Breaking News, March 25

A doctor, who was sacked by Medanta Hospital in 2017, allegedly made a hoax call to the facility saying a bomb had been planted there, police said on Friday.

Tamil Nadu reported 37 fresh COVID19 cases with 66 recoveries and zero deaths in the last 24 hours. There are 446 active cases currently in the state. 

As many as 58 Maoist cadres have been neutralised in police action, 194 have been arrested and 108 surrendered during the last five years, Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal said on Friday.

In one of the most virulent attacks till date, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday accused the opposition BJP of indulging in 'perverted' politics, and dared it to arrest him and grab power in the state.

The move to ban Muslim traders from Karnataka temple fairs has spread to more districts of the state and is likely to snowball into a major crisis in the coming days.

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Tamil Nadu police is on the trail of Rs 30 crore that was swindled by three people from a private finance company belonging to the son of a former AIADMK minister.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said on Friday that during his meeting with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, he told the latter that the disengagement of troops at the LAC in Eastern Ladakh is a "work in progress", but is happening at a "slower pace" than desired.

The Supreme Court on Friday observed that it is essential to promote youth hailing from Kashmir by educating them, while observing that everybody makes mistakes in their youth.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached properties belonging to Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik worth Rs 11.35 crore in an alleged money-laundering case related to the NSEL frauds, here on Friday.

A person was charred to death while another was injured after a fire broke out at a plastic factory in the national capital on Friday, a Fire Department official said.

Against the estimated population of 101.3 crore beneficiaries aged 15 years and above, a total of 181.24 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered in the country as on March 21, the government informed Parliament on Friday. In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said a total of 9.71 crore first doses of the vaccines were administered in January, while 2.22 crore first doses were administered in February "as most of the target beneficiaries are already covered". He was responding to a question on whether the Centre has noted a decrease in the number of people receiving the first dose of the vaccines in the last few weeks and whether it is on course to achieve the target to fully inoculate all adults by the year-end. Of the estimated population of 101.3 crore, 96.81 crore (96 per cent) beneficiaries have received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine, 82.09 crore (81 per cent) have been administered both the doses and 2.17 crore have received the precaution dose, Mandaviya said.

A bill to merge the three municipal corporations in the national capital into a single entity was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Friday amid opposition claims that the move was beyond the legislative competence of Parliament. Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai introduced the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022, dismissing the claims made by the opposition. Rai said Article 239AA gave Parliament the right to make laws with respect to any matter of Union Territory. RSP member N K Premachandran, Congress members Gaurav Gogoi and Manish Tewari, BSP member Ritesh Pandey opposed the introduction of the bill contending that Parliament lacked the legislative competence to amend the Bill.

The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has joined hands with the Meghalaya government to develop an ecosystem for small and medium businesses. SIDBI has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Meghalaya Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation Ltd (MiDFC) to develop the MSME ecosystem in the state, SIDBI said in a release. SIDBI is the country's principal financial institution for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Under the MoU, SIDBI and the state government will work closely to facilitate the development of the MSME ecosystem in Meghalaya. As per the MoU's few broad objectives, SIDBI will aid in entrepreneurship development in the state; development of MSME clusters; capacity building of NGOs/development organisations/ MSMEs; support and showcase replicable livelihood projects aligned to the priority identified by the state among others.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to meet Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel today over coal crisis in the state. 

Two children were killed and their parents injured when a speeding vehicle hit their auto-rickshaw in suburban Mumbai, police said on Friday. The accident occurred on Thursday evening at Borivali (East) when one Pravendra Kumar Gupta (35) was driving his auto-rickshaw in which his wife and two children were travelling, an official said. As the auto-rickshaw was approaching a flyover, a speeding heavy vehicle crashed into the three-wheeler, killing Gupta's son and daughter, he said.

President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday awarded the prestigious President’s Colour to Indian Naval Ship (INS) Valsura. The President’s Colour is bestowed on a military unit in recognition of exceptional service rendered to the nation, both in peace and in war, an official said. To mark the occasion, a ceremonial parade was held and a 150-men guard of honour was presented to the President. Established in 1942, INS Valsura is a premier training establishment of the Indian Navy. It is entrusted with the responsibility of imparting training to officers and sailors of the Indian Navy, Coast Guard and friendly foreign countries in electrical, electronics, weapon systems and information technology.

