The Indian Navy will showcase its first vessel to run on biofuel at Vizag during the International Fleet Review 2016, reports The Economic Times. The small patrol craft painted with a green band is part of the Navy's initiative to reduce its carbon footprint. "We have undertaken initiatives to run our warships on alternate fuel," said navy chief Admiral RK Dhowan. "This is an in-house innovation with the help of the industry." The craft is in its trial phase right now, but if all goes well, the Indian Navy, like the US Navy, could have a 'Great Green Fleet'.

After Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, threatened further attacks on India after Pathankot, India asked Pakistan to rein him in, reports The Indian Express. "It should be a matter of grave concern to everyone that terrorists like Saeed and his associates continues to enjoy the freedom to indulge in their activities (in Pakistan)," said External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup. Saeed had said at a rally on Wednesday that Indian troops are responsible for genocide in Kashmir. "You have only seen one attack on Pathankot. Matters could easily escalate."

As large corporate houses enter Madhya Pradesh, the state government has changed its liquor policy, allowing those with an annual income of Rs 10 lakh and over the right to stock up to 100 bottles of expensive liquor (minimum price per bottle Rs 1,000) in their homes, reports The Indian Express. "There was a demand from new corporate houses, and with the arrival of companies like TCS and Infosys in Indore, this was needed," said Excise Commissioner Rakesh Shrivastava. The current liquor policy allows only two bottles at a time. The new excise policy will come into effect from 1 April.

Chief Justice of India TS Thakur has written a letter to all high court chief justices that emphasises the need to clear all cases pending before courts for more than five years on a priority basis, reports The Economic Times. The letter also asked for "speedy justice for the marginalized sections of the society, differently abled persons; fast-tracking of matters relating to crime against women, children, senior citizens; and quick disposal of corruption cases". All these matters will be discussed at a three-day meeting of chief justices starting 22 April.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched a veiled attack on the Gandhi family, accusing them of not allowing the government to function in an effective manner. "There is one family, which is not letting us take decisions," Prime Minister said in his address in Dibrugarh. He also urged the electorate to vote for the BJP and make Sports Minister Sarbanand Sonowal the state's Chief Minister in the upcoming assembly polls. "Assam needs a government, which listens to the poor. It needs a government that is receptive to the problems of the labourers," he said.

Putting an end to the ever-growing speculations, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on 5 February announced the Indian squad for the upcoming ICC World T20, to be staged across eight venues in the country from 8 March to 3 April.

Rookie all-rounder Pawan Negi was the surprise pick for the World T20 and Asia Cup, while the Indian selectors also reposed faith in veterans such as Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh by including them in the squad.

Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c/wk), Rohit Sharma, Shikar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, Jasprit Bhumrah, Ashish Nehra, Pawan Negi, Mohd Shami.

British government rejected the UN panel's considerations regarding the detention of Julian Assange, on Friday. Confronting the ruling by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), the government spokesperson added, "The UK has already made clear to the UN that we will formally contest the working group's opinion."

Assange, who has been accused of sexual misconduct, was under isolated detention in Wandsworth Prison in UK for 10 days in 2010, after which he was moved into house arrest for 550 days. Assange sought asylum with Ecuador and has since been confined with the property of Embassy of Ecuador in London. The UN WGAD found Assange to have been arbitrarily detained by the UK and Sweden.

Amid immense pressure on the Karnataka government to act against the perpetrators of the attack on a Tanzanian girl last week, four more persons have been arrested, taking the total number of arrests in the case to nine. Two police officials were suspended on Thursday in connection with the alleged assault and stripping of the Tanzanian student in Bengaluru that has triggered a nationwide outrage.

The government has promised to present a detailed report within 48 hours. The incident occurred on Sunday night when the 21-year old student went through the ordeal in a vigilante justice by an angry mob in a case of "mistaken identity" after a woman was mowed down by a car driven by a Sudanese here.

Inspector Pravin Babu and Constable Manjunath have been suspended, Bengaluru Police Commissioner N S Megharikh said.