Breaking news on February 13

The Nagpur zonal unit of Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI)has busted a fake invoice racket of over Rs 115 crore and arrested the proprietor of city firm on Thursday, an official said.

Senior BJD leader Anup Sai was on Thursday arrested by Chhattishgarh police from his residence in Jharsuguda in connection to a double murder case registered in the neighbouring state in 2016.

The Madras High Court on Thursday reserved its orders on the appeal filed by the PR Venketrama Raja faction against the rejection of their nomination papers filed for the All India Chess Federation (AICF) election by the returning officer.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended greetings on World Radio Day on Thursday, saying over the last five years the government has used radio to highlight India's inherent strength.

Contrary to a belief that super-rich would not think much when it comes to buying their favourite car, the Indian arm of super sports car manufacturer Lamborghini has said around 60 to 65 per cent of their cars are sold on car finance in the country.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat will be on a two-day visit of Gujarat from February 15, during which he would address people and inaugurate the newly-built RSS state headquarter building 'Dr Hedgewar Bhavan' in the city.

Markets watchdog Sebi on Thursday issued guidelines for portfolio managers and said they cannot charge upfront fee from clients.

After successfully heading Air India for three months in 2017, senior bureaucrat Rajiv Bansal was on Thursday appointed for the second time as the chairman and managing director of the debt-ridden national carrier, according to a Personnel Ministry order.

The CBI on Thursday filed closure report in the mysterious death of MBBS student Namrata Damore, whose body was found near rail tracks in Ujjain in 2012 after her name figured in the Vyapam scam, officials said.

American Airlines will start a daily flight on the Seattle-Bengaluru route from October this year, the airline said on Thursday.

Jammu and Kashmir will soon get its first high-tech N1H1 laboratory for molecular diagnosis of Swine Flu and other diseases caused by viruses, an official said on Thursday.

A day after the government hiked the price of cooking gas by a whopping of Rs 140 per cylinder of  14 kg, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday said that the LPG price hike was not related to elections.

Poonch Police have recovered 1 AK-74 rifle, 1 magazine, 1 Chinese pistol, 1 pistol magazine from a hideout in Kunaiyan area of Poonch district.

Two suspected militants were killed in a shoot-out with the police in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Thursday, officials said.

Based on a tip-off on the presence of militants in the Bagwani area of Dera Ismail Khan district, the police launched a search operation in the district near its border to tribal South Waziristan district.

Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar has ordered concerned departments & officers to make available homes for the Mumbai Dabbawalas under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana as soon as possible.

An association of toto drivers in Siliguri has decided to offer free toto rides to Madhyamik examinees from poor families, on the days of the
examination, to ensure that they reach their examination centres without any hassles.

Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand visited the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun on Thursday to strengthen engagement and defence cooperation between the two countries.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah at an event in New Delhi said, "I will give time within 3 days to anyone who wants to discuss with me the issues related to the Citizenship Amendment Act".

The Punjab government on Thursday said it has decided to connect 300 health and wellness centres with the telemedicine hub to provide comprehensive primary health services in rural areas of the state.

The Bombay High Court on Thursday questioned the Maharashtra government and BMC's campaign urging students of civic schools to drink more water, and asked if these schools indeed provide clean drinking water.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday appointed Indian-origin politician Rishi Sunak as the new finance minister in a Cabinet reshuffle.

The rupee on Thursday settled flat at 71.33 (provisional) against the US dollar after weak macro-economic data disappointed market participants.

The Bombay High Court on Thursday expressed concern over the delay in commencement of trial in the cases of killing of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar and activist Govind Pansare, and said there should not be a "failure" in delivery of justice.

In a bid to standardise the homestay sector, the West Bengal government will give an incentive of Rs 1.5 lakh each to the ones that get registered, state tourism minister Goutam Dev said in the state Assembly on Thursday.

Sebi is looking to appoint an agency to conduct a digital survey of investors which will help the markets regulator in gauging financial savings and investment behaviour of millennials.

Delhi court adjourns for Monday hearing on pleas seeking death warrants against convicts.

