LIVE news updates: CSMT foot over bridge collapsed in Mumbai, many are feared to be trapped

Mumbai police: Foot over bridge connecting CSMT platform 1 north end with BT Lane near Times of India building has collapsed. Injured persons are being shifted to hospitals. Traffic affected. Commuters to use alternate routes. Senior officers are on spot. Some people are still trapped under the bridge, while many are feared to be dead.

Eyewitness have stated that many cars are also trapped under the bridge

23 people are injured in the incident

A nine-month-old infant has died, allegedly after consuming polio drops in Banda. H Lal, DM Banda said, "It's unfortunate, this is the first time such a thing has happened. I will constitute a committee to investigate the matter. Appropriate action will be taken against the guilty.”

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday said India cannot have dialogue with Pakistan unless the neighbouring country acted against terror outfits on its soil, asserting that "talks and terror cannot go together".

"We do not want talk on terror, we want action on it. Terror and talks cannot go together," she said.

"Why did the Pakistani military attack us on behalf of JeM? You not only keep JeM on your soil, but fund them and when the victim country retaliates, you attack it on the terror outfit's behalf.

"If Imran Khan (Pakistan prime minister) is so generous and a statesman, he should give us Masood Azhar," she said.

Jana Sena Party (JSP) has announced its first list of 4 MP candidates and 32 MLA candidates for the forthcoming Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the state.

Congress Chief Rahul Gandhi slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his foreign policy. Referring to China blocking designation of Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, Rahul said that PM Modi doesn't speak a word when China acts against India.

“Weak Modi is scared of Xi. Not a word comes out of his mouth when China acts against India. NoMo’s China Diplomacy: 1. Swing with Xi in Gujarat 2. Hug Xi in Delhi 3. Bow to Xi in China,” said Rahul Gandhi in a tweet.

Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections can take place ahead of the annual Amarnath Yatra that begins on July 1, said the state government sources on Thursday reported ABP News.

"The general consensus is that the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections can be held with adequate security deployments before this year's Amarnath Yatra which begins on July 1," reported the

A total of 50 countries, including the US, has either grounded or banned the Boeing 737 Max 8 planes following the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines plane of the same model that killed all 157 people on board earlier this week.

Of the more than 370 Boeing 737 Max jets in global fleets, 74 are flown by US airlines, according to the FAA. Those include United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines.

Mexico also took action against Boeing 737 Max 8 planes on Wednesday evening, just hours after the US' decision to suspend the planes' operation inside the country.

SC asks ex-Ranbaxy promoters Malvinder and Shivinder Singh to consult their advisors on complying with Singapore tribunal's ₹3500 cr award. It is not question of individual honour but it doesn't look good for country's honour.”

SC says Malvinder, Shivinder Singh flag bearers of pharmacare industry, it doesn't look good they are appearing in court and asks Singh brothers to be in court on Mar 28 after consulting their advisors, says it will hopefully be their last visit.

Rahul Gandhi in Thrissur: In 2019, when we come to power, we've decided to take a big decision of Minimum Guarantee Income. With Guaranteed Minimum Income, anybody who earns less than minimum income line will be given money by Government of India to bring them up to minimum income line.

Supreme Court asks West Bengal to file reply on a plea of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leader Roshan Giri, seeking court protection to let him participate in the upcoming general elections.

Although the Tamil Nadu government gave its nod for a CBI probe into the Pollachi sexual assault-cum-blackmail case, security was heightened and holidays declared in colleges on Thursday with stirs gaining momentum as more awful facts of the abuse came out.

All colleges were shut down in this town, 535 km from the state capital, by the authorities following student protest demanding action against the culprits -- Thirunavukkarasu, Sabarirajan, Vasanthakumar, Satish -- now in custody.

Stringent security has been put in place ever since details of how scores of women from college teachers to students even working professionals and others were sexually assaulted, harassed and blackmailed by the gang came to light.

A meeting between officials of India and Pakistan to finalise the modalities for setting up of a corridor linking the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistani town of Kartarpur with Gurdaspur district in Punjab commenced on Thursday, officials said.

The talks are being held at the Indian side of the Attari-Wagah border, they said.

It is the first meeting between officials of India and Pakistan to discuss the Kartarpur corridor issue, amid heightened tensions between the two nations over the Pulwama terror attack, followed by India's pre-emptive air strike on Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) camps in Balakot and Pakistan's subsequent retaliation.

