Breaking News, February 17 | HIGHLIGHTS

Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Friday said the loss of `bow and arrow' will not make any difference to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena as people will accept its new poll symbol. Pawar, whose party is Thackeray's ally, also reminded that the Congress led by Indira Gandhi had to pick a new symbol in 1978, but it had no damaging consequences for the party. He was reacting to the Election Commission's decision to recognize the Eknath Shinde-led faction as the real Shiv Sena, and award it the original `bow and arrow' symbol.

Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra was on Friday appointed as the chief justice of the Jharkhand High Court. A judge at the Uttarakhand High Court at present, Justice Mishra's name was recommended for elevation by the Supreme Court Collegium on December 13 last year. Born in 1961, he turned 61 in December last year. High court judges retire at the age of 62. Law Minister Kiren Rijiju announced the fresh appointment on Twitter.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday directed officials to expedite the work related to the installation of 1,000 reverse osmosis plants in unauthorised colonies and around 260 tubewells in Palla, Bhalswa and other locations to boost water supply. At a review meeting with senior officials, the chief minister said several water supply augmentation projects are stuck due to design and land-related issues. The government has also decided against charging a fee for new water connections in unauthorised colonies, a statement said.

A court in Haryana on Friday acquitted Abdul Karim Tunda in the 1997 twin Rohtak bomb blast cases, his counsel said.
Rohtak Additional Sessions judge Raj Kumar Yadav pronounced the verdict acquitting 80-year-old Tunda for a lack of evidence, advocate Vineet Verma said. Tunda was produced in the court through video conferencing. He is currently lodged in the central jail in Rajasthan's Ajmer. He will continue to remain in the jail as he faces trial in multiple other cases.
Two bomb went off at the Old Sabzi Mandi and Qila road on January 22 in 1997 in Haryana's Rohtak, leaving eight injured.

Eight Heavily-armed Pakistani Taliban militants on Friday stormed the Karachi Police chief's office in the country's most populous city, sparking gunfire that killed two rebels and two others, the latest brazen assault on security forces amid an uptick in terror attacks across the country. The attack took place around 7:10 pm local time. A spokesperson of the Karachi Police confirmed in a statement that the Karachi police chief’s head office had come under attack.

The Election Commission on Friday lamented that party constitutions are often "mutilated" to undemocratically appoint people from a coterie as office-bearers without any election at all. While delivering its final order allotting the name 'Shiv Sena' and its poll symbol 'bow and arrow' to the group led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the poll panel also observed that the constitutions of political parties ought to provide for free, fair and transparent election of office-bearers.
It also stressed on a free and fair procedure for the resolution of internal disputes.

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday staged 'chakka jam' (road block) protests across Chhattisgarh to protest the killing of its workers in Naxalism-affected Bastar region. The protests were held at 400 places in 78 Assembly seats in the state as the killings are part of a conspiracy, a BJP leader said. Neelkanth Kakem, chief of the BJP Awapalli mandal unit in Bijapur district, was hacked to death by suspected Naxalites on February 5. Sagar Sahu, vice president of the Narayanpur district BJP unit, was shot dead by suspected Naxalites last Friday. Former sarpanch Ramdhar Alami, a resident of village Hitameta, was murdered by suspected Naxalites in Dantewada district last Saturday.

An associate of Canada-based terrorist Lakhbir Singh Landa was arrested in connection with the Mohali RPG attack case, police said on Friday. A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) was fired at the Punjab Police's intelligence headquarters in Mohali in May last year. Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said Landa’s associate Gurpinder alias Pindu was allegedly involved in the attack. “In a major breakthrough #PunjabPolice has apprehended Gurpinder @ Pindu, involved in #RPG attack at Intel HQs #Mohali, #Punjab,” Yadav said in a tweet.

 The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Delhi government to pay Rs 2,232 crore as environmental compensation for improper waste management. The tribunal observed that compliance with environmental norms on waste management has to be accorded the priority it deserves and it is high time that the authorities concerned realised their duty to the law in this regard and citizens. Taking note of a report submitted by the Delhi chief secretary, a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice AK Goel said there were gaps in the management of solid and liquid waste in the national capital.

A major fire broke out in a four-storey commercial building at Lower Parel in central Mumbai on Friday evening, civic officials said. There was no report of any injury in the blaze which erupted at around 7.15 pm in an office on the third floor of the building located in Raghuvanshi Mill compound, they said. At least 12 fire engines, several water tankers and fire fighting equipment were rushed to the spot to douse the flames, said the officials said.

