BREAKING NEWS I MARCH 27 I HIGHLIGHTS

Nepal on Monday put fugitive radical preacher Amritpal Singh, who is believed to be hiding in the country, on its surveillance list after India requested it not to allow him to flee to a third country and arrest him if he attempts to escape using an Indian passport or any other fake passport.

The Department of Immigration has put Singh on its surveillance list following a request from the Indian Embassy here, officials said.

"We have received a written note along with a copy of his passport from the (Indian) embassy suspecting that Amritpal Singh might have entered Nepal," said Kamal Prasad Pandey, the Information Officer at the Department.

Namibian cheetah Sasha died due to a kidney ailment on Monday at Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park (KNP), a top forest department official said.

The more than four-and-a-half years old female cheetah was among the eight cheetahs translocated from Namibia and housed in the KNP in Sheopur district since September 17.

"Cheetah Sasha passed away due to a kidney problem as her creatinine level was very high," Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF-Wildlife) JS Chauhan told PTI.

The three armed forces are facing a deficiency of around 1.55 lakh personnel with the Army accounting for the maximum 1.36 Lakh vacancies, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Monday.

In a written reply, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said the shortage of armed forces personnel and mitigating measures are reviewed regularly and numerous measures have been initiated to fill the vacancies and encourage youth to join the Services.

 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Monday with UN atomic energy chief Rafael Mariano Grossi in southern Ukraine where they discussed the precarious situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

The plant, which is Europe's biggest, has lost several of its power transmission cables during Russia's war, and on multiple occasions has had to switch to emergency diesel generators.

Grossi, who is director-general of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, plans to visit the plant, which is held by Russian forces, this week.
The agency has permanent staff stationed at the plant.
 

 Uttar Pradesh Transport Minister Dayashankar Singh claimed on Monday that many senior leaders of opposition parties are ready to join the BJP as he dismissed talk of a united opposition to take on the ruling party in the 2024 parliamentary polls.

There is no challenge to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2024, Singh said when asked about talk of a unity among opposition parties for the parliamentary polls.
 

 A total of 610 cases of Covid's XBB.1.16 variant, which might have been behind the recent rise of coronavirus cases, have been detected across the country, according to INSACOG data.

The samples have been found across 11 states and Union Territories.

The highest number of Covid cases caused due to this variant has been found in Maharashtra and Gujarat at 164 each, followed by 93 in Telangana and 86 in Karnataka, according to INSACOG data.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asserted on Monday that the Delhi model of governance is a zero-corruption model and that people have not seen such a system earlier.
Speaking in the Assembly, Kejriwal also took a dig at BJP MLAs and said as if the universe came into being in 2014, when the party came to power at the Centre.
As Kejriwal was listing out his government's achievements such as the purchase of electric buses, some BJP MLAs interjected and cited the role of the Centre in the development of the national capital.

SC issues notice to Centre, Gujarat govt on plea filed by Bilkis Bano challenging remission of sentence of 11 convicts in gang-rape case.
 

 A peon at a health facility in Maharashtra's Palghar district was placed under suspension after he tried to give a child brought there for treatment an injection, an official said on Monday.

The child's parents had objected to the peon, who was allegedly drunk, trying to administer the injection in place of a doctor or nurse, he said.

"A peon at the Talasari primary health centre has been suspended for the incident that took place on Saturday.
A doctor handled the situation by giving the child an injection," District Health Officer Dr Dayanand Suryavanshi said.

The Supreme Court on Monday tagged with pending matter a plea of the CBI challenging grant of bail to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav in the Doranda Treasury case of Jharkhand wherein he was sentenced to five years in prison. A bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi said it is not issuing notice but tagging the matter with the pending similar appeal also filed by the CBI. Additional Solicitor General S V Raju and advocate Rajat Nair sought the issuance of notice in the matter but the bench said it will hear the matter together and was not inclined to issue notice. The CBI has challenged the Jharkhand High Court’s April 22, 2022 order granting bail to Yadav in the case.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi why there was no investigation into the investment of people's retirement fund in the Adani group even after various allegations were levelled against the firm. Taking to Twitter, Gandhi said, "LIC's capital, to Adani! SBI's capital, to Adani! EPFO's capital too, to Adani! Why is public's retirement money being invested in Adani's companies even after 'Modani' exposed?". "Mr prime minister, no investigation, no answer! Why so much of fear," he asked in a tweet in Hindi.

