Month: March 2025

Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday expressed his concerns over the recent sarpanch murder in Beed, Maharashtra, stating that the district was once known for its peaceful atmosphere.

Pawar, who had elected six members in Beed, highlighted the cordial relations that existed in the region and accused that some people decided to “misuse” power and its repercussions can be witnessed in the district.

He invited the Mahayuti government to take action against those “polluting” the peaceful atmosphere in Beed.

“Beed was a district that took everyone on a peaceful path…I had elected six members there, and there was a kind of cordial atmosphere there. Unfortunately, some people decided to misuse their power. We have been seeing the results of this in Beed for the last few months… A very strict policy needs to be made regarding those who pollute the environment…” Pawar said.

Reacting to actor Rahul Solapurkar’s claims about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, which triggered a massive row, Pawar urged the state government in Maharashtra to tackle such “elements.” He said that the government must not remain a mute spectator when someone tries to divide people on the lines of caste and religion.

“I will not accept such an atmosphere in the state. However, the situation is different in a few places. The state government should make a decision to tackle elements taking advantage of this. A strict stand should be taken. Someone is trying to misuse power and trying to broaden the divide among people on the basis of caste and religion, so state government should not remain a mute spectator,” Pawar said.

Over a week ago, in the wake of NCP MLA Dhananjay Munde’s resignation over his aide’s link to the Beed sarpanch murder case, former Maharashtra LoP and Congress MLA Vijay Wadettiwar said that the matter should be investigated in depth and Munde should be made a co-accused in the FIR.

On March 4, NCP MLA Dhananjay Munde submitted his resignation as minister, which Fadnavis accepted and forwarded to the Governor for further action.

Following this development, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said on Wednesday that administering the oath of office to Dhananjay was the biggest mistake, claiming that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis himself called Munde and asked for his resignation.

Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan accepted Munde’s resignation as Minister of Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection.

Munde’s close aide, Walmik Karad, was sent to judicial custody in January this year in a Rs 2 crore extortion case allegedly linked to the murder case of Beed’s sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh. (ANI)

Delhi on Saturday recorded an average Air Quality Index (AQI) of 85, which is the lowest in the last three years for the period from January 1 to March 15.

According to the Commission for Air Quality Management, this is the first day of the year on which the AQI has managed to fall under the ambit of the ‘Satisfactory’ category, meaning that the index number remains between 50 and 100.

“Today, Delhi recorded an average AQI of 85, the lowest in the last three years for the period from 01st January to 15th March. Today’s AQI is also the first day of the current year with a ‘Satisfactory’ AQI (AQI 51-100). Delhi has witnessed a ‘Satisfactory’ AQI in the month of March, for the first time in five years since 2020,” the Commission for Air Quality Management posted on X.

As the winters recede, temperatures have started to soar. Ainapur Hobli village in the Kalaburagi district of northern Karnataka recorded the maximum temperature in the last 24 hours at 42.8 degrees Celsius.

The forecast and warnings issued by the IMD for the next five days indicate that maximum temperatures are likely to rise by 2 to 4 degrees Celsius from March 15 to 17 over north Interior Karnataka.

The IMD has issued a heat wave warning, as such conditions are likely to prevail at isolated places over districts of north Interior Karnataka on March 18 to 19. However, no large change will be witnessed in maximum temperatures over south Interior Karnataka for the next 24 hours, but temperatures will gradually rise by 2-3 degrees Celsius for the subsequent days.

According to the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC), many locations in several districts, including Kalaburagi, Bidar, Bagalkote, Raichur, Yadgir and Vijayapura districts and a few sites in Bagalkote and Belagavi districts, recorded maximum temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius and above yesterday.

Earlier, Delhi-NCR witnessed a change in weather as the skies turned dark. Some parts of the national capital, such as south Delhi, experienced light rain on Friday evening. IMD forecasted a partly cloudy sky with the possibility of isolated light rain over the plains of Northwest India. (ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared a sneak peek on Saturday into the areas of discussion he held with world-renowned scientist and podcaster Lex Fridman.

Lex Fridman is a research scientist who also hosts his own podcast, “Lex Fridman Podcast.”

In his podcasts, several personalities from various walks of life have discussed issues ranging from complex niches to other areas of mass understanding.

Notable figures include political leaders like US President Donald Trump, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Argentinian Prime Minister Javier Milei, as well as leading personalities in their fields, such as Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Sam Altman, Magnus Carlson, and Yuval Noah Harari.

