Breaking News, April 6 | HIGHLIGHTS

The Rajasthan government has decided to constitute Directorate of Revenue Intelligence and Economic Offences for the prevention of economic crimes and effective monitoring over revenue sources. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has approved a proposal regarding the formation of the directorate, according to a release. The Finance (Revenue) Department will be the nodal and administrative department of the Directorate at the state level. Controlling economic offences, investigation and prosecution of economic crimes will be done by the directorate. The directorate will also probe those involved in illegally occupying lands, frauds or irregularities in real estate sector, banks, insurance or other related work, declaring false bankruptcy and on formation of shell companies. The directorate will have 107 posts including one that of DG/commissioner, four of additional director, 10 of joint director and 20 of deputy director.

Supporting petitions seeking validation of same-sex marriages, the Delhi Commission For Protection of Child Rights has moved the Supreme Court saying the Centre and state governments should take steps to create public awareness that same sex family units are “normal”. Seeking intervention in the batch of petitions pending before the top court, the Delhi Commission For Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) said multiple studies on same-sex parenting have demonstrated that same sex couples can be good parents. “The central and state governments should take steps to create public awareness that same-sex family units are as 'normal' as heterosexual family units, and specifically that children belonging to the former are not 'incomplete' in any way,” the plea said. Referring to examples of countries that have legalised same-sex marriages, the Commission said at present, more than 50 countries allow same-sex couples to legally adopt children. “It is respectfully submitted that legislation ought to keep pace with social evolution and the evolution of legal principles. We cannot become frozen in time, nor can we allow mere vocabulary of existing legislation to hinder the realisation of fundamental rights. Legislation is not an end but a means towards achievement of human and fundamental rights,” the plea said. The top court, had on March 13, referred the pleas seeking legal validation of same-sex marriages to a five-judge Constitution bench for adjudication, saying it is a “very seminal issue”.

A 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped by four youths in this Uttar Pradesh district's Nagal area, police said on Thursday. Three of the four accused have been arrested while a search is underway to nab the other, Superintendent of Police (Rural) Sagar Jain said. The accused allegedly called the girl to a forest area on Wednesday on the pretext of her mother asking her to come there, Jain said. When the girl reached the forest with two of the accused, the other two youths raped her. In her police complaint, the teenager named the four accused and also alleged that they threatened her with dire consequences if she told anyone about the incident, Jain said. The accused were arrested on Thursday, the police said.

Two Bangladeshi nationals were apprehended by the BSF from Meghalaya's West Jaintia Hills district for illegally entering the country without any valid official documents, officials said on Thursday. Acting on a specific tip-off, BSF troops apprehended Rahul Amin, 37, a resident of Sylhet district of Bangladesh and Md Abdul Kasim, 36, of Sunamganj district of the neighbouring country from Dawki along the International border on Wednesday, they said.

Leading bourses NSE and BSE on Thursday said Adani Green Energy will be moved to the first stage of the long term additional surveillance measure framework from April 10. On March 28, both the exchanges had put Adani Green Energy under the second stage of the long term Additional Surveillance Measure (ASM) framework. In two separate circulars, the bourses said Adani Green Energy will continue in the framework but will be moved to respective lower stage ASM from April 10. The parameters for shortlisting securities under the ASM framework include high-low variation, client concentration, number of price band hits, close-to-close price variation and price earning ratio.

The Union Home Ministry has decided to reserve 10 per cent general duty constables posts, out of the 1,29,929 sanctioned posts, in the Central Reserve Police Force for ex-Agniveers. According to a notification issued by the ministry, out of the sanctioned posts, 4,667 are for women with a pay matrix of Rs 21,700 to Rs 69,100, and the retirement age will be 60 years. Ten per cent vacancies will be reserved for ex-Agniveers for recruitment to the post of constable (general duty), the notification said. Those who will seek the appointment will have to be aged between 18 and 23 years. There will be a five- year relaxation in age for Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes and three years for Other Backward Class candidates. The upper age-limit will be relaxed by up to five years for candidates of the first batch of ex-Agniveers and three years relaxation will be given to candidates of subsequent batches of ex-Agniveers, according to the notification. The required education qualification is matriculation or equivalent from a board or university recognised by the Centre or the state government or equivalent Army qualification in case of ex-Army personnel.

