Breaking News, April 20 | HIGHLIGHTS

Delhi on Thursday logged 1,603 COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 26.75 per cent along with three fatalities, according to data shared by the health department here. With the new fatalities, the death toll from the pandemic rose to 26,581 in the national capital, while the case tally rose to 20,29,151. In the case of one of the fatalities, Covid was not the primary cause of death while casesheets of the other two casualties were awaited, the department said. Out of 7,976 Covid beds in the city, 390 are occupied, the data showed. On Wednesday, the city reported six deaths along with 1,757 new cases of the disease with a positivity rate of 28.63 per cent.

The statement of another witness in the Ankita Bhandari murder case was recorded here on Thursday in the court of District and Sessions Judge Rina Negi. Bhandari, who worked as a receptionist at Vanantara Resort near Rishikesh, was allegedly pushed into the Chilla canal by the resort's operator Pulkit Arya and his two employees Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta in September last year for resisting their attempts to force her to offer "special services" to a VIP guest.

The Congress on Thursday condemned the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district and said that "we are united against terrorism". Five Army personnel were killed and another was seriously injured on Thursday after their vehicle caught fire following a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch, officials said.  The deceased Army soldiers were from a Rashtriya Rifles unit deployed for counterterror operations, the Army said in a statement. In a tweet, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, "Strongly condemn the terror attack on an Army vehicle in Poonch District, Jammu & Kashmir. Our deepest condolences to the families of 5 Rashtriya Rifle bravehearts."
"Our prayers for the injured personnel. We are united against terrorism," he said. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said the news of the martyrdom of five soldiers in the terrorist attack in Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir is very saddening. "I pay my humble tributes to those heroes and express my deepest condolences to their bereaved families," Gandhi said. In the tweet in Hindi, the Congress also condoled the killing of the five army soldiers.
 

The ruling Congress in Rajasthan on Thursday completed "one-to-one" dialogue with its MLAs in the state. Discussions were held with the MLAs of Bikaner, Ganganagar and Hanumangarh divisions on the concluding day. Rajasthan Congress incharge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and party's state president Govind Singh Dotasara held talks with the MLAs of these districts at the party's new office (war room) here and asked them about the government's schemes and other issues.

Union Minister Nityanand Rai has accused the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar of "failing" to maintain the law and order situation in the state, claiming that incidents of murder, rape and abduction have "increased manifold" under the current 'Mahagathbandhan' regime. He also alleged that the grand alliance government in the state is "providing shelters to criminals".

Five Army personnel were killed and another was seriously injured on Thursday after their vehicle caught fire following a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch, the Army said.
The deceased Army soldiers were from a Rashtriya Rifles unit deployed for counterterror operations, it said in a statement. Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande has briefed Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the incident.

President Droupadi Murmu is likely to visit her home district Mayurbhanj on May 9 and attend the 12th convocation of Maharaja Sriram Chandra Bhanja Deo University, formerly known as North Orissa University in Baripada. This Vice-Chancellor of University Prof. Santosh Kumar Tripathy announced this after receiving a letter of consent from the Private Secretary to the President. The May 9 visit will be the President’s first visit to her home district after being elected to the high office and her third visit to the state.

A boy was beaten up, stripped and paraded naked by some traders in a vegetable market here, police said on Thursday. SHO (Mahamandir) Harish Solanki said Bhuvnesh (23), a vendor, had reached the market in his vehicle loaded with vegetables on Wednesday and asked Aslam (24) to move aside his loading taxi that he had parked in front of his shop. This led to an argument during which Aslam slapped Bhuvnesh and fled the scene. However, people from near the spot caught hold of a minor who was accompanying Aslam, the Station House Officer said.

Ending their over 50-year-old border dispute, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday signed an agreement in presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah here which will bring settlement to 123 villages located along areas the two northeastern states share. Assam and Arunachal Pradesh share an 804.1-km-long border which has been in dispute since the latter was made a union territory in 1972. Shah said the dispute over 123 villages on both sides of the inter-state border has been resolved once and for all at a time when the country is celebrating its 75th year of Independence.

The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed the trial court proceedings against former IPS officer Amod Kanth in the 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy case over lack of sanction for his prosecution. A bench of Justices KM Joseph, BV Nagarathna and Aravind Kumar said that the magistrate had erred in issuing summons against Kanth. "…we find that the magistrate erred in the facts of this case in taking cognizance against the appellant contrary to the demands of section 197 of CrPC. On this short ground alone (of lack of sanction) the appellant (Amod Kanth) succeeded. Appeal is allowed and the impugned order stands set aside. The proceeding stands quashed," the bench said.

