Breaking News, April 11 | LIVE UPDATES

The Additional District and Sessions Judge in Fatehabad has convicted government medical officer Rajiv Kumar in a corruption case and sentenced him to four years imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 1,00,000.

As the wheat arrivals surge across agrarian state Punjab, the total purchase of wheat has created a record in five years, officials said on Monday.

A Haryana Police constable in Gurugram was caught by a team of the State Vigilance Bureau, Rohtak range, while accepting a bribe of Rs 1.50 lakh, the police said.

A youth has been caught vandalising the idol of a deity placed in a Shiv temple at Titawi village in Muzaffarnagar on Monday.

The Special Cell of Delhi Police has busted two narcotic cartels and recovered 15.5 Kg of heroin valued at Rs 60 crore in the international market, an official said on Monday.

A 26-year-old tribal woman was killed by a tiger in Madhya Pradesh's Seoni district on Monday, an official said.

There is no stopping fires in electric vehicles (EVs) and now, reports have surfaced that at least 40 electric two-wheelers belonging to Jitendra Electric Vehicles caught fire in Nashik.

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) on Monday said that it has deployed 50 security personnel from the 40th Battalion for the ongoing rescue operation in Jharkhand's Deoghar cable car accident.

Three persons, including a minor, were arrested for stabbing an auto-rickshaw driver and robbing him of cash in the national capital, a police official said on Monday.

As many as three people, including a woman, were injured in an CNG cylinder explosion in West Delhi on Monday afternoon, a Fire Department official said.

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Monday that he would consider appropriate action against Karnataka student Muskan Khan, who was recently praised by Al-Qaeda terrorist Ayman al-Zawahiri over the hijab row.

A massive fire broke out at a slum area in Ghaziabad's Kinauni village on Monday, resulting in the death of around 20 cows, an official said.

The Pakistan government has released from its jail a man from Bihar's Buxar district, 12 years after he accidentally strayed into the neighbouring country, a police official said.

Odisha police have arrested Thyil Shyam Sunder, an inter-state drug trafficker, from Hyderabad, the police said on Monday.

Lemon prices have skyrocketed at Rs 325 per kilogram and Rs 13 per piece in Lucknow. 

With newly constituted Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) swinging into action, Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab V.K. Bhawra on Monday gave a clarion call to the people of the state to join hands with the police against the anti-social elements trying to disrupt the peace and harmony.

The life-size sculpture of Maharaja Ranjit Singh - the ruler of the Sikh empire during the 19th century - has been restored to its golden shine and is expected to be reinstalled at a safer place at Lahore Fort, media reports said.

State-owned Bank of Baroda (BoB) on Monday said it has raised the marginal cost of funds based lending rates by 0.05 per cent across tenors with effect from April 12, 2022.

The benchmark one-year tenor MLCR will rise to 7.35 per cent.

The bank has approved the review of marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) with effect from April 12, 2022, BoB said in a regulatory filing.

The overnight, one-month, three-month and six-month MCLRs have been hiked by 0.05 per cent each to 6.50 per cent, 6.95 per cent, 7.10 per cent and 7.20 per cent respectively.

One person was killed and 25 others were injured after a car hit a bus on Pune-Ahmednagar highway near here, police said on Monday.
The accident took place late Sunday night near Shikrapur when the private bus was on way to Ahmednagar.

The car driver lost control over the wheels. As a result, the vehicle jumped the road divider and came into the opposite lane on the highway, an official from Shikrapur police station said.

"After being hit by car, the bus skidded off the road and rammed into some stationary cars parked in an open space of a restaurant along the highway," he said.

The car driver died, while 25 bus passengers suffered injuries and they were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment, the official said.

Two members of a family were killed and seven others injured after a pickup vehicle collided with a dumper here on the Etawah-Kanpur National Highway on Monday morning, police said.

The accident took place when the pickup vehicle travelling to Unnao from Delhi collided with a dumper near Nai Mandi under the Friend's Colony police station area, Circle Officer (City) Amit Kumar said.

Ram Sajeevan (69) and his son Sonu (20), residents of Azadpur in Delhi, died on the spot, police said, adding that seven others travelling in the pickup vehicle, including the driver, were injured and rushed to the district hospital, Kumar said.

Later, three people who were seriously injured were referred to the Saifai Medical College hospital, Kumar added. 

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday urged the Centre to give national status to the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project, saying this would enable the ERCP's fast completion and hence 13 districts of east Rajasthan would get drinking and irrigation water.

The project aims to harvest surplus water, available during the rainy season in rivers in southern Rajasthan such as Chambal and its tributaries including Kunnu, Parvati, Kalisindh, and use it in 13 south-eastern districts of the state where there is a scarcity of water for drinking and irrigation.

Skoda Auto India on Monday said it has increased its presence in North India by two folds in the last two years in order to cater to the increased demand in the region.

The automaker said it has increased customer touchpoints from 25 in 2019 to 51 in 2022 across North India, which translates to a growth of 104 per cent over the last two years.

Besides, the company has expanded its base in urban centres in northern India by a substantial 127 per cent, growing from 15 cities in 2019 to 34 in 2022, it added.

The growth in the region is part of Skoda's INDIA 2.0 strategy which not only focuses at introduction of new platforms and product lines, but also ensuring that the automaker is closer to the customer, the company stated.

CBI seeks 5 more days of custody of former Maharashtra minister Anil Deshmukh and 3 others, saying that they need the custody of the accused to confront them with more witnesses and suspects.

Arguments underway in special CBI court.

Mumbai police on Monday registered an FIR against more than 40 unidentified people for allegedly vandalising 20 to 25 vehicles, including cars and auto-rickshaws, in Mankhurd area, an official said.

One person was also injured in the incident that took place late Sunday night, he said.

Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey, Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Vishwas Nangre Patil and other senior officials visited the spot on Monday morning.

Over 40 people, suspected to be residents of a nearby locality, reached the MHADA colony in Mankhurd on Sunday night and allegedly attacked parked vehicles - private cars, auto-rickshaws and two-wheelers - with swords and bamboo sticks, the official from Mankhurd police station said.

The communal violence which took place during the Ram Navami celebrations in Madhya Pradesh's Khargone district has prompted the local administration to postpone school and college exams scheduled for Monday.

The administration, however, also made it clear that the exams centres will be closed only in the Khargone city area where communal clashes occurred on Sunday while exams in other areas of the district will take place as per the schedule.

The local administration has already imposed 144 CrPC and heavy police personnel have been deployed in the Khargone city area.

Police have arrested nine people for their alleged involvement in violence and stone-pelting during a procession on Ram Navami at Khambat in Gujarat's Anand district, while CrPC Section 144 has been imposed in Himmatnagar town of Sabarkantha following a similar incident there, officials said on Monday.

Gujarat Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi called a meeting of top police officials in Gandhinagar late Sunday night over these incidents and gave necessary orders, they said.

One person was killed in the clashes in Khambhat town on Sunday.

ED is questioning senior Congress leader Mallikarjuna Kharge in connection with the National Herald corruption case. He was summoned to appear before ED today: Sources

Deposed Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif is expected to return from London next month after Eid, a senior PML-N leader has said, amid a whirlwind of political developments that have embroiled the country following Imran Khan’s ignominious ouster from power.

Mian Javed Latif said a decision on PML-N supremo and the three-time prime minister Sharif’s anticipated return will be discussed with the coalition partners.

All decisions would be first brought up with constituent parties of the coalition, The Express Tribune newspaper quoted him as saying.

The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday adopted a resolution urging the Centre to withdraw the proposal to conduct Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for admission to courses offered by central varsities.

Chief Minister MK Stalin moved the resolution, urging the Central government to withdraw the entrance test.

There is no doubt that this CUET, like NEET will sideline the diverse school education system across the country, grossly undermine the relevance of overall development-oriented long-form learning in schools and make students rely upon coaching centres for improving their entrance examination scores, it said.

The names of six key aides of ousted prime minister Imran Khan have been put on a stop list by Pakistan's top investigation agency to prevent them from leaving the country, according to a media report on Monday.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) placed the names of the six on the ‘stop list' on Sunday after Khan's ouster as prime minister by the joint Opposition through a no-confidence vote, Geo News reported, citing sources.

Being on the list bars them from travelling abroad without permission.

Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Monday said it has commenced bookings for the all-new version of its multi purpose vehicle, XL6, from the Nexa retail channel.

The model comes with next generation K-Series engine, advanced transmission, array of sophisticated comfort and convenience features, and bold styling, the auto major said in a statement.

