5 Arrested, Rs 6 Crore Fine After Mumbai Metro Slab Collapse Kills 1

Taking action after a person died and three others were injured in the Metro slab collapse in Mumbai's Mulund on Saturday, the Maharashtra government has suspended an executive engineer and imposed a penalty of Rs 6 crore on the contractors and consultants involved in the project. 

Five employees of the contractors, including the project director, have been arrested. 

A slab of the under-construction Metro Line-4, which connects Wadala to Thane, fell on an auto-rickshaw and a car on the arterial LBS Marg in Mulund on Saturday afternoon. Ramdhan Yadav, a prominent local Samajwadi Party official and village head, who was travelling to a wedding, died, while three others were injured. 

Deputy Chief Minister and Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde ordered the suspension of Executive Engineer Satyajeet Salve and said penalties totalling Rs 6 crore had been imposed on the contractors and consultants, Milan Road Buildtech and Louis Berger. 

Shinde also ordered a comprehensive safety and structural audit of the entire Metro stretch and announced an increased compensation of Rs 15 lakh for Yadav's family.

Police said they have arrested four employees of Milan Road Buildtech and one from the DB Hill LBG Supervisory company, including Project Director Harish Chauhan and two project managers. 

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also said a thorough probe will be conducted into the incident and action will be taken against those responsible. 

Hitting out at the government, the Opposition said it does not value people's lives. 

Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader and Worli MLA Aaditya Thackeray said, "If you notice, pillars are already painted, before the work was completed... Even today, most infrastructure work has terrible barricading that either leads to traffic jams or vehicles falling into open pits... Life has no value under the BJP regime," he said.

Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad also asked whether the lives of Mumbai residents have "become cheap".

"Why are safety rules only on paper when Metro work is underway? Why weren't adequate safety arrangements made when work was in progress on such a busy road?" she asked. 

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'Bangladesh Comes First': Tarique Rahman On His Foreign Policy

After a sweeping victory in the 13th National Parliamentary Elections, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief Tarique Rahman, in a press conference, said that Bangladesh's foreign policy will prioritise the country's interests over others. "People come first," he said.

"Freedom loving pro-democracy people of the country have once again brought victory to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party," he said in English, before switching to Bangla.

"We have cleared ourselves regarding the foreign policy which is in the interest of Bangladesh, and the interest of the Bangladeshi people comes first. By protecting the interest of Bangladesh and the Bangladeshi people, we will decide our foreign policy," Rahman said.

Answering how the government would approach international relations, senior BNP leader Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said that the party would stick to multilateralism and not go after a country-centric approach.

That being said, Rahman's "Bangladesh First" policy aims to balance ties with neighbouring countries like India, China and Pakistan.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairman Tarique Rahman leaves after addressing a press conference in Dhaka on February 14, 2026
Photo Credit: AFP

The BNP leadership also highlighted how important safeguarding sovereignty, ensuring strategic autonomy and mutual respect would be to shape foreign relations.

How India Views The New Leadership

Humayun Kabir, who handles international relations for Rahman and is set to be a key official in the new regime, said the priority is to build a "stronger cooperation among our people".

He said India will be one of the countries that "we will visit", though he did not give a definite time.

"Obviously there are certain domestic priorities and then international engagements. Of course India will be one of the countries that we will visit, among other countries in the region," Kabir told NDTV.

India views the return of an elected leadership as an "opportune moment" to repair setbacks inflicted on the relationship. The focus now shifts to BNP's acting chairman, Tarique Rahman, whom Indian officials describe as someone they are "cautiously optimistic" about.

That optimism was reflected in the swift outreach from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who posted on X that he was "delighted to speak" with Rahman and congratulated him on the "remarkable victory" in the elections. PM Modi reaffirmed India's commitment to peace, progress, and prosperity for both nations, emphasising the deep historical and cultural ties that bind the neighbours.

The BNP won 212 seats, compared with 77 for the Jamaat-e-Islami-led alliance, per the Electoral Commission.

