Breaking News, January 12 | HIGHLIGHTS

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Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday alleged that people with Leftist ideology have caused "irreparable damage" to the Assamese community and they had planted the seed of "separatist concept" in the state. Addressing a function to celebrate the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda by Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), Sarma said the state is still facing the impact of the damage caused by the Left. Reacting to his assertion, the CPI(M) said the case is “just the opposite” as, it claimed, the Hindu-Muslim politics of the BJP is causing irreparable damage to the Assamese community. "The Leftists have caused irreparable damage to the Assamese community. The separatist concept was initiated by them and we are facing the brunt in every step today," he alleged.

The CBI on Thursday conducted searches at the premises of PSL Directors and others at 12 locations in multiple cities after registering four separate cases of alleged bank fraud totalling Rs 217 crore, officials said.  The CBI seized cash- US Dollars 90,413 and Rs 1.99 crore- during the searches, they said. The cases were registered on complaints from Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank, IDBI Bank Ltd and the EXIM Bank on allegations of fraud, totalling Rs 217.37 crore (approx), they said. The searches were spread at 12 locations in Mumbai and one each at Daman, Kutch, Noida and Delhi, they said. The first case pertained to Canara Bank to the tune of Rs. 30.49 crore (approx).  "It was further alleged that the said private company which was in the business of pipe manufacturing and pipe coating, availed credit facilities from e-Syndicate Bank and thereafter diverted the funds into its subsidiary companies," the CBI spokesperson said.  

The statement of Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena MLA in Maharashtra Sada Sarvankar will be recorded in the next few days in connection with a firing incident in Mumbai last year after a ballistic report confirmed the discharged bullet was from his licenced weapon, a police official said on Thursday. The incident had taken place on the Dadar police station premises in September when two factions of the Shiv Sena got into a fight on the Ganpati immersion day, he said. A case under relevant provisions of the Arms Act had been registered against Sarvankar, his son Samadhan and their supporters. The MLA from Mumbai's Mahim constituency is a member of the Shiv Sena faction headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

The Delhi High Court Thursday dismissed a plea by real estate tycoon Sushil Ansal, convicted in the 1997 Uphaar cinema fire case, to stay the release of web series 'Trial by Fire', observing the unimaginable tragedy made the “nation bow its head in shame”. The web series, 'Trial by Fire', inspired by the tragedy, is scheduled for release on Netflix on January 13. A massive fire had broken out at the Uphaar cinema during the screening of the Hindi film 'Border' on June 13, 1997, claiming 59 lives. Ansal, who alleged defamation, had urged the court to grant an injunction against the release of the web series, saying even its teaser got 1.5 million views in four days which shows the immediate impact it has. As the 83-year-old Ansal, one of the owners of the cinema hall, also sought to restrain the circulation and publication of a book titled 'Trial by Fire- The tragic tale of the Uphaar Tragedy', Justice Yashwant Varma said that for the reasons best known to him, the plaintiff chose not to initiate any injunctive action in respect of the literally work when it came to be originally published on September 19, 2016. The book was authored by- Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy- who lost their two children in the blaze.

Amid the ongoing tussle between the Delhi government and the lieutenant governor, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday alleged that the LG has barred school teachers from travelling to Finland for their training. Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio, claimed that the AAP government had accepted the proposal for training and sent it to Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena who "rejected" it, saying the training can be done in the country itself. Lashing out at the LG, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said it is unfair t

Capital markets regulator Sebi has slapped penalties totalling Rs 15 lakh on three entities and also barred them from the securities markets for one year for flouting insider trading rules with respect to the shares of Veeram Securities Ltd (VSL). The regulator has imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh each on entities -- Rakshit Mahendrabhai Shah HUF, Rakshit Mahendra Shah and Pinal Rakshitbhai Shah. Besides, the entities have been directed to disgorge a total amount of Rs 90.94 lakh along with a 12 per cent annual interest from January 2017 till the date of actual payment.

India's industrial production rose by 7.1 per cent in November 2022 after contracting in October, according to official data released on Thursday. The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) grew by 1 per cent in November 2021. As per the IIP data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), the manufacturing sector's output grew by 6.1 per cent in November 2022. The mining output rose by 9.7 per cent and power generation increased by 12.7 per cent during the month under review.

The CBI has filed an FIR against Mumbai-based Pratibha Industries Ltd and its four directors/guarantors for duping a Bank of Baroda-led consortium of 17 banks to the tune of Rs 4,957 crore, officials said Thursday. The company was into development of infrastructure projects, which included designing, engineering and execution/construction of complex, integrated water transmission, distribution projects, water treatment plants, mass housing projects, precast design and construction, road construction and urban infrastructure, etc, a CBI spokesperson said. It is alleged that the accused had diverted huge amount of money from the borrower company to its related parties and subsidiaries and subsequently, these advances were written off by the company, the officials said.

