Breaking News, February 21 | HIGHLIGHTS

The Uttarakhand High Court on Tuesday ordered strict action against all those who created violence during an agitation in Dehradun by unemployed youths against recruitment examination paper leaks.
"It appears that the mob agitating against paper leak resorted to violence. No matter what the issue, it cannot be used as an excuse to resort to violence, destroy public property, or create public nuisance," a division bench of the high court comprising Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Alok Kumar Verma observed.

 Tata Group on Tuesday bagged the title rights for the inaugural Women's Premier League beginning in Mumbai on March 4. "I am delighted to announce the #TataGroup as the title sponsor of the inaugural #WPL. With their support, we're confident that we can take women's cricket to the next level," BCCI secretary Jay Shah tweeted. The financials of the deal was not revealed.

 A maintenance worker was killed in explosion at an Ohio metals plant that sparked a large fire and sent more than a dozen people to hospitals, with at least two in critical condition, authorities said.
 

The Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch two initial missions later this year under the 'Gaganyaan' programme followed by country's maiden human space-flight mission in 2024, Union Minister Jitendra Singh has said.

The second part of the 2023 mission will carry a female robot "Vyommitra" to space, the science and technology minister said.

In an interview with PTI, Singh said these missions were envisaged to be launched in the 75th year of Indian independence, but due to the emergence of COVID-19 these programmes were delayed by two to three years.

"The then ongoing training of our astronauts in Russia was stopped midway due to the pandemic," he said, adding that they were sent back to complete their training once the situation subsided.

"In the second half of this year, two initial missions will be sent under the Gaganyaan programme.
One mission will be completely unmanned and a female robot named 'Vyommitra' will be sent in the second one," Singh said.

 The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to revive an ACLU lawsuit challenging a portion of the National Security Agency's warrantless surveillance of Americans' international email and phone communications.
The justices left in place an appeals court ruling against the Wikimedia Foundation, which runs Wikipedia. The organization said that the National Security Agency's “Upstream” surveillance program violates free-speech rights and protections against unreasonable search and seizure.
Details of the Upstream program are classified, but it collects data from transmissions over high-speed cables that carry electronic communications into and out of the country.

President Joe Biden reaffirmed the United States' dedication to European security as he met with Polish President Andrzej Duda on Tuesday, part of a series of consultations with allies to prepare for an even more complicated stage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
“We have to have security in Europe,” he said at the presidential palace in Warsaw. “It's that basic, that simple, that consequential.”

National Investigation Agency (NIA) sleuths on Tuesday swooped on 76 locations in seven states and the national capital in connection with three cases related to a nexus between drug mafia, organised criminal gangs and terror groups, officials said here.
Besides Delhi, the raids were being conducted in Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. The agency has recovered Rs 1.5 crore cash from one of the associates of a criminal gang, the officials said.

The Centre is aiming to increase the share of renewable energy to 60 per cent in the total power consumption of its major ports from a present share of less than 10 per cent, Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal said on Tuesday.

The trial in the sensational Shraddha Walkar murder case is set to begin against her live-in partner and main accused Aaftab Amin Poonawala on February 24 as a magisterial court Monday remanded the judicial records to a sessions court.
Poonawala will now have to appear before a principal district and sessions judge at Saket here on Friday.
According to the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), a case pertaining to heinous offences are remanded to the jurisdictional sessions court by the concerned Metropolitan Magistrate after filing of the chargesheet.

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought the stand of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on a plea seeking quashing of its probe against the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) in connection with an alleged criminal conspiracy to carry out terror activities in the country.
Justice Jasmeet Singh issued notice on the petition by arrested PFI leader Oma Salam and asked the agency to file its response.

 Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Tuesday that Moscow was suspending its participation in the New START treaty — the last remaining nuclear arms control pact with the United States — sharply upping the ante amid tensions with Washington over the fighting in Ukraine.
Speaking in his state-of-the-nation address, Putin also said that Russia should stand ready to resume nuclear weapons tests if the U.S. does so, a move that would end a global ban on nuclear weapons tests in place since Cold War times.
Explaining his decision to suspend Russia's obligations under New START, Putin accused the U.S. and its NATO allies of openly declaring the goal of Russia's defeat in Ukraine.

 Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Tuesday emphasised that seeking the IMF bailout package was the only option available to the debt-ridden country to overcome the ongoing economic crisis.
"When a country goes bankrupt, it has to go to the International Monetary Fund. Apart from that, there is no other organisation in the world that provides aid when a country goes bankrupt," Wickremesinghe said.

The State government on Tuesday dissolved Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission over recruitment exam paper leaks.

The Delhi government will plant 52 lakh trees and shrubs in the city during its mega plantation drive beginning February 26.
The city government usually starts the drive in the monsoon, but the large number of trees demanded an early start, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said at a press conference here. 
He also asked all agencies concerned to get a third-party audit of the tree plantation done in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

With 'Vande Bharat' trains running at almost full capacity on 10 routes, 60 parliamentarians, including 14 MPs from non-NDA parties, have petitioned the railways to begin the operation of the state-of-the-art trains connecting their constituencies.
While most of the petitions have come from BJP MPs, including senior leader Devendra Fadnavis who has asked for a train between Solapur and Mumbai. Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi has requested for a Vande Bharat train from Dharwad to Bangaluru and Civil Aviation minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia for a train to Gwalior.

The newborn baby who was allegedly "declared dead" soon after birth at the Delhi government-run LNJP Hospital and was later found alive continues to be critical and on ventilator, officials said on Tuesday. The infant, born when her mother was just 23 weeks pregnant and weighs only 490 grams, was found alive when the family was making plans for her burial. "The baby continues to be critical and on ventilator support. She is being monitored," a senior doctor at the hospital said. The hospital has constituted a three-member panel to probe the incident and the report will be submitted on Wednesday, the doctor said.

BJP National President JP Nadda on Tuesday asserted that his party always stands for righteousness, while claiming that Congress is always doing something "mischievous" against the society. Targeting former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the earlier Congress government led by him, Nadda accused them of withdrawing cases against Popular Front of India (PFI) and Karnataka Forum for Dignity (KFD) activists, by following their practice of appeasement politics. "We (BJP) have tried to see to it that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, there is a responsible government, a responsive government, a government which acts, a government which takes decisions, and a government which delivers," he said, addressing a gathering of intellectuals and professionals.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat on Tuesday appointed its Vadodara and Kheda district presidents following the resignation of incumbent unit chiefs, a party release said. Former MLA Satish Patel has been given the reins of Vadodara district, while Ajay Brahmbhatt has been made the Kheda district unit president, said the release. Earlier in the day, the BJP announced that its state chief CR Paatil had dissolved the district units of Kheda and Vadodara after the incumbent presidents expressed their desire to step down, it said. The development comes a week after Paatil appointed the new unit heads for Banaskantha, Devbhumi Dwarka, Amreli, and Surendranagar districts. Newly appointed Patel, who won from the Karjan seat of Vadodara in 2012, was reportedly in a rebellious mood ahead of the recently concluded assembly polls after he was denied a ticket by the party. At one point, Patel had even threatened to fight as an independent but was pacified by the party leadership. Sitting legislator Akshay Patel, who was given the ticket, won from Karjan.

The minimum temperature continued to hover several degrees above normal in Punjab and Haryana on Tuesday. Ludhiana in Punjab recorded a minimum of 14.3 degrees Celsius, five degrees above normal, while Amritsar's low was 13 degrees Celsius, six degrees above normal, the meteorological department said. Patiala's minimum settled at 15.2 degrees Celsius, six degrees above normal, while Pathankot's minimum was 14.8 degrees Celsius.
Faridkot and Gurdaspur registered their respective minimum temperatures at 14.5 degrees and 11.5 degrees Celsius, it said.

All India Congress Committee general secretary KC Venugopal on Tuesday termed the Enforcement Directorate's raids on party leaders in Chhattisgarh as "political vendetta" and said the Congress will not be scared of it. The Congress will fight against it according to the law, Venugopal told reporters at the Swami Vivekananda Airport here. Meanwhile, members of the ruling Congress in Chhattisgarh staged a protest in front of the ED's office in state capital Raipur against the raids. The ED on Monday conducted raids at more than a dozen locations in Chhattisgarh including at premises linked to state Congress leaders as part of an ongoing probe into the alleged coal levy scam. When asked about it, Venugopal said, “It is clearly a political vendetta. It was expected. We were expecting (raids) as the Congress' plenary session is going to be held and there is election…we are not scared of anything.”

