Breaking News, May 2 | LIVE UPDATES

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members at Kirori Mal College on Monday staged protest against the administration after the roof of the building housing the Geography department collapsed on Monday.

Delhi Police has arrested two more persons in connection with the communal violence that broke out in the national capital's Jahangirpuri area last month, an official said on Monday.

Three people were killed after an unidentified four-wheeler hit their motorcycle here, police said on Monday. The deceased, identified as Sonelal (40), Sukhram (38) and Yogesh (35), hailed from Firozabad district, they said.

Pakistan Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said the incumbent government is considering the suspension of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's conviction order.

Mumbai’s Session Court to pronounce order on bail of MP Navneet Rana and MLA Ravi Rana on 4th May.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz meet at Federal Chancellery in Berlin.

BJP workers and leaders, including Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, hold a protest march in Kolkata marking one year of post-poll violence in the state.

New Zealand welcomed tourists from the U.S., Canada, Britain, Japan and more than 50 other countries for the first time in more than two years Monday after dropping most of its remaining pandemic border restrictions.

It was a narrow escape for students of GD Goenka University when their bus hit a tractor-trolley on the Sohna-Alwar National Highway-248A on Monday morning, police said.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will visit Kerala on May 15 to participate in the annual function of the Twenty20 political Party.

Political strategist Prashant Kishor on Monday caused ripples in the choppy waters of Bihar politics with the cryptic announcement of a fresh “shuruat” (beginning) from his home state.

A 19-year-old man died and four others were hospitalized with injuries after their speeding car plunged into a canal in Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida on Monday morning, police officials said.

The driver of the car had fallen asleep on the wheel, leading to the crash around 5 AM under the Dadri police station area, the officials said.

"They were going from Delhi to Sikandrabad in Bulandshahr district. They driver of the car, identified as Chand (19), apparently fell asleep while driving and the car plunged into the Kot Canal," a police spokesperson said.

Denmark on Monday announced a Cabinet reshuffle after Justice Minister Nick Haekkerup resigned to become the new head of the Danish Brewers' Association. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of the Social Democrats Party chose Integration Minister Mattias Tesfaye as the new justice minister to replace Haekkerup.

Housing Minister Kaare Dybvad Bek became the new integration minister and was replaced by Christian Rabjerg Madsen, a member of parliament.

A nine-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her 18-year-old uncle who works as a labourer at a brick kiln here, police said on Monday.
They said the incident happened at Shivalakala Kalan when the girl's parents had gone for work at the same brick kiln.

They said the accused was arrested after an FIR was filed against him under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Act. 

A three-story residential building has collapsed in Lagos, Nigeria's largest city, killing at least five people with many feared trapped, emergency response services said on Monday.

“Twenty-three people have been rescued alive including seven children and 16 adults,” said Ibrahim Farinloye of Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency. “Nine of those rescued alive have been treated and discharged.”

Among the dead are a mother and her son, said Farinloye.

The residential apartment building collapsed late on Sunday night in the Oyingbo area of Lagos, Nigeria's commercial centre and most populated city with more than 14 million people.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday said that the doors of "Yamunotri Dham" dedicated to Goddess Yamuna will open on May 3.

Taking to Twitter, he wrote, "May 03, the doors of "Yamunotri Dham" dedicated to Goddess Yamuna will open on the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya. I wish all of you devotees a devotional, smooth and pleasant Chardham Yatra. #ChardhamYatra2022"

India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 189.23 crore mark on Monday, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday.

"India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 189.23 crore (1,89,23,98,347) as per provisional reports till 7 am today. This has been achieved through 2,33,82,216 sessions," the official release stated.

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport here will remain shut for all flight operations for six hours on May 10 to carry out pre-monsoon maintenance and repairs, an official said on Monday.

For this purpose, both runways, RWYs 14/32 and 09/27, shall be closed for all flight operations on May 10 between 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

A NOTAM has already been issued to all airlines and normal operations would resume that day after the maintenance works on the two runways are completed at 5 p.m.

The Odisha government has decided to establish 34 courts in different districts of the state, the state's Law Minister Pratap Jena said on Monday.

According to Jena, a high-level committee headed by Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari approved the establishment of the new courts.

After receiving consent from the Orissa High Court, a formal notification will be issued, he added.

The NCB has arrested one more person in connection with its probe against an India-Afghan narcotics syndicate and seizure of about 50 kg of heroin from south Delhi's Shaheen Bagh area last week, officials said on Monday. The latest arrest of an Indian man living in Laxmi Nagar was made on Sunday, they said.

