Following are the news
highlights at 1815 hours today:
GENERAL
Kotkapura (Pb): Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched an offensive against AAP, calling it an "outsider" that is "dreaming of creating its own world" at the cost of Punjab and asked voters to send the party back from where it had come. (DEL44)
Lucknow: Walking shoulder to shoulder and almost identically dressed, Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi addressed their first joint press conference and held a roadshow here, giving a call for crushing BJP's politics of "anger and divisiveness". (DEL53)
Rampur(UP): The decision to ally with the Congress in Uttar Pradesh is like choosing the "lesser evil" because of the need for secular forces to come together to take on the BJP, feels senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan.(DEL12)
New Delhi: The Election Commission ordered poll authorities in Goa to register an FIR against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his remarks about bribes made at a poll rally in the state. (DEL36)
Panaji: The ruling BJP released its manifesto for the Goa Assembly elections next month promising that it will make the state "unemployment free" in five years if voted to power again. (BOM13)
New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has rejected the request of the Election Commission to enhance the weekly cash-withdrawal limit, imposed after demonetisation, for those contesting Assembly elections in five states, prompting an angry reaction from the poll panel. (DEL52)
New Delhi: Over Rs 96 crore in cash, 14.27 lakh litres of liquor worth Rs 25.22 crore and more than 4,700 kg narcotics valued at Rs 19.83 crore have been seized, with the maximum from Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, by EC-appointed surveillance and expenditure monitoring teams in the five poll-bound states. (DEL21)
New Delhi: About 70,000 tax officers and employeesin the country will wear black bands at work tomorrow, on Martyrs Day, to protest some recent decisions taken by the GST Council headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. (DEL45)
New Delhi: With the exam season round the corner, Prime Minister Narendra Modi exhorted students and their families to treat exams as a festival and not as a source of stress, saying they should "smile more to score more" and not take it as "test of life". (DEL18)
New Delhi: On the eve of Mahatma Gandhi's death anniversary observed as Martyrs' Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked the youth to use social media to spread stories of valour of soldiers, who were recently given bravery awards, saying it will make people proud and inspire them. (DEL34)
New Delhi: After Prime Minister Narendra Modi cited Sachin Tendulkar as an example for students to compete with oneself and not with others, the cricket legend thanked him and stressed that preparation is key for everyone, be it a student or a player. (DEL41)
New Delhi: Global warming, ecological changes and heavy shelling by Pakistani troops are triggering avalanches in places like Jammu and Kashmir, which had not reported such instances earlier, Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat said. (DEL40)
Srinagar: The arterial Srinagar-Jammu National Highway was thrown open for one-way traffic, five days after snowfall in the Valley had led to the closure of the only all-weather road link between Kashmir and the rest of the country. (DEL10)
Mumbai: The fitness trainer of Under-19 Indian cricket team Rajesh Sawant was found dead in a private hotel, police said. (BOM4)
Bengaluru: Taking potshots at Congress leadership a day after his exit from the party, former Karnataka Chief Minister and veteran leader S M Krishna said it did not need "mass leaders" but only wanted "managers" as he complained of being sidelined due to his age.
LEGAL
New Delhi: A woman's footwear without a back strap is a
sandal, the Delhi High Court has ruled opposing the government's contention that it was a 'chappal'. (LGD13)
New Delhi: Ace cricketer and former India captain M S Dhoni has alleged before Delhi High Court that a mobile firm was still using his name by projecting him as its brand ambassador despite termination of the agreement between them way back in December 2012. (LGD7)
New Delhi: Marriage under the Hindu law is "sacrament" and "not a contract" which can be entered into by executing a deed, Delhi High Court has observed while dismissing a plea by a woman who had challenged an order refusing to declare her as the legally-wedded wife. (LGD2)
FOREIGN
Washington: President Donald Trump's controversial immigration order against people from seven Muslim-majority countries hit a roadblock as a US judge issued an emergency order temporarily barring authorities from deporting refugees and other visa holders who have been detained. (FGN9)
Washington: Silicon Valley's top executives, including India-born CEOs Google's Sundar Pichai and Microsoft's Satya Nadella, condemned President Donald Trump's immigration ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries, voicing concern that the move could directly hit their own staffers and stop bringing great talent to the US. (FGN20)
Washington: Unfazed by growing criticism, US President Donald Trump defended his controversial immigration order that bans travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries, asserting that it is working "very nicely" even as he maintained that it is not a ban on Muslims. (FGN10)
Washington: President Donald Trump directed US military to develop a "comprehensive strategy" within 30 days to defeat the ISIS, asserting that America must take decisive action against the dreaded terror group.(FGN15)
San Fransisco: Californians who want their state to secede from the US can now start collecting signatures to place a "Calexit" initiative on the 2018 ballot, after California Secretary of State Alex Padilla cleared the proposed initiative to begin collecting signatures this week. (FGN28)
Berlin: German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the restrictions on immigration imposed by US President Donald Trump, seeing them as unjustified, her spokesman said. (FGN24)
Tehran: Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that US President Donald Trump's decision to ban arrivals from seven Muslim majority countries was "a great gift to extremists". (FGN14)
Washington: US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed to establish "real coordination" against the ISIS during an hourlong discussion, which the White House hailed as a "significant start" to improving the strained ties between the two nations. (FGN17)
Washington: US President Donald Trump has reaffirmed his commitment to NATO and recognised that it must be capable of confronting 21st century threats during talks with leaders from EU's traditional power couple France and Germany. (FGN16)
New York: Hundreds of thousands of people gathered at airports across the US to protest the ban announced by President Donald Trump on immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries, extending solidarity to those affected as chaos and fear gripped individuals trying to enter the country. (FGN11)
Aden: A US raid in Yemen killed 41 suspected Al-Qaeda militants and 16 civilians, an official said, in what would be America's first military action in the country under President Donald Trump. (FGN25)
Lahore: An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan has acquitted for lack of evidence 115 suspects accused of torching more than 100 houses of Christians at Joseph Colony in the city following an alleged blasphemy incident in 2013. (FGN23)
Kuala Lumpur: Twenty-five Chinese have been found alive after their tourist boat sank off eastern Malaysia but six people remain missing, a minister said.