A man was arrested for allegedly trying to snatch a woman cab driver's mobile phone after breaking the window of her vehicle in north Delhi’s Kashmiri Gate area, officials said on Thursday. The incident occurred on Monday at around 2 am. The accused has been identified as Amit alias Sunny (24), a resident of Bhajanpura, Deputy Commissioner of Police (north) Sagar Singh Kalsi said. The woman received minor injuries in the robbery attempt, he said. According to police, the cab driver was waiting to pick up a passenger when the man allegedly threw a stone at her vehicle and broke the glass window. The accused then asked the woman to hand over her mobile phone. When she refused, he tried to snatch it but she resisted, they said. A bus driver, who was passing by, stopped his vehicle to help the woman driver after which the accused fled the spot, they said.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Thursday said he will speak to his cabinet colleague Chandrasekhar, a senior RJD leader, whose recent remarks about the epic poem 'Ramcharitmanas' has triggered a controversy. The JD(U) supremo was replying to queries from journalists in Darbhanga district which he visited as part of his state-wide mass outreach programme 'Samadhan Yatra'. "I don't know about the matter. But I will enquire (humko pata nahin hai. Hum poochh lenge unse)," was Kumar's curt reply. Chandrashekhar, who holds the education portfolio, had commented on 'Ramcharitmanas', arguably the most popular version of the Ramayana penned by medieval saint Goswami Tulsidas, at the convocation ceremony of Nalanda Open University on Wednesday. Later, when accosted by reporters, he had dug in his heels and said "Manu Smriti, Ramcharitmanas and Bunch of Thoughts (written by RSS ideologue M S Golwalkar) have promoted hatred in the society. A reason why these (works) face opposition from dalits and OBCs".

PM Modi security breached during his roadshow in Karnataka's Hubballi today. 

An expert panel of the central drug regulatory authority has recommended market authorisation for Serum Institute of India's Covid vaccine Covovax as a heterologous booster dose for adults who have been administered two doses of Covishield or Covaxin, official sources said on Thursday. Prakash Kumar Singh, director (government and regulatory affairs) at Serum Institute of India (SII) had recently written a letter to Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for approval of Covovax heterologous booster dose for those aged 18 years and above in view of escalating COVID-19 pandemic situation in some countries, the sources said. "The subject expert committee (SEC) of the CDSCO on Wednesday deliberated on the issue and recommended for market authorisation of Covid jab Covovax as a heterologous booster dose for adults who have been administered two doses of Covishield or Covaxin," an official source said.

The Centre as well as state governments are likely to budget for higher market borrowings next fiscal even though the Union Budget may peg a lower-than-expected fiscal deficit at 5.8 per cent of GDP, a report said. Icra Ratings anticipated that higher redemptions will lead to gross market borrowings of the Centre and states to rise to Rs 14.8 lakh crore and Rs 24.4 lakh crore, respectively, in FY24 from Rs 14.1 lakh crore and Rs 22.1 lakh crore, respectively, in FY2023. The agency also said the Centre is expected to peg its FY24 fiscal deficit at 5.8 per cent of the GDP, a healthy moderation from 6.4 per cent of GDP projected for FY23.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday attacked the BJP over the launch of world's longest river cruise, MV Ganga Vilas, and inauguration of a Tent City, saying that Modi government's sole motive is to earn money by converting religious places into a tourist spots. Yadav also alleged the BJP of wasting money in such programmes while it should have been used to clean the river Ganga under the Ganga Action plan. "People visit Varanasi in the last phase of their lives or for spirituality and getting knowledge. BJP is making this arrangement (there) for earning money by promoting tourism. What are the nishads (there) who used to steer boats getting out of it. Will only the big industrialists and other traders get facilities," Yadav said while speaking to reporters. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the cruise, and inaugurate a 'Tent City' on the banks of the Ganga river in Varanasi on January 13 via video conferencing.

Two days after the Myanmar military reportedly bombed a rebel camp along the country's border with India, with some local leaders claiming that one shell fell in Mizoram's Champai district, the Assam Rifles (AR) on Thursday rebuffed the assertion stating that the Indian side was unaffected by the aerial strikes. Taking to PTI, a senior official of the AR, which guards the India-Myanmar border, also confirmed that several explosions occurred in the neighbouring country along the international boundary. A senior official of Champai district said that an official statement would be issued in the matter only after a thorough verification of the details. "I have sent a magistrate of the area concerned to verify the claims being made by some locals. An official report in the matter can be expected by Thursday evening," Champhai deputy commissioner James Lalrinchhana said.

