Breaking News: CBSE datesheet for X, XII out, Amit Shah chairs meeting amid J&K killings

Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired the National Security Strategies Conference with police chiefs of all states and union territories at the Intelligence Bureau Headquarters on Monday. The meeting was prominently focused on internal security challenges faced by individual states and ways to tackle them firmly.

The meeting was attended by DGPs (Director General of Police) of all the states and Union Territories, along with senior officials of the Intelligence Bureau, who gave a detailed presentation to the Home Minister. The Director Generals of central paramilitary forces, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, and senior officials of the Home Ministry were also present in this meeting. 

CBSE releases the term 1 board exam 2021-2022 date sheet or timetable for Class 10 and Class 12 students. Term 1 exam will take place in November-December.

Easing COVID restrictions, the Maharashtra government, following a high-level meeting between Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and the COVID task force on Monday, decided to extend the operational timings of restaurants and shops across the state. The move comes in line with the state witnessing a decline in the number of COVID cases. The government has also given a nod to reopen amusement parks - except water rides - from 22 October.

With COVID-19 cases declining, the Karnataka government on Monday permitted the re-opening of schools for students of classes 1 to 5  from October 25 by strictly adhering to precautions and guidelines against the coronavirus.

In a key development, Indian Army Chief MM Naravane is all set to go to Jammu and Kashmir for a 2-day visit to review the overall security situation in the region. Reports suggest that Naravane will further visit areas near the Line of Control to be briefed by top Army servicemen in relation to ongoing operations there. 

Former Joint Chiefs chairman and secretary of state, Colin Powell, died from COVID-19 complications on Monday morning.
According to his family's statement, Powell had been fully vaccinated and was receiving treatment at Walter Reed National Medical Center in Maryland. Notably, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was 84 and had last breathed at Walter Reed National Medical Center. 

A massive explosion took place near Balochistan University on Quetta’s Sariab Road on Monday evening killing one policeman and injuring seven others. According to police sources, the blast took place near a police van parked outside the university campus on Sariab Road in which one cop has died while half a dozen have sustained injuries. The police truck is said to have been the target of the blast. 

BCCI vice president Rajeev Shukla backed the India vs Pakistan T20 World Cup match, telling reporters on Monday that 'commitments' had been made which could not be backed out of. Condemning the targeted killings in J&K, Rajeev Shukla stressed on the need to hold terrorist organisations accountable and said that strict action needed to be taken against such outfits. However, he cleared that in tournaments organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC), countries could not back out of commitments that had been once made.

The International Monetary Fund on Monday said the sale of national carrier Air India will constitute an "important milestone" in India's privatization efforts. Tata group has emerged as the winning bidder for the loss-making Air India, and on October 11, a letter of intent (LoI) was issued to the group.

"We welcome the recent agreement on the sale of Air India, which constitutes an important milestone," Alfred Schipke, Director of IMF-STI Regional Training Institute and a former IMF India Mission Chief, told PTI in an interview.

Rape-convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and 4 others have been awarded a life imprisonment sentence by a Special CBI court on Monday, following their October 8 conviction in the 2002 Dera Sirsa Manager's murder case.

In the Ranjit Singh murder case, the Special CBI court in Panchkula awarded life imprisonment to all the accused, including Dera Sacha Sauda's Gurmeet Ram Rahim, who was in 2017 convicted for rape and then jailed, and four others. A fine of Rs 31 Lakhs has been levied on Ram Rahim and Rs 50,000 on the remaining accused.

"Many congratulations to the people of Devbhoomi. This achievement of Uttarakhand is very important in the country's fight against Covid. I am confident that our vaccination campaign is going to be the most effective in fighting the global pandemic and people's participation is crucial in this," PM Modi tweeted. 

PM Narendra Modi will inaugurate Kushinagar International Airport in Uttar Pradesh on 20th October 2021 in the presence of Gov Anandiben Patel, CM Yogi Adityanath & Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia among others. The International Airport will get operational this week.

The inaugural flight will land at the airport from Colombo, Sri Lanka carrying 125 dignitaries & Buddhist Monks, highlighting the convenience to Buddhists across the world to visit the Mahaparinirvana Sthal of Lord Buddha: Ministry of Civil Aviation

In the latest development, two Rohingya suspects were caught near vital army installations in Jammu, on Monday. Abdul Salim (34) and Abdul Ameen (47) were reportedly hiding Bari Brahmana's Teli Basti area for a long time and had not informed the government of their arrival in Jammu.

 Upon investigation, it was found that they had dialled the phone numbers of Pakistan and Myanmar and were also a part of groups from Pakistan. They also carried what appeared to be bogus identity cards issued by the United Nations to the Rohingya people. The suspects were handed over to the Special Operations Group of J&K police, which is investigating them.

The Central Board of Secondary Education will be announcing the CBSE Term 1 date sheet 2022 for both class 10 and class 12 on Monday, October 18, 2021. CBSE on October 14 said that at first examinations of minor subjects will be conducted. This year few changes will be implemented, candidates can check the details here.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will release the Datesheet 2022 for Class 10 and Class 12 term 1 board examinations today, October 18. The board last week had confirmed the release date of the CBSE Term 1 date sheet 2022. All candidates set to appear for the CBSE Board Exam 2022 can check the date sheet online on the official website of the board. Students who will appear for the CBSE board exams 2022 and are preparing for their term-1 exam can check the CBSE Term 1 date sheet 2022 online on cbseacademic.nic.in.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will preside over the National Security Strategy Conference (NSSC) through video conferencing on Monday. The meeting will also be attended by the National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and the Director Generals of Police (DGP) and Inspector Generals (IG) of all states in India. In addition, the DGPs of paramilitary forces like the CRPF, BSF, ITBP, and the SSB will also be present at the NSSC. 

