Breaking News March 31

A court here on Friday directed authorities to ensure the safety of Aaftab Amin Poonawala after his counsel claimed that he was "manhandled" by other inmates while he was produced in court. Poonawala is accused of strangling his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar on May 18 last year and disposing her body after chopping it into pieces. Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Manisha Khurana Kakkar issued the directions to authorities while hearing arguments on the charges against Poonawala. "... it is submitted on behalf of the accused that he had been manhandled by other inmates during his court production. Lock-up in charge, Saket Court, as well as jail superintendent, are directed to ensure that the accused is produced safely during court productions," ASJ Kakkar said. As it completed its arguments in the case, the Delhi Police had on March 20 told the court that there are "incriminating circumstances revealed through reliable and clinching evidence which form a chain of events".

Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Singh Hooda on Friday targeted the BJP over embattled IPL founder Lalit Modi's threat to file a court case against the party's disqualified MP Rahul Gandhi in London. He asked why is Modi, who is accused of running away from the country with crores, speaking in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party. "The central government should tell whether Lalit Modi is its agent who is speaking in its favour like this?" Hooda asked. He further questioned whether a man against whom serious allegations have been levelled will be heard now.

The Noida Authority on Friday said it has sealed three under-construction residential towers of a group housing project in the city over unpaid dues worth Rs 182 crore by the developer. Officer on Special Duty (Group Housing) Prasun Dwivedi said notices were issued to real estate developer Sunworld Residence Private Limited in November and December 2022 regarding payment of dues, which remain to be cleared to date.

Taking a swipe at the Narendra Modi government, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleged on Friday that no other country has made its G20 presidency an "election campaign" as has been done by India. "G20 has 19 countries + European Union as members. Its Annual Summit has been held in 17 countries & India is holding the 18th. No other country has made it an election campaign like India has, proving Mr. Advani's insight on the man he prevented Mr. (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee from sacking," he tweeted.

Maharashtra's Nashik on Friday recorded 29 cases of coronavirus that raised the tally of infections to 4,82,688, an official from the district administration said. The toll remained unchanged at 8,904, while the count of recoveries reached 4,73,704 after 15 patients were discharged during the day, he said. Of the total number of cases reported so far, 2,76,327 were from Nashik city, 1,79,808 from other parts of the district, 14,075 from Malegaon and 8,562 from outside the district, he said. The district currently has 80 active cases, the official added.

The Uttar Pradesh Basic Education Department has signed an agreement with IIT Madras, under which its faculty members will hold special online classes for students of government schools in Varanasi, an official said on Friday. The agreement was signed under the Project Vidya Shakti. Special online classes in Mathematics, Science and English will start in 100 schools of Varanasi as a pilot project.

State-owned NTPC on Friday said it has registered the highest-ever power generation of 400 billion units- a 10.8 per cent year-on-year growth in 2022-23. "NTPC Ltd has registered the highest-ever power generation of 400 BU in FY23, a growth of 10.80 per cent via-a-vis previous year," a statement said. NTPC continues to demonstrate an upward trend in coal production from its captive mines, with coal production of 23.2 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT) with a robust growth of over 65 per cent vis-a-vis the previous corresponding year, it stated. It has taken several steps to augment the coal production from its coal mines. The use of high-capacity dumpers and an increase in the existing fleet size of excavators have allowed operational mines to increase production. NTPC has set an ambitious goal of reaching half its installed capacity through renewable energy by 2032 to serve the nation and support its decarbonisation goals. In the current fiscal, the company registered a growth of 24.24 per cent in a non-fossil portfolio. The NTPC Group installed capacity stands at 71,594 MW.

The SGPC took out a procession on Friday in a bid to press the Punjab government to release “innocent Sikh youths" arrested during a police crackdown on radical preacher Amritpal Singh and his outfit Waris Punjab De. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, the apex gurdwara body, also sought from the government to revoke the National Security Act (NSA) slapped against a few persons during the police action. Led by its chief Harjinder Singh Dhami, the procession marched from the SGPC headquarter to the district administration complex. The members submitted a memorandum to Additional Deputy Commissioner Surinder Singh, which included the demand for the release of "innocent Sikh youths" arrested during the crackdown. The Punjab government has informed the Akal Takht, the supreme temporal body of Sikhs, that almost all the people taken into preventive custody- 348 out of 360- have been released. The Akal Takht Jathedar's personal secretary Jaspal Singh said the government has informed them the rest would be released soon.

Election officials on Friday intercepted and checked Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's car when he was on his way to a temple in Bengaluru Rural district. The Model Code of Conduct is in force in the State, which goes to polls on May 10. A video showing officials checking the vehicle has gone viral on social media. According to sources, Bommai was heading to Ghati Subramanya temple in a private car- as he had surrendered his official car on the day the election schedule was announced on Wednesday- when it was stopped at Hosahudya checkpost. "Nothing objectionable was found, and officials then allowed the vehicle to go, and the Chief Minister continued his journey," sources added. 

