Breaking News, March 11

A day after the BJP defeated the Congress in the Assembly polls, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant held a meeting of the outgoing cabinet and passed a resolution to dissolve the Assembly.

The prices of a number of essential items in Sri Lanka increased on Friday after the country's central bank allowed the country's rupee (LKR) to devalue to 230 per US dollar.

A team of researchers of the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT-G) has developed a novel decision support system for oil and gas drilling under a collaborative research and development project funded by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), officials said on Friday.

Kerala Tourism Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas on Friday welcomed the substantial budget allocation of Rs 362.15 crore for planning and implementation of a slew of projects in the tourism sector during 2022-23 in the budget presented by Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal in the Assembly.

With the decline in Covid-19 cases across the state, the Odisha government on Friday announced to conduct the Summative Assessment-II examination of class 10 students from April 29 in offline mode.

A Sri Lankan boat with a five-member crew allegedly fishing in Indian waters in the Bay of Bengal was seized in an anti-poaching operation by the Coast Guard recently.

The National Green Tribunal has asked a two-member joint committee to look into a plea alleging illegal sand mining from the Yamuna river bed in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad district.

The Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality, the policy federation of all the national associations representing the complete tourism, travel and hospitality industry of India, has recommended to the Centre to announce the tourism industry as a 'national priority' sector.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin told the Vice Chancellors of universities in the state that they have a duty to inculcate scientific temperament in students.

A day after the BJP stormed back to power in Manipur for the second consecutive term, Chief Minister N. Biren Singh on Friday met Governor La Ganesan and resigned from his post while the Governor asked him to continue in his office until the new government took charge, officials said.

Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar, Director General of Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), has claimed that an Indian "high speed flying object" fell in Mian Channu located in Punjab province's Khanewal district, Dawn news reported. 

An army helicopter crashed on Friday in Jammu & Kashmir's Gurez border area of Bandipora district. According to sources, the mishap took place in Gujran Nallah area of Tulail in Gurez tehsil of Bandipora district. "Rescue operation is going on. Reports said the pilot and the co-pilot ejected safely, but this is being ascertained", they said.

The Bihar police will take all possible measures, including using drones, to prevent hooligans from creating law and order problems in the state in the run-up to Holi. On Thursday, in a high-level meeting, DGP of Bihar S.K. Singhal directed the field officers to implement the same on priority basis. People of the state are expected to celebrate Holi in a bigger way this year in the wake of reduced Corona threat. The DGP directed IGP, DIGP, SSP, SP and DSP rank officers of the state via teleconferencing to intensify checking in their respective areas. He has asked officials to use drones, motor boats, helicopters, and horses to keep an eye on activities of liquor mafias of the state. He has specially directed officials to make the anti-liquor task force and Vajra more effective. Following the direction, Manavjeet Singh Dhillon, the SSP of Patna directed every SHOs to keep a close watch on the bikers gang.

A huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered near a border out post in Abohar sector during a joint operation carried out by BSF troops and Punjab Police Special Task Force, officials said on Friday. Following intelligence inputs, STF troops along with BSF carried out a search operation ahead of the fencing area on Thursday evening during which firearms including five semi-automatic AK 47 rifles (Pakistan made), 3 Colt rifles (US made), five pistols (China made) were recovered. Besides these firearms, 10 magazines (AK 47), six magazines (Colt rifle) and ten magazines (pistols) were also recovered along with 49 cartridges (7.65 mm), 29 cartridges (7.62 mm) and 50 cartridges (5.56 mm).

In a latest development in the National Stock Exchange (NSE)scam case, Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court on Friday reserved its order on the bail plea moved by the accused former Group Operating Officer Anand Subramanian. Subramanian through his counsel had moved the bail plea before the court of Sanjeev Aggarwal on Thursday. The court had sought a reply from the CBI on this. The CBI opposed the bail plea and said that Subramanian did not deserve bail. It said that Subramanian should not be released on bail as it could affect the ongoing probe.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to let MCD elections take place in the national capital, saying postponing polls weakens the democratic system. His remarks came after the Delhi State Election Commission sought the advice of legal experts on if it can still hold polls for the three municipal corporations here following a communication from the Centre for their unification. The Commission, after receiving the communication, had deferred the announcement of poll dates for the South Delhi Municipal Corporation, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation and the East Delhi Municipal Corporation. "People are questioning the move. It has been seven-eight years since the BJP is at the Centre, why didn't they do it (unification) earlier," Kejriwal asked.

The Andhra Pradesh government on Friday presented the Budget for 2022-23 with a proposed expenditure of Rs 2.56 lakh crore and a projected revenue deficit of Rs 17,036 crore. Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath presented the ambitious budget although the government fell short of its expenditure estimates in 2021-22 by a whopping Rs 55,182 crore. The fiscal deficit in 2022-23 is expected to be Rs 48,724 crore even as the government intends to borrow Rs 55,000 crore. The total public debt of the state is projected to shoot up to Rs 4,39,394.35 crore in 2022-23, up from Rs 3,90,670 crore as per the revised estimate for 2021-22.

