Breaking News, March 31 | LIVE UPDATES

Imran Khan, facing country's worst political crisis, on Thursday addressed the nation Live and indicated that he will not resign from the post of Pakistan's prime minister despite losing the majority in the National Assembly and insisted that he will face the vote of no-confidence which would take place on Sunday. In a live-address to the nation, 69-year-old Khan said he will return stronger no matter what the result of no-trust vote would be. READ MORE

An encounter started in Turkawangam shopian in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). Reports say at least 2 to 3 militants are hiding in the region. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address students and their parents on Friday for his annual Pariksha Pe Charcha interactions where he talks about examination stress and related questions.

"The enthusiasm towards this year's Pariksha Pe Charcha has been phenomenal. Lakhs of people have shared their valuable insights and experiences. I thank all those students, parents and teachers who have contributed. Looking forward to the programme on 1st April," tweeted PM Modi.

PM Modi also shared snippets of a series of videos on his YouTube channel from his previous interaction during Pariksha Pe Charcha. These videos cover a wide gamut of issues pertaining to student life specially related to exams.

Congress appoints the party candidate from Curchorem, Amit Patkar, as the President of Goa Pradesh Congress Committee, and the party candidate from Aldona, Carlos Ferreira, as Chief Whip.

Over 1,600 complaints received against functioning of judiciary in last 5 years on a centralised system and they have been forwarded to Chief Justice of India or chief justices of various high courts, Government said.

Some sections of Delhi Metro phase 4 to be opened by Mar 2023, final timeline of project may get stretched to Mar 2025, said DMRC chief Mangu Singh.

Don't foresee any major delay or cost overrun for phase 4 project due to Covid impact. All new metro lines to be built with latest technologies; compliant with DTO (driverless train ops) technology. Delhi Metro ridership has crossed 43 lakh, which is 70 per cent of pre-Covid figure, he added.

Congress party has extended the deadline of its membership drive for the Organisational polls from 31st March to 15th April, sources said.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Thursday said that through the Chardham Yatra, the message of "Atithi Devo Bhava" should be sent to the country and abroad.

The Chief Minister reviewing the preparations for the Chardham Yatra 2022 at the Secretariat said, "This time a large number of devotees are expected to come and the preparations for Chardham Yatra should be ensured accordingly to make it more convenient for the devotees."

The CM asked the Principal Secretary of the Public Works Department to conduct an on-site inspection of the travel routes and ensure all necessary improvement work before the commencement of the Yatra.

Along with this, the concerned district magistrates were also instructed to continuously monitor the progress of works on the travel routes. In the event of a road blockade, necessary machines should be arranged and deployed to open them immediately.

We welcome the move (of reduction in areas under AFSPA) taken by PM Modi & HM Amit Shah. It's been a long-pending issue for the people of the North-East region as a whole & will surely lead to a positive message to the people of the region, said Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma.

"This is another reflection of the concerns that PM Modi &HM Amit Shah have for the people of the North-East. We've been always stressing that AFSPA is an act gone beyond its time & is something that is not really achieving the objective it was meant to," Sangma said.

"Given the current circumstances in the region, this act should be repealed completely but this is a welcome step; areas have been reduced. I'd like to thank PM Modi & HM Shah for reducing the overall impact of AFSPA in large no. of areas in Assam, Manipur & Nagaland," he added.

Fire broke out in the slums of migrant labourers in Bathu, Una district. Reports said a large numbers of shanties are feared burned.

The fire tenders have arrived, we're trying to control the fire. Making arrangements for accommodation & food for affected labourers, said Raghav Sharma, DC Una.

Eight core industries growth in February 2022 at 5.8% vs 4.0% month on month, informed Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

British Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss meets External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Delhi.

Government maintains status quo on interest rate of various small savings schemes, PTI reported.

Rate of interest on various Small Savings Schemes for Q1 of FY 2022-23 starting from 1st April 2022 & ending on 30th June 2022 shall remain unchanged from the current rates applicable for Q4 (1st Jan 2022 to 31st March 2022) of FY 2021-22, Department of Economic Affairs said.

Central Railway generates revenue of Rs 530.34 crore for FY 2021-22 (an increase of 35.48%) from 'Zero Scrap Mission', which ensures each division, workshop & shed is free from scrap materials like rail scrap, permanent-way materials, condemned coaches, wagons, locomotives, said CPRO.

This is the highest ever revenue achieved by Central Railway from the sale of scrap. With this sale, Central Railway has surpassed the target of Rs 400 crore set for the fiscal year 2021-22, CPRO, Central Railway added.

I wholeheartedly welcome the decision of PM Modi to withdraw AFSPA from all areas of Assam barring 9 districts & 1 sub-division. I also convey our deep gratitude to HM Shah for this bold decision. Now around 60% of State’s area will be free from AFSPA’s purview, said Assam CM HB Sarma.

