Breaking News, March 30 | LIVE UPDATES

The government on Wednesday announced the merger of four film media units - Films Division, Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF), National Film Archive of India (NFAI), and Children's Film Society of India (CFSI) - with the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC). READ MORE

The government on Wednesday announced the merger of four film media units - Films Division, Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF), National Film Archive of India (NFAI), and Children's Film Society of India (CFSI) - with the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC). READ MORE

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Faisal Vawda has claimed that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s life is in danger as a plot has been hatched to assassinate him, Pakistan's ARY News reported.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Faisal Vawda has claimed that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s life is in danger as a plot has been hatched to assassinate him, Pakistan's ARY News reported.

Police team of Churaibari Watch Post in Assam's Karimganj district recovered 34 kg of ganja from a vehicle along Assam-Tripura border. Investigation is underway, said Karimganj District Police.

BJP trying to polarize, racking up Hindutva ahead of BMC polls, said Maharashtra Minister Dilip Walse Patil.

In a hit and run case on Janpath Road today morning, an FIR has been registered at PS Parliament Street against a butler of an NRI living at a New Delhi hotel even as the victim was declared brought dead at the hospital. Accused nabbed and booked.

Vikas Kumar appointed as the Managing Director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) Ltd for a period of 5 years.

The Court had ordered a CBI probe (in the Birbhum violence incident), which is underway, but now BJP's fact-finding team is also on it. How is this possible? This is against the verdict of the Court. But 'Modi hai toh mumkin hai', said TMC MP Dola Sen.

We have taken the initiative for the development of the state. Maharashtra will not bow down before anyone. Our strength is our work. This power is to be shown to the people sitting in Delhi, said Maharashtra Minister Aaditya Thackeray.

Lok Sabha passes The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022. The Bill seeks to unify the three municipal corporations of Delhi.

Liquor ban passed with 100% majority... Only one campaign should run, don't consume alcohol, it kills... as per our survey, 1.74 crore people left alcohol in Bihar... Spurious alcohol isn't just a Bihar thing, it's in fact minimal here, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar said, in state Assembly.

P Chidambaram, KC Venugopal, Dinesh Gundu Rao, Manickam Tagore and other leaders of the Congress party arrive at the residence of Rahul Gandhi in Delhi.

We from Telangana Congress, along with senior-most leaders, met Rahul Gandhi. Under the Congress membership drive from Dec 9th to March, we inducted 40 lakh active members into the party - the highest in India, said Revanth Reddy, Telangana Congress chief.

Made an agreement of Rs 2 Lakh accidental cover with an insurance company, for those who became members; it starts from April 1. Under Rahul Gandhi's leadership, we've given a cheque of Rs 6.34 crore to it. After April 1, we'll begin agitation for farmers, students & women, he said.

Assembly elections are over and now fuel prices have increased. We will have to wait till the next elections for the prices to reduce... The majority of Covid restrictions have been lifted in Maharashtra, we hope there is no rise in Covid cases again: Maharashtra Minister Aaditya Thackeray.

AIUDF issues a three-line whip to all its 15 MLAs, asking them to be present in the Assembly tomorrow, on 31st March, for the Rajya Sabha Biennial Election for the Council of States from Assam.

A man was robbed and then shot dead by assailants on a bike in Darbhanga.

We were informed that a man was shot dead by some unidentified criminals. We are yet to confirm how much money was looted. We've got some leads & probe is on, said Krishna Nandan Kumar, SDPO, Darbhanga.

Air facilities will be expanded in Rewa. The Central Government has approved the budget for expansion of airport in Rewa. We will make an airport here after completing all the formalities so that investors can come here and work to enrich this land, said CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Madhya Pradesh will be the first state in the country where medical education and engineering studies will be done in Hindi also. Our talented students fail to get equal opportunity due to lack of expertise in English language, said CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) led by PM Modi today cleared procurement of 15 Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) Limited Series Production at the cost of Rs 3,887 crore along with Infrastructure sanctions worth Rs 377 crore, Ministry of Defence informed on Wednesday.

Light Combat Helicopter Ltd Series Production (LSP) is an indigenously designed, developed & manufactured state-of-the-art modern combat helicopter containing approx 45 per cent indigenous content by value which will progressively increase to more than 55 per cent for SP Version, Defence Ministry said.

We will completely crush the people who misbehave with the daughters of Madhya Pradesh. We have been working to demolish the house of miscreants in the state. There is no place for goons, mafias in Madhya Pradesh, CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan said.

Punjab government has made two major decisions regarding education. Orders have been given to the private schools in the state to not increase the admission fee this semester, this comes into immediate effect, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann said.

