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Asianet Newsable

March 2026

US War Dept denies Hegseth approached BlackRock, calls claims 'false'

In a post on X, Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell dismissed the reports as a "baseless, dishonest smear designed to mislead the public," and demanded an "immediate retraction"

This allegation is entirely false and fabricated. Neither Secretary Hegseth nor any of his representatives approached BlackRock about any such investment,

Delhi water crisis: AAP slams BJP's contradictory claims, LG's stand

AAP Questions BJP's Contradictory Stance

Saurabh Bhardwajdelhi State President
The BJP government should already have enough water. If there is plenty of water, then provide it; why are you not doing so? This is the reality of the BJP, they only blame others and do not want to do any work themselves."
Like the LG, in 2024, BJP Delhi president Virendra Sachdeva also claimed that Delhi has plenty of water and that there is only a management issue. BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj would even post videos of minor pipe leakages. When the BJP-appointed LG and Delhi president Virendra Sachdeva kept insisting that there is ample water, then why does the BJP government now need borewell water?"
Under this campaign, nearly 5 million artificial water harvesting structures have been built in the country,

Uttarakhand CM Dhami gets grand welcome with bulldozers on way to Khatima

Pushkar Singh DhamicM
In Kashipur, at the Mata Bal Sundari Temple, prayers were offered seeking the happiness and prosperity of the state's residents and the state's continued progress. The bhajan evening organised in the temple premises was inaugurated by lighting the lamp, and an announcement was made from the Chaiti Mela fund for the beautification of the temple and the development of its surroundings,

Assam Polls: Shivakumar counters Shah, predicts 2/3rd majority for Congress

Shah accused Congress of vote-bank politics and altering demographics

Amit Shahunion Home Minister
The Congress government had kept the doors open for infiltrators inside Assam for years. Our Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, has shut the borders... and reclaimed 1.25 lakh acres of land that had been occupied by infiltrators,
Amit Shahunion Home Minister
Driven by the greed for vote banks, the Congress party changed the entire demographics of Assam. Dhubri and its nine surrounding districts are now teeming with infiltrators."
Amit Shahunion Home Minister
This land, soil and culture belong to us. No infiltrator has any right over it."
Mr Amit Shah is saying they (BJP) will win two-thirds seats, but we will win two-thirds, and they will win one-third,

CAG report flags payment delays, poor upkeep in military hospitals

Despite buildings being very old, regular structural audit of hospitals was not being carried out. In one particular instance, a part of MH Lansdowne had collapsed in June 2022. There were some deficiencies in providing essential facilities like Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system and firefighting system. Further, due to vintage buildings and storage constraints, the AFMSDs were unable to properly stock up medical stores,
Audit recommended that the Ministry undertake digitisation of site records; the amendments regarding maintenance of CPM charts in only major works and amendments regarding provision of site lab according to type and value of work may be carried out expeditiously in a time-bound manner,
AFMSDs (Armed Forces Medical Stores Depots) could not meet one-third of the medicine demands received from MHs, as also the demands for the Common Drug List (CDL) medicines. Additionally, non-replacement/adjustment of medicines before expiry by two AFMSDs led to blockage of public money to the extent of ₹13.52 crore,
The applications for processing of PTOs may be harmonized to ensure synchronization of master database, validation checks and mapping of business rules to reduce rejection rates of PTOs. Further, it has been recommended to introduce an automated monitoring system for review of rejected PTOs which should be visible both in DOLPHIN/SULEKHA as well as HRMS/ARPAN applications,

UDF sees 'strong wave of change' in Keralam, says Imran Pratapgarhi

The people in Keralam want change, and there is a great atmosphere for the UDF. There is a lot of anger among the people against the ten years of the Pinarayi Vijayan government."
A showroom of Rahul Gandhi's 'Mohabbat Ki Dukan' is about to open up here. BJP will not be able to open its account in Keralam."
We are fighting here in the elections against the LDF, which is completely supported by the BJP. On one side is the UDF, and on the other side is the combination of the LDF and the BJP. There is a hidden hand of the BJP in the Kerala elections, and it does not want the UDF here because they know the only force that challenges them in the country is the Congress party,

Rupee depreciation in line with global peers, not excessive: SBI report

In the current scenario, overseas channelled debt mop-up does not look desirable,
The rupee depreciation post 27th Feb... is in fact in line with other currencies, and in fact better than currencies which appreciated significantly".
With over USD 700 billion in reserves, the buffer is sufficiently strong to deter speculative moves through market intervention,

Jai Ram Thakur thanks PM Modi for Rs 3,920 crore to Himachal Pradesh

Leader of Opposition and former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for approving financial assistance of Rs 3,920 crore to the state under the 'Pride of Hills' scheme

Jai Ram Thakurchief minister
I express my heartfelt gratitude to Hon'ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji for providing Rs 3,920 crore financial assistance to Himachal Pradesh under the 'Pride of Hills' scheme. This support will give a new direction to the state's development."

