LIVE: India summons British envoy, opposes farm law debate in UK Parliament

Latest News LIVE: US Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad met Pakistan's army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and discussed Afghan peace process

News live updates:The ruling TMC has been rocked by a fresh bout of defections to BJP before the West Bengal state polls as five of its sitting MLAs quit after being denied tickets. This was TMC's second-largest single-day exodus after political heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari along with 35 TMC leaders, including five MLAs and an MP, switched over to BJP in December last year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated 'Maitri Setu' between India and Bangladesh via video conferencing. He also inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of multiple infrastructure projects in Tripura during the event. According to a statement by the Prime Minster's Office, the bridge 'Maitri Setu' has been built over the Feni river which flows between the Indian boundary in Tripura and Bangladesh.

US Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad and Commander Resolute Support Mission General Austin Scott Miller on Monday met Pakistan's army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and discussed the Afghan peace process. Khalilzad's visit to Pakistan, first under the Biden administration, comes amidst rising violence in Afghanistan and lack of clarity of policy by the new US government towards Afghanistan.

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10:33 PM

Congress asks Haryana MLAs to be present on March 10 to support no-confidence motion

Haryana: Bharat Bhushan Batra, chief whip of the Congress Legislature Party issues whip to party MLAs to be present in the House on 10th March to "support No-Confidence Motion against the Government", according to ANI

10:25 PM

Modi to participate in the first QUAD Leaders summit held virtually on 12th March: MEA

PM Modi will be participating, along with Australian PM, Japanese PM and the US President in the first Leaders’ Summit of the Quadrilateral Framework, being held virtually on 12th March. The QUAD leaders will discuss regional and global issues of shared interest, and exchange views on practical areas of cooperation towards maintaining a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. The QUAD Leaders will discuss ongoing efforts to combat the Covid-19 pandemic and explore opportunities for collaboration in ensuring safe, equitable and affordable vaccines in the Indo-Pacific region: Ministry of External Affairs, according to ANI

9:37 PM

Election Commission transfers West Bengal DGP Virendra ahead of polls

8:58 PM

CPI in Kerala announces list of candidates

The CPI, a majorally in the ruling Left Democratic Front in Kerala, on Tuesday announced its list of candidates for the April 6 Assembly elections.

 

CPI will becontesting in 25 of the 140 seats in the state,party state chief Kanam Rajendran told the media here, while announcing candidates for 21 seats.

 

Rajendran said candidates for the constituenciesof Chadayamangalam, Haripad, Paravur and Nattika will be announced in the coming days.

8:31 PM

BJP's victory margin in Assam will exceed poll, TV surveys: Union minister Jitendra Singh

Union minister Jitendra Singh Tuesday said the BJP will return to power in Assam with a decisive mandate and the victory margin will exceed the poll and TV survey projections.

 

Speaking to reporters after a public rally following the filing of nomination papers by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal from here, Singh said it is a matter of great satisfaction that the BJP was approaching the polls with pro-incumbency factor, often not the case with ruling parties in the state.

 

Majuli goes to the polls in the first phase on March 27.

8:29 PM

Some people trying to target credibility of constitutional bodies due to political interests: PM

Taking a swipe at the opposition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday said some people always try to target the prestige and credibility of India's constitutional bodies due to their "political interests", and asserted that they do not represent the country's mainstream.

 

Speaking at an event to release manuscript with commentaries by 21 scholars on 'shlokas' of the Gita here, he said the freedom of action and thoughts advocated by the epic distinguishes Indian democracy which, he added, also gives people equal rights.

 

People draw this freedom from democratic institutions which protect the Constitution, and that is why it is necessary to keep in mind our duties while speaking of our rights, Modi said before targeting the opposition without naming it.

8:28 PM

Delhi govt to introduce virtual model of education; CM says dream project'

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday announced the government's plans to introduce a first-of-its-kind virtual model of education.

 

The initiative is an outcome of education going online over the last year in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic.

 

Sisodia, who presented the budget for the year, said the unique experiment would make education accessible to students in any part of the country, or even globe.

 

The Delhi government has decided to introduce a new category of schools in Delhi, the Virtual Delhi Model School, that is, a school that will not have four walls or a building, but there would be children, teachers, learning, examinations and assessments, and studies shall be completed.

7:57 PM

CPSE assets sale to bring about paradigm shift in infra: FM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said monetisation of CPSE assets is based on the principle of value creation for the government and investors and would bring about a paradigm shift in infrastructure augmentation and maintenance.

 

Chairing the National Workshop with the states/UTs on Asset Monetisation organised by Niti Aayog, the minister sought the collaboration of states for the holistic development of infrastructure.

 

She said India can become a USD 5 trillion economy, while striking the right balance between fiscal imperatives and socio-economic welfare, through active collaboration between the public and private sector.

7:44 PM

Illiquid stock options: Five entities settle cases with Sebi

Markets regulator Sebi on Tuesday disposed of adjudication proceedings against five entities after they settled cases related to alleged fraudulent trading in the illiquid stock options segment of BSE on payment of Rs 86 lakh towards settlement charges.

 

Those who have settled the cases are Vineet Gupta, Vinod Commodities, VN Shah, Vipul Commodity and Vimal Finstock, according to five settlement orders passed by Sebi.

 

In its order, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said it observed a large scale reversal of trades in the stock options segment of BSE, leading to the creation of artificial volume.

7:36 PM

Over 5,000 undertrials lodged in jails for over five years: Govt

As many as 5,011 undertrials were lodged for more than five years in prisons across the country, with 42.74 per cent of them just in Uttar Pradesh, the government informed Parliament on Tuesday.

 

The statistics presented by Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy in Lok Sabha were based on a compilation of data by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) updated till December 31, 2019.

 

A total of 5,011 undertrials were lodged in prisons for over five years, the minister said in a written reply to a query by CPI MP K Subbarayan.

7:30 PM

Vivo India revenue grows over 45% to Rs 25,060 cr in FY20

Chinese smartphone company Vivo saw its revenue in India growing over 45 per cent to about Rs 25,060 crore in FY20 even as its losses widened significantly over the previous fiscal, according to regulatory filings.

 

Vivo Mobile India's revenue from operations were at Rs 17,201.7 crore for the year ended March 31, 2019, according to Registrar of Companies filing - shared by market intelligence firm Tofler.

 

The company, which competes with players like Xiaomi and Samsung in the Indian market, saw its losses widen to Rs 348.94 crore in FY20 from Rs 18.94 crore in FY19.

7:12 PM

$1.9 trillion Biden relief package a bet government can help cure US

President Joe Biden wants America to know that he's from the government and he's here to help.

 

That sentiment became a well-worn punchline under Ronald Reagan and shaped the politics of both parties for four decades. Democrat Bill Clinton declared the era of big government over in the 1990s, Barack Obama largely kept his party in the same lane and Republican Donald Trump campaigned on the premise that Washington was full of morons, outplayed by the Chinese and others.

6:34 PM

LIVE: AINRC seals alliance with AIADMK and BJP, to contest 16 seats

AINRC seals alliance with AIADMK and BJP, to contest 16 seats; chief ministerial face for the front will be decided post-election

6:20 PM

DRDO achieves important milestone in developing air independent propulsion system for submarines

The govt-run DRDO has achieved an important milestone in the development of air independent propulsion (AIP) system for diesel submarines by proving the efficacy of its land-based prototype, a statement by the Defence ministry said on Tuesday.

 

The AIP's prototype was operated in endurance mode and max power mode as per the user requirements on March 8, the statement said.

 

The AIP has a force multiplier effect on lethality of a diesel electric submarine as it enhances the submerged endurance of the boat several folds. Fuel cell-based AIP has merits in performance compared to other technologies, the ministry noted.

6:19 PM

Amid disruptions, TRAI suspends norms for commercial text messages for one week

Telecom regulator TRAI on Tuesday suspended the newly-implemented norms for commercial text messages for one week, following disruptions in SMS and OTP deliveries for banking, payment, and other transactions.

 

The norms with respect to content template for text messages came into effect on Monday.

 

The move to suspend the norms would enable the principal entities to register the template of SMS so that no inconvenience is faced by the customers, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said in a statement.

 

"In order to protect the interest of consumers, it has been decided that scrubbing of SMS by telecom service providers shall be suspended temporarily for seven days...," it said.