In the meeting, New Delhi is likely to raise the issue of hassle-free access to the Indian pilgrims besides asking Islamabad to insulate Sikh pilgrims visiting the shrine in Pakistan from pro-Khalistan propaganda.

The bodies of two more Army jawans missing since last month following an avalanche in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur district were recovered on Thursday, an official said.

Naik Videsh Chand, Rifleman Arjun Kumar and four other jawans of the 7 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles were buried under the avalanche at Shipki La near the Sino-India border on February 20.

Chand and Kumar's bodies were recovered on Thursday, 23 days after the incident, he said.

The slow-moving US plans to set up six nuclear power plants in India have received a boost as the two nations reiterated their commitment to strengthen security and civil nuclear cooperation during the 9th India-US Strategic Security Dialogue.

A joint statement issued on Wednesday after the dialogue, where the Indian side was headed by Foreign Secretary Vijay K. Gokhale, said that Washington "reaffirmed its strong support of India's early membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group".

The statement also said that both countries declared their "commitment to work together to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems and to deny access to such weapons by terrorists and non-state actors".

India's annual rate of inflation based on wholesale prices rose to 2.93% in February from 2.74% reported for the corresponding month of 2018, official data showed on Thursday.

Even on a sequential basis, the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) data for February, furnished by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, showed that wholesale prices rose on a faster rate than the rise of 2.76% reported for January 2019.

The National Conference (NC) has decided not to meet the Election Commission (EC) delegation arriving in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, saying the party has nothing more to add to its demand of having simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls in the state.

Three special observers appointed by the EC will be in Srinagar on Thursday to assess the ground situation for holding assembly elections.

They will interact with the representatives of political parties and district election officers during their two-day visit to the state.

Congress leaders and National Spokespersons Randeep Singh Surjewala and Shakti Singh Gohil addressed Press Conference

Attorney General Venugopal says SC should direct removal of the leaked pages from the review petitions as the government claims of having privilege over these documents

Supreme Court while referring to RTI Act has overriding effect on Official Secrets Act as per Section 22 and Section 24 RTI Act says 'even intelligence and security establishments bound to give info about corruption and human rights violations.' AG: Security of state supersedes everything

Congress President Rahul Gandhi visited the families of the Late Sarath Lal and Kripesh, to pay his respects and condole with their loved ones. Both were members of the Youth Congress who were brutally murdered last month.

The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) why it was not providing details of procedure followed for poll expenses of elected members of the varsity's students' union before 2018.

Justice Yogesh Khanna, who had earlier asked the JNU to apprise the court of the procedure followed in previous years, said, "You (varsity) have not brought what procedure was followed for last two years." The court was hearing a plea by Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) challenging the varsity's decision to not notify the elected office bearers and barring them from performing their duties for not providing separate bills of their individual poll expenses.

The judge reserved the order on the point of whether to issue notice on the petition and said, "I am not saying anyone can bypass the Lyngdoh committee recommendations. Let's see what can be done in this peculiar situation."

NCP announced its list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections 2019 including Supriya Sule from Baramati, Sanjay Dina Patil from Mumbai North East, Anand Paranjpe from Thane, Sunil Tatkare from Raigad. Mohammad Faisal from Lakshadweep.

NCP to also support Raju Shetti's Swabhimani Shetkari Saghtana in Hatkanagale Lok Sabha constituency.

The hearing in the Samjhauta Express link train blast case was adjourned twice on Thursday following a strike by lawyers in Panchkula.

The hearing, which was to be held on Thursday morning, was adjourned by the judge till 2 pm Since the strike by lawyers continued, the hearing was adjourned again till Monday.

A National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on March 11 reserved verdict in the February 2007 Samjhauta Express blast in which 68 people, mostly Pakistani nationals, were killed.

The special NIA court was to give a judgment on March 14, following a fresh petition from a Pakistani national.

The debriefing of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman has been completed by the Indian Air Force and other agencies. Now the officer will be going on sick leave for a few weeks on the advice of doctors of Army’s Research and Referral Hospital.

A medical review board in the near future will assess the medical fitness of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman and decide on when can he resume his operations as a fighter pilot.

A chargesheet has been filed against cricketer Mohammed Shami. He has been charged under IPC 498A (dowry harassment) and 354A (sexual harassment).