This is the fifth arrest in the case as two Indian and an equal number of Afghan nationals have been taken into custody in the case earlier by the federal anti-narcotics agency after raids were conducted by it in south Delhi's Shaheen Bagh-Jamia Nagar on April 27. All the accused have been arrested under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Former petroleum secretary Tarun Kapoor has been appointed as an advisor to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Personnel Ministry said in an order issued on Monday. Kapoor, a 1987-batch IAS officer of the Himachal Pradesh cadre, superannuated as the secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on November 30, 2021.

Spanish officials said Monday that the cellphones of the prime minister and the defence minister were infected last year with Pegasus spyware that is only available to government agencies in an operation that wasn't authorised by the government. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's mobile phone was breached twice in May 2021, and Defence Minister Margarita Robles' device was targeted once the following month, Presidency Minister Félix Bolaños said in a hastily convened news conference.

He said the breaches resulted in a significant amount of data being obtained, and that reports detailing the breaches have been transferred to Spain's National Court for further investigation.

Even as the country faced a crisis on almost all fronts, especially in the health and economic sectors, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said the country's internal security remained "under control" in the particular year. The MHA, which is responsible for maintaining internal security across the country, made the revelation in its recently published Annual Report 2020-2021.

Detailing the internal security issues in the country, the MHA pointed out in the report that it can broadly be categorized as terrorism in the hinterland of the country, Left Wing Extremism (LWE) or Naxal or Maoism in certain areas, insurgency in the North Eastern (NE) states and cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday stayed the arrest of former Aam Aadmi Party leader Kumar Vishwas in a case of allegedly making inflammatory statements against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The case was registered against him by the Punjab Police on April 12.

“The court stayed the arrest of Vishwas,” said Mayank Aggarwal, one of the counsels of Vishwas.

The court of Justice Anoop Chitkara fixed July 4 as the next date of hearing. Vishwas had moved the high court last week, seeking quashing of the FIR registered against him.

TVS Motor Company on Monday said it has launched a new variant of its NTORQ 125 scooter priced at Rs 1,02,823 (ex-showroom Delhi).
The NTORQ 125 XT comes with a SmartXonnect connectivity platform and around 60 other features, making it the most tech-advanced scooter on sale in the country, TVS Motor Company said in a statement.

The features include a voice assist feature, which can now accept voice commands directly, start-stop function, among others, it added.

"The TVS NTORQ 125 XT has set a new benchmark in the connected two-wheeler mobility experience with never seen hi-tech features," TVS Motor Company Senior Vice President (Marketing) – Commuters, Corporate Brand & Dealer Transformation, Aniruddha Haldar said.

An Army jawan was detained at the airport here on Monday after a live grenade was allegedly recovered from his baggage, officials said.
The jawan has been identified as Balaji Sampath, a resident of Tamil Nadu. He was scheduled to travel from Srinagar to Chennai via Delhi by an Indigo flight.

"A live hand grenade was recovered during screening from the baggage of the Army jawan," the officials said.

"He has been handed over to Police Post Humhama for further investigation," the officials said.

Mid-size motorcycle maker Royal Enfield on Monday said it has tied up with Italian riding gear brand Alpinestars to create a riding apparel collection with high protection and performance. Founded in 1963 in Asolo, Italy, Alpinestars is now a world-leading manufacturer of professional racing products, motorcycling airbag protection, high-performance apparel, gear and technical footwear.

The partnership aims to provide Indian riders with the essential tools needed to make the best of their adventures, Royal Enfield said in a statement.

"Both, Royal Enfield and Alpinestars brands are known for creating world-class riding apparel, footwear and gloves with a focus on rider safety, and this collaboration aims to take that a notch higher.

AAP National Convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal to visit Kerala on May 15. The Delhi CM has accepted the invitation of Kerala's Twenty20 Party to attend its annual function, as their chief guest.

Mid-sized motorcycle maker Royal Enfield, part of Eicher Motors, on Monday said its total wholesales increased by 17 per cent to 62,155 units in April. The company had reported sales of 53,298 units in the same month last year.

Domestic sales increased by 10 per cent to 53,852 units last month against 48,789 in April 2021. Exports rose to 8,303 units last month from 4,509 units earlier.

The Supreme Court on Monday said that no person can be forced to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and asked the Centre to make public the effect of such an immunisation.

A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai said bodily autonomy and integrity are protected under Article 21 of the Constitution.
The top court said the current COVID-19 vaccine policy cannot be said to be manifestly arbitrary and unreasonable.

