In Jammu and Kashmir, three members of a family were killed due to heavy shelling by Pakistan troops in Solatri village of border district of Poonch. People residing in Jhulas, Solatri Bhera have started migrating to safer places. Due to prevailing situation, all the educational institutions falling within five km area along the Line of Control in twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch will remain closed today.

It may be mentioned here that Pakistan Army on the 8th consecutive day continued violating the ceasefire in border districts of Poonch and Rajouri by targeting Indian posts and civilian areas. Indian troops are giving effective and befitting reply to Pakistan's indiscriminate firing and heavy shelling.

Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthman arrived in New Delhi last night after he was handed over to Indian authorities by Pakistan at Attari-Wagah border. Air Vice Marshal R G Kapoor said Abhinandan was handed over as per standard operating procedure and Indian Air Force is happy to have him back.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has welcomed Wing Commander Abhinandan back to the country, saying the nation is proud of his exemplary courage. In a tweet, Mr Modi said that the country's armed forces are an inspiration for 130 crore Indians. 

Several leaders have also welcomed and lauded Abhinandan for his poise and courage. In a tweet, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, the entire nation appreciates the Wing Commander's valour and grit and he is an inspiration to youth. 
 
Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Smriti Irani too lauded the pilot for his bravery. BJP president Amit Shah wished him continue to serve the nation and the IAF with unparalleled passion and dedication.

National champion Deepak Singh was the lone Indian boxer to notch up a gold while five others claimed silver medals in the Makran Cup in Chabahar, Iran. 

Deepak (49-kilogram) defeated Jaafar Naseri in the finals held last night. 
However, none of the other five Indian finalists could win their summit clashes. 

Finishing second on the podium were P Lalitha Prasad (52kg), Commonwealth Games silver-medallist Manish Kaushik (60kg), Duryodhan Singh Negi (69kg), Sanjeet (91kg) and Commonwealth Games silver-medallist Satish Kumar (91kg). 

Manish, also a national champion, lost to Danial Shah Baksh, while Satish was beaten by Mohammad Mlias. Sanjeet, a gold-medallist at the India Open last year, went down to Eldin Ghossoun in his final bout. 

Prasad could not put it past Omid Safa Ahmedi and settled for the second position. Duryodhan lost to Sajjad Zadeh Kezim in the welterweight final.

The Cabinet has approved the Memorandum of Understanding between India and the USA to access tipline reports on Missing and Exploited Children. 

The MoU has been signed between the National Crime Record Bureau, India and the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, NCMEC, USA. 

The MoU will provide access to more than one lakh tipline reports available with NCMEC, USA and enable law enforcement agencies in India. 

It will pave the way for setting up of an innovative mechanism for sharing information about child pornography and child sexual abuse material and taking legal action against offenders. It will further enable law enforcement agencies to remove child pornography and child sexual abuse material from cyberspace, thereby enhance human dignity.

The Cabinet gave ex-post facto approval to the MoU between India and Argentina on cooperation in the field of Medical Products Regulation. 

The approval would facilitate a better understanding of the regulatory aspects between the two sides and help in increasing India’s export of medical products to Argentina and better coordination in the international fora.

The Centre has banned the Jamat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir for five years under anti-terror law on grounds that it is in close touch with terror outfits and is expected to escalate secessionist movement in the state. 

A notification, banning the group under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, was issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs yesterday after a high-level meeting on security, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

The notification said the Centre is of the opinion that the Jamaat is in close touch with terror outfits and is supporting extremism and terrorism in Jammu and Kahsmir and elsewhere. 

The notification comes barely a few days after the Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested around 100 cadres of the group in the state. I

t said, Jamaat has been indulging in activities intended to disrupt the territorial integrity of India. 

The crackdown come after February 14 terrorist attack in Pulwama, in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. 

Indian Air Force has said that it is looking forward to the return of its Wing Commander Abhinandan from Pakistan's custody. 