The reduction of AFSPA area in the Northeast is a historic decision. A lot of steps have been taken by HM and PM. Andhra Pradesh had removed AFSPA long back except in 3 districts. This decision shows that the era of peace has arrived in the Northeast, said Union Minister Kiren Rijiju.

This decision shows the commitment of our government. Peace and Development are two parallel tracks. Peace cannot prevail without development and vice versa. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has focussed on peace and development for the entire Northeast, he added.

The reduction of AFSPA area in the Northeast is a historic decision. A lot of steps have been taken by HM and PM. Arunachal Pradesh had removed AFSPA long back except in 3 districts. This decision shows that the era of peace has arrived in the Northeast, he mentioned.

Government of India has decided to reduce disturbed areas under Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in the states of Nagaland, Assam and Manipur after decades, said Union Home Minister Amit Shah said.

Bharti Airtel and Tech Mahindra on Thursday announced a strategic partnership to co-develop and market 5G use cases in India.

Airtel and Tech Mahindra will set up a joint 5G innovation lab for developing 'Make in India' use cases for the domestic and global markets.

"With proven technology capabilities and deep customer trust enjoyed by the two brands, we believe this is a win-win partnership," said Ganesh Lakshminarayanan, CEO-Enterprise Business, Bharti Airtel.

Chief Justice N V Ramana on Thursday launched a software to transmit court orders swiftly and securely through electronic mode, a step which will help in quick communication of judicial orders. CJI Ramana along with Justices A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Hemant Gupta and Chief Justices and Judges of high courts was present at the online launch of the Fast and Secured Transmission of Electronic Records (FASTER) software.

Stepping up the attack against the government over steep hike in fuel prices, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said the rise in petrol and diesel prices has been unprecedented and demanded its roll back.

Leading a protest by Congress MPs on the issue at Vijay Chowk here, he said prices of petrol and diesel have risen nine times in the last 10 days, and the common man is the most affected due to this.

Congress MPs from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha carrying placards raised slogans against the government and sat on a dharna against the fuel price hike.

Four people were killed in a collision between a car and a mud-laden dumper near a village on the Purvanchal Expressway under Lonikatra police station area, police said on Thursday.

According to police, the accident took place Wednesday night.

Inspector-in-charge Vishwanath Yadav said the speeding car collided with the dumper which was taking a turn near the village.

On the information of the local people, the police reached the spot and pulled out all the occupants of the car and rushed them to Haidergarh CHC, where doctors declared three of them dead, he said.

Tamil Nadu chief minister and DMK supremo MK Stalin on Thursday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought the Centre's approval for the state government to provide humanitarian aid to Sri Lankan Tamils in the wake of an economic crisis in that country.

Stalin gave a detailed memorandum on various issues, including those related to the economic crisis in the island nation, during his meeting with Modi.

Earlier in the morning, he also met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Parliament.

Three Lok Sabha members on Thursday raised the issue of the death of a Rajasthan doctor by suicide after being booked for the death of a patient, with one of the MPs stressing the need to distinguish between medical negligence and medical complications.

DNV Senthilkumar (DMK), who holds an MBBS degree, said such incidents could also disturb the doctor-patient ratio in the country. There was a need to distinguish between medical negligence and medical complications, he sid.

Raising the issue of the suicide by Dr Archana Sharma of Dausa in Rajasthan, he wondered as to when will the country stop harassing doctors for carrying out medical procedures.

As oil prices dived on news that the US was considering record release from the reserves, India on Thursday said it supports the initiative to let out from the strategic stockpile to cool rising oil prices.

Oil prices plunged on Thursday on news that the United States was considering releasing up to 180 million barrels from its strategic petroleum reserve (SPR).

International benchmark Brent crude fell around 4 per cent to USD 108.85 per barrel at around 13.30 hrs (IST).

"Government of India (GoI) is closely monitoring global energy markets situation in the backdrop of evolving geopolitical events," Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Rameswar Teli said in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

Chinese Australian journalist Cheng Lei went on trial in Beijing on Thursday on espionage charges, with diplomats denied permission to attend the proceedings.

Australian Ambassador Graham Fletcher told reporters outside the court that he was told he could not be present on the grounds that the trial involved state secrets.

“This is deeply concerning, unsatisfactory and very regrettable," Fletcher said.

“We can have no confidence in the validity of the process which is conducted in secret." Australia will continue to advocate for Cheng's rights and interests in accordance with the consular agreement between China and Australia, Fletcher said.

Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday urged the Central government to ensure proper budget allocation for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) while also making payment of wages to labourers within 15 days of work.

