Breaking News March 1 | Highlights

Union Home Amit Shah received the first shot of COVID-19 vaccine at Gurgaon hospital on Monday. 

A Paris court on Monday found French former President Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of corruption and influence-peddling and sentenced him to one year in prison and a two-year suspended sentence. READ MORE

Former head of the News Services Division of All India Radio, Jaideep Bhatnagar, on Monday took over as Principal Director General of the Press Information Bureau.

Amidst the tense border tension between India and China, a Chinese government-linked group of hackers targeted India’s critical power grid system through malware, a US company has said in its latest study, raising suspicion whether last year's massive power outage in Mumbai was a result of the online intrusion. Recorded Future, a Massachusetts-based company that studies the use of the internet by state actors, in its recent report details the campaign conducted by a China-linked threat activity group RedEcho targeting the Indian power sector.

The activity was identified through a combination of large-scale automated network traffic analytics and expert analysis.

Data sources include the Recorded Future Platform, SecurityTrails, Spur, Farsight and common open-source tools and techniques, the report said.

On October 12, a grid failure in Mumbai resulted in massive power outages, stopping trains on tracks, hampering those working from home amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and hitting the stuttering economic activity hard.

Nepal's Chief of Army Staff Purna Chandra Thapa receives his first dose of Made in India vaccine

The body of a 16-year-old Dalit girl was found in a field in the Akrabad area here, following which villagers clashed with police and indulged in stone-pelting, police said on Monday. Police personnel have been deployed in large numbers to maintain law and order. Senior Superintendent of Police Muniraj G said a special police team has been constituted to investigate the case.

The girl had gone to the fields Sunday afternoon to collect fodder for cattle but did not return. Later, her body was found in a field when her family members started searching for her, police said.

They said prima facie it appeared that she was strangled.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Wednesday the bail plea of activist Gautam Navlakha in the alleged Elgar Parishad-Maoist link case. The activist, on February 19, had moved the top court against the Bombay High Court order of February 8 dismissing his bail plea. The high court had said that "it sees no reason to interfere with a special court's order which earlier rejected his bail plea".

A three-judge bench of the apex court comprising justices U U Lalit, Indira Banerjee and KM Joseph would take up the appeal of Navlakha for hearing on March 3 against the high court's order.

According to police, some activists allegedly made inflammatory speeches and provocative statements at the Elgar Parishad meet in Pune on December 31, 2017, which triggered violence at Koregaon Bhima in the district the next day.

A child was killed and two others were critically injured in a blast in a playground in Bihar's Khagaria district near the Gogri police station area.

A police official on Monday said three children were playing in the Bhagwan High School ground on Sunday evening. While playing, all of them hid behind some bushes and started hitting an explosive with a stick mistaking it for a ball. One of the children picked up the explosive following which it exploded.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi dances with students of St. Joseph's Matriculation Hr. Sec. School in Mulagumoodubn, Tamil Nadu during an interaction with them

A Mumbai court on Monday issued a bailable warrant against actor Kangana Ranaut after she failed to appear before it in connection with a defamation complaint filed against her by lyricist Javed Akhtar. The Andheri metropolitan magistrate's court issued a summons to Ranaut on February 1, directing her to appear before it on March 1. However, Ranaut failed to appear on Monday following which the court issued a bailable warrant against her.

The court posted the matter for further hearing on March 22.

Last month, the police submitted a report saying an offence of defamation was made out against the actor. Akhtar had filed the complaint against Ranaut for allegedly making baseless and false statements against him which, according to him, damaged his reputation.

Schools in Kashmir reopened on Monday after remaining closed for nearly one year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The students of classes 9 to 12 attended school for the first time since March 9, 2020. Only those students were allowed to attend school who had been granted permission in writing by their parents.

Most private schools had sought no-objection certificates from parents, absolving the school management of any blame in case of any health issue arising due to the conduct of physical classes. 

DMK leader MK Stalin on Monday sought to make light of Union Home Minister Amit Shah's allegation of corruption against his party, saying it was the
BJP that "stands by corruption" by aligning with the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu. Ridiculing Stalin for speaking on corruption issues, Shah had at a rally in Villupuram on Sunday asked him to "look within," asking "who did the 2G (spectrum allocation) scam" in which party MPs Kanimozhi and A Raja are accused.