Congress Accuses Govt of Silencing Oppn on Shah's Remarks in LS

Congress Accuses Govt of 'Systematically Silencing' Opposition

Shehzad PoonawallabJP spokesperson
The Parliament is discussing left-wing extremism... Now, we will become a Naxal-free India. At this time, the Congress party is once again not standing with the National Policy but is doing politics... Ironically, it was Congress that had said that Naxalism is the biggest threat to the internal security of India."
Kangana RanautmP
In 60 years, they (Congress) couldn't eliminate Naxalism, and the PM Modi government eliminated Naxalism in just 12 years, and today is a historic day for the entire country that our government has eliminated Naxalism. Congratulations to all."
Rekha SharmabJP MP
The promise our government and the Home Minister had made that we would uproot Naxalism, today Naxalism has been eradicated. This is very good news..."
Whether it's Naxalism or any other issue, they have only one motive left... Elections are going to be held in Kerala and West Bengal, so that's why they say such things. This is not a big deal; they only see elections,

Divya Dutta ecstatic about IFFD 2026 in Delhi, calls it a 'deja vu'

The first ones are always so special. To be an integral part is amazing."
The most important thing is that the audience is changing. They want more stories and more relatable characters, and hence the stories are woven around them,
We knew it was going to impact people, but the way Chiraiya has taken flight has surprised us,
Thanks to the government and all the organisers for making this happen,
I would think a big film would get something like that, but it is amazing,
Its a deja vu for me... I remember I used to come with different boxes when we used to have festivals earlier and be there the entire day to watch films. I am so glad Delhi has it back again,

Anil Agarwal questions process after losing Jaiprakash Associates bid

Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal has taken to social media to criticise lenders after his group failed to secure the Jaiprakash Associates Ltd. assets, despite submitting what he says was a higher offer

The resolution process under IBC is ultimately driven by a structured framework focused on value maximisation for creditors While interim outcomes during the bidding process may vary, the final decision rests with the Committee of Creditors through a defined evaluation matrix and voting process,
A higher number does not automatically translate into a winning bid, especially in a time-bound insolvency process,
In this case, the resolution plan approved with ~93.8% CoC vote and subsequent NCLT approval reflects that final commercial decision. In that context, outcomes are determined by the prescribed process and lender consensus, rather than individual sentiments around the asset,

Mann Ki Baat: Amritsar man lauded by PM Modi for preserving manuscripts

Amit Singh Rana of Amritsar on Sunday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for highlighting his work in the preservation and research of ancient Vedic manuscripts during his 132nd edition of 'Mann Ki Baat'

Singh Ranaamit
I want to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for praising my work. The Mann Ki Baat program allows PM Modi to connect with the countrymen. I'm also very happy that PM Modi is bringing to the nation's attention the treasures of India's knowledge heritage in the form of manuscripts, which exist in our society, in our monasteries, temples, gurudwaras, universities, libraries, and schools. Therefore, I'm very happy that this has been included in Mann Ki Baat,
I would like every person in India who has any information about manuscripts to donate them to the public, and I would be willing to help them in this. I work in manuscript conservation. There are two types of conservation: preventive and curative. In preventive, we take care of manuscripts, and in curative, we restore them,

TVK's Vijay Will Lose Deposit in Perambur, Says DMK MP Veeraswamy

I feel that TVK will probably not even get a deposit. Perambur is my constituency in North Chennai. The voters of Perambur are very sensible people, who know the amount of work the Chief Minister has done and what we have done as a party and in the government. The number of beneficiaries over there will totally support DMK. We are confident that we will be winning with a huge margin, and especially TVK will lose its deposit."

Kerala polls: Venugopal accuses CM Vijayan of looting state economy

AP Anilthe Kerala Assembly elections, Congress MLA
As far as UDF is concerned, Congress is concerned, whatever we have to do for poor people is a clear-cut guarantee, is our commitment. You can see the commitment in Karnataka, you can see the commitment in Telangana. We had demonstrated that and only proved that. Not like Pinarayi Vijayan. He completely looted the economy of Kerala, and he is using the fund of Kerala for his campaign."

CM Vijayan dismisses CPI(M)-SDPI deal, says UDF making false claims

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan dismisses allegations of a CPI(M)-SDPI deal as UDF's "false claims." He touted LDF's development work, strong anti-communal stance, and expressed confidence in winning the upcoming Assembly elections on April 9

Pinarayi Vijayankerala CM
We have always said that communalism of any colour- be it majority or minority- is a threat to our social fabric. The LDF has ensured that for the last 10 years, there has not been a single communal riot in Kerala. This is because we do not compromise with such forces."