Fridman wrote on X, “I had an epic 3-hour podcast conversation with @narendramodi, Prime Minister of India. It was one of the most powerful conversations of my life. It’ll be out tomorrow.”

Responding to Fridman, Prime Minister Modi called it a “fascinating conversation” and shared that he discussed various time periods of his life, such as his childhood days, to the years spent in the Himalayas and eventually his way into public life.

“It was indeed a fascinating conversation with @lexfridman, covering diverse topics including reminiscing about my childhood, the years in the Himalayas and the journey in public life. Do tune in and be a part of this dialogue!” PM Modi wrote on X.

Fridman had announced on January 19 that he would conduct a podcast with PM Modi.

In a post on X, he said, “I will be doing a podcast with Narendra Modi (@narendramodi), Prime Minister of India, at the end of February. I’ve never been to India, so I’m excited to finally visit and experience many facets of its vibrant, historic culture and its amazing people as fully as I can.”

Earlier in February, Fridman called PM Modi “one of the most fascinating human beings I have ever studied”.

He wrote on X, “Narendra Modi is one of the most fascinating human beings I have ever studied. I can’t wait to talk to him on the podcast for several hours in a few weeks. On top of the complex, deep history of India and his role in it, just the human side of Modi is really interesting. For example, he has often done multi-day fasts (9+ days) for spiritual reasons. I fast often as well. So I’ll do a 48-72 hour fast once I arrive in India before talking to him. It’s a good opportunity to meditate and to reflect on how incredibly lucky I am to be alive, to have the weird brain that sees so much beauty in the world even though I’ve increasingly seen a lot of the darker sides of human nature. And most of all… To reflect on how lucky I am to have so much love in my life.”

Sharing the details, Fridman said that the podcast conversation with the Prime Minister would be released at 5:30PM IST.

“Podcast should be published tomorrow (Sunday) around 8am EST / 5:30pm IST”, he wrote on X.

As per his official website, Lex Fridman has been a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) since 2015.

His podcasts cover several themes, such as artificial intelligence, global politics, cryptocurrency, productivity, global geopolitics, and technology.

His YouTube page has 4.8 million subscribers with over 82,00,00,000 views. (ANI)

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], March 15 (ANI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Saturday clarified that the state government’s decision to provide a four per cent reservation in government contracts is not exclusive to Muslims but extends to all minority communities and backward classes.

“Four per cent reservation is not just for Muslims but all minority communities and backward classes,” he told ANI.

The Karnataka Cabinet approved an amendment to the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement (KTPP) Act that aims to provide a four per cent reservation in tenders to Muslim contractors.

The decision was taken on Friday in a meeting held at the Cabinet Hall of the Vidhan Sabha, chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The official sources added that the amendment will be done after the KTPP act is tabled in the ongoing assembly session.

The Cabinet has approved the presentation of the obedience in the same session, likely on Monday.

Earlier on March 7, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah confirmed that four per cent of public works contracts will now be reserved for Muslims under a category called Category-II B while presenting Kthe arnataka government’s Budget.

Reservation will be provided in the procurement of goods and services under various government departments, corporations, and institutions for suppliers belonging to SC, ST, Category-I, Category-II A, and Category-II B, up to Rs 1 crore, in which Category-II B refers to Muslims.

At the same time, the government has given good news to those who are expecting e-Khata.

The Cabinet has agreed to give e-Khata in rural areas that have been approved by the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj obedience.

If this obedience is approved, the rural revenue projects and the households in the village station will be equipped, it added.

The Karnataka Lokasewa Commission’s reform measures have been discussed at the Cabinet meeting as the KPSC has increased.In addition, the Cabinet has agreed to the formation of a separate committee for the reform of the Lokasewa Commission.

The cabinet also consulted on the maintenance of the committee’s recommendations. (ANI)

Four people, including a woman, have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the murder case of Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Santosh Kumar Singh in Munger, Bihar, said an official on Saturday.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Syed Imran Masood said the accused had been identified as Ranveer Yadav, Guddu Yadav, Vikas Yadav, and a woman of the same family.

The SP said that the mortal remains of the deceased ASI Santosh Kumar Singh were brought for the last rites by his family.

Police teams had been conducting raids to arrest those involved in the incident that took place in the Nandlalpur village of Munger in Holi (March 14).

“An unfortunate incident took place with ASI Santosh Kumar yesterday in which he lost his life. His mortal remains have been brought here. Our teams had been conducting raids since last night, and four people were arrested. A team was moving to arrest the remaining accused at the directions of those arrested,” said the SP.

