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A helicopter crashed in the Hudson River near lower Manhattan on Thursday afternoon, the New York City Police Department said on social media.

ABC News said fatalities have been reported, citing law enforcement sources. The Federal Aviation Administration did not immediately comment.

“Due to a helicopter crash in the Hudson River, in the vicinity of the West Side Highway and Spring Street, expect emergency vehicles and traffic delays in the surrounding areas,” read a post on X by the New York Police Department. 

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Karni Sena leader has been booked for allegedly announcing a reward of Rs 25 lakh for anyone who kills Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Ramji Lal Suman, police said on Thursday.

The accused, identified as Mohan Chauhan, announced the reward following Suman’s controversial remark on 16th-century Rajput king Rana Sanga.

Reportedly, Chauhan, in a video, said that the MP would have to pay the price for his act and announced the reward.

The video has been circulating on social media since the last week of March.  He further added that if given the opportunity, he would personally carry out the act.

Aarti Singh, SP Mahila Sabha chief (Aligarh), lodged a complaint in this regard at Gandhi Park police station on March 29.

However, the complaint was transferred on Wednesday to Jawaan police station, under whose jurisdiction Chauhan resides. A formal case has now been registered, and a probe is underway, police said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Anupam Kher recently visited late legendary actor and filmmaker Manoj Kumar’s residence to offer his condolences to the family.

Anupam Kher recently visited late legendary actor and filmmaker Manoj Kumar‘s residence to offer his condolences to the family.
Kher, on Thursday, took to his Instagram to share a series of pictures along with a caption that read, “Met #ManojKumar Ji’s friends and family!! And paid my tribute! Thank you #Manoj Ji for your contribution in my life! Both as an actor/director and as an Indian! Jai Hind! #Bharat #Patriot.”
Take a look
Earlier, Kher had posted a video in which he remembered how Kumar’s films shaped his childhood and inspired his love for the country.
“The first film I saw in my life, which I remember very well, was Upkaar. Films were shown in our locality. So this film was my first introduction to Manoj Kumar ji,” Kher said in the video.
“Manoj Kumar ji has a huge contribution in awakening the spirit of patriotism in my heart. India had become independent. It had been only 15-20 years and the fight for revolution, the freedom movement, everything was fresh. On top of that, Manoj Kumar ji’s films, that feeling of patriotism kept on deepening,” he added.
Manoj Kumar breathed his last at 4:03 am on April 4 at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai AmbHospital in Mumbai after battling a long illness.
Born Harikrishan Goswami on July 24, 1937, in Abbottabad (now in Pakistan), Kumar became an iconic figure in Indian cinema, especially in the 1960s and 1970s. The actor was affectionately known as “Bharat Kumar” for his iconic roles in patriotic films like Upkar, Purab Aur Paschim, and Shaheed.
Apart from acting, Kumar also made significant contributions as a director and producer. His directorial debut Upkar (1967) won the National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film.
Other successful films directed by him include Purab Aur Paschim (1970) and Roti Kapda Aur Makaan (1974), both of which were major successes critically and commercially.

The extradition of 26/11 plotter Tahawwur Rana has ripped the band-aid off the wounds of many who lived through the three-day mayhem in Mumbai 16 years ago. For others, it was an occasion to remember the massive pressure they came under to save the lives of others — at great risk to themselves. 

One such hero is nurse Anjali Kulthe, who managed to save 20 pregnant women admitted at Mumbai’s Cama hospital and ensured safe delivery for one of them — a high-risk patient of hypertension.  

It was around 9.30 pm on November 26, when they got information that terrorists who were attacking the CST station were moving towards the Cama hospital, Ms Kulthe told NDTV in an exclusive interview. Minutes later, they heard gunshots from a lane at the back of the hospital. 

“Looking out of the window, we could see two terrorists running and the police firing at them. Then the terrorists vaulted over the low gate and entered the hospital premises. I saw they had shot the two security guards, who were lying in a heap. When they spotted us at the window, they opened fire at us and one of our workers got injured. I took her to the casualty and informed everyone that the terrorists had entered the hospital,” she said. 

On her return, the nurse shut the main doors of the ward and took the 20 patients to a 10×10 pantry. Cellphones and lights were switched off and they sat in the dark. 

Soon after, the hypertension patient started getting labour pain. The doctor refused to come to the ward, for by now, the gunbattle was raging inside the hospital. 