The BJP on Friday launched a frontal attack on billionaire investor George Soros, accusing him of not only targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi but also the Indian democratic system so that people "hand-picked" by him get to run the government here. Soros, who has been associated with various causes, has said the turmoil engulfing Gautam Adani's business empire that has "shaken" the faith in India as an investment opportunity may open the door to a "democratic revival" in the country. He also alleged that PM Modi is not a democrat.

The Election Commission on Friday recognised the Eknath Shinde-led faction as the real Shiv Sena and ordered allocation of the "bow and arrow" poll symbol to it. In a 78-page order on the protracted battle for control of the organisation, the Commission allowed the Uddhav Thackeray faction to keep the "flaming torch" poll symbol allocated to it till the completion of the assembly bypolls in the state.

The Reserve Bank of India on Friday came out with draft norms for lending and borrowing of government securities with wider participation in the securities lending market. Earlier this month, the RBI proposed introduction of securities lending and borrowing in government securities (G-secs) with an aim to facilitate wider participation in the securities lending market by providing investors an avenue to deploy idle securities and enhance portfolio returns. "Government Securities Lending (GSL) transactions shall be undertaken for a minimum period of one day and a maximum period of ninety days," said the draft Reserve Bank of India (Government Securities Lending) Directions, 2023.

BJP national president J P Nadda is scheduled to visit Udupi in Karnataka on Monday to take part in the district-level convention of the party and two other programmes in the coastal district. BJP sources said the district level booth committee convention will be held at 10 AM in Udupi. He will then proceed to participate in a mega vehicle jatha at Byndoor at 2 PM and a public meeting at Mullikatte in Kundapur later. Party sources said representatives from 1,111 booth committees in the district will attend the Udupi convention.

Uttar Pradesh Police on bomb threat near UP CM's residence claimed that it was a hoax call. 

Searches are underway near the UP CM Yogi Adityanath's residence. Security has been beefed up, as per reports the LIU team reached the spot on time. 

Lucknow: Bomb has been found near UP CM Yogi Adityanath's residence on Friday afternoon. The Bomb Disposal Squad Team has been deployed at the spot. 

Social activist Gautam Navlakha, accused of having links to Maoists and Pakistan's spy agency ISI, on Friday withdrew from the Supreme Court his application seeking to be shifted to Delhi from Mumbai under house arrest. Navlakha is under house arrest in Mumbai in connection with the Elgar Parishad-Maoist link case. On November 10 last year, the 70-year-old was allowed by the apex court to be placed under house arrest owing to his deteriorating health.His application, seeking to be shifted to Delhi, came up for hearing on Friday before a bench of Justices K M Joseph and B V Nagarathna. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta opposed Navlakha's application.

The medical team at Seppa in Arunachal Pradesh had been confronting the challenge of supplying medicines and vaccines in difficult terrains of the mountainous region but not anymore. Startup company Redwing Aerospace Labs in Bengaluru has developed an indigenously developed medical drone called 'Crane' which has been deployed in the frontier state in the northeast. The drone manufacturer is among many aerospace companies thriving in Bengaluru owing to the 'aerospace ecosystem' prevailing in the city.

The Kerala High Court has held that politics has no role to play in the conduct of daily worship, temple festivals and ceremonies. The court made the observation while considering two petitions filed in connection with a case relating to the conduct of Kaliyoottu festival at Major Vellayani Bhadrakali Devi Temple in Thiruvananthapuram. The temple is under the management of Travancore Devaswom Board. A devotee has no legal right to insist that saffron or orange coloured decorative materials alone be used for festivals in a temple under the management of the Travancore Devaswom Board.

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday said a state-of-the-art startup park would be established at a cost of Rs 30 crore near Kempegowda International Airport here. Presenting his government's last budget in the Legislative Assembly, he also said new industrial clusters will be established in nine places by Karnataka State Small Industries Development Corporation (KSSIDC). Bommai said a feasibility report has already been prepared for the construction of airports in Davangere and Koppal districts, and steps will be taken to commence the construction work this year.