Mumbai on Thursday reported 207 new coronavirus-positive cases, taking its overall tally to 11,61,343, the city civic body said. The death of one person during the day due to the infection took the fatality count to 19,756. This is for the third day in a row that the metropolis has reported more than 200 COVID-19 cases. On Wednesday, it recorded 234 cases and one fatality. In its bulletin, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said the recovery count of the city grew to 11,40,063 after 273 patients recuperated from the infection in the last 24 hours.

The COVID-19 tally in Nashik increased by eight on Thursday to reach 4,82,920, while the death toll stood unchanged at 8,904, an official said. The recovery count increased by 12 and touched 4,73,945, leaving the district with an active caseload of 71, he added.

SpaceX's giant new rocket blasted off on its first test flight Thursday but failed minutes after rising from the launch pad. Elon Musk's company was aiming to send the nearly 400-foot (120-meter) Starship rocket on a round-the-world trip from the southern tip of Texas, near the Mexican border. It carried no people or satellites; both the booster and spacecraft on top were to be ditched into the sea. Throngs of spectators watched from South Padre Island, several miles away from the Boca Chica Beach launch site, which was off limits. Space's first try to launch the rocket was called off Monday because of a stuck valve in the rocket during fueling.

At least 20 people have been killed and others abducted by extremists in eastern Congo's North Kivu province, a civil society group said Thursday. The Allied Democratic Forces — believed to be linked with the Islamic State group — attacked civilians in Samboko village in Beni territory on Wednesday, Mamove civil society organisation president Kinos Katuho told The Associated Press. Congo's army deployed to the area and freed two of the hostages after a battle with the rebels, he said.

Manipur BJP MLA Paonam Brojen on Thursday tendered his resignation from the chairmanship of Manipur Development Society on "personal grounds." Brojen is the third party legislator from the northeastern state to have resigned from their respective administrative posts of the Manipur government within a fortnight. All three MLAs are currently in Delhi reportedly to meet the party's central leadership and voice their grievances.

The ruling Trinamool Congress on Thursday announced a new mass outreach programme with an eye on the upcoming panchayat elections in West Bengal. The programme, named 'Trinamooley Nabajowar' (new wave in Trinamool), will begin on April 25 and would continue for two months, senior party leader Abhishek Banerjee said.

Delhi Police has arrested two members of a gang involved in interstate burglaries, officials said on Thursday. According to police, Joginder Singh (29), Kartar Singh (25) are members of the Tala Chabi Sikligar gang which operates from Indore in Madhya Pradesh. Jeweller Abhinay Soni (41), who received the stolen goods, was also arrested. They were nabbed in connection with a burglary at a house in Delhi's Krishna Nagar area on February 18, they said.

India on Thursday said the ground situation in Sudan is very "tense" and it is in touch with various countries with a key focus on ensuring the safety of Indians in the violence-hit country.
Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Arindam Bagchi said India is keeping a close watch on developments in Sudan. He said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is expected to meet the UN Secretary-General in New York on the situation in Sudan.

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Thursday extended Eid greetings to Malayalis across the world on the eve of the festival. While wishing everyone on the occasion, Khan hoped that the festival would instill compassion and brotherhood in the minds of people. "My heartiest greetings to Keralites all over the world, on the solemn occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr. May the celebration of Eid ennoble our minds with compassion and the spirit of brotherhood, and guide us towards piety and greater goodness," he said in a statement released by the Kerala Raj Bhavan.

Rahul Gandhi still has time to seek apology from the nation, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said on Thursday, after a Gujarat court rejected the Congress leader's plea seeking a stay on his conviction in a defamation case. Gandhi was convicted last month in a case slapped by a Gujarat BJP MLA over the Congress leader's remarks at a rally in Kolar which were deemed to be insulting to the entire Modi community.

Three teenage tribal girls were allegedly gang-raped in Odisha's Kalahandi district when they were returning home after watching jatra, police said on Thursday. The incident happened on the night of April 16, but a complaint was filed at the Bijepur police station on Wednesday evening after tribal leaders decided to report the matter to the police as the accused are from a different community. The girls, in the age group of 14 to 17, were returning home after watching a jatra or folk theatre when five men, belonging to a different community, stopped them and allegedly took turns in raping them, police said. A search is on to nab the accused, Bijepur police station's inspector-in-charge Lingaraj Sethy said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa on the occasion of the National Panchayati Raj Day on April 24 and inaugurate and lay the foundation stones of a slew of developmental projects, including a house-warming programme for 4.11 lakh beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Gramin Yojna – PMAY (rural). Assembly polls in MP are due by the year-end, while general elections in the country are scheduled to be held in 2024.