Ms Kulthe said she took the patient to the labour room by the staircase, going up one step at a time, staying close to the wall.  By the morning, she had given birth to a baby girl, who was named ‘Goli’ in the memory of that night, Ms Kulthe said.

The hospital was under attack for five hours that night. Besides the two security guards, one more hospital worker died. 

Asked if she had got over the fear and trauma of that night, Ms Kulthe said, “not a single one of us who worked at the hospital – doctors, nurses or other staff — will ever forget that night”.

“The way they threw hand grenades, opened fire, killed people, none of us can ever forget it. For the whole country, it was a night of sadness and horror,” she added.    

Tahawwur Rana, who was extradited, is accused of playing a key role in the 2008 attacks that cost 166 lives. Pakistani-American terrorist and prime accused in the case, David Coleman Headley, said Rana had extended logistical and financial support for the terror operation. He has been charged with criminal conspiracy, waging war against the government of India, murder and forgery and under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The three-day attack that devastated India’s financial capital in 2008 had seen hotels, a train station, a Jewish center, and other spots targeted.

Of the 10 terrorists who took part in the attack, only one, Ajmal Kasab, was caught alive and was hanged on November 21, 2012. India has said Pakistan-based terror group  Lashkar-e-Taiba had orchestrated the attacks.

Around 500 ‘eligible’ teachers, whose jobs were annulled following a Supreme Court order which invalidated the jobs of around 26,000 teachers, rallied in the city on Thursday demanding they should not be penalised and clubbed with the ‘tainted’.

Mehboob Mondal, one of the spokespersons of ‘Jogyo Sikshak Manch’ (Eligible Teachers Forum), told PTI, “We hit the streets to voice the demands of deserving teachers that they should not be penalised for the failure of the School Service Commission (SSC) to differentiate between the deserving and tainted candidates who sat for the recruitment tests in 2016 and got appointment letters.”

“We were lathi-charged by police for handing over a deputation to the office of District Inspector of Education in the city and kicked by a police officer. We can’t even protest democratically against the snatching of our jobs due to large-scale corruption by the state government. So where should we go now? We are on the roads finding no other alternative,” Mr Mondal alleged.

Asked if they would join the relay hunger strike with another group of eligible teachers in front of the SSC office building, Mr Mondal said, “We will decide after this programme. If they (fasting teachers) are also eligible, we will be with them. Let us find out,” he added.

He also clarified that the forum is not associated with another section of teachers who are staging a sit-in at Sahid Minar, but will support the legitimate demand of any deserving candidate.

While one rally reached Esplanade via Central Avenue, covering a distance of over 2 km, another rally was taken out in Sealdah and converged at the same venue.

A strong police force was present escorting the two rallies, but there was no untoward incident as the teachers holding placards reading ‘We want back our job’ and ‘SSC should come out with the list of tainted/untainted candidates’ walked on.

The Supreme Court on April 3 upheld a 2024 Calcutta High Court judgment annulling the recruitment of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff appointed through a recruitment drive by SSC in 2016, terming the entire selection process ‘vitiated and tainted.’

Those who were rendered jobless claimed that the reason behind their plight was inability of the SSC to differentiate between candidates who secured employment through fraudulent means and those who did not.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had earlier arrested former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee and some other officials, who held positions in the state’s SSC when the irregularities in the recruitment process took place.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a terrorist who was jailed in the US for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, has been extradited to India and will be put to trial for his role in the attacks that shook the nation to its core in 2008. 

Sixteen years after the attacks, survivors recounted the horror they experienced on the night of November 26. Ajay Bagga, a startup mentor and a long-term investor, recalled what happened inside the Taj Hotel when he and his wife, Rajita Kukarni, were caught in the line of fire. 

“Rajita and I were at the Taj at the Masala Craft restaurant. One of our friends, a German member of the European Parliament, was visiting with a big parliamentary delegation.”

“We were just starting dinner at about 9:30 pm, the first firing started, and I just looked out and I saw somebody shooting into the Golden Dragon restaurant, which is about 30 meters from where we were. Luckily, that door used to look like a steel wall, and there was no latch inside. I just tied up the door with napkins, tableware, and people were not ready to move. We were told there is a shooting outside.”

Read more: “Bringing Back Memories”: Survivor Spots Herself In NDTV’s 26/11 Footage

Mr Bagga told NDTV that his friend had been in a terror hostage situation in Sri Lanka earlier. So she was well trained and told them that “It is now becoming a hostage situation.”