A 27-year-old farmer has died of heat stroke in Maharashtra's Jalgaon district, as parts of the state continue to witness heatwave conditions, officials said on Wednesday. An official at the Jalgaon district collectorate claimed this was probably the first such case during the current summer season in the state. On Tuesday, Jalgaon district, located over 400 km from Mumbai, recorded a maximum temperature of 41.8 degrees Celsius, which was 2.5 degrees C higher than normal, as per a report of the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The farmer, Jitendra Sanjay Mali, was on Tuesday afternoon rushed by some people to the Amalner rural hospital in Jalgaon where he was declared dead on arrival, Dr Ashish Patil from the medical facility said.

Puducherry registered no fresh case of coronavirus for the sixth straight day on Wednesday as the total caseload remained unchanged at 1,65,774, a senior health official said. Director of Health G Sriramulu, in a release, said the health department tested 222 samples in the last 24 hours and found no fresh case of infection in any of the four regions of Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam. The Director said one more person got cured leaving only one patient still recovering from the infection in home quarantine. Sriramulu said the overall recoveries in the Union Territory were 1,63,811. There was no fresh fatality and the death toll remained the same at 1,962.

A 90-year-old priest was found dead inside a local temple in Kadarpur area here, police said on Wednesday. According to the police, when the locals went to the temple to offer prayers in the morning, they found the priest lying in a pool of blood with his throat slit. The police reached spot with a forensic team and are investigating, they said. The deceased Govind Das had been priest in the temple for last 35 years, they said. The incident created a sense of panic among the locals.

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday (March 30) dismissed a challenge to the Central Information Commission's order dismissing an RTI appeal seeking the agenda of the Supreme Court collegium's meeting on December 12, 2018, when certain decisions were purportedly taken on elevation of judges to the apex court. The order was passed by Justice Yashwant Varma on the petition by activist Anjali Bhardwaj. In her petition filed in the high court through advocate Prashant Bhushan, the petitioner challenged the CIC's December 16, 2021 order by which her second appeal was dismissed and had sought a direction to the authorities to disclose the available information sought for under the February 26, 2019 RTI application.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday called for greater cooperation among BIMSTEC nations, asserting that it is time to make the Bay of Bengal a bridge of connectivity, prosperity and security. In his opening remarks at the fifth BIMSTEC Summit, Modi said the results of this landmark summit will write a golden chapter in BIMSTEC's history. He said India will provide USD 1 million (one million is equal to ten lakhs) in aid to augment operational budget of the BIMSTEC secretariat. Recent developments in Europe have raised question mark over stability of international order, Modi said. In this context, it has become important to make BIMSTEC regional cooperation more active, he added.

Chief Justice of India NV Ramana on Wednesday said the Supreme Court will commence physical hearing of cases from April 4. The announcement from the CJI came before the commencement of proceedings in the top court for the day. "Monday and Friday we will provide links (for virtual hearing) if advocates want," Ramana said. Supreme Court Bar Association president Vikas Singh thanked the bench for the decision.

Seeking to put in place a stricter regulatory framework for collective investment schemes, markets watchdog Sebi has decided to enhance the net worth criteria and track record requirements for entities managing such schemes. The regulator has also approved changes to listing obligations and disclosure requirement regulations for simplification of procedure for transmission of securities. It also gave the nod to amend regulations to enable Sebi-registered custodians to provide custodial services in respect of silver or silver-related instruments held by silver ETFs of mutual funds. These decisions were taken at a board meeting of Sebi held on Tuesday. Amid instances of investors getting defrauded by fraudulent money pooling schemes, the regulator would also restrict a Collective Investment Management Company (CIMC) and its group/associates/shareholders' shareholding in a scheme at 10 per cent or representation on the board of another CIMC to avoid conflict of interest.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (March 30) extended greetings to the people of Rajasthan on their state day. Rajasthan came into existence on this day in 1949. "Best wishes on Rajasthan Diwas to all the residents of Rajasthan, the historical land of bravery, self-respect and sacrifice. "I wish that the state moves forward on the path of progress," Modi said in a tweet in Hindi.

The COVID-19 tally of Andaman and Nicobar Islands rose to 10,033 on Wednesday as one more person tested positive for the infection, a health bulletin said. The Union territory now has two active cases, while 9,902 people have recovered from the disease and 129 patients have succumbed to the infection so far. The administration has thus far tested over 7.11 lakh samples for COVID-19, and fully vaccinated 3.04 lakh people.

Parts of Delhi are predicted to record a severe heatwave on Wednesday, with the maximum temperature likely to hit the 40-degree mark, India Meteorological Department said. Severe heatwave conditions are likely to persist on Thursday as well. IMD officials said a prolonged dry spell has led to "severe" hot weather conditions in northwest India. "The heatwave spell over northwest, central and west India is likely to continue during the next four to five days." For the plains, a "heatwave" is declared when the maximum temperature is over 40 degrees Celsius, and at least 4.5 notches above normal.

