Indian Navy seizes 940-kg narcotics
NEW DELHI, April 16: The Indian Navy, supported by a multilateral combined task force, has seized 940 kg of contraband narcotics in the Western Arabian Sea, officials said on Tuesday. Indian Navy’s elite MARCOs commandos, deployed onboard frontline ship INS Talwar, seized the narcotics from a ‘dhow’ on April 13 as part of an operation named ‘Crimson Barracuda’, an Indian Navy spokesperson said. It was the first time that the Indian Navy carried out a “drug interdiction” as a member of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF). INS Talwar, operating in support of the Canadian-led Combined Task Force (CTF) 150, conducted its first interdiction of illicit narcotics as a member of CMF, seizing 940 kg of drugs in the Arabian Sea, the CMF said. (PTI)
37 birds, reptiles rescued, animals amid heatwave
MUMBAI, April 16: As many as 37 animals, birds and reptiles were rescued from parts of Mumbai and its suburbs amid extreme hot weather in the last two days, an official said on Tuesday. The India Meteorological Department had on Monday issued a heatwave warning in the metropolis and its neighbouring districts. The Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW), in coordination with the Mumbai range of the forest department, rescued 37 animals, birds and reptiles that suffered from dehydration and sunstroke, and were found displaced in different parts of the city, said Pawan Sharma, RAWW founder and president and the honorary wildlife warden with the forest department. Macaques, langurs, bats, parakeets, kites, sparrows, pigeons, crows, and snakes were rescued in the last two days, he said. Ten rescued animals and birds died during treatment, Sharma said. (PTI)
Kejriwal seeks nod for doctor consultation
New Delhi, April 16: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has approached a court seeking permission to consult his regular doctor via video conferencing due to fluctuating blood sugar levels. Special Judge Rakesh Syal of Rouse Avenue Court directed the ED to file a reply on the application and listed the matter for April 18. On Tuesday, Kejriwal’s counsel informed the court that his blood sugar level dropped to 46 and argued that in such circumstances, Kejriwal should be allowed to consult his doctor three times a week via video conferencing. (IANS)
PIL in SC seeks 3-year LLB programme
New Delhi, April 16: A PIL was filed on Tuesday in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Centre and the Bar Council of India to set up an expert committee for exploring the feasibility to have a three-year LLB course, instead of existing five-year one, after class 12. The plea filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay said it was “seeking direction to the Centre and Bar Council of India to form an expert committee to ascertain the feasibility of starting three-year Bachelor of Law course after 12th standard like BSc, BCom and BA courses”. It claimed that the “prolonged period” of five years for the integrated course was “arbitrary and irrational” as it was “not proportional” to the subject and put an “excessive financial burden” on students. (PTI)