Chartered accountants' apex body ICAI will set up a Sustainability Accounting Standards Board to help companies in achieving sustainable development goals.

DGCA suspends for 3 months the license of Pilot-in-Command who operated Indigo's Chennai-Bengaluru flight on January 13, for misusing his authority in intimidating and threatening a wheelchair-bound passenger and her attendant. During deplaning, they had asked for early wheelchair assistance.

DGCA suspends 2 SpiceJet pilots for four-and-half months for damaging runway-edge lights while landing B737 plane at Mangaluru in October 2019. 

The second batch of 25 foreign envoys met the Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam, today.

The fire which had broken out at Rolta company in Andheri East, has now been brought under control. 

Ghulam Nabi Azad said: "They are taking foreign envoys and making them meet army generals,police,some selected pro-BJP groups,half a dozen members of civil society.This is further exposing GoI and giving an impression that everything is not well in Kashmir."

Ahmedabad Municipal Corp is building a wall in front of slum along the road connecting Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Intl Airport to Indira Bridge. The US Pres is scheduled to visit Ahmedabad during his 2-day India visit. Bijal Patel,Mayor says,"I haven't seen it,don't know about it".

A bench of Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Indra Banerjee to hear tomorrow, the plea challenging the custody of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah under the Public Safety Act (PSA).

First phase of elections will be held on 5th March, second phase on 7th March, 3rd phase on 9th March, fourth phase on 12th March, fifth phase on 14th March, sixth phase on 16th March, seventh phase on 18th March& 8th phase on 20th March

Panchayat elections for vacant posts of every block will be held. Ballot boxes will be used. It will be conducted in eight phases

From now onward,  Model Code of Conduct is enforced & it will be implementable in all the places where elections are being held. There will be 8 phases of elections. For Jammu division it is 4 phases, for Kashmir division it is 8 phases 

Union territory of Ladakh has not yet sent us request for conduct of elections so we've not included Ladakh. In any case, Ladakh is snow-bound & it is very cold out there. So it is not feasible to have election at this point of time.

A Delhi Court sends all accused arrested, in connection with the alleged molestation of students during a cultural festival at the all-women Gargi College in Delhi, to judicial custody for 14 days.

A fire has broken out at a spare parts factory in Mundka on Thursday. 17 fire tenders are present at the spot.

A level-III fire has broken out at Rolta company in Andheri East. 8 fire tenders are present at the spot. More details awaited.

An Indian Army Chetak helicopter made a precautionary landing in Ropar after warning of a possible technical snag in controls. All crew are safe in the chopper, which had taken off from Patiala. Another Army chopper is on way to the landing site. All crew are safe in the chopper, which had taken off from Patiala. Another Army chopper is on way to the landing site.

Vietnam quarantines commune of 10,000 people over coronavirus.

Supreme Court asks petitioner advocate ML Sharma to approach Delhi High Court with his petition seeking a CBI probe in the recent incident in Delhi University’s Gargi College, where students were allegedly sexually assaulted by outsiders.

Supreme Court directs political parties to upload on their websites the reasons for the selection of candidates with criminal antecedents. Supreme Court also directs political parties to publish credentials, achievements and criminal antecedents of candidates on newspaper, social media platforms and on their website while giving a reason for selection of candidate with criminal antecedents.

Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty slipped into the negative zone in opening deals on Thursday, weighed down by disappointing macroeconomic data.
The BSE gauge Sensex was trading lower by 51.28 points or 0.12 per cent at 41,514.62 in early trade; while the NSE barometer Nifty was down 16.55 points or 0.14 per cent at 12,184.65. Both key indices were in the red primarily due to emergence of selling in financial and auto stocks. Hurting market sentiment, government data on Wednesday showed that industrial output contracted by 0.3 per cent in December while retail inflation jumped to a 68-month high of 7.59 per cent in January on high food prices.

The 2G mobile Internet services have been suspended in Kashmir again since Wednesday evening. The Internet was suspended last week for a few hours on the death anniversary of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and JKLF leader Maqbool Bhat.