"The XL6 is a unique proposition that perfectly marries a strong SUV-like design and the convenience of a spacious six-seater MPV. The All-New XL6 embodies NEXA's vision of being an aspirational lifestyle brand and creating an indulgent driving experience," MSI Senior Executive Director (Marketing & Sales) Shashank Srivastava noted.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals on Monday said its unit has received approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to conduct phase 1 clinical trials of its novel molecule on patients with advanced solid tumors.

Glenmark Specialty SA has received approval from the DCGI to conduct a Phase 1 clinical trial of its novel small molecule, GRC 54276, a hematopoietic progenitor kinase 1 (HPK1) inhibitor.

GRC 54276 is one of the many novel molecules from Glenmark's Innovative Medicines Group specialising in the development of novel molecular entities for critical unmet medical needs.

The Mumbai-based drug major said, GRC 54276 has shown tumor cell killing ability in preclinical studies as a single agent and as well in combination with checkpoint inhibitors, making it a high-priority target in immuno-oncology.

At least 10 students were injured after a mini-truck hit their auto-rickshaw on the outskirts of Pune city in Maharashtra while they were on way to school on Monday morning.

The auto-rickshaw driver also received injuries in the accident that took place around 7.30 am near Urali Kanchan area.

The injured students and the auto-rickshaw driver were rushed to a private hospital for treatment. After the accident, the truck driver ran away from the spot and efforts were on to nab him. 

Curfew was clamped in the entire Khargone city of Madhya Pradesh after stones hurled at a Ram Navami procession here triggered arson and torching of some vehicles and houses, a senior official said on Monday.

The incident took place on Sunday when devotees were celebrating Ram Navami.

Police had to fire tear gas shells to control the situation.

Following the incident, curfew was clamped in the entire Khargone city on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, Khargone Collector Anugrah P said.

Citizens have been asked to step out of home only for medical emergency, she said, adding that the situation is under control.

The Odisha government has further extended the deadline for officials to submit their annual property return details till April 30.

The General Administration and Public Grievances Department in a circular to all Departments, Revenue Divisional Commissioners and District Collectors, said that the officials must submit their annual property return for the period from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021. Initially, the officials were supposed to submit file the property return by December 31. However, it was later extended up to March 31, 2022.

However, it had come to the notice of the GA&PG Department that some of the employees could not submit their annual property statement, due to their preoccupation with the election to Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies or some other difficulties, officials said.

The Delhi Police on Monday registered an FIR against unknown ABVP students based on the complaint received from a group of students in connection with a clash in JNU campus over non-vegetarian food, officials said.

This comes a day after two groups of students clashed at the Jawaharlal Nehru University's Kaveri Hostel allegedly over serving of non-vegetarian food on Ram Navami in the mess, with police saying six students were injured in the violence.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southwest) Manoj C said that they have received a complaint from a group of students who are members of JNUSU, SFI, DSF and AISA early Monday morning against unknown ABVP students.

Six workers were killed in a blast which triggered a fire in a chemical factory in Gujarat's Bharuch district on Monday. The incident took place around 3 am in the unit located in Dahej industrial area, some 235 km from Ahmedabad.

The six victims were working near a reactor, which suddenly blew off during solvent distillation process, Bharuch Superintendent of Police Leena Patil said.

Equity benchmark indices opened on a muted note on Monday, with the Sensex falling nearly 400 points in early trade, dragged down by index heavyweights Infosys, Reliance Industries and HDFC twins amid an overall weak trend in Asian markets.

The Sensex was trading 398.98 points lower at 59,048.20 in early trade. The Nifty declined 94.6 points to 17,689.75.

From the 30-share pack, HCL Technologies, Infosys, Wipro, Hindustan Unilever, Reliance Industries, M&M, HDFC and HDFC Bank were the major laggards in early trade.

In contrast, NTPC, Power Grid Corporation, Tata Steel and State Bank of India were among the gainers.

Twitter on Monday announced that Tesla CEO Elon Musk will not be joining the company's board of directors. The announcement was made by Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal.

"Elon has decided not to join our board. I sent a brief note to the company, sharing with you all here," tweeted Agrawal sharing the note.

According to the note, Musk who was to officially join Twitter's board on April 9 shared the same morning that he will no longer be joining the board.

