Breaking News, March 12

Growth of real estate as well as infrastructure sectors is expected to take a hit, as prices of cement are expected to rise further on the back of high energy costs.

India and China discussed resolving the existing border dispute along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) during the 15th round of Corp commanders level talks held on Friday, the Defence Ministry said on Saturday.

Modi will declare open the 11th Khel Mahakumbh and deliver an address on the occasion.  

In a major breakthrough, a team from the cyber crime police station of Gurugram Police has bused a fake call centre and arrested 38 persons, including nine women, who used to dupe people on the pretext of recovering loans given via online Chinese and other loan applications.

The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) has conferred the distinguished educator award to eminent gastroenterologist D. Nageshwar Reddy, who is a chairman of AIG Hospitals.

Former Prime Minister and JD(S) chief H.D. Deve Gowda on Saturday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for BJP's stupendous performance in the Assembly polls, but said his party won't forge alliance with any national party for the Karnataka Assembly polls in 2023.

A 60-year-old jaggery trader was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday, police said. Pradeep Agarwal came under fire when he was going to the wholesale market from home on a motorcycle in the morning.

In a bizarre incident just like the Lakhimpur Kheri case, Prasanta Kumar Jagadev, a legislator of Odisha Assembly, on Saturday allegedly plowed his car into a crowd at Banapur in Khurda district, police said.

Chief Justice of India NV Ramana on Saturday laid the foundation stone for the construction of a new building of the International Arbitration and Mediation Centre (IAMC). IAMC is currently operating from a temporary campus at Nanakramguda. In his address, he described the event as a happy occasion in the history of arbitration in the country. He also expressed hope that the International Arbitration and Mediation Centre, Hyderabad would gain great international reputation on par with the arbitration centres in Dubai, London and Singapore.

The charred body of a woman from Bangladesh was found inside a guest house in the city’s Free School Street area on Saturday after a fire broke out in the building, police said. The blaze erupted around 4 am due to a short circuit, following which three fire tenders were pressed into service, they said. Fire brigade personnel recovered the body of the woman (63) in a charred state from the building, a police officer said. The woman was taken to SSKM hospital, where she was declared brought-dead, he said.

Puducherry logged only one new coronavirus case on Saturday, raising the overall tally to 1,65,758. The sole case was confined to Puducherry while the other three outlying regions of Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam reported zero case of viral infection. The single case was identified at the end of examination of 511 samples. The active cases were 20 and all these cases were in home quarantine while hospitals had zero number of patients with Covid-19.

The Jammu and Kashmir administration is making arrangements to create 20,000-capacity lodgements in the Jammu division for the upcoming annual pilgrimage to the cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas, a senior official has said. Jammu Divisional Commissioner Raghav Langer said the 2020 and 2021 Yatras to the shrine situated at an altitude of the 3,880 metre were conducted on symbolic basis due to Covid pandemic, and this year the number of pilgrims is expected to be very high. "The expected huge footfall will definitely promote tourism activities in the region which witnessed a lean period over the past two years due to COVID-19,” Langer said, chairing a joint meeting of government functionaries and civil society members here on Friday to discuss and review the arrangements for the pilgrimage which usually takes place in the month of 'Shravan' (July-August).

A man was shot dead over a land dispute in Rajasthan's Jalore district on Saturday, police said. Accused Shrawan Singh opened fire at Bhikharam Devasi in Ramagaon village in the Bhatrajun area, killing him on the spot, they added. A scuffle had broken out between the deceased and the accused two days ago, after which Singh was arrested. He was released on bail on Friday and on Saturday morning, he shot Devasi dead, police said. The body has been shifted to a mortuary for post-mortem. The accused is absconding.

Tamil Nadu did not report any Covid-19 death in the past 24 hour period for the first time since April 30, 2020, according to the state public health department. However, the number of fresh cases on Friday stood at 112. Of the state's 38 districts, 16 did not report new cases, while the remaining had a marginal number. State Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan told IANS: "The number of fatalities have touched zero on Friday in the state and this is a welcome development. There are a few number of people admitted in hospitals and ICUs and things are under control." Tamil Nadu recorded its first Covid case on March 7, 2020 and reported its first death on March 20.

