Two Maoists have been killed in a shootout with the CRPF during a search operation launched by the paramilitary force in Hazaribagh in Jharkhand, an official said on Friday.

The shootout took place around 11.23 p.m. on Thursday between the Maoists and a joint team of the 22 Battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Jharkhand Police.

The Maoists opened fire on the security team when it was searching the thick forested area of Donai Khurd, CRPF Deputy Inspector General M. Dinakaran told IANS.

The CRPF team recovered two dead bodies and seized one AK-47, one Insas rifle and 200 live cartridges from the spot after the operation.

Search operations were still on, Dinakaran said.

Similar operations were also carried out in the forests of Pidmel, Pollampalli, Sukma in Chattisgarh.

Around 12.30 a.m. on Friday in another shootout a CRPF constable suffered bullet injury during the searches in Sukma, the officer said.

The officer said the constable was evacuated by a chopper and admitted in a hospital in Raipur. His condition was reportedly stable.

President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday paid tributes to Swami Vivekananda on his 155th birth anniversary, celebrated as the ‘National Youth Day’.

In a tweet, Kovind said: My tributes to Swami Vivekananda on his birth anniversary. In honour of this great scholar, monk and nation builder, we commemorate this day as National Youth Day.”

The prime minister in his message said: “I bow to Swami Vivekananda on his Jayanti. Today, on National Youth Day I salute the indomitable energy and enthusiasm of our youngsters, who are the builders of New India.”

Modi also shared a montage wherein he is seen paying floral tributes to Swami Vivekananda and highlighting his vital role in nation building.

“The thoughts of Swami Vivekananda continue to inspire the youth of our nation and have united them… They are guiding the youngsters on the path of nation building,” Modi said.

“We are a country of youth and its time that we start a people’s movement towards a developed and prosper India,” he added.

Swami Vivekananda was born on January 12, 1863, in an aristocratic family in Bengal.

His original name was Narendra Nath Datta.

He was the chief disciple of the 19th-century saint Ramakrishna and a key figure in introducing the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world.

In 1984, the government had decided to observe the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekanand as the National Youth Day.

Markets continued their record- setting trend for the second straight session with the BSE Sensex soaring around 135 points to all-time high of 34,638.42 even as TCS posted disappointing December quarter earnings.

Also, the broader NSE Nifty traded at an all-time high of 10,690.25.

A firm trend in the Asian region influenced the market sentiment, a broker said.

The 30-share index advanced 134.93 points, or 0.39 per cent, to trade at an all-time high of 34,638.42, surpassing its previous high of 34,565.63, recorded on January 10.

On Thursday, the gauge had gained 70.42 points to close at record high of 343,503.49.

All the sectoral indices led by metal, consumer durables, oil & gas and capital goods were in the positive zone, rising up to 0.71 per cent.

The NSE index Nifty too hit a new high of 10,690.25 by gaining 39.05 points, or 0.36 per cent. It also breached previous record of 10,664.60 (intra-day) hit on Thursday.

Stocks of country’s largest IT firm Tata Consultancy Services fell 1.20 per cent after the company yesterday reported 3.6 per cent fall in net profit for the December quarter.

Infosys was trading higher by 0.22 per cent ahead of Q3 earnings, to be announced after trading hours on Friday.

The big gainers that lifted the key indices to new highs were ICICI Bank, HDFC Ltd, Kotak Bank, Tata Motors, Reliance Industries, L&T, Axis Bank, Wipro, SBI, Tata Steel, NTPC and HDFC Bank, gaining up to 1 per cent.

Domestic institutional investors had bought shares a worth Rs 770.02 crore, while FIIs sold equities to the tune of Rs 623.63 crore on Thursday.

Asian markets were trading with gains after Wall Street hit fresh all-time high on Thursday.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.49 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.04 per cent and Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.08 per cent in early trade on Friday.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at record high by rising 0.81 per cent.

Lionel Messi put on a masterclass in front of new recruit Philippe Coutinho as Barcelona trounced Celta Vigo 5-0 to ease into the Copa del Rey quarter-finals 6 -1 on aggregate.

Coutinho, dressed in a black shirt dotted with white stars, was in the stands at the Camp Nou for the first time since his €160 million ($192 million) move from Liverpool.

It didn’t take long for the Brazilian star to appreciate the playing riches on show on the pitch.

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“The first half was extraordinary,” said Barca coach Ernesto Valverde.

Level at 1-1 after the first leg, the three-time defending champions were 4-0 up by half-time.

Messi grabbed the opening two goals in the 13th and 15th minutes, both finished with a sublime first touch with his left foot, both created by Jordi Alba.

