Manohar Parrikar, Goa Chief Minister and former Defence Minister, who had been battling pancreatic cancer for more than a year, died at his son's home in Panaji on Sunday evening. He was 63. The announcement was made in a tweet by President Ram Nath Kovind, condolence messages poured in from political leaders across the board.

Later, Mr. Parrikar's office had said, "Manohar Parrikar passed away today evening, after a spirited battle against cancer".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid his last respects to Mr. Parrikar and interacted with his family. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman accompanied PM Modi.

His body was kept at the Goa BJP office and the Kala Academy for people to pay their last respects to the leader. Mr. Parrikar would be accorded a state funeral with full military honors this evening, according to the home ministry.

The central government has announced a day's national morning today, during which all schools and colleges in Goa would be shut.

Mr. Parrikar's health had been fluctuating for several days and worsened on Saturday morning. The former Defence Minister had been in and out of the hospital in Goa, Mumbai, Delhi, and New York since February last year. Last month, he was admitted to the Goa Medical College and Hospital near Panaji.

In January, the four-time chief minister had said he would "serve Goa till my last breath". His partymen acknowledged him as their leader in face of Congress attempts to dislodge the government and accusations that the party has fallen below halfway mark in the state assembly.

Over the recent months, Manohar Parrikar had made public appearances with a tube in his nose, looking frail. He had turned up at the state assembly to present the budget, triggering Congress allegations that the BJP was parading him around despite his condition to save its government in the state.

After his death was announced on Sunday, political leaders from across party lines expressed their grief.

At least six people were killed and 32 injured as a major portion of a foot overbridge near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) railway station in Mumbai collapsed on Thursday evening. 

An eyewitness said when the bridge collapsed, there was a red light at the nearby signal, and that is why the death toll was not more. Another eyewitness said the overbridge was being used despite repairs being carried out this morning.

Senior police officials, the fire brigade and a team of the National Disaster Response Force were rushed to the site of the accident. The pedestrian bridge, which was demolished after the collapse, connected the railway station to the Azad Maidan police station, the Times of India building and a school. 

Apart from public and private ambulances, people at the spot also helped in rescue operations and were seen carrying the injured to the hospitals. 

A 45-member team from the National Disaster Response Force and the Mumbai Fire Brigade were also sent. Rescue operations went on for over an hour as many were trapped under the debris, officials said.

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis announced a probe and said the guilty will be punished. He said that the bridge was audited last year and was found to be structurally sound. He has announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the kin of the dead and Rs 50,000 for the injured. 

Maharashtra minister and BJP leader Vinod Tawde said that the bridge only had “minor defects” and it was not considered “risky”. He said it will be probed why the bridge was not closed despite repairs being undertaken.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi offered condolences to the families of those killed in the incident and prayed for a speedy recovery to the injured, even as his party demanded the ouster of Railway minister Piyush Goyal, saying he was criminally culpable. 

Party leader Murli Milind Deora also held the BJP and Shiv Sena responsible for the collapse and demanded that the auditors who cleared the bridge to be booked for murder.

About the Lok Sabha elections, there has been a buzz about the alliance between the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress in Delhi. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is constantly talking about the coalition, the Congress is refusing. But now in the Delhi Congress, there are two parties looking for the coalition. Congress leader PC Chacko is taking public opinion from the coalition, while the state president Sheila Dikshit says that she has no information about this.

She said that Rahul Gandhi also agreed with us that the Delhi Congress unit is completely united and is against the coalition.

Significantly, PC Chacko is in charge of the Delhi Congress, on behalf of him the general public is being called in Delhi. The opinion is being asked about the coalition.

On one side Congress is being denied by the alliance on behalf of the Congress. So now the Aam Aadmi Party has adopted an aggressive approach. AAP leader Sanjay Singh said that his party will contest the seven seats in Delhi. 

On Wednesday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had made a statement that if the Congress is not aligned with him in Delhi, then there should be an alliance in Haryana. Many times the efforts of the Aam Aadmi Party to combine with the Congress in Delhi have been tried.

However, Rahul Gandhi has clearly stated on many occasions that the Delhi Pradesh Committee is against the alliance so we will not combine.

The court had expressed concern over thousands of illegal migrants being kept in detention centers. 

The Supreme Court on Wednesday pulled up the Assam government over inadequacies in the functioning of foreigners tribunals in the state and sought details on it by March 27. 

The government told a bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, that 50,000 migrants were declared foreigners by the tribunal in the past 10 years.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Assam government, said around 900 people were kept in six detention centers of the state.

The bench, which also comprised Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna, said the state government would have to specify through an affidavit whether the foreigners' tribunals functioning in the state were adequate and how they were functioning.

The top court, however, added that it was not insisting on the presence of Assam chief secretary in the court at present.

The apex court was hearing a PIL filed by activist Harsh Mander through advocate Prashant Bhushan on the plight of foreigners in detention centers. The plea alleges that they were kept in detention indefinitely just because they were not Indians and were treated as "illegal aliens".

During the previous hearing, the court had expressed concern over thousands of illegal migrants being kept in detention centers for years in Assam without being repatriated or deported to their countries of origin. It had raised several issues connected with the detention center and said the detainees could not be held for an indefinite period.

The apex court had also sought to know the condition of detention centers, saying the PIL alleged sub-human conditions there.

The Centre had said over 27,000 foreigners have been pushed back at border points while attempting to enter India illegally. 

As the Lok Sabha elections announced, the parties have been preparing for election preparation, while the process of change of leaders has also started. Apart from the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi, many leaders and activists of Congress and Yogendra Yadav's party Swaraj India joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). All these leaders, who have come to the BJP, have vowed to make Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again- Prime Minister.

Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari included these leaders and workers in BJP. Youth leader of Aam Aadmi Party and former Dushu President Jitendra Chaudhary, who joined BJP, took out a fierce fight against Aam Aadmi Party and its Chief Minister Mukhtar Arvind Kejriwal and said that due to Kejriwal, there were not so many people left in the Aam Aadmi Party The terrorists are in the organization.

At the same time, leaving the Congress, Ayush Chaudhary, who joined BJP, said that he felt suffocated in Congress. He strongly targeted Congress President Rahul Gandhi and said that we had to take the name of such a leader that would end our morale. Most young leaders in the party do not want to take their name, but they have to take them in compulsion.

Apart from this, Hemant Jha of Swaraj India's Purvanchal Morcha and Pushpa was a member of the women's movement. All of them say that they have all joined BJP after being influenced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's work.