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With the addition of 15 coronavirus positive cases, the infection count in Thane district of Maharashtra rose to 7,08,574, an official said on Saturday. These cases were reported on Friday, he said. Since nobody succumbed to the infection during the day, the death toll in the district remained unchanged at 11,878. Thane's COVID-19 mortality rate is 1.67 per cent, he added. In neighbouring Palghar district, the caseload stood at 1,63,479, while the death toll is 3,392, another official said.

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Julie and Oksana belong to globally acknowledged Malinois breed known for their skills in conflict zones, informs ITBP. 

Justice Vipin Sanghi, the senior-most judge of the Delhi High Court, was on Friday appointed as its acting chief justice as incumbent Justice Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel retires on Saturday. A notification issued by the Department of Justice in the Law Ministry said Justice Sanghi has been asked to perform the duties of the office of the chief justice of Delhi High Court with effect from March 13 consequent upon the retirement of Justice Patel. Justice Patel retires on Saturday on the eve of his 62nd birthday. He was appointed as chief justice of the Delhi High Court on June 7, 2019.

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After the Centre's nod, the Meghalaya government has initiated the process to hold formal talks with the banned militant outfit Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC), officials said on Friday. A senior official of the Meghalaya Home Department said that the state government has appointed retired IAS officer Peter S Dkhar as the interlocutor for facilitating the talks with the HNLC, which also last month offered to hold peace talks with the Centre and the Meghalaya government without any pre-conditions. With a vast knowledge of ethnic issues of Meghalaya, Dkhar is a former deputy commissioner of East Khasi Hills and West Jaintia Hills districts. Retired IPS officer AK Mishra, who is the advisor of the Union Home Ministry, will coordinate between the Centre and the state government on the talks with the HNLC. Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma recently held a meeting with Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla in New Delhi and discussed the peace proposal by the HNLC.

Over 22,000 applicants have registered themselves for the DDA Special Housing Scheme 2021, which closed on March 10, officials said on Friday. The scheme was launched on December 23 last year. "A total of 22,179 applicants have registered themselves for the scheme, out of which payments of 12,253 applicants have been confirmed and the final figure is being reconciled with banks," a senior official said. The deadline to apply for the DDA Special Housing Scheme 2021 ended on Thursday, he said. Previously, the last date to apply for the scheme was February 7. On public demand and in view of the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the date was extended till March 10, the officials said.

Jammu and Kashmir on Friday recorded 21 fresh COVID-19 cases that took its tally to 4,53,403, officials said. The death toll due to the viral disease remained unchanged at 4,749, they said. Out of the fresh cases, 12 were from the Jammu division and nine from the Kashmir division of the union territory, the officials said. Jammu district recorded the highest number of fresh cases at five. Twelve of the total 22 districts in the union territory did not report any fresh cases. There are 281 active COVID-19 cases in Jammu and Kashmir.
So far, 4,48,373 people have recovered from the disease, the officials said.

Two men wanted in a double murder case in Gurugram were arrested from Dwarka here, police said on Friday. Two pistols and eight live cartridges were also seized from them, they said. Vikash Kant (21) and Hoshiyar (29), sharp shooters belonging to a group of gangsters Kala Jatheri, Lawrence Bishnoi and Naresh Sethi, were arrested, they said. They along with some of their associates, who are absconding, were involved in the killing of two brothers -- Paramjit and Surjit -- in Khor village in Haryana's Gurugram on February 25, police said.

A history-sheeter was held allegedly with a country-made pistol, two magazines and six bullets in Yashodhara Nagar area of Nagpur, a police official said on Friday. The official identified him as Mohammad Aftab Mohammad Aslam (22) and said he has been charged under relevant sections of IPC and Arms Act.

A 52-year-old man has been arrested on the charge of sexually assaulting a five-year-old girl in a village in Odisha’s Kendrapara district, a police officer said on Friday. The crime was allegedly committed within the limits of the Pattamundai police station on Thursday evening, the police officer said. The accused had lured the victim, a resident of the same neighbourhood with chocolates, took her to a deserted place in the backyard of a house, and allegedly raped her, he said. The police arrested the accused after the victim’s parents registered a complaint. On interrogation, the accused confessed to the crime.