In a joint briefing with Officials of Army and Navy last evening in New Delhi, Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor said that IAF learnt that Pakistan has announced that Wing Commander Abhinandan will be returned to India today. 
He said, IAF is happy and looking forward to it.

During his address in the Pakistan National Assembly, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had yesterday announced to release the fighter pilot as a peace gesture.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch five National Highways projects worth around three thousand crore rupees in Kanniyakumari, Tamil Nadu today. He will also launch a Road Safety Park and Transport Museum. 

Mr Modi will dedicate to the nation the two and four laning of the Madurai-Ramnathpuram section of NH-87. 

The Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone for four-laning of Madurai-Chettikulam-Natham section of NH-785. 

These projects will benefit the local populace by way of reduced pollution, fast and safe journey, reduced travel time and fuel saving.

The Union Cabinet has approved the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Amendment Order, 2019. 

Briefing media after the Cabinet meeting, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said it will serve the purpose of application of relevant provision of the constitution as amended through the constitution (77th Amendment) act, 2019 for Jammu and Kashmir by issuing the constitution Amendment order. 

He said, once notified, this will pave the way for giving the benefit of promotion in service to the SCs, STs and also extend the reservation of up to 10 per cent for the economically weaker section in educational institution and public employment in addition to the existing reservation in the state.

The Cabinet has approved the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019. Mr Jaitley said, the ordinance provides for amendment in the Jammu and Kashmir reservation act 2004 to bringing persons residing in the areas adjoining International Border within the ambit of reservation at par with persons living in areas adjoining actual line of control. 

In another decision, the Cabinet also approved Agra and Kanpur Metro Rail Projects. 

The Cabinet also approved the promulgation of an Ordinance to make amendments to the Aadhaar Act 2016, Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2005 and the Indian Telegraph Act 1885. 

Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary ended India’s campaign at the ISSF World Cup 2019 on a high note with a gold medal, third for the hosts, as they finished top in the 10m air pistol mixed team final with 483.4 points on the final day of the tournament on Wednesday.

India did not had an ideal start to the final as they took the second spot with 99.1 points, trailing the Republic of Korea at the top after the first series of shots. With the 17-year old Manu managing to have only one shot above 10, Saurabh made up for it with three shots above 10.

Manu had a better series 2 with the scores 10.3, 10.4, 10.5, 10.3 and 9.8 and the 16-year old Saurabh going for above 10 in all the five shots. Korea, however, maintained their lead, even though both the sides finished with the same score.

The third series of the final saw the Indian pair coming up with 99.4, slightly higher than Korea but maintained their position at the second spot. It was after the third series that the teenage-pair took the lead, staying clear of elimination till the end. Manu and Bhaker ended the final at the top with a lead of 5.7 points to second-placed China.

Reliance Industries chairman and the country's richest man Mukesh Ambani has achieved a new feat by breaking into the top 10 richest list globally with a net worth of $54 billion or Rs 3.8 lakh crore.

The Hurun Global Rich List 2019, which was topped by Amazon boss Jeff Bezos for a second year in a row, placed Mukesh Amabni in the 10th place globally with a net worth of Rs 3.83 lakh crore.

The growth in Ambani's wealth was led by  RIL shares, which had a stellar run over the last one year. RIL's market value has crossed Rs 8 lakh crore last month. Nearly 52% of RIL's shares are owned by Mukesh Ambani.

Meanwhile, his younger brother Anil Ambani, chairman of the ADAG Group, lost 65% of his wealth in last one year after his telecom company Reliance Communications turned bankrupt as it could not sustain the cutthroat competition in the telecom sector which was started by ultra-cheap data and free voice calls offered by  Reliance Jio, a company owned by his elder brother Mukesh Ambani.

Both the Ambani brothers started with similar wealth after the division of their family wealth in 2005. Over the last 14 years, Mukesh's wealth grew multifold while Anil saw his fortune shrunk ever since.