A 33-year-old married woman was allegedly strangulated by her husband for opposing his extramarital affair, police said Monday.
The incident happened Sunday evening at Rampur village in Purchapar area here, they said. Police said a case was registered against the deceased woman' s husband Sohanlal, his father Ramlal and brother Papendra on a complaint by her father. Police have arrested Sohanlal while the two other accused are absconding.

Four people were injured after their car fell into a nearly 50-feet-deep gorge at the Malshej Ghat in Maharashtra's Thane district on Monday, police said. The victims were travelling from Ale Phata to Kalyan town when their car developed a snag in Murbad area.

The car driver lost control over the wheels and it fell into the gorge, an official from Tokawade police station said, adding that the vehicle was badly damaged.

India's manufacturing sector activities witnessed faster growth in April amid quicker increases in production as well as factory orders, and renewed expansion in international sales, a monthly survey said on Monday. The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose from 54.0 in March to 54.7 in April, as a retreat of COVID-19 restrictions continued to support demand.

The April PMI data pointed to an improvement in overall operating conditions for the tenth straight month. In PMI parlance, a print above 50 means expansion, while a score below 50 denotes contraction.

Two successive tremors of 4 and 3.2 magnitude jolted a village in Gujarat's Gir Somnath district on Monday morning, officials said. Residents of the Talala village, located 25 km from the district headquarters Veraval, woke up from sleep and ran out of their homes after experiencing the tremors, but there was no report of any casualty or damage to property, according to the district administration.

The first tremor of 4.0 magnitude was recorded at 6.58 am, with its epicentre 13 km north-northeast of the Talala village, the Gandhinagar-based Institute of Seismological Research (ISR) said.

Shares of Wipro on Monday declined by nearly 3 per cent after the company's quarterly earnings failed to cheer investors. The stock declined 2.84 per cent to Rs 494.50 on the BSE. At the NSE, it went lower by 2.81 per cent to Rs 494.50.

IT company Wipro on Friday posted a 4 per cent increase in its consolidated profit to Rs 3,092.5 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2022, on account of continued demand for IT services. The company had registered a profit of Rs 2,974.1 crore a year ago.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) on Monday said its total sales increased by 25 per cent to 45,640 units in April. The company's total sales stood at 36,437 units in April 2021. The Mumbai-based auto major's passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market rose by 23 per cent to 22,526 units last month against 18,285 in April last year, the auto major said in a statement. Commercial vehicle sales increased to 20,411 units last month compared to 16,147 in April 2021.

The company said its exports last month stood at 2,703 units against 2,005 in the year-ago period.

Four people were killed and two others grievously injured when their van collided head-on with a bus near Limbdi in Gujarat's Surendranagar district on Monday, police said.

The six people were going from Rajkot to Rajasthan to attend a marriage function when the accident took place around 2.30 am near Katariya village on Rajkot-Ahmedabad highway, over 100 km from Ahmedabad. Their van hit a bus coming from the opposite direction, an official from Limbdi police station said.

With the addition of 19 new cases of coronavirus, the infection tally in Maharashtra's Thane district has gone up to 7,09,071, an official said on Monday. These new cases were reported on Sunday.

The rupee appreciated 6 paise to 76.44 against the US dollar in opening trade on Monday amid a pullback in global crude prices. However, a weak trend in domestic equities and a strong dollar in the overseas market capped the rupee's gains, forex traders said.

A Dalit family was allegedly stopped by some people from performing the last rites of a relative on an elevated platform at a cremation ground in Madhya Pradesh's Guna district, following which police arrested three persons, an official said on Monday. The family later performed the funeral on a land near the platform.

The incident took place on Friday in Chandpura village under Kumbhraj police station area, 62 km from the Guna district headquarters, and a video of it also surfaced on social media.

In the clip, a person was purportedly heard saying the family was not allowed to use the cremation ground's platform for the funeral.

Uttarakhand | National Education Policy will be implemented in the upcoming session. We'll be including Vedas, Gita, Ramayana & history of Uttarakhand in the syllabus after taking suggestions from the public & consulting the academicians: State Education minister Dhan Singh Rawat

India on Monday saw another dip in its daily COVID-19 cases as the country reported 3,157 new infections in the last 24 hours, 167 fewer than Sunday. India had recorded 3,324 COVID-19 cases on Sunday.

According to Union Health Ministry, the active cases in the country have increased to 19,500 which accounts for 0.05 per cent of the total cases.

