India news LIVE: EAM slams Siddaramaiah for 'irresponsible' comment on Sudan crisis

A fire broke out in the buildings of Orion Business Park and adjacent Cine Wonder Mall in Kapurbawadi, Ghodbunder Road in Thane. Several fire tenders at the spot. Police and disaster management are also on the spot.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will embark on a three-day visit to poll-bound Karnataka from April 21. During his visit to the state he will campaign for the BJP in various districts and apart from addressing several political rallies, he will hold road shows. He will also visit Telangana for his 'Lok Sabha pravas'. 

The West Bengal government has advised avoiding crowds or mass gatherings as far as possible, especially by the elderly, children, pregnant women and persons with co-morbidities. If compelled to enter a crowd or travel in mass transit, use a proper mask irrespective of age, the advisory read.

"Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved a proposal for bringing in industry-friendly reform related to Authority Holding Sealed Particulars (AHSP). The AHSP is the authority which is responsible for generating, maintaining, updating or declaring obsolete the entire history and technical information of defence products," the defence ministry stated in an official release.

External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar advised Congress leader Siddaramaiah to set aside politics when there are lives of Indians at stake in Sudan. This was in response to Siddaramaiah's demand to safely bring back 31 people belonging to the Hakki Pikki tribe in the conflict stricken nation. "Plans regarding them have to take into account a very complicated security scenario. The Embassy is in constant touch with the Ministry in that regard. It is grossly irresponsible of you to politicize their situation. No electoral goal justifies endangering Indians abroad," Jaishankar tweeted. 

A Delhi-bound Air India flight pilot asked for priority landing at Delhi airport and it landed normally after a suspected windshield crack. The flight departed from Pune, ANI reported. 

The National Human Rights Commission, on Tuesday, issued a notice to the Director General of Police, Uttar Pradesh and the Commissioner of Police, Prayagraj over the killing of Atiq Ahmed and his brothers. It has sought a detailed report on how the killing happened along with details on FIR and post mortem. 

The police conducted a flag march on the outskirts of Prayagraj sending a message that no elements will be allowed to disturb the law and order in the state. The police were seen patrolling with arms in areas that are prone to violence following the killing of gangster Atiq Ahmed. 

Apple CEO Tim Cook will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 19 when he inaugurates the second Apple store in Delhi. The first store was opened in Mumbai on April 17. 

The Centre, on Tuesday, began a key meeting over the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC). Home Minister Amit Shah and Law Minister Kiren Rijiju part of the key meeting.

The Supreme Court questioned the parole granted to convicts in the Bilkis Bano case during incarceration. The apex court said that the gravity of the offence should have been considered by the state. The court said that 'apples cannot be compared with oranges', similarly massacre cannot be compared with a single murder. It also posted a batch of pleas challenging remission to convicts in Bilkis Bano case for final disposal on May 2. The Centre and the Gujarat government told the SC that a plea may be filed for review of the March 27 order asking for original files on remission to convicts in the Bilkis Bano case. Tap here to read full story. 

A crude bomb was hurled near the house of Atiq Ahmad's lawyer in Katra area of Prayagraj. No casualties have been reported so far, said the police according to PTI. 

SHO of Kernalganj police station Ram Mohan Rai claimed Atiq's lawyer Dayashankar Mishra was not the target and the incident was a fallout of personal enmity between two youths. However, the lawyer claimed that it was an attempt "to create fear and terror".

"I was in the court when my son informed me that bombs have been hurled. I rushed home. ...I think this has been done to frighten me, to create terror. It is a big conspiracy... It is for the police to find out who is behind this," Mishra told reporters.

"My daughter and the locals saw that there was one person involved and three bombs were hurled," he claimed.

Forensic experts had gathered evidence from the spot, the police said, adding further action was being taken.

"The crude bomb was hurled due to personal enmity of two youths in Katra locality. It is a coincidence that the incident occurred near the house of one of the advocates of Atiq Ahmad, who resides in the locality," the SHO claimed.

(With PTI inputs)

Rouse Avenue Court, on Tuesday, reserved the order on the bail plea of Delhi's former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in an ED case related to alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped excise policy. The pronouncement of the order is scheduled for 4 pm on April 26.

BJP Kalaburagi District Yuva Morcha General Secretary and former Zilla Panchayat member Arvind Chauhan has resigned from the Bharatiya Janata Party after he was denied a BJP ticket from the Chittapur assembly constituency, ANI reported.

NCP leader Ajit Pawar addressed a news briefing on Tuesday over BJP alliance claims. He said, "There is a discourse and narratives set against me and my supporters. No truth to these reports. I went to Nagpur for the MVA rally and returned with Uddhav Thackeray. For no reason, misunderstandings are spread about me. I went to take stock of the heatstroke incident that happened in Navi Mumbai".

