LIVE News Updates: First meeting of the Ram Mandir Trust; Nitya Gopal Das named President of the Trust

First meeting of the Ram Mandir Trust; Nitya Gopal Das named President of the Trust.

We will respect the people sentiments, and will build Ram temple as soon as possible, says Nitya Gopal Das, President of Ram Mandir Trust.

Bhadohi: Case registered against BJP MLA Ravindra Nath Tripathi, his son and nephew on charges of raping a woman.

Sadhana Ramachandran, SC appointed mediator after meeting Shaheen Bagh protesters: We met them & listened to them. We asked them if they want us to come back tomorrow as it's not possible to complete the talks in one day. They said they want us to come back tomorrow, so we will.

Coimbatore: Several organisations hold' Road Roko' protest against Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens.

Liberty lies in the heart of the people, says mediators Sanjay Hegde.

Freedom will prevail, says the mediators.

Protesters says, road block is not a big issue, it is a small issue than our issue.

Woman protesters says, no one came us to address our issue. We staged the sit-in protest during cold nights. Traffic jam is inconvenience but what about our issue?

Our protest has been defamed as it is getting global attention, says a protester.

Dadi asks to mediators to order police to first open three closed road.

She says there are more roads for traffic movement.

90-year-old dadi says, “I am sitting here for constitution. And we will sit here till withdrawal of the Citizenship Act.”

The two interlocutors appointed by the Supreme Court on Wednesday visited Shaheen Bagh to initiate talks with the protesters, asserting that the top court has upheld their right to protest but it should not affect the rights of other citizens.

The two interlocutors are advocate Sadhana Ramachandran and senior advocate Sanjay Hegde.

"The Supreme Court has upheld your right to protest. But then other citizens also have their rights and it should also be maintained," Ramachandran told the crowd assembled at the spot in large numbers.

"We want to together find a solution to the problem. We will listen to everyone," she said in Hindi.

Earlier, Hegde explained the Supreme Court order to the protesters. This was translated into Hindi by Ramachandran.

The protesters have been on a sit-in against the new citizenship law for over two months.

Delhi: Sanjay Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran — mediators appointed by Supreme Court speak to protesters at Shaheen Bagh.

Supreme Court has said that you have the right to protest. The law (CAA) has been challenged in the Supreme Court. But like us, others too have their rights, like right to use roads, open their shops, says mediator Sadhana Ramachandran at Shaheen Bagh

Sanjay Hegde and Sadhana Ramachandran — mediators appointed by Supreme Court speak to the protesters at Shaheen Bagh, Delhi.

Sadhana Ramachandran says, We will find a solution which will set an example for the world.

“We will not talk in front of media,” says Ramachandran, however the protesters at Shaheen Bagh want the presence of media during the interaction with SC-Appointed mediators.

We will brief media afterwards, says mediator.

Sanjay Hegde says, We have come here according to the order of Supreme Court. We hope to speak to everyone. We hope to resolve the matter with everybody's cooperation.

Four persons were killed and three others injured when a tractor trolley overturned in a village in Uttar Pradesh's Badaun district, police said on Wednesday.

The incident happened in Khitaura Bhagwant village of Ughaiti area on Tuesday, they said.

DGP Jammu&Kashmir, Dilbag Singh: Huge cache of ammunition recovered from the 3 terrorists that were killed earlier today in Tral. One of them, Jahangeer was a commander of Hizbul Mujaheedin and was involved in 8 big terror activities which resulted in a fearful environment in region.

Dozens of crude bombs were found in front of a panchayat office, a Trinamool Congress party office and a bank in Birbhum district on Wednesday, police said.

Several bombs lay scattered on the ground in front of the closed gate of the local panchayat office, said people of Sian Muluk village near Bolpur.

The crude bombs were also found before the party office and a nationalised bank early in the morning.

Bomb squad have been informed, police said adding that the matter is being investigated.

Tapas Paul, Sultan Ahmed died due to pressure created by central agencies, politics of vendetta pursued by Union govt: Mamata Banerjee

Gujarat police refused permission to a Kerala-based activist, Aswathy Jwala, to sit on a hunger strike, The Wire reported.

Aswathy Jwala, a social worker, was quoted as telling Ahmedabad Mirror, "If I am not arrested, I will be sitting right here on Monday when Trump's convoy passes by."