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India has been very good at managing its finances but the surge in global energy prices is going to have a negative impact on its economy, said Kristalina Georgieva, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. During a media roundtable on Thursday on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its global impact, Gita Gopinath, who is the First Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, observed that the war has posed a challenge to economies around the world, including India. "India relies heavily on energy imports and the price is going up. That has implications on the purchasing power of Indian households.

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A day after taking over as the Women and Child Development Minister, Kailash Gahlot on Thursday assured agitating anganwadi workers of addressing their grievances soon. Gahlot was handed over the charge of the WCD ministry on Wednesday. He replaced Rajendra Pal Gautam. The Delhi State Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union (DSAWHU) has been on a strike since January 31 to demand increase in honorarium, respectable working hours and status as government employees.

France's national health agency has reported 74,818 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours on Thursday, a sharp increase compared to previous days. However, the number of patients admitted to intensive care units (ICU) in the past 24 hours has decreased compared to last Thursday, while the total number of patients in ICU has fallen from 2,231 to 1,928 during that time. The number of patients currently hospitalised has also dropped from 23,175 to 21,287 since last Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported. Also on Thursday, The Pasteur Institute published an analysis of the Covid-19 situation in metropolitan France. It said the percentage of contamination after the lifting of health restrictions on March 14 will increase by 50 to 130 per cent compared to the previous months of 2022.

As many as 11 ministers in the Yogi Adityanath government failed to win in the 2022 assembly elections, despite the BJP registering an impressive victory. According to the Election Commission website, of the 402 seats the result of which were declared, BJP won 255. Its alliance partners Apna Dal (Sonelal) bagged 12 and NISHAD Party six. Samajwadi Party has won 110 seats and was leading on one seat. Its ally RLD bagged eight seats and SBSP six. The Congress and Jansatta Dal Loktantrik led by Raghuraj Pratap Singh won one seat each and BSP got one.

Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Pandey on Thursday met 34 city-based Muslim clerics ahead of the Shab-e-Barat festival which coincides with the festival of Holi this year, an official release said. Both festivals fall on March 18. Pandey told the clerics that loudspeakers should be operated at low volume during the festivities considering that school and college exams too fall during the same period.

Leading oral care products maker Colgate-Palmolive (India) Ltd on Thursday announced to appoint former HUL Executive Director Prabha Narasimhan as its Managing Director and CEO. The present Managing Director and CEO Ram Raghavan is promoted to the global Enterprise Oral Care role for parent firm Colgate-Palmolive. Narasimhan until recently led Hindustan Unilever Limited's Home Care Category as Executive Director. She also served as a member of the HUL Leadership Team. The change in the leadership would be effective from September 1, 2022, subject to Board approval, said a statement from Colgate-Palmolive India. While Raghavan, who has been promoted to president, Enterprise Oral Care, Colgate Palmolive Company, will be based at its headquarters in New York. This would be effective from April 16, 2022, it added.

A temple was gutted in a fire incident in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir, prompting authorities to order an inquiry, officials said on Thursday. Rojana temple in Zainapora area of Shopian in south Kashmir was gutted in a fire mishap last night, they said. District Magistrate of Shopian, Sachin Kumar Vaishya along with Senior Superintendent of Police, Shopian, Amrit Paul Singh visited the spot. The district magistrate ordered an inquiry into the incident to establish the cause of the fire. Vaishya said that those found guilty will not be spared and will be brought to book.

A 19-year-old specially abled man who had been found at the Nagpur railway station six years ago was reunited with his mother in Karnataka with the help of Aadhaar card details, city police said on Thursday. The man, who also suffers from hearing impairment, was 13 years old when he was found at the Nagpur Railway Station on October 21, 2016. He could only tell the authorities that his name was Bharat. The Railway authorities handed him over to the Government Senior Boys Orphanage.

Rajasthan Assembly on Thursday passed demand for grants for the Excise Department by voice vote. Replying to the debate in the Assembly, Excise Minister Parsadi Lal Meena said the Rajasthan government is committed to prohibiting liquor in the state. The government has earned more revenue by selling less liquor as compared to the previous years. After the discussion, the House passed the demand for a grant of over Rs 1.80 billion for the department by voice vote. Meena said liquor shops remained closed for three months during the Covid period. To protect the shopkeepers from the adverse effects of Covid, exemption has been given in various duties and taxes. Minister of State for Ayurveda, Subhash Garg said in the Assembly that a 20-year road map is being developed in the state through AYUSH policy to develop Ayurveda and other medical systems. The budget for Ayurveda has been doubled by the state government in the last three years.