The Supreme Court on Monday tagged with other pleas, the petition of BRS leader K Kavitha seeking protection from arrest and challenging the summons by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case arising out of the alleged Delhi excise policy scam. A bench of justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi said it will hear the petitions of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and others after three weeks. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal informed the bench that a similar plea filed by Nalini Chidambaram, a senior advocate and wife of Congress leader P Chidambaram, is pending on a similar issue of summoning of women accused by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Rajya Sabha adjourned for day amid din after returning Finance Bill 2023, J&K Budget for 2023-24 to LS without discussion.

President Droupadi Murmu on Monday visited Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's ancestral residence here and paid homage to the freedom fighter. Murmu, who is on a two-day trip to West Bengal, went around 'Netaji Bhawan', now a memorial and was briefed by Netaji's grandnephew Sumantra Bose about the significance of the historical building which is a witness to several incidents of the country's freedom struggle.

Iraqi lawmakers passed early Monday controversial amendments to the country's election law that could undermine the chances for smaller parties and independent candidates to win seats in future polls. The amendments increase the size of electoral districts, a move widely backed by the Coordination Framework, a coalition of Iran-backed parties. The coalition forms the majority bloc in the current parliament, which brought Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to power last year. The bill passed in a 206-12 vote in the 329-seat assembly, according to media reports.

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Monday took a swipe at Home Minister Amit Shah over his remarks that religion-based quota violates the Constitution, asking whether religion-based politics and propaganda violate the Constitution or not. Shah on Sunday lauded the Karnataka government's decision of scrapping the four per cent reservation for Muslims under 2B Other Backward Classes (OBCs) category, saying the quota on religious lines was Constitutionally invalid.

Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Monday hit out Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, saying it was out of "arrogance" that she compared the Gandhi family with the dynasty of Lord Ram. While addressing a rally on Sunday to protest the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as a member of Lok Sabha, Priyanka Gandhi had criticised the BJP for labelling the Congress as a "dynastic" party.

Legislators belonging to the opposition DMK and the Congress staged a walkout in the Puducherry Assembly on Monday protesting against the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha. Congress legislators M Vaithianathan and Ramesh Parambath attended the session wearing black shirts as a symbol of their protest.

A large number of Khalistan supporters staged a protest at the iconic Times Square here to express support for the fugitive radical preacher Amritpal Singh. The protesters took out a car rally that originated from the Baba Makhan Shah Lubana Sikh Center in the Richmond Hill neighbourhood and culminated at Times Square in the heart of Manhattan city on Sunday afternoon amid tight security. With blaring music and loud horns, a multitude of cars with Khalistani flags and LED mobile billboard trucks displaying photos of Singh criss-crossed the streets near the venue.

One of the convicts in the 2002 Bilkis Bano gangrape and murder of her family members case, freed last year under Gujarat’s remission policy, has shared the stage with BJP MP Jaswant Bhabhor and his MLA brother Shailesh Bhabhor at a government event held at Limkheda in Dahod district of the state.

Nine youths were arrested for allegedly harassing and attacking a family here, police said on Monday. They were nabbed during a midnight raid after a video of the attack on the family went viral on social media.

A police vehicle carrying gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed hit a cow in Shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh on Monday morning before the convoy entered Jhansi on its way to Prayagraj, a police official said. A video of the incident which occurred at around 6:25 AM shows a cow darting towards the road when it was hit by the vehicle carrying Ahmed. The cow fell near the road divider. After the incident, the vehicle stopped for a while before resuming the onward journey.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha on Monday evoked furious protests at the Bihar assembly from members of the ruling 'Mahagathbandhan', of which his party is also a part. 'Mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) members had made their intentions clear when they reached the assembly with black bands wrapped around their arms and heads and their hands clutching posters with images of Gandhi and captions screaming "democracy and Constitution in danger".

