Breaking News on February 18

The bypolls to panchayats scheduled from March 5 in Jammu and Kashmir has been postponed due to security reasons, J&K Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Shailendra Kumar said on Tuesday.

By-election to over 12,500 panchayat seats in Jammu and Kashmir was scheduled to be held in eight phases from March 5.

"The bypolls to panchayats has been postponed for three weeks due to security reasons," Kumar told PTI.

He said this step was taken after inputs given to him by the home department over security issues.

The eight-phase poll was earlier scheduled to be held from March 5 to March 20 on a party basis. The polling was slated for March 5, March 7, March 9, March 12, March 14, March 16, March 18 and March 20.

Indian Air Force's C-17 military aircraft to visit China on February 20 to evacuate Indian nationals from #coronavirus-hit Wuhan.

Madras HC restrains Muslim outfits from organising TN assembly siege agitation over CAA.

Bulandshahr SDM said, "Some girls of Sarai Murtaza colony had come to me. They told me that when they go to schools/colleges, some miscreants stop them, molest them & ask them to wear a burqa. Girls said that if their family doesn't stop them, how can these miscreants do that!"

The sitting President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani has been elected for his second term on Tuesday.

Pakistan to remain in FATF's grey list

INX media case: Special Court reserved order on regular bail of all the six bureaucrats and will pronounce the order tomorrow at 3 pm. All these bureaucrats are currently on interim bail.

Navi Mumbai Police registered an FIR against 76 people under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code in an alleged bank Scam over 512 crores. The scam took place in Karnala co-operative bank of Navi Mumbai. 

BJP MP Saroj Pandey has been appointed by party President JP Nadda as observer for Delhi BJP. The party will elect its leader for the state legislative Assembly. She will hold a meeting with newly-elected MLAs.

Actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha arrives at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) to meet former Bihar CM and RJD Supremo Lalu Parsad Yadav who is admitted for his prolonged illness, in Ranchi.

The body of a rape accused was found hanging from a tree at a village in Shamli district, police said on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old man was arrested in connection with a rape case on January 17 and was released on bail on February 11, SP Vineet Jaiswal said. He said the body was sent for postmortem and efforts were underway to ascertain the cause of the death.

Sensex trips 245.37 points to 40,810.32 in early trade; Nifty drops 74.45 points to 11,971.35

At least 4 people lost their lives in a car accident on Agra-Lucknow Expressway in Bilhaur, earlier today.

In a major reshuffle, 22 Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers, including 11 District Magistrates have been transferred by the Bihar Government.

Veteran Bengali actor and former Trinamool Congress MP Tapas Paul died of cardiac arrest early Tuesday, family sources said. He was 61. Paul, who had gone to Mumbai to visit his daughter, complained of chest pain at the Mumbai airport during his return to Kolkata and was rushed to a hospital in Juhu but died around 4 am, they said.

He had been suffering from heart ailments and been to hospitals several times for treatment during the past two years. A two-term MP from Krishnanagar and MLA from Alipore, he is survived by his daughter and wife.

The Jammu and Kashmir chief electoral officer on Monday issued notification for holding the second phase of panchayat by-elections in 55 blocks of 14 districts of the Union Territory, an official spokesperson said.

The by-election for 12,650 panches and sarpanches in Jammu and Kashmir is to be held in eight phases from March 5 to March 20. J&K Chief Electoral Officer Shailendra Kumar had on Saturday issued the notification for the first phase of the eight-phase of bypolls

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to meet industry & trade associations in Delhi today to assess the impact of #COVID19 on Indian trade & industry

Supreme Court to hear today a petition filed by fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya against the proceedings initiated by Enforcement Directorate (ED) to seize his assets in India

Senior bureaucrat Rajiv Bansal here on Monday assumed the charge as Air India's Chairman and Managing Director.

Bansal, a 1988 batch Nagaland cadre officer, was given the additional charge as Air India's CMD in 2017. He also had a stint with the Ministry of Civil Aviation between 2006 and 2008.