News18 Evening Digest: Mamata to Contest From Nandigram, Rhea Named in NCB Chargesheet in SSR Case & Other Top Stories
Mamata Announces She Will Contest From Nandigram, Says ‘When I Make a Promise I Keep It’
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Friday the list of 291 candidates of the Trinamool Congress for the upcoming assembly elections, which will take place in eight phases between March 27 and April 29. Banerjee confirmed she will contest the high-profile Nandigram seat, which shot to limelight following violence linked to an agitation against land acquisition by the then Left government in 2007. She also said she would not contest her traditional seat in south Kolkata’s Bhabanipur, which will go to “my friend and colleague Sovandeb Chattopadhyay”. READ MORE
Sushant Singh Rajput Case: NCB Files Chargesheet in NDPS Court, Rhea Chakraborty Named
The Mumbai Zonal Unit of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) today filed its chargesheet in the alleged drug probe related to the death case of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput. NCB’s Mumbai Zonal Director Sameer Wankhade, who overlooked the entire probe, confirmed the development but declined to comment on further details. A total of 35 people have been named in the chargesheet. Among those who are mentioned in the chargesheet include Rajput’s former girlfriend Rhea Chakrabarty and her brother Shovik Chakrabarty. Rajput’s former manager Samuel Miranda and household help Dipesh Sawant have also been named. READ MORE
Overseas Citizens of India cardholders now need to obtain a special permit if they intend to take up research, any missionary or Tabligh activities, or any journalistic activities, according to new rules issued by the Union Home Ministry on Friday. The MHA notification stated that those who want to take up such activities will need special permission from the Foreign Regional Registration Office (FRRO). OCI holders who want to visit protected or restricted areas, or take up internship in a foreign diplomatic mission would also need to apply for prior permission. READ MORE
Customs commissioner Sumit Kumar, who is investigating the Kerala gold smuggling case, has made the startling claim in a court filing that prime accused Swapna Suresh has given a statement about smuggling of foreign currency at the instance of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Kumar told the High Court in his statement that Suresh, arrested in the case that has embroiled top officials of the state government, has made “shocking revelations about the Chief Minister’s close connections with the previous Consul General of UAE and the illegal monetary transactions carried out.” He said the accusations were in a confidential statement given by her before the magistrate in Ernakulam. READ MORE
Tandav Row: SC Grants Interim Protection from Arrest to Amazon Prime Video Head Aparna Purohit
The Supreme Court on Friday granted interim protection from arrest to Amazon Prime Video head Aparna Purohit in connection with FIRs lodged against her over the web series ‘Tandav’. Aparna had challenged the Allahabad High Court order denying her anticipatory bail in FIR filed in Greater Noida with regard to ‘Tandav’. Her plea was listed before a bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and R Subhash Reddy in the apex court. READ MORE
UP Panchayat Holds Bizarre Lucky Draw to Pick Husband for Woman Who Eloped With Four Men
The locals of a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Ambedkarnagar were witness to a bizarre wedding where the bride reportedly chose the groom from a lucky draw. This wasn’t any reality show but an actual wedding in a village where failing to decide whom she liked the most among four prospective grooms, the bride finally chose one of them through a lucky draw, media reports said. The incident, under the Azimnagar police station came to light when the girl reportedly left home with four young men five days before the incident. She stayed at the house of a relative of one of the boys. READ MORE
