Breaking News, April 16 | UPDATES

Akhand Srinivasamurthy, the sitting Congress MLA from Pulikeshinagar assembly constituency, has resigned as MLA. He went to Sirsi and met Speaker Vishweshwar Hegade Kageri and submitted his resignation letter.

Congress leader Akhanda Srinivas Murthy on Sunday resigned as MLA after he was denied a ticket to contest the May 10 Assembly elections in Karnataka. The Congress leader was an MLA from the Pulikeshinagar Assembly constituency.

COVID-19: Delhi reports 1634 fresh cases in the last 24 hours. Positivity rate stands at 29.68%.

Maharashtra: At least seven people dead while 24 are under treatment after suffering from heatstroke during Maharashtra Bhushan Award ceremony in Navi Mumbai's Kharghar. Deceasesd's families to be given Rs 5 lakhs while we are ensuring proper treatment for those admitted, said CM Eknath Shinde.

Delhi | A man, Akash, 20 years, was stabbed at around 8 pm near Lok Nayak Bhawan in Khan market. The victim was taken to RML hospital where he was declared brought dead. The motive is unclear though prima facie looks like personal enmity, said Delhi Police.

"BJP in Karnataka is a symbol of corruption in the whole country no matter what PM says or does...people of Karnataka are keen to teach a lesson to the 40% Sarkar", said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

 Union Home Minister Amit Shah along with Goa CM Pramod Sawant visits Nagesh temple in Bandora, Goa.

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma visited Kaziranga National Park to assess various measures undertaken to eliminate poaching.

Goa: A full-majority government of BJP will be formed in Karnataka, said Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

"I will take the decision about joining any other party by today evening. I will go to Bangalore and give my resignation to the party. The High command has offered me Rajya Sabha membership but I did not accept it," said Former BJP MLA Jagdish Shetter.

BSF Meghalaya seized more than 5000 kgs of dry betel nuts worth Rs.11 lakhs along with 2 vehicles in South Garo hills on April 15. The betel nuts were smuggled to India from Bangladesh.

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar attends the Iftar party at former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi's residence in Patna, Bihar.

"My party, Hindustani Awam Morcha strongly supports Bihar's CM Nitish Kumar & Mahagathbandhan. Today, Nitish Kumar & I have discussed the steps to be taken with regard to the 2024 elections," said Jitan Ram Manjhi, Former Bihar CM.

DMK sends legal notice to TN BJP chief K Annamalai over corruption allegations; demands Rs 500 crore in damages.

RSS cadre takes out a march in Chennai amid police security. RSS route marches are being held across 45 locations in Tamil Nadu today.

Assam: Police have recovered and seized 1,420 kg of marijuana from a truck and arrested one person in Karimganj.

Congress MP from Kerala's Kannur, K Sudhakaran writes to External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar requesting his urgent intervention to repatriate the mortal remains of his constituent Albert Augustine who lost his life amid ongoing violent conflict in Sudan.

Severe heatwave conditions are expected to prevail in Bihar in the next three-four days, according to a government weather bulletin.

The mercury crossed the 42 degrees Celsius mark in at least five places in the state.
Aurangabad district recorded maximum temperature of 43 degree Celsius on Saturday.

A bulletin issued by the Bihar Mausam Sewa Kendra (BMSK) of the state government said severe heatwave conditions are expected to prevail in the next three-four days.

Criminals should be given the harshest punishment but it should be under the law of the land and subverting the rule of law for any political purpose is dangerous for democracy, the Congress said on Sunday after gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were shot dead in Uttar Pradesh.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said there are courts to ensure that criminals get the harshest punishment but "playing with law and order only gives birth to anarchy".

In a series of tweets in Hindi, Kharge said the Constitution of the country has been made by those people who fought for freedom and this Constitution and law is paramount.

 Police patrolling was intensified on Sunday in Prayagraj's Chakiya area where gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad's house is located even as the Uttar Pradesh police tightened security across the state, a day after Atiq and his brother Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range.

Prohibitory orders under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) have been issued in all districts of Uttar Pradesh to prevent any untoward incident.
Internet services remain shut in Prayagraj district as part of the security measures.

The two brothers were shot dead at point-blank range by three men posing as journalists in the middle of a media interaction on Saturday night while police personnel were escorting them to a medical college here for a checkup.

In a jolt to the ruling BJP ahead of the May 10 Assembly elections, former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who was denied ticket to contest the polls, tendered his resignation as MLA on Sunday.

