Neiphiu Rio will continue as the Nagaland chief minister if the BJP-Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) combine retains power, his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma declared on Feb 21.

As per their understanding, BJP and NDPP will contest 20 and 40 seats respectively like the last time. Nagaland has altogether 60 seats. 

Noted singer Sonu Nigam was pushed and his two colleagues manhandled allegedly by the son of an MLA during a scuffle over taking a selfie with the singer at a musical event in Mumbai, police said on Feb 21 .

A colleague of Nigam was injured in the incident which took place at Chembur Gymkhana on Feb 20 night after the singer's live performance.

Based on a complaint filed by Nigam, the Chembur police registered an FIR against Swapnil Phaterpekar, the son of local Shiv Sena MLA Prakash Phaterpekar, under Indian Penal Code Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), and 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others).

Admiral R Hari Kumar on Feb 20 awarded 'on the spot' Unit Citation to the INS Nireekshak for carrying out the deepest salvage in the country's waters.

The Indian Navy in a statement said, “CNS interacted with the diving team of the ship involved in the salvage operations at a depth of 219 meters in the Arabian Sea and commended the ship on the safe and successful conduct of the operations under most challenging circumstances.”

The Navy Chief also awarded commendations to the crew involved in the salvage operation. 

Nireekshak had also recently completed a solemn dive off the Gujarat coast to pay homage by laying a wreath at 80 m depth, the resting site of erstwhile Khukri which sank during the 1971 war.

INS Nireekshak is a Dive Support and Submarine Rescue Vessel (DSSRV). Built by Mazagon Shipbuilders in 1985, the ship has been in service with the Navy since 1989 and was commissioned in the year 1995. She has been part of various diving operations and holds the record for the deepest dive carried out in the country to a depth of 257 m.

The Railway Protection Force (RPF) is all set to host the International Union of Railways' 18th World Security Congress (WSC) to deliberate upon the various aspects of security.

The Railway Protection Force (RPF) is the law-enforcing agency of Indian Railways (IR) which is hosting the 18th World Security Congress (WSC) at Jaipur.

The WSC will start on February 21 to continue till February 23 with experts and officials participating from across the world.

The Ministry of Railways  has said that the theme of this year’s WSC has been set as ‘Railway Security Strategy: Responses and Vision for Future'.

The International Union of Railways is headquartered in Paris and represents the railway sector promoting rail transport worldwide. Railway said that the WSC will be attended by the heads of security of railway organisations from across the world, apart from the concerned officials of UIC and partner agency RPF of Indian Railway.

The RPF will be the host for engaging with delegates (security representatives) of the member organisations of the International Union of Railways which is called UIC.

Earlier, the same congress was organised in 2006 and 2015 by the RPF hosting the International Union of Railways in New Delhi.

RPF DG Sanjay Chander has also taken over the chairmanship of the International UIC Security Platforms from July 2022 to July 2024. 

The Supreme Court on Feb 20  took note of the submission of the Delhi Police that the probe in a case of hate speeches made at religious assemblies in the national capital in 2021 was at an advanced stage, and asked them to place on record the charge sheet to be filed in the matter.

A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud was told by Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj, appearing for the Delhi Police, that they were expecting a Forensic Science Laboratory report on voice samples of accused.

The law officer said the probe agency will be filing a charge sheet in the matter shortly.

Earlier on January 30, the city police had told the top court that the 2021 hate speeches matter was "substantially completed" and a final probe report would be filed shortly.

The hate speech case is related to a Hindu Yuva Vahini event organised in Delhi under the leadership of Suresh Chavhanke, the editor of 'Sudarshan News', in December 2021.The top court, meanwhile, had asked the Delhi Police to file an affidavit giving details of the steps taken by them in the case so far.

The Israeli parliament backed a key part of a controversial judicial overhaul at first reading on Feb 21 despite protests across the country against a bill critics see as a threat to democracy.

Lawmakers voted by 63 to 47 to give more weight to the government in the committee that selects judges and to deny courts the right to rule on legislation they deem in conflict with so-called Basic Laws, Israel's quasi-constitution. 

At least 51 soldiers were killed in an ambush by suspected jihadists in northern Burkina Faso, the army said on  Feb 2o , adding that 160 of the assailants died during counter-attacks.

The ambush took place on Feb 20 in Oudalan province near the restive frontier with Mali and Burkina Faso.

Burkina Faso is battling a jihadist insurgency that spread from neighbouring Mali in 2015.

The violence has led to more than 10,000 deaths, according to estimates by NGOs, and displaced some two million people.

Anger within the military at failures to stem the bloodshed led to two coups last year.

Attacks have mounted since the start of the year, claiming more than 100 lives in the last two weeks.

Burkina Faso is one of the world's poorest nations and currently around 40 percent of the West African nation lies outside government control.

Last month its former colonial ruler France confirmed it would withdraw hundreds of troops stationed in Burkina Faso, after the junta ruling the Sahel country demanded the force's pull out within four weeks.

The request came days after Burkina's Prime Minister Apollinaire Kyelem de Tembela declared Russia to be a "reasonable" choice of new partner in the anti-jihadist fight.

The only newspaper of Bangladesh's main opposition party halted printing on  Feb 20 after a government suspension order was upheld, stoking fears about media freedom in the South Asian nation.

Campaigners and foreign governments including the United States have long expressed worries about efforts by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to silence criticism and what they see as creeping authoritarianism.

The Dainik Dinkal, a broadsheet Bengali-language newspaper, has been a vital voice of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) for more than three decades. It employs hundreds of journalists and press workers.

It covers news stories that the mainstream newspapers, most of which are controlled by pro-government businessmen, rarely do.

This includes the frequent arrests of BNP activists and what the party says are thousands of fake cases against its supporters.