Messi then returned the favour by setting up Alba to score past the hapless Sergio Alvarez in the Celta goal before Luis Suarez made it 4-0 on the night after 30 minutes when the Uruguayan burst through the defence.

The tie petered out in the second half but French international Ousmane Dembele showed why Barcelona paid €105 million for him last year when he dribbled past three defenders from the halfway line before being denied by a desperate tackle.

Must read: Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino bids tearjerking farewell to Philippe Coutinho

Dembele did have time to set up the fifth goal of the night three minutes from the end when his corner was headed home from close range by an unmarked Ivan Rakitic.

“It’s luxury to have Leo in the side, he’s the best in history. We always look for each other to score goals and today we have done it twice,” said Alba.

Earlier Thursday, Espanyol overturned a 2-1 loss in the first leg to defeat Levante 2-0 with Leo Baptistao and Gerard Moreno on target either side of half-time.

Sevilla also progressed with a 2-1 win at home to second-tier Cadiz for a 4-1 aggregate.

Wissam Ben Yedder, after 31 minutes, and Joaquin Correa in the 54th minute, were on target for Vincenzo Montella’s team.

On Wednesday, Real Madrid laboured to a 2-2 draw with Numancia to progress to the quarter-finals 5-2 on aggregate.

Also read: Liverpool players, former and present, react to Philippe Coutinho’s departure

In a much-changed side, Lucas Vazquez scored both of Real’s goals after the 11th and 59th minutes.

But on both occasions, their modest visitors fought back thanks to a brace from Guillermo on the stroke of half-time and then after 82 minutes.

Numancia ended the game with 10 men after captain Dani Calvo was red-carded in the dying moments.

Leganes, a modest club from the Madrid suburbs, reached the quarter-finals for the first time in their 89-year existence.

Despite losing 2-1 at Villarreal, who are currently sixth in La Liga, Leganes progressed on away goals having won the first leg 1-0.

Moroccan international Nabil El Zhar scored the crucial away goal for mid-table Leganes on the half-hour mark.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday paid tributes to Swami Vivekananda on his 155th birth anniversary, celebrated as the ‘National Youth Day’.

In a tweet, the PM said: “I bow to Swami Vivekananda on his Jayanti. Today, on National Youth Day I salute the indomitable energy and enthusiasm of our youngsters, who are the builders of New India.”

I bow to Swami Vivekananda on his Jayanti. Today, on National Youth Day I salute the indomitable energy and enthusiasm of our youngsters, who are the builders of New India. pic.x.com/1aXEqvVRgY

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 12, 2018

The prime minister also shared a montage wherein he is seen paying floral tributes to Swami Vivekananda and highlighting his vital role in nation building.

“The thoughts of Swami Vivekananda continue to inspire the youth of our nation and have united them… They are guiding the youngsters on the path of nation building,” Modi said.

“We are a country of youth and its time that we start a people’s movement towards a developed and prosper India,” he added.

Swami Vivekananda was born on January 12, 1863, in an aristocratic family in Bengal.

His original name was Narendra Nath Datta.

He was the chief disciple of the 19th-century saint Ramakrishna and a key figure in introducing the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world.

In 1984, the government had decided to observe the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekanand as the National Youth Day.

The rupee strengthened by 11 paise to 63.55 against the dollar in opening tradeon Friday on fresh selling of the US currency by exporters and banks.

Forex dealers said a weak dollar in overseas markets on fears that a huge amount of foreign demand for American currency would dry up bolstered the rupee.

On Thursday, the rupee had settled lower by 6 paise at 63.66 on fresh bouts of demand for the American currency.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex rallied by 134.93 points, or 0.39 per cent to hit yet another record high of 34,638.42 in opening trade on Wednesday.

Barcelona has signed Colombia defender Yerry Mina from the Brazilian team Palmeiras for €11.8 million ($14 million), the La Liga football club said.

The 23-year-old moved to Spain on a five-and-a-half-year deal until 2023 with a release clause of €100 million ($120.3 million) on Thursday, reports Efe.

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“Yerry Mina arrives at FC Barcelona to reinforce the central defensive positions,” said the Barcelona statement.

Mina, Barcelona’s second deal of the winter transfer window after Brazil midfielder Philippe Coutinho, scored nine goals in his 49 Palmeiras games, and three others for his national team during nine matches.

Must read: Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino bids tearjerking farewell to Philippe Coutinho

Barcelona has reportedly paid €120 million ($144.47 million) to sign Coutinho from Liverpool on a contract that includes a €400 million ($481.3 million) buyout clause.

On Wednesday, Palmeiras announced it had agreed to transfer Mina to Barcelona, first in the La Liga.