The oppostion Congress quickly extended him an invitation to join the party.

Shettar's decision came after the BJP's central leadership made it clear that he would not be accommodated this time.

He submitted his resignation to the Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri at Sirsi in Uttara Kannada district.

Flights out of northern Taiwan were delayed Sunday after China launched a rocket carrying a satellite that dropped debris into waters north of the capital Taipei.

While the satellite launch had no obvious military purpose, it comes after China held large-scale military drills in response to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen's transit visit to the United States earlier this month, during which she met U.S.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California.

Cash-strapped Pakistan has hiked petrol price by Rs 10 per litre, amid the country’s ongoing economic crisis and steep currency devaluation, further burdening citizens who are already hit by skyrocketing inflation.

After the latest revision, petrol price has now risen to Rs 282 per litre.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced the hike in a late-night live address, during which he said the prices of diesel and light diesel oil would remain unchanged at Rs 293 and Rs 174.68 respectively.
The price of kerosene was also hiked by Rs 5.78 to Rs 186.07.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will arrive in poll-bound Karnataka on a two-day visit to take part in a host of events, including party rally in Kolar on Sunday.

This is the maiden visit of Gandhi to the state after his disqualification from the Lok Sabha following his conviction in a 2019 defamation case.

According to party sources, the former Congress president is expected to reach Bengaluru in the morning and then proceed to Kolar by a helicopter.

Gandhi will address a public meeting in Kolar as part of Congress' 'Jai Bharat' rally.

The CBI has arrested Y S Bhaskar Reddy, an uncle of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, in connection with the murder of former MP Vivekananda Reddy, officials said on Sunday.

Vivekananda, the brother of late Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and uncle of Jagan Reddy, was found dead at his residence in Pulivendula, on the night of March 15, 2019, weeks before the state assembly elections.

The case was initially probed by a special investigation team (SIT) of the state crime investigation department, but was handed over to the CBI in July 2020.

 Ahead of his appearance before the CBI, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday alleged that the BJP might have ordered the probe agency to arrest him, and said they are "very powerful and can send anyone to jail".
 
In a five-minute video message on Twitter, Kejriwal said he would truthfully and honestly answer questions posed by the CBI in the excise case as he has nothing to hide.
 
"I have been summoned by CBI today and I will give all the answers with honesty.
These people are very powerful.
They can send anyone to jail, it does not matter if that person has committed any crime or not," the AAP leader said.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has claimed there is a “serious undermining” of every autonomous institution right across the spectrum and it seems the government has only the "loyalty" criterion before appointing individuals to head them.

In an interaction at the Press Club here on Saturday on 'The need for an independent media as a vital link for democracy', Tharoor said intimidation of the press was a legitimate issue, and if he has a voice in the party manifesto, he would certainly suggest that this should be made an issue and the party would stand for guaranteeing the freedom of press and non-interference.

 A 10-year-old boy allegedly raped a three-year-old girl at a school in the district, a police official said on Sunday.

The boy has been detained by the police, while the girl has been sent for medical examination.

Citing the complaint lodged by the girl's family members, police said the girl was taken to the roof of the school and allegedly raped by the boy on Saturday.

The minor boy is a student of class 1, while the girl is a student of playgroup.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, in a video message on Sunday, said he will definitely visit the CBI office today.

 Former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar has announced his resignation from the Bharatiya Janata Party after he was denied a ticket for the May 10 state assembly election.

The 67-year-old leader said late on Saturday here he would also resign from the state assembly.

However, Shettar, who was the leader of the opposition when the Congress was in power in the state, said he would contest the poll for sure.

"I have decided to resign from the legislative assembly," a visibly upset Shettar told reporters.

He added he has sought an appointment with Speaker Vishveshwar Hegde Kageri, who is at Sirsi, and tender his resignation.

"With a heavy heart I will resign from the party.
I am the one who has built and raised this party.

 A fire swept through an apartment building in an older neighbourhood of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, killing at least 16 people and injuring another nine, authorities said Sunday.

The state-linked newspaper The National cited a statement from Dubai Civil Defence provided by the city-state's Dubai Media Office for the death toll.

It said the blaze happened on Saturday in Dubai's Al Ras neighbourhood, a tightly knit warren of streets and alleys home to one of its oldest neighbourhoods.

Al Ras is also home to the Dubai Spice Market, a major tourist attraction near the Dubai Creek.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is set to appear before the CBI on Sunday in connection with the excise policy case and will be accompanied to the agency's office by his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann and cabinet colleagues.