Veteran Kerala Congress leader Thalekunnil Basheer passed away at his residence here on Friday morning. He was 79. Often referred to as the 'soft face' of the party, Basheer was confined to his house on account of his failing health over the past few years. He was also a two-time Lok Sabha member, served one term in the Upper House and won the state Legislative Assembly. Basheer, the brother-in-law of the legendary evergreen Kerala actor Prem Nazir, had resigned from his Assembly seat to enable A.K.Antony contest after he was sworn in as the chief Minister in 1977, replacing K.Karunakaran. Apart from being a lawmaker, he also occupied key party posts including that of the vice-president of its Kerala unit and president of the Thiruvananthapuram unit of the party. His last rites would be performed here on Saturday and before that, the body would be placed at various offices for party workers to pay tributes to him.

The Delhi Assembly on Thursday moved a step closer to being paperless with all the 70 MLAs getting iPads for receiving information and documents on legislative proceedings online. Speaker Ram Niwas Goel urged the legislators to carry the iPads, provided by the Delhi government's finance department, during the ongoing Budget session. "We want to implement a completely paperless system for availing the documents and information online. The Assembly has also been provided with WiFi connectivity and the budget address of the Finance minister and other documents will be available on the iPads of the legislators," he said. The Assembly has taken up an automation project that will enable the MLAs to work digitally- submit questions and notices and table Bills online. A request for proposal was issued by the Delhi Assembly Secretariat for selecting a successful bidder for the implementation of the automation project. The project also includes the creation of a facility to make the MLAs attend the House proceedings virtually. It aims at switching the functioning of the Assembly from manual to a web-based digital solution for speed and efficiency along with going paperless.

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The global coronavirus caseload has topped 477.2 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 6.10 million and vaccinations to over 10.84 billion, according to the Johns Hopkins University. In its latest update on Friday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 477,186,449 and 6,109,163, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered has increased to 10,849,877,219. The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 79,888,564 and 975,838, according to the CSSE. India accounts for the second highest caseload at 43,014,687.

The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly on Thursday said the "judiciary crossed its limits" on the three capitals issues but vowed to safeguard its "sovereign authority" against any transgression (by other organs). Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, Speaker T Seetaram, Legislative Affairs Minister Buggana Rajendranath and several other members attacked the High Court over the March 3 verdict even as they proclaimed "great respect" for the judiciary. The Assembly took up a short discussion on "decentralisation of governance," based on a letter written by senior legislator Dharmana Prasada Rao to the Chief Minister over the High Court verdict, wherein the state was ordered to "construct and develop Amaravati capital city and capital region within six months time."

Nearly 3 kg of heroin was recovered from a farmer and his labourer by the BSF troops here on Thursday, according to an official release. During a checking at the border fence gate in the Amritsar sector, the Border Security Force (BSF) troops recovered a packet of heroin weighing 2.940 kg from a farmer and his labourer. They were returning from their farm, according to the release.Farmers, who have farmland beyond the barbed fencing on the India-Pakistan border, are granted special permission to go there to cultivate their land.

Army Chief Gen MM Naravane on Thursday presented the 'President's Colours' to two battalions of the Dogra Regiment at a ceremony in Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh. The battalions that received the prestigious 'President's Colours' are 20 DOGRA and 21 DOGRA. The Colour Presentation Parade was also witnessed by former Army Chief Gen NC Vij (retd). After reviewing the parade, the Army Chief appreciated the rich traditions of the Dogra Regiment in all spheres of military activities to include operations, training and sports, an official statement said.

The modernisation plan of the Assam Rifles has been approved and is at its implementation stage, Union minister Nityanand Rai said on Thursday, the 187th Raising Day of the oldest paramilitary force of the country. The Union minister of state for home affairs also said that work is on for recruitment and cadre review of the force to improve its organisational efficiency. “The plan for modernisation of Assam Rifles has been approved and is presently in the implementation stage. Along with this, infrastructure for state-of-the-art weapons, communication, surveillance and training will also be strengthened,” Rai said at the Raising Day event. Established in 1835 as the "Cachar Levy", Assam Rifles has the unique distinction of being conferred with the most number of gallantry awards among all paramilitary forces, he said. The minister said that despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the force has accomplished a commendable job by recruiting 5,192 personnel while recruitment of 4,000 others is in progress.

The alleged attack on United Democratic Front (UDF) MPs from Kerala on Thursday morning by the police in Delhi was termed by the Congress party as unfortunate and a blow to democracy. KPCC president and MP K Sudhakaran as well as Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan flayed the alleged attack. At a press conference here, Satheesan said the attack took place during the protest by the MPs against the proposed semi-high-speed rail Silverline project. He claimed a conspiracy behind the attack and said it should be investigated. The LoP said the MPs were attacked and manhandled while Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his support to the SilverLine and other projects in the southern State.