After a spate of attacks on Hindu temples, including the ISKCON temple in Bangladesh, the organisation has reached out to the United Nations. In a letter dated October 16, ISKCON temple Vice-President Radharamn Das has requested UN Chief Antonio Guterres to issue a condemnation and send a UN delegation to Bangladesh. Das has requested the UN chief to take quick action. 

Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez has skipped the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons yet again. The Housefull 3 star has been summoned by the ED in connection with Rs 200 crore extortion and money laundering racket that has been filed against conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar and his wife Leena Maria Paul. This was the fourth summon against her and she had skipped it again.

As per the data released by the Union Health Ministry on Monday, India reported 13,596 new COVID-19 cases and 166 new deaths in the last 24 hours. With the addition of the new cases, India's COVID-19 death toll now stands at 4,52,290. Meanwhile, in the last 24 hours, 19,582 persons recovered from the infection, bringing India's overall recovery to 3,34,39,331. In terms of COVID-19 vaccination, India has successfully administered 97,79,47,783 crores of COVID-19 vaccines as part of the world's largest inoculation campaign.

The United Liberation Front Jammu and Kashmir, another proxy organisation of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba claimed responsibility for the Kulgam killings that took place on October 17. Terrorists had barged into a house at rented accommodation of migrant workers at Laran Gangipora Wanpoh in Kulgam and opened fire indiscriminately. 

Former Union Minister Babul Supriyo, who resigned from BJP to join Trinamool Congress (TMC) is scheduled to meet Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday (October 19) in order to submit his resignation as the BJP MP. Singer-turned-politician, Supriyo shared a letter he wrote to the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on October 1 seeking an appointment to meet him for an urgent matter. At present Supriyo is still a sitting BJP MP from Asansol which he won from the parliamentary constituency on a BJP ticket in 2014 and 2019.

The protesting farmers have blocked railway tracks at Bahadurgarh in protest against the recent Lakhimpur Kheri incident. This comes after the Samyukta Kisan Morcha's (SKM) call for a nationwide protest against the incident.

As incessant rains continue to wreak havoc in Kerala, a terrifying video has surfaced online showing a house collapsing into a gushing river in Kottayam. 

Two persons dead, 125 people rescued after a fire broke out at a packaging factory in Vareli, informs Bardoli Division's Dy SP Rupal Solanki.

The Delhi University is all set to begin registration for undergraduate admission against the third cut-off list today, October 18, 2021. The third cut-off list was released on October 16 at admission.uod.ac.in. The university will start admissions against the 3rd cut-off list at 10 am today and will last till October 21 (11:59 pm)

In a stinging criticism of the Samajwadi Party on Sunday, AIMIM supremo Asaduddin Owaisi opined that it is not possible to defeat BJP with the Muslim-Yadav combination. Maintaining that SP shouldn't take the votes of Muslims for granted, he recalled that the Akhilesh Yadav-led party and BSP could not beat BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls despite being in an alliance. Moreover, the Hyderabad MP again rejected the opposition's claim that AIMIM is the B-team of BJP. 

As per the Ministry of Civil Aviation announcement, airlines can operate domestic flights in full capacity from today, October 18. The Civil Aviation Ministry had earlier released a statement permitting the restoration of the scheduled domestic air operations without any restrictions. The resumption of domestic flights comes after a year-and-half hiatus following the outbreak of COVID in 2020.

Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Sunday said that the attacks on Durga Puja arcades were 'pre-planned' and aimed at destroying communal harmony in the country. The Home Minister was also quoted saying that the act was motivated and instigated by a vested group, reported Dhaka Tribune. The statement from the country's Home Minister came after Bangladesh Police has booked over 4,000 named and unnamed people in connection with the communal violence that led to the death of six people, including two Hindus. 

The World Health Organization's technical advisory group will meet on October 26 to consider the Emergency Use Listing (EUL) of Covaxin, a vaccine developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech protecting against COVID-19, the global health agency's chief scientist said on Sunday.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will be the face of the Congress' election campaign in Uttar Pradesh, party's newly-appointed campaign committee chief P L Punia said on Sunday, asserting that the AICC general secretary is the most popular political figure in the state at present. 

Indian Army's aviation base has been keeping an eye on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) along the Arunachal Pradesh border via the Israel-manufactured Heron drones that are capable of operating for nearly 45 hours at an altitude of up to 35,000 feet as tensions escalated with China's People’s Liberation Army. Long-endurance Heron TP drones were bought from Israel earlier last month for surveillance and reconnaissance missions, and as per the reports, the Indian Army planned to upgrade it with combatant missiles for precision strikes under Project Cheetah. 

The Indian cricket players playing in the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL 2021) are turning their heads around by putting up amazing performances on the field. Shafali Verma who is playing her debut season in the WBBL 2021 for Sydney Sixers produced a player of the match performance against Hobart Hurricanes Women on Sunday which helped her team register victory. However, Shafali Verma's batting performance was overshadowed by her Indian teammate Radha Yadav who produced a stunning fielding effort while playing for the same team. 

The son of an ex-media adviser to a former prime minister of Somalia, Ali Harbi Ali, was arrested by UK police on October 17 under stringent anti-terrorism laws for the fatal stabbing of British MP Sir David Amess with a knife, sources familiar with the investigation revealed to the British press. The 69-year-old MP from UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party was attacked earlier last week while meeting with the constituency voters in a church on Friday in Leigh-on-Sea, east of London. He succumbed to his injuries on the spot.