A fire broke out at a vegetable market in Maharashtra's Pune city on Tuesday in which nearly 90 stalls were damaged and two tempos burnt, fire brigade officials said. No person was injured in the fire which erupted at around 1.45 am at the market located in Chintamani Nagar in Handewadi area of Hadapsar suburb, they said. Nearly 90 stalls were damaged in the blaze, which also destroyed a large quantity of vegetables. Two tempos were also gutted, a fire official said. Three fire tenders were pressed into service and the blaze was doused in 25 minutes, he said "No one was injured in the fire. The cause of the blaze is yet to be ascertained," the official said.

President Droupadi Murmu asserted that Arunachal Pradesh plays an important role in the social and economic development of the country. Addressing a special session of the assembly in the northeastern state, she said that Arunachal Pradesh is shining under the sunlight of development. She called upon the legislators to put concerted efforts in preserving the unique culture and traditions of the state.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will on Tuesday hold the national executive meeting of the Shiv Sena, days after the Election Commission recognised his faction as the real Shiv Sena and ordered allocation of the 'bow and arrow' poll symbol to it. The meeting will be attended by MLAs, MPs and other Shiv Sena leaders who have been working with Shinde since he broke away from the party led by Uddhav Thackeray, a close aide of the CM said. “This would be the first party-level meeting to be chaired by CM Shinde, after the Election Commission's decision that the name Shiv Sena and its poll symbol will remain with the Shinde camp,” he said.

The mercury in the national capital settled at 16.1 degrees Celsius Tuesday morning, five notches above normal. Delhi had on Monday recorded the third hottest February day since 1969 with the maximum temperature at the Safdarjung observatory, the national capital’s primary weather station, soaring to 33.6 degrees Celsius. The reading on Monday was nine notches above normal. On Tuesday, the relative humidity was recorded at 84 per cent, according to the IMD data. The minimum temperature in the morning stood at 16.1 degrees Celsius, five notches above normal. Delhi on Monday had registered a low of 13.1 degrees Celsius, two notches above the season’s average. The weatherman has predicted mainly clear sky during day time. Meanwhile, Delhi’s air quality stood in the ‘poor’ category as the air quality index (AQI) read 250. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.

Goa Police have arrested a Gujarat native after seizing banned drugs worth Rs 25 lakh from his possession in the coastal state, an official said on Tuesday. Based on an information, a team of Anjuna police on Monday raided a villa at Siolim in North Goa district which the accused, Jayrajsingh Kiritsinh Chavda (33), had taken on rent, he said. During a search of the house, the police found 475 vials containing 4.7 litres of ketamine, which is used as a recreational drug, and 270 grams of charas, the official said. The drugs are worth Rs 25 lakh, he said. The accused, who belongs to Ahmedabad, was arrested and booked under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, the official said.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has expressed his displeasure with the ongoing protest by private hospital owners over the Right to Health Bill.
Gehlot said the medical profession is a service and not a means to make money. "But since they are making money, they do not want this bill. They should not do so," he said on Monday, targeting the private hospital owners. The Rajasthan Right to Health Bill seeks to give the residents of Rajasthan the right to avail free healthcare services from hospitals, clinics and laboratories. This will include private establishments as well. The chief minister said healthcare and education have been placed under the category of service, and not a business, in the Constitution.

President Joe Biden's motorcade slipped out of the White House around 3:30 a.m. Sunday. No big, flashy Air Force One for this trip- the president vanished into the darkness on an Air Force C-32, a modified Boeing 757 normally used for domestic trips to smaller airports. The next time he turned up-20 hours later-it was in downtown Kyiv, Ukraine. Biden's surprise 23-hour visit to Ukraine on Monday was the first time in modern history that a US leader visited a warzone outside the aegis of the US military- a feat the White House said carried some risk even though Moscow was given a heads-up. Over the next five hours, the president made multiple stops around town- ferried about in a white SUV rather than the presidential limousine- without any announcement to the Ukrainian public that he was there.

