Live news update: Rahul Gandhi says “Public is the master, our work is to listen to you” at Kisan rally

Rescuers on Friday intensified efforts to rescue the 10 policemen feared to be trapped inside their post under a snow avalanche which struck near Jawahar Tunnel on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, police said.

"Rescue teams have reached close to the site of the avalanche this morning. All efforts are being made to evacuate the trapped persons," a police official said.  An avalanche hit the north portal of Jawahar Tunnel on the Qazigund side in Kulgam district on Thursday evening.

Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy said, “He (PM) is systemically demolishing this country's democracy, misleading the people, I request all the opposition parties to rise. They must expose the truth of the Prime Minister in the parliament.”

He also said, “On one side Narendra Modi is preaching to the country and politicians, on the other side, he is encouraging his friends to demolish democracy through black money. I will expose this now, I have the proof to back my charge.”

Congress President Rahul Gandhi said, “PM Modi himself robbed Air Force of ₹30,000 crore and gave it to Anil Ambani, we have been raising this since 1 year. Now a report has come where Defence Ministry officials say that PM was holding parallel negotiations with France Govt.”

Fourteen children were injured when a fire broke out in a madarsa at Shuru village in the district, police said on Friday.

The blaze started on Thursday night from a candle kept in a room in the madrasa in Kotwali Police Station area during a power cut, they said.

A refrigerator near the candle caught fire which spread rapidly, they said.

Fourteen children were injured, ten of them seriously, and they were rushed to a hospital, police said, adding an investigation was underway.

A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader was shot dead on Friday by unidentified assailants in Bihar's Aurangabad district, police said.

The incident took place in Haspura town's Jalpura area when the victim, Mohan Yadav, was out for a morning walk.

"Two motorcycle borne assailants shot Yadav on his head and stomach from close range. He died on the spot," district police official said.

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav's plea, challenging the Patna High Court order asking him to vacate the government bungalow meant for the deputy chief minister, and ordered him to shift to an accommodation for the leader of the opposition. A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader for challenging the decision.

“We demand a joint parliamentary committee, everything will be revealed then, we don't want any explanation now, have heard many explanations, from PM also,”Mallikarjun Kharge of Congress in Lok Sabha

The Uttar Pradesh government employees called off their strike on Friday, hours after the Allahabad High Court declared the protest "illegal" and ordered it to initiate disciplinary action against them and their unions.

The court had on Thursday prohibited the employees and unions from going on strike or inciting any employee. It had directed senior officials of various departments to record the employees' attendance and video graph their agitation.

Cracking the whip, the Congress Legislature Party on Friday decided to initiate action against four party rebel MLAs under the Anti-Defection Law, CLP leader Siddaramaiah said.

Briefing reporters after the CLP meet, Siddaramaiah said he would meet the Assembly Speaker Ramesh Kumar and urge him to take action against Ramesh Jarkiholi, Umesh Jadhav, Mahesh Kumathali and B Nagendra.

He said barring the four and J N Ganesh, all other lawmakers attended the CLP meet.

Two MLAs Roshan Baig and B C Patil, who also did not participate, had taken prior permission, he said.

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Friday said he would like to see how those aligned with the BJP would explain reports that the Defence Ministry had protested over the mechanism being adopted by the PMO for the Rafale deal.

"I'd like to see how this one is explained by the talking heads aligned to the BJP. @PMOIndia 'weakened the negotiating position of the Ministry of Defence & the Indian Negotiating Team' as per this note in a MOD file that went up the the Defence Minister," the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister claimed.

“BJP lawmakers clapped when PM Modi announced ₹17 for farmers.. On one hand, the loans of 15 richest people of the country were waived but just ₹17 for farmers. And if you divide it further, it comes down to ₹3.5 to per person’ says Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.

Every official in the defence ministry says ‘chowkidaar chor hai’. Yesterday in the Parliament, PM came and spoke for 1 hour and 45 minutes. But he doesn’t speak on Rafale even for a minute: Rahul Gandhi

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee says, “He is afraid because we are working together. I was never scared, I have always fought my way out. I have always respected 'Ma-Maati-Maanush'. It is a misfortune that he has become the PM because of the power of money.”