A look at the headlines right now:

  1. Encounter near Srinagar’s Karan Nagar CRPF camp continues, intermittent firing reported: Inspector General of Kashmir Police Swayam Prakash Pani said they suspected two militants were in hiding.
  2. Youth Congress leader hacked to death in Kerala’s Kannur district: The party has accused the CPI(M) of targeting 30-year-old Muhammad Shuhaib.
  3. Pakistan bans UN-designated terror groups, including Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawa: The ordinance amends the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997 and allows authorities to freeze the assets of 27 such outfits.
  4. India gets access to strategic port in Oman for military use, to counter China in the Indian Ocean: The Duqm port is located close to both the Chabahar port in Iran, which India is helping develop, and the Gwadar port in Pakistan, which has Beijing’s help.
  5. After many witnesses in Sohrabuddin case turn hostile, Bombay HC questions CBI’s security provisions: In January, media reports had said that 27 of the 40 prosecution witnesses in the case had turned hostile over the past two months.
  6. RBI tightens bad loans framework – banks now must refer large defaulters for insolvency: The central bank has abolished all existing mechanisms to restructure stressed accounts.
  7. Jharkhand government will set up a committee to define ‘hunger deaths’: The decision was made after the state recorded a series of deaths over the past few months that activists claim were caused by starvation.
  8. Bus torched in Allahabad to protest against law student’s murder: Police teams in riot gear were called in to control the students.
  9. Rajasthan will spend Rs 8,000 crore on loan waivers for farmers, says Vasundhara Raje: Farmers will get waivers on loans up to Rs 50,000 taken before September 30, 2017.
  10. International charity Oxfam’s deputy chief resigns amid sexual misconduct scandal: Penny Lawrence said that she took full responsibility for the charity’s failure to adequately respond to the allegations.