The DMK was part of the Congress-led government when the lead party did "Rs 12 lakh crore" worth scams, he had said.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar takes his first dose of COVID-19 vaccination

I am above 70 years of age. You should give it (COVID-19 vaccine) to youngsters who have longevity in life as opposed to me. I merely have 10-15 more years to live, Kharge said.

In a tweet, the Bharat Biotech has honoured Prime Minister Narendra Modi's act to get vaccinated

People arrived at BKC Jumbo COVID-19 hospital in Mumbai to get COVID-19 vaccination as the nationwide drive to inoculate people above 60 years of age and those above 45 years with comorbidities begun on Monday.

"For comorbidities, citizen has to produce a certificate from registered medical practitioner, in which one of the enlisted comorbidities has to be verified and certified by registered medical practitioner. They have to submit it to the center and on-site registration can be done," Dr Rajesh Dere (Dean COVID Center, BKC Hospital)  said. 

It was a moment of great surprise for P.Niveda, nursing officer at AIIMS when she was asked to administer the first shot of vaccine to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday morning. She learned about vaccinating the Prime Minister only minutes before his arrival at the hospital.

"I am posted at the vaccine center. I was called. We found out PM sir is coming today. It was great to meet PM sir," she said.

Niveda said that for her, inoculating Modi was a moment of great surprise and of honour.

More than 80 per cent of Delhi Police personnel have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, officials said on Monday. According to a senior police officer, a total of 66,246 police personnel have got the first dose of coronavirus vaccine till 7 pm on Friday. They are from different units of the Delhi Police, including 15 districts, Traffic, Crime Branch, Special Cell, Security, Metro, Railways, the officer said.

The Delhi Police has a strength of over 80,000 personnel. As per the strength of the units, the numbers of personnel, who have received the vaccines, are different, he said, adding that the maximum personnel were from the PCR unit.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik takes first dose of COVID19-vaccine

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said there is a need to bring a food processing revolution in the country through public-private partnerships. Addressing a webinar on budget provisions for the farm sector, he highlighted the various initiatives taken by the government in the Budget for the next fiscal, including increasing the target of agriculture credit to Rs 16.5 lakh crore from Rs 15 lakh crore in the current financial year. He emphasised on effective implementation of the Budget provisions.

Modi said the government has taken various decisions for the benefit of 12 crore small and marginal farmers. These small and marginal farmers would become the driving force of the rural economy, he added.

With the country's foodgrains production increasing, Modi said: "There is a need for post-harvest revolution or food processing revolution and value additions."

He said it would have been better if food processing was given attention 2-3 decades earlier. Modi said the food processing sector needs to be developed at a faster pace. 

Lucknow: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visits Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (Civil) Hospital to inspect the procedure of COVID-19 vaccination

Leading stock exchange NSE on Monday said all its operations are functioning in a normal manner, amid reports of a possible technical glitch.
BSE too said all its segments were working fine. The statements came amid HDFC Securities tweeting at around 10 am saying that it has blocked trading in NSE cash due to a technical glitch.

"We have blocked trading in NSE cash due to a technical glitch. We request our customers to place cash orders on BSE. All other segments are working fine. Apologies for the inconvenience caused," HDFC Securities said in the tweet.

Around 20 minutes later, HDFC Securities tweeted saying, "you can place orders through NSE cash segment now". In a statement, an NSE spokesperson said that all the operations on its platforms were "functioning smooth and normal".

A moray eel, which was fatally attacked and injured by another fish, was brought back to life through an emergency surgery at the zoo, for probably the first time in any zoological park in the country. The 600 gm female eel had been kept along with two other eel in the same glass enclosure at the zoo aquarium. It was found critically injured on Saturday evening in the attack by a fellow eel.

Its stomach was found severely bitten, flesh ripped apart and internal organs too, zoo sources said.

They immediately sought the help of zoo veterinarian Jacob Alexander, who suggested immediate surgery to give relief to the wounded fish.

The most challenging thing for the veterinarians was to give anesthesia to the wounded fish underwater in the nearly three-hour-long surgery. After the procedure, the eel, which has 30 stitches on its body, is now kept in a separate tank. The surgery was a success and the fish was doing well now but the 48 hours after the procedure was critical, the zoo authorities added.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi eats palmyra palm fruit at Achangulam village road while going to Nagercoil

WB: A delegation of BJP leaders write to Kolkata Police Commissioner stating that an exercise is being carried out within the Police force to collect photocopies of voter and Aadhar cards of Police personnel to enable the collection of a postal ballot of all concerned and effect proxy votes

Andhra Pradesh: TDP leader and former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu detained by Renigunta police at Tirupati airport in Renigunta while he was going to attend election campaigning in Chittoor district

Sister P Nivedita, the nurse from Puducherry who administered the vaccine to PM Modi, said that after receiving the shot, the Prime Minister said, "Laga bhi di aur pata hi nahi chala (Is it already done? I didn't even notice)."

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A non-partisan US watchdog group said that the House of Representatives-approved $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill includes measures not directly related to the pandemic, urging the Senate to pass a better targeted one.

Commenting on the giant relief bill that cleared the House on February 27, Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said in a statement that while some of the funds would go to key priorities, it is clear that the targeting of this bill could be improved, reports Xinhua news agency.

"It directs significant resources to those who have not been harmed by the pandemic or recession. Those policies may be popular or sensible, but they do not belong in this emergency bill," MacGuineas said.

Bajaj Auto on Monday reported 6 per cent rise in total sales at 3,75,017 units in February, as against 3,54,913 units in the same month last year.
Total domestic sales declined by 2 per cent to 1,64,811 units last month, as compared to 1,68,747 units sold in February 2020, Bajaj Auto said in a regulatory filing.

Bajaj Auto's total two-wheeler sales were up 7 per cent to 3,32,563 units, as compared to 3,10,222 units in the year-ago month.

Overall commercial vehicle sales declined by 5 per cent at 42,454 units last month, as compared to 44,691 units in the year-ago period. Bajaj Auto said its total exports last month rose 13 per cent to 2,10,206 units, as compared to 1,86,166 units in February 2020.

Mercury dropped by a few notches in the national capital on Monday as the minimum temperature settled at 11.8 degrees Celsius, according to the India Meteorological Department. The city had registered a low of 15.6 degrees Celsius on Sunday while the maximum temperature had stood at 32.3 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperature recorded at Safdarjung Observatory here, considered the official reading of the city, was 11.8 degrees Celsius early morning, one notch below the normal, an IMD official said.

A 39-year-old man and his son drowned after their boat overturned in a rivulet in the Solapur district of Maharashtra while they were trying to take a selfie, police said on Monday. The incident took place on Sunday evening when the man along with his wife, son, daughter and two friends went for a boat ride in the rivulet near Ujani backwaters in Vangi area under the Karmala police station limits, they said.

"While one of the family members was clicking a selfie, the boat got disbalanced and overturned. All the six persons fell into the water," Solapur's Superintendent of Police Tejasvi Satpute said.

SpaceX has cancelled the planned launch of a Falcon 9 carrier rocket with 60 Starlink satellites. "Auto-abort at T-1:24 ahead of tonight's Falcon 9 launch of Starlink; next launch opportunity is tomorrow, March 1 at 8:15 p.m. EST [03:15 GMT on Tuesday]," SpaceX said on Twitter on Sunday.

The company did not specify the reasons behind the delay.

The Falcon 9 rocket was supposed to lift off from the Cape Canaveral (Kennedy) Air Force Station in Florida at 01:37 GMT on Monday.

An additional tax will be added to outbound flights from London's Heathrow Airport from April, adding pressure on many families who want to travel abroad after a year of Covid-19 restrictions, a local media report said.

The airport will charge an extra 8.90 pounds ($12), also known as the 'UK Exceptional Regulatory Charge', to all outgoing flights from April, increasing the fees it already levies which include baggage handling, water, electricity and other services, Xinhua news agency quoted the London-based Evening Standard newspaper as saying in the report on Sunday.   