‘People Killed On Both Sides’

Mr Bagga and his wife were spotted in the NDTV footage from 16 years ago, which was taken shortly after the firing began.

“On both sides, there were people killed. On the right was the Shamiana 24/7 coffee shop, and on the left was Golden Dragon. There was nobody who survived. Everyone was killed there,” Mr Bagga told NDTV. 

“We were providentially safe in Masala Craft. And then after two hours, the hotel moved us to the chambers through the basement area of the staff entrance. We were moved out to the chambers, and we were there. About 200 people were there.  A politician gave a media interview, and he said 200 CEOs and very senior people of Mumbai are trapped here in chambers… They entered chambers and opened fire,” he recalled.

“Just then, our evacuation started from the fire escape. One old woman fell. I bent down to pick her up, and I told my wife that we would not push. People were pushing and running down. I said, we’ll not push. We’ll wait for our turn, and all of a sudden, in front of us, there was nobody alive.”

‘Taj Staffer Saved Our Life’

Mr Bagga, who was stuck in the Chambers and was awaiting his turn to get rescued, said a staff member from the Taj saved his and his wife’s lives. Mr Bagga said, the staffer “Took bullets in his back and we hid in a conference room, lying on the ground for the next about seven hours. Through the night, he (the staffer) was crying. We had nothing but aspirin and whatever people had. There were two doctors with us.

“We tied up his wounds as well as we could, and he made it to the hospital, but he did not survive.”

“We were all lying down in the room and the other conference rooms. I thought it was over because huge smoke started coming in. They were throwing grenades from the top to try to break the building…very heavy smoke came in, and we couldn’t breathe. I thought it was over because there was a flimsy door between us and them,”

“The National Security Guard (NSG) came at 10,” Mr Bagga said, adding that the gunfight continued between the commandos and the terrorists, and “somehow the god was kind” and he was out of the danger zone by 10 pm.

‘We Hugged Taj Employees Who Survived’

Mr Bagga said he had to go back to the Taj hotel after a month since he was a member of the chambers and relive the near-death experience he had inside the hotel.

“I went through the entire route that we had taken, right from Masala Craft, through the basement, the staff entrances, and to the chambers. And we went and hugged all the employees who survived. A lot of Taj employees gave up their lives to save us.”

He recalled that when the NSG came to their rescue, they didn’t know if it’s the terrorists pretending to be “the Black Cat commandos or it’s really the NSG but then they said, stand back. We are breaking through.”

“They (NSG) had to break the door because we had tied it up with all the tablecloths. There were no latches in any of the doors,” he added.

Mr Bagga’s wife, Ranjita Kulkarni, also spoke to NDTV and said, The extradition of Rana is a “monumental achievement for our country”. She thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar, US President Donald Trump and the US Supreme Court for making this possible. “I am quite sure it will bring justice. This is a huge day for all martyrs who sacrificed their lives, survivors and their families,” she said.

Tahawwaur Rana’s Role In 26/11 Attacks

The former Pakistan Army doctor provided logistic, financial and other assistance to David Headley — a key conspirator in the terror attack. Rana is charged under sections relating to criminal conspiracy, waging war against the government of India, murder and forgery and relevant sections under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. He also travelled to various places in India as they identified targets to strike, the chargesheet says.

Pavitra Rishta actress Ankita Lokhande never misses a chance to keep the spark alive in her marriage. The actress is a hardcore romantic and always finds new ways to impress Vicky. The actress recently planned a special surprise for hubby Vicky Jain on the occasion of their dating anniversary.
Ankita and Vicky, who tied the knot in 2021, celebrated seven years of being together on April 10. It was exactly seven years ago that they went on their very first date. To make the day memorable, Ankita planned a sweet surprise for Vicky by adorning their room with lovely flowers and arranging a charming cake to mark the occasion.
Ankita shared a beautiful video on her social media, giving fans a glimpse of the celebration. Sharing the video, she wrote a heartfelt caption, “7 years since our first date… and somehow it still feels like day 1. There have been so many firsts, countless memories, creating our own home, and endless laughter along the way. Harr din, harr moment, we’ve grown together. It was never easy, because love is never easy, but we wanted it to work. We wanted each other. From being two individuals in love to becoming true partners in every sense, the 7 years of dating… were sealed with 7 pheras.”
The video captures Vicky walking into the house, pleasantly surprised by the lovely decorations. It concludes with the couple relaxing together, reminiscing as they watch their wedding video once again.
Recently, the couple caught attention after Vicky’s mother shared her desire to become a grandmother. Her statement quickly fueled speculation and led to rumors suggesting that Ankita might be expecting.
Reacting to the same, Ankita told Times of India TV a few months ago, “Sab mere peeche pade hain bacha kar lo…Mujhe jab karna hoga tab main kar loongi. Jis din hoga uss din toh pata chal hi jayega. Kitna he chupa lungi main and why will I hide it. (Everyone keeps telling me to have a baby… I’ll do it when the time is right. The day it happens, people will know—how much can I even hide?) And why would I hide it? Right now, I’m just focusing on work and I’m very happy with the way my career is going.”

