Top stories on 19-20th March in a capsule

Landslide in Uttarakhand, Several Tourists Stranded

Over 13,000 tourists are said to be stranded after a massive landlside struck Hathi Parvat, near Vishnuprayag, about 9 km from Joshimath in Chamoli district disrupting the Char Dham Yatra, officials said. 

Although no pilgrims sustained any injuries, the debris have reportedly damaged the Rishikesh-Badrinath national highway and will take at least two days to be cleared, officials added. 

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GST: Final rates Finalised; AC travel, Ola-Uber to get cheaper

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) council on Friday finalised the tax rates on almost all items of which will likely become cheaper as the new rates will be lower than the current effective levies.

While AC travel, economy air travel, Ola-Uber rides, dining out, hotel room tariffs will get cheaper along with essential items like vegetables, milk and food grains, cars, two-wheelers and make up products were set to be costlier.

While the rates for 1,211 items were fixed on Thursday, in the second half of the council meet, on Friday, rates of services and products like footwear, beedi, cigarettes, tobacco, textile, agricultural equipment, handloom, handicraft and biscuits, were finalised.

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Three dead in Goa bridge collapse, Many still missing

Two people are dead and over a dozen are still missing after a dilapidated Portuguese era bridge over the Sanvordem river in Curchorem village in South Goa collapsed on Thursday evening, police said.

The people who fell into the river had gathered to watch a boy being rescued by the state Fire and Emergency services after an apparent suicide bid, police added.

Most of them who fell were either rescued or swam to the shore although search and rescue operations are in full swing to find the remaining who are missing.  

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Newyork car rage kills 1, injures more than 20 

A 26-year-old Navy veteran who was addled in drugs went on rampage and drove onto a crowded Times Square sidewalk on Thursday, mowing down 23 pedestrians, one of whom was a 18-year-old girl who died in the end, police said.

The deranged motorist who was immediately detained by onlookers after he slammed his vehicle onto a metal barrier was believed to be high on drugs and sounded delusional, police added.

Video from the crime scene showed bodies being tossed in the air like hairpins and pedestrians being knocked down by the impact of the speeding car.
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Pune Doctors perform India's 1st Womb transplant

A 21-year-old Solapur woman who suffered from congenital absence of uterus since birth underwent India's 1st womb (uterus) transplant on Thursday that was performed by a team of Pune doctors.

The woman was fitted with her mother's womb through a key hole surgery and its subsequent transplant performed only through open surgery took nine hours so that she can conceive normally.

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Pak Govt earns Flak over ICJ order on Kulbhushan

Pakistan government on Friday earned flak following the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) order on Thursday that stayed the execution of retired naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav.

Jadhav who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and subversive activities earned a major reprieve after the court stayed his hanging.

In a huge relief for the government, the court also said that India should have been granted consular access to its national as per the Vienna Convention.