In yet another display of its growing prowess in space exploration, India on Friday successfully launched 31 satellites in a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from its spaceport in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

In the first space mission of 2018, the 42nd flight of the 44.4-metre tall PSLV-C40 carrying the 710-kg Cartosat-2 series satellite took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR at 9.29 am, said the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The 320-tonne rocket will eject the satellites one-by-one and deploy them into the earth’s lower orbit about 17 minutes and 18 seconds after the lift-off.

The countdown to launch the PSLV-C40/Cartosat-2, India’s 100th satellite with the primary objective of providing high-resolution, scene-specific spot imagery, started on Thursday morning.

The spaceport Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota High Altitude Range (SDSC-SHAR) is located about 80 km northeast of Chennai off the Bay of Bengal coast.

The four stage PSLV-C40 stands 44.4 metres tall and weighs about 320 tonne at the lift off stage.

The 31 satellites with a combined weight of 1,323 kg have been integrated with the PSLV for deploying them in the earth’s lower orbit after lift off.

Of the 31 satellites, three are Indian and 28 are from six countries: Canada, Finland, France, South Korea, UK and the US.

The Indian satellites are 710 kg Cartosat-2 series for Earth observation as the primary satellite of the mission, along with co-passenger payloads, including 100 kg micro satellite and a 10 kg nano satellite.

About 17 minutes 18 seconds after the lift off, the Cartosat-2 series will be separated and injected into its 505 km sun synchronous orbit. The Cartosat-2 has been designed to stay in its orbit for five years.

Among the 28 international co-passenger satellites, 19 belong to the US, five from South Korea and one each from Canada, France, UK and Finland.

ISRO would be adopting an optimum separation sequence of all its satellites so as to avoid any collisions.

The space mission comes four months after a similar rocket failed to deliver the country’s eighth navigation satellite in the earth’s lower orbit on August 31, 2017.

ISRO was holding all kinds of system tests to ensure that the problem does not recur in this mission, he added.

As an observational satellite, Cartosat will beam high-quality images for cartographic, urban and rural applications, coastal land use and regulation and utility management like road network monitoring.

In a huge relief for the people of Tamil Nadu, an indefinite strike called by the workers in state-owned bus services demanding higher wages ended after Madras High Court’s intervention. The staff will resume work on Friday after eight days.

Around 17 trade unions had gone on an indefinite strike after rejecting the state government’s proposal to hike the wages of the transport workers by 2.44 times arguing that their salaries should be equivalent to what drivers in other state government corporations are getting.

The unions want a 2.57 times hike, but the government, after 23 rounds of talks, has agreed for a 2.44 times raise.

However, after the court’s intervention on Thursday evening, the staffers decided to return to work.

The unions had earlier requested the Madras High Court to cancel a January 4 government order in favour of Anna Workers’ Union and asked the judge to tell the authorities to start discussions soon with the strikers.

With only a few days left for the Pongal festival, anxiety had gripped the general public with no sign of the strike ending till Thursday even after a Rs.750 crore package announced by the government in a bid to end the work stoppage.

This is the time when tens of thousands leave major cities for their hometowns and villages to celebrate Pongal with their families.

The continuing bus strike, in a state where state-run buses ferry hundreds of thousands daily, had forced more and more people to take to local trains, making them over-crowded.

Not refusing to back down, the state government had roped in additional drivers and conductors to resume the stalled buses.

(With inputs from agencies)

A hard Brexit might endanger 14,000 of the 42,500 jobs in German car industry, a report published by the consulting firm Deloitte showed on Thursday.

German automobile industry could expect a loss of up to $4.6 billion in the Brexit year, because of the close interdependence of the suppliers with carmakers in Germany, Britain and other European Union countries, said the report named “hard Brexit and supply chain”.

Every fifth car parts used in Britain originates from Germany. German manufacturers supply the British automobile industry directly, and are indirectly involved in the production of German and other European cars exported to Britain, Xinhua reported.

The jobs at risk are all at suppliers to carmakers, should Britain’s negotiations with the EU about their future relationship collapse without a deal.

A no-deal Brexit would lead to the introduction of tariffs and a possible crash in the value of the British pound, making British companies less able to purchase imports.

The sales slumps affect the supply chain indirectly and lower revenue and employment for German suppliers.

“In the Brexit year 2019, a hard Brexit would cause sales of German suppliers to shrink by 23 per cent from 16.4 to 12.6 billion euros, which represents a decline of around 5 per cent of German suppliers’ current total turnover,” Deloitte chief economist Alexander Boersch said.

A total of 2,23,075 cases of crime were reported in the national capital in 2017, up from 1,99,110 in 2016 — a 12 per cent rise, according to Delhi Police’s annual report released on Thursday.

