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Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday lashed out at the Centre after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached properties owned by one of his relatives in connection with a money laundering case.

Addressing the state legislative assembly, CM Thackeray said that if the BJP wants to form a government in Maharashtra and he is "in their way", the central government can put him behind bars but should not defame his family members.

"You are misusing your powers. Come! Let's fight man to man. I am ready to go to prison. Defaming families won't affect us. You are making lists of accused and giving them to the ED. You are the complainant, you are the investigator. Is it ED or domestic help? We have faith in the law and judiciary, we will face this," he said.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in New Delhi on Thursday making it the first trip by a senior Chinese leader to India after the eastern Ladakh military standoff began in May 2020. Wang will be meeting External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar and National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval on Friday.

Sources told media, NSA Doval will meet the Chinese foreign minister at 9.30 am on Friday. The discussions will be mainly related to issues of global and strategic importance and regional cooperation. The two senior leaders will also discuss the China-India boundary issues. After talks with Doval, Wang will meet Jaishankar at 11 am. He will then leave for Nepal. Nepal had announced that Wang will visit Kathmandu from March 25 to 27.

The Congress on Thursday released a jumbo list of office bearers for Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) ahead of the assembly elections in the state expected to be held in December. The list for Gujarat, where the Congress has been out of power for well over two decades, has 75 general secretaries and 25 vice-presidents. It also included 19 Congress members who have been appointed as district Congress committee presidents.

“This is the first list. In coming days, more than 250 secretaries are likely to be appointed,” said a person aware of the development.

The US is no longer dominating several advanced technologies, an influential American Senator in Washington has observed, saying that India, Russia, and China have advantages on hypersonic technology.

"We're in a situation where we have technological improvements. We used to dominate technology. That's no longer the case. Hypersonic, clearly, China and India, Russia have advantages on it," Senator Jack Reed, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said during a nomination hearing on Wednesday.

"We are about to emerge for the first time in the history of the world in a trilateral nuclear competition. No longer bilateral. The Soviet Union, the United States -- no, it's China, Russia, and the United States," Senator Reed said and asked Dr William LaPlante, to be undersecretary of defence for acquisition and sustainment, how he intends to address these issues.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla arrived in New York on Tuesday, a day before the UN General Assembly and the Security Council are expected to vote on draft resolutions on the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. Shringla will participate in the Security Council meeting on cooperation between the UN and the League of Arab States on Wednesday.

“Delighted to receive Foreign Secretary @harshvshringla in New York. Foreign Secretary will participate in the UN Security Council meeting on cooperation between the UN and the League of Arab States,” India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti tweeted. Shringla’s arrival in New York comes as the United Nations is set to witness a busy and crucial day Wednesday over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.