In view of clashes including stone-pelting and tiff that broke out between two groups on the occasion of Ram Navami, Section 144 has been imposed in Hirhi village, Lohardaga: Arvind Kumar Lal, Sub-Divisional Magistrate

Veteran bollywood actor-screenwriter Shiv Subrahmanyam has died. The cause of death is not known at the moment.

India reports 861 fresh COVID-19 cases, 929 recoveries, and 6 deaths in the last 24 hours.

Active cases: 11,058 (0.03%)
Death toll: 5,21,691
Total recoveries: 4,25,03,383

1,85,74,18,827 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far

Two students at a private school in Ghaziabad tested COVID positive. As per school administration, school shut for 3 days, classes to continue online. 

CBI custody of former Maharashtra Minister Anil Deshmukh, suspended Police officer Sachin Waze, Kundan Shinde and Sanjeev Palande ends in connection with an alleged corruption case.

CBI to produce them before Special court today seeking further remand

In a major fillip to India's dream to become a global manufacturing hub, Apple on Monday confirmed it has started manufacturing its top-selling iPhone 13 smartphone in India.

Apple first started manufacturing iPhones in India in 2017, with iPhone SE.

"We are excited to begin making iPhone 13 -- with its beautiful design, advanced camera systems for stunning photos and videos, and the incredible performance of the A15 Bionic chip -- right here in India for our local customers," Apple said in a statement shared with IANS.

A British-era bridge built on Nagpur-Bhopal highway collapsed on Sunday, leading to hours long traffic snarl on the busy road. No fatalities were reported in the incident.

As per the official information, the bridge collapsed at the moment when a multi-axle lorry loaded with around 130 tonnes of weight (electric machines) was crossing over it. Before the lorry could be crossed, a portion of it collapsed leaving the lorry hanging and heavy machines fell on the dry Sukthwa river.

Over 50 meters long bridge, built over Sukthwa river in Narmadapuram (Hoshangabad) district was constructed during the British-era (around 1865) at the height of 25 feet above from the river. It is believed that the bridge was constructed to provide connectivity from Nagpur to Bhopal.

A fire broke out on the farms of Kachhwa village in Haryana's Karnal district on Sunday destroying standing wheat crop spread over 200 acres.

The affected farmers informed that the fire took place due to a short circuit in the reaper that was working in a field to make stubble after harvesting crops.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday conducted search operation at eleven locations in Barpeta and Bongaigaon districts of Assam in connection with a terror case pertaining to the case of conspiracy by Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), AL Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).

The case pertains to an active module of ABT affiliated to AQIS operating in Barpeta district of Assam which was being led by a Bangladeshi national Saiful Islam alias Haroon Rashid.

Tension prevailed in Jharkhand's Lohardaga district after incidents of stone pelting and arson during Ram Navami fair on Sunday in Hirahi-Hendlaso village.

As per the information, some people started pelting stone on crowd during Ram Navami procession in the area. This led to a stampede and more than half a dozen people were injured.

Later people from both sides started pelting stones. As tension escalated, more than a dozen motorcycles and a pickup van were set on fire at the fair. Two houses have also been set ablaze near Bhogta Garden.

Eight persons, including two government officials, have been arrested for the illegal dismantling of a 60-feet-long iron bridge in Bihar, which made headlines. According to Rohtas Superintendent of Police, those arrested for the "stealth" of the metal bridge over a canal in the district include a sub-divisional officer and an official of the weather department.

Mumbai Police have suspended the senior inspector of Gamdevi police station two days after a group of striking workers of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) staged a protest outside the south Mumbai residence of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, an official said.

The suspended officer is identified as Rampyare Rajbhar, who was transferred to the control room a day after the protest.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leaders led by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao will hold a day-long dharna against the Centre on Monday in the national capital, demanding procurement of 15 lakh tonnes of parboiled rice from the state.

This will be the TRS' first protest rally in Delhi after coming to power in Telangana in 2014. The party MPs, MLCs, MLAs, entire cabinet ministers, and elected representatives of urban and rural local bodies will sit on a dharna at Telangana Bhawan here, TRS MP G Ranjith Reddy said on Sunday.

The TRS has intensified its protest and reached Delhi after the Central government allegedly refused Telangana's request to buy parboiled rice in the current rabi season.

