Daily Bulletin: Pak to release IAF pilot; Sushma to attend OIC meet in Abu Dhabi; Netanyahu may be indicted; day's top stories

Pakistan to release IAF pilot today Indian Air Force pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman is set to return after two days in Pakistani captivity. The announcement by Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday evening brought relief to Indians . The IAF pilot was captured on Wednesday after his MiG-21 fighter jet crashed in an aerial combat with a Pakistani F-16 fighter jet. Soon, videos surfaced showing him being captured and in the custody of the Pakistani army. The information technology ministry has directed YouTube to remove 11 videos showing the Wing Commander. [caption id=“attachment_6171401” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. News18[/caption] The Wing Commander’s family is expected to receive him, along with Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh. Sources have told News18 that the pilot will be brought from Rawalpindi  to Lahore by a special plane and then handed over to the Indian side. Sushma to attend OIC conclave today Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj will attend the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s Foreign Ministers Conclave as guest of honour in Abu Dhabi on Friday. After initially saying that he would boycott the meet, Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi announced on Thursday that he would attend too. Swaraj will attend the inaugural plenary of the two-day meeting on Friday. This is the first time that India has been invited to an OIC meeting as a guest of honour. India alleges Pakistan used AMRAAM missiles The Indian Air Force on Thursday showed parts of Advanced Medium Range Air-To-Air Missile (AMRAAM) missiles as proof that F-16 aircraft from Pakistan attacked the Indian military. New Delhi has alleged that Pakistan resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violations in response to the counter-terror strike carried out by India. Bilateral ties between the two countries has deteriorated in the wake of the 14 February Pulwama attack by Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed and India’s subsequent strikes on the organisation’s camp at Balakot. Pakistani authorities have suspended the Samjhauta Express train service between Pakistan and India until further notice. Reports say Indian Railways too has plans of scrapping the train service. Modi to address rallies in AP, TN; Rahul in Maharashtra The Praja Chaitanya Sabha, a public meeting organised by the Andhra Pradesh chapter of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at Visakhapatnam will be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The prime minister will also address people at Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, where he is set to launch and lay the foundation stones for highway projects worth Rs 2,995 crore. Meanwhile, Congress president Rahul Gandhi will be launching the party’s Lok Sabha poll campaign in Maharashtra from Dhule. He will also address rallies in Mumbai. Benjamin Netanyahu may be indicted on bribery charges Israel’s attorney general is set to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu  for bribery, breach of trust and fraud, media reports said Thursday ahead of a widely expected announcement. Various Israeli outlets said Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit would move to indict the premier pending a hearing, where Netanyahu would be given a chance to defend himself before charges are filed. However, Netanyahu’s Likud party dismissed corruption allegations against him as “political persecution” after media reported that the attorney general was set to move to indict him for bribery. No nuclear agreement between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un The nuclear summit between US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un in Hanoi ended without an agreement Thursday, the White House said after the two leaders cut short their discussions. They had “very good and constructive meetings” and “discussed various ways to advance denuclearisation and economic driven concepts”, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. But she went on, “No agreement was reached at this time,” adding that their “respective teams look forward to meeting in the future.” No joint communique was issued, despite high expectations beforehand for progress. YouTube takes steps to protect children from predators Following several disturbing reports of flourishing paedophile networks on YouTube and of harmful content on videos for kids, YouTube has started taking steps to protect minors. The first of these steps involves comments, which will now be disabled by default on videos featuring minors. A new classification system for comments will also be introduced and stricter policies will be put in place for dealing with content creators who cause “egregious harm to the community.” RBI approves DBS Bank amalgamation  The Reserve Bank of India approved the amalgamation of " DBS Bank, India" with “DBS Bank India,” the entity which has been granted permission to operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary (WOS) of the Singaporean lender. DBS used to operate in the “branch model” and is among the first foreign lenders to come forward and operate as a WOS. In a press release, the RBI said the scheme of amalgamation between the two entities has been sanctioned under the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. The scheme will come into force with effect from today (1 March) and all the branches of DBS Bank in India will function as branches of DBS Bank India, it added. DBS has 12 branches in the country at present and has drawn up plans to take it to 50 branches in 30 cities.