Speaking to the media at the Delhi Police’s annual press conference, Commissioner of Delhi Police Amulya Patnaik said: “Number of crimes in Delhi under all the major heads have shown a declining trend except 6 per cent increase in motor vehicle thefts and 47 per cent rise in other theft cases, clearly reflecting fairness of registration of such offences.”

“In all, 2,23,075 cases were registered under the provisions of Indian Penal Code (IPC) during the year, as against 1,99,110 in 2016. The yardstick of crime per lakh of polpulation, which is used worldwide to compare crime rate, has been applied. Total crimes per lakh of population during the year were 1,263 in comparison to 1,137 in 2016,” Patnaik said.

Citing reasons for increase in the number of crimes, Patnaik said mandatory registration of FIRs, including those for missing children, as per directions of the Supreme Court, added to the list.

“Besides, the Delhi Police also launched mobile and web applications through which public can easily lodge FIRs online for the theft of motor vehicles and other such properties without visiting police stations.”

As per the Delhi Police report, over the last five years, the number of crime cases has seen increase every subsequent year, i.e it was 460.75 for every per lakh population in 2013, 881.04 in 2014, 1,058.68 in 2015, 1,137.21 in 2016 and 1,263.43 in 2017.

However, as per the date in report, fewer crimes of serious nature took place in 2017 as compared to the previous year, the report suggests.

It shows that 45 dacoities took place in 2016, which came down to 36 in 2017; similarly, as against 501 murder cases in 2016, 462 were reported in 2017; 501 attempt to murder cases were filed in 2016, which were 462 the next year; robbery 4,585 in 2016 and 2,833 in 2017; riots cases were 79 in 2016, which lowered to 50 in 2017; as against 22 cases of kidnapping for ransom 2016, 2017 saw only 14; and 2,064 rape cases were registered in 2016 which came down to 2,049 in 2017.

The total number of heinous crimes reported in 2016 was 7,910, which was 6,057 in 2017, shows the report, while 13,342 burglary cases were reported in 2016, which were 9,546 in 2017.

US President Donald Trump has reportedly lashed out at immigrants in a foul-mouthed Oval Office outburst, media reports said. A backlash to his latest remarks was swift.

“Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” Trump told lawmakers on Thursday, according to the Washington Post.

The remark was reportedly in reference to people from Haiti, El Salvador and African countries, the BBC said. Trump told lawmakers the US should instead be taking in migrants from countries like Norway.

The White House did not deny the comment, which has been confirmed by other US media.

In Thursday’s meeting, lawmakers were reportedly proposing restoring the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) permits for certain countries, while offering $1.5bn for a wall that Trump wants built on the US border with Mexico.

Trump’s comments “are further proof that his Make America Great Again agenda is really a Make America White Again agenda”, black Democratic lawmaker Cedric Richmond said.

“Certain Washington politicians choose to fight for foreign countries, but President Trump will always fight for the American people,” a statement from White House spokesman Raj Shah said.

It continued: “Like other countries that have merit-based immigration, President Trump is fighting for permanent solutions that make our country stronger by welcoming those who can contribute to our society, grow our economy and assimilate into our great nation.

“He will always reject temporary, weak and dangerous stopgap measures that threaten the lives of hardworking Americans, and undercut immigrants who seek a better life in the US through a legal pathway.”

Trump’s remark reportedly came as lawmakers from both parties visited him to propose a bipartisan immigration deal, the BBC said.

Democratic Senator Richard Durbin was discussing US temporary residency permits granted to citizens of countries hit by natural disasters, war or epidemics, the US media said.

Three weeks ago, The New York Times reported that Trump had said Haitians “all have Aids” during a similar June meeting.

Reacting to Trump’s remarks on Thursday, Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democratic lawmaker, tweeted: “I condemn this unforgivable statement and this demeaning of the office of the Presidency.”

Mia Love, a Utah Republican and the only Haitian-American in Congress, demanded Trump apologise for the “unkind, divisive, elitist” comments.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) accused the president of falling “deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole of racism and xenophobia”, the BBC reported.

However, the White House brushed off such criticism.

A Trump official was quoted by CNN as saying: “Though this might enrage Washington, staffers predict the comment will resonate with his base, much like his attacks on NFL players who kneel during the National Anthem did not alienate it.”

This week the Trump administration announced it was withdrawing TPS for more than 200,000 people from El Salvador. It means Salvadoreans living in the US for last three decades have until next year to leave, seek lawful residency or face possible deportation.

They were granted provisional US residency after an earthquake devastated the Central American nation in 1991. The State Department said on Monday that much of it has since been repaired.

TPS permits have already been withdrawn from Haitians and Nicaraguans.

With this, hundreds of thousands of migrants face possible deportation from the US, the BBC said.

A court on Thursday sent to police custody, till January 17, the three partner-owners of the 1Above pub who were nabbed after a 13-day chase on Wednesday, an official said.

The three are Kripesh Sanghavi, Jigar Sanghavi and Abhijit Mankar who also carried a reward of Rs 100,000 announced by Mumbai Police. They have been booked under various charges inclding for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

While the Sanghavi brothers were were nabbed while on their way to meet a lawyer in a mall in Khar late on Wednesday night on Linking Road, Mankar was nabbed from a hotel in south Mumbai.

They were produced by the N.M. Joshi Police before the Bhoiwada Magistrate Court which granted them police custody for a week.

This takes the total number of arrests in the December 29, 2017 pub fire that killed 14 and injured another 55, to six, including two managers of 1Above pub – Kevin Bawa and Lisbon Lopez, and a co-owner of The Mojo’s Bistro, Yug Pathak, son of a former DGP-rank IPS officer K.K. Pathak.

Another partner of Yug Pathak, Nagpur-based businessman Yug Tuli is still absconding and has sought anticipatory bail from a Mumbai court, which is pending disposal.

Besides the six arrests, three others, including hotelier Vishal Kariya, have been arrested for helping and shielding the absconding trio after the blaze in rooftop pubs, The Mojo’s Bistro, 1Above and other establishments in the sprawling Kamala Mills Compound in Lower Parel.

After Kariya’s interrogation on Wednesday, police secured valuable leads leading to the arrests of the 1Above owner-partners.

A probe by the Mumbai Fire Brigade has said that the fire first erupted in rooftop pub The Mojo’s Bistro, spread to the adjoining 1Above and other premises that fateful night.

So far, police have recorded the statements of around 70 witnesses, including the injured and survivors in the pub blaze, other guests and pub staffers.

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said the Indian heritage and culture are very rich and teach the world about peace.

“We believe in ‘Sarve Jana Sukhino Bhawantu’, we must respect everyone and live peacefully,” he said, after offering prayers to Lord Venkateswara Swami in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati, as per a release.

“Our ancestors have always taught us to be helpful to everyone around and not discriminate on the basis of caste, creed or religion.”

Naidu, along with his family, visited Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam and greeted people ahead of the auspicious festival of Sankranti.

Addressing reporters, he said they should “perform their duty with discipline and dedication”.

The Congress here on Thursday questioned the Bharatiya Janata Party whether it agrees with the Peoples Democratic Party lawmaker who said that Kashmiri militants killed in encounters are “martyrs”.

“It is the PDP MLA Aijaz Ahmad Mir who has said this. The PDP is in alliance with the BJP (in Jammu and Kashmir). The BJP will have to explain and tell whether it agrees with what its alliance partner has said,” Congress spokesperson Tom Vadakkan said.

“Whether the BJP believes that the militants are their brothers and sisters? If they believe so, then why do they liquidate them (militants). These are questions the BJP and PDP need to answer. People are waiting for the answer,” he added.

Mir on Thursday said that Kashmiri militants, who are killed in encounters are “martyrs”.

The Supreme Court will hear on Friday two separate pleas seeking an independent probe into the death of CBI Special Court and Additional Sessions Judge Brijgopal Harkishan Loya, who presided over the Sohrabuddin Sheikh staged shooting case.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud on Thursday posted for January 12, two pleas — filed by Maharashtra-based journalist B.R. Lone and Congress leader Tehseen Poonawala, seeking an urgent hearing for a probe into Loya’s death.

Judge Loya died of heart attack on December 1, 2014 while on a visit to Nagpur, where he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleague’s daughter.

At that time, he was handling the sensitive Sohrabuddin Sheikh case in which the Bharatiya Janata President Amit Shah was one of the accused (but later discharged), besides other top Gujarat police officers among the accused.

Lone contended that a fair probe was needed into the “mysterious death” of Loya.

In his plea, Poonawala contended that the circumstances revolving around the death of the judge were questionable, mysterious and contradicting.

The issue came under the spotlight in November 2017, after media reports, quoting his sister, fuelled suspicion about the circumstances surrounding his death.

The case with major political overtones pertains to the killing of suspected gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kausar Bi and their associate Tulsidas Prajapati in Gujarat in November 2005.

The case was later transferred to the CBI and the trial was shifted to Mumbai.

On January 8, the Bombay Lawyers’ Association had filed a public interest litigation in the Bombay High Court seeking a probe into Loya’s death.