Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday called on President Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

“President, Indian National Congress Sonia Gandhi called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan,” the Rashtrapati Bhavan tweeted along with a photo of the two leaders.

A helicopter of the Indian Air Force (IAF) made an emergency landing in a farm in Rajasthan’s Hanumangarh district after it developed a technical snag on Tuesday, police said.

Its crew members are safe, they said. Station House Officer of Sangaria police station Hanumanaram Vishnoi said, “It was a helicopter of the Indian Air Force that made emergency landing in the farm on Tuesday morning.”

“The helicopter made the emergency landing due to a technical snag. It’s crew members are safe,” he said.

BJP leader from Haryana and actor Sonali Phogat died of a heart attack in Goa, police said on Tuesday.

Phogat, a former Tik Tok star who had joined the BJP in 2019, was on a visit to Goa along with some of her staff members.

On Monday night, she was brought to St Anthony Hospital at Anjuna in North Goa district after she complained of uneasiness, sources said.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (Mapusa) Jivba Dalvi said she was brought dead to the hospital.

Prime facie, the cause of death is established as heart attack but further medical examination is on, he said.

The postmortem would be conducted at the state-run Goa Medical College and Hospital at Bambolim, the official said.

“She has passed away. I have been given information that she was in Goa,” Haryana BJP chief O P Dhankar told to media.

BJP Hisar district president Capt Bhupender said, “Sonali ji was in Goa. I spoke to her assistant and he said that she died of a heart attack”.

Phogat had unsuccessfully contested the last Assembly election from Adampur Assembly constituency against Kuldeep Bishnoi. Bishnoi, who was then in Congress, recently joined the BJP.

Four earthquakes jolted Jammu and Kashmir in less than eight hours on Tuesday. No loss of life or damage to property was reported, officials said.

The epicenter of the quake, which occurred at 2.20 am, was 61 km east of Katra area in Jammu region, they said.

The officials said the quake hit at latitude 33.07 degrees north and longitude 75.58 degrees east at a depth of 10 km.

The second earthquake of 2.6 magnitude on the Richter scale occurred 9.5 km north east of Doda in Jammu region at 3.21 am, they said. The quake hit at latitude 33.23 degrees north and longitude 75.56 degrees east at a depth of 5 km.

The third quake of 2.8 magnitude occurred 29 km east of Udhampur in Jammu region at 3.44 am today, they said. The quake hit at latitude 32.89 degrees north and longitude 75.45 degrees east at a depth of 10 kilometers.

The fourth earthquake of 2.9 magnitude occurred 26 km south east of Udhampur at 8.03 am, they said. The quake occurred at latitude 32.83 degrees north and longitude 75.40 degrees east at a depth of 5 kilometers

However, there were no reports of any loss of life or damage to property, the officials said.

CBI team from Chandigarh arrived in two vehicles during surprise raid on Saturday late night  arrêsted four persons including two army officers Lt. Col Rahul Pawar  Barack Store officer and  Pradeep Kumar  Subedar Major at Ambala Cantt along with contractors Dinesh Kumar and S. Preetpal allegedly demanding bribe.  The team during search recovered Rs 32.50 lakh from Lt. Col. Rahul Pawar and Rs 16 lakh from the contractors and a case was registered specifying their visit at police station Ambala Cantt.  The raiding team first visited the residence of Col. Wasim Siddiqi but no one was available. When intervened by security guard CBI team took him in custody.

CBI team again visited the residence of Col. Wasim Siddiqi on Sunday but found house locked. Before returning to Chandigarh CBI team got deployed Military Police outside the residence of both arrested army officers. All arrested were produced in CBI court Panchkula on Monday. Information reveals, earlier all army purchases and tenders were invited and finalized by MES when large numbers of embezzlements were reported. In order to stop corruption and bring transparency in procurements government launched GEM portal for all procurements but embezzlements still continued and suppliers started quoting much higher rates in supplies of material and tenders in conspiracy with the officers of government department.    

Jammu and Kashmir Police averted a “major terror incident” by recovering in time an IED weighing about 10-12 kg, at the Beihgund area of Tral in the south Kashmir district.

“On a specific input of police, an IED, approx 10-12 Kgm has been recovered in Beihgund area of #Tral. Police and Army are on the job to destroy it in situ. A major #terror incident averted,” Kashmir Zone Police said on Twitter.

The militants have escalated their attacks on minorities and outsiders in recent past. A few days ago, one more Kashmiri Pandit identified as Sunil Kumar was killed and his brother Pintu Kumar was injured after they were fired at by militants in the Shopian district.

Grenade attacks have also increased in frequency.

Last week, security forces killed two militants after they mounted an attack on an army camp in the border district of Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir. Three Army personnel also lost their lives and two others were injured.