An indigenously-developed jetpack has elicited interest of the defence forces, especially the Indian Army which has called for a demonstration, the device manufacturer said on Friday. Absolute Composites Private Limited which manufactures Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) has come up with the jetpack propelled by turbojet engines. "It is a working model. We have trained pilots also," Raghav Reddy, managing director of the company, told PTI. He said the firm has not yet received orders but the Indian armed forces evinced interest. "Next week, there will be a demonstration in a hilly terrain where they will evaluate the configuration and its functionality. If we are able to tick their boxes of requirement, then they may look at buying but as of now it's a Request For Proposal (RFP)," Reddy explained.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sought to know why a central team was not sent to probe the death of a mother-daughter duo in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh during an eviction drive. The duo died allegedly due to self-immolation during an anti-encroachment drive in Kanpur's Dehat district on February 13. Banerjee claimed that the drive in UP was being conducted to evict "poor" people. "But no probe is instituted in such cases; why was no central team sent there?" she asked, while speaking at a programme in Bankura. She asserted that her government gives land rights to the poor to ensure their safety. Banerjee and her party TMC have been vocal about central teams being sent to West Bengal on various issues, with the most recent ones being on mid-day meal distribution and MNREGA implementation in the state.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday frowned upon the Sangh Parivar's concept of India as a “Hindu” nation, underscoring that this militated against what Mahatma Gandhi stood for. The veteran socialist leader, who ended his long alliance with the BJP last year, was responding to queries from journalists about the “Hindu rashtra” clamour, which was openly endorsed earlier this week by his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath. “We must not listen to anything that goes against what Bapu stood for. In this country, people of all religions live together. Bapu stood for unity and this was the reason for his assassination”, said Kumar, who draws inspiration from the Mahatma's views in formulating his ideas of governance.

Amid layoffs and a severe cost-cutting, Twitter has closed offices in Delhi and Mumbai and asked staff to work from home, according to sources. The micro-blogging platform's Bengaluru office that largely has engineering staff remains operational, the sources said. The Delhi and Mumbai offices shuttered a few weeks ago, with remaining staff now working from home, sources privy to the matter said. However, the number of employees affected by the move could not be immediately ascertained. A mail sent to Twitter on the issue, did not elicit a response. The closure of the two offices in key locations in India comes as the platform has initiated massive cost cutting drive globally, after billionnaire Elon Musk's USD 44 billion takeover of Twitter, last year. The firm downsized from more than 7,000 people to 2,300 active employees across the globe -- the mass-layoffs began with firing of CEO Parag Agrawal as well as the CFO and many other high ranking leaders last year.

The Aam Aadmi Party on Friday said it is on hunger strike here to demand a formal order from the Jammu and Kashmir administration to spare poor residents and shopkeepers from the ongoing anti-encroachment drive. "Our vice-president Nazir Ahmad Ittoo started the hunger strike last night but due to security reasons, we were not allowed to sit at the Press Colony. We had to shift to our office," AAP youth leader Mudasir Hassan said. "The hunger strike will continue till a formal order is issued by the administration," he added. Hassan said the administration was making statements day in and day out that poor people will not be affected by the demolition drive. "We are asking the administration to issue a formal order to this effect," he said, adding that the party was not against an anti-encroachment drive against rich and influential land grabbers.

Mamata Banerjee government will table the West Bengal Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill, 2023 in Legislative Assembly on 21st February.

A team of Cyber Cell, Crime Branch, has busted a sextortion gang extorting money after making an obscene video call to the victim and threatening to make the video go viral on social media; five accused persons apprehended: Police

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear during the day a batch of PILs on the recent Adani Group shares crash triggered by the Hindenburg Research's fraud allegations and is likely to mull over setting up of a panel of domain experts for strengthening existing regulatory measures for stock exchanges. The crucial hearing on the PILs by a bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud assumes significance in the wake of recent developments in which the Centre agreed to the apex court’s proposal to set up a committee, likely to be headed by a former Supreme Court judge, to look into the regulatory regimes. Stressing that statutory bodies like market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) are “fully equipped” and are on job, the central government had expressed apprehensions that any “unintentional” message to the investors that regulatory bodies in India needed a monitoring by a panel may have some adverse impact on the flow of money into the country.

The Congress in Meghalaya alleged that the ruling National People's Party (NPP) has failed to protect women and children, "with the state faring poorly on the infant and maternal mortality rate indexes”. Addressing a press meet in the poll-bound state on Thursday, AICC media coordinator Bobbeeta Sharma said that the NPP had in 2018 election manifesto promised to empower women in Meghalaya but "data tells us another story". "The fifth round of the National Family and Health Survey (NFHS-5 2019-20) has exposed the condition of the healthcare system in the state. Only 26% of all children under the age of 12 months have received any immunisation," she stated. The Maternal Mortality Rate stood at 197 per 100,000 and the Infant Mortality Rate stands at 34 per 1,000 live births, she noted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday paid tribute to noted Yakshagana playback singer and scriptwriter Balipa Narayana Bhagawatha, saying he made a mark in the world of culture and his work will be admired by the coming generations. Bhagawatha passed away at his residence near Moodbidri in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka on Thursday. He was 84. Modi tweeted, "Shri Balipa Narayana Bhagawatha made a mark in the world of culture. He devoted his life towards Yakshagana playback singing and was admired for his exemplary style. His works will be admired by the coming generations. Pained by his demise. Condolences to his family. Om Shanti." Bhagawatha, who had a large fan following, had mastered a unique style of singing that his fans called the 'Balipa style'. He had a rich voice and wrote over 30 Yakshagana 'prasangas' (scripts).

