Breaking News, April 23 | HIGHLIGHTS

A 27-year-old woman and her male friend were arrested for allegedly killing a 55-year-old man from Karjat in Raigad district of Maharashtra, police said on Sunday. The accused are residents of Kole village in Dombivali in Thane district. The woman was known to the victim and was in relationship with him earlier, police said. The investigation revealed that the woman and her male friend attacked the victim with a stump on his head, resulting in his death on April 22. A case of murder was registered and further investigation is underway.

Scores of local residents took part in a candlelight march in a remote village of Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district on Sunday to pay homage to the five soldiers who died in last week's terror attack in Poonch, officials said. Five soldiers were killed and one injured after terrorists attacked the lone Army truck last week. The Chingam village in the district's Chhatroo area, where the march was conducted, was once a hotbed of terrorism before it was purged of the menace by security forces over a decade ago, they said.

Delhi on Sunday logged 948 fresh COVID-19 infections and two fatalities with a case positivity rate of 25.69, according to data shared by the Health department here. With the new fatalities, the death toll from the pandemic rose to 26,597 in the national capital. The total case tally is at 20,33,372. Covid was the primary cause of death in one of the fatalities, the Health department said. Of the 7,973 Covid beds in the city, 370 are occupied, the data showed. Delhi on Saturday logged 1,515 fresh COVID-19 infections and six fatalities with a case positivity rate of 26.46. The department did not issue a bulletin on Friday.

Three persons lost their lives on Sunday when a car they were travelling in lost control and fell into a low-lying property adjacent to the road at Puzhamudi near Kalpetta here, police said. Police said two women and a man were killed in the accident and at least two were admitted to nearby hospitals. Police identified the victims as Kannur residents Jesna Mary Joseph and Adone Bestie and Sneha Joseph of Kasaragod.

Samajwadi Party's mayoral candidate from Shahjahanpur, Archana Verma on Sunday joined the BJP in the presence of senior party leaders, including Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak. Barely hours after she joined the party, the BJP declared her as its mayoral candidate from Shahjahanpur. The saffron party also announced the candidature of Girishpati Tripathi for Ayodhya mayoral poll, Pramila Pandey (from Kanpur), Harikant Ahluwalia (from Meerut), Sunita Dayal (from Ghaziabad), Prashant Singhal (from Aligarh) and Umesh Gautam (from Bareilly).

Around 30 people have been detained for questioning so far as security forces conducted a massive search operation to track down the terrorists who ambushed an Army truck in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch killing five personnel last week, officials said on Sunday. Necessary action is being taken against the terrorists responsible for the deadly attack, the Army's Northern Commander Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi said during an interaction with the personnel who survived the ambush in the dense forest area of Bhata Dhurian on Thursday. A stretch of the Jammu-Poonch national highway which was closed following the ambush was reopened for vehicular traffic on Sunday.

A 45-year-old man allegedly died after setting himself afire here on Sunday, police said. Devendra Sharma, a resident of the Benad Road area of the city, sprinkled an inflammable substance on himself and set himself on fire on the Jaipur-Delhi national highway, they said. “After forensic examination, the body has been sent to SMS hospital mortuary. The victim's brother has identified the body,” Additional Police Commissioner Kailash Bishnoi said. The mobile phone of the victim has been recovered and it will be checked who were in contact with him in the recent past, he said.

India is transforming and will become the third largest economy in the world by 2030, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Sunday. Addressing a gathering at a state-level programme on saint Dhanna Bhagat's birth anniversary in Haryana's Kaithal, Dhankhar said India's prestige in the world has never been as high as it is now. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar also attended the event. The vice president said the contributions of saints in the country's history have been tremendous.

Samajwadi Party's mayoral candidate from Shahjahanpur, Archana Verma on Sunday joined the BJP in the presence of senior party leaders, including Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak. Welcoming Verma into the party fold, Pathak said, "The Samajwadi Party (SP) had declared Archana Verma as its mayoral candidate from Shahjahanpur in the upcoming urban local bodies elections. However, she was finding it difficult to associate herself with the party (SP).

