Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal inaugurates new smart classrooms in govt schools

Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said on Saturday that operations of passenger aircraft from Agartala airport to two important Bangladesh cities -- Dhaka and Chittagong -- would be started soon. Taking to Twitter, the Chief Minister said: "Finally, MBB Airport in Agartala is now set to have international flight service with Dhaka and Chittagong. My heartfelt thanks to Hon'ble PM Shri Narendra Modi ji and Civil Aviation Minister Shri JM Scindia ji for this initiative to fulfil the dream of the people of Tripura."

Ukraine's Russian-backed breakaway eastern territories have ordered military mobilisations amid escalation in fighting, BBC reported. Men of fighting age in the self-declared people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk are being put on stand-by, the report said. Monitors report a "dramatic increase" in attacks along the line dividing rebel and government forces. US President Joe Biden says he is convinced Russia will invade Ukraine, an allegation Moscow denies.

Jammu and Kashmir police along with security forces arrested two terrorist associates of proscribed terror outfit JeM and LeT/TRF in South Kashmir's Pulwama district and Srinagar district along with arms and ammunition, officials said on Saturday. Police said on specific information, a joint cordon and search operation was launched by Police, army's 53 RR and CRPF in Rahmoo area of Pulwama. "During search, one terrorist associate of proscribed terror outfit JeM was arrested by the joint search party," police said. He has been identified as Irfan Yousuf Dar, resident of Rohmoo Pulwama.

President Ram Nath Kovind, along with his wife Savita Kovind, arrived at the airport this afternoon on a two-day Odisha visit. A special plane carrying him landed at the Biju Patnaik International Airport, where Governor Ganeshi Lal, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, chief secretary, DGP and other senior officials received him.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday inaugurated 12,430 new smart classrooms in 240 government schools of the national capital at Rajkiya Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya in Rajokri. "Education revolution is coming in Delhi. So many good results have come. The results of government schools are faring better than private schools. I want to congratulate the people of Delhi," said Kejriwal while inaugurating the smart classrooms.

Adela Raz, the Afghan Ambassador to the US, has stepped down from her post, a senior official at the mission said, calling the new restrictions imposed by the US Department of State on the Embassy as the reason for her resignation. Afghan Deputy Ambassador Abdul Hadi Nijrabi told TOLO News on Friday that the US State Department had decided to stop political and diplomatic activities of Afghanistan in the US.

Noting the inaction in checking illegal sand mining in Banda district of Uttar Pradesh, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the District Magistrate to attend a video conferencing interaction along with the Regional Officer of the State Pollution Control Board (PCB).

The NGT bench headed by Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel in an order passed on Friday directed the Banda Superintendent of Police to furnish an action taken report on the FIR in the matter within one month.

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Saturday said he will raise the issue of recruitment by state cabinet ministers of personal staff members, who become eligible for lifelong pension after they complete two years of service. This statement by the Governor comes a day after his address to the state Assembly. Things went for a toss on Thursday evening when news surfaced that Khan had refused to sign his address to the Assembly. This led to a war of words between Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Khan after which the Chief Secretary had to intervene to smoothen matters. It was only after that, that news spread that Khan was angry about the way CPI(M) leaders appointed their staff members and replaced them after two years, who then become eligible for lifelong pension. Another reason why the Governor was upset was the controversy surrounding the appointment of senior journalist Hari S. Kartha, who is also a state BJP committee member. Khan was angry after a letter from K.R.Jyothilal, the General Administration Secretary, cleared the appointment of Kartha. The letter mentioned that such an appointment is being made for the first time.

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The State Election Commission (SEC), Odisha has made elaborate arrangements for the third phase of Panchayat election to be held on Sunday. As many as 171 Zilla Parishad seats in 63 blocks under 29 districts of the state will go to polls in this phase, an official said on Saturday. The third phase of Panchayat election will be held at 18,495 booths in 1,382 Gram Panchayats under 63 blocks of 29 districts. Of the total booths, 2,773 have been identified as "sensitive", said secretary to State Election Commission (SEC), R.N. Sahu. Over 56.53 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in this phase. As many as 679 candidates are in the fray for the 171 Zilla Parishad seats, those will go to polls tomorrow, he said. Polling parties have reached the booths while additional polling personnel will reach by this evening, the secretary said.

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Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal inaugurates around 12,430 new smart classrooms in 240 government schools in the national capital. Deputy CM-Education Minister Manish Sisodia and Delhi's Home Minister Satyendar Jain also present.

Jharkhand government rolled back Bhojpuri and Magahi as regional languages from Bokaro and Dhanbad districts; issues new notification of district-wise regional languages.

Stating that the BJP government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi promoted the creation of 60,000 startups in India, Union Minister Smriti Irani has said that if the BJP forms the government in the state then it would form a corpus fund of Rs 100 crore for startups in Manipur.Canvassing for BJP candidate Okram Henry Singh in Manipur on Friday, "In the past seven years, the BJP government has promoted the creation of 60,000 startups in the country. If the BJP forms its government in the state, then it would create a corpus fund of Rs 100 crore exclusively for startups in Manipur."Attacking the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, she said, "Did Rahul Gandhi or the Congress party manage to create an environment for the creation of at least 60 startups in the country."

Veteran Kannada actor 'Kalatapasvi' Rajesh passed away in Bengaluru today. He was 89 years old.

Fire breaks out in an empty train at Madhubani railway station in Bihar.

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Shopian Encounter: 1 terrorist killed. Search going on. Further details shall follow, says Kashmir Zone Police.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal to inaugurate around 12,000 new smart classrooms in 240 government schools in the national capital today. 

The voting in the urban civic polls in Tamil Nadu began on Saturday at 7:00 AM across the state amid tight police security and arrangements including ramps to ensure hassle-free experience to the differently-abled. Voting began in urban regions spread across 38 districts at 7 AM with Tamil Nadu State Election Commission ensuring monitoring polling stations through web streaming and CCTV cameras and state police deploying nearly 1 lakh personnel for security. Authorities said arrangements like ramps and the availability of wheelchairs have also been ensured. As many as 57,778 candidates are in the fray for 12,607 posts of ward members in 648 urban local bodies including municipal corporations, municipalities and town panchayats and the voting exercise began in over 31,000 polling stations.

Encounter had started at Chermarg, Zainapora area of Shopian. Police and security forces are on the job. Further details shall follow: Kashmir Zone Police. 

Three people, who had been evading arrest for past several years, were on Friday arrested in Jammu and Samba districts of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. Two of the absconders- Nazir of RS Pura (Jammu) and Milkha of Gahti (Kathua)- were wanted in cases of trespassing and theft. A police team of Bari Brahmana area (Samba) succeeded in apprehending the third absconder- Sukhwinder Singh from Chatta area of Satwari, they said. He was wanted in a case of rash driving and causing hurt to people in 2016, police added.

Ladakh Lieutenant Governor R K Mathur on Friday urged the NTPC to prepare a hydrogen roadmap for the Union Territory, saying the initiative will help attract foreign funding for projects. Mathur met National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Chairman and Managing Director Gurdeep Singh in New Delhi on Friday to discuss various issues related to Ladakh, officials said. Singh informed Mathur that hydrogen-run vehicles are ready for tests and the contract for a fuel station would soon be awarded and land has been allotted for the pilot 1 MW solar-cum-hydrogen generation project. He also informed Mathur about the proposed project for hydrogen mobility in Durbuk and Nurla and the plan for a combined heat and power generation project for the Sindhu Medical College.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday hit out at the Congress, accusing it of betraying farmers and said it was the BJP government which made record purchase of grains. Addressing a rally here ahead of the February 20 Punjab assembly polls, Modi urged voters to bring the BJP-led alliance to power in the state for its all-round development. The prime minister also slammed Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi for his remark on 'bhaiyas' from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, saying Guru Gobind Singh and Guru Ravidas too were born outside Punjab.

The standing committee of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation on Friday approved a proposal to build a park on the 'waste-to-art' theme on the premises of the historic Ajmal Khan Park in Karol Bagh, officials said. The South Delhi civic body had come up with a 'Waste-to-Wonder' Park in Sarai Kale Khan in February 2019. It has replicas of seven world-famous monuments, including the Taj Mahal and Eiffel Tower, fashioned out of mechanical waste. "The standing committee of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation in its meeting today approved a proposal to build a 'waste-to-art' park in the old Ajmal Khan Park in Karol Bagh area. The park is spread over nine to 10 acres," a senior official said.

Three people were killed when the vehicle in which they were travelling skidded off the road and rolled down into a 200-metre deep gorge in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district on Friday, officials said. Two more people, who were in the vehicle when the accident occurred, are missing, police said, adding that a search operation for them is underway. The occupants of the vehicle were on their way to Bani from Kathua, they said.

Six members of the outlawed People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI) were arrested from Khunti district of Jharkhand on Friday, police said. Acting on specific inputs, the district police along with CRPF personnel, conducted raids between Halom and Jojobir villages under Rania police station, and apprehended the ultras, Superintendent of Police Ashutosh Sekhar said. Police have recovered a country-made pistol, mobile phones, PLFI leaflets, among other things, from their possession, he added.