The Congress on Thursday accused the Modi government of "targeting" Amartya Sen after the Visva Bharati University issued an eviction order asking the Nobel laureate to vacate 13 decimals of land on the campus, which it alleged has been illegally occupied. The University, in the eviction order, has asked Sen to vacate by May 6 or within 15 days of the publication or the last order on April 19, the land allegedly occupied in an unauthorised manner". Tagging a media report on the eviction order to Sen, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter, "That the PM will harass and intimidate anyone who is his stern critic is well-known. But his targeting of Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen who was also awarded the Bharat Ratna by Mr. Vajpayee is pathetic." Contending as per government of India advisories and CAG reports the century-old Central institution was in urgent need of getting control of encroachments and also submit report to the ministry, the notice said, "Amartya Kumar Sen and all concerned persons are liable to be evicted from the said premises, if need be, by use of such force as may be necessary."

The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered forthwith release of two secretaries of the Uttar Pradesh finance department, who were taken into custody on the orders of the Allahabad High Court in a contempt case. The matter was mentioned for urgent hearing before a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha, which took it up on board. Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj, appearing for the state, told the bench that an "unprecedented order" has been passed by the high court by which the finance secretary and special secretary (finance) have been taken into custody in a contempt matter in a case related to facilities for retired high court judges.

Radical preacher Amritpal Singh has managed to remain elusive even a month after the Punjab police launched a crackdown following the storming of the Ajnala police station by his supporters to secure the release of an arrested associate. His wife Kirandeep Kaur was stopped at the Amritsar airport by immigration officials on Thursday while she was trying to board a flight to London. Amritpal tied the knot with UK-based Kaur in February this year. The crackdown against Amritpal began on March 18 and members of his outfit 'Waris Punjab De.' He however, escaped the police dragnet twice -- first on March 18 in Jalandhar district by switching vehicles and then again on March 28 in Hoshiarpur when he returned to Punjab along with his key associate Papalpreet Singh. Papalpreet, who is considered to be Amritpal's mentor and who has allegedly been in contact with Pakistan's ISI, has been arrested.

Three persons were killed and another injured after a truck collided with a pickup van on Moradabad-Farrukhabad road here on Thursday morning, police said. All three persons travelling in the pickup van died on the spot, police said, adding the injured was admitted to a district hospital. The straw-laden truck collided head-on with the van near a bus stand here, Bisauli Circle Officer Pawan Kumar said. By the time a police team reached the spot and pulled out the victims trapped in the vehicles, three persons had died, he added. Two of the deceased have been identified as Izhar (22) and his father Haji Imran (60). The pickup vehicle's driver is yet to be identified, police said.

Lingayat leaders of the BJP have raised the pitch for unleashing the "Lingayat CM" campaign in poll-bound Karnataka to counter the Congress' narrative to brand the ruling party as "anti-Lingayat". The politically influential Lingayat community forms about 17 per cent of the State's population, mostly in northern parts of the State which the BJP counts as its strong vote-base. Senior Lingayat leaders Jagadish Shettar and Laxman Savadi quit the BJP over denial of ticket to contest in the May 10 Assembly elections and joined the Congress. The ruling party has been on a damage control mode since then with the Congress accusing it of doing "injustice" to Lingayats and being "anti-Lingayat".

Police detained Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Nitin Deshmukh and his supporters on Thursday while they were planning to take out a foot march to the residence of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Nagpur city allegedly without permission from authorities, an official said.

Summer vacations in all schools in Odisha will start on Friday, the state government announced, bringing forward the holidays in view of the scorching heat. All schools -- government, private and aided -- will be closed for summer vacation from April 21, the Information and Public Relations Department said on Thursday. The date of reopening of the schools will be decided soon, it said. Usually, summer vacations begin in Odisha schools in the first week of May. The state has been reeling under scorching heat over the past few days with the mercury crossing 43 degrees Celsius in 11 places on Wednesday. Baripada in Mayurbhanj was the hottest at 44.5 degrees Celsius. The state government had shut schools for five days, from April 12 to April 16, and again on April 19 and 20 due to heat.

A bride, her groom and their 10 relatives suffered from burn injuries after an unidentified person allegedly threw an "acid-like" substance on them during the wedding function in a village in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district, police said on Thursday. The incident took place on Wednesday evening in Chhote Amabal village under Bhanpur police station limits when the wedding ceremony was underway, an official said. Groom Damrudhar Baghel (25), bride Sunita Kahsyap (19) and 10 others received minor burns, he said.

Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal and some other parts of the state witnessed thunderstorm along with lightning and drizzle on Thursday morning due to western disturbance and other factors, bringing some respite to residents from the scorching summer heat. On Wednesday, Khajuraho, a popular tourist destination in Chhatarpur district, sizzled at 44.5 degrees Celsius, according to the weather report of the India Meteorological Department. 

The National Medical Commission (NMC) has accorded permission to six government medical colleges to start classes from the academic year 2023-24. Telangana Health Minister T Harish Rao in a tweet Wednesday night, said the approval process for Nirmal, Karimnagar and Sircilla Medical Colleges has reached the final stage.