Jwala has demanded that all these people living in the slums for decades must be rehabilitated with proper housing by the government, reported Rediff.com

A social worker from Kerala has launched a hunger strike at the Sharaniyavas slum in Ahmedabad against wall built by state government to hide slums.

Aswathy Jwala, a social worker, was quoted as telling Ahmedabad Mirror, "If I am not arrested, I will be sitting right here on Monday when Trump's convoy passes by."

Jwala has demanded that all these people living in the slums for decades must be rehabilitated with proper housing by the government, reported Rediff.com

Delhi Airport eliminates usage of plastic bags, food packaging, straws, containers, cups, and cutlery, and gets officially declared as single use plastic free airport, reported NDTV

Jharkhand: Police today raided the residence of BJP MLA Dulu Mahato, in Dhanbad in connection with cases of land acquisition, Arms Act and molestation. SSP Dhanbad says, "He managed to escape. 4 of his supporters arrested. Raids being held at several places to arrest him."

2016 JNU sedition case: Delhi Court asked state Government to file a status report and Delhi police to send another reminder to the government of Delhi as sanction for prosecution has not been granted by them. Matter adjourned for 3rd April.

People march towards the State Secretariat from Walajah Road to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act, National Register of Citizens & National Population Register in Tamil Nadu. Heavy police force has been deployed in view of the ongoing Assembly session.

Maoists blew up a school building at Bankebazar area of Bihar's Gaya district with dynamite, the police said on Wednesday.

According to the police, an armed group of Maoists attacked a middle school in Sondaha village on Tuesday night and blew up the building with dynamite. The school was completely gutted in the explosion.

Sources said the school building was used as a temporary camp for the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) battalion during the last Lok Sabha elections. The camp was removed on February 6 this year.

The Bankebajar police station incharge Sanjay Kumar said police are investigating the incident and a search operation has been launched to nab the Maoists.

At least 100 people were impacted, including 50 fainted after inhaling ammonia gas that leaked from a cold storage plant in Harayan's Kurukshetra district, police said on Wednesday.

Two of them were seriously ill and admitted to the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital in Kurukshetra, some 100 km from the state capital.

The police evacuated 100 people from nearby residential areas of Hargovind cold storage in Nalvi village.

The cause of gas leakage was not known yet.

An official told IANS the toxic gas leaked from the plant at 9.30 p.m. on Tuesday when most of the employees were not working inside the unit. "It had subsequently spread to the neighbouring areas," the official said.

Kurukshetra Superintendent of Police Astha Modi said the leakage was plugged.

An initial investigation into the gas leak incident found lapses on the part of the company, said a police official.

A probe was underway, but no arrest has been made so far.

According to fire brigade officials, water was sprayed to lessen the impact of the leaked gas.

Ammonia used in manufacturing, refrigeration and agriculture is a pungent, colourless and toxic gas.

An elderly Hong Kong man who contracted the new coronavirus died on Wednesday, authorities announced, the second fatality from the outbreak in the semi-autonomous Chinese city.

"A 70-year-old male patient who was infected with the novel coronavirus deteriorated and succumbed in Princess Margaret Hospital this morning," the Hospital Authority said in a statement.

Officials said the man was taken to hospital on 12 February after a fall at home. He had a fever and tested positive for the virus, dying a week later.

In mainland China, where the virus first emerged, more than 2,000 people have been killed and 74,000 infected.

Hong Kong has confirmed the virus in 62 patients, two of whom have died. The first infections were largely found within people who had travelled to the epicentre in China's central Hubei province.

But in recent weeks local infections have increased among residents with no history of travel to China.

Hong Kong is on edge over the virus partly because of its own tragic history of experiencing a deadly disease.

In 2003, 299 Hong Kongers were killed by an outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) -- 40 percent of the global total fatalities.

The outbreak left deep psychological scars on the tightly packed city and a lasting legacy of distrust towards China's communist leadership who initially covered up the outbreak.

At least three militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, police officials said on Wednesday.

Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Tral area of Pulwama district late Tuesday night following information about presence of militants there, a police official said.  He said during searches, an encounter broke out between militants and security forces.

Three unidentified militants were killed in the gunfight, the official said adding more details were awaited.