The Australian government took a major step toward implementing a key climate policy that would force chief greenhouse gas polluters to reduce emissions, with the minor Greens party pledging their support on Monday. The center-left Labour Party administration said the so-called Safeguard Mechanism reforms are essential to Australia reaching its target of reducing its emissions by 43 per cent below 2005 levels by the end of the decade. The reforms would create a ceiling on the nation's emissions and force Australia's 215 biggest polluting facilities to reduce their emissions over time.

An assistant platoon commander of Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) was killed on Monday when an improvised explosive device (IED) planted by Naxalites went off in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, police said. The incident occurred at around 7:40 am between Etepal and Timenar villages under the Mirtur police station limits when teams of CAF were out on an area domination operation to ensure security for road construction work in the area, an official said.

MPs of various opposition parties, including Congress, TMC, BRS and SP, met at Parliament complex on Monday to discuss a strategy to take forward the Adani issue as well as Rahul Gandhi's disqualification matter in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha.

Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha proceedings have been adjourned till 4 and 2 pm respectively amid slogan shouting by Opposition members. 

The police convoy bringing gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed from an Ahmedabad jail to Prayagraj entered Uttar Pradesh on Monday morning, officials said. Ahmed will be produced before a court on Tuesday when it passes an order in a kidnapping case in which he is an accused. The police team reached Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad city on Sunday morning and left the premises with Ahmed amid tight security around 6 pm. After passing through different states, Ahmed's cavalcade entered Uttar Pradesh on Monday morning and stopped at Jhansi police lines. Officials said it will proceed towards Jalaun and reach Prayagraj via Bundelkhand Expressway in the evening. The cavalcade is being followed by media teams, Ahmed's sister, and lawyers. Ahmed's brother, Khalid Azim alias Ashraf, who is lodged in Bareilly jail is also being taken to Prayagraj by a separate police team. He left the jail at about 10 am, officials said.

The convoy of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed being escorted by the Uttar Pradesh police halted briefly in Shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh on early Monday morning before entering Jhansi on its way to Prayagraj, a police official said. As the convoy halted briefly at Kharai in Shivpuri district and Ahmed, wearing a white turban, got down from the police van to attend nature's call, reporters asked him whether he was "afraid", to which he replied by saying "kahe ka dar" (what fear) before police personnel whisked him away. Notably, after stepping out of Sabarmati central jail in Ahmedabad on Sunday evening, Ahmed expressed fear that he might be murdered. "Hatya, hatya (murder, murder)," Ahmed had told reporters outside the prison while being whisked away in a police vehicle by security personnel. Earlier, the carcade, which started from Ahmedabad on Sunday evening, entered Madhya Pradesh from the Rajasthan border in the morning, a police official said.

India has logged 1,805 new coronavirus cases, while the active cases have surpassed the 10,000-mark after 134 days, according to Union health ministry data updated on Monday.
The daily positivity rate has been recorded at 3.19 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 1.39 per cent. The active cases have increased to 10,300, the data updated at 8 am stated. On Sunday, the health ministry had put the count of active cases at 9,433. The death toll has increased to 5,30,837 with six deaths, one each reported by Chandigarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh in a span of 24 hours, and two reconciled by Kerala. The total tally of Covid cases is 4.47 crore (4,47,05,952), the data stated. The active cases now comprise 0.02 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid recovery rate has been recorded at 98.79 per cent, according to the health ministry's website.

It was a pleasant morning in the national capital on Monday as the minimum temperature settled at 16.7 degrees Celsius, a notch below the season's average. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the sky will remain clear through the day and the maximum temperature is expected to settle around 31 degrees Celsius. The humidity at 8.30 am was recorded at 76 per cent, the IMD said. Sunday's maximum temperature settled at at 31 degrees Celsius while the minimum was 15.8 degrees Celsius.