With the addition of 10 new COVID-19 cases, the infection count in Maharashtra's Thane district has gone up to 7,08,764, an official said on Wednesday. The new cases were reported on Tuesday, he said.

A tiger was found dead on a highway in Madhya Pradesh's Seoni district, a forest official on Wednesday said, adding that the feline was suspected to have been hit by a speeding vehicle. After some photos and a video of the striped animal lying dead on the Nagpur highway near Batvani village went viral on social media on Tuesday night, a forest squad rushed to the spot. A large number of people had gathered at the spot after getting to know about the tiger's death, but police and forest officials dispersed them and took the carcass into their possession. They later shifted the carcass to Pench National Park where an autopsy will be performed by veterinarians, the official said. Prima facie, it appears the tiger was hit by a speeding vehicle leading to its death, but the exact cause will be known after the autopsy, Seoni forest division's deputy ranger Harvendra Baghel told PTI.

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The global coronavirus caseload has topped 484.9 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 6.13 million and vaccinations to over 10.90 billion, according to the Johns Hopkins University. In its latest update on Wednesday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 484,949,584 and 6,132,345, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered has increased to 10,903,315,392. The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 80,019,128 and 978,648, according to the CSSE. India accounts for the second highest caseload at 43,021,982.

Despite the adverse impact of COVID-19 and natural disasters, Odisha is expected to grow by over 10 per cent in the current fiscal, but the Russia-Ukraine conflict could hit the state's economy, according to a survey report tabled in the assembly on Tuesday. The Odisha Economy Survey Report 2021-22 said the state is expected to grow by 10.1 per cent in 2021-22, which is higher than the national growth rate of 8.8 per cent. The report also showcased Odisha as one of the fastest-growing states in the country.

A car in the convoy of Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Aaditya Thackeray hit a police escort vehicle in the cavalcade during his visit to Sindhudurg district on Tuesday, but no one was injured in the accident, police said. The incident took place in the Khare Patan area of Kankavali town, around 400km from Mumbai, in the afternoon, an official said. Besides minor damage to the two vehicles, there was no other impact of the accident which was reported to the Kankavali Police Station, he said. Aaditya Thackeray, a Shiv Sena leader, is on a tour of the coastal district, the home turf of Union minister and BJP leader Narayan Rane.

A 24-year-old man died after his two-wheeler was hit by a speeding car in Kemps Corner area of south Mumbai, a police official said on Tuesday. The incident took place in the early hours of Monday, the official said. "The two-wheeler of Aditya Desai was hit by the car of Rehan Kalavith (27), who is a doctor in a state-run hospital. The car was going from Pedder Road to Haji Ali," he said. A case has been registered with Gamdevi police station, the official added.'

Petrol and diesel prices were on Wednesday hiked by 80 paise a litre each, taking the total increase in rates in the last nine days to Rs 5.60 per litre. Petrol in Delhi will now cost Rs 101.01 per litre as against Rs 100.21 previously while diesel rates have gone up from Rs 91.47 per litre to Rs 92.27 according to a price notification of state fuel retailers. Rates have been increased across the country and vary from state to state depending upon the incidence of local taxation.

An encounter has started between terrorists and security forces at Rainawari area in Central Kashmir's Srinagar district, officials said on Wednesday. "Encounter has started at Rainawari area of Srinagar. Police and CRPF are on the job," police said. The firefight between terrorists and security forces took place after a joint team of the police and the security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation on the basis of specific information about presence of terrorists.

Four persons, including two children, were found dead inside a locked house in Ahmedabad on Tuesday night in what appears to be a case of murder, police said. The bodies of the two children and as many women, one of them elderly, were found in different rooms of the house in Divya Prabha Housing Society in the Odhav locality, a police official said. Preliminary investigation shows the victims were attacked with a sharp weapon, probably 3 to 4 days ago, and their bodies were in a semi-decomposed condition, the official said. The incident came to light after the mother of one of the deceased women, Sonalben Marwadi (37), told the police her daughter was missing since the last few days and that her house was locked from outside. The police broke open the door of the house and recovered the bodies, which were found lying in different rooms, the official said.

A 7-year-old boy was killed after being knocked down by a car in Rana Pratap Nagar area of Nagpur on Tuesday, a police official said. The incident took place near a traffic signal at Mangalmurti Chowk when Aarav Golghate was crossing the road with his mother at around 11:30am, he said. "The signal turned green while they were crossing the road and a speeding car coming from the direction of Jaitala knocked Aarav down, killing him instantly. The driver has been booked for causing death by negligence as well as rash driving," the Rana Pratap Nagar police station official said.