News in Short

• Yogi Adityanath took oath as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, the first one to do so for a second successive term after having completed a full five year term in the State.
• Of the 52 ministers, 16 were Cabinet ministers, and 34 Ministers of State. Almost 20 ministers from the previous government were dropped in this exercise.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, chief ministers of BJP-ruled states and senior BJP leaders attended the ceremony.

• A Marine Mammals Research (MMR) team of the Department of Environment and Forest in Lakshadweep has reported the first-ever live sighting of rough-toothed dolphins (Steno bredanensis) in Indian waters.
• During their diversity and distribution monitoring surveys, the marine mammal research team sighted the species on February 12 at Cheriyapani and later at Kavaratti on March 3.
• Rough-toothed dolphins are found in tropical and warmer temperate waters all over the world but little is known about them. They can grow up to 8.5ft in length and have grey body with white lips and throat and a speckled belly.

• The Calcutta High Court has directed a CBI probe into the massacre at Bogtui village in West Bengal’s Birbhum district.
• Eight people were on March 21 burnt to death in the village after the murder of a Trinamool Congress Deputy Pradhan, triggering massive outrage.
• The court directed the SIT to stop the investigation and asked the State government to hand over all relevant documents related to the case to the CBI.

• Banks are now taking precautions in dealing with entities on the sanctions list of the US, the EU and the United Nations.
• With the US and European nations blocking major Russian financial institutions from SWIFT, those entities on the sanctions list are unable to receive confirmations for fund transactions.
• RBI officials and Indian Banks Association members have held discussions on the sanctions’ impact, and domestic banks are following the lead taken by SBI.

• The Andaman and Nicobar Command of the Indian Armed Forces yesterday conducted a successful test firing of the BrahMos supersonic extended range surface-to-surface cruise missile.
• The BrahMos missile was earlier medium-range but long-range advanced versions have also been successfully tested recently.
• BrahMos missiles can be launched from submarines, surface warships, aircraft or land. Supersonic means the speed is greater than the speed of sound.