The convoy of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed being escorted by the Uttar Pradesh police halted briefly in Shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh on early Monday morning on its way to Prayagraj, a senior official said. The carcade entered MP from the Rajasthan border, he said. "The convoy halted briefly in Shivpuri district (more than 300 km from Bhopal) at around 8 AM. It will reach Jhansi, bordering Shivpuri district, in Uttar Pradesh soon," the official said. The gangster is being taken to Prayagraj from Sabarmati central jail in Ahmedabad by the Uttar Pradesh police for a court case. On Sunday, a team of Uttar Pradesh police reached the Sabarmati jail and left the premises with Ahmed amid tight security at around 6 pm after completing the necessary formalities, officials had said. Ahmed, a former Samajwadi Party MP, has been lodged in the Sabarmati central jail since June 2019. He was shifted there following a Supreme Court after he was accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and assault on a real estate businessman Mohit Jaiswal while in prison in UP.

Ministers and top officials of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh attended a meeting here to discuss the border disputes between the two neighbours. The meeting deliberated on finding a lasting solution to the longstanding problem soon, Assam ministers who led the state’s delegation said on Sunday. "Attended the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh Border Regional Committee Meeting held today at Assam Administrative Staff College. We deliberated on finding a permanent solution to the border dispute between the two states," Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu tweeted. The meeting was jointly presided over by Pegu's Cabinet colleague Jayanta Malla Baruah and Arunachal Pradesh minister Tumke Bagra, with MLAs of the districts regarding which the discussions were held. Senior officers were also present.

Twenty-one people, including children, fell ill after eating 'khichri' served at a 'bhandara' here, officials said on Monday. District Magistrate (DM) Rajkamal Yadav said the incident took place in Faijpur Ninana on Sunday evening. The 21 people are undergoing treatment at the district hospital for food poisoning and their condition is stable, he said. "To look after the children, two paediatricians are on duty. The children and the adults are safe," the DM said. He said an announcement has been made in the village that if anybody is feeling unwell, then they will be hospitalised.

The Bombay High Court has dismissed a petition seeking action against former Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi for their statements on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and other icons, saying their remarks prima facie do not constitute an offence under any criminal law. The high court also said that the statements reflect the perception and opinion of the speaker about those figures with an aim to persuade the audience, and the intention appears to be to enlighten society for its betterment. The HC's order was made available recently. Koshyari, whose tenure was dogged by controversies caused by his utterances about Shivaji Maharaj, social reformers Mahatma Phule and his wife Savitribai and Marathi people, stepped down from the post of the governor last month.

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into its eastern waters Monday, continuing its weapons displays as the United States moved an aircraft carrier strike group to neighbouring waters for military exercises with the South. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the two missiles were fired from a western inland area south of the North Korean capital of Pyongyang from around 7:47 a.m. to 8 a.m. and traveled around 370 kilometers (229 miles) before landing at sea. Japan's military said the missiles flew on an “irregular” trajectory and reached a maximum altitude of 50 kilometers (31 miles) before landing outside Japan's exclusive economic zone. Japan has previously used the term to describe a North Korean solid-fuel missile apparently modeled after Russia's Iskander mobile ballistic system, which is designed to be maneuverable in low-altitude flight to better evade South Korean missile defenses.

In a startling remark, Pakistan's Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has termed ousted prime minister Imran Khan 'enemy' of the ruling PML-N saying he has taken the country’s politics to a point where either "he (Imran) will get murdered or us". The remarks of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) senior leader, who is very close to former premier Nawaz Sharif, sparked an outcry among the political circles especially Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI). Khan, after surviving a gun attack on him during a rally in Wazirabad, Punjab in November last year, named Rana Sanaullah behind the assassination attempt on him. Khan, 70, also mentioned the names of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and a senior ISI officer in an application for FIR for their role in the murder plot. In an interview to a couple of private TV channels on Sunday, Sanaullah said: “Either Imran Khan or us will get murdered. He has now taken the country’s politics to a point where only one of the two can remain -- PTI or PMLN. PMLN's entire existence is in jeopardy and we will go to any extent against him to settle a score with him. Khan has turned politics into enmity. Khan is now our enemy and he will be treated like that," Sanaullah declared.

