Breaking News, June 5 | LIVE UPDATES

Police in Tamil Nadu's Salem district have charged a 30-year-old man for sodomizing a street dog after sedating it.

Kerala government on Sunday said norovirus infection, similar to the diarrhoea-inducing rotavirus, was confirmed in two children residing near here.
The Health Department evaluated the situation and said precautionary measures have been taken as the virus spreads through contaminated water and food. State Health Minister Veena George said the disease is highly-contagious and urged the people to maintain hygiene.

Jammu and Kashmir's COVID-19 tally increased to 4,54,280 on Sunday as four more people tested positive for the viral disease, officials said. The death toll remained unchanged at 4,752.

Gunfire killed three people and wounded at least 11 others in a popular downtown Philadelphia entertainment district late Saturday night, authorities said.
Police officers were patrolling the area on South Street in downtown Philadelphia when they heard multiple gunshots and witnessed several suspects firing into a large crowd just before midnight, Police Inspector DF Pace said during a news conference.

New Omicron variants BA4 and BA5 were detected from the samples collected in Tamil Nadu and the results from a lab in Hyderabad have revealed it, state Minister Ma Subramanian said on Sunday.

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A massive fire at a container depot near a port city in southeastern Bangladesh left at least 15 people dead and more than 100 others wounded, officials and local media reports said Sunday, as firefighters struggled to get the blaze under control.

The fire at the BM Inland Container Depot, a Dutch-Bangladesh joint venture, broke out around midnight Saturday following explosions in a container full of chemicals. The depot is located in Chittagong, 216 kilometers (134 miles) southeast of the capital, Dhaka.

The city police on Sunday apprehended another juvenile for his alleged involvement in the sensational gang-rape of a 17-year-old girl at Jubilee Hills here, even as Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan sought a detailed report within two days from the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police regarding the case. With this, the police has nabbed an 18-year-old man and three children in conflict with law (juveniles) in connection with the case. The police are on the lookout for another suspect who is still at large. One of the teenage boys accused in the incident is alleged to be a son of a leader wielding power. "In continuation of arrest of three accused earlier one CCLs (Child in Conflict with Law) is apprehended by Jubilee Hills police today i.e., on 05-06-2022 and his apprehension was effected in the above case and he is being produced before the Hon’ble Juvenile Court for their safe custody," Deputy Commissioner of Police (West Zone) Joel Davis said in a press note.

With inflation showing no signs of abatement, the Reserve Bank is likely to increase the benchmark lending rate in quick succession in its forthcoming monetary policy review on Wednesday, a hint for which has already been given by Governor Shaktikanta Das, opined experts. There are speculations that the central bank may go for at least 35 basis points (bps) hike over and above the 40 bps hike effected last month after an off-cycle Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. Experts are expecting more hikes in repo rate in the coming months.

An FIR has been registered against the factory owner and the operator after at least 12 workers died and 21 were injured in an explosion there, police said on Sunday. The explosion had taken place at Ruhi Industries in Dhaulana area on Saturday. Inspector General of Police Praveen Kumar said that the factory had the licence to manufacture only electronic goods and an investigation is underway to ascertain how explosives reached there. Police said they suspect that crackers were being manufactured in the factory.

Seeking to defuse a row over controversial comments allegedly made by its spokesperson against Prophet Mohammed, the BJP asserted on Sunday that it respects all religions and strongly denounces insult of any religious personality. Amid a row over remarks of BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, party general secretary Arun Singh said in a statement that the party is strongly against any ideology which insults or demeans any sect or religion.

A delegation of 22 universities from the UK will be in India on a five-day visit to scout for New Education Policy (NEP) aligned collaborations, according to top officials from the British government. This will be the largest delegation of UK higher education leaders which will hold meetings with key state and central government officials to re-energise the relationship between the higher education sectors in both countries from June 6-10, the officials said. British Council, the UK's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities, will host the delegation. The delegation will have representatives from 22 UK universities, Universities UK International (UUKi), Department for Education (DfE UK) and Department for International Trade (DIT UK) to meet Indian government bodies and university leaders.

Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said he has tested positive for coronavirus and is in home isolation. Fadnavis, who is the leader of opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, had earlier also contracted the viral infection in October 2020. On Sunday, the former state chief minister in a tweet said, "I have tested #COVID19 positive and in home isolation. Taking medication & treatment as per the doctor's advice. Those who have come in contact with me are advised to get Covid tests done. Take care everyone!" Earlier, when Fadnavis contracted the infection in 2020, he had undergone treatment in a government hospital. 

President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday inaugurated Sant Kabir Academy and Research Centre here and said that the life of the mystic poet and saint was an epitome of human virtue and that his teachings are relevant even in modern times. The President, who reached here from Gorakhpur, paid homage to the Bhakti Movement saint at his Samadhi Sthal in Maghar.

Three persons were arrested on Sunday from a colony of Scheduled Caste persons in Haripad area of Alappuzha district in Kerala for allegedly assaulting police officials, blocking their vehicle and preventing them from carrying out their duty. According to the police, officers on routine patrol in the colony had noticed two persons standing beside a motorbike outside one of the homes and had questioned them as to why they were there late in the night. While they were being questioned, other residents of the colony also came out and objected to the police questioning the duo, an officer of Kareelakulangara police station, within whose jurisdiction the area falls, said.

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Odisha Assembly Speaker S N Patro has resigned from the post as members of a new cabinet of the Naveen Patnaik led-government are scheduled to take oath on Sunday, an official said. All 20 ministers of the state government had on Saturday submitted their resignation letters as per the direction of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Patro submitted his resignation to Deputy Speaker R K Singh on Saturday citing no reason for his action. Patro's son Biplab said, "My father is suffering from serious renal ailments and an infection in his left eye. He has been undergoing treatment at a private hospital." His son also said Patro has resigned from the speaker post and declined to take any assignment of the government as he will go for surgery.

The RBI's policy decision would be the major event driving trading sentiment in the equity market this week, while global cues, foreign funds movement and crude oil prices will be the other key factors to watch out for, analysts said. Markets have been witnessing a rebound recently. However, the move lacks decisiveness amid lingering challenges like global policy tightening due to soaring inflation and geopolitical tensions, they added. "RBI policy, global macro numbers and crude oil prices will set the trend for this week. Outcome of RBI policy will be announced on 8th of June and it will be important to listen to RBI commentary as a rate hike is imminent. IIP data will be released on 10th May after market hours.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Iconic Week Celebrations of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on June 6. The PMO noted in a statement that this week is being celebrated as part of the 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' (AKAM) from June 6 to 11. Modi will launch the national portal for credit-linked government schemes - Jan Samarth Portal. It is a one-stop digital portal linking government credit schemes, the PMO said, adding that it's a first of its kind platform which directly connects beneficiaries to lenders.

The minimum temperature in Delhi settled at 27.4 degrees Celsius on Sunday as the city is poised to experience heatwave conditions at isolated places during the day, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. The relative humidity was 23 per cent at 8.30 am. The weatherman has forecast a partly cloudy sky with heat wave conditions at isolated places and strong surface winds with a speed of 20-30 kmph during the day.

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Ten new jails will come up in Uttar Pradesh in a bit to decongest the state prisons. The state's Minister for Jails, Dharamvir Prajapati, said that of the 10, the prison in Etawah has been completed and will become functional soon. Presently, there are 75 jails in the state which house as many as 1.24 lakh prisoners. With the 10 additional jails, it will take the total number to 85. Prison officials also said that while construction of barracks in Shravasti and Prayagraj has been completed, in seven other jails, including Amethi, Chandauli, Hathras, the construction work is going on. The Minister also said that the state government is making provisions for the release of all those lodged in jails in cases relating to only imposition of penalty and fines. A record of all those lodged in cases of travelling without ticket in trains and imposed with a penalty is being checked from all the jails.

Aam Aadmi Party to hold protest against recent targeted killings in Kashmir Valley, at Jantar Mantar today. AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal to join the protest.

A mortar shell was recovered by security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district, officials said on Sunday. On information given by some people, security personnel recovered the shell in Kewal village of Bhudal tehsil on Saturday evening, they said. The mortar shell was later defused. 

