1. Delhi Police has caught ‘Lady Don’ Zoya Khan from northeast Delhi with heroin valued at Rs.1 crore. She was arrested while delivering a drug consignment. Zoya is married to jailed Gangster Hashim Baba, who faces murder, extortion, and arms smuggling charges. She manages her husband’s crime cartel while maintaining a clean public image. Delhi Police, which has been tracking her activities, effectively utilized a tip-off on her drug deal to arrest her.
2. India and Pakistan held a 75-minute-long brigade-commander level flag meeting amid cross-border firings between its security personnel. In the meeting at the Chakan-Da-Bagh crossing point area, both countries expressed willingness to honor the ceasefire arrangement. Recently, two army personnel were killed in an IED explosion in Jammu and two other soldiers suffered injuries in cross-border firing in Rajouri and Poonch. Indian Army’s retaliatory fire, too, resulted in “heavy casualties” on the Pakistani side.
3. A major controversy has erupted following Donald Trump’s claim that USAID’s $21 Million support for voter turnout in India could be for a regime change. The debate has brought USAID’s former India director Veena Reddy into the spotlight. BJP MLA Mahesh Jethmalani, in his X post, raised suspicion over her tenure in India, which incidentally ended post-Lok Sabha elections 2024.
4. India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has called Trump’s revelations on the $21 million grant to the country and relevant disclosures by the US Administration “deeply troubling.” Addressing media, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said this has raised “concerns of foreign interference in India’s internal affairs.” He added that Indian agencies are probing the matter.
5. Delhi BJP MLA Paresh Verma, who defeated Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal, said he is a disciplined party worker and would remain so until his last breath. Thanking PM Modi, Union Minister Amit Shah, and BJP Chief JP Nadda, Verma vouched that he is committed to fulfilling the responsibility the party has given him. He promised to make Delhi the most beautiful capital in the world.
6. The National Marathi literary gathering–the 98th Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan–was inaugurated today by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi. It is significant to note that after 71 long years, the Marathi literary gathering is happening in the national capital. The event sees participation from several Marathi literary figures, in addition to book expos, cultural performances, and discussion panels.
7. Bengaluru traffic on any day is a nightmare for its residents. The fact was acknowledged by Karnataka Deputy CM and Development Minister DK Shivakumar himself. Inaugurating the workshop Namma Raste 2025, DK Shivakumar said even if God were to descend on Bengaluru’s streets, the city’s traffic could not be fixed in just a few years. Highlighting the IT city’s space crunch, he said the government is now focusing on standardizing road designs, and quality road laying and maintenance.
8. The ED on Friday carried out a raid at the residence of Simran Preet Panesar, former Air Canada Manager. Panesar living in Chandigarh’s outskirts faces a Cananda-wise warrant for his role in a 2023 gold robbery at the Toronto Pearson International Airport. The theft dubbed the biggest heist in Canada saw a cargo containing 6,600 gold bars weighing 400kg stolen. A senior ED officer revealed that the ED team would question Panesar if the robbed gold made its way to India.
9. The Railways Ministry instructed social media platform X to take down 285 posts featuring videos of stampede casualties at the New Delhi Railway station on February 15. The posts include those from major news channels as well. The Ministry issued the notice on February 17 giving the social media platform 36 hours to remove the objectionable post, citing ethical norms and X’s content policy. The Ministry’s notice added that sharing the content could create unnecessary law and order issues.
10. The Kerala HC rejected the anticipatory bail plea submitted by BJP leader PC George. Earlier, George during a January 5 television debate made derogatory remarks about the Muslim community, following which the Muslim Youth League Municipal Committee registered an FIR against him under Sections 196(1)(a), 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS), and Section 120(o) of the Kerala Police Act. The court cited George’s repeated violations for dismissing his bail plea.
References: Times of India | Hindustan Times | NDTV | News 18