Four people, including the owner of a brick kiln, have been booked in connection with the death of two labourers after a pile of bricks fell on them while they were working, an official said. During investigation of the case and inspection of the kiln, the labour department and police rescued 14 child labourers, Superintendent of Police (SP) Sankalp Sharma said. In the Saturday accident at Babhanoli village, three woman labourers were also injured. Brick kiln owner Muktinath Tripathi, Ajeet Tripathi, Sanju and Mustafa, and some unnamed persons were charged under the Indian Penal Code as well as the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986. The SP said the action was taken on a complaint lodged by Mohit Ram Yadav, a resident of Chhattisgarh, and efforts are on to arrest the accused. Those killed in the accident -- Yashwant alias Chhotu Yadav (36) and Harinath (35) -- hailed from Chhattisgarh, according to Circle Officer (CO) Shriyash Tripathi.

Ukraine's government on Sunday called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to “counter the Kremlin's nuclear blackmail” after Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed plans to station tactical atomic weapons in Belarus. One Ukrainian official said Russia "took Belarus as a nuclear hostage.” Further heightening tensions, an explosion deep inside Russia wounded three people on Sunday. Russian authorities blamed a Ukrainian drone for the blast, which damaged residential buildings in a town just 175 kilometers (110 miles) south of Moscow. Russia has said the plan to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus comes in response to the West's increasing military support for Ukraine. Putin announced the plan in a TV interview that aired Saturday, saying it was triggered by a UK decision this past week to provide Ukraine with armour-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium. Putin argued that by deploying its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, Russia was following the lead of the United States. He noted that Washington has nuclear weapons based in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his defence minister on Sunday, a day after the former army general called for a halt to the planned overhaul of Israel's judiciary that has fiercely divided the country. The move signals the prime minister will move ahead this week with plans for the overhaul, which has sparked widespread opposition. Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets, military and business leaders have spoken out against it and leading allies of Israel have voiced concerns. Outgoing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, a former army general, is a senior member of Netanyahu's ruling Likud party. On Saturday, he called for a pause in the controversial legislation until after next month's Independence Day holidays, citing the rift's threat to Israel's national security. Netanyahu's office did not provide further details over the firing. Galit Distal Atbaryan, Netanyahu's public diplomacy minister, said that the prime minister summoned Gallant to his office and told him “that he doesn't have any faith in him anymore and therefore he is fired.” Opposition leader Yair Lapid said that Gallant's dismissal was a “new low for the anti-Zionist government that harms national security and ignores warnings of all defense officials.” “The prime minister of Israel is a threat to the security of the state of Israel,” Lapid wrote on Twitter.

Thirty-eight fresh Covid cases were recorded in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri on Sunday, officials said. All the 38 cases -- 37 girls and a staff -- were from the Kasturba school in Mitauli block where another student had tested positive on March 23, said Chief Medical Officer Dr Santosh Gupta. Gupta visited the school along with additional CMO Dr Anil Gupta.
With the fresh cases, the total active Covid cases in the district stands at 41, officials said. Gupta said apart from 39 positive cases at the Kasturba school, two other people --one from Mitauli and another from Behjam block- have tested positive for the infection. District Magistrate Mahendra Bahadur Singh said all the persons including the students were healthy and there was no need to panic. The DM added that medicine kits have been provided to the Covid-infected persons, and an ambulance has been stationed at the Kasturba school to attend to any emergency.

A 30-year-old woman on Sunday pushed her four children into a well before jumping herself in Burhanpur district of Madhya Pradesh, police said. However, after falling into the water she feared for her life and grabbed a rope hanging into the well to climb up to safety with her eldest daughter, leaving behind her three children, including an 18-month-old son, and two daughters aged three and five respectively, to die. The incident occurred in Baldi village, about 60 km from the Burhanpur district headquarters, Superintendent of Police Rahul Kumar told PTI. The woman, identified as Pramila Bhilala, took the extreme step after she fought with her husband Ramesh, he said. The three bodies have been retrieved from the well, located close to the house of Pramila, and sent for postmortem, the SP said, adding that a case has been registered. Police said the condition of Pramila and her seven-year-old daughter is fine.