Russia has successfully launched its first satellite to monitor the Arctic's climate and environment, the country's space corporation Roscosmos said in a statement. A Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with the "Arktika-M" satellite onboard blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 9.55 a.m. on Sunday, Roscosmos said.

The security personnel and supporters of an Apna Dal MLA allegedly assaulted toll plaza employees on the Prayagraj-Pratapgarh border. The video clip went viral on social media after which district police authorities have started investigations into the case.

Superintendent of Police (Trans-Ganga) Dhawal Jaiswal told reporters that police have been making investigations into the incident.

With the addition of 668 new cases of coronavirus, the infection count in Maharashtra's Thane district has reached 2,64,918, an official said on Monday.
Four more deaths due to the viral infection were also reported in the district on Sunday, raising the toll to 6,272, he said.

The COVID-19 fatality rate in the district stood at 2.37 per cent, the official said.

So far, 2,52,597patients have recovered from the viral infection in the district, reflecting a recovery rate of 95.35 per cent.

The body of a 16-year-old Dalit girl was found in a field in the Akrabad area, following which villagers clashed with police and indulged in stone-pelting, police said on Monday. The girl had gone to the fields Sunday afternoon to collect fodder for cattle but did not return. Later, her body was fond in a field when her family members started searching for her, they said. Police said prima facie it appeared that she was strangled.

As the news spread, irate villagers pelted stones at a police party that was trying to take the body for post-mortem, they said. Inspector Pranendra Kumar was injured in the attack, police added.

Senior Superintendent of Police Muniraj G told reporters late Sunday night that senior police officials rushed to the spot and pacified the villagers who then handed over the body to policemen.

He said allegations that the victim was sexually assaulted are being probed. Everything will be clear when the post-mortem report is received, the SP added. 

In his first public speech since leaving office, former US President Donald Trump has called for Republican Party unity while indicating that he might launch a third presidential bid in 2024 even as he slammed the Biden administration, claiming that the country has gone from “America First” to “America Last" in just one month.

Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Committee in Orlando, Florida on Sunday, the 74-year-old leader, who left the White House on January 20, stopped short of announcing to run for the president in 2024, although he gave enough indications that he is moving in that direction.

A seven-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a teenager in a village in Raipura area, police said on Monday. The incident took place on Saturday when the class 12 student took the girl to his house and raped her, SHO, Raipura, Sushil Chandra Sharma said.

The accused was held on Sunday from the village, he added.

An FIR was registered by the family members of the victim, when she told them about the incident, he said. The girl has been sent for medical examination and a probe is on in the matter. 

Miss India Delhi 2019 Mansi Sehgal joins Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the presence of party leader Raghav Chadha

The BSE benchmark Sensex rebounded over 500 points in the opening session on Monday as investors cheered the domestic economy returning to growth in the October-December period after two-quarters of contraction.

The 30-share gauge was trading at 49,608.97, showing a gain of 508.98 points or 1.04 per cent in the early session. While the broader NSE Nifty was trading higher by 153.15 points or 1.05 per cent at 14,682.30 in opening deals.

Rahul Gandhi arrives in Kanyakumari

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visits Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati

Varanasi: BJP national president JP Nadda offers prayers at Kashi Vishwanath Temple

India reports 15,510 new COVID-19 cases, 11,288 discharges and 106 deaths in the last 24 hours

Prime Minister Narendra Modi takes his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine 

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav to meet West Bengal CM and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee today in Kolkata

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee to chair election committee's meeting today at her residence in Kalighat

Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and his team will travel to Kabul, Doha and additional regional capitals: US Department of State

Tamil Nadu: DMK president MK Stalin pays floral tribute to his father & former CM M Karunanidhi as well as to ex-CM & DMK founder CN Annadurai

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi on Monday.

UAE welcomes recent Indo-Pak ceasefire, refers border as 'disputed'

Amid surge in Covid-19 cases, Tamil Nadu extends lockdown till March 31

Govt to form Centre of Excellence in gaming, related areas in collaboration with IIT Bombay

Punjab: Ludhiana Special Task Force arrested two persons & seized 2.17 kgs of heroin from their possession

COVID-19: Centre issues new framework for Co-WIN2.0 ahead of registration for next vaccination phase