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Security forces kill 29 Maoist rebels in Chhattisgarh
Security forces reportedly killed at least 29 suspected Maoist rebels during a gun battle in a forest in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday.
Three security personnel also suffered injuries during the fire-fight in Kanker district.
The operation was a joint effort by the District Reserve Guards and Border Security Force based on intelligence reports.
Two arrested for firing at Salman Khan’s house
Mumbai police on Monday arrested two men who fired shots at actor Salman Khan’s house in Mumbai on Sunday.
Vicky Sahab Gupta and Sagar Shrijogendra Pal, who are from Bihar and said to be members of the notorious Lawrence Bishnoi gang, were arrested in Gujarat’s Bhuj.
They were reportedly hiding in a temple.
Five dead, many injured after bus falls off bridge in Odisha
Five people, including a woman, died and several others were reportedly injured after a Kolkata-bound
bus fell from the Barabati bridge in Odisha’s Jajpur district on Monday, police said.
The driver reportedly lost control. It had 40 passengers and originated from Puri in Odisha.
Police officer claims IndiGo flight landed with two minutes of fuel left
IndiGo airlines has refuted claims by Delhi Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Satish Kumar that an IndiGo flight on Sunday originating from Ayodhya and bound for Delhi landed in Chandigarh after a diversion with only two minutes of fuel remaining.
The airline said the flight had sufficient fuel at all times to be diverted to an alternate airport according to regulations.
DCP Kumar, who was on the flight, wrote on X earlier that he got to know from the crew after landing that the plane made it to Chandigarh in the “nick of time”.
He said the pilot attempted to
land twice in Delhi but couldn’t due to bad weather. “After a lapse of 75 minutes, when he announced that he’ll finally attempt landing at Chandigarh, several passengers and one crew started puking out of panic,” wrote ACP Kumar.
X withholds political posts after Election Commission order
Social media platform X said on April 16 that it withheld some posts in India containing political speech from elected politicians, political parties and candidates for office.
The posts were withheld after the country’s Election Commission ordered them to be taken down.
X, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, said it disagreed with the Election Commission’s orders. “We call on the Election Commission to publish all of its takedown orders going forward,” it said.
Court extends detention of Kejriwal until April 23
A Delhi court on Monday extended the detention of politician Arvind Kejriwal in a graft case until April 23, legal news website Live Law reported, a setback to the opposition, which needs him to campaign in the general elections that begin today.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Mr Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, in a graft case related to the city’s liquor policy and he had been held in custody until April 15.
The opposition leader has challenged his arrest, saying it is unlawful and, in a separate hearing on April 15, the Supreme Court asked the ED to respond to the challenge in the week of April 29, after which it will hear the case.
Ex-Nagpur University professor walks out of jail after six years
Former Nagpur University professor Shoma Sen, who was arrested in 2018 for taking part in a leftist-extremist conclave, was released from the Byculla jail in Mumbai on April 17.
The 66-year-old professor of English literature had obtained bail from the Supreme Court on April 5.
Ms Sen was one of the 16 persons, including activists and academics, who were arrested after they attended the Elgar Parishad conclave in Pune on Dec 31, 2017.
The police alleged that the conclave was backed by Maoists, and the ‘inflammatory’ speeches made fuelled caste violence near the Bhima Koregaon war memorial in Pune district the next day.
Passenger bitten by snake on Kerala-Tamil Nadu train
A passenger, identified as Mr Karthik from Madurai, was bitten by a snake on a Madurai-bound train on Monday, police said.
The incident occurred on the Madurai-Guruvayur Passenger Express.
The snake was reportedly found under his seat.
Mr Karthik was later taken to a hospital in Ettumanoor, Kerala. “He is not seriously injured. His condition is stable,” a railway police officer said.
Hyderabad man sets Lamborghini ablaze over dispute with owner
A Lamborghini car worth Rs 1 crore ($160,000) was set ablaze in Hyderabad last Saturday over a financial dispute.
According to a PTI report, used-car seller Ahmed allegedly burnt the luxury sports vehicle with the help of a few friends, claiming that its owner owed him money.
The owner had reportedly approached Ahmed to sell the vehicle. The police have registered a case against Ahmed and his friends.
Three Assam men killed in Meghalaya, charred bodies found
The bodies of three men from Assam -– Jamar Ali, Zahidul Islam and their driver Noor Ahmed – were found on Wednesday in unmarked shallow graves in Meghalaya’s East Garo Hills.
The bodies were burnt and beyond recognition.
The men were identified by the hired car they were travelling in, which was found nearby.
The police said a preliminary inquiry indicated that the men were executed by rivals, their bodies set on fire to evade identification and then buried.
Alia Bhatt, Satya Nadella among Time’s 100 most influential
World Bank president Ajay Banga, Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Olympian wrestler Sakshi Malik and actor-director Dev Patel are among the Indians who have made it to the prestigious Time’s list of 100 most influential people in the world released on Wednesday.
Time’s “100 Most Influential People of 2024” also includes US Department of Energy’s Loan Programmes Office director Jigar Shah, Professor of Astronomy and Professor of Physics at Yale University Priyamvada Natarajan and Indian-origin restaurateur Asma Khan.
Delhi airport among top 10 busiest airports in world
A report by the Airports Council International shows that in 2023, 8.5 billion passengers took to the skies worldwide – a huge jump of 27.2 per cent from the previous year.
Out of this, the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi saw passenger traffic of 72.2 million to secure 10th position.
The Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport once again claimed the title of the world’s busiest airport, with 104.65 million passengers – a 12 per cent jump from 2022.