Officials said the CBI may ask the AAP chief about the policy formulation process, especially of the "untraceable" file which was earlier slated to be put before the Delhi Council of Ministers.

Kejriwal is being summoned as a witness and is not an accused in the excise policy case in which his former deputy Manish Sisodia was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 26.
Sisodia was last month arrested by the Enforcement Directorate(ED) and is in judicial custody.

The chief minister said on Saturday that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has emerged as a ray of hope for the country and claimed that is the reason why efforts are being made to trample it.

Twelve people, including eight children, were killed when the tractor-trolley in which they were travelling fell off a bridge here on Saturday, police said.

Twenty-four people were also injured in the accident which took place near Birsinghpur village on the Tilhar-Nigohi road.
The passengers from Ajmatpur village were on their way to fetch water from the Garra river for a 'Bhagwat Katha', they said.

Teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were rushed to the spot to conduct rescue and relief operations.

Twelve people, including eight children and three women, were killed in the accident, Superintendent of Police (SP) S Anand said.

Twenty-four people were injured in the accident. Twenty-one of them, including seven with serious injuries, are undergoing treatment at the Government Medical College, said Chief Medical Superintendent Shailendra Kumar.

The remaining three are admitted to the Tilhar primary health centre, officials said.

India and the US are together building a foundation for a strong, peaceful and harmonious global community, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said.

"When we celebrate diversity, celebrate inclusiveness, it is also the point that we share a lot of positive thoughts when we are doing this," the finance minister said.

Today when "we celebrate togetherness, it is that spirit which governs India and US relationship: a positive thinking relationship of two democracies, which have their own share of challenges and their own share of internal problems, but we don't allow them to overwhelm us", she said.

 Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday urged Americans to take action during “a critical point in our nation's history” as thousands of protesters demonstrated across the country against new limits to abortion rights making their way through the courts.

Saturday's nationwide rallies were sparked by the U.S.
Supreme Court's actions the day before, when the high court intervened to delay rule changes that would have limited the way the abortion drug mifepristone could be used and dispensed.
The limits were paused while the court reviews the case more thoroughly.

 Opposition leaders on Saturday questioned the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh and demanded that the state government be dismissed after gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were shot dead in Prayagraj.

The "cold-blooded" killings are the "height of anarchy" in Uttar Pradesh, BSP MP Danish Ali claimed.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said crime has reached its peak in Uttar Pradesh and criminals are unfazed.

Ahmad (60) and Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range by three men posing as journalists in the middle of a media interaction on Saturday night while police personnel were escorting them to a medical college here for a checkup.

The brothers, both jailed in Prayagraj, were in handcuffs when they were killed in full view of camera crews around 10 pm.
The horrifying visuals were circulated widely on social media platforms and television channels.

 Amid rising temperatures in lower hills in Himachal Pradesh with Una recording a high of 38.
5 degrees Celsius, the meteorological department has predicted a wet spell from April 17 and warned of heavy rainfall, lightning and hailstorm at isolated places in the state.

In an advisory, the MeT office warned of damage to standing crops, fruit plants and new plantings due to hailstorm and asked the growers to take adequate safety measures like the use of anti-hail nets over the crops and anti-hail guns wherever possible.

Rainfall is likely at many places on April 20 and 21 due to western disturbances and cyclonic circulation, the weather forecast said.

Sudan's military and a powerful paramilitary force engaged in fierce fighting Saturday in the capital and elsewhere in the country, dealing a new blow to hopes for a transition to democracy and raising fears of a wider conflict.
A doctors' group said at least three people were killed and dozens injured.

The clashes capped months of heightened tensions between the armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces group.
Those tensions had delayed a deal with political parties to get the country back to its short-lived transition to democracy, which was derailed by an October 2021 military coup.

“Nuclear power, no thanks!”
What was once a slogan found on the bumper of many a German car became a reality Saturday, as the country shut down its three remaining nuclear power plants in line with a long-planned transition toward renewable energy.

The shutdown of Emsland, Neckarwestheim II and Isar II shortly before midnight was cheered earlier in the day by anti-nuclear campaigners outside the three reactors and at rallies in Berlin and Munich.
Inside the plants, staff held more somber ceremonies to mark the occasion.

Decades of anti-nuclear protests in Germany, stoked by disasters at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima, had put pressure on successive governments to end the use of a technology that critics argue is unsafe and unsustainable.