Speaking about the arrests, the SP said, “The police vehicle met with an accident, injuring the police personnel. Taking advantage of the situation, one of the accused, Guddu Yadav, snatched a police personnel’s rifle and aimed at the police team. The police fired in self-defence and shot him in the feet. He is the main accused in the murder case. Four people, including a woman, have been arrested so far.”

Meanwhile, Bihar Minister Prem Kumar also reacted to Munger ASI Santosh Kumar Singh’s death case and said, “There is rule of law in Bihar. An ASI in Munger has been killed while on duty. The culprits will not be spared. Some people have been arrested. We will run an expedited trial and give them the strictest punishment.”

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha, terming the murder of Munger ASI Santosh Kumar Singh as “unfortunate,” said that the administration may use any means to handle such people or carry out encounters if needed.

“It is unfortunate. The government will take strict action… We will not leave such people who think they can suppress the administration… The administration may use any means to handle such people or carry out encounters if needed… There is complete freedom from the government,” Vijay Kumar Sinha told ANI.

Bihar Police Association President Mrityunjay Kumar Singh also condemned the attack on ASI Santosh Kumar Singh earlier in the day and demanded compensation and a job for the late personnel’s family.

ASI Santosh Kumar Singh lost his life after being attacked by individuals in Munger. He was responding to a ruckus created by the family of a man identified as Ranveer Kumar in Nandalpur village under Mufassil police station limits.

Munger SP said that the assailants were allegedly intoxicated during the incident.

SP Masood said, “The incident unfolded after the Munger police received information late in the evening about a family creating a ruckus in Nandalpur village under the influence of alcohol. Upon reaching the spot with his team, ASI Singh was attacked by the family members, who struck him on the head, leaving him critically injured.

ASI Santosh Kumar Singh succumbed to his injuries at Patna Paras Hospital on Friday despite medical efforts. (ANI)

Recalling his detention during Hiteshwar Saikia’s tenure as Assam Chief Minister, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that during the Congress government in Assam, he was beaten up and had jail’s food for seven days in the state.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of Lachit Barphukan Police Academy in Dergaon, Shah attacked Congress and said that the Congress did not allow peace in Assam.

“I have also been beaten up by the Congress government in Assam. Hiteshwar Saikia was the Chief Minister of Assam and we used to raise slogans against former PM Indira Gandhi that ‘Assam ki gaaliyan suni hai, Indira Gandhi khooni hai’. I too had jail food for seven days in Assam and people from all over the country came to save Assam. Today Assam is moving ahead on the path of development,” Shah said.

Hiteswar Saikia served as the Chief Minister of Assam for two terms from 1983 to 1985 and then from 1991 to 1996.

He further said that Assam’s Lachit Barphukan police academy will become the top one in the country in the next 5 years.

“In the coming five years, the police academy will become the best police academy in the whole country. I thank Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for naming it after Lachit Barphukan. Brave warrior Lachit Barphukan helped Assam to be victorious against the Mughals… Lachit Barphukan was limited to the state of Assam only but today the biography of Lachit Barphukan is being taught in 23 languages and is inspiring students,” he added.

Shah further said that Assam’s conviction rate up from 5 per cent to 25 per cent in three years and will cross the national average soon.

“Modi government to bring in Rs 3 lakh crore infra projects in Assam in addition to Rs 5 lakh crore proposed investment at recent biz summit,” he said.

Amit Shah inaugurated the first phase of the revamped police academy named after Lachit Barphukan in Assam’s Golaghat district. The Home Minister was accompanied by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal, among others.

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “Taking forward Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji’s focus on SMART policing, the Lachit Barphukan Police Academy will house a weapon simulator to prepare our forces for real world combat scenarios without the hazards & costs involved and ensure their basic training.”

Amit Shah arrived in Dergaon on Friday evening for a three-day tour of two northeastern states – Assam and Mizoram.

The Home Minister will attend the final session of the 57th Annual Conference of the All Bodo Students Union (ABSU) in Kokrajhar of Assam on March 16. The Annual Conference of ABSU will be taking place from March 13 to 16 at Bodofa Fwthar area in Kokrajhar district. (ANI)

It’s a working Holi for Aditi Rao Hydari. Despite being on the sets, she managed to play with colours.

A while ago, Aditi took to Instagram and shared a colourful Holi selfie. The image shows Aditi flaunting her face smeared with pink and yellow gulaal.