A total of 2,723 COVID patients recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours taking the total number of recoveries since the beginning of the pandemic to 4,25,38,976.

Benchmark equity indices continued to remain weak on Monday, with the Sensex tumbling over 648 points in early trade, tracking selling in index majors Infosys, Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank along with muted global trends. The 30-share BSE benchmark was trading 648.25 points lower at 56,412.62. The NSE Nifty declined 185.3 points to 16,917.25.

From the Sensex pack,Titan, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finance, Infosys, Maruti and Bajaj Finserv were the early laggards. In contrast, IndusInd Bank, NTPC and Axis Bank were the gainers.

Asian markets in Seoul and Tokyo were trading lower in mid-session deals. Stocks in the US had ended significantly lower on Friday.

A blast in Pakistan's southwest Quetta city of Balochistan province injured several people on Sunday evening, rescue and police officials said.

At least two people sustained serious wounds in the explosion that occurred at about 8:00 p.m. local time near a government building on the Airport Road in Balochistan's provincial capital Quetta, Muhammad Mehboob, a senior officer of the rescue department of Edhi Foundation Quetta, was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency reported.

Tightened anti-smoking laws took effect in Finland on Sunday. Brand images and logos must be removed from packages of all tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes and refill containers.

Under previous laws, tobacco products must not be visible in a store, and customers must be able to identify the purchase verbally. The unified package formats have a transition time until May 2023, Xinhua news agency reported.

Starting with a pleasant morning, mercury hovering around 40-42 degrees Celsius during the day and light windy late evening marked Sunday for Delhi-NCR when most places witnessed little lower maximum temperatures compared to the scorching Saturday and Friday.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted partly cloudy sky with dust storm/thunderstorm, accompanied with gusty winds (speed about 40-50 kmph), with maximum and minimum temperatures to be around 39 and 25 degrees Celsius for Safdarjung station - Delhi's base station - on Monday.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Sunday organised a "YouTube Workshop" at the Swastik Bhawan at Ambabadi in Jaipur. The training workshop by RSS's Publicity Department was presided over by YouTuber Vaibhav Singh.

About 88 YouTubers from different parts of Jaipur participated in the workshop, which was attended by Manoj Kumar, chief of Rajasthan region.

A joint team of police and revenue department on Sunday attached alleged illegal property worth Rs 21 crore registered in the name of former MLC Haji Iqbal’s aide. The property was registered in the name of Naseem and it was attached under the provisions of the Gangster Act, police said.

Iqbal was a Bahujan Samaj Party MLC from 2010 to 2016.

Iqbal, who headed the gang, was indulged in smuggling wood, illegal mining, threatening people and using fraudulent means to purchase government and non-government land, and registering them in the names of his aides, family members, relatives and even servants, Senior Superintendent of Police Akash Tomar told PTI.

The Gurugram Industrial Association has demanded special power supply for over 50 continuous process industries and a waiver of fixed charges, saying unscheduled power cuts are leading to heavy losses.

"These industries require machines to run non-stop and disruptions cause losses. Unscheduled power cuts are costing them a lot," association president JN Mangla said.

West Bengal on Sunday logged 53 new COVID-19 cases, two less than the previous day, with the tally rising to 20,18,313, a health department bulletin said.

One more fatality due to the infection raised the death toll to 21,202, it said.

Twenty-one people recuperated from the disease in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 19,96,714.

Odisha Police on Sunday arrested BJP MLA Subhas Chandra Panigrahi from his official residence here for allegedly assaulting a block development officer in Deogarh district. Along with Panigrahi, his two aides identified as Akalu Dhal and Kumarmani Sahoo were also held over allegations of launching a murderous attack on Tileibani BDO Krushnachandra Dalapati at Bhaliaguda village on Saturday.

Dalapati had lodged an FIR at Deogarh police station, claiming that the legislator and his aides attacked him near the BDO office, after the MLA could not find him there, as he was busy with some official work.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed two decrees on Sunday on additional measures to ensure the country's information security, including a ban on the use of information protection tools originating from unfriendly countries starting January 1, 2025, according to the official legal information portal.

Six rockets targeted Sunday an area in Erbil province in Iraq's northern semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region, but caused no casualties, the regional Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) said in a statement.

The rockets were fired from al-Hamdaniya, a town 60 km west of the city of Erbil, and landed near the al-Zab River outside the Kurdish town of Khabat in Erbil province, the Kurdish CTS statement said.

