1. KCR and Nitish Kumar skip Niti Aayog meet: Telangana CM KCR has said he would not participate in the Niti Aayog meeting as a mark of protest. In his letter to the PMO, he stated that the Central government is not treating the states as equal partners in the country’s development.
2. IT searches across Tamil film industry financiers: Income Tax (IT) department, on Saturday, revealed that it conducted three-day long searches at 40 premises connected with Tamil film industry producers, distributors, and financiers across multiple locations in the state.
3. India deploying AI-based surveillance systems at its borders: Army is deploying AI-based surveillance systems at India’s border with Pakistan and China. They receive their inputs from satellite imagery, drones, radars, thermal cameras, electro-optical devices, and motion detectors and interpret and disseminate them to frontlines, reducing the need for manual monitoring of borders.
4. Two TMC MPs defy party whip: MPs Sisir Adhikari and his son Dibyendu Adhikari defied the party’s stand not to vote in the V-P polls. The father-son duo was spotted entering the Parliament House to cast their votes.
5. Shaheedi Saptah rally by Maoists attracts 10,000 villagers in Bastar: Maoists observing martyr’s week in Bijapur and Sukma districts in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh took out a rally in which some 10,000 villagers marched along with armed rebels. Police have downplayed the Maoist event ‘Shaheedi Saptah,’ an annual occurrence.
6. RCP Singh quits JD(U): Former Union Minister RCP Singh has resigned from JD(U) following allegations that he acquired properties illegally. Singh said the plots were purchased through legal means in his daughters’ names and that they have been filing separate tax returns over the last ten years.
7. SSLV experiences data loss in its terminal stage: ISRO’s SSLV-D1/EOS-02 Mission has injected the satellites it was carrying. However, the orbit achieved was less than expected, making them unstable. Earlier the space agency had reported a data loss at the terminal stage. SSLV was carrying an earth observation satellite and ‘Azaadisat’ designed by 750 girl students.
8. Royal Enfield launches new bike ‘Hunter 350’: Royal Enfield Motorcycles has launched its new model Hunter 350 in three variants, Retro, Metro, and Metro Rebel, priced between Rs 1.49 lakh and Rs 1.68 lakh. The company held a launch event today in Thailand.
9. Israel strike kills top Islamic Jihad commander, allegedly some children too: Israeli airstrike has killed the second top Islamic Jihad commander Khaled Mansour. The firing of missiles from both sides was reported. Meanwhile, Gaza health officials said 24 people have been killed so far, including six children.
10. Bangladesh raises fuel prices by over 50 percent: Bangladesh has raised its fuel prices by 51.7 percent. With the state-run oil company Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) already facing a loss of $85 million, the increase in prices is likely to recover losses and also reduce the subsidy burden for the country.
Image: DNA