Indian Navy's Remotely Piloted Aircraft Crashes: Live Breaking News Headlines & Updates, March 18, 2024

A Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) of the Indian Navy crashed on Monday during a routine training sortie, an official said. The Navy said that at around 5 p.m., an RPA/ Searcher, during a routine training sortie at INS Garuda, Kochi, crashed one mile short of the runway. No injuries or damage to property was reported, an official said.

Even though uncertainty looms over the seat-sharing arrangements among the MahaYuti partners and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies for the Lok Sabha elections despite the announcement of poll schedule, both sides are geared up to take on each other on several issues. This is the first election taking place in Maharashtra after the split in the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Former IPS officer R.S. Praveen Kumar, who resigned as Bahujan Samaj Party's Telangana unit President two days ago and quit the party, joined the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) on Monday. He, with many of his supporters, formally joined the BRS in the presence of party President and former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao at the latter’s farmhouse at Erravelli in Siddipet district.

The new Election Commissioners of India, Gyanesh Kumar and Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, today called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi.

At Rashtrapati Bhavan

The US Secretary of Defence,, Lloyd Austin, has appreciated the important role being played by the Indian Navy in conducting anti-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean region. He appreciated the Navy while having a discussion with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh over the phone on Monday. Both ministers briefly discussed a range of bilateral, regional security and defence cooperation issues.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, the NDA coalition in Bihar has finalised its seat-sharing agreement. According to the arrangement, the BJP is set to contest 17 Lok Sabha seats, JD(U) will contest 16, and LJP, led by Ram Vilas Paswan, will contest five seats. Chirag Paswan's party also secured the Hajipur Lok Sabha seat in the seat-sharing deal.

BJP, JD(U) and LJP Finalise Seat-Sharing Agreement

Ahead of the Lok Sabah elections scheduled in Gujarat on May 7, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday opened a media centre in the Sarkhej area of Ahmedabad. The opening event was attended by Gujarat BJP chief C.R. Paatil and Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President M.K. Stalin on Monday signed a seat-sharing pact with Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) President K. Selvaperunthagai for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections at the DMK headquarters here. As per the agreement, the Congress will contest nine seats from the INDIA bloc in Tamil Nadu, the same it had contested in the 2019 general elections in an alliance with the DMK.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, all seven BJP Lok Sabha candidates from Delhi, along with Delhi unit chief Virendra Sachdeva, convened for a press conference in the capital today.

BJP Candidates Hold Press Conference

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday, March 18, issued orders for the removal of the Home Secretary in six states namely Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Besides, the ECI also ordered the removal of West Bengal DGP Rajeev Kumar, sources said.

MDMK MP Vaiko has announced that an agreement between DMK and MDMK has led to the allotment of the Trichy constituency to MDMK in Tamil Nadu. MDMK will announce the candidate for the constituency at 3:30 pm today, March 18.

MDMK to Contest Trichy Constituency in Tamil Nadu

The Supreme Court on Monday, March 18, ordered the State Bank of India (SBI) to make complete disclosure of all details in its possession relating to the electoral bonds, including the alphanumeric code. "In the judgement, we had expressly asked the State Bank of India (SBI) to disclose all details. The language of the judgement was ‘all details will have to be disclosed’. Therefore, that includes the bond number as well. Let SBI not be selective in disclosure of the details,” said a Constitution Bench headed by CJI DY. Chandrachud.

The Tamil Nadu government has taken its dispute with Governor RN Ravi to the Supreme Court, contesting his refusal to appoint K Ponmudy as a minister in the state cabinet. Senior Advocate AM Singhvi sought an urgent hearing, to which the SC responded, stating, "it will see."

Tamil Nadu Government Challenges Governor’s Decision

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the US-led NATO military alliance against the deployment of troops in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin said that such a move would "be one step shy of a full-scale World War III". "It is no secret that fighters from NATO nations are present on the ground in Ukraine," Putin claimed while speaking to his supporters after his landslide presidential election victory.

Seven people including three children were killed and four others were injured after a speeding tractor laden with cement rammed into an SUV in Bihar's Khagaria district today, March 18. The accident occurred at Vidya Ratan fuel station located at NH 31 under Pasraha police station in the district, at 6.30 am.

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Executive Chairperson of Biocon Limited, on Monday, March 18, said that she purchased electoral bonds with white money and donated them to JDS and other parties. "Would like to clarify that Biocon did not make any political donation to JDS or any other party for elections," her tweet on X said.

My Donations Were Nominal

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday, March 16, announced Para Archer and Arjuna Awardee, Sheetal Devi, as its National PwD Icon. Her name was announced at an exhibition cricket match between the teams of the Indian Deaf Cricket Association (IDCA) and the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) held on Saturday in Delhi.

Four coaches including the engine of a passenger train travelling from Sabarmati-Agra Cantt derailed near Ajmer in Rajasthan today, March 18.

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On Sunday, March 17, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the BJP-led NDA will get more seats than before in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. He claimed that the BJP's performance in the general elections would be on the basis of the works of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government, which, according to the Union Minister, are being appreciated by the people. The BJP leader also said that India's auto industry will be number one in the world in the next five years.

Russian President Vladimir Putin won the presidential elections, receiving 87.17 percent of the votes based on the result of processing 70 percent of the electoral protocols, Russia-based TASS reported, citing data from the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation. Nikolai Kharitonov, candidate of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation secured the second spot with 4.1 percent of the votes while New People Party candidate Vladislav Davankov stood third with 4.8 percent votes.