LIVE: Cabinet approves induction of 9,000 more ITBP troops for China border

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With the tension along the Sino-Indian border refusing to abate and China continuing to sustain a large number of troops close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the cabinet on Wednesday approved the induction of close to 9,000 troops into the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). This, sources said, will entail raising seven new battalions and a new sector headquarters. With ITBP being the first line of defence on the China border, sources said, this will strengthen the security grid on the LAC where Indian and Chinese forces have clashed multiple times in Eastern Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh in the last few years and Indian forces continue to be denied access to many of their traditional patrolling points in the Depsang plains and the Charding Nalla region in Ladakh. It will also help give the ITBP, which has 100 per cent deployment most of the year, the luxury to afford rest, recuperation and better training for its personnel.

The 246-km Delhi-Dausa-Lalsot section of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will open to commuters from 8 am on Wednesday, officials said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the section, which is set to reduce the travel time from the national capital to Jaipur from five hours to around three and a half hours, on Sunday.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday asserted that the trust of the people in his government and party "forced" Mukul Sangma and his team to leave Congress and join the TMC, while also stating that Congress is left with no MLAs in the state.

The BJP on Tuesday promised a special package for Eastern Nagaland and establish a development board for the holistic development of the region if the party returns to power in the state for the second time in a row. The BJP and its ally NDPP are contesting the February 27 assembly election with a 20:40 seat-sharing arrangement.