Panaji: Admitting that more reforms are required to improve the ease of doing business, a taskforce headed by the chairperson of the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), Vijay Kumar, was constituted by the Centre to identify laws and regulations that can be done away with in Goa.
The taskforce prepared a 114-page compliance reduction and deregulation docket, which has been shared with state govt and industry bodies. The docket contains a list of 23 priority areas that Goa govt can look at reforming. “The Centre has said that states need to change the regulatory framework. All these years, more and more laws were added. Now govt wants to deregulate,” said an industry source.
Kumar, who is responsible for Goa along with all the Union territories, held a meeting with state govt authorities in March to kickstart the process. The Goa Investment Promotion and Facilitation Board has also initiated consultations with industry associations.
The focus of the taskforce is to see if govt oversight can be reduced on labour laws, land use development, building and construction regulations, utility permissions, and other factory inspections and certifications. This taskforce will function under the Deregulation Commission headed by the cabinet secretary of India, T V Somanathan.
“One of the overarching priorities identified by govt is the decriminalisation of minor offences that affect the private sector and businesses,” said a source. A total of 21 departments are being consulted through what an official said will be a year-long process to deregulate certain regulatory compliances.
The Economic Survey 2024-25 tabled in Parliament outlined a three-step process for states to systematically review regulations for their cost-effectiveness. The steps include identifying areas for deregulation, thoughtfully comparing the regulations with other states and countries, and estimating the cost of each of these regulations on individual enterprises.
The economic survey says that some challenges in the regulatory environments at the state level and the national level remain. The Centre has noticed a tendency for companies to remain small to avoid the regulatory authorities and steer clear of the rules and labour and safety laws, says the economic survey report.
To create a conducive business environment, the taskforce has asked Goa govt to bring all critical services required by businesses under a single window system with a common payment window for municipalities, utility services, pollution control board, fire department, revenue department, and other departments.
The focus of the taskforce is to see if govt oversight can be reduced on labour laws, regulations for building & construction, land use development,utility permissions, and factory inspections and certifications

Australia has declined China’s proposal to form an alliance against the United States’ tariffs, imposed by President Donald Trump’s administration. The decision comes as Washington escalates its trade war with Beijing, imposing a 10 per cent import tax on Australian goods and significantly higher tariffs on Chinese products – 125 per cent.

China’s ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, suggested that joint resistance is the only way to counter the US’ “hegemonic and bullying behavior.” He also said, “The international community… should firmly say no to unilateralism and protectionism.”

However, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated that his country will prioritise its national interests, “speak for ourselves” and not align with China’s stance.

Defence Minister Richard Marles emphasised that Australia will not be “holding China’s hand” and instead focus on diversifying its trade relationships.

“We’re not about to make common cause with China, that’s not what’s going to happen here. I don’t think we’ll be holding China’s hand,” Marles told Australia’s Nine News. “We don’t want to see a trade war between America and China, to be clear, but our focus is on actually diversifying our trade,” he added.

Australia has expressed frustration over the tariffs but has opted not to retaliate. Instead, the country is seeking further negotiations with the White House. Xiao Qian argued that the US has “weaponised” trade issues, potentially sabotaging the international order and dragging the global economy into chaos. He emphasised the need for Australia and China to cooperate in safeguarding a fair and free trading environment.

Australia is actively exploring alternative export opportunities outside the US. The country aims to reduce its reliance on China and bolster economic resilience by diversifying trade with nations like Indonesia, India, the UK, and the UAE. “Eighty percent of trade does not involve the United States. There are opportunities for Australia and we intend to seize them”, Albanese said. Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell has recently met with counterparts from Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and India.