A 7.0 magnitude earthquake jolted 279 km east-south-east of Tadine, New Caledonia at 0544 GMT on Thursday, the US Geological Survey said.

Eighteen people were injured after a bus collided with a truck on a highway in Afghanistan's Wardak province, media reported on Thursday. The accident took place on Wednesday night, Xinhua News Agency reported citing authorities.

Biden is preparing to order the release of up to 1 million barrels of oil per day from the nation's strategic petroleum reserve, according to two people familiar with the decision, in a bid to control energy prices that have spiked as the U.S. and allies have imposed steep sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

The announcement could come as soon as Thursday, when the White House says Biden is planning to deliver remarks on his administration's plans to combat rising gas prices. The duration of the release hasn't been finalised but could last for several months. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the decision.

AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj Thursday approached the Delhi High Court seeking constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for a fair and time bound investigation into the alleged attack outside the residence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during a protest against his remarks on 'The Kashmir Files' film.

The petition, which has also sought directions to Delhi Police and Ministry of Home Affairs for ensuring the security of the Chief Minister and his residence in future, is likely to be listed for hearing on Friday.

On Wednesday, members of the BJP youth wing had allegedly vandalised property outside the residence of AAP convenor Kejriwal here during a protest against his remarks on the film after which a criminal case was registered by the Delhi Police against unidentified persons in connection with the incident.

The Chhattisgarh High Court has ruled that an unmarried daughter can claim the expenses of marriage from her parents under the provisions of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956.

A division bench of the high court in Bilaspur was hearing a petition filed by a 35-year-old woman, Rajeshwari, a native of Chhattisgarh's Durg district.

The bench of Justices Goutam Bhaduri and Sanjay S Agrawal on March 21 allowed her plea for hearing by admitting that an unmarried daughter can claim the amount of her marriage from her parents under the provisions of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956, said the petitioner's advocate AK Tiwari.

If the country's biggest party indulges in hooliganism, it will send out a wrong message and the country cannot progress in such a scenario, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday, a day after BJP's youth wing members allegedly vandalised property outside his residence. The BJP's youth wing damaged property outside the residence of Kejriwal on Wednesday during a protest against his remarks on 'The Kashmir Files' film.

"Arvind Kejriwal is not important but the country is. I can lay down my life for the nation. India will not progress through such hoolignanism. If the biggest party of the country, which is in power at the Centre, resorts to such hooliganism, it will spread a bad message among people. People will think that this is the right way (to deal with anything)," he said at an event.

GAIL (India) Ltd on Thursday said it will buyback about 5.7 crore shares for Rs 1,083 crore as it looks to use its healthy balance sheet to reward shareholders for the second time in as many years. GAIL had in 2020-21 spent Rs 1,046.35 crore on a similar share buyback.

The board of directors of GAIL approved the "buyback of about 5.70 crore shares at the rate of Rs 190 per share aggregating to about Rs 1,083 crores (excluding taxes)," the company said in a statement.

The buyback price of equity shares is at a 24 per cent premium over Wednesday's close price at NSE.

Buying back shares is considered a tax-efficient way of rewarding shareholders. The government owns a 51.80 per cent stake in the company and is likely to participate in the buyback.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin is on a three-day visit to Delhi. Stalin will inaugurate the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's (DMK) new office in the national capital at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg on April 2.

During his visit, the DMK chief will meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and other political leaders.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is speaking in the Rajya Sabha as 72 members head for retirement. 

Key points from his address:

• Our Rajya Sabha members have a lot of experience, sometimes experience has more power than academic knowledge, says PM Modi
• We will say to the retiring members 'come again', says PM Modi in Rajya Sabha
• We have spent a long time in this Parliament. This House has contributed a lot to our lives, more than we have contributed to it, says PM Modi
• The experience gathered as a member of this House should be taken to all four directions of the country, says PM Modi in Rajya Sabha

Twenty-two houses were destroyed in a blaze on Thursday in Srinagar district, according to fire authorities. The midnight blaze erupted in the Noor Bagh area and quickly engulfed the houses in which 33 families were residing, leading to their complete destruction. Four persons, including a firefighter, sustained injuries during the rescue operation. "Six fire tenders rushed to the spot after getting information about the incident at around 1 a.m.," an official of the fire and emergency department said.

Congress MPs led by Rahul Gandhi on Thursday staged a protest against the fuel price hike at Vijay Chowk here and sought its roll back. Congress MPs from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha carrying placards raised slogans against the government and sat on a dharna against the rise in price of petrol, diesel and LPG gas. Among those present included Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. The Congress is also launching a week-long countrywide protest against inflation and rise in fuel prices. Petrol and diesel prices were on Thursday hiked by 80 paise a litre each, taking the total increase in rates in the last 10 days to Rs 6.40 per litre.

