Breaking News, February 20 | HIGHLIGHTS

At least six people were injured when a clash broke out between members of two communities in Khera Khalilpur village in Haryana's Nuh district on Monday, police said.
Both sides engaged in stone pelting and there were also reports of shots being fired in the air, the police said, adding some people have been detained.
As soon as the information about the incident was received, a heavy police force led by Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) of Nuh Usha Kundu reached the spot and brought the situation under control.

 A special court on Monday sentenced former Uttar Pradesh MLA and former Haryana minister Kartar Singh Bhadana to one-month imprisonment for violation of the model code of conduct during the 2014 parliamentary elections.

Former Maharashtra chief minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Chavan on Monday said "some private and contractual persons" were spying on him and attempts were also being made to defame him or someone through the forgery of his official letters. Chavan said all these attempts may be part of a conspiracy to harm him and the police must register an offence.

Dismissed Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Balwinder Singh Sekhon was arrested on Monday for contempt of court for circulating malicious, libellous and derogatory videos on judicial proceedings, following an order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Ludhiana Police Commissioner Mandeep Singh Sidhu confirmed the arrest of Sekhon, the dismissed officer of the Punjab Police, and said he had used derogatory language against the judiciary and uploaded such content on social media. The high court took suo motu cognizance of the matter.

Uttar Pradesh Police on Monday registered a case against Pawan Khera following a complaint by city-based BJP leader Mukesh Sharma who alleged that the Congress spokesperson "intentionally made fun" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's late father. The case was registered at Hazratganj police station here under sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups), 500 (defamation), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 505(2) (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes) of the IPC, a police official said.

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar has asked a parliamentary committee to investigate the alleged breach of privilege by 12 MPs from the Congress and the AAP for repeatedly entering the well of the House, shouting slogans and obstructing its proceedings.
According to a Rajya Sabha bulletin, nine of the MPs are from the Congress and three from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Loans being given to farmers under the Centre's Kisan Credit Card Scheme will be extended to fisherfolk as well, Union Minister Parshottam Rupala said here on Monday.
The Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying was speaking at an event to mark the third phase of the 'Sagar Parikrama' initiative at Satpati.

In a major development, Air India New York-Delhi flight diverted to London on Monday after a passenger complained of health implications. 

Former IAS officer B V R Subrahmanyam was on Monday appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Niti Aayog replacing Parameswaran lyer, who has been named as the Executive Director of World Bank.

Subrahmanyam, a 1987-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Chhattisgarh cadre, was last year appointed as chairman and managing director, India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) on contract basis for a period of two years after his superannuation on September 30.

 Fintech firm BharatPe Group has roped in former SBI Card executive Aparna Kuppuswamy as Group Chief Risk Officer. Kuppuswamy will be working closely with the CFO and interim CEO, Nalin Negi, and lead the risk portfolio across the BharatPe Group of companies, including the merchant and consumer businesses. 

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Monday inaugurated a surveillance and crime response centre in Mandi that will help expedite response times and improve monitoring in the town. Built at a cost of Rs 3 crore, the Integrated Surveillance and Crime Response Centre -- 'Vyomnetra' -- has been established at Old Police Lines in Mandi.
Ther high-tech system will monitor entry and exit points through 250 cameras installed in the town. The system will help keep vigil and control crime, Sukhu said.

Former Tripura chief minister and BJP leader Biplab Kumar Deb on Monday escaped unhurt after his car rammed into a stationary vehicle on the GT road in Haryana's Panipat district, police said. The accident took place at a road stretch between Samlakha and Panipat when Deb, who is a Rajya Sabha MP and the BJP in-charge for Haryana, was coming to Chandigarh from Delhi, they said. Nobody was hurt in the incident, said Deputy Superintendent of Police (Samalkha) Om Prakash over the phone.          

Cash-strapped Pakistan's current account deficit shrank 90.2 per cent to USD 0.24 billion in January from USD 2.47 billion in the same month last year, the data shared by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed on Monday. "Current Account Deficit (CAD) recorded USD 0.2 billion in Jan 2023 against a deficit of USD 2.5 billion in Jan 2022," the central bank said in a brief statement on Twitter. The decrease in the deficit is also 16.55 per cent lower than December when the SBP announced that the deficit was USD 0.29 billion.