The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) arrested 30 persons on Thursday for allegedly buying the leaked question paper of the state's junior clerk recruitment exam, which was cancelled hours before it was to take place on January 29, an official said. Earlier, 19 persons, including agents and middlemen, were arrested for cheating, criminal offences and other offences after the leak was detected in January and they continue to be behind bars, the official said. During a raid on a computer centre in Vadodara in January in connection with the paper leak, the call letters, blank cheques and original documents of these 30 candidates, including seven women, were seized, and they were placed under arrest on Thursday after probe and verification, as per an ATS release. It said these 30 persons had agreed to pay between Rs 12 lakh and Rs 15 lakh to those involved in the paper leak, and the blank cheques and original certificates were submitted as "guarantees".

Days after walking out of jail, Navjot Singh Sidhu met Rahul, Priyanka Gandhi in New Delhi on Friday. "Met my Mentor Rahul ji and Friend, Philosopher, Guide Priyanka ji in New Delhi Today. You can Jail me , Intimidate me, Block all my financial accounts but My commitment for Punjab and My Leaders will neither flinch nor back an inch," Sidhu tweeted. 

Eighty-five trains were cancelled, and hundreds of vehicles remained stranded as different organisations of the Kudmi community continued their rail and road blockade in West Bengal's Paschim Medinipur district on Thursday, demanding ST status, officials said. The protest started at 6 am on Tuesday with the blockade of the old National Highway 6, which connects Kolkata to Mumbai, at Khemasuli in Kharagpur Local police station area by Kudmi Samaj West Bengal, they said. Another organisation of the community, Adivasi Kudmi Samaj, joined the protest on Wednesday, blocking the railway tracks at Khemasuli station in Kharagpur-Tatanagar section, and Kustaur station in Adra-Chandil section in Purulia district, they added.

As much as Rs 40,710 crore loan has been sanctioned to over 1.8 lakh accounts under the government's flagship Stand Up India Scheme, which is focussed on economic empowerment and job creation, according to official data. Of the funds sanctioned since the inception of the scheme in 2016, about 80 per cent of the loans have been given to women entrepreneurs. The scheme was launched on April 5, 2016 to promote entrepreneurship amongst women, Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) categories by providing them loans for starting a greenfield enterprise in manufacturing, services or the trading sector and activities allied to agriculture. In the first year, Rs 3,683 crore was sanctioned which has now swelled to Rs 40,710 crore as on March 31, 2023, the data showed.

The government is unlikely to permit additional sugar exports this year as untimely rains have impacted the production in Maharashtra, Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra said on Thursday. The food ministry has allowed 6 million tonnes of sugar exports for the current 2022-23 marketing year (October-September). Out of which, about 4 million tonnes have been exported so far, as per the trade report. "We have a sugar production target of 38.6 million tonnes (including diversion for ethanol). Maybe production will go down by 2-3 lakh tonnes due to unseasonal rains in Maharashtra," Chopra told reporters on the sidelines of a press conference here.

Fifty five people fell sick, two of them critically, due to food poisoning after eating ice cream at a religious function in Madhya Pradesh's Khargone district, officials said on Thursday. Those who took ill included 25 children, they said, adding the ice cream samples have been sent for testing. These people ate the ice cream prepared and sold by one Dinesh Kushwaha on Wednesday night during a religious function at a temple in Chhatal village, 14 km from the district headquarters, Khargone's Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr Daulat Singh Chauhan told PTI.

A Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party MLA has told police he got an extortion message seeking Rs 30 lakh, with the unidentified accused threatening him with death if the amount is not paid, a police official said on Thursday. As per the complaint of Mahesh Langade, MLA from Bhosari in Pimpri Chinchwad, the message was received on his office helpline number via WhatsApp on April 4, the official added. "As per his complaint, he was threatened with a bullet shot to his head if the money was not paid. We have registered a case under Indian Penal Code sections for extortion, criminal intimidation and other offences," the Bhosari police station official said. Recently, Pune BJP leader Ganesh Bidkar had also lodged a complaint after he received an extortion call seeking Rs 25 lakh and a threat of dire consequences if the demand was not met.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken some tough decisions without any confusion and also maintained peace and tranquillity in the country while implementing them. Shah was referring to some of the big projects of religious and cultural significance including renovation of the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi. He said when the Bharatiya Janata Party after its formation won only two Lok Sabha seats, the then PM Rajiv Gandhi had joked about it. But now, the BJP has governments in 16 states of the country and more than 400 members of Parliament, the Union minister said. Whenever the BJP came to power at the Centre, Indian culture received a huge boost and it became popular across the world, Shah said. On the occasion of Lord Hanuman Jayanti, Shah was in Salangpur village of Gujarat's Botad district to inaugurate a newly built mega kitchen at Shree Kashtbhanjan Dev Mandir, the famous Lord Hanuman temple.

Anil Antony, Congress leader and son of former Defence minister AK Antony, joins BJP, in presence of Union ministers Piyush Goyal and V Muraleedharan.

Former Congress MLA Sushil Rinku on Thursday was named as the AAP's candidate for the upcoming Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll, a day after he joined the ruling party in Punjab.

A group of passengers thrashed two commuters after they blocked the door of a local train at the busy Diva station in Thane district which comes under the Mumbai suburban network, officials said on Thursday. A video of the incident, which took place earlier this week, went viral on social media platforms.

Three truck drivers were charred to death as their vehicles collided and caught fire in Odisha's Jharsuguda district in the early hours of Thursday, police said. The accident happened on National Highway 49 near Jharsuguda Sadar police station, they said.

Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar, who was arrested in a case related to class X question paper leak, has moved a bail application in a Warangal court which would hear it on Thursday, an advocate said.

Sanjay Kumar, a Lok Sabha MP from Karimnagar constituency, was picked up by a team of police past midnight on Tuesday from his residence in Karimnagar city and was initially put under preventive arrest, triggering protests by his party workers.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah unveils 54 feet tall statue of Lord Hanuman at Sarangpur temple in Botad district, on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti.

Rajya Sabha adjourned till 1400 hours.

Lok Sabha adjourned Sine Die on the last day of Budget session of Parliament following protest by Opposition MPs over various issues.

Congress releases second list of 42 candidates for Karnataka Assembly elections.

Jharkhand education minister Jagarnath Mahato passes away in Chennai, said CM Hemant Soren.

India records 5,335 new cases of Covid19 in the last 24 hours; Active caseload stands at 25,587.

RBI keeps the repo rate unchanged at 6.5% with readiness to act should the situation so warrant, announces RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.

Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari gives adjournment motion notice to discuss the "reported procurement of Pegasus-like surveillance equipment by the Government".

The bookings for Kedarnath heli services will start on April 8, and accident insurance will also be provided to the pilgrims, informed Uttarakhand Tourism Department.

Rahul Gandhi is the Mahatma Gandhi of modern India. He has a lot of similarities with Mahatma Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi did Bharat Jodo Yatra whereas Mahatma Gandhi did the Dandi march back then, said Congress leader Amitesh Shukla.

Police have seized Rs 50 lakhs of unaccounted cash from a car at Dundur check post in Gadag district, case registered.

Devotees throng 'Lete Hue Hanuman Ji' temple on Hanuman Jayanti in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj.

Fire broke out in a sweet shop under Bakewar police station area of Etawah. Several fire tenders are present on the spot. Further details awaited.

Devotees offer prayer at Pracheen Hanuman Mandir in Connaught Place, on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti.

Sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik creates a sand sculpture of Lord Hanuman on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti at Puri Beach in Odisha.