(From left) Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Rajat Patidar, CEO of Tesla Inc. Elon Musk, Rescuer search for survivors amid the rubble, Yashwant Varma, Inspector General of Police, Jammu Zone, Bhim Sen Tuti pays tribute to the mortal remains of Head Constable Jagbir Singh.
| Photo Credit: AP/PTI/Reuters
(1) Myanmar earthquake: Death toll rises to over 1,700
The death toll from the earthquake that hit Myanmar has risen to more than 1,700 as more bodies have been pulled from the rubble, the country’s military-led government said Monday (March 31, 2025).
Government spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun told state-run MRTV that another 3,400 have been injured and more than 300 were missing.
The 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit at midday Friday (March 28, 2025), causing widespread damage, including in the capital Naypitaw and the second largest city, Mandalay.
The true number of people killed and injured across the regions hit is thought to be possibly many times the official figures, but with telecommunication outages and extreme challenges to movement around the country, little is known about the damage in many areas.
There is a state of emergency in six regions. Lauren Ellery, deputy director of programs in Myanmar for the International Rescue Committee, said her teams on the ground and their local partners are currently assessing where needs are the greatest, while providing emergency medical care, humanitarian supplies and other assistance.
The earthquake also shock neighboring Thailand and killed at least 18 people, many at a construction site in Bangkok where a partially built high-rise collapsed.
(2) Police force sees heavy casualties in Kathua operation
Four policemen and two militants were killed in a 48-hour long operation that saw militants playing hide and seek in undulating and forested area of Safian in Ghati Juthana, Rajbagh, Kathua.
The three bodies of the policemen were recovered on Thursday (March 27, 2025) and another on Friday (March 28, 2025). The deceased were identified as Balvinder Singh, Tariq Ahmad, Jaswant Singh, and Jagbir Singh. It’s for the first time that police took maximum casualties in a joint operation of security forces, comprising Army, elite PARA forces, and CRPF.
Kathua witnessed a high alert on March 23 when a local couple spotted militants in Sanyal village and a brief firefight ensued with security forces. It was after five-day of high alert and searches that the security forces engaged militants, apparently from the same group, at Juthana Safian pocket of Kathua’s Rajbagh area. The two spots are around 35 km away from each other. Sanyal village is just five kilometers from the border and indicated that the group could be freshly infiltrated.
(3) Justice Varma transferred to Allahabad HC
The government on Friday (March 28, 2025) notified the transfer of Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma to his parent Allahabad High Court, the order coming amid a row over alleged discovery of a huge amount of cash from his official residence here. The law ministry issued the notification announcing his transfer.
Recommending his repatriation to the government on Monday, the Supreme Court Collegium had asserted the move was separate from an in-house probe ordered by the top court over the alleged discovery of cash from Justice Varma’s residence after a fire incident around 11.35 on the night of Holi, March 14.
Following the incident, Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna had directed the Delhi High Court to withdraw judicial work from the judge.
The Bar Association president in Prayagraj on Friday strongly criticised the transfer of Justice Varma to the Allahabad High Court and called it the “darkest day for India’s judiciary” and announced that the association’s members will boycott the swearing-in ceremony.
On March 21, the Supreme Court said Delhi High Court Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya had initiated an in-house inquiry against Justice Varma and there was a separate proposal to transfer the judge.
(4) Hurun Global Rich List 2025
Hurun Global Rich List is out, and India ranks third with 284 billionaires followed by the U.K., Germany, and Switzerland.
Elon Musk has reclaimed his title as the world’s richest person for the fourth time in five years as his net worth surged by 82%, or $189 billion driven by a surge in Tesla share price post Trump election. He is followed by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos with a net worth that surged by 44% or $81 billion.
Other major gainers are Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Oracle’s Larry Ellison, Dell’s Michael Dell and Alphabet’s Larry Page.
In India, Mukesh Ambani slipped out of the top 10 in the world’s rich list but remains the richest person in Asia with a net worth of ₹8.6 lakh crore ($100 billion). Gautam Adani is just behind Mr. Ambani with a rise in fortune by 13% and a net worth of ₹8.4 lakh crore ($97 billion).
HCL Technologies’ chairperson Roshni Nadar is the new entrant on the list and has become the first Indian woman to break into the world’s richest persons list. She has a net worth of ₹3.5 lakh crore ($40 billion) and also became the fifth richest woman globally after her father transferred a 47% stake in HCL to her.
(5) Indian Premier League 2025 heats up as first week wraps up
The 18th edition of the Indian Premier League 2025, which runs from March 22 to May 25, is already off to a blazing start with exhilarating action and power-packed performances. With a thumping 50-run victory over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Friday’s IPL match, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) continue to sit at the top of the points table.
Nicholas Pooran of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) tops the Orange Cap standings with an impressive 145 runs in two innings, closely followed by Gujarat Titan’s Sai Sudarshan with 137 runs as on March 31, 2025.
With 9 wickets in kitty, Chennai Super King’s bowler Noor Ahmad takes an early lead in the Purple cap standings with the most wickets. Ahmad is followed by Delhi Capitals left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc on March 31, 2025.
Published – March 31, 2025 01:14 pm IST