He further added, "You all are spreading much news of me. There is no truth to it. I want to clarify that there are no facts about 40 MLAs in support of me and have issued a letter of support this is untrue. There is no truth in my taking the signatures of 40 MLAs. Under the leadership of Sharad Pawar, NCP was established and we will continue to work under his leadership. This is an attempt to mislead the people and divert the issue from the core".

Amid the speculation of a coup, NCP leader and chief whip Anil Patil addressed a press conference and denied the news of any rift within the party. He said, "Today's meeting was a routine meeting. There were no talks over speculation. The news about him joining BJP is fake. No discussion or decision has happened yet. I request to not run this information"

He further said, "Ajit Pawar is our leader and we will stand with him. We will do what Ajit Dada, Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule will say. I have said the truth and now I would like Ajit Pawar to clear the confusion".

NCP MLA Shekhar Nikam told Republic TV, 'We stand with Dada'. While another leader of NCP, Anil Patil said, "Whatever will be his decision, we will be with him". Umesh Patil stated, "All NCP MLAs stand with Ajit Pawar. We stand with him".

Amid the speculation that Ajit Pawar will align with BJP in Maharashtra, former Deputy CM Ajit Pawar has removed the party logo image from his Twitter handle.

Amid the NCP coup, Ajit Pawar will be holding a press conference and addressing the media in connection with the recent speculations.

In an exclusive conversation with Republic TV, Shiv Sena leader Krishna Hegde stated that the party will be happy if Ajit Pawar will join them. Hedge said, "Whatever decision has been taken it's on a higher level. Eknath Shinde must be aware of whatever is happening. Ajit Pawar might be feeling suffocated in NCP. If Ajit Dada wants to join BJP along with his MLAs, we will be happy to welcome him".

Amid the political crisis in Maharashtra, Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar has cut short his Japan visit and will be returning to the state.

NCP spokesperson is non-committal amid mega NCP coup speculation. NCP spokesperson Brijmohan Shrivastav says “We are with Sharad Pawar and Ajit if part of the party. While another party leader refuted the claims and stated that Dada hamara neta hai' 

Amid the buzz over the BJP-NCP alliance, about 40 MLAs from Nationalist Congress Party MLAs have reportedly given their support to party leader Ajit Pawar. As per the media reports, 40 NCP MLAs from Maharashtra have given their consent signatures to Ajit for reportedly extending support to the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP alliance government in the state.  The reports further added that these consent signatures will be presented to the Governor at an appropriate time. 

According to sources, Ajit Pawar is at the Vidhan Bhavan and NCP leaders-- Shekhar Nikam and Dharmarao Atram are to meet the former. Sources added that Sharad Pawar himself has called the party leaders and asked them to stay intact. READ MORE

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal says that States should be heard in the matter. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta apprises the SC that the Centre has filed a petition raising the preliminary objection on the maintainability of the plea. SG Tushar Mehta says the debate which is to happen is about the creation or conferring of the socio-legal institution and whether it should be done by the forum of the court or parliament. CJI DY Chandrachud says we will hear the Centre's submission on that at a subsequent stage.

SG Mehta tells that there is no legal lacuna in the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act and the question is not of granting a socio-legal sanction. He apprises the court that it has been clarified that none will discriminate against transgender persons. There are provisions of reservation for transgender, he adds.

Chief Justice of India says no such thing as an absolute concept of biological man and woman. SG reiterates to first take up the Centre's plea raising preliminary objection on the petition seeking recognition of same-sex marriage.

Amid speculations of Ajit Pawar's alleged rebellion, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said, "Ajit Pawar is busy with election-related work. All this talk is only in the media."

CBI serves a fresh notice to TMC National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee for the order for appearing before the agency is kept in abeyance till further order from Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court of India began the hearing of a batch of 20 petitions seeking to legalise same-sex marriage. A five-judge Constitution bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Justice Ravindra Bhat, Justice Hima Kohli, and Justice PS Narasimha are currently hearing the matter.   

Sr Adv Mukul Rohatgi: My brief is to say that we want a declaration. We want the right to marriage. Once that happens society will recognise us. As even after 377, we are stigmatised in public places when we walk hand in hand. The concept of marriage has changed in the last decades 

Earlier we had child marriage, men used to marry more than one woman. Women's rights to inherit property have changed  Constitution is a living document. I am talking about the Hindu marriage act and the special marriage act. 

If we have the same rights as the heterosexual group the we also have the same right as the right to marriage.. In 2022 the US enacted the respect of marriage act to protect the validity of same sex marriages then came Dipika Singh's judgment... queer relationship was dealt with and held to be a family unit too 

If you are following the same dictionary follow the same version, not a 50-year-old version

The Supreme Court adjourns the hearing for April 25 of the petitions challenging the scrapping of the 4% OBC quota for Muslims in Karnataka. Karnataka govt seeks adjournment and assures SC that no fresh appointments or admissions would be made based on Karnataka’s order scrapping 4% OBC reservation for Muslims till the next date of hearing.

Supreme Court agrees to hear on April 24 a plea seeking to constitute an independent expert committee under the chairmanship of a former Supreme Court judge to inquire into the killing of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf amid police presence. A PIL was filed in the top Court demanding an inquiry into the custodial killings of Atiq and Ashraf.

In the PIL, a probe has been sought under the supervision of a retired judge of the Supreme Court.

In the petition, a request has been made to investigate 183 encounters in Uttar Pradesh since 2017 by an expert committee under the supervision of a retired judge of the Supreme. Advocate Vishal Tiwari has filed a petition in the Supreme Court.

The Chhattisgarh police received information about an IED planted by Naxalites in Rajpur village of Chhotedongar Police Station of Narayanpur. DRG and BDS teams reached the spot. During the search, an IED weighing about 5 kg was recovered which was destroyed on the spot by following the security standards. All the soldiers are safe. Searching is going on in the area: Police

Conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar was brought to Delhi's Patiala House court in connection with a money laundering case.

As per the sources, the three men who allegedly shot Atiq Ahmed, and his brother Ashraf confessed during the interrogation that they were inspired by jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. The operation to kill Atiq was planned by Sunny Singh who watched interviews and videos of Bishnoi.

A 2.5-year-old child died after falling into a pit dug up to install a water pipeline by Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) in Magadi. FIR has been registered against the BWSSB engineer and contractor. 

No warning signs were installed in the area and safety measures were also not taken near the site by the workers 

India records 7,633 new cases and 6,702 recoveries in 24 hours; the active caseload stands at 61,233.

The BJP is working on the sole agenda of finishing the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleged on Monday, reacting to police action against his party leader Gopal Italia in Gujarat. 

Earlier in the day, Italia was arrested in connection with a case and was subsequently granted bail by a court in Surat. Police had registered the case against the former Gujarat unit chief of the AAP in September last year for allegedly using defamatory words against state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief CR Paatil and Gujarat minister Harsh Sanghavi as well as calling BJP workers "goons" in a video message uploaded on social media platforms. READ MORE

Flight 6E 203 from Mumbai had a tail strike while landing at Nagpur on April 14, however, no passengers were injured. The aircraft was declared grounded at Nagpur airport for assessment and repairs. The incident is being investigated, IndiGo Airlines released a statement. 

A month after the Indian national flag flying atop the Indian High Commission in London was grabbed and pulled down during a provocation by pro-Khalistan activists, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken over the case to investigate the matter, as per the sources. 

According to reports, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Counter Terrorism and Counter Radicalization (CTCR) division handed over the case to the NIA a few days back.

An FIR was registered based on the orders of the MHA as the anti-terror agency initiated the probe. The agency took over the case from Delhi Police, which registered an FIR in the matter under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

The decision to hand over the case to the NIA was taken by the Home Ministry following a meeting with UK representatives earlier this week, the sources indicated. A special team of the NIA, including a Deputy Inspector General rank officer, may visit London "very soon", said a source privy to the development.

In Bihar, a massive fire broke out at a refined oil storage godown in Bihar's Patna as huge smog engulfed the area. Operation to douse down the fire is currently underway.

A three-storeyed rice mill building collapsed in Karnal where several rice mill workers feared of being trapped under debris. Workers used to sleep inside the building. Fire brigade, police and ambulance have reached the spot. Rescue operations are underway.

DC Karnal Anish Yadav informed A total of 24 people have been affected out of which 20 are injured and 4 are dead. Around 150 workers were inside the building when the incident took place. The injured have been admitted to a hospital.  Prima facie we found that the building had some defects. A committee will be formed to investigate the incident. Legal action will be taken against the rice mill owners.

Karnal SP Shashank Kumar informed that no one is missing now based on the list of worker. The NDRF and SDRF teams will arrive soon.

G20 delegates take part in a Yoga session in Panaji Goa, ahead of the 2nd Health Working Group Meeting today. MoS Health Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar appealed to everyone to practice Yoga each day for a healthy life, says

Apple's first India store set to open in Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) today. People stand in queues outside the store before its opening.

