An AJSU (All Jharkhand Students Union) Party leader was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in by-poll bound Ramgarh of Jharkhand.

Manoj Munda (32) was a block vice-president of the party in Patratu block of Ramgarh district.

The AJSU and opposition BJP have denounced the murder and demanded the arrest of the killer/killers.

Slogans demanding statehood for Ladakh were raised at the Jantar Mantar on  Feb 15 as a joint protest was held by the Leh Apex Body and Kargil Democratic Alliance in the national capital.

Representatives of social, cultural and political organisations from Ladakh, as well as hundreds of common Ladakhis gathered at the 18th-century observatory, a stone's throw away from the Parliament building, and said they hoped their voice would reach the government.

Thupstan Chhewang, a former BJP MP who resigned in 2018 accusing the party of not fulfilling promises made to the people of Ladakh.

He said Ladakh is an ecologically sensitive area and development activities without consulting locals will be harmful.

Environmental activist and educator Sonam Wangchuk accused the BJP of reneging on its promise of including Ladakh under the sixth schedule.

Ladakh was carved into a Union Territory without legislature when Article 370 and 35A were abrogated, and Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into two Union Territories.

Over the last two years, protests have been held in both Leh and Kargil demanding protection of the interests of the people of Ladakh.

Twelve cheetahs will be flown in from South Africa on February 18, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said.

Under the ambitious Cheetah reintroduction programme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had released the first batch of eight spotted felines -- five females and three males -- from Namibia into a quarantine enclosure at the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh on his 72nd birthday on September 17 last year.

Presently, the eight cheetahs at Kuno are killing a prey every three-four days and are in good health.

India and South Africa had in January signed an MoU to transport cheetahs from the African country and reintroduce them in Kuno.

A majority of the world's 7,000 cheetahs live in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. Namibia has the world's largest population of cheetahs.

The cheetah is the only large carnivore that got completely wiped out from India, mainly due to overhunting and habitat loss. The last spotted feline died in 1948 in the Sal forests of Chhattisgarh's Koriya district.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will join Hollywood actor Sean Penn by video link on  Feb 16 at the opening of the Berlinale, Europe's first major film festival of the year, as it spotlights the fight for freedom in Ukraine and Iran.

The 73rd annual event, traditionally the most politically minded of the three big European cinema showcases, will mark the Russian invasion's first anniversary as well as anti-regime protests in Iran with new feature films and documentaries.

US actor Kristen Stewart ("Spencer") is the  head of the jury for the Golden and Silver Bear top prizes.

China on  Feb 16 imposed trade and investment sanctions on Lockheed Martin and a unit of Raytheon for supplying weapons to Taiwan, stepping up efforts to isolate the island democracy claimed by the ruling Communist Party as part of its territory.

Lockheed Martin Corp. and Raytheon Technologies Corp.'s Raytheon Missiles and Defense are barred from importing goods into China or making new investments in the country, the Ministry of Commerce announced. It said they were added to the "unreliable entity" list of companies whose activities are restricted because they might endanger national sovereignty, security or development interests.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war. The island of 22 million people never has been part of the People's Republic of China, but the Communist Party says it is obliged to unite with the mainland, by force if necessary. President Xi Jinping's government has stepped up efforts to intimidate Taiwan by flying fighter jets and bombers near the island and firing missiles into the sea.

The United States has no official relations with Taiwan but maintains extensive commercial and informal contacts. Washington is obligated by federal law to make sure the island's government has the means to defend itself. The United States is Taiwan's main supplier of military equipment.

Raytheon Missiles and Defense, part of Raytheon Technologies Corp., was awarded a $412 million contract in September to upgrade Taiwanese military radar as part of a $1.1 billion package of U.S. arms sales to the island. Boeing Defense received a $355 million contract to supply Harpoon missiles. Beijing responded to that sale by announcing sanctions against the CEOs of Raytheon and of Boeing Defense but gave no details of what they were.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will make a state visit to Iran, Beijing's foreign ministry said on Feb 16 , as a three-day trip to China by the Islamic republic's leader drew to a close.

Beijing and Tehran reinforced their strong economic ties in 2021 by signing a 25-year "strategic cooperation pact" but have been under pressure from Western nations over their positions on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Iran is also under strict US sanctions for its nuclear programme.

Xi "gladly accepted" an invitation by President Ebrahim Raisi to make a trip to Iran, both countries said in a joint statement issued on Feb 16 . No date was given for the visit, which would be Xi's first to the Middle Eastern nation since 2016.

Air India's deal with two of the world’s largest aircraft manufacturers -- Airbus SA and Boeing C -- can be for 840 planes. Of the total, the Tata Group-run airline has placed an order for 470 planes and the remaining 370 are options, said Nipun Aggarwal, the airline’s chief commercial and transformation officer (CCTO).

Online food delivery platform Zomato on  Feb 16 said it is building public infrastructure called 'Rest Points' to support the entire gig economy and delivery partners of various companies.

In a blog post, the company's Founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal informed that it already has two 'Rest Points' operational in Gurgaon and plans to create more rest points in the densest clusters of its food delivery business.