The Jammu and Kashmir authorities restored the 2G mobile Internet last month for the first time after the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5. However, the broadband internet service continues to remain suspended.

Social media has been blocked and only white listed websites are accessible on the Internet.

PM Boris Johnson is expected to announce post-Brexit Cabinet reshuffle.

It was a cold, sunny Thursday morning in Delhi with the minimum temperature settling at 12.3 degrees Celsius, a notch above the season's normal. Strong surface winds in the daytime with the maximum temperature hovering around 25 degrees Celsius are forecast for the day, said a MeT department official. Relative humidity was 82 percent at 8.30 am.

The rupee opened on a weak note and declined by 9 paise to 71.42 against the US dollar in opening trade on Thursday, after weak macro-economic data disappointed market participants. Forex traders said disappointing macro economic numbers weighed on the local unit. Government data on Wednesday showed that industrial output contracted by 0.3 per cent in December, while retail inflation jumped to a 68-month high of 7.59 per cent in January on high food prices. The rupee opened weak at 71.35 at the interbank forex market and then fell further to 71.42, down 9 paise over its last close.

China removes director of Hong Kong and Macau office.

At least 6 people injured after portion of a footover bridge at Bhopal railway station collapsed this morning. The injured have been sent to a hospital. More details awaited.

All India Council for Technical Education Chief Anil Sahasrabudhe to ANI on 50% seats vacant, AICTE bars new Engg colleges for 2 yrs said: "Committee headed by IIT Hyderabad Chairman B V R Mohan Reddy has suggested this decision and new courses are allowed only in emerging areas."

China removes top political leader of virus epicentre Hubei province

Assam Minister HB Sarma said: "We have decided to convert all Madrasas and Sanskrit tols(schools) to high schools and higher secondary schools, as the state can't fund religious institutions. However, Madrasas run by NGOs/Social orgs will continue but within a regulatory framework."

 A person convicted under POCSO Act managed to escape from a ward of Government Hospital in Dharapuram earlier this morning, where he was admitted. Heavy Police force has been deployed at the hospital ward now.

Govt Sources said: "We have seen media reports that a court in Pakistan has sentenced UN-designated and internationally proscribed terrorist Hafiz Saeed in terror financing case. It is part of a long-pending international obligation of Pakistan to put an end to support for terrorism."

"It has to also be seen whether Pakistan would take action against other all terrorist entities&individuals operating from territories under its control bring perpetrators of cross border terrorist attacks, including in Mumbai and Pathankot to justice expeditiously," sources said.

"The decision has been made on the eve of the Financial Action Task Force(FATF) Plenary meeting, which has to be noted.  Hence, the efficacy of this decision remains to be seen," it added.

A 57-year-old man was arrested in connection with alleged sexual harassment of a 19-year-old in 2018. A local court yesterday sent the accused to Police custody till February 15. The incident came to light when the victim registered a case on February 10.

Chief Minister's Office: On the instructions of CM Yogi Adityanath, all Cabinet Ministers will be given i-pads to make them techno-savvy. The Cabinet meeting which is scheduled to be held next week will be paperless, i-pads will be used. 

At least 14 feared dead and many injured after a bus collided with a truck on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway in Bhadan, yesterday late night. Sachindra Patel, SSP say,"there were at least 40-45 passengers in the bus. Injured have been shifted to Saifai Mini PGI." At least 31 injured patients have been admitted to the hospital and 13 were brought dead. 

The second batch of 25 foreign envoys who are in Jammu and Kashmir will be briefed about the security situation in the state by Army today. They will hold meetings with Chief Justice of Jammu&Kashmir, Lieutenant Governor of J&K, district administration officials and civil society members of Jammu division.

Coronavirus death toll in hard-hit China's Hubei surges by 242 in one day.

Supreme Court to hear today the plea of ​​Vinay Sharma, a convict in 2012 Delhi gang-rape case. Vinay Sharma has filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the President's decision to reject the mercy petition.

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has congratulated AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal for his party's stupendous victory in the Delhi Assembly polls, saying the people of the national capital will continue to benefit from his leadership.