Highlights of the day: Netanyahu meets with Ajit Doval, updates him on war

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11:33 PM

Netanyahu meets with Ajit Doval and updated him on recent developments in the fighting in the Gaza Strip

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met today with Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and updated him on recent developments in the fighting in the Gaza Strip. The sides also discussed the effort to release the hostages and the issue of humanitarian assistance," tweets Israel PMO

9:44 PM

2nd meet of BJP's poll body underway

The BJP's Central Election Committee on Monday held its second meeting to decide on the party's candidates for the Lok Sabha elections as its senior leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, went through the list of probables for several states to make final choices. The states, which were tipped to come up for discussion, included Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Haryana. The BJP has so far named its candidates for 195 seats spread across 16 states and two union territories. However, two of them, Bhojpuri singer-actor Pawan Singh and Upendra Rawat, withdrew after their choices sparked controversies.The party's brain trust, including Home Minister Amit Shah and Nadda, has held a series of meetings with its leaders from states to draw the lists of probables before the CEC takes a final call.

9:43 PM

Maha Govt makes it mandatory to mention mother's name on all govt documents

Maharashtra cabinet has decided that the name of the mother will be mandatory on all govt documents like Birth certificates, School documents, property documents, Aadhar cards, and PAN cards. The decision is to be implemented from 1st May 2024.

9:42 PM

Congress CEC has cleared names for 12 LS seats in MP, Nakul Nath will contest from the Chhindwara seat

Congress Central Election Committee (CEC) has cleared names for 12 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh, Nakul Nath will contest from the Chhindwara seat, according to media reports.

9:34 PM

Protests erupt in Jamia Millia Islamia over implementation of CAA

Protests erupted on the Jamia Millia Islamia campus here on Monday hours after the Centre notified the rules of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), leading to heavy police deployment at the university.

 

A group of students led by the Muslim Students Federation (MSF) raised slogans against the Modi government and the Delhi Police.

 

The Congress-affiliated National Students' Union of India (NSUI) also opposed the implementation of the Act.

 

A senior police officer said the security around the Jamia campus has been beefed up to prevent any further gathering outside the campus.

8:30 PM

Security beefed up in Delhi after the Modi government notified the implantation of CAA

The Modi government has notified the rules for implementation of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA).

 

On the CAA notification, North East DCP Joy Tirkey says, "We have made arrangements in the North East district. Our experience in 2020 was unpleasant which resulted in heavy loss. The rules will be notified today and we were alerted by the Police Headquarters. We had a meeting of the Aman Committee where we briefed people of both communities. We have tagged the potential troublemakers and some known criminals. We are in touch with our beat constables and keeping an eye on social media too. We are doing a flag march for two days and will have an extensive flag march from tomorrow. Special care will be taken in sensitive areas through drones..."

7:50 PM

Pakistan's Election Commission announces Senate elections for April 2

Pakistan's poll season is not over yet as the authorities on Monday announced elections for the Senate, the upper house of the bicameral parliament, will take place on April 2.

 

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the elections will be held to fill the seats which will become vacant on the retirement of half of the sitting senators on March 12.

 

A total of 52 senators would retire on the completion of their six-year term. However, the elections would be held on 48 seats as four of the seats have been abolished after the merger of the former semi-independent tribal regions into the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

 

The ECP said in a press release that the Senate election would be held on April 2, adding that the nomination papers would be available from Monday and could be submitted till March 15-16.

7:49 PM

Fiji eyeing 5-7 pc increase in Indian visitors in 2024

Fiji is eyeing a 5-7 per cent growth in tourist footfalls from India this year on the back of targeted marketing campaigns and leveraging digital platforms as it seeks to attract honeymooners and family travellers.

 

The South Pacific Island nation is focusing on attracting tourists from India from segments, including honeymoon, sustainable and eco-tourism, wellness travel and multi-generational families, Tourism Fiji Executive Director of Regions Robert Thompson told PTI over an e-mail.

 

"Indian arrivals to the South Pacific Island nation in 2023, reached pre-Covid numbers of 2019, underlining the increased appetite for premium and experience-led travel.

 

"December last year saw the highest number of Indian arrivals in Fiji, increasing by about 300 per cent over the same month in 2022. The average length of stay of an Indian tourist to Fiji is around 7.6 nights," he said.

7:28 PM

DMRC wins Transport Ticketing Global - 2024 award

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has won a Transport Ticketing Global - 2024 award, it said on Monday.

 

According to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), the event attracts organisations from across the world.

 

The DMRC said in a post on X, "The Delhi Metro recently won the prestigious Highly Commended Award under the Digital Champion category in Transport Ticketing Global - 2024 in London. This award is a global recognition of the various digital ticketing initiatives taken by the DMRC in the last couple of years."

 

"This annual event attracts organisations from the transportation sector from across the world," it added.

6:19 PM

Centre notifies Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA)

Govenment has notified the rules for implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) on Monday to facilitate the granting of citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, according to sources. Once the CAA rules are issued, the Modi government will start granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan -- Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians -- who had come to India till December 31, 2014.

5:55 PM

PM Modi lauds DRDO scientists for Mission 'Divyastra'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientists for Mission 'Divyastra', the first flight test of indigenously developed Agni-5 missile with Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology.

5:43 PM

Proud of Mission 'Divyastra', says PM on Agni-5 missile flight test

5:36 PM

Home Minister Amit Shah unveils Piped Natural Gas (PNG) facilities in 41 villages

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday unveiled  Piped Natural Gas (PNG) facilities in 41 villages and several development works in 178 villages of Delhi with an outlay of Rs 381 crores as part of the central government's "Dilli Gramodaya Abhiyan".

5:21 PM

Kunal Kamra case: No interim stay on fact-check units, says Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court today refused to stay the formation of Fact Check Units (FCUs) till final verdict on the constitutionality of the new IT Rules, 2023 is delivered.

5:15 PM

SC grants interim protection to Sudhir Chaudhary In Jharkhand Police FIR over alleged anti-tribal remarks

The top court today granted interim protection to journalist Sudhir Chaudhar in relation to an FIR registered by the Jharkhand Police over the alleged remarks made by him against the tribal community following the arrest of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren.