India

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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Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 26 (IANS) The Congress on Monday cleared the candidature of K. Sudhakaran for the Lok Sabha election from the Kannur seat in Kerala.

He is the sitting Lok Sabha member from the constituency and also is Congress' Kerala chief.

Sudhakaran, a two-time MP from Kannur, was not keen to enter the fray due to some health issues. But following pressure from several quarters in the party after the CPI(M) decided to field local strongman M.V. Jayarajan, the Congress asked Sudhakaran to enter the fray.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress-led UDF had won 19 out of the 20 seats in the state, losing just the Alappuzha seat.

The Congress contested on 16 seats, the IUML two and the Kerala Congress and RSP one each.

In the 2019 polls, the UDF allies -- IUML won two seats, as did RSP candidate at Kollam and Kottayam which was won by Kerala Congress (Mani) party’s candidate, who later moved to the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Front.

The only seat that the Congress lost in 2019 was the Alappuzha seat and now with all the sitting Congress MPs cleared to contest, all eyes are on who will contest from Alappuzha.

--IANS

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Uttara Kannada (Karnataka), Feb 26 (IANS) An aged woman died of Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD), known as monkey fever, in Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada district, taking the death toll due to the disease to four in the state.

The deceased is a 60-year-old woman from Koorlakai village in Siddapur taluk. The victim was being treated for three days at Meggan Hospital in Shivamogga and succumbed on Sunday night.

She was diagnosed with monkey fever 20 days ago and was suffering from symptoms of high fever. In Siddapur taluk alone, the number of monkey fever cases has risen to 43.

The state, which has 103 active monkey fever cases, had recorded three deaths so far, one each in Chikkamagaluru, Uttara Kannada and Shivamogga districts.

State Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao had recently held a high-level meeting with legislators and officers of three districts of the state where the outbreak of the disease has raised concern.

The state government has held talks with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for effective vaccination and authorities are hopeful of getting the vaccine sooner.

The awareness programme is also being undertaken in the regions where the disease has been detected.

Monkey fever is a tick-borne viral haemorrhagic disease which can be fatal to humans and other primates. The symptoms of KFD begin suddenly with chills, fever, and headache. Severe muscle pain with vomiting, gastrointestinal symptoms and bleeding problems may occur three-four days after onset of initial symptom.

--IANS

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Bengaluru, Feb 26 (IANS) Gali Janardhana Reddy, mining baron turned politician, on Monday met Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at his official residence Cauvery in Bengaluru.

Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and Minister for Kannada and Culture Shivaraj Tangadagi were also present during the meeting.

The development has assumed importance in the backdrop of elections to the Rajya Sabha for four seats scheduled to be held on February 27 (Tuesday).

Reddy, MLA from Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha (KRJP) had earlier declared his support to BJP. However, he praised Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for granting Rs 100 crore for the development of Anjanadri pilgrimage centre, believed to be the birth place of Lord Hanuman in Koppal district of Karnataka.

BJP and JD (S) were banking on Reddy to ensure the victory of their fifth candidate Kupendra Reddy.

However, Janardhana Reddy has kept mum over which party he will support in the Rajya Sabha elections. The Rajya Sabha elections from Karnataka are being held for four seats. Congress has fielded AICC Treasurer Ajay Maken, Rajya Sabha MP Syed Naseer Hussain and G.C. Chandrashekhar.

Senior BJP leader Narayansa Bandage and Kupendra Reddy, from the JD-S have filed their nominations as the candidates of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for the Rajya Sabha. The fielding of Kupendra Reddy as the fifth candidate has created intense competition between the ruling Congress and the BJP.

--IANS

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Hyderabad, Feb 26 (IANS) A couple was electrocuted in Telangana’s Vikarabad district on Monday morning.

The incident occurred in the Burhanpur village of Bomraspet mandal.

Boina Laxman (48) and his wife Laxmi (42) were hanging clothes on an iron wire in front of their house.

The wire had come in contact with an electric line on the street, which led to the tragedy.

According to local residents, the incident occurred due to some technical problem in the power supply system in the area. The couple have one daughter and two sons. Police registered a case and launched an investigation

--IANS

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