Breaking News February 19 | Highlights

India has sent a warship to Abu Dhabi to participate in two naval defence exhibitions from February 20 to 25, in reflection of its gradual expansion of military cooperation with the United Arab Emirates.

The ship Pralaya arrived in Abu Dhabi on Friday to participate in the naval defence exhibition (NAVDEX 21) and international defence exhibition (IDEX 21), officials said.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla has said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accepted the invitation to visit India as part of the high-level exchanges planned between the two countries this year.

With domestic air traffic expected to increase further in the coming summer season, the government may remove the fare band besides lifting other restrictions, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said.

Replying to queries at the meeting of his ministry's consultative committee on Thursday, Puri also said domestic air traffic is increasing day by day and has now reached about 3 lakh passengers a day, an official statement said on Friday.

Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, will not be returning as working members of Britain’s royal family, Buckingham Palace announced on Friday.

In a statement on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II, Harry’s grandmother, the palace said that the Duke and Duchess had informed the monarch of their decision as a one-year so-called cooling off period since their initial announcement to step back as frontline royals comes to an end next month.

An earthquake of magnitude 4.0 on the Richter scale was recorded in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh on Friday. READ MORE

Punjab government plans to unveil Budget 2021-22 on March 8

India and China to hold the 10th round of Corps Commander level talks at 10 am tomorrow on the Chinese side of the LAC in Moldo. The two sides will discuss disengagement from other friction points after disengagement from both the Northern and Southern banks of Pangong Lake. 

Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria laid a wreath at Shaheed Smark in Noida. 

As part of joint user trials by the Indian Army and Air Force, 4 HELINA anti-tank missiles were launched from the ALH Dhruv helicopter in the Rajasthan sector. 4 missions were carried out for evaluating missile capabilities in minimum and maximum range of 7 kms.

The final mission was carried out with a warhead missile against a derelict tank. All the mission objectives were met. 

Yog Guru Ramdev releases scientific research paper on 'the first evidence-based medicine for COVID-19 by Patanjali'. Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari are also present at the event.

An earthquake of magnitude 2.3 on the Richter scale occurred at East Khasi Hills, Meghalaya at 07:54 am, as per National Center for Seismology.

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari pays floral tribute to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on the occasion of his birth anniversary. 

2 people were killed and over 20 injured after a bus-turned turtle near Sira-Bukkapatna state highway, in Karnataka's Tumakuru last night. 

India reported 13,193 new COVID19 cases,10,896 discharges, and 97 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per Union Health Ministry.

• Total cases: 1,09,63,394
• Total discharges: 1,06,67,741
• Death toll: 1,56,111  
• Active cases: 1,39,542
• Total Vaccination: 1,01,88,007

Shabnam, death row convict in Amroha murder case has filed a fresh mercy petition before UP Governor Anandiben Patel. She had been convicted of killing seven members of her family after sedating them in April 2008.