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Abhishek Reaches Colombo Ahead Of India vs Pak Game, Says This About Health

Abhishek Sharma's participation in India's match against Pakistan here depends on his recovery from a stomach bug, but the swashbuckling opener arrived with the team on Friday, raising hopes of his return at the Premadasa on Sunday. Abhishek had missed India's match in New Delhi against Namibia on Thursday despite being released from a private hospital in the national capital. India will have a net session on Saturday evening, and Abhishek's fitness will be monitored closely before a final decision is taken.

In a video posted by Punjab Kings (PBKS), pacer Arshdeep Singh can be seen asking him, "How are you?"

To this, Abhishek replied, "Dal-rice, very good. Me? Good."

Daal-rice khao, jaldi theek ho jaao! pic.twitter.com/aKEpKCw08G

— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) February 13, 2026

Parents arrive in Colombo

Meanwhile, the parents of the India opener also arrived in Colombo ahead of the Pakistan match. Rajkumar Sharma has been a constant source of support for Abhishek and has coached the left-handed batter since childhood. The parents were also present in Dubai during the Asia Cup.

If Abhishek continues to be unavailable, India can either persist with Sanju Samson or bring in the fit-again Washington Sundar to pair with Ishan Kishan at the top.

Having played his entire T20I career after the T20 World Cup win by the Rohit Sharma-led side in 2024, Abhishek has scored 1,297 runs in 38 matches and 37 innings at an average of 37.05 and a strike rate of 194.74, with two centuries, eight fifties, and a best score of 135. He entered the T20 World Cup as the world's top-ranked T20I batter.

In three matches against Pakistan, he has scored 110 runs at an average of 36.66 and a strike rate of 189.65, with a best of 74.

Following the toss against Namibia on Thursday, Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav said about Abhishek, "Abhishek is still not fine; he will miss a game or two."

Earlier, the Indian opener was hospitalised due to a stomach infection, according to a BCCI source. The southpaw was not looking well during the team dinner at head coach Gautam Gambhir's residence on Sunday and was the first to leave the gathering.

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Why A UK-Based Doctor Returned Home To Contest Elections In Bangladesh

Tasnim Jara, a 31-year-old doctor, returned from Britain to join Bangladesh's National Citizens' Party (NCP) but later quit over its alliance with Islamist groups. She is now contesting the parliamentary elections as an independent, driven by what she describes as a desire to build a "genuinely new political culture".

Jara said the July uprising had "opened a window" for people like her to enter politics and help reshape the system. That optimism, she said, dimmed when the NCP aligned itself with Islamist forces.

As voting concluded in Bangladesh's 13th parliamentary elections on Thursday, Jara told NDTV why this election matters to her and why it compelled her to return home.

One of the most talked-about candidates in this election, Jara's journey from the UK back to the bylanes of Dhaka has drawn wide attention.

Read | "Our Priority": Bangladesh's Jamaat-e-Islami Chief To NDTV On India Ties

She said two factors pushed her into electoral politics. First, while her work as a doctor allows her to help many people, she believes it does not enable her to change the system itself. She wants to pursue lasting reforms in healthcare, education and governance. Second, she said she wants to challenge a political culture dominated by nepotism and corruption and replace it with transparency and accountability.

Jara said there is strong public enthusiasm for a different kind of politics, reflected in the response to her people-powered campaign. A campaign without large rallies or posters plastered across the city. She said voters connected with her door-to-door outreach and personal engagement.

Read | Killing Of Hindu Trader Sparks Minority Fears Ahead Of Bangladesh Polls

She added that the campaign holds particular significance for young Bangladeshis, as the election follows an uprising led largely by young people and women and marked by considerable sacrifice.

"We must make sure that we rebuild our institutions, and we never have to go back to a structure where authoritarianism can only be removed by people risking their lives or limbs," she said.

Jara is contesting as an independent candidate from Dhaka-9, where she faces stiff competition from BNP candidate Habibur Rashid. The constituency has 469,360 registered voters, with 12 candidates in the fray.

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