Feb 22 News Live: Armed intruder shot dead at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate

33-hour Mumbai-Pune E-way disruption: 1 lakh motorists to get Rs 5.16 cr toll refund

More than one lakh motorists who were caught up in a massive traffic gridlock on Mumbai-Pune Expressway earlier this month after a gas tanker mishap will get toll refund cumulatively valued at Rs 5.16 crore, a senior Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation official said on Sunday.

On February 3, a gas tanker turned turtle on the Khopoli stretch of the Expressway, leading to a 33-hour disruption which saw traffic come to a standstill for several kilometres, leaving many motorists and passengers facing shortage of water, food and other basic amenities.

Following the accident, the administration had ordered an immediate suspension of toll collection. However, by then, toll charges had already been deducted from the FASTag accounts of several motorists.

"It has been decided to refund the entire amount collected from vehicle owners even after the order to halt toll collection was issued. The refund of Rs 5.16 crore will be processed by MSRDC. The amount will be directly credited to FASTag accounts of affected vehicle owners in the next few days," the official told PTI.

The refund will cover toll collected on both highways and the toll operator has been asked to furnish detailed FASTag transaction data, he said.

Armed intruder shot dead by Secret Service at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida

In a massive security scare, an armed man who illegally entered the premises of US President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida was shot dead by Secret Service agents. The man carried a shotgun and a fuel can, sources said.

Though it is known that Trump usually spends his weekends at the resort, he and First Lady Melania Trump, was coincidentally at the White House when the alleged incident took place on Saturday night. The identity of the armed trespasser has not been officially released yet. However, the suspect was reportedly in his early 20s and from North Carolina, was reported missing a few days ago by his family.

Secret Service said the person was “observed by the north gate of the Mar-a-Lago property carrying what appeared to be a shotgun and a fuel can.” The incident took place at 1.30 am on Sunday.

According to investigators, the suspect is likely to have left North Carolina after which he moved south and picked up a shotgun while on the way, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.

Three injured as luxury sports car crashes into vehicles in Hyderabad’s Jubilee Hills

Three persons were injured after a luxury sports car collided with other vehicles in the Jubilee Hills area in Hyderabad on Sunday, police said.

In addition to the high-end car, two other cars and a two-wheeler were damaged. The driver of the luxury car allegedly lost control, hit a pole on the divider and then rammed an oncoming vehicle on the opposite side of the road.

Three occupants of the two cars sustained injuries and were shifted to a hospital, police said. Based on preliminary investigation, a police official said the crash appeared to have been caused by brake failure in the luxury car.

“It appears to be a case of brake failure. A Motor Vehicle Inspector will examine the vehicle to ascertain the exact cause,” he said.

The driver of the luxury sports car told police that he is in the real estate business. A case has been registered, and further investigation is underway. 

Dhoni available but may not play all games for CSK

The perennial question around MS Dhoni's future resurfaced once again as the Indian Premier League caravan readies for the 2026 season — will the iconic former skipper feature in all matches for Chennai Super Kings this year? Dhoni, who will turn 45 later this year, will be available for CSK for the upcoming IPL season, a top franchise source confirmed.

However, with CSK's prize transfer Sanju Samson now in the ranks, it is unlikely that the legendary former India captain would play all the league games. "We can confirm this much that he is coming to Chennai and had confirmed his availability for the season," a top CSK source told PTI on condition of anonymity. "Whether he will play all games or not is something we can't say at the moment," the source added.

In any case, with the Impact Player rule in place, Dhoni the batter has not been required extensively over the past two editions. His role has largely been situational, often limited to late-order cameos.

This season, CSK have three wicketkeeper-batters in their line-up. Samson is certain to don the gloves in games where Dhoni does not feature. There is also Urvil Patel in the squad, besides Rs 14.20 crore recruit rookie Kartik Sharma, who will be groomed as a finisher alongside Shivam Dube.

US trade deal proof of 'Abki baar Trump se haar': Cong's swipe at govt

The Congress on Sunday alleged that the Modi government had hurriedly announced the "one-sided" Indo-US interim trade deal as a distraction strategy after Rahul Gandhi raised the issue of external security in Parliament and demanded that the framework agreement be kept in "cold storage" due to the "confusion" created by the US Supreme Court's verdict striking down President Donald Trump's global tariffs.

The terms of the framework for the interim agreement must be renegotiated to protect farmers' interests, and the clause talking about import liberalisation, especially of agricultural products, must be scrapped, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, adding that India would have been in a much stronger position had the government waited for the Supreme Court's verdict and not acted in haste.

Ramesh said an agreement is about give and take, but India had only given under the interim trade pact.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given a slogan in Houston in 2019 -'Abki baar Trump Sarkaar' but this framework for an interim agreement is proof of 'Abki baar Trump se haar'," the Congress leader told PTI Videos.

