Breaking News, February 18

Amid delays plaguing the prestigious Ahmedabad-Mumbai Bullet train project, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that it is a very important infra project for India and for Mumbai's identity as the City of Dreams. "The Ahmedabad-Mumbai High-Speed Rail is the country's need and it will strengthen Mumbai's identity as the City of Dreams. Completing this project rapidly is our priority," said Modi.

After Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra came out in support of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday said he is surprised that despite the cases related to fodder scam pending in the court, some leaders are saying that Lalu was being harassed by the BJP government. "The cases of fodder scam are currently underway in respective courts. The decision in one of the cases came from the court against Lalu Prasad Yadav. I am surprised that someone is saying that he is a victim. It is attributed to casting aspersions on the court," Kumar added.

President Ram Nath Kovind will visit Odisha on Saturday and Andhra Pradesh on Sunday when he will witness the Naval Fleet Review and Flypast at Visakhapatnam.

On February 20, he will inaugurate the three-year long celebrations of the 150th birth anniversary of Srimad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupad, the founder of Gaudiya Math and Mission in Puri, a communique from the Rashtrapati Bhavan said on Friday.

Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Mining, Pralhad Joshi said on Friday that those who come to schools or colleges to make girl students wear or remove the hijab in classrooms should be arrested. The hijab issue is now in court. When the court is seized of the matter, a ruckus is being created. "Wherever the interim order regarding wearing of the hijab and not allowing religious symbols is not being followed, implement rules strictly," Joshi said.

The country's first Biosafety Level-3 (BSL-3) mobile containment laboratory - the first of its kind in South Asia, was launched at Nashik by Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Dr Bharati Pawar on Friday. The BSL-3 will investigate the newly emerging and re-emerging viral infections that are highly infectious and of lethal potential to human beings. "The Biosafety Level-3 Mobile Laboratory is a significant value addition to the government's efforts to strengthen the healthcare system through the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission," she said at the inauguration.

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear bail plea of Indrani Mukerjea, the prime accused in the Sheena Bora murder case, and sought a response from the CBI. A bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao and P.S. Narasimha said: "Issue notice. Returnable in two weeks." Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Mukerjea, submitted before the bench that his client has been in jail for more than six years and taking into account the ongoing state of affairs it is apparent that the trial will not come to an end in 10 years. "Six and a half years she has been in jail. The trial is not going to end in the next 10 years," he said.

The Karnataka High Court bench, hearing petitions on hijab row, on Friday directed the state government to see to it that its interim order is not violated. The bench, headed by Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, gave this direction after advocate students brought to the notice of the bench that Muslims are being troubled over the interim order. Advocate Tahir submitted before the court to provide clarity on the interim order prohibiting any religious symbols in the premises of colleges, contending that the order is also being implemented in Urdu schools, where all students and teachers are Muslims.

Over 2 crore adolescents in the 15-18 age bracket are now fully vaccinated against Covid-19, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya said on Friday. According to the government's CoWIN portal, a total of 7,38,74,876 doses of vaccines have been administered among this age group so far. Mandaviya tweeted on this occasion that the youngsters' vaccination drive is progressing with full vigour.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday arrested Iqbal Ibrahim Kaskar -- the brother of absconder mafia don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar -- from Thane Jail in a money laundering case. The development came after a Mumbai Court granted permission to the ED to interrogate Iqbal Kaskar, who was arrested by Thane Police's Anti-Extortion Cell in 2017 and remains in custody since then. The ED will produce him before a Special PMLA Court for remand and further investigations.

Odisha Government lifts night curfew restrictions in the State, following a decrease in the number of COVID19 cases

Two people including a 50-year-old farmer were killed when his tractor was hit by a speedy car on Delhi-Saharanpur highway near Khandrawli village, police said on Friday. The deceased were identified as farmer Rukmuddin and car driver Nirankush (30), they said. The accident occurred near Khandrawli outpost under Kandhla police station area late Thursday night when the deceased farmer was returning to his village from the fields, police said. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem, they said.

A special court here on Friday awarded death sentence to 38 convicts in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts case, which had claimed 56 lives and left over 200 injured. Special court judge A R Patel also sentenced 11 other convicts in the case to life imprisonment till their death. 

On February 8, the court had convicted 49 accused and acquitted 28 others in the case. As many as 20 explosions had ripped through the city on July 26, 2008. The court had concluded the trial against 77 accused in September last year. Out of the 78 accused on trial, one had turned approver.