The ruling BJP in Karnataka has released its fourth list, naming candidates for remaining two constituencies- Shivamogga and Manvi. In Shivamogga, the party on Wednesday gave the ticket to Channabasappa, while denying it to sitting MLA and senior BJP leader K S Eshwarappa's family. Eshwarappa, a former Deputy Chief Minister, had recently conveyed to the party's central leadership his wish to retire from electoral politics, and had requested it to not consider fielding him in the Assembly polls from Shivamogga. The five-time MLA from the constituency, however, is said to have sought the ticket for his son KE Kantesh, from the segment.

Heroin worth over Rs 2.5 crore was seized and two persons arrested in a joint operation by security forces in Assam's Karbi Anglong district, police said. Acting on a tip-off, a joint team of police and security personnel on Wednesday launched a search operation in the Lahorijan area of the district and intercepted a vehicle. During the search of the vehicle, the security forces recovered 529.36 gm of heroin from 45 soap cases hidden inside the spare tyre of the vehicle. Two persons, hailing from Manipur were arrested. The value of the seized heroin was estimated to be over Rs 2.5 crore, the police officer added.

Two of the 17 Sikhs arrested in California over the weekend from two rival gangs are facing murder charges in several cases in India, while another two are sought in other criminal cases, officials here said Wednesday. The two Sikhs who are facing murder charges in India are Pavittar Singh and Husandeep Singh, according to a spokesperson of California Attorney General. While their nationality has not been disclosed so far, it is believed that they are still Indian citizens and have a pending asylum application. A major mass casualty was prevented when local and federal law enforcement agencies in a series of raids arrested 17 Sikh men from various cities in northern California, mostly in and around the historic Yuba City, which has a predominant Sikh population, from two rival Sikh criminal syndicates. The two rival gangs are called ‘Minta Group’ and the ‘AK47 group.’ The leader of the first group is Minta. Each of the two gangs has at least 30 members. To the surprise of even the law enforcement agencies, the group members were found to have several dangerous firearms upon arrest. “During the investigation, 41 firearms were seized. Those firearms included AR15, AK-47s, handguns, and at least one machinegun,” Jennifer Dupre, the district Attorney of Sutter County said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met Wednesday with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, and the two commiserated about US sanctions. The United States announced new sanctions Wednesday against three Nicaraguan judges who stripped 222 exiled opponents of their nationality. Ortega told Lavrov that his government isn't concerned. “We already have hundreds of officials under sanctions ... this doesn't cause them any concern or fear anymore,” Ortega said. Lavrov responded that “sanctioned people in Russia take it as a recognition of their effectiveness” in defending Russian interests. Lavrov's remarks were translated from Russian to Spanish by a government-provided translator. Russian officials and oligarchs were hit by sanctions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Transgender girls in North Carolina would be prohibited from joining female sports teams in middle school, high school and college under legislation passed Wednesday by the Republican-controlled House in one of its first actions since attaining a supermajority earlier this month. The House approved legislation 73-39, with three Democrats voting in favour, to separate sports by biological sex, based solely on students' “reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” Trans girls would not be allowed to play on any sports team that corresponds with their gender identity. Trans boys and cisgender girls could only play on teams designated for male athletes if there was no comparable girls' team, except for wrestling. House Republicans fast-tracked the bill through two committees earlier Wednesday after hearing debate from trans and cisgender student athletes. It now heads to the Senate, where a competing proposal could reach the floor as soon as Thursday. The Senate bill would only create restrictions for middle and high school athletes.

Crews used cranes to pluck cars, one by one, from the rubble of a New York City parking garage Wednesday as building inspectors sought to pinpoint a cause for the century-old structure's deadly collapse. Grim work also continued to recover the body of one garage worker presumed dead under tons of concrete and crumpled vehicles. Late Wednesday, officials said they had recovered a body and turned it over to the city's chief medical examiner's office. The identity of the victim was not immediately released, and it wasn't immediately known if it was that of the missing garage worker. “Right now we're transitioning to how we safely take down that building," Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol said at a news conference, a day after the multilevel parking lot collapsed just as a stream of customers were returning from work to retrieve their cars.

The Congress in the early hours of Thursday released its sixth and final list of five candidates for the impending Karnataka assembly elections. In the final list, Mohammed Shalem was fielded from Raichur, BV Rajeev Gowda from Sidlaghatta, S Anand Kumar from C V Raman Nagar (SC), HP Sridhar Gowda from Arkalgud, and Inayath Ali from Mangalore City North. The party had on Wednesday replaced Mohammed Yousuf Savanur as its candidate from the Shiggaon constituency in Karnataka, currently under Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai, and fielded Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan instead from there.