Breaking News, April 28 | LIVE UPDATES

Candidates who emerged victorious in the Goa State Assembly elections won by an average 41 per cent of the total votes polled, poll rights body Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said. ADR and Goa Election Watch analysed the vote share for all the 40 constituencies in the Goa Assembly Elections, 2022. The voter turnout for the Goa Assembly election 2022 was 82 per cent  whereas in 2017 it was 83 per cent, the ADR said in a new report. The winners of the Goa State Assembly elections, 2022 won by an average of 41 per cent of the total votes polled, the ADR said.

A 60-year-old man was axed to death by a man from his village over some dispute in Kalwa area of Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Thursday. Sitthu Rathod (32), a resident of Jai Bhim Nagar, allegedly attacked Thavru Chavan, a native of Yadgir in Karnataka, on Wednesday afternoon, assistant police inspector N A Kanade of Kalwa police station said. The victim's body, which bore multiple wounds, was sent to a government hospital for post-mortem, he said. A case under section 302 (murder) of the IPC has been registered against the arrested accused, who was from the same village as the victim and knew him well, the official said.

A BSP delegation led by the party's general secretary  Satish Chandra Mishra met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath here on Thursday in connection with the maintenance and upkeep of the memorials and parks set up during the Mayawati government in the state. "The BSP delegation handed over a letter to the chief minister for a better upkeep and maintenance of the memorials and parks set up by the party's government in the memories of great personalities belonging to the Dalit, adivasi and backward classes," party president Mayawati said.

The Bombay High Court on Thursday extended till June 14 the interim protection from arrest granted to former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya and his son Neil Somaiya in a case of alleged misappropriation of public funds collected for the restoration of decommissioned naval aircraft carrier Vikrant. Justice Anuja Prabhudessai had on April 13 granted interim protection from arrest to the BJP leader and the same relief to his son on April 20. The HC had at that time said in the event of their arrest, both the accused persons be released on a surety of Rs 50,000 each.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said efforts are on to remove AFSPA completely from the north-east region. Addressing a 'Peace, Unity and Development' rally here, he said the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act could be withdrawn from various parts of the region as the law and order situation has improved in the last eight years. In a major outreach to the northeast region, the Centre had announced reduction of the disturbed areas imposed under the AFSPA in Nagaland, Assam and Manipur from April 1, after decades.

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A power distribution company in Madhya Pradesh has suspended 12 of its officials and removed one employee from service for alleged negligence and irregularities in the external electrification work of colonies in Vidisha and Raisen divisions recently, an official said on Thursday. Among those suspended by the Madhya Pradesh Madhya Kshetra Vidyut Vitran Company Ltd in the Vidisha division on Wednesday included the then general manager VK Baghel, deputy GMs B S Kushwaha, Rampal Sirsote and ND Swarnkar, manager Shashank Shekhar Pandey, assistant managers Sanjay Pouranik and Khushal Kumar Ahirwar, and linemen Awadh Prasad Dhakad.

Four people have been arrested and brown sugar worth Rs 2.1 crore has been seized from their possession in West Bengal's Siliguri, police said on Thursday. Acting on a tip-off, police nabbed the four people, two each hailing from Murshidabad and Nadia districts, at Porajhar in New Jalpaiguri police station area on Tuesday night, an officer said. One kg brown sugar has been seized from their possession, he said, adding the arrested people were part of a drug cartel and were engaged in delivering drugs to various parts of north Bengal. 

Security forces have killed 62 terrorists, including 15 foreign ultras, of various outfits in encounters in the Kashmir valley so far this year, police said on Thursday. Among those killed, 39 were from Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) followed by 15 from Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) outfit, Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said. "Total #terrorists killed in encounters so far this year= 62. #Terror #Outfit wise: LeT = 39, JeM=15, HM =06, Al-Badr =02," the IGP said in a tweet.

Five "exotic" monkeys and a wallaby were rescued from a vehicle in Assam's Kamrup district and a person was arrested in this connection, a forest official said on Thursday. Acting on a tip-off, a team of forest personnel intercepted the vehicle at Hajo on Wednesday and recovered six cages in which the animals were found. The forest personnel team led by North Kamrup Division Range Officer Sangeeta Rani Singha apprehended the person, while another fled the spot, the official said.

The current geopolitical situation necessitates the Indian Air Force to prepare for intense and small duration operations at a short notice, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari said on Thursday. In an address at a seminar, he also said that there would be a need for the force to prepare for "short swift wars" and be ready for long-drawn standoff akin to what has been seen in eastern Ladakh. "In the force, space and time continuum, there would be a need for us to prepare for short swift wars as well as be ready for a long drawn standoff akin to what we are seeing in eastern Ladakh," he said.  

