New Delhi [India], March 7 (ANI): An earthquake of magnitude 2.9 on the Richter scale hit Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday.
According to the National Centre for Seismology (NCS), the quake occurred at 4:40 am near Doda. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], March 7 (ANI): Ahead of the forthcoming Assembly polls Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit Tamil Nadu and Kerala on Sunday.
Shah will launch Vijay Sankalp Mahasampark Abhiyaan, a door-to-door campaign in Kanyakumari and attend the valedictory function of Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Kerala Vijay Yatra in Thiruvananthapuram.
BJP is contesting Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu in alliance with ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).
Tamil Nadu Assembly elections will be held in a single phase on April 6 and the counting of votes will be done on May 2. As many as 6,28,23,749 electors will choose candidates for the sixteenth Legislative Assembly in Tamil Nadu.
The election for 140-member Kerala Assembly in 14 districts will be held in a single phase on April 6. The counting of votes will be held on May 2. (ANI)

Nagpur (Maharashtra) [India], March 7 (ANI): Union Minister for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) Nitin Gadkari on Saturday has asserted that the priority of the government is to take village industry turnover to Rs 5 lakh crore within five years.
Speaking at an event of KPIT Sparkle 2021, the minister said, “Our village industry turnover is Rs 88,000 crore, my highest priority is to take it to Rs 5 lakh crore within five years. It is an important mission for me.”
In November last year, Gadkari at Virtual Horasis Asia Meeting had said that the Centre is planning to take the MSME contribution to the economic growth from 30 per cent to 40 per cent.
“Our target is to take the MSME contribution to the economic growth from 30 per cent to 40 per cent and also increase the MSME export from 48 per cent to 60 per cent. The government is also planning to create 5 crore more jobs from MSME sectors only,” he added. (ANI)

Durg (Chhattisgarh) [India], March 7 (ANI): Five members of a family were found dead in the Durg district. Prima facie, it seems to be suicide, said the police.
“Bodies of five members of a family found in Durg. The case appears to be a suicide. We have also recovered a note. Further investigation is being done,” Vivekanand Sinha, IG Durg Range told reporters.
The incident has created panic in the area. The forensic team has been sent to the spot. The police is investigating the case from all possible angles. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], March 7 (ANI): Ahead of West Bengal polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a public rally at Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata on Sunday.
This will be PM Modi’s first public rally in the state after the announcement of the dates for eight-phased Assembly polls for 294 constituencies in West Bengal. According to party sources, many folk artists have been invited to perform at the event.
Bollywood veteran Mithun Chakraborty is expected to attend the rally at the central Kolkata venue. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya met Chakraborty in Kolkata on Saturday amid speculations that he may be joining PM Modi’s Brigade rally in Kolkata.
On speculations of the actor joining the BJP, Vijayvargiya had earlier said, “I have spoken with him (Mithun Chakraborty) over the telephone, he’s going to come today. I will be able to make a comment only after a detailed discussion with him.”
The public rally will be held a day after BJP announced its first list of 57 candidates for the polls and two days after incumbent Trinamool Congress (TMC) announced the list of 291 candidates and left three seats for its ally Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM).
BJP functionaries including Kailash Vijayvargiya, national General Secretary, Mukul Roy national Vice-President, Sanjay Singh, General Secretary and Swapan Dasgupta, MP, Rajya Sabha are looking into the preparations at Brigade Parade Ground, Kolkata where PM Modi will address a public meeting today.
After winning 3 seats in the 2016 Assembly election in West Bengal, the BJP made deep inroads in the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections winning 18 seats and reducing TMC’s tally to 22. Out of the total 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal, Congress won two seats, the Left drew a blank.
According to sources, Prime Minister Modi will address 20 rallies in poll-bound West Bengal responding to the huge demand of local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders of the state.
The rallies will cover all the 23 districts of West Bengal.
West Bengal Assembly elections will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29. The counting of votes in the state will take place on May 2. (ANI)

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], March 7 (ANI): The State Cabinet meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday have resolved 16 major decisions adding the approval of a proposal to create a new department called Mission Shakti in a bid to strengthen the SHG (Self Help Group) movement across the state.
According to a press release, the decision was taken in the Cabinet meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
The cabinet has resolved 16 major decisions including the decisions pertaining to the departments of Energy, Agriculture, and Farmer’s Welfare, Social security, and empowerment of persons with a disability, Excise, General administration and public grievance, Panchayati Raj and drinking water, Revenue and disaster management, and Steel and mines.
The major decisions include the creation of a new department named Mission Shakti; construction of ten mega rural pipe water supply schemes in Aul, Rajkanika, Chilika, Tangi, Banpur, Khordha, Jatani, Gondia, Bhubana, Golaminda, Jajpur, and Binjharpur blocks.
The constitution of the rural piped water scheme for 26 Gram Panchayats of Sambalpur district and 2 Gram Panchayats of Jharsuguda district has also been sanctioned in the cabinet.
Besides, the cabinet has sanctioned the lease of 25 acres land for construction of one satellite centre of AIIMS in Remuna Tehsil of Balasore district, the release reads. (ANI)