LIVE news update: SC to hear plea in disproportionate assets case against ex-UP CMs Mulayam, Akhilesh

The Supreme Court would hear on Monday a plea seeking a direction to the CBI to place the investigation report in the disproportionate assets case against Samajwadi Party leaders and former Uttar Pradesh chief ministers -- Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Akhilesh Yadav.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi has listed the fresh plea of political activist Vishwanath Chaturvedi for hearing on March 25 in which he has sought a direction to the CBI to file its probe report either before the apex court or before a magisterial court in the assets case.

The ban on the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) will turn the state into an "open air prison", former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said on Friday.

Reacting to the central government's ban, Mehbooba Mufti tweeted: "Yasin Malik renounced violence as a way of resolving the J&K issue a long time ago.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday searched the premises of Tamil Nadu Waqf Board (TNWB) Chairman and AIADMK MP Anwhar Raajhaa, an official said.

The CBI also searched the Madurai premises of Jamal Mohideen, the then Secretary (in-charge) and Correspondent of Madurai M.S.S. Wakf Board College.

The search operations were carried out in Raajhaa's premises in Chennai and Ramanathapuram.

The Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) led by Muhammad Yasin Malik was declared a banned organisation on Friday by the central government.

"The JKLF outfit has been banned for promotion of secessionist activities in Jammu and Kashmir," official sources said.

Malik is presently under detention in Kot Balwal Jail in Jammu. Earlier, the Centre banned the Jamaat-e-Islami group.

France has approached the European Union to designate Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist and the 28-member grouping is expected to take a decision on the issue based on the principle of consensus, the External Affairs Ministry said Friday.

"France has taken up the matter with the EU. We understand that the EU will take its decision once their process of designating a terrorist is complete," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

"It has to be a unanimous decision," he said. The EU functions under the principle of consensus.

The move by France, a member of the EU, came days after China blocked a bid at the United Nations to ban Azhar.

President Donald Trump has indicated his readiness to meet Pakistan's new leadership, amidst the ongoing peace talks between the US and the Taliban facilitated by Islamabad to end the brutal war in Afghanistan, America's longest.

The relations between Pakistan and the US nosedived after President Trump last year accused Islamabad of giving nothing to Washington but "lies and deceit" and providing "safe haven" to terrorists.

In September, the Trump administration cancelled USD 300 million in military aid to Islamabad for not doing enough against terror groups like the Haqqani Network and Taliban active on its soil. Trump also criticised Pakistan in a Twitter post back in November, saying Islamabad was not doing enough to stop terrorism.

CPRO Northeast Frontier Railway:Normal running of train in New Jalpaiguri–Aluabari section got affected today due to incident of fire in train engine of 15904UP Chandigarh-Dibrugarh Express.Incident occurred at about 1120 am near ChattarHat station about 20 km from New Jalpaiguri

Maharashtra: Total 71 deaths and 928 cases of Swine flu have been reported from across the state in 2019; Most number of deaths (17) were reported from Nashik

The Supreme Court has sought a response from the Uttarakhand government on a plea seeking restoration of forest area in Gadoli-Mandakhal in the state's Pauri district.

A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Hemant Gupta issued notices to the Uttarakhand government and others while directing them to file their replies in six weeks.

The top court was hearing a plea filed by Subir Mario Chowfin, who had approached the apex court against the October 8, 2018 order of the tribunal, dismissing his plea noting that he had undertaken multiple proceedings before various forums and multiple cause of actions have been raised in his petition.

Noting that the case is one where plural remedies have been raised on different cause of action, the NGT had junked his plea.

Indian women’s football team beat Nepal by 3-1 in the SAFF Championship 2019. This was India’s 5th Cup

One of the two key accused in the Kodanadu murder and heist case - K V Sayan - was detained under the Goondas Act on Friday, District collector Innocent Divya said.

The Collector told reporters here she signed the detention order Thursday night and Sayan was sent to the Coimbatore central jail where he is lodged.

The order was served on Sayan this afternoon, she said.

Terrorists fired upon Hilal Shah, the Chairman of Municipal Committee, Anantnag. One Personal Security Officer (PSO) of the chairman has received injuries. More details awaited

Four Indian American teenagers have been awarded $25,000 each for developing innovative approaches to address environmental issues.

The recipients of the award are Anjali Chadha (16) of Kentucky, Preeti Sai Krishnamani (17) of Delaware, Navami Jain (17) of North Carolina and Sai Preethi Mamidala (17) of Pennsylvania, the American Bazaar daily reported.

Beijing has been steadily gathering support for its "Belt and Road" initiative, which aims to weave a network of ports, bridges and power plants linking China with Africa, Europe and beyond.

Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte has pledged to sign a memorandum of understanding this week on supporting the initiative during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has made the initiative a signature policy of his administration.

Italy's involvement would give China a crucial inroad into western Europe and a symbolic boost in its economic tug-of-war with the United States.

Sensex tumbled over 222 points as investors scrambled to book profits after the recent rally while ratings agency Fitch slashed India's growth forecast.

Lacklustre global cues and a depreciating rupee also weighed on the markets, analysts said.

The 30-share index opened on a positive note at 38,452.47, but soon succumbed to heavy selling pressure, touching an intra-day low of 38,089.36. It finally closed at 38,164.61, down by 222.14 points, or 0.58 per cent.

On similar lines, the NSE Nifty shed 64.15 points, or 0.56 per cent, to finish at 11,456.90.

The New Zealand Police said on Friday that it was probing death threats sent to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on social media.

A Twitter post containing a photo of a gun and captioned "You are next" was sent to the Prime Minister earlier on Friday.

The post had been up for more than 48 hours before the sender's Twitter account was suspended before 4 p.m. after it was reported by various people.

Jammu and Kashmir: Pakistan violated ceasefire in Poonch district today, by shelling with mortars and firing of small arms along LoC in Mendhar sector. Indian Army is retaliating befittingly.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on a newspaper report alleging "payoffs amounting to over Rs. 1,800 crore" by BS Yeddyurappa to BJP leaders.

This is not "jihad" (armed crusade) but "jahalat" (benighted), a village elder pleaded to Pakistani terrorists in North Kashmir's Hajin area while asking them to release a 12-year-old boy who was held captive and subsequently killed on Thursday.

Videos of the village elder of Mir Mohalla of Hajin surfaced on social media, showing him asking the two Lashker-e-Taiba terrorists, Ali alias Furkan and Hubaib, to release Atif Mir.

The incident took place 33 km north of Srinagar where the terrorists had taken shelter in the boy's house at gunpoint, police officials said on Friday.

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Friday said BJP President Amit Shah was the man behind veteran LK Advani's success in all the elections he contested from the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency in Gujarat.

Javadekar's statement came a day after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced Shah as the candidate from Gandhinagar. Advani had been holding the seat since 1998.

Javadekar said: "Amit Shah was the man behind Advani's success in every election. He was the in-charge of the seat.

"Advani used to travel throughout the election campaign but it was Shah who ensured his landslide victory every time," Javadekar said, adding that Shah was the strategist.

Jailed former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's family, including his mother and daughter, met him at the Kot Lakhpat jail here on Thursday, and voiced concern over his health, Pakistani media reported.

Sharif, 69, is in jail since December last year, serving a 7-year imprisonment in the Al Azizia Steel Mills graft case.

Sharif's mother Shamim Bibi and daughter Maryam Nawaz were accompanied by his brother and Leader of Opposition Shahbaz Sharif and personal doctor Adnan during their visit to the jail.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday said sacrifices of the armed forces should never be questioned, but advised the government "to stop pretending to be the Indian Army".

He also said that in a democracy it was a "fundamental right" to ask questions of politicians.

His remarks assume significance in the light of his party leader Ram Gopal Yadav claiming that the Pulwama terror attack was a "conspiracy" to garner votes.

The SP chief tweeted, "This government needs to stop pretending to be the Indian Army." Politicians who say they cannot be questioned are dangerous, he said.

The death toll in the powerful explosion at a chemical plant in China climbed to 47 on Friday with President Xi Jinping demanding all-out efforts to carry out search and rescue operations.

The blast occurred after a fire in a fertilizer factory in a chemical industrial park in Yancheng, Jiangsu province on Thursday, according to the government of Xiangshui county.

Forty Seven people have been killed and a further 90 seriously injured, reported state-run China Daily.

President Xi, also the general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, demanded all-out efforts to search and rescue victims.

Enforcement Directorate imposed penalty of ₹14.40 lakh on Separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani for illegally possessing foreign exchange of 10,000 US Dollars. Amount confiscated.

Enforcement Directorate will also impose a penalty and confiscate the illegal acquisition of foreign exchange recovered from Yasin Malik, former Chairman of JKLF. The adjudication proceedings against Yasin Malik are in progress.

Enforcement Directorate arrests one Najmudin Sathak on charges of assisting Zakir Naik( in file pic) in money laundering and transfer of funds

Fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi moves a new application in PMLA court in Mumbai, stating that he has long history of ailments including heart, excruciating pain in leg and a clot in brain.

The government on Friday decided to boycott the Pakistan National Day event to be held at its high commission as Kashmiri separatist leaders were also invited, an official said.

Indian government officials will stay away from the reception scheduled on the eve of Pakistan National Day, which is celebrated on March 23, the official said.

"The government of India has decided not to send any official representative to the Pakistan National Day event at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi," the official said.

The decision has been taken because Pakistan has decided to invite separatist leaders from Jammu and Kashmir to the event, the official added.

Two gunfights were underway in Jammu and Kashmir's Sopore and Shopian districts on Friday between militants and security forces, police said.

In Sopore, firing exchanges took place in Warpora area, the same site of an encounter on Thursday where two policemen were injured.

The police said that there were no reports of any militant casualties in this gun battle so far.

All educational institutions in Sopore were closed and mobile Internet services suspended as a precautionary measure.

The second gunfight took place Shopian's Imam Sahib after security forces cordoned off the area following the information about the presence of militants.

On Thursday, three militants were killed while seven security men and three civilians injured in three different gun battles in the Kashmir Valley.

A fire broke out at a factory in outer Delhi's Bawana on Friday morning, an official said.

A call about the fire was received at 9 AM after which four fire tenders were rushed to the spot, a senior official of the Delhi Fire Service said.

No injury or casualty was reported so far, he said

The rupee appreciated by 6 paise to 68.57 against the US dollar in opening trade on Friday, driven by sustained foreign fund inflows and higher opening of domestic equities.

The rupee opened at 68.60 at the interbank forex market, then gained further ground and touched 68.57, displaying gains of 6 paise over its last close.

The rupee Wednesday had recovered by 13 paise to close at 68.83 against the US dollar