JMM legislator Lobin Hembrom held a rally here on Sunday, demanding implementation of the domicile policy based on land records of 1932 and an employment plan for locals in Jharkhand. Addressing the programme, 'Jamin-Khatiyan Bachao Mahajutan', held at Ranchi’s old assembly ground, the ruling party MLA said the rally was organised as the 1932 Khatiyan-based domicile policy has not been implemented. “I belong to the ruling party and we are in power. Despite this, the Mahajutan programme is being organised. I am forced to do it, as the 1932 Khatiyan-based domicile policy is not yet implemented. I will raise my voice for it."

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday held a massive road show here, ahead of the May 10 Karnataka Assembly polls, waving at a large, enthusiastic crowd that had lined up on both sides of the route. Standing on top of a specially designed vehicle, Gandhi constantly waved at the people gathered in the streets and on nearby buildings, many of whom were seen chanting 'Rahul, Rahul' slogans and shouting loud cheers.

The BJP on Sunday appointed its seasoned leader Rajeev Bindal as its Himachal Pradesh state unit president, replacing Lok Sabha MP Suresh Kumar Kashyap. Bindal, who hails from Solan, has been a minister and assembly speaker and is seen as a solid and dynamic organisational leader. He headed the BJP state unit earlier as well. An MLA for several terms, Bindal lost the assembly poll this time with the party failing to open its account in Solan district.

Radical preacher Amritpal Singh was on Sunday lodged in Dibrugarh Central Jail in Assam after being flown in a special flight from Punjab following his arrest in the northern state, officials said. A senior official told PTI that a heavily-guarded convoy reached the prison with Singh, who arrived at the Dibrugarh airport around 2:20 pm from Bathinda. "He has been kept in a special cell under tight security. A team from Punjab Police is present in the jail along with personnel of Assam Police," he said. The Assam Police has not yet made any official statement on the development. A multi-tier security arrangement has been made at the Central Jail, the official said.

The Delhi Commission for Women has issued a notice to the city police in connection with a complaint of sexual harassment filed by women wrestlers against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brijbhushan Singh. The women’s panel said it has received a complaint that the police is yet to register an FIR with regard to the matter.

The Met department on Sunday warned of thunderstorm with lightning and gusty winds in Assam and its neighbouring areas over the next two days. As per the forecast released by the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), a cyclonic circulation is lying over east Assam and neighbourhood between 1.5 km and 2.1 km above mean sea level. Issuing a ‘yellow’ category warning for two days, it said thunderstorm with lightning accompanied by gusty wind reaching speed up to 30-40 kmph is very likely to occur at isolated places over Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura on Sunday.

The Border Security Force (BSF) on Sunday said it has recovered 10 packets, each containing one kilogram of charas, from an island off Jakhau coast in Gujarat, taking the number of such packets recovered in the last 12 days from places off the state coastline to 27. These 10 packets were recovered on Sunday from Ibrahim Peer Bet island, located around 15 km off Jakhau coast in Kutch district, the BSF said in a release. The contraband was found packed in blue plastic bags with "Afghan product" printed on them, it said.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday offered obeisance to 12th-century poet and social reformer Basaveshwara at his resting place in Kudala Sangama, on the occasion of his birth anniversary, which is observed as "Basava Jayanti". On his arrival in Hubballi from Delhi, the former AICC president travelled to Kudala Sangama by helicopter for the darshan at Sangamanatha temple and of the Aikya Linga.

It's been 3 months, and we haven't got justice, that's why we are protesting again. We demand justice, FIR has not been registered yet. We are grateful that DCW is supporting us: Wrestler Vinesh Phogat on DCW's notice to Delhi Police for reportedly failing to register FIR in sexual harassment case of women wrestlers

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant's father Pandurang Sawant has said his family and his son are not new to being called "outsiders”, but it does not disturb them. CM Sawant, who will turn 50 on Monday, has often been labelled by some political and social activists as an "outsider" belonging to Sawantwadi in neighbouring Maharashtra.

