Digest year-ender for domestic stories for month of April, 2018

Digest year-ender for domestic stories for month of April, 2018

Press Trust of India

Apr 1: Srinagar: In a major offensive, security forces today gunned down 12 militants, including those responsible for the brutal killing of Lieutenant Umar Fayaz, in three counter-insurgency operations that also claimed the lives of three Army jawans and four civilians in Anantnag and Shopian districts of Jammu and Kashmir.

Apr 2: New Delhi/Gwalior/Alwar: At least nine persons were killed and hundreds injured today in violence across several states as protesters blocked trains, clashed with police and set fire to private and public properties, including police posts, during a nationwide bandh called by Dalit groups, officials said.

Apr 3: Ghaziabad: As many as 5,000 people have been booked for creating ruckus and damaging public and government properties here during protests against "dilution" of the provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the SSP said.

Apr 4: New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha today witnessed an unprecedented 11 adjournments amid a clash between the government and the opposition over how an anti-graft bill should be passed and continued disruptions that prompted the Chair to lament the "murder of democracy".

Apr 5: Jodhpur: A court convicts superstar Salman Khan and sentenced him to five years in prison for killing two blackbucks, capping a 20-year case that began with a late night safari outside Jodhpur on the sidelines of a film shoot.

Apr 6: New Delhi: The washed out second leg of Parliament's Budget Session ended today as both Houses were adjourned sine die, capping a month of relentless disruptions and stated to be the least productive since 2000 with nearly 250 working hours being wasted.

Apr 7: Jodhpur/Mumbai: Bollywood superstar Salman Khan today walked out of the Jodhpur jail, where he spent two nights, after a sessions court here granted him bail in the 1998 blackbuck poaching case in which he was given a five-year prison sentence.

Apr 8: Kibithu (Arunachal Pradesh): In a fresh incident of friction, the Chinese military last month strongly protested against the Indian Army's "transgression" into the strategically sensitive Asaphila area along the disputed border in Arunachal Pradesh, but the Indian side roundly rejected the complaint, official sources said. Apr 9: Unnao (UP): The father of an 18-year-old woman, who had alleged rape by BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar and his brothers, died in custody here today, prompting her to put the blame on the lawmaker.

Apr 10: Lucknow: The police today arrested Atul Singh, brother of a BJP MLA, in connection with the gangrape of an 18-year-old woman and the custodial death of her father in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district, as an SIT was formed to probe the incident.

Apr 11: New Delhi: Asserting the superior authority of the Chief Justice of India, the Supreme Court today held that the CJI is an "institution in himself" and occupies a "unique position" having the "exclusive prerogative" to allocate cases and set up benches.

Apr 12: Thiruvedanthai: Eyeing the mega IAF contract for 110 fighter jets, Boeing today announced a partnership with PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Mahindra Defence Systems (MDS) for manufacturing the F/A-18 Super Hornet in India.

Apr 13: Lucknow/Srinagar: Amid a nationwide outrage, the CBI today arrested the BJP MLA accused of raping a minor in UP's Unnao, while two ministers from the party in J&K who attended a rally supporting the accused in the Kathua rape and murder case had to resign, soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted no criminal will be spared.

Apr 14: New Delhi: Protests and tensions in parts of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, and a political slugfest marked the Ambedkar Jayanti today, a day top leaders, including President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi paid tributes to the Dalit icon on his 127th birth anniversary.

Apr 15: New Delhi: India lodged a strong protest with Pakistan over blocking of access of visiting Sikh pilgrims to Indian diplomats in that country and even "compelling" the Indian envoy to return while on way to a prominent gurudwara there.

Apr 16: Hyderabad: A special anti-terror court today acquitted Hindutva preacher Swami Aseemanand and four others in the 11-year-old Mecca Masjid blast case and shortly afterwards the judge resigned, in a stunning move dubbed as "intriguing" by a political party.

Apr 17: New Delhi: India today filed a fresh set of pleadings in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) relating to the case of its national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in April last year on charges of espionage and terrorism.

Apr 18: New Delhi: The BJP today appointed a new party president in Madhya Pradesh and will also replace its Rajasthan chief in a sign of major organisational revamp in the two poll-bound states where it has suffered a string of by-poll defeats to the Congress.

Apr 19: New Delhi: The Supreme Court today rejected multiple pleas for an independent probe into the death of special CBI judge B H Loya, holding he died of "natural causes" in a verdict that sparked a bitter slugfest between the BJP and the Congress.

Apr 20: New Delhi/Chandigarh: Nine new Cabinet ministers are set to take oath tomorrow in Punjab, after Congress chief Rahul Gandhi approved their names at a meeting with state Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.

Apr 21: New Delhi: The Union Cabinet today approved an ordinance to provide stringent punishment, including death penalty, for those convicted of rape of girls below 12 years, amid a nation-wide outrage over cases of sexual assault and murder of minors in Kathua and Surat and the rape of a girl in Unnao.

Apr 22: New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind today promulgated the criminal law amendment ordinance, paving the way for providing stringent punishment, including death penalty, for those convicted of raping girls below the age of 12.

Apr 23: New Delhi: The AFSPA has been removed completely from Meghalaya and its area of operation in Arunachal Pradesh has been restricted to eight police stations bordering Assam and three districts neighbouring Myanmar, officials said today.

Apr 24: Gadchiroli: In a massive blow to Maoists, 37 hardcore Naxals were killed since Sunday in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district, police said today.

Apr 25: Jodhpur: A Jodhpur court on Wednesday sentenced self-styled godman Asaram to life in prison after finding him guilty of raping a teenage girl in his ashram five years ago, the second case of a powerful spiritual leader being convicted of a sexual offence in less than a year.

Apr 26: New Delhi: The government today turned down a Supreme Court collegium proposal to elevate Justice K M Joseph to the top court, saying his promotion may not be "appropriate" and needs to be reconsidered, a decision that evoked sharp reactions from legal fraternity and opposition parties.

Apr 27: New Delhi: The Supreme Court today stayed till May 7 the trial in the Kathua gangrape and murder case, after being seized with petitions seeking shifting of the trial to Chandigarh and handing over the investigation to the CBI. Apr 28: New Delhi: In a major milestone, indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas has successfully fired an air-to-air beyond visual (BVR) range missile, demonstrating its overall capability as an effective combat jet, and inched closer to receive final operational clearance.

Apr 29: Jammu: Ahead of a Cabinet reshuffle tomorrow, Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh tonight tendered his resignation to pave the way for state Assembly Speaker Kavinder Gupta to take over the post in the PDP-BJP government led by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.

Apr 30: Jammu: The much-awaited cabinet reshuffle in the Mehbooba Mufti government in Jammu and Kashmir took place today with seven new faces sworn in, including Assembly Speaker Kavinder Gupta who will be the next deputy chief minister in the PDP-BJP dispensation.

(Source PTI)