“Shoot day Holi attack! Happy Holi!!!!,” she captioned the post.

Meanwhile, on the acting front, Aditi will soon be in a web series titled ‘O Saathi Re’, which also stars Arjun Rampal, and Avinash Tiwary. Imtiaz took on the role of creator, writer and showrunner as recently he announced the project.

Excited to present the story to the world, Imtiaz in a press note said, “O Saathi Re surprised me at every turn of its development. It is a modern story with a vintage heart, an enchanted fairy tale set in the fiasco of Metropolitan life. I feel both relieved and excited at having Arif direct the stellar cast of Avinash Aditi and Arjun (All Aces there) and it is the ever-strengthening relationship with Netflix that enabled us to enter the deceptively charming world of O Saathi Re.”

Tanya Bami, Series Head, Netflix India, added, ” We are thrilled to bring a story that delves into love, relationships, and human dilemmas — narrated in Imtiaz’s signature, deeply authentic style, an almost haunting quality to these stories! After the success of She Season 2, we began exploring ideas for our next series together. We wanted something with an inherent musicality, perhaps inspired by a song and then Imtiaz crafted a story, called it O Saathi Re and that story moved us as profoundly as the song still does. It’s a fresh and innovative take on relationships in contemporary times. Now, with this phenomenal cast — Aditi, Arjun and Avinash –we are ready to bring this beautiful and poetic story to life. We can’t wait to embark on this journey with Window Seat Films and the whole team and our incredible cast and crew!”

Arif Ali has come on board to direct ‘O Saathi Re’, which will go on floors soon. (ANI)

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Saturday accused the Congress and the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) in the state for the recent violence in Giridih.

The BJP MP alleged that the Congress party’s policies have facilitated Bangladeshi infiltration, leading to demographic shifts and unrest in the state.

Dubey reiterated the BJP’s demand for the implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and delimitation, warning that failure to do so could lead to Jharkhand’s “merger with Bangladesh.”

He claimed that vote-bank politics was pushing Jharkhand towards instability and that the state’s Chief Minister was only concerned with winning elections.

Speaking to ANI about the Giridih violence, Nishikant Dubey said, “A similar incident happened in my area on the day of Holika Dahan. I called up the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), and then the situation came to normalcy. Before the Jharkhand assembly elections, the BJP had said that in 30 out of 81 assembly constituencies, voter turnout has increased from 50 per cent to 150 per cent, which is because of Bangladeshi infiltrators.”

“Shops were burnt in Deoghar; all this is because of the policies of the Congress, which is bringing Bangladeshis on one pretext or the other. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government released these infiltrators. Now, the tribal population is decreasing and has come down from 45 per cent to 22-23 per cent, and Muslims have increased from 9 per cent to 28-29 per cent,” he said.

He claimed, “Vote bank politics is gripping the entire Jharkhand, and if there is no big mass movement against the Congress, we will lose the state.”

“The CM here only wants to win elections, so such incidents will continue in the name of Saraswati Puja, Durga Puja, Mahashivratri, Holi, and Eid. If NRC and delimitation are not implemented, a separate state will be demanded, and Jharkhand will be merged with Bangladesh,” he added.

Calling for urgent policy changes, Dubey stressed that NRC and delimitation were necessary to safeguard Jharkhand’s identity.

“If these measures are not implemented, soon there will be demands for a separate state, and Jharkhand will end up merging with Bangladesh,” he claimed.

The remarks come against the backdrop of communal tensions in Giridih, where violence erupted, leading to clashes. Several vehicles in Giridih were torched after clashes broke out between two communities on the occasion of Holi late on Friday, as per the officials.

BJP MP Deepak Prakash also condemned the Giridih violence and said that the state government was oppressing the Hindu community. Further, Prakash said that due to this, FIRs against the BJP leaders are registered just for the sake of appeasement politics.

After the communal clash in Giridih, the administration came into action and has assured that the situation in the region is now under control. The authorities stated that the police is investigating the case.

The incident occurred when a Holi procession was passing through a particular street near the Ghodthambha Chowk. An altercation occurred between two communities, which led to chaos, which lasted for around an hour.

Upon receiving information about the disturbances, officials from the district headquarters arrived at the location, which helped in dispersing the miscreants.

On Friday, Dr Bimal, SP on the situation, said no major injuries were reported in the incident, but efforts are underway to identify the accused and strong action will be taken against them. (ANI)

The Iraqi Prime Minister said that personnel of the country’s national intelligence service, working with coalition forces commanded by the United States, had killed the head of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, as reported by CNN citing AP.