PM Modi's Meerut speech focused on opposition, nothing about public's concerns: Congress

The Congress on Sunday said that issues raised during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address in Meerut diverted attention from the real concerns of the public, including employment, inflation, farmers' income, education and social justice.

State Congress spokesperson Abhimanyu Tyagi claimed that instead of presenting concrete policy measures on these issues, the prime minister's speech focused on levelling allegations against the opposition.

Tyagi also alleged that Congress workers, farmer leaders and members of the legal fraternity were placed under preventive detention by the police and were stopped from reaching the venue to meet the prime minister.

He termed the action a violation of democratic rights and condemned it as "reprehensible".

According to him, a delegation of lawyers from western Uttar Pradesh had sought permission to meet the prime minister to press their demand for a high court bench in the region, but the administration did not allow them to proceed.

The Congress leader further claimed that the rally did not witness the expected public participation, which he described as a sign of public dissatisfaction with government policies.

'Done deal': Himanta on NDA seat-sharing for Assam elections

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said the seat-sharing arrangement within the NDA for the Assam assembly elections was a "done deal".

Among the NDA constituents in the state, the BJP, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), United People's Party Liberal (UPPL) and Bodoland People's Front (BPF) have members in the assembly. Rabha Hasong Joutha Sangram Samiti (RHJSS) and Janashakti Party (JP) are also part of the NDA, but they do not have any MLAs.

"Our NDA alliance is complete. We know who will contest where; it is a done deal. There is no issue in stitching the alliance," Sarma told reporters at the state BJP headquarters. "After every process is complete, the state leadership will meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah with the list of probable candidates," he added.

On January 7, Sarma had said the BJP was likely to formalise its seat-sharing agreement with its allies by February 15.

On December 5 last year, he had said the finalisation was expected to be over by January 15.

The elections for the 126-member assembly are expected to take place in March-April. This will be the first election after the delimitation exercise, done in 2023.

EU-India FTA opens doors to trade, AI, resilient supply chains: Austrian official

The landmark EU-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is a transformative win-win pact that offers immense opportunities in trade, artificial intelligence (AI) and resilient supply chains, Austria's State Secretary in the Federal Chancellery Alexander Proll has said.

In an interview with PTI Videos, Proll has described the EU-India FTA as the "mother of all deals" that stands to benefit nearly 200 crore people and create one of the world's largest free trade zones.

"Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi visited Austria in 2024 because of 75 years of the diplomatic relationship and now, we have the free-trade agreement. It is the mother of all deals. I think it is a win-win situation for the whole European Union and India," Proll said.

The FTA, finalised after years of negotiations re-launched in 2022, eliminates or reduces tariffs on 96.6 per cent of EU exports to India by value and 99.5 per cent of Indian exports to the EU by trade value.

Proll highlighted AI as a key future area of collaboration, calling it "the next step after digitalisation".

"Our principle is that AI should serve for people ... a human-centred AI. We build human-centred AI around people to save democracy and make innovation happen. I think that is the way we can learn from each other," Proll noted.

Trial run of Agartala-Kolkata bus via Dhaka positive sign: Tripura minister

Tripura Transport Minister Sushanta Chowdhury on Sunday termed the trial run for resuming the Agartala-Kolkata bus service via Dhaka, which remained suspended for a year due to political turmoil in Bangladesh, a "positive sign" for the northeastern state.

The Royal-Maitri international bus service conducted a trial run on Saturday by operating a bus from Agartala to Kolkata via Dhaka.

"We could not accept what happened in Bangladesh over the past year. Now the situation is changing after the formation of a new government through an election," Chowdhury told reporters.

Asserting that the rule of law has been established in Bangladesh, he said the democratically elected government under the leadership of Tarique Rehman would maintain good relations with its neighbours as it has traditionally done.

"The trial run for resumption of the Agartala-Kolkata bus via Dhaka undertaken by the Royal-Maitri international bus service is a welcome and strategic step. I have learnt that the Assistant High Commission office in Agartala will start issuing visas at the earliest," he said.

Karnataka BJP MLA caught taking Rs 5 lakh bribe remanded to judicial custody

BJP MLA Dr Chandru Lamani, caught allegedly accepting a Rs 5 lakh bribe from a contractor, has been remanded to judicial custody until March 3.

The Shirahatti MLA, a doctor, was brought from Gadag to Bengaluru on Saturday night and produced before a Special Court for Public Representatives, sources said. The court remanded him to custody until March 3.

The MLA was caught in a Lokayukta trap following a complaint by Vijay Pujar, a Class-1 contractor from Chinchali in Gadag district.

Lokayukta officials said the alleged bribe was linked to Minor Irrigation Department works, including the construction of retaining walls along a road. The accused had demanded Rs 11 lakh from the complainant to execute the project, and Rs 5 lakh was accepted during the trap.

Along with Lamani, his personal assistants, Manjunath Valmiki and Guru Naik, were also arrested in connection with the case.