Breaking News, March 20 | Daily wrap- Highlights

A 35-year-old Nepalese national was beaten to death on suspicion of being a thief at a village in Gujarat's Ahmedabad district and 10 men have been detained in connection with the attack, police said on Monday. Kulman Gagan, who hailed from the Surkhet region in Nepal, was allegedly thrashed by a mob of around 20 men at Jivanpura village of Sanand taluka in the early hours of Sunday, Ahmedabad Superintendent of Police Amit Vasava said.

Three persons were critically injured in a fire at a fireworks unit at Mahestala in South 24 Parganas district Monday evening, Fire Services minister Sujit Basu said. The three - stated to be son and daughter-in-law of the fireworks unit owner and a teenaged neighbourhood girl - were taken to Vidyasagar Hospital, Behala in very critical condition, Basu told PTI. He said the fire broke out at around 6 pm.

Even as the newly constituted Nagaland Assembly under Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio is yet to be declared as an ‘opposition-less house’, all its 60 members, including 23 from non-PDA parties, which won the election, were seen sitting together in the ‘All Political Parties Lobby’ of the Assembly on Monday, the day the first session of the new House commenced. The rest room arrangement for the legislators has been named the 'All Political Party Lobby' unlike the past when it used to be called the Ruling or Opposition lobby.

The rate of unemployment in India has been registering a downward trend for the last three years, Parliament was informed on Monday. As per the latest available annual PLFS reports, the estimated unemployment rate (UR) on usual status for persons of age 15 years and above was 4.8 per cent, 4.2 per cent and 4.1 per cent during 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22, respectively, Minister of State for Labour and Employment Rameswar Teli said in Lok Sabha. This shows that "unemployment rate in the country has declining trend," he said in a written reply to the lower house. In a separate reply, the Minister said that the participation of women in the workforce has been increasing.

Delhi Capitals defeated Mumbai Indians by nine wickets in their Women's Premier League match here on Monday. Openers Shafali Verma (33), skipper Meg Lanning (32 not out) and Alice Capsey (38 not out) were the main contributors as the Delhi franchise chased down Mumbai's score of 109 for 8 for the loss of just one wicket in nine overs. Both teams -- as well as UP Warriorz -- have secured the three playoffs berths in the tournament before this match. Earlier, Pooja Vastrakar (26), Harmanpreet (23) and Issy Wong (23) were the main contributors with the bat for MI, while Marizanne Kapp, Shikha Pandey and Jess Jonassen took two wickets each for Delhi Capitals in their four overs.

The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC and Telangana Chief Minister KCR's daughter K Kavitha was quizzed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for more than 10 hours on Monday in a Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case. She was called again tomorrow (March 21).

The Indo-Bangladesh border along Assam’s Dhubri district is a ‘hot zone of crime’, including cattle smuggling, and the BSF has to maintain strict vigil in the area to control such activities, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in the Assembly on Monday. While local people may at times face ‘difficulties’ due to high security in the border area, the state government can address those issues only after due consultation with the BSF, he added.

A day after TV screens installed at platform number 10 at Patna railway station played a porn clip, the Railways on Monday said it has cancelled the contract of the agency responsible for relaying advertisements on the screens. In a statement, Virendra Kumar, Chief Public Relations Officer, East Central Railway (ECR), said that two FIRs have been registered against the agency, one each by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Government Railway Police (GRP).

Maharashtra government employees agitating for the restoration of the old pension scheme on Monday called off a week-long strike after a successful meeting between their representatives and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde over key demand, a union leader said. Vishwas Katkar, the striking unions coordination committee's convenor, said the state government has 'in principle' agreed to extend monetary benefits equivalent to the OPS to employees who are part of the New Pension System (NPS). The government employees were on an indefinite strike since March 14 demanding restoration of the OPS, which was discontinued in 2005.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday gifted a sandalwood Buddha statue encased in a 'kadamwood jali box' to his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida who is in India on a state visit, officials said. The artwork is associated with the rich heritage of Karnataka. Officials said the art of sandalwood carving is an exquisite and ancient craft that
has been practiced in the southern Indian state for centuries, and this craft involves carving intricate designs into blocks of fragrant sandalwood, creating intricate sculptures, figurines and other decorative items.

CUET PG 2023: University Grants Commission (UGC) chairman M Jagadesh Kumar on Monday announced the registration details for the CUET-PG exam 2023. Kumar took to Twitter to declare that National Testing Agency (NTA) will conduct the Common Univeristy Entrance Test (CUET-PG) for admission into postgraduate programmes in Central and other participating Universities, Institutions, Organizations or Autonomous Colleges. According to UGC Chairman Kumar, the registration for the CUET PG will begin tonight. 

The Delhi government has the highest budgetary allocation for the education sector among all states, with 20.5 per cent of the budget estimates earmarked for the department, according to the Economic Survey of Delhi 2022-23. The survey report that was presented in the Assembly on Monday, also mentioned that the Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University increased its intake capacity to 7,933 (during 2022-23) as compared to 6,258 during 2021-22. It further mentioned that the government schools recorded a pass percentage of 98 per cent in class 12 and 97 per cent in class 10 during the academic session 2021-22. The survey also said that 32,406 students got admission via centralised online draw of lots for admission under Economically Weaker Section and Disadvantaged Group (EWS & DG) category for the academic session 2022-23.

 A man was abducted from Rajasthan's Ajmer district and his nose cut off allegedly by the family members of his wife who did not approve of their marriage, police said on Monday. The victim filed a police complaint on Monday, alleging that he was abducted by the brother and other relatives of his wife on March 18 and taken to a village in Nagaur district, where they cut off his nose, said Station House Officer, Gegal, Ajmer Sunil Kumar.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has offered India to utilise the country's ports in Chattogram and Sylhet, asserting that it would boost connectivity and enhance people-to-people contacts in the region. The Chhattogram port is an important seaport in Bangladesh, which is strategically located due to its proximity to India's North-Eastern states. "India can use our Chattogram and Sylhet ports if they want," Dhaka Tribune newspaper quoted Prime Minister Hasina as saying when Ram Madhav of India Foundation called on her at her official residence Ganabhaban on Sunday.

Karnataka: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, along with party president Mallikarjun Kharge, arrives in Belagavi to attend the 'Yuva Dhwani' public meeting.

The rupee continued its upward trend and rose 11 paise to 82.48 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday, tracking fall in crude oil prices and firm Asian currencies. Traders said, strong dollar and negative sentiments across the global as well as domestic equity markets capped the gain in the rupee.

Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty declined by nearly 1 per cent in opening trade on Monday following selling in IT banking and auto stocks triggered by weak global trends. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 474.96 points or 0.82 per cent to 57,514.94 as 28 of its constituents traded in the red in early session.

US President Joe Biden on Sunday spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the phone after the Sharm El Sheikh meeting between officials of Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrives in Delhi on a two-day visit. Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar receives PM Fumio Kishida.

A woman and two children were killed and 10 injured when a car fell into a gorge in the Laxman Jhula area of Uttarakhand's Pauri district, police said on Sunday.

New York Community Bank has agreed to buy a significant chunk of the failed Signature Bank in a $2.7 billion deal, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said late Sunday. The 40 branches of Signature Bank will become Flagstar Bank, starting Monday. Flagstar is one of New York Community Bank's subsidiaries. The deal will include the purchase of $38.4 billion in Signature Bank's assets, a little more than a third of Signature's total when the bank failed a week ago.