A newly-unveiled statue of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore installed by students at the prestigious Dhaka University campus, which was vandalised last week, has been partially re-installed by authorities. On February 14, students of Dhaka University’s Faculty of Fine Arts installed a Tagore statue with duct tape plastered on his mouth, showing him holding a copy of Gitanjali, with a nail pierced through it, according to news agency UNB. The symbolic statue was installed near the Raju Memorial Sculpture, a prominent landmark on the campus, to protest the censorship on the campus, the report said.

BJP leader Altaf Thakur on Monday hit out at PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, accusing her of indulging in politics of dividing the people of Jammu and Kashmir. “Here in Kashmir, she speaks something and in Jammu, her statements are different. She always plays politics to divide people,” Thakur told PTI.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday said he has been called for questioning by the CBI on February 26 in connection with the Delhi excise policy scam case. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had on Sunday deferred his questioning after he sought time from the agency citing the Delhi government's ongoing budget exercise. The agency had asked Sisodia to appear for questioning on February 19. The senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader told a press conference that he has been called for questioning on February 26 and will appear before the probe agency. CBI officials said that the agency has issued a fresh notice to Sisodia to appear for questioning in the case on February 26.

President Joe Biden made an unannounced visit Monday to Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a gesture of solidarity that comes days before the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of the country. Biden delivered remarks and met with Zelenskyy at Mariinsky Palace to announce an additional half-billion dollars in U.S. assistance and to reassure Ukraine of American and allied support as the conflict continues. The U.S. leader recalled the fears nearly a year ago that Russia's invasion forces might quickly take the Ukrainian capital. “One year later, Kyiv stands,” Biden said, jamming his finger for emphasis on his stand decorated with the U.S. and Ukrainian flags.

Authorities in Israel have registered a police case against a 48-year-old Kerala farmer, who reportedly went missing in Israel earlier this month while visiting the country on a state government-sponsored trip to study Israeli modern agricultural techniques. Biju Kurian, a native of Ulikkal panchayat in Kannur district, was part of a 28-member Kerala government's delegation of farmers, sent to Israel to study state-of-the-art techniques such as hydroponics and precision farming.

Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot claimed on Monday that the frequent visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi to the state in the election year are only aimed at garnering votes and once the purpose is served, they would disappear. Addressing a public programme in Sriganganagar district, Pilot said Modi chose Dausa to inaugurate the Delhi-Dausa-Lalsot part of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway only because he wants to visit places where the Congress is strong ahead of the Assembly polls in Rajasthan that are due by the year-end. The prime minister inaugurated the expressway and held a public meeting in Dausa on February 12. Pilot represented the Dausa Lok Sabha seat in Parliament from 2004 to 2009.

The Haryana Assembly witnessed an uproar on Monday as slogan-shouting Congress members demanded resignation of minister Sandeep Singh over a sexual harassment case, but Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar asserted that his minister won't be asked to resign. The CM got up and thumping the desk said "Istafa Nahi Lenge, Nahi Lenge, Nahi Lenge" (won't seek his resignation), prompting the opposition party benches to raise "shame shame" slogans. Singh, who currently holds charge of the Printing and Stationery Department, was not present in the House. His sports portfolio was taken away after an alleged case of sexual harassment against him was filed by a junior athletics coach.

The Delhi Prisons Department has written to a city court to issue a death warrant against the guilty in the 2000 Red Fort attack case, officials said on Monday. The Supreme Court in November last year dismissed a plea by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Mohammad Arif alias Ashfaq seeking a review of its verdict awarding him death penalty. A senior jail official said they have written to a court earlier this month and initiated further procedure. Arif has not appealed to the President for reducing his term. The case is listed for February 27, official added.

A speeding bus carrying a wedding party veered off the road before falling in a ravine in Pakistan's Punjab province, killing at least 15 people and wounding 60 others, authorities said on Monday. The bus, travelling from Islamabad to Lahore, overturned late on Sunday in the Kallar Kahar Salt Range region, some 240 km from Lahore. "The bus, before overturning, hit three vehicles coming from the opposite direction and veered off the road," Rescue 1122 official Muhammad Farooq told PTI on Monday. The bus was carrying people returning from a wedding ceremony.

The Uttar Pradesh Assembly started on a stormy note on Monday with the opposition Samajwadi Party disrupting Governor Anandiben Patel's address with "Rajyapal wapas jao" slogans. The Budget session of the state commenced at 11 am with Patel continuing to read her address to the joint sitting of the House amidst the sloganeering. Earlier in the day, the SP MLAs led by party general secretary Shivpal Singh Yadav staged a dharna in the assembly premises, raising various issues including that of farmers and law and order situation in the state. Yadav told reporters that they want to raise issues related to public interest in the House.

A prisoner at Bihar's Gopalganj district jail swallowed a mobile phone during inspection, fearing that the gadget may be discovered by prison officers, an official said on Monday. Qaishar Ali, the prisoner, swallowed the phone on Saturday during jail inspection. The matter, however, came to light on Sunday after Ali developed extreme pain in his stomach. "The prisoner informed the jail authorities and narrated the sequence of events. He was immediately rushed to Gopalganj district hospital,” Manoj Kumar, Gopalganj jail superintendent told PTI on Monday. Use of cellphones by inmates is banned in the country’s prisons.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said large-scale investments in the hills of Uttarakhand are creating new employment opportunities for the state's youth who earlier had to migrate to big cities in search of livelihood. "This is the Amrit Kaal of unprecedented opportunities for the country's youths." the prime minister, who was virtually addressing a Rozgar Mela to distribute appointment letters among assistant teachers here, said. "Teachers have to play a big role in preparing them for the new century according to the new education policy," he said.

The Uddhav Thackeray faction on Monday approached the Supreme Court challenging the decision of the Election Commission recognising the Eknath Shinde-led faction as the real Shiv Sena and ordering allocation of the "bow and arrow" poll symbol to it. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi mentioned the matter before a bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud for an early listing of the Thackeray-led Sena faction's petition. The CJI, however, refused to pass any order.
"The rule applies equally to all, whether left, right or centre. Come tomorrow through proper process," the bench said.

Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra took oath as the 14th chief justice of the Jharkhand High Court on Monday. Governor CP Radhakrishnan administered the oath of office to Mishra at the Raj Bhavan here. Chief Minister Hemant Soren, his cabinet colleagues, several judges and senior government officials attended the swearing-in ceremony. The post of the chief justice of the Jharkhand High Court was lying vacant after the superannuation of justice Ravi Ranjan on December 19, 2022.

Ahead of the start of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly session, Samajwadi Party MLAs on Monday sat on a dharna in assembly premises raising various issues including that of farmers and law and order. The Budget session is scheduled to commence at 11 am and Governor Anandiben Patel will address the joint session of the House. SP MLAs led by party general secretary Shivpal Singh Yadav sat on a dharna at the entry gate of the assembly with placards in their hands raising issues related to farmers and the law and order situation in the state.

The transport department has cautioned bike taxis against plying on the roads of Delhi, warning that it was a violation of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, that would make aggregators liable for a fine of Rs 1 lakh. The use of two-wheelers for commercial purposes is in violation of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. The first offence could lead to a fine of Rs 5,000 while a second offence could incur a Rs 10,000 fine and imprisonment of up to a year, the department said in a public notice. The driver will also lose their licence for three months under the circumstances. The notice said some app-based companies are portraying themselves as aggregators in violation of the 1988 act. This will be punishable with a fine of Rs 1 lakh.

The 14th edition of Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav will be organised from February 25 to March 5 at Karni Singh Stadium in Bikaner by the Union Ministry of Culture. The nine-day cultural extravaganza will see artistes from across India participating in the event, Kiran Soni Gupta, Director of West Zone Cultural Centre, Udaipur, said, adding that on February 27, President Droupadi Murmu will inaugurate the festival. Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Union Culture Minister Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of State for Culture and Bikaner MP Arjun Ram Meghwal, and Union Minister of State for Culture Meenakshi Lekhi will be present during the inauguration ceremony.

The residence of AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi at Ashoka road, New Delhi was attacked with stones by some unknown persons on Sunday night. A complaint was filed by Owaisi in this regard. Additional DCP visited his residence and police collected the evidence from the site.

Meta is testing a new subscription service that would let Facebook and Instagram users pay for a verified account. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Meta Verified on his social media accounts Sunday. Testing will begin in New Zealand and Australia this week and will roll out to other countries soon, he said.

Brazilian authorities said that at least 19 people have died in several cities in north Sao Paulo state amid floods and landslides, and this number could still rise. On Sunday, the cities of Sao Sebastiao and Bertioga, two of the hardest hit, cancelled their Carnival festivities as rescue teams struggle to find missing, injured and feared dead in the rubble.
 

North Korea has fired a ballistic missile toward the sea on Monday, South Korea's military said, two days after the North resumed testing activities with an intercontinental ballistic missile launch. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff says the latest launch was made toward the North's eastern waters but gave no further details such as exactly what weapon North Korea fired and how far it flew. On Friday, North Korea launched its Hwasong-15 ICBM off its east coast in the country's first missile test since January 1.