The Karnataka High Court has quashed the acquittal order of a rape accused father by the Belagavi POCSO court and awarded him 10 years of imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 50,000. The High Court has slammed the biased approach of the lower court towards the victim. A division bench headed by Justices H.T. Narendra Prasad and Rajendra Badamikar gave the verdict on Wednesday. The prosecution has submitted an appeal to the High Court questioning the order of acquittal of the accused by the Special POCSO court. The bench has observed that the POCSO court had failed to consider the trauma that the minor girl has suffered due to sexual assault. It further noted that the lower court has seen the case with biased mindset in a case where the daughter was made victim of rape by the father.

The Crime Branch of Delhi police has arrested two people (brother and sister) accused in a case of kidnapping and rape of a minor child registered in 2006. They were on the run for the last 15 years and were arrested from Aligarh and Delhi: Delhi Police. 

READ FULL STORY HERE

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 486.8 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 6.13 million and vaccinations to over 10.94 billion, according to the Johns Hopkins University. In its latest update on Thursday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 486,825,657 and 6,138,196, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered has increased to 10,940,554,136. The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 80,057,126 and 979,870, according to the CSSE.

Odisha Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari on Wednesday presented the vote on account of Rs 1,06,498 crore for the first four months of 2022-23 fiscal and announced a total budget outlay of Rs 2 lakh crore for the next financial year. Since the full-fledged budget could not be presented in view of the panchayat and urban polls in February and March, the vote on account was required for expenditure on payment of salary, pension, interest, calamities expenditure and other ongoing schemes and programmes, the minister said. The vote on account will cover expenditures for April, May, June and July of the financial year. The total Budget size for 2022-23 fiscal is Rs 30,000 crore more than the Annual Budget of the last fiscal 2021-22, he said. The minister said the state's economic growth rate in 2022-23 is estimated to be 9 to 9.5 per cent compared to the national growth rate of 7.8 per cent.

Petrol and diesel prices were on Thursday hiked by 80 paise a litre each, taking the total increase in rates in the last 10 days to Rs 6.40 per litre. Petrol in Delhi will now cost Rs 101.81 per litre as against Rs 101.01 previously while diesel rates have gone up from Rs 92.27 per litre to Rs 93.07, 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.

The Delhi Police has busted a Jharkhand-based online fraud racket and apprehended three people, including a juvenile, officials said on Wednesday. The accused have been identified as Deepak Kumar Chohan (19) and Bishal Kumar Noniya (20), both residents of Dhanbad in Jharkhand, the police officials said. On February 14, a complaint was received from Reema Singhal alleging that she received a message asking her to update the KYC details of her bank account, failing which it will be blocked, a senior police officer said.

Passing through Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway (KMP) and Kherki Daula toll plaza in Haryana will be more expensive from April 1. While toll tax at Kherki Daula toll plaza, located on the Delhi-Jaipur highway, will increase by 14 percent, it will be 8 to 9 per cent more on KMP. The newly constructed toll plaza near Ghamdoj on Sohna road is also expected to start functioning from April 1 with the amended rates. The increased rates will be applicable from April 1 as well. According to the Kherki Daula toll plaza management, from April 1, large commercial vehicles (trucks, buses and similar vehicles) will be charged Rs 235 per trip instead of Rs 205 earlier. The regular toll charges for cars and jeeps have been increased by Rs 10 from Rs 70 to Rs 80. For minibus-type vehicles, Rs 115 instead of Rs 100 will be charged, it said.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday night held a telephonic conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken focusing on the crisis in Ukraine, situation in Indo-Pacific and bilateral cooperation. The talks came a day ahead of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's visit to India. "Just completed a useful conversation with @SecBlinken. Reviewed the progress on our bilateral cooperation. Discussed developments pertaining to the Indo-Pacific, Ukraine and the global economy," Jaishankar tweeted. India and the US have been in touch over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

A 39-year-old man died on Wednesday morning after he was hit by a speeding SUV in central Delhi, police said. The deceased has been identified as Girdhari, a mason, they said. The accused has been identified as Arun (27), a resident of Krishan Ganj, Karol Bagh. He has been arrested, they said. A video of the accident, which took place in Janpath area, went viral on social media. In the video, a red SUV is seen hitting Girdhari while he is crossing the road.

The Meghalaya government has released Rs 53 crore in 2021-2022 for paying ASHA workers, thus clearing backlogs due till March 2021, an official release stated. The government said that it was highest-ever amount that has been released at one go under the National Health Mission (NHM). "Due to lack of release of funds in 2018-2019 financial year, NHM Meghalaya could not make regular payments to the ASHA workers," the statement said. The state government has sanctioned funds under Meghalaya ASHA Benefit Scheme (MABS) for clearing backlogs up to March 2021, it said.