A massive fire broke out at a scrap compound in the Mankhurd area. Fire tenders present at the spot, and efforts to douse the fire are underway. More details awaited.

India on Monday with its inclusive and action-oriented policy processes at the heart of its agenda celebrated a key milestone of hosting its 100th meeting under its G20 Presidency with the meeting of Agricultural Chief Scientists (MACS) in Varanasi.

The G20, or Group of Twenty, is an intergovernmental forum of the world's 20 major developed and developing economies, making it the premier forum for international economic cooperation.

With more than 12,300 delegates from over 110 nations, the in-person participation in India's G20 Presidency is the largest ever hosted by any G20 country so far. Throughout India's Presidency, more than 200 meetings in around 60 cities across India are still being planned, making it the widest geographical spread.

India's G20 presidency inclusive pan-India approach, centred on Jan Bhagidari or citizen's engagement has so far covered over 41 cities, with around a dozen meetings held in the North Eastern part of the country. The meetings have also been successful in showcasing India's incredible natural and architectural beauty through excursions, side events and more than 1500 cultural events with around 7000 artists performing.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov on Monday attended the inaugural session of "India-Russia Business Dialogue" 2023 and met representatives of Russian and Indian businesses in New Delhi  The participants present at the business forum discussed issues to further enhance Russian-Indian practical cooperation, including within the Intergovernmental Commission (IGC). 

Manturov, who arrived in the national capital on Monday spoke about the measures taken to strengthen Russia's "technological sovereignty". He noted that there is no goal to completely replace everything. "We will rely on trusted foreign partners. We will make every effort to expand our cooperation ties to exchange competence and experience in the most promising technological areas," he said. READ MORE

The death toll in a suspected hooch tragedy in Bihar's Motihari (East Champaran district) climbed to 29 on Tuesday amidst a political blame game in the state. The deaths took place in the Turkauliya, Harsiddhi, Sugauli and Paharpur areas of the district, officials said. Some ten people have been arrested in connection with the sale and transportation of illicit liquor.

The Supreme Court will today, April 18 hear a batch of pleas seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriages. The top court has constituted a five-judge Constitution bench led by the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha to hear the matter. The hearing will be live-streamed. 

Notably, the Centre has filed an affidavit before the Apex Court questioning the validity of petitions and contended that the plea for a social institution called “marriage” of a different kind than contemplated under existing law is beyond the purview of the judiciary. 

An Indian climber went missing while attempting to climb the 10th highest mountain- Mt Annapurna in Nepal on Monday afternoon.
A search operation to locate the missing climber identified as Anurag Maloo (34) from Kishangargh of Rajasthan, India has continued since afternoon. "The search operation is on. He fell into a crevasse while returning from Camp IV this afternoon," Chairman of Seven Summit Treks, Mingma Sherpa confirmed ANI.

As per the official from the expedition organizing organization, the climber went missing after he fell down from around 6,000m while descending from Camp III.

Maloo also had abandoned the summit attempt and was on his way back to the camp when he fell into the crevasse this afternoon. His condition is yet to be known. The aspiring mountaineer last year had successfully ascended Mount Ama Dablam and was planning to stand atop Mount Everest, Annapurna and Lhotse this season.

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray met Congress Gen Secy KC Venugopal and other leaders in Mumbai. He attacked BJP and alleged that the saffron party betrayed his party. He said, "We maintained a relationship with the BJP for 25-30 years, but they did not understand who was a friend and who was an opponent. We (Congress) will together fight the fight for democracy in the country".

He further said, "Last time when BJP chief JP Nadda came to Mumbai, he said that there will be only one party and that's BJP. This is the biggest betrayal to all other parties. The way they tried to finish Shiv Sena, and betrayed the party, they’re trying to do the same with other parties too".

Union Minister Anurag Thakur hit back at the Uddhav Thackeray and Congress Gen Secy KC Venugopal meeting in Mumbai. He said that the in politics, discussions keep happening and now corrupted parties are trying to take each other's help. "People have not accepted this 'Mahathagbadhan" and they never will......they're just trying to cover up their corruption and trying to prevent themselves from going to jail," he added.

A woman officer from the mining department was dragged, and attacked by people allegedly involved in illegal sand mining in Bihta town in Patna district. The Patna SSP informed that 44 people have been arrested, and 3 FIRs were filed while raids were underway to arrest others pertaining to the attack on a woman officer.

Patna SP Rajesh Kumar said, "A group of anti-social elements attacked a district mining officer while she was carrying out an operation related to sand mining in the area. 44 arrested while 3 have been injured including the district mining officer and two mining inspectors".