Yogi Adityanath to take oath on March 25, top BJP leadership to attend

During the Union Home Minister's two-day visit to the Union Territory, Amit Shah and Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday chaired a security review meeting with senior officials at Raj Bhawan in Jammu.

Yogi Adityanath, who led the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to victory in the recently-held Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, will be sworn-in for his second term as the chief minister on March 25, Hindustan Times’ sister publication Livehindustan reported on Friday. Read More

With powerful Rawalpindi GHQ deciding to stay out of current political turmoil in Pakistan, the clock has started ticking on Prime Minister Imran Khan as he faces a no-confidence motion, moved by a united opposition and helped by disgruntled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) legislators, on March 28. Read More

Congress ‘G-23’ leader Ghulam Nabi Azad arrives at residence of party chief Sonia Gandhi, reports ANI

A World Health Organization spokesperson said on Friday that the end of the Covid-19 pandemic was a long way off, citing a rise in cases in its latest weekly data.

Asked by a journalist at a Geneva media briefing about the timing of the pandemic's end, Margaret Harris said it was "far from over".

Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai called an all-party meeting at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru to discuss the interstate water dispute issues, reports news agency ANI. Congress leaders Siddaramaiah, BK Hariprasad and JDS leaders reportedly present at the meeting.

Punjab Cabinet expansion ceremony to induct the ministers will be held tomorrow, March 19 at 11 am in Chandigarh, reports ANI. The first meeting of the Cabinet will also be held tomorrow at 12.30 pm.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold the 2nd India-Australia virtual summit on March 21. Morrison said, “We'll discuss deepening our trade & investment relationship & harnessing new economic opportunities to support our mutual economic recovery & growth.”

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is facing a revolt from within his party. This comes after around 24 PTI lawmakers openly threatened to vote against him on a no-confidence motion which was tabled in Pakistani Parliament. 

Amid an investigation of the Ukraine war coverage, the UK communications regulator had revoked the licence of Russian-backed broadcaster RT, reported AP.

The Taliban has officially banned the broadcasting of all foreign TV series in Afghanistan. As reported by Russian news agency Sputnik, there is no film industry in Afghanistan, and no other shows that can replace the foreign ones. 

Saudi Arabia has issued a royal directive to extend Ukrainian tourist and business citizens' visas on humanitarian grounds. Reportedly, the vias will be extended without any fees or fines. 

The Chinese commercial hub - Shanghai is conducting mass Covid-19 testing as China witnesses a massive surge in cases. 

Amid the surge in covid-19 cases across the world, Moderna Inc on late Thursday sought emergency use authorization for a second Covid-19 booster shot from the US health regulators. 

ISKCON Radhakanta temple in Bangladesh's Dhaka has been vandalized on March 17, reported news agency ANI. 

Bollywood filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri - director of ‘The Kashmir Files’ gets ‘Y’ category security cover - deployment of four to five armed commandos in close proximity. He will be protected by the CRPF during his stay or travel all over India. 

The Tamil Nadu Assembly has allocated ₹3384 crores for water management in the state.

Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna has been named to National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology.

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has written to all Additional Chief Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, Secretaries (Health) of all States/UTson Covid-19 strategy. 

He emphasized that there should be a continued focus on the five-fold strategy - Test-Track-Treat-Vaccination and adherence to COVID Appropriate Behavior.

Australian PM Scott Morrison extended Holi greetings to the Indian Australian community. In a message, he wrote, “Holi holds even more meaning this year. As we reach the end of a 2nd pandemic year, we can be thankful for the many things that have sustained us -our family, community & faith.”

India records a consistent decline in the daily Covid cases with 2,528 new infections in the last 24 hours. According to the data, 149 new Covid deaths have been reported. 3,997 people have been discharged in the past 24-hours. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended greetings to the people of the country on the occasion of Holi. Taking to Twitter, he wrote, “Wishing you all a very Happy Holi. May this festival of colors, a symbol of mutual love, affection, and brotherhood, bring every color of happiness in your life.”

Following a bipartisan call with Ambassador of India to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu, US lawmakers urge India to speak out against Vladimir Putin's targeting of civilians in Ukraine.

The Taliban-led government in Afghanistan has suspended operations of insurance companies in the war-torn country until further notice, a report by Khaama Press said. 

According to an official letter sent to insurance companies, the Taliban said that the spirit of insurance is under discussion in the Science Academy of Afghanistan to decide whether (insurance) is against Islamic practices or not. 

Fifteen people have been arrested for pelting stones at security forcesafter an encounter in Srinagar in which three militants were killed. 

"A large unruly mob assembled from adjacent areas of Shankerpora Wanabal carrying 'lathies' and stones in their hands and pelted stones on the deployed staff. In order to disperse the mob smoke shells had to be used," the Srinagar Police said in a statement on Thursday.