“The Iraqis continue their impressive victories over the forces of darkness and terrorism,” Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in a statement posted on X.

Abdallah Maki Mosleh al-Rifai, or “Abu Khadija,” was “deputy caliph” of the militant group and “one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world,” the statement said, as reported by CNN.

On his Truth Social platform Friday night, US President Donald Trump said, “Today the fugitive leader of ISIS in Iraq was killed. He was relentlessly hunted down by our intrepid warfighters” in coordination with the Iraqi government and the Kurdish regional government.

“PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH!” Trump added.

As per a report by CNN, a security official said the operation was executed by airstrike in the western Iraqi province of Anbar. According to a second official, al-Rifai’s death was verified on Friday, but the operation happened Thursday night. They were not permitted to make public comments, so they talked on condition of anonymity.

The announcement came on the same day as the first visit by Syria’s top diplomat to Iraq, during which the two countries pledged to work together to combat IS.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein, according to the report, said at a news conference that “there are common challenges facing Syrian and Iraqi society, and especially the terrorists of IS.” He said the officials had spoken “in detail about the movements of ISIS, whether on the Syrian-Iraqi border, inside Syria or inside Iraq” during the visit.

Hussein further referred to an operations room formed by Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon at a recent meeting in Amman to confront IS and said it would soon begin work.

The relationship between Iraq and Syria is somewhat fraught after the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Al-Sudani came to power with the support of a coalition of Iran-backed factions, and Tehran was a major backer of Assad.

The current interim president of Syria, Ahmad al-Sharaa, was earlier reportedly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani and fought as an al-Qaida militant in Iraq after the US invasion of 2003 and later fought against Assad’s government in Syria.

The US and Iraq had announced an agreement last year to wind down the military mission in Iraq of an American-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group by September 2025, with US forces departing some bases where they have stationed troops during a two-decade-long military presence in the country.

Iraqi political officials declared that the threat posed by IS was under control and that they no longer required assistance from Washington to defeat the residual cells after the coalition’s mission in Iraq was agreed to terminate.

But the fall of Assad in December led some to reassess that stance, including members of the Coordination Framework, a coalition of mainly Shiite, Iran-allied political parties that brought current Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani to power in late 2022, according to the report. (ANI)

Punjab Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal has said that two suspects have been identified behind the explosion outside Thakurdwara Temple in Amritsar’s Khandwala area in the early hours on Saturday.

“There were some miscreants who hurled a grenade at a temple after 12 am. There are no injuries or casualties… The situation is under control,” minister Dhaliwal confirmed.

He added that two suspects had been identified and assured the public that authorities were taking swift action. “The police are taking action, they will be caught within a day,” the minister said.

Two motorcycle-borne masked men were captured on CCTV footage lobbing an object, suspected to be an explosive, at the temple after 12 midnight.

According to eyewitnesses, the two men were seen lobbing a suspicious object towards the temple. No injuries were reported, and police personnel rushed to the site and initiated an investigation into the incident .

Amritsar Commissioner GPS Bhullar has suggested the involvement of Pakistan Intel agency ISI in the blast.

“We got information at 2 am and rushed to the spot right away. A forensic team was called… We checked the CCTV and spoke to the nearby people. The thing is that Pakistan’s ISI lures our youth into creating disturbances in Punjab,” Commissioner Bhullar said.

The police official said, “We will trace this case within days and take appropriate action.” He also issued a stern warning to the youth, urging them not to ruin their lives. “I warn the youth not to ruin their lives… We will catch the culprits soon,” he said.

Police teams have seized the CCTV footage and according to a preliminary investigation, the youth on a motorcycle had a flag in his hands and duo stood around the temple for some time before lobbing the grenade at it.

Meanhwile, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today stated that there were many attempts to disturb the peace in the State.

“There are always many attempts to disturb the peace in Punjab. Drugs, gangsters, and extortion are part of it, and there are attempts to show that Punjab has become a disturbed state… During the festival of Holi, in other States, the police had to use lathicharge during processions. But such things do not happen in Punjab… The law and order situation in Punjab is good,” Mann said.

The Thakur Dwara Temple explosion comes after at least five people were injured after an assailant attacked people with an iron rod in the Golden Temple premises on Friday. The attack took place at Shri Guru Ramdas Sarai which is a lodging facility for pilgrims. (ANI)