Ukraine's government on Sunday called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to “counter the Kremlin's nuclear blackmail” after Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed plans to station tactical atomic weapons in Belarus. One Ukrainian official said Russia "took Belarus as a nuclear hostage.” Further heightening tensions, an explosion deep inside Russia wounded three people on Sunday. Russian authorities blamed a Ukrainian drone for the blast, which damaged residential buildings in a town just 175 kilometers (110 miles) south of Moscow. Russia has said the plan to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus comes in response to the West's increasing military support for Ukraine. Putin announced the plan in a TV interview that aired Saturday, saying it was triggered by a UK decision this past week to provide Ukraine with armour-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium.

Telangana BJP president and party MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar did not appear before the Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the alleged leak of a question paper of State public service commission, on Sunday after being asked by it, though the party's legal team met the officials here. Kumar in a letter addressed to the SIT, said in view of the ongoing Parliament session, he will not be able to appear before it. The SIT of Telangana police on Saturday issued notice to Kumar directing that he appear before it on March 26. Referring to the reported comments of Kumar that there are some incredible truths on the paper leak issue, the SIT officials sought his appearance before the SIT on March 26 with any documents in his possession in the interest of the investigation.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president JP Nadda on Sunday took a veiled swipe at disqualified MP Rahul Gandhi saying the Congress leader is nursing a big ego with small understanding. Addressing BJP members who head polling booths in Bhopal and neighbouring Narmadapuram district of Madhya Pradesh, Nadda said Congress was synonymous with "corruption, commission, divisiveness, nepotism and dynasty politics". He also questioned the "satyagraha" protest organised by the Grand Old Party, saying the real "satyagraha" was done by Mahatma Gandhi for India's respect and pride. “What is the condition of Congress? I don't want to name any leader. He (Rahul) is nursing a big ego with a small understanding. He is saying Congress will do 'satyagraha' nationwide. Satyagraha was that which was done by Mahatma Gandhi for India's respect, pride, and Indianisation," the BJP chief said.

The CBI has recovered approximately Rs 1 crore from the premises of a senior Directorate General of Foreign Trade officer in Rajkot who jumped to death after being arrested by the agency for allegedly receiving a bribe of Rs five lakh, officials said on Sunday. During the search operation at the premises of now-deceased DGFT Joint Director Jawri Mal Bishnoi, who was stationed in Rajkot, the CBI claimed to have seized two bags, carrying Rs 1 crore, which were allegedly being thrown out of the house by his family members, the officials said.  The CBI had arrested Bishnoi during a trap operation on Friday while he was allegedly receiving the Rs 5 lakh of the total Rs 9 lakh demanded from a businessman who was seeking a no-objection certificate (NOC) to export food cans which would have allowed him to retrieve his bank guarantee of Rs 50 lakh, they said. A day after his arrest, Bishnoi (44) allegedly jumped from his fourth floor office fatally when the agency was concluding its searches, they said.  A case of accidental death was registered at Pradyuman Nagar police station in Rajkot.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said he considers Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar as his "idol", and asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to refrain from "insulting" him. He said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance of three parties - Sena (UBT), Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) - was formed to protect democracy and it was necessary to work unitedly for it. Addressing a rally in the Muslim-dominated textile town of Malegaon in Nashik district of north Maharashtra, Thackeray also said that deliberate attempts were on to provoke Rahul Gandhi. "Savarkar is our idol and his insult will not be tolerated if we have to fight together to protect our democracy. Savarkar suffered unimaginable torture in the Andaman cellular jail for 14 years. We can only read the sufferings. It is a form of sacrifice," he said.

Former president of the Congress state unit of the erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh D Srinivas on Sunday returned to the party fold in the presence of AICC incharge of party affairs in Telangana Manikrao Thakre and other party leaders. Srinivas, who was PCC president when Y S Rajasekhara Reddy became Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh, also served as a minister. He had subsequently joined TRS (now BRS) after the formation of Telangana state, and was made a Rajya Sabha member. However, he had been inactive in the BRS. Srinivas, along with his son D Sanjay, joined the Congress in the presence of Thakre, Telangana PCC president and MP A Revanth Reddy and other senior party leaders at Gandhi Bhavan, the Congress headquarters here, a release from the party said. Another son of Srinivas, D Arvind, is a BJP Lok Sabha member from Nizamabad in Telangana.