A high-level team of the Election Commission led by a deputy election commissioner will be in West Bengal, Assam, Tripura and Manipur in the coming days to assess poll preparedness, official sources said on Thursday.

The decision to send Deputy Election Commissioner Sudip Jain comes a day after the BJP urged the poll watchdog to declare West Bengal a "super sensitive state".

Jain will lead the team to West Bengal on Saturday, Tripura on Sunday, Assam on Monday and Manipur on Tuesday to assess election preparedness in the four states.

While Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal are spread across all the seven phases, they will be held in two phases each in Tripura and Manipur and three in Assam.

“PM Modi wiped out future of millions in one stroke. Even his cabinet members were aware of this. Even institutions like RBI bypassed. He attacked every institution in the country and destroyed them,” said Rahul Gandhi.

“Narendra Modi won’t understand this - that even poor people fall sick. And, that they don’t have the money to go to private hospitals and afford the treatment there. That they don’t have money to afford fee of private schools. We don’t believe in blatant privatisation of education system and hospitals. We have decided to put 6% into education,” said Rahul Gandhi.

“Women are the backbone of this country. If Congress comes to power, whether it is the Lok Sabha or assemblies, 33% quota will be given to women,” said Rahul Gandhi.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi in Kozhikode, Kerala: You can even listen to his (PM Modi) speeches about Mr Vajpayee. You can see how he treats Mr Advani. He only has respect for his friend Mr Anil Ambani.

“PM Modi implemented a flawed GST. Small shopkeepers and businessmen were ruined by this GST. No one understood this GST. When we will come to power, we will simplify GST. There will be one tax slab and it will be as low as possible,” said Rahul Gandhi.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an excellent actor who could be quite successful if he tried his skills in Bollywood.

Gehlot was addressing a gathering in Laxmangarh. This was the first public gathering of the Congress party in Rajasthan after the model code of conduct for the general elections came into force.

China should promote trade with India through border areas, including Arunachal Pradesh, by involving local inhabitants that would reduce military confrontations between the two countries and improve bilateral relations, a Chinese legislator suggested.

An Ran, a professor at South China University of Technology in Guangzhou of Guangdong Province, who is also a deputy of the country's parliament, National People's Congress, said China should allow residents in the border areas with India to trade to improve China-India relations, reduce military confrontations which would benefit the local inhabitants.

The search and rescue operation for soldiers trapped by an avalanche in Himachal Pradesh's tribal Kinnaur district was called off after the bodies of the last two missing soldiers were recovered on Thursday, a defence spokesperson said.

Naik Videsh Chand, Rifleman Arjun Kumar and four other jawans of the 7 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles were buried under the avalanche at Shipki La near the Sino-India border on February 20.

Chand and Kumar's bodies were recovered on Thursday morning, 23 days after the incident.

Several women organisations on Thursday accused the Narendra Modi government of not doing much for the safety of women and said atrocities on them have witnessed a spike under the BJP dispensation.

The organisations said the BJP and the fascistic RSS have been unleashing terror by spreading caste and communal hatred while violence and mob lynching has become the order of the day.

Veteran Congress leader Tarun Gogoi Thursday said the party will benefit from the anti-Citizenship Bill sentiment in Assam after the AGP's "betrayal", and it hoped to win at least 10 of the 14 seats in the state in the Lok Sabha polls.

The former Assam chief minister claimed that the alliance between the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will not help either.

People know that the BJP is "anti-Assam" and the AGP is now exposed as a "shameless and double-standard party".

A National Conference block President was shot at and injured by unidentified gunmen on Thursday in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district.

Police said Muhammad Ismail, who was targeted, was from Bijbehara town. He was rushed to a hospital where doctors referred him to Srinagar for specialized treatment, police said.

Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedish activist, who is a prominent voice in the fight against climate change, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize this year.

Thunberg began a solo protest in Sweden in August but has since inspired students around the globe. Strikes seeking global action against climate change are expected in 1,659 towns and cities in 105 countries on Friday, involving hundreds of thousands of young people, the Guardian reported

The African Development Bank (AfDB) announced on Thursday it would provide 2.5 trillion shillings ($25 billion) over the next five years to help in the global fight against climate change.

AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina said the bank currently provides 34 per cent of its overall lending portfolio to projects aiming to boost the fight against climate change.