No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Addressing a May Day rally organised by his party in Polonnaruwa, former Sri Lanka President and the chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Maithripala Sirisena on Sunday called for fresh elections in the country.

Saying that politicians should take the side of the people at a time when the country is facing a great tragedy, Sirisena said that he took to the streets on International Labor Day for this purpose, Colombo Page reported.

The Russian military will not forcefully adjust their actions during the special operation in Ukraine to any date, including Victory Day, which is celebrated in Russia on May 9, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

"The pace of the operation in Ukraine depends, first of all, on the need to minimize any risks for the civilian population and Russian military personnel," Lavrov told the Italian Mediaset broadcaster, saying that "our troops will not artificially adjust their actions to any date, including Victory Day."

Afghanistan has received over USD 760 million in cash as humanitarian assistance from the international community, the country's central bank informed, adding that the money donated is beneficial in maintaining the value of the Afghan currency.

"In total, USD 761.6 million has been delivered. This aid preserves the value of the Afghani," Saber Momand, Da Afghanistan Bank's (Central Bank of Afghanistan) spokesperson was quoted as saying by Tolo News.

The aim of the international aid has been to prevent widespread poverty and food shortages in the country hit by a devastating humanitarian crisis since the Taliban takeover in August last year.

In a major escalation of COVID-19 restrictions amid a surge in Omicron variant cases, Beijing has banned all restaurant dining, shut down Universal Studios and ordered residents to provide proof of a negative Covid test to enter public venues, a media report said.

The restrictions have come as a five-day holiday on the occasion of International Labour Day got underway in the city on Saturday, CNN reported.

The employees of the Belgian Embassy in Moscow who have been declared persona non grata left the Russian capital on Sunday, Belgian media reported.

"Twelve embassy employees against whom this measure was taken have already returned to Belgium," a spokesperson of the Belgian Foreign Ministry told the Belga news agency on Sunday.

The diplomats and their family members left Moscow on a Belgian military transport aircraft since there are currently no regular flights between the two countries.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former deputy chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Kavinder Gupta met Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Sunday ahead of the latter's Aurangabad rally where he reiterated his warning to remove loudspeakers atop mosques.

When asked about the possibility of the BJP-MNS alliance, Gupta rescued himself from giving any concrete details.

India's Ambassador to Germany Harish Parvathaneni on Sunday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Germany for India-Germany Inter-Governmental Consultations is a landmark visit.

"PM's visit to Berlin on May 2-3 for India-Germany Inter-Governmental Consultations is a landmark visit. This year we not only celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav but also commemorate 70 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India-Germany," Parvathaneni said.

PM Modi will embark on Monday for his three days visit to Germany, Denmark and France. PM Modi will be visiting Germany at the invitation of Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of Germany.

Keeping a vigil to avoid any untoward incident, additional security forces have been deployed in Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh, informed police official on Sunday.

Curfew on May 2 and May 3 has been imposed in the district that witnessed violence following a stone-pelting incident during a religious procession last month.

To avoid any such situation, admiration has passed various orders limiting public gatherings during the festival week.

At least 8 people were shot dead and 16 left injured in a number of shooting incidents in Chicago over the weekend, local media reported. The spree of shootings has been recorded from about 5:45 pm on Friday when a 69-year-old man, was shot dead at his residence in South Kilpatrick, NBC Chicago, a local broadcaster reported citing the city police.

The victims have included people from all age groups, including a minor as well as a 62-year-old woman. The incidents took place in a variety of areas including Brighton Park, South Indiana, North Kedzie Avenue, Humboldt Park and so on, the reports said.

Uttar Pradesh: Section 144 imposed in Gautam Budh Nagar till May 31st amid rise in Covid cases

A 17-year-old schoolgirl has died and 18 others have fallen sick due to suspected food poisoning after consuming "rotten shawarma" at a food stall in Cheruvathur town of Kasaragod district in Kerala.

"A team of doctors including a paediatrician examined Devananda (deceased) but could not save her life. Rest a total of 18 students are admitted in the hospital and all of them are in stable condition," said Kasargod Medical Officer on Sunday.

The Kerala Health minister Veena George has directed an investigation into the incident and has sought a report from the authorities.

Uttar Pradesh: Nisha, daughter of gangster Kanhaiya Yadav was found dead in her house. The deceased was allegedly thrashed by SHO Saiyyedraja after which she died.

The SHO was suspended and a process is underway to lodge FIR on getting a complaint from the family of the deceased: Sanjeev Singh, DM Varanasi