A labourer was killed after an avalanche hit Sonamarg in Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district on Thursday, officials said. The avalanche hit the Sarbal area close to Nilgrath where Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL) is executing work on the Zojila Tunnel. "The body of a worker has been recovered from the avalanche site and shifted to the nearby hospital," the officials said. A rescue operation has been launched and police, State Disaster Response Force, Army, Beacon and MEIL teams are on site to clear the snow-laden area, they added. Medical teams with ambulances and first aid kits are also at the spot. Further details are awaited, they added.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said that Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have shown their keenness to import ethanol from India. The minister of road transport and highways said that he discussed about ethanol with the government of both the countries -- Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Police have arrested four persons on the charge of theft of auto-rickshaws in Navi Mumbai town and neighbouring places in Maharashtra and seized 10 stolen vehicles from them, an official said on Thursday. With this, the police claimed to have solved 10 cases of auto-rickshaw thefts - four of neighbouring Mumbai, and two each from Thane, Navi Mumbai and Mira Bhayander-Vasai Virar police commissionerate.

A three-year-old boy was killed and four of his family members injured when the wall of a thatched shelter collapsed on them in Sarkhelpur village here, police said on Thursday. The family was sitting before a bonfire under the thatched roof before on Wednesday night when the incident happened, they said.

"Stop misusing officials to target Delhi CM and allow us to work," Manish Sisodia asked BJP. "Will BJP also recover money from its own CMs, whose ads were printed in Delhi?" he further said. He further said, "We have asked party's secretary the details of ads to see what is illegal in them."  

Aviation watchdog DGCA will seek a report from SpiceJet on an incident at Delhi airport this week where passengers of a Bengaluru-bound flight had to wait for a long time at the aerobridge. A passenger had shared on social media a video and his experience about co-passengers having had to wait for a long time at the aerobridge on Tuesday at the Delhi airport. It happened with passengers of SpiceJet flight SG 8133 from Delhi-Bengaluru.

Six members of a family in Panipat died in a house fire caused by a cooking gas cylinder leakage on Thursday, police said. The dead included a couple and their four children, said police.

The rupee gained 14 paise to 81.54 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday supported by broad dollar weakness and a firm trend in domestic equities. Forex traders said sustained foreign fund outflows weighed on investor sentiments and restricted the appreciation bias.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday conducted searches at four locations across three states linked to alleged suspects in the case of killing of five police personnel in Jharkhand's Saraikela Kharsawan district in 2019.

Several computer applications and IT services at the Supreme Court were either disrupted or unavailable on Wednesday due to a sudden malfunction of one of the servers at its data centre.

The India US Trade Policy Forum meeting has resulted in a smoother, friendlier and trusted environment for businesses to expand their trade and investment between the two countries, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said Wednesday.

India and the United States are developing a mechanism for the Indian fishermen to be able to export shrimps for the American consumers, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said Wednesday.

There is no evidence of a cyberattack, the White House said on Wednesday following hours of grounding of flights in the United States by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) due to a technical system failure.

Russia's top military officer was put in charge of troops fighting in Ukraine on Wednesday, a move that appears to reflect the Kremlin's dissatisfaction with the current leadership and flaws in the military's performance.

In a midnight drama in Pakistan's Punjab Assembly, Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi managed to obtain a vote of confidence paving the way for its dissolution on the wish of ousted prime minister Imran Khan.

A man has died of injuries suffered in an Indianopolis apartment fire this week that left four children ages 15 months, 3, 12 and 14 in critical condition, authorities said. Raymond Diggs, 31, died Wednesday of thermal burns and smoke inhalation, and death was imminent for 15-month-old-old Leilani Rembert, who suffered smoke inhalation in Monday's fire, the Marion County Coroner's Office said.

The United States and Japan plan to boost military and security cooperation as their top national security officials hold talks on Wednesday. The U.S. and Japanese foreign and defense ministers are set to agree to adjust the American troop presence on the island of Okinawa. And, as they prepared to meet, Japan's defense ministry announced it was ready to start construction on an uninhabited island where the two militaries will hold joint military exercises.

Delhi Commission For Women chief Swati Maliwal on Wednesday asked police to file an FIR in connection with the "lewd" comments on social media against the daughters of cricketers M S Dhoni and Virat Kohli.

A revenue official was among two people arrested by the Anti Corruption Bureau on Wednesday while accepting Rs 30,000 bribe for issuing documents related to a plot of land in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur district, officials said.

The police have lodged an FIR after a woman alleged that she was blackmailed and raped after being served food laced with sedatives, officials said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old woman claimed that the manager of an app, where she used to work, threatened to make her objectionable pictures and videos viral and also raped her, they said.

Three people were killed and another sustained injuries after two groups opened fire at each other over a land dispute in Faridpur area here on Wednesday, police said.