The United Arab Emirates is set to host the first vice-ministerial meeting of the I2U2 in Abu Dhabi this week. It will be attended by senior officials from the four countries – India, Israel, the United States and the UAE. Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Jose W Fernandez will lead the US delegation at the meeting in Abu Dhabi on February 21-22, according to an official statement. Fernandez will represent the US at the I2U2 Business Forum, hosted by the UAE; it is the first vice-ministerial meeting since the grouping was jointly announced by President Joe Biden, Israeli Prime Minister Lapid, UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it said.

A 28-year-old woman died on Monday, days after she was allegedly set afire by her live-in partner following a dispute over drugs in northwest Delhi's Aman Vihar, police said. On February 11, the police received information regarding the admission of a woman with burn injuries in SGM Hospital. When the police reached the hospital, the woman was found unfit to record her statement, they said. She was later identified as a resident of Balbir Vihar in northwest Delhi and worked as a labourer in a footwear factory. She was shifted to Safdarjung Hospital and then to AIIMS Trauma Centre for further treatment, they said. Investigations revealed that the victim had left her husband and was living with the accused, identified as Mohit, for the past six years, a senior police officer said.

A 17-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by her father and her brother, police said on Monday. The alleged incident came to light after the Class 11 student confided in her school principal and teachers, who rushed her to the police station. The student told her school principal and teachers that she was sexually assaulted by her father and her brother. They also threatened to kill her if she told anyone about it, the police said. After counseling and questioning the victim for nearly four hours, an FIR was registered under sections of the POCSO Act at Kherki Daula police station, they said. "We are verifying the facts and action will be taken as per law," a senior officer said.

The Allahabad High Court has expressed serious displeasure at the death of four infant girls at the Government Children Protection Home at Prag Narayan Road in Lucknow. The Lucknow bench of the high court directed the principal secretary of the women and child development department to file a counter affidavit in the matter within three weeks. The infant girls, aged between 1.5 months to 5 months, died between February 10-14 allegedly due to cold. Passing the order, a bench of Justice D K Upadhyay and Justice Subhash Vidyarthi said, "The respondents shall clearly indicate the steps which are envisaged to be taken at their end to ensure that such incidents do not happen in future in child protection homes throughout the state."

Union Minister Jitendra Singh has said terrorists are carrying out targeted killings in Jammu and Kashmir owing to the tremendous pressure put on them by security forces. He claimed that such targeted killings take place whenever there is a change. He said that such incidents, though unfortunate, may happen anywhere and may affect people belonging to any religion or ideology. In an interview to PTI Bhasha, he said such "soft or targeted killings" are also an indication that the terrorists are on the run as there is a lot of pressure on them. Today markets no longer remain closed, nor there is any stone pelting or shortage of food for children. "Today terrorists are on the run and there is a lot of pressure on them from the security forces," he said. 

An Air India flight from New York to Delhi was diverted to London on Monday due to a medical emergency, according to an official. According to data available on the flight tracking website Flightradar24, the flight is being operated with a Boeing 777-337 (ER) aircraft. The flight was diverted to London due to a medical emergency onboard and the passenger concerned was taken to a hospital, the official said. Later, the flight took off from London at around 2330 hours (IST), according to another official. Details about the medical emergency could not be immediately ascertained. The flight is likely to be delayed by at least 6-7 hours before it lands in Delhi, according to a wide-body aircraft pilot.

Suspected separatist gunmen have killed at least eight police officers over the past three days in southeast Nigeria, authorities said here, raising concerns ahead of weekend presidential elections. Four officers were killed in an attack at a station in Anambra state Monday, while authorities searched for suspects accused of killing four others over the weekend local police spokesman Tochukwu Ikenga said. The assailants opened fire on officers while detonating explosives, he said, adding that three of the attackers were killed and two more arrested. Police blamed the attacks on a separatist group known as the Indigenous People of Biafra, or IPOB, which wants the southeast region to gain independence from the West African country. Authorities have accused the IPOB of instigating violence which has led to many deaths in the conflict-riddled region and stoked fears about the ability of Nigeria's security forces to protect voters at the polls. The election commission might not be able to deploy to some polling stations because of security concerns, said Festus Okoye, an official with Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission.