India

Guwahati, March 7 (IANS) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said the BJP-led NDA will win at least 22 out of total 25 seats in the northeast.

He said, “We will win at least 22 seats. It may go up to 23 as well. In Assam, we will win 11 or 12 seats.”

According to the Chief Minister, there is no contest left in the election. The BJP is set to get 370 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

“When I visit the rural areas, nobody is talking about the elections. Everybody is talking about the development. I am also busy with developmental works and everyday new projects are being launched at different corners of Assam,” he said.

CM Sarma argued that the winning margin for BJP candidates in Assam will be huge this time.

He said, “Earlier, candidates used to win MP seats by 25,000 votes but this time it will go past two or three lakh votes.”

The Assam Chief Minister also said that he has been looking at the election as an opportunity for the people of Assam to shower their blessings on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the development work of the state to continue at a more rapid pace in the coming years.

He also mentioned that PM Modi will launch several projects in his upcoming schedule to the state. The Prime Minister will unveil the 84-feet long statue of 16th century Ahom general Lachit Borphukan.

--IANS

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New Delhi, March 7 (IANS) A Delhi court on Thursday issued fresh summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on ED's complaint.

This is ED's second complaint over non-compliance with the agency's summons issued to him in connection with a money laundering case related to the now-scrapped excise policy case.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Divya Malhotra of Rouse Avenue Court put up the matter for hearing on March 16, when she is set to hear the ED's first complaint over the same matter as well.

The ACMM on February 17 granted a day's exemption from physical appearance to CM Kejriwal in connection with the first complaint filed by the ED over the same issue.

The fresh complaint pertains to "Kejriwal not abiding by the summons number 4 to 8", a source said.

The AAP convenor had requested the financial probe agency for a date after March 12 for questioning on the excise policy matter.

His response came after the ED issued summons to CM Kejriwal for the eighth time on February 27 and asked him to appear before it on March 4.

ACMM Malhotra had taken cognisance of the first complaint on February 7." The judge had then said, ".. summons are being issued to him to appear on February 17".

The ED, on January 31, issued summons to CM Kejriwal for the fifth time, and he was told to appear before it on February 2. The financial probe agency's complaint alleged that the CM intentionally did not want to obey the summons and kept on giving "lame excuses".

"If a high-ranking public functionary like him disobeyed the law, it would set a wrong example for the common man," the agency had said.

The ED had issued summons for the fourth time to CM Kejriwal on January 13, asking him to appear before it on January 18. On February 2, AAP said that CM Kejriwal did not appear before the ED for questioning, and also targeted the Central government. "Delhi CM and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal will not appear before ED today either. The party calls the summons 'unlawful'. We will comply with the lawful summons," AAP had said.

--IANS

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Manchester, March 7 (IANS) Defending champions Manchester City eased into the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League for a seventh successive season after comfortably beating FC Copenhagen 3-1 at Etihad Stadium.

Wednesday night's victory saw Pep Guardiola’s defending European champions complete a 6-2 aggregate success after a 3-1 win in the Danish capital last month.

City have won their last 10 matches in the Champions League, becoming the first English side to achieve that figure.

It didn't take long for City to extend the aggregate lead they earned in Denmark three weeks ago, with centre-back Manuel Akanji meeting Julian Alvarez's corner with an accurate volley into the top corner after just five minutes.

Alvarez was then among the goals himself, with a curling strike from outside the box squirming beyond Copenhagen goalkeeper Kamil Grabara's grasp and into the net.

The visitors did have something to cheer close to the half-hour mark, when Mohamed Elyounoussi ran onto a wonderful Orri Oskarsson back-heel and steered home to offer his team a glimmer of hope.

Copenhagen had done well to shackle the ever-dangerous Erling Haaland in the first period, but just before the break the Norwegian forward pounced with a powerful low finish to record his sixth goal of this season's tournament.

The second half was something of a procession for City, although goalkeeper Ederson had to be alert to make a sharp save to deny substitute Magnus Mattsson.

In other action, Real Madrid drew against Leipzig with a goal from Vini Jr. and progress courtesy of their first leg win and capitalised on a 0-1 first leg scoreline to book their place in the quarter-finals.

The 14-time winners Real Madrid were pushed all the way by Leipzig in a nerve-wracking round of 16 second-leg draw.

The game got off to a pulsating and hard-fought start. The first chance fell to Ancelotti's men when Tchouameni 's cross was flicked over by Vini Jr. with his shoulder (12 mins).

Leipzig responded immediately with a couple of lightning-quick counter-attacks, but Openda was unable to find the target on either occasion.

Madrid patiently built-up play, but the Germans left no gaps in defense and tried to punish the hosts with their speedy transitions. Marco Rose's side came close to opening the scoring on two occasions before the break.

The game picked up in the second half and Madrid began to penetrate the opposition's box more often. In the 63rd minute, Carvajal played a neat through ball to Rodrygo , whose shot was blocked by Gulácsi.

But with the next move, Real Madrid made no mistake. Kroos broke up play as Leipzig were on the attack and the German fed Bellingham, who drove the length of the pitch before slipping in Vini. Jr. and the Brazilian scored with an emphatic first-time finish (65').

--IANS

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Kanpur (UP), March 7 (IANS) A team of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday began conducting raids at the residence of jailed Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Irfan Solanki in Kanpur district.

According to reports, the probe agency team is currently present at Solanki's Jajmau residence.

The residence of his brother, Arshad, is also being raided under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The ED is conducting search operations at builder Haji Wasi's residence. Wasi, closely associated with Irfan Solanki, is accused in the arson attack in Kanpur in 2022, along with several other individuals of Bangladeshi origin.

Irfan Solanki has been lodged in Maharajganj jail for the past one year after being accused of land encroachment by a woman. More than a dozen cases have been filed against him.

--IANS

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Chandigarh, March 7 (IANS) In an intelligence-based operation, Punjab Police on Thursday said they averted possible target killings with the arrest of two members of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI)-backed terror module.

The module was operated by US-based Harpreet Singh, alias Happy Passian, a close aide of Pakistan-based terrorist Harwinder Singh Rinda, along with his associate identified as Shamsher Singh, alias Shera, presently based in Armenia.

As per preliminary investigations Happy Passian was working in connivance with Rinda and Shamsher to radicalise the youth by motivating them to carry out anti-national activities in the state, Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said.

The police have recovered two pistols along with four magazines and 30 cartridges.

An FIR has been registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Arms Act at state Special Operation Cell in Amritsar.

--IANS

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New Delhi, March 7 (IANS) Indian Air Force (IAF) transport aircraft C-17 has airdropped an indigenously developed heavy platform that can carry a maximum load of over 22 tonnes.

An IAF official said that it was a major milestone on its path towards Atmanirbhar Bharat.

"The extra long and heavy platform, indigenously developed by ADRDE and capable of carrying approximately 45,000 Lbs of load, was successfully air-dropped during trials from an IAF C-17 aircraft," the official said.

Capable of carrying multiple such platforms, combat capabilities of C-17 aircraft will be further enhanced in its varied missions to air-deliver critical loads to troops on ground.

ADRDE is the Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment which is a premier defence research laboratory.

The Defence Ministry is stressing on indigenous techniques and indigenously developed modern equipment for the armed forces. It also launched 'Acing Development of Innovative Technologies with iDEX (ADITI)' scheme on March 4. It is to promote innovations in critical and strategic defence technologies.

Under the scheme, startups are eligible to receive grant-in-aid of up to Rs 25 crore for their research, development, and innovation endeavours in defence technology.

--IANS

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Bengaluru, March 7 (IANS) A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team was in Karnataka's Bellary city in connection with the Rameshwaram Cafe bomb blast case.

The team reached the city in the early hours of Thursday, and sources said that more than 10 NIA officers in two vehicles were gathering information.

Sources also said that the alleged bomber had travelled to Tumakuru from Bengaluru after carrying out the explosion and from there he had come to Bellary city.

Another NIA team had reached a Tumakuru bus stand where the suspect was said to have been seen.

The sources said that the NIA has got information in Bellary that the accused had boarded a bus moving towards Gokarna city in coastal Karnataka from Mantralayam in Andhra Pradesh. It is suspected that the bomber was in Bhatkal town in Uttara Kannada district and may have plans of escaping to a foreign country.

The investigating agencies had earlier tracked many suspected terrorist activities in the coastal town of Bhatkal. It is suspected that the bomber is getting support from the sleeper cells to escape from the country and the NIA has intensified the probe to nab him, according to sources.

The sources also said that the bomber had come to the Sujatha Circle in Bengaluru in the heart of the city and boarded the bus for Tumakuru city. From here he had boarded another bus to Bellary city.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA), probing the Bengaluru cafe blast case, on Wednesday released the photo of a man suspected of carrying out the explosion and also announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for providing information/ clues about him.

Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara earlier had said that the NIA has got a vital clue in connection with the blast that took place at the Rameshwaram Cafe here on March 1 in the Whitefield area.

Parameshwara further said that the case is being jointly probed by the NIA and the Special Wing of Central Crime Branch of Bengaluru Police.

--IANS

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Ayodhya (UP), March 7 (IANS) The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh subsidiary ‘Krida Bharti’ will organise ‘Run-for-Ram' half marathon in Ayodhya on March 10.

Krida Bharti state president and MLC Avanish Kumar Singh said on Thursday that participants from the country and abroad will participate in a half-marathon named ‘Run-for-Ram’ in Ayodhya.

More than 3,000 Indian and foreign runners have registered themselves on the special website for the half marathon on Ram-Path and Bhakti-Path in Ayodhya.

Singh added this was an important and exciting sports event to provide opportunity to the local and foreign competitors. Such events are organised by Krida Bharti from time to time and the event is important also from a fitness point of view.

Those above the age of 12 years can participate in this event, he said.

--IANS

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Islamabad, Feb 26 (IANS) A week-long countrywide polio vaccination campaign is going to start in Pakistan from Monday, in which more than 45.8 million children under five years of age will be vaccinated, the Pakistani Health Ministry said.

The second campaign of the year will be held across the country from Feb. 26 to March 3, and in 33 districts of the country's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province from March 2 to 6, Xinhua news agency reported.

During the campaign, children will also be given vitamin A supplements to boost their immunity, it added.

This is the second consecutive nationwide campaign of the year after poliovirus was detected in sewage samples of 19 districts in January, and in 126 sewage samples in 2023, said the statement.

The first campaign of 2024 was held from Jan. 8 to 14, during which over 43 million children were vaccinated, according to the ministry.

--IANS

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New York, Feb 26 (IANS) Antidepressant use rose sharply in adolescents and young adults, particularly among girls, after the Covid-19 pandemic began, according to a new study.

The findings, published in the journal Pediatrics, showed the rate of antidepressant use rose nearly 64 per cent faster after March 2020 in young people aged 12 to 25.

“Antidepressant dispensing to adolescents and young adults was already high and rising before March 2020. Our findings suggest these trends accelerated during the pandemic,” said lead author Kao Ping Chua, a paediatrician and researcher at University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in the US.

Importantly, the increase in the antidepressant dispensing rate during the pandemic was driven by females: 130 per cent faster among girls aged 12-17 years and 60 per cent faster among females aged 18-25 years.

“Multiple studies suggest that rates of anxiety and depression among female adolescents increased during the pandemic,” Chua said. “These studies, coupled with our findings, suggest the pandemic exacerbated a pre-existing mental health crisis in this group.”

In contrast to females, the antidepressant dispensing rate changed little among male young adults after March 2020 and declined among male adolescents, which Chua found surprising.

“It’s hard to believe this decline reflects improved mental health,” he said.

This could be because male adolescents may have skipped physicals and other health care visits during the pandemic, decreasing opportunities to diagnose and treat anxiety and depression, the researchers said.

Chua said the overall rise in antidepressant dispensing to adolescents and young adults may not only be related to worsened mental health. Long waitlists for psychotherapy, for example, may have also played a role.

“In my primary care clinic, I often heard from patients and families that they were facing 6-9 month wait lists for therapy during the pandemic. In those situations, it didn’t make sense to withhold antidepressants and recommend a therapy-only approach,” he said.

--IANS

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