Rapid climate change has the potential to strongly influence the physiology, behaviour and breeding success of animals. Research is showing that increasing temperatures, for instance, are having negative effects on animals. These range from mass die-off events during heat waves to less obvious problems like difficulty finding food.

A North Carolina man has been sentenced to death for the 2019 murder of his teenage daughter, according to the local prosecutor's office. The Union County District Attorney's Office said in a news release Friday that a jury handed the sentence down after about three hours of deliberations following the three-week trial of 35-year-old Joshua Lee Burgess.

Parts of South Florida were experiencing road flooding from heavy rain and wind Saturday as a storm system that battered Mexico moved across the state. Officials in Miami warned drivers about road conditions as many cars were stuck on flooded streets. “This is a dangerous and life-threatening situation. Travelling during these conditions is not recommended. It's better to wait. Turn around, don't drown,” the city of Miami tweeted.

North Korea test-fired a salvo of eight short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea on Sunday, South Korea's military said, extending a provocative streak in weapons demonstrations this year that U.S. and South Korean officials say may culminate with a nuclear test explosion. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles were fired in succession over 35 minutes from the Sunan area near the capital, Pyongyang.

The final post-mortem and chemical analysis reports of playback singer Krishnakumar Kunnath, popularly known as KK, was handed over to the Kolkata Police on Saturday. Both the reports cited 'myocardial infarction' as the cause of the singer's death. As per the final post-mortem report, cholesterol accumulation narrowed the posterior intramuscular artery to a great extent which affected the pumping of blood by the heart. There were blockages in the coronary artery as well. Sources in Kolkata Police said that they had taken up the investigation by filing an FIR relating to unnatural death.

Prince Charles and his son Prince William honored the past and looked to the future Saturday as they paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at a star-studded concert outside Buckingham Palace celebrating the monarch's 70 years on the throne. Diana Ross, rock band Queen, Duran Duran, Alicia Keys and others performed in front of some 22,000 people gathered on the Mall for the open-air “Party at the Palace,” which rounded up the third day of a four-day holiday weekend dedicated to celebrating the queen's Platinum Jubilee.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday said the BJP was harbouring a misconception that its political rivals will "surrender" when faced with probe agencies, but there was no need to fear such tactics. The former Union minister was replying to a question, during a public interview here, about alleged misuse of central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate by the BJP government. "What they are doing is not right. They think political opponents will surrender. Remember, I had got the ED's notice. I decided to go to the ED's office the next morning, and their officials came to my place and requested me not to go there," Pawar said. "If we are strong and truthful, then there is no need to be afraid of repression. We need to stand up to them," he said.

Russian agent Dmitry Kovtun, who was accused by the UK authorities in the poisoning death of former spy Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006, has died at 57. Russian lawmaker Andrei Lugovoi, who also was accused by the UK in the spy's killing, announced Kovtun's death on his messaging app channel. Lugovoi said that Kovtun died Saturday of a COVID-19-induced illness. Russian news reports said he died at a hospital in Moscow.

At least 12 workers died and 21 were injured when a boiler exploded at a factory in western Uttar Pradesh's Hapur district on Saturday afternoon, officials said. There were around 30 people in the affected area at the factory in the UPSIDC industrial area in Dholana, around 80 km from the national capital, when the incident occurred, they said. The impact of the explosion was so intense that the roofs of some of the factories located in the vicinity were damaged. It took three hours for fire tenders to douse the blaze.

Around 13 buffaloes died on Saturday allegedly after drinking water from a drain in Kosikalan industrial area of Mathura, officials said. Chhata Sub-Divisional Magistrate Kamlesh Goyal said some farmers had brought the cattle here from Bayana of Rajasthan's Bharatpur for fodder and water. "Around a dozen buffaloes died after consuming water in Kosikalan industrial area,” Goyal said confirming the report, and added the matter is being probed. "If water flowing in the drain is found to be toxic, then action will be initiated against the factory owners," he said. The bodies of the dead buffaloes have been sent for post mortem at Mathura’s Deendayal Pashu Chikitsa Vigyan Vishwavidyalaya. Officials from the regional pollution control board have also taken samples of the water for testing.