The Indian Air Force has come out with an innovative solution that would help pilots to deal with bad weather and also provide them jammer-proof uninterrupted communication with the base station. Known as 'Vayulink', the data link communication uses the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) that is also known as NAVIC, to send radio communication to the base station when the signals are low, an IAF officer involved in the project said. The important aspect of the technological solution is that it prevents fratricide or friendly fire, he added. The IAF has put up a gallery on Vayulink to provide information about its platform at the India Pavilion in the ongoing Aero India 2023 here.

Americans need to see competency tests for any elected official aged above 75, Republican presidential aspirant Nikki Haley has said seeking a new generational leadership in the country. "We have got too many politicians in DC that are past their prime. We have to have term limits in Congress. We need to see competency tests for any elected official over the age of 75," Haley told Fox News in an interview. The White House did not appear to have agreed with her. Both President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump who has already announced his decision to run are over 75 years of age. "We have heard these types of attacks or remarks before," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at a news conference here. "If you go back to 2020, they said the President couldn't do it in 2020 and attacked him there and he beat them. In 2021 when he entered the White House and worked to do his best to turn everything around with the economy tanking, with no real COVID comprehensive response, the President got to work and was able to pass the American Rescue plan with the help of Democrats in Congress,” she said.

Two people were wounded and a third person suffered a medical problem Thursday in a shooting stemming from a fight at a large mall in suburban Memphis, Tennessee, police said. Memphis police and other law enforcement agencies went to Wolfchase Galleria at about 4.50 pm after receiving an emergency call of shots being fired. Officers found one man who was critically wounded. He was taken to a hospital by ambulance, police said in a tweet. Another man who was wounded was taken to a different hospital by a private car in non-critical condition. It was not immediately known how they were shot. Police have detained one person who was found at the mall, Memphis police spokesman Louis Brownlee told media gathered outside the mall, which had been evacuated.

The United Nations launched a $1 billion appeal Thursday to help 5.2 million survivors of the most devastating earthquake in Turkey’s modern history, two days after starting a $397 million appeal to help nearly 5 million Syrians across the border in the rebel-held northwest. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric was peppered with questions about why the appeal for Turkey is targeted at only 5.2 million people when according to the U.N. and the government more than 15 million people were affected. He also was asked why the appeal for Turkey is 2½ times larger than the one for Syria to help almost the same number of people. He said the Turkish appeal “was designed in very close cooperation with the government of Turkey, which is leading the relief efforts.”

A massive fire broke out at a market in Assam's Jorhat district late on Thursday, gutting at least 150 shops, police said. Twenty-five fire tenders were fighting the blaze at Chowk Bazaar in the heart of Jorhat town and it was yet to be brought under control, they said. The fire, suspected to have been caused by an electrical short circuit at a shop, spread fast in the congested market, they added. There was no report of any casualty as all shops were closed with owners and staff having left for their homes, police said. Those gutted were mostly cloth and grocery shops, they said. Additional fire tenders were brought in to fight the devastating blaze from the nearby towns of Titabor and Mariani, and the Golaghat district, officials said. The fire tenders were finding it difficult to reach the spot due to narrow roads, locals said. The losses, expected to run into crores of rupees, can be ascertained only after the fire was extinguished, police said.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 3.6 on the Richter Scale hit 97 km East of Katra, Jammu and Kashmir, today at 5:01 am IST: National Centre for Seismology.

An Indian-American from New Jersey Thursday pleaded guilty to harbouring two undocumented women from India and failing to pay their wages. As part of the plea agreement, the woman, Harsha Sahni, has agreed to pay the victims a combined USD 642,212 and has agreed to pay up to USD200,000 towards the treatment of one of the victim's brain aneurysm. Sahni has also agreed to pay restitution to the IRS, the Department of Justice said. According to documents, from 2013 through August 2021, Sahni conspired with others to conceal and harbor two foreign nationals from India, who Sahni recruited to work for Sahni and her family in their homes in New Jersey.