Security was tightened in the steel city on Friday ahead of Ramanavami processions being taken out in the evening while an Akhara Committee has called for a Jamshedpur 'bandh' (shutdown) on April 1 over seizure of a truck with a music system and trailer. The district administration however said it has no information about the bandh called so far. "We have called a dawn to dusk bandh in Jamshedpur on April 1 in protest against seizure of DJ (truck with music system) and trailer ....Many akharas will not take out processions this evening," Central Ramnavmi Akhara Committee and senior BJP leader Abhay Singh told PTI. However, many akharas were seen taking out colourful processions headed for the river front. "A Nagaland registered trailer with national permit and DJ has been siezed as it cannot be used for procession in narrow lanes. We had already prohibited use of DJ.., The entire city cannot be taken to ranson for some people's interest. No person has come forward so far to claim the trailer," Jamshedpur deputy commissioner Vijaya Jadhav told PTI. Asked about bandh call, Jadhav said the administration has no information on this so far and that the situation in the industrial city is normal. Dhalbhum sub-divisional officer Piyush Sinha said around 200 licensed akhara committees will take out Ramanavami immersion processions in the city on Friday.

The civic body plans to renovate a thousand big parks here in the next six months by installing green patching and refurbishing gym facilities wherever required, an official said on Friday. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) looks after 15,000 parks, including 1,000 big ones. A park is considered "big" if it is more than an acre in size. The renovation will include installing green patches and refurbishing the open gym and swings in the parks, the official said. The parks will be developed in a phased manner. "We are developing an action plan to refurbish the parks in the MCD area. We plan to develop the parks in phases.

The police in Maharashtra's Thane district have arrested two persons for allegedly advertising on social media about selling gold at cheaper rates and cheating people, an official said on Friday. The police were probing complaints about people being cheated through advertisements about gold being sold at cheaper rates, senior inspector Dilip Patil said. Two persons, one of them from Kutch in neighbouring Gujarat, were arrested based on technical inputs, he said. The accused had allegedly cheated people in Varanasi, Jaipur, Kolhapur, Navi Mumbai among other places with fake gold, the official said, adding that a probe is underway to ascertain the extent of the fraud.

Telangana Congress Chief Revanth Reddy reached Enforcement Directorate (ED) office in Hyderabad to file a complaint about the TSPSC paper leak issue. Many prominent Congress leaders accompanied the TPCC Chief to the ED office.

West Bengal: Another incident of stone-pelting occurred today in Howrah a day after arson on 'Rama Navami'. Security personnel on the spot.

Former Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu, who was jailed in a road rage case, will be released from Patiala jail on 1st April.

Devotees congregate at Delhi's iconic Jama Masjid to offer  prayers on the 9th day of Ramzan.

An under-construction bridge in Himachal Pradesh's Hamirpur district collapsed, officials said on Friday. However, there were no reports of injuries as the construction workers were not present at the site when the bridge collapsed on Thursday night, they said.

Fire breaks out in Nirankari colony in Mukherjee Nagar. More details awaited.

Three people were killed in a head-on collision between two trucks on a bridge here early Friday, police said. While one of the trucks fell from the bridge killing two people, the other got stuck in the railing of the bridge before hitting a motorcycle and leaving its rider dead. The incident led to a huge traffic jam on the bridge and efforts were on to clear the road.

Silver chains weighing over 18 kgs worth approximately Rs 14.14 lakhs seized by Ulsoor Police, said DCP Bengaluru East.

YSRTP Chief YS Sharmila detained by the police before she reached the TSPSC office to hold a protest there regarding the paper leak issue.

Fire breaks out in a revolving restaurant at Amravati mall in Panchkula.

Union Minister for Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal unveils the Foreign Trade Policy 2023. Total exports in FY 2023 is projected to cross US$ 760bn, says the Directorate General of Foreign Trade.

Fire breaks out in a factory in the Wazirpur area. 25 fire tenders present at the site.

Lt Gen Manish Erry assumed command of the Tezpur-based Gajraj Corps.

Delhi: Fire breaks out in a factory in Wazirpur area. 25 fire tenders rushed to the site

India reports 3,095 fresh cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, active cases stand at 15,208.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday expressed hope that the National Maritime Week will serve as an opportunity to deepen people's connect with the country's rich maritime history. "May the National Maritime Week serve as an opportunity to deepen our connect with our rich maritime history. May it also add vigour to the ongoing efforts towards port-led development and harnessing our coasts for economic prosperity," he tweeted.

Massive fire broke out during the early hours today in AR Tower in Basmandi area in Kanpur. 15-16 fire tenders on the spot to douse the fire. Dousing operation underway for 6 hours. It will take 3-4 hours more to control the fire, says Joint CP, Kanpur.

AIU of Hyderabad Customs intercepted one male pax who arrived from Dubai yesterday. On suspicion, baggage of the pax was searched and 2 gold rods weighing 224 gms concealed in the handle of trolley bag were found. Value of the seized rods is around Rs 13.72 lakhs, informed Customs.

A resort staffer was arrested for stabbing and molesting a Dutch tourist in Goa. The accused has been identified as Abhishek Verma. He also stabbed another person namely Eurico, who went to help the woman tourist. The knife used in the crime has been recovered. Further probe underway, said Nidhin Valsan, SP North Goa.

As many as 18 people were admitted to the hospital, out of which 2 people have been discharged. 35 people died. One person is still missing. Army, NDRF and SDRF teams are conducting search & rescue operation, said Indore Collector Dr Ilayaraja T.

Waterlogging witnessed in several parts of Delhi after the rainfall.