1. Aadhaar Now Needed for Mobile Connection
The Department of Telecommunications on Friday issued a notification, directing all phone service providers to reverify details for all existing subscribers through Aadhaar-based e-KYC (Know Your Customer) process.
This follows a Supreme Court order last month in which it had approved the government’s plan to record the identification details of mobile subscribers through an e-KYC mechanism linked to Aadhaar.
The move will impact more than 100 crore mobile phone subscribers in the country, 90 percent of whom are prepaid card users.
(Source: The Hindu)
2. After Airlines Deny Ticket, Shiv Sena MP Forced to Travel by Train
From business class air travel to a long, overnight train journey! Shiv Sena parliamentarian Ravindra Gaikwad was forced to take a New Delhi-Mumbai train on Friday after all major airlines in the country put him on their no-fly list for assaulting a senior Air India official.
Gaikwad abused and assaulted a 60-year-old duty manager of the national carrier with his slippers, venting his anger after being denied business class on a Pune-New Delhi Air India flight on Thursday.
Air India and five private airlines banned the 56-year-old MP for Maharashtra’s Osmanabad from flying as he refused to apologise for the incident that triggered nationwide outrage.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. Bring Clear Guidelines for Anti-Romeo Squads: UP CM to Cops
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Friday directed the state’s top officials to chalk out clear guidelines for anti-Romeo squads so that there is no “unnecessary harassment” of boys and girls.
Giving specific instructions, the Chief Minister asked the principal secretary (home) to chalk out clear guidelines for anti-Romeo squads and “ensure there is no unnecessary harassment of boys and girls moving around or sitting at any place”, an official statement said.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. Andhra Woman Techie, 7-Year-Old Son Found Dead in US
A 38-year-old techie from Vijayawada and her seven-year-old son were found dead in their Maple Shade township flat in New Jersey in the US. Narra Sasikala and Anish Sai were found in a pool of blood, their throats slit open.
Sasikala's husband, Hanumantha Rao, who alerted the police after he "found the bodies" when he returned home from work on Thursday evening, was detained for questioning and his cellphone confiscated by the New Jersey police.
Rao informed his parents about the incident over the phone around 6 am on Friday before he was taken away by police. His parents belong to Thimmarajupalem village in Parchur mandal, Prakasam district.
(Source: The Times of India)
5. FIR Filed Against Filmmaker Shirish Kunder for Remarks Against UP CM Adityanath
A police complaint was lodged against filmmaker Shirish Kunder with Hazratganj police station on Thursday, for allegedly derogatory remarks against Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
The FIR was registered under Section 66 of Information Technology Act, 2008.
Amit Kumar Tiwari, secretary of Thakurdwara Trust, Sita Rasoi, Ramkot of Ayodhya, lodged the FIR against the filmmaker. He said Kunder had first tweeted that “Hoping a goon will stop rioting once he’s allowed to rule is like expecting a rapist to stop raping once he’s allowed to rape”.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
6. ABVP's Twitter Handle Frozen, Then Restored
The official Twitter handles of ABVP, its Delhi state committee and of several ABVP office-bearers were suspended on Thursday night. They were reinstated on Friday afternoon.
ABVP national media convenor Saket Bahuguna said that when he tried to log in to his Twitter account on Friday morning, a message was displayed that the handle had been suspended.
"We were given no prior notification or information about the suspension. Nor was any explanation provided. My followers and those I follow were also listed at 17, when I actually had over 7,500. We have no idea why this measure was taken," he said.
(Source: The Times of India)
7. Bihar Train Attack Suspect Flees to Pak From UAE
Shafi Sheikh, a suspected ISI agent who allegedly played a key role in mobilising people in Nepal and India to plant explosives at a railway track in Bihar last year, is said to have fled to Pakistan from Dubai, where he had been staying, a senior Home Ministry official said.
Before India and Nepal (where he is wanted in a double murder case) could request the UAE authorities to seek Sheikh’s custody, he had already left for Pakistan. Sheikh has been on the radar of intelligence agencies for long and has also been accused of pumping in fake currency into India through Nepal.
(Source: The Hindu)
8. Extradition Request for Vijay Mallya Certified by UK Secretary of State
The UK has conveyed to India that its request for extradition of industrialist Vijay Mallya, who has been declared a proclaimed offender, has been certified by the secretary of state.
“The UK Home department on 21 February conveyed that the request of India for extradition of Mallya has been certified by the secretary of state and sent to the Westminster Magistrates’ Court for a district judge to consider the issue of releasing of warrant,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said.
The development is a step forward towards securing the extradition of the fugitive businessman wanted in India for loan default of over Rs 9,000 crore. Baglay also noted that a formal extradition request in respect of Mallya as per Extradition Treaty between India and the UK was handed over to the British High Commission here through a note verbale on 8 February.
(Source: The Indian Express)
9. US Visa: Indians Who Visited IS 'Territory' Syria, Iraq on Vetting List
The process of getting an American visa, strenuous at the best of times, is likely to get more painstaking following fresh directives from the Trump administration to its consular officials worldwide to identify ''populations warranting increased scrutiny'' for enhanced vetting.
In a series of four cables sent out by Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, US missions across the world have been instructed to convene working groups of law enforcement and intelligence officials to ''develop a list of criteria'' to identify such groups.
One criterion appears to be if the person has traveled to or lived in territory controlled by the Islamic State.
(Source: The Times of India)
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