Attacks like these go alongside the targeted killings of policemen and migrant labourers.

The surge in violence has come despite the fact that the number of militants has dwindled to under 200 over the last year.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday attacked the Centre over a host of issues, including inflation and unemployment, and wondered how will the nation progress like this.

Who will people talk to about their issues when these people are playing ‘CBI-ED’ and are busy toppling governments, he said.

“Rupee is falling, people are troubled by inflation, unemployment is at a high — these people are playing ‘CBI-ED’, and are busy toppling governments chosen by people and trading barbs the whole day.

“Who do people talk to about their issues and whom should they go to? How will the nation progress like this?” he said in a tweet in Hindi.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had on Sunday declared that the 2024 Lok Sabha polls will be a contest between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the AAP chief.

Manish Sisodia had said people are looking at Kejriwal as an alternative to Modi since the former talks about issues affecting the common man.

Pakistan’s ousted prime minister Imran Khan moved the Islamabad High Court on Monday seeking pre-arrest bail, a day after he was booked under the Anti-Terrorism Act for threatening police, judiciary and other state institutions at his Islamabad rally on Saturday.

The petition filed by his lawyers Babar Awan and Faisal Chaudhry stated that Khan was a target of the ruling PDM (Pakistan Democratic Movement) for his fearless criticism, and extremely bold and blunt stance against corruption and corrupt politicians , the Dawn newspaper reported.

And to achieve this malicious agenda, acting in a most unfortunate and clumsy manner, a false and frivolous complaint has been registered against him by the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) police at the behest of the incumbent government, it added.

The plea further alleged that the government had decided to cross all limits to arrest Imran under false accusations and was hell-bent to sort out the petitioner and his party at all costs .

The case against Khan was registered at the Margalla Police Station of Islamabad.

The FIR reads that Khan in his speech had “terrorised and threatened top police officials and a respected female additional sessions judge” with the aim to stop them from performing their functions and abstain from pursuing any action against any individual related to his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party (PTI).

It says that Khan’s speech had spread fear and uncertainty among the police, judges and the nation.

In his address, Khan had threatened to file cases against top police officials, a woman magistrate, Election Commission of Pakistan and political opponents over the treatment meted out to his aide Shahbaz Gill, who was arrested last week on charges of sedition.

In a jolt to the Congress ahead of assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh, its senior leader Anand Sharma on Sunday resigned from the chairmanship of the party’s steering committee for the state.

Sharma, in a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, is learnt to have said that his self-respect is “non-negotiable” and he has resigned from the post, sources said.

His resignation comes soon after another leader of the G23 grouping Ghulam Nabi Azad resigned as chairman of the campaign committee in Jammu and Kashmir a few days ago.

Sharma has told the Congress chief that he has been ignored in the consultation process. However, he told Gandhi that he will continue to campaign for the party candidates in the state.

The former union minister and deputy leader of the Congress in Rajya Sabha was appointed as chairman of the Steering Committee in Himachal Pradesh on April 26.

Both Azad and Sharma are prominent leaders of the G23 grouping which has been critical of the decisions of the party leadership

The grouping comprising prominent veterans including Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Manish Tewari has been insisting on genuine elections right from the block up to the CWC level.

Sharma, who is considered among the tallest leaders of Himachal Pradesh, has reportedly told the Congress president in his letter that his self-respect has been hurt as he has not been consulted or invited for any of the meetings of the party.

The Congress is seeking to wrest power from the BJP in Himachal Pradesh in assembly polls slated later this year.

Sharma, who first contested assembly elections in 1982 and was given a Rajya Sabha ticket by then prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, has been a Rajya Sabha member ever since and has occupied several key positions in the party.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia will visit Gujarat for two days from Monday during which they will address a gathering and hold discussions on employment and education with youth ahead of the state Assembly polls due later this year.

Kejriwal, the national convener of the Aam Aadmi Party and Sisodia, who is the education minister of Delhi, will meet people in Himmatnagar and Bhavnagar, Gujarat AAP’s general secretary Manoj Sorathiya said in a video statement.

Their visit comes amid a row over alleged irregularities in Delhi’s excise policy and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registering an FIR against Sisodia.

After landing at the Ahmedabad airport on Monday, Kejriwal and Sisodia will also hold a joint press conference in the city before starting their programmes in the state.

Kejriwal will on Monday attend a town hall programme in Himatnagar where he will make “an important announcement for the people of Gujarat,” Sorathiya said.

This will be his fourth visit to Gujarat this month.

“On Tuesday, Kejriwal and Sisodia will hold discussions on employment and education with youth in Bhavnagar,” Sorathiya said. The Gujarat Assembly elections are due in December this year.