
Malegaon blast case: Special NIA court adjourns hearing for tomorrow
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Pragya Singh Thakur, one of the seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, on Monday appeared before the special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Mumbai. The court, however, adjourned the hearing for December 5 and asked the Thakur to be present in court whenever asked after she sought exemption from daily appearance in court on health and security grounds, according to ANI.
Thakur’s lawyer, advocate JP Mishra, had confirmed that she will be appearing in the NIA court on Monday. Mishra had said on December 19 last year that probe agency was delaying the trial in the 2008 Malegaon blast case and not them.
The special court had asked all the accused to remain present before it on that day. However, only Lt Col Prasad Purohit, Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni, Ajay Rahikar and Sudhakar Dwiwedi appeared before the court. The remaining accused — Pragya Singh Thakur, Ramesh Upadhayay, Sudhakar Diwedi and Sudhakar Chaturvedi — could not appear before the court.
Six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, a town in north Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008. The court had framed terror charges against Purohit, Thakur and five other accused in October 2018. They have been charged under Sections 16 (committing terrorist act) and 18 (conspiring to commit terrorist act) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
They have also been charged under sections 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 153 (a) (promoting enmity between two religious groups), of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant provisions of the Explosive Substances Act.
(With agency inputs)

Delhi HC directs UP police to give post mortem report of farmer

At least three Myanmar cops cross into India seeking refuge
- Those entering India can be granted refugee status, but they will be deported if the government decides against it

Cyber policy to factor in threat from state actors
- The 50-odd pages document, anchored by the national security adviser’s office, is now awaiting the approval from the Prime Minister’s office before it is released.

Phase 2 of vaccination drive stuck in first gear
- Delhi, which gave shots to 1,679 people per million population in the second phase till Wednesday night, was in the second spot, while Odisha (1,283 doses per million) was third.

OTT regulations a necessity as some even show porn, says SC
- The scenes that caused offence have since been deleted, and the makers as well as the OTT company have apologised.

‘Can’t mandate perverse equality’: SC on plea over commission for women
- The medical fitness team of the Army tested close to 615 women SSC officers entitled for permanent commission, following the apex court judgment, on five counts: psychiatry, height, appendage (bone structure), physical and eye and ear.

N-E cities have the strongest feel-good factor
- The EOL report has calculated its overall scores on the basis of four parameters: quality of life, economic ability, sustainability and citizen perception.

Economic might led Bengaluru to top
- Bengaluru, India’s technology capital, is an economic powerhouse on account of the presence of some of the world’s largest corporations.

BJP names Metro Man as its Kerala CM face, then retracts
- K Surendran, the state BJP president who made the original announcement claimed he was quoted out of context.
_1614884674395_1614884685385.jpg)
Similipal blaze contained, Odisha asks for rapid response to forest fires
- The biosphere reserve spread over an area of 5569 sq km contributes 38% of the total protected area network in Odisha. It is also one of the oldest tiger reserves in the country having the largest zone of Sal trees.

Top military meet in new avatar, to be ‘multi-layered and informal’
- For the first time, junior commissioned officers (JCOs) and jawans are taking part in the top conference, as reported by Hindustan Times on Wednesday.

Four days into March, Mumbai sizzles at 38 degrees Celsius
- According to the IMD's forecast, Friday and Saturday may see higher daytime temperatures that could rise to 39 degrees Celsius.

More than 1 million Covid-19 vaccine doses given in a day: Government

Complainant fails to join probe against Karnataka ex-minister Ramesh Jarkiholi
- A police officer said that the complainant's status as witness in the case of alleged sexual exploitation against former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi is also unclear.
