove 177 trees from Aarey forest, saying a stay on tree felling would lead to the public project being brought to a standstill which is not desirable.

"MMRCL within a period of two weeks should provide an amount of 10 lakh to the conservator of forests.
The conservator shall ensure that all afforestation which has been directed is completed," the bench said.

 Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday hit back at Rahul Gandhi on "40 per cent Commission sarkar" jibe at his government, saying the Congress leader is yet to respond to his "corruption chargesheet."
Bommai also dismissed Gandhi's claim on Sunday that his party would be voted to power in Karnataka.
"Does he know any ground reality here (Karnataka)", he asked.

The Chief Minister said he had sent a "charge-sheet" to Gandhi during his 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' on the "scams" during the (previous) Congress government but he is yet to get a reply.
"The 40 per cent commission chargesheet is on him (Rahul Gandhi).

Gandhi said here on Sunday "the tag of 40 per cent commission sarkar" has stuck.

 Nearly two days after three assailants posing as media persons killed gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf in Prayagraj, the Uttar Pradesh government has formed a Special Investigating Team (SIT) to probe the killing.

The major development came hours after CM Yogi Adityanath held a high-level meeting with the top officials on Monday.

The death toll in a suspected hooch tragedy in Bihar’s East Champaran district rose to 26 on Monday with four more people losing their lives after consuming the spurious liquor in Motihari, SP Kantesh Kumar Mishra said.

Twenty more are undergoing treatment at Sadar and different hospitals in the district, he said.

The district police suspended SHOs of Turkauliya, Harsiddhi, Sugauli and Paharpur police stations and Raghunathpur outpost on the charge of dereliction of duties, East Champaran SP said.

“With four more deaths in the last ten hours, the toll has now increased to 26.
Besides, five station house officers of police stations concerned have been suspended after the incident,” Mishra told PTI.

Disciplinary actions were taken against 11 police personnel, including nine chowkidars, on Sunday, he said, adding that the district police have so far registered five cases and the “investigation into the hooch tragedy is underway”.

The East Champaran police have also arrested 80 people for allegedly being involved in the illegal trade of liquor in the district.

 The United States Navy has sailed a warship through the Taiwan Strait in its first known transit since China carried out an encirclement exercise around self-ruled Taiwan.

The US 7th Fleet said the transit through the strait by the USS Milius on Sunday was routine.
The cruisers “transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal State”, the statement said.

Last week China concluded large-scale air and sea drills in the strait in retaliation for Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on April 5 in California.

An Army jawan has been arrested in connection with the killing of four soldiers at the Bathinda Military Station, a senior Punjab Police official said on Monday.

Bathinda Senior Superintendent of Police Gulneet Singh Khurana identified the arrested soldier as Desai Mohan, and said, "The motive was personal. He had enmity with them."

Four soldiers were killed in their sleep in firing inside the military station in Bathinda on April 12.

An FIR was lodged in this connection at the Bathinda Cantonment police station under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Arms Act against two unidentified persons.

First the Russians gave the U.N. spotlight to the commissioner of children’s rights accused with President Vladimir Putin of war crimes for deporting Ukrainian children to Russia, sparking a walkout by the U.S. and several others.
Then Russia went after the West by claiming it is violating international laws in arming Ukraine, drawing blistering retorts that Ukraine has every right to defend itself against Putin’s invading army.
So far, the Russian presidency of the U.N. Security Council has been the most contentious in the memory of longtime U.N. diplomats and officials. And it’s just at the midway point.

Islamic State militants have killed 26 people who were foraging for wild truffles in Syria’s Hama region, opposition and state media reported Sunday.

Amid the economic devastation of Syria’s yearslong war, foraging for truffles can help people earn money, as the seasonal delicacy fetches a high price.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition media group based in Britain, said civilians and military personnel were among the victims of the armed attack in the eastern outskirts of the city of Hama, 115 miles (186 kilometers) north of the capital Damascus.

Gunmen have attacked a village in northwest Nigeria and killed at least 33 people, a local official said Sunday.

More than 35 houses were destroyed in the violence in Runji, which is in the state of Kaduna, said Francis Zimbo, chairman of the Zangon Kataf area where the massacre took place.
Zimbo provided the number of fatalities, but state authorities wouldn't comment on the number of people killed.

“Troops had a fierce encounter with the attackers and are still in the general area,” said Samuel Aruwan, the state commissioner of security.

 Russian President Vladimir Putin met with China's defence minister on Sunday, underscoring Beijing's strengthening engagement with Moscow, with which it has largely aligned its foreign policy in an attempt to diminish the influence of the United States and other Western democracies.

Putin and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu met with Gen Li Shangfu less than a month after Chinese leader Xi Jinping held a three-day state visit to Moscow.

China has refused to criticise Russia's military actions in Ukraine and blames the United States and NATO for provoking Moscow.
But China's foreign minister said last week that China wouldn't be helping Russia with weapons, as the US and other Western allies have feared.

A gunfight broke out between police personnel and suspected cadres of Kuki Independent Army (KIA) on Sunday in Manipur's Churachandpur district bordering Myanmar, a senior officer said.

A civilian hailing from Kolchung was injured in the exchange of fire near Songphu village in Henglep sub-division, he said.

Security forces managed to recover four guns from the site, and additional forces have been sent to conduct further operation, the police officer said.

A high school senior who planned to play college football was celebrating at his sister's 16th birthday party Saturday night in Alabama when gunfire killed him and three other people and wounded several others.

Police were gathering evidence Sunday at a dance studio where the party was held in downtown Dadeville. They did not immediately say if a suspect was in custody, or if they knew more about any motivation.

Philstavious “Phil” Dowdell, a Dadeville High School senior who had committed to Jacksonville State University, was celebrating at his sister Alexis' party before he was shot to death, his grandmother Annette Allen told The Montgomery Advertiser.

“He was a very, very humble child. Never messed with anybody. Always had a smile on his face,” Allen told the newspaper, calling it “a million-dollar smile.” Dowdell's mother was among those hurt in the shooting.

Authorities were looking for a man they believe shot and killed an eastern Oregon police officer.

Nyssa officer Joseph Johnson, 43, died Saturday night after a man he had pursued in a car shot at him.
The man fled and Johnson was dead when sheriff's officers and medical workers arrived, The Oregonian reported.

Johnson had been responding to reports the man was making threats and damaging property, the Malheur County District Attorney's office said in a statement Sunday.