Pakistan President Arif Alvi has decided against resigning from his office, media reports said on Sunday, days after the Supreme Court restored the National Assembly which was dissolved by him on the advise of former prime minister Imran Khan.

Alvi decided not to resign after consultation with the leadership of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party, reports said.

Mizoram reported 75 fresh COVID-19 cases on Sunday, 47 less than the previous day, raising the tally to 2,25,533.

The toll remained at 688 as no fatality was reported in the last 24 hours.

Two groups of students clashed at the Jawaharlal Nehru University's Kaveri Hostel on Sunday allegedly over serving of non-vegetarian food in the mess on Ram Navami, with police saying six students were injured in the incident. The two groups, however, claimed that over 60 students were injured from both sides.

The Left-controlled JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) and RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad accused each other of pelting stones and injuring their members.

The Left outfits claimed about 50 of their members were injured, while the ABVP said their 10-12 activists were hurt.

Several purported videos of the violence surfaced on social media, with one them showing Akhtarista Ansari, a second year MA student of Sociology, bleeding from the head. Officials have not confirmed the authenticity of the videos.

Members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) took out rallies in several cities of Pakistan on Sunday to protest the ouster of former prime minister and party chairman Imran Khan through a no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition. Protest rallies were organised in cities like Islamabad, Karachi, Peshawar, Malakand, Multan Khanewal, Khyber, Jhang and Quetta, with demonstrators shouting slogans against the Opposition.

French President Emmanuel Macron and far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen are heading for another winner-takes-all runoff in the country's presidential election, polling agencies projected Sunday, as the fierce political rivals with sharply opposing visions for France pulled clear of 10 other candidates in the first round of voting.

If confirmed by official vote counts later Sunday, the initial projections mean France is teeing up for a repeat of the 2017 head-to-head contest that turned the centrist Macron into France's youngest president — but there is no guarantee this time that the outcome will be the same.

A delegation of 7 MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) will visit Delhi from April 11 to 13 to discuss upcoming trade & investment talks between the EU and India: European Parliament

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh who arrived in Washington DC on Sunday as part of his five-day US visit will meet his US counterpart Lloyd J Austin III at the Pentagon on Monday.

Rajnath Singh arrived in Washington as part of his five-day US visit which includes the India-US 2+2 ministerial dialogue. He will be in the US from April 10 to April 15 to hold talks with US leadership on ways to deepen the India-US strategic partnership.

Police Inspector Anup Dange, who had filed a corruption complaint against former Mumbai CP Parambir Singh, transferred back to Gamdevi PS. He returned to Gamdevi PS after around 20 months of being posted in the police control room: Mumbai Police

Delhi Police Crime Branch has arrested a Naxalite leader in the national capital, who killed a police officer in Bihar 26 years ago. According to the Crime Branch officials, the secret information was received on April 7 that a person named Kishun Pandit is a leader of IPF Maale (a Naxalite outfit active in the 1990s in Bihar) is presently residing in Faridabad with a fake identity.

In the year 1996, he killed a police officer in Bihar and looted one rifle and forty rounds from a police party along with his followers.

Acting on this information, a team of police was sent to Punpun in Bihar's Patna to verify the authenticity of the information. During the scrutiny of the police and court records, it was found that on November 23, 1996, the police party of Punpun police station in Patna heard a gunshot and consequently discovered the body of Devender Singh, who was district head of IPF Maale (a Naxalite outfit).

The next University Grants Commission (UGC)-National Eligibility Test (NET) exam will be conducted in the first or second week of June by this year, UGC Chairman Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar informed on Sunday.

However, the date of the UGC-NET exam (for the merged cycles of December 2021 and June 2022) has not been disclosed yet. The exact schedule will be announced once NTA finalizes the dates.

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has taken out massive rallies in several cities across the country to protest against Imran Khan's ouster as the Prime Minister through a no-confidence motion last night.

Protest rallies were held in various cities including Islamabad, Karachi, Peshawar, and Lahore with demonstrators shouting slogans against the Opposition.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with President Joe Biden virtually on Monday to further deepen ties between India and the US and discuss a range of issues including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate crisis, global economy and Indo-Pacific.

Both the leaders will advance ongoing conversations about the development of an Indo-Pacific Economic Framework and delivering high-quality infrastructure.