A body with injury marks was found Sunday morning in Raj Park area of outer Delhi, police said. The 32-year-old man was identified as Jitender Kumar, a resident of Hathras in Uttar Pradesh, from his Aadhar Card, they said. Police have booked a case of murder in the matter and visited the crime spot with a team of forensic experts. Kumar’s personal belongings were found to be intact, a senior police officer said, adding, the motive of murder is not yet established.

A man was arrested here for allegedly kidnapping and raping a 15-year-old girl for six months, police said on Sunday. The girl was rescued on Saturday and the accused, Ashish Kumar (24), was arrested, they said. The girl was reported missing in September last year and an FIR was registered against an unidentified person in connection with the incident, said Takha police outpost incharge Phoolchandra Yadav.

JD(S) leader H D Kumarswamy, who has been hospitalised with symptoms of exhaustion and general weakness, is "medically stable and is recuperating", the hospital treating him said on Sunday. The former Karnataka Chief Minister's office said the 63-year old leader, who had been touring tirelessly, was suffering from fever and was advised by doctors to rest.
 

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday claimed the "death warrant" of the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government has been issued and it will collapse in the next 15-20 days.
Talking to reporters, Raut, a key leader of former CM Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT), said his party was waiting for court's order and expecting that justice will be done.

Security has been beefed up in Dibrugarh as pro-Khalistan radical preacher Amritpal Singh will be shifted to a prison in the Upper Assam town from Punjab on Sunday, police said.
Punjab Police Inspector General Sukhchain Singh Gill said Amritpal Singh will be taken to Dibrugarh under the National Security Act (NSA).
A multi-tier security arrangement has been made at the Central Jail in Dibrugarh where Singh will be lodged, a senior official told PTI.
"The jail compound has been surrounded by Assam Police's elite Black Cat Commandos, CRPF and jail security personnel. The security inside the prison has also been tightened," he said.

Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC were clamped in parts of Kaliaganj in West Bengal's Uttar Dinajpur district on Sunday following clashes between police and locals over the death of a 17-year-old girl, an official said.
The prohibitory orders were imposed hours before the visit of representatives of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights led by its chairperson Priyank Kanoongo to the deceased's family.
"Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC have been imposed for a fortnight from today as a precautionary measure, though the duration is subject to review. As per the law, we will not allow congregation of four or more people. Action will be taken against violators," the official said.

Ahead of the Karnataka Assembly poll, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi arrived in Hubbali on Sunday. 

The government is expected to announce a national retail trade policy and an accident insurance scheme soon with a view to supporting GST-registered domestic traders, an official said.
The official said the proposed policy would help provide better infrastructure and more credit to the traders.
It may include provisions related to ensuring easy and quick access to affordable credit, facilitating modernization and digitisation of retail trade; modern infrastructural support for subjects like distribution chain; promotion of skill development and improving labour productivity, and providing an effective consultative and grievance redressal mechanism.

Wheat procurement in Punjab in the current rabi marketing season is expected to be better at 120 lakh metric tonne than last year's 120 lahks metric tonne, despite vagaries of weather that caused damage to the crop.
Given the ongoing crop arrivals in grain markets of the state, Punjab is expected to purchase 120 lakh metric tonnes of wheat for the central pool, said an official of the Punjab Food and Civil Supplies department.
This purchase will be higher than last year's procurement of 96.47 lakh MT.

The crop was adversely affected last season because of a sudden rise in mercury during March which is the grain-filling stage.
Untimely rains accompanied by hail storms and high-velocity winds caused extensive damage to wheat and other crops at many places in Punjab, including in Fazilka, Muktsar, Moga and Patiala districts in March and April this year.

Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar has called on Guyanese Prime Minister Mark Phillips and vowed that India will partner with the South American country in its developmental journey.
During the meeting on Saturday, the two leaders discussed bilateral cooperation in energy, disaster resilience and preparedness, as well as defence.
Jaishankar, who is on his first visit to Guyana, tweeted that he was happy to meet Prime Minister Phillips and other leaders here.
"Discussed energy, disaster resilience & preparedness and defence cooperation. India will partner Guyana in its developmental journey," he tweeted.
In another tweet, Jaishankar wrote that "Delivered by India" was a growing global infra reality.
The minister in another tweet said he paid a site visit to the East Bank-East Coast Road Linkage Project along with Minister of Public Works Deodat Indar and interacted with workers and senior staff.
"Impressed by their enthusiasm," he added.

The minimum temperature in the national capital on Sunday settled at 23.2 degrees Celsius, a notch above below the season's average, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
The relative humidity at 8:30 am was recorded at 40 per cent, it said.
The weather department has predicted generally cloudy skies with very light rain and thundershowers accompanied with gusty winds (35-45 kmph) during the day. The maximum temperature in Delhi is likely to settle around 36 degrees Celsius.
On Saturday, the city recorded a minimum temperature of 20.6 degrees Celsius and a maximum temperature of 36.8 degrees Celsius.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be addressing a public rally at Chevella near here this evening, BJP sources said on Sunday.
His visit is part of 'Parliament Prabhas Yojana' programme, they said.

Though Shah was scheduled to meet some of the key members of blockbuster 'RRR' movie team during his visit, the same was cancelled, they said.
BJP sources said the saffron party will work with increased focus in Telangana and step up its campaign once the Assembly polls are over in neighbouring Karnataka on May 10.

Four people were killed and 18 others injured after a truck rammed into a bus in Maharashtra's Pune district on Sunday, police said.
The accident took place at around 2 am near a temple off the Mumbai-Bengaluru national highway, they said.
As the private passenger bus heading from Satara to Dombivli in Thane reached near the Swaminarayan temple, a truck coming from behind rammed into it, a police official said.
Three bus passengers and the truck driver were killed, while 18 passengers received injuries, he said.
Prima facie, the truck driver lost control over the vehicle and as a result it hit the bus, the official said.

Indian-origin British MP Virendra Sharma has praised Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao over the installation of a 125 ft-tall statue of B R Ambedkar here and hoped that he will join them in the UK soon and share the inspiration for the statue. Rao, popularly known as KCR, unveiled the 125 ft-tall statue of Ambedkar here on April 14.
In a letter addressed to the Telangana Chief Minister, (which was released by the CMO on Saturday), Member of Parliament for Ealing, Virendra Sharma said "the construction of the new statue to B R Ambedkar is a great achievement and one I hope you and the entire state are proud of."

President Joe Biden said late Saturday that the U.S. military had completed the evacuation of U.S. embassy personnel in Sudan, and called for end to “unconscionable” violence there as two rival leaders battled for power in the African country.
Biden thanked the U.S. troops who carried out the mission to extract American staffers in Sudan. With the evacuation, Washington shuttered the U.S. mission in Khartoum indefinitely.

Police enforced a curfew in a community on the southern fringes of Jamaica's capital on Saturday after gunmen fired on people boarding a public minibus, wounding seven, including three children.

The family of a 38-year-old man who died by suicide six days ago ended their dharna on Saturday, after assurances from the administration on their demands, including action against the accused, police said. The family members of Ramprasad Meena have agreed to end their dharna and perform his last rites, Deputy Commissioner of Police, North, Rashi Dogra Dudi said. Following Meena's death on Monday, based on a complaint by his brother, a case of abetment to suicide was registered against five-six people, including Water Supply Minister Mahesh Joshi. Ramprasad allegedly recorded a video before killing himself in which he blamed minister Joshi and others for driving him to take the extreme step. Joshi, however, rejected the allegations against him and said police should conduct a fair investigation in the case.

Police enforced a curfew in a community on the southern fringes of Jamaica's capital on Saturday after gunmen fired on people boarding a public minibus, wounding seven, including three children. The Jamaica Constabulary Force gave no information on the conditions of the wounded from the brazen attack, which occurred at midafternoon Friday in Seaview Gardens, a poor area of Kingston.