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Fight against Maoist rebels turns decisive
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said the sacrifice of 22 security personnel killed in a Maoist ambush last weekend will be remembered for taking the battle against the extremists to a "decisive turn" and the counter-insurgency battle will be intensified to take it to a "logical end".
The jawans were killed in a gunfight with Maoists in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region as the ultras ambushed the forces after possibly luring them to an area near the Bijapur-Sukma border.
The team was attacked when it was on a combing operation in a forest.
Arrested police officer claims he was asked to extort money
The Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra faced fresh trouble on Wednesday after arrested Mumbai Police crime branch officer Sachin Vaze accused former state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Transport Minister Anil Parab of pressuring him to extort money from Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation contractors and illegal tobacco factories and bars in the city.
Vaze's explosive letter to the Special National Investigation Court comes in the wake of the flak the Nationalist Congress Party-Congress-Shiv Sena government is facing from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in connection with the cases related to the explosive-laden vehicle found outside the residence of Reliance Industries chairman and India's richest man Mukesh Ambani and the subsequent mysterious death of Mumbai-based businessman Mansukh Hiren.
'Kerala Castro' fails to vote for first time
Former Kerala chief minister and one of India's tallest Communist leaders V.S. Achuthanandan failed to cast his vote on Tuesday for the first time in the state assembly elections.
The 97-year-old, a sitting legislator from Malampuzha in Palakkad district, is now staying at his son's residence in the state capital Thiruvananthapuram, while his vote is at his home in the Ambalapuzha constituency in Alappuzha district.
Following technical issues, he and his wife were unable to register for postal voting and on Tuesday his health condition was not suitable for the three-hour journey to Ambalapuzha.
So, he could not cast his vote.
UP Police get Ansari's custody
Uttar Pradesh Police on Tuesday took custody of jailed gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari at Punjab's Rupnagar jail and transferred him to a prison in UP's Banda district.
The Bahujan Samaj Party legislator from Mau has 52 cases against him in UP and elsewhere - and 15 are in the trial stage.
He was in Rupnagar jail since January 2019 in connection with an extortion case.
Indian firm in Rafale controversy denies irregularities
Defsys Solutions, the Indian defence firm at the heart of the controversy around the purchase of Rafale fighter jets from French company Dassault Aviation, has said that French media reports of it receiving one million euros in bribes were misleading.
Terming the reports "wholly unsubstantiated, baseless and misleading claims", the company said it indeed received and completed the contract of supplying 50 Rafale mockups.
Telangana releases Godavari water into Manjeera
Telangana on Tuesday reached a key milestone in the journey to achieve the goal of irrigating 40,500 sq km of land with water from the Godavari and Manjeera rivers.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who initiated the plan, released water from the Kondapochamma Sagar, which stores water from the Godavari river, into the Haldi Vaagu canal.
The water then joined the Manjeera river.
Swimmer drowns while participating in symbolic protest
Two swimmers last Sunday leapt into the Mandovi river in Goa to swim its breadth in a symbolic protest against the "indiscriminate arrests of activists across India".
But only one, Mr Sudeep Dalvi, the organiser, swam ashore.
On Monday, the body of the other swimmer, 56-year-old Manuel Pereira, was recovered near a fishing jetty on the river's banks.
The Goa Police have filed a case of unnatural death.
IIIT Hyderabad researcher designs flexible drone
A Researcher at the International Institute of Information Technology in Hyderabad has developed a drone that can change its shape to fit the size of the package to be lifted.
"Current design of such drones focuses only on the weight of parcels to be lifted, ignoring their size. Packages however come in various sizes and is an important parameter to be factored in," said the 24-year-old robotics researcher Suraj Bonagiri.
Arch closure of worlds's highest rail bridge done Indian Railways on Monday completed the arch closure of the iconic Chenab Bridge, the world's highest railway bridge which stands 359 metres above the flowing waters of the river, and a part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project.
The Railway Ministry said that this was one of the most difficult parts of the bridge over the Chenab and this achievement is a major leap towards the completion of the 111-km-long winding stretch from Katra to Banihal.
Justice Ramana appointed next Chief Justice
India's President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday appointed Justice N.V. Ramana as the next Chief Justice of India.
Elevated to the Supreme Court on Feb 17, 2014 after serving as Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court since Sept 2, 2013, Justice Ramana will take over as the 48th Chief Justice of India on April 24, after the retirement of incumbent S.A. Bobde on April 23.
Himachal postpones Swarnim Rath Yatra
Due to the spike in Covid-19 cases, the Himachal Pradesh government on Tuesday decided to postpone the Swarnim Himachal Rath Yatra to celebrate the golden jubilee of statehood. It was scheduled to start on April 15.
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said the new date for the Swarnim Rath Yatra will be taken after the situation normalises.