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 511.5 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 6.22 million and vaccinations to over 11.31 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 511,565,815 and 6,228,089, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered increased to 11,319,187,191. The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 81,189,357 and 992,722, respectively, according to the CSSE. India accounts for the second highest caseload at 43,065,496.

Three members of a family, including a toddler, were killed while six others injured when a car overturned and hit by another vehicle on the Agra-Lucknow expressway, police said on Thursday. The incident took place near Nasirpur village in the Bangarmau area on Wednesday night when a car going to Gonda from Rajasthan jumped to the other lane and overturned before being hit by another car, Additional SP Shashi Shekhar Singh said.

2 more accused identified as Jafar and Babuddin were arrested in connection with Jahangirpuri violence: Delhi Police

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A court sent two Indian origin men to five-day jail in a case involving lying about the covid vaccination status to enter a bar. Utheyakumar Nallathamby, 65, had impersonated as Kiran Singh Rughbir Singh, 37, to enter the bar. Singh told the court that his girlfriend and he had met Nallathamby on September 9 last year, The Straits Times reported. The trio later went to Sentosa, an island resort, for drinks and decided to go to Bikini Bar, as their first choice, Coastes bar, was crowded. But an assistant manager of Bikini Bar there did not allow Nallathamby enter as he was unvaccinated. Deputy Public Prosecutor Shen Wanqin said after leaving Bikini Bar, Singh suggested that Nallathamby enter the bar using Singh's TraceTogether application and vaccination status.

Water should be privatised and excess rain water should be blocked by building a network of dams in the state and exported to Gulf countries in exchange for fuel, Goa's Agriculture Minister Ravi Naik has said. Speaking at a government function on Wednesday, Naik also said that the harvested water could also be sent to drought-prone regions in Maharashtra. "We import petrol from foreign countries. We can export them water and import petrol. Goa witnesses around 126 inches of rain. If we block this water by building dams across Goa (it can be done)," Naik said.

A Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) jawan has been booked for allegedly raping a 24-year-old woman in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri district, police said. The survivor alleged that the accused had taken her photographs while she was taking a bath and then blackmailed her. A departmental enquiry has also been set up against the jawan and the police have registered a case under IPC sections 376 (rape), 452 (house trespass after preparations to assault) and 506 (Criminal intimidation).

Britain's top diplomat called Wednesday for Western allies to send tanks, warplanes and other heavy weapons to Ukraine, saying fears of escalating the war were misplaced and “inaction would be the greatest provocation.” Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said “this is a time for courage, not caution” among nations helping Ukraine fight Russia's invasion. “Heavy weapons, tanks, airplanes — digging deep into our inventories, ramping up production. We need to do all of this,” Truss said during an annual foreign policy speech at Mansion House, the residence of the Lord Mayor of London.

The Centre Wednesday told the Supreme Court it needs to have control over administrative services in Delhi as it is the national capital and the face of the country. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta also said the model of governance of the NCT of Delhi would invariably requires the Union government to play a central role, even if a legislative assembly or council of ministers is introduced. It was not meant to be about any particular political party, he said.

The Delhi Police has arrested four people who allegedly procured firearms by producing fake arms licenses, officials said on Wednesday. The accused -- Abhimanyu Rai (30), Sakesh Kumar (50), Ashok Aggarwal (64) and Rameshwar Datt (50) were also involved in motor vehicle thefts in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, they said. The police said 15 fake arms licenses purportedly issued from Jammu and Kashmir were also recovered. The crime branch team has busted a nexus involved in sale and supply of stolen luxury cars and procuring sophisticated ordinance factory arms on fake licenses, police said.

Former IAS officer Shah Faesal, who was the first UPSC topper from Jammu and Kashmir, on Wednesday dropped hints about his return to government service in some form. In a series of tweets, Faisal spoke about his idealism letting him down in 2019 when he resigned from government service to join politics. "Eight months of my life (Jan 2019-Aug 2019) created so much baggage that I was almost finished. While chasing a chimera, I lost almost everything that I had built over the years. Job. Friends. Reputation. Public goodwill. But I never lost hope. My idealism had let me down," he tweeted.

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged higher fuel prices in many opposition-ruled states including Rajasthan, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot Wednesday said the PM "by mistake instead of saying Bhopal, mentioned Jaipur" as petrol and diesel cost more in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh. The Congress leader also said Rajasthan government reduced VATs on diesel and petrol on three occasions, which resulted an annual revenue loss of about Rs 6,300 crore "but the PM only mentioned the revenue loss of 6,000 crores of Karnataka and Rs 3500-4000 crores of Gujarat (both states ruled by BJP)". He claimed the Centre has earned about Rs 26 lakh crore from excise duty in eight years which, he said, is the highest amount earned by any dispensation in the history of the country by imposing tax on petrol and diesel.