Breaking News, June 2

The Railway Protection Force (RPF) has arrested 7,000 persons for travelling unauthorisedly in coaches reserved for women and also rescued 150 girls from becoming victims of human trafficking during a pan India drive. The drive between May 3 and May 31 was carried out under "Operation Mahila Suraksha". With an objective of providing enhanced safety and security to women passengers travelling by trains for their entire journey, another countrywide initiative, "Meri Saheli" is also operational.

Shruti Sharma topped the civil services examination 2021 with 54.56 per cent marks, and second rank holder Ankita Agarwal scored 51.85 per cent in the prestigious test conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to select the country's civil servants. A total of 685 candidates- 508 men and 177 women- have cleared the examination, results of which were announced by the Commission on Monday. The civil services examination is conducted annually by the UPSC in three stages- preliminary, main and interview- to select officers for the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service and Indian Police Service among others.

Jammu and Kashmir Congress on Thursday condemned the killing of a bank employee from Rajasthan in the Valley and lashed out at the Centre for its alleged failure to ensure safety and security of the people. Terrorists shot dead Vijay Kumar from Rajasthan in Kashmir’s Kulgam district, the eighth targeted killing in the Valley since May 1 and the third of a non-Muslim government employee.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said Telangana was born out of people's aspirations for a better future, but it has suffered extreme misgovernance by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi in the last eight years. On Telangana's formation day, he reiterated the Congress' commitment towards building it into a model state and ensuring prosperity of all, including farmers, workers and the poor.

A 30-year-old police constable was hacked to death at his rented accommodation here, police said on Thursday. The body of Desh Deepak was found lying in a pool of blood, police said, adding that the incident took place at the Braham Nagar locality. The constable who originally hails from Firozabad was posted in Bilhaur since 2019, they said. Station House Officer, Bilhaur, Arvind Kumar Singh, said Deepak's family informed him that they were not getting any response on his mobile which was switched off since Wednesday noon. 

Pakistan's ousted prime minister Imran Khan has warned that the country would descend into a civil war if fresh elections were not announced. In an interview to Bol News on Wednesday, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman said he is waiting for the Supreme Court to decide on his party's plea to provide protection to the protestors, after which he said he would issue the date for the next march demanding general elections, the Dawn newspaper reported. "We will see if they allow us to go towards elections through legal and constitutional means otherwise this country will go towards (a) civil war," he warned. Khan further said there was "no question" of returning to the National Assembly as that would "mean accepting the conspiracy" that had removed his government.

A 19-year-old man died and two others went missing after a rowboat with six persons on board capsized in Tamas river in Rewa district of Madhya Pradesh, police said on Thursday. The incident occurred on Wednesday noon and the body of the man was recovered on Thursday morning, they said.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday alleged that his deputy Manish Sisodia will soon be arrested in a "fake" case like Health Minister Satyendar Jain. Jain, who holds health, power and home portfolios, was on Monday arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a case related to money laundering. "I had learnt from reliable sources a few months back that Satyendar Jain was going to be arrested in a fake case and now I have learnt from the same sources that Manish Sisodia is going to be arrested in the next few days in another fake case," Kejriwal said at a media briefing. 

At a time when Kerala is seeing a spate of food poisoning incidents, five persons have been arrested from Malappuram district of the state for trying to extort money from a restaurant owner by threatening to lodge a false complaint of food poisoning after eating from there. An officer of Vengara police station told PTI that five people were arrested on Tuesday night following a complaint by the restaurant owner alleging that a group which ate from his establishment demanded Rs 40,000 from him, over the phone, for not filing a case of food poisoning against the eatery.

A bank employee from Rajasthan was shot dead on Thursday by terrorists in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. The employee of the Ellaqui Dehati Bank, Vijay Kumar was shot inside the bank premises, the officials said. He was rushed to a hospital but succumbed to injuries on the way. Further details of the incident are awaited. 

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will hold a high-level meeting today to review the preparedness to deal with flood situations in the country during the monsoon: Ministry of Home Affairs. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday greeted people of Telangana on the state's formation day, and said they are synonymous with hardwork and unparalleled dedication to national progress.  Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh to become a state on this day in 2014. In a tweet Modi said, "Greetings to my sisters and brothers of Telangana on the state's Formation Day. People of Telangana are synonymous with hardwork and unparalleled dedication to national progress. The culture of the state is world renowned. I pray for the well-being of the people of Telangana." 

A State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) jawan allegedly shot his colleague dead before killing himself with his service rifle in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra, police said on Thursday. The incident occurred around 4.30 pm on Wednesday at Marpalli police post in Aheri tehsil of Gadchiroli, they said. "A jawan from SRPF Group 1 (Pune) opened fire at his colleague before shooting himself with his service rifle. Both of them died in the incident," an official said. Police sources said Shrikant Berad (35) allegedly fired at his colleague Bandu Nauthar (33), both residents of Ahmednagar district in the state. However, the motive behind the incident is being ascertained and further details about it are awaited, they said. 

The rupee slipped 12 paise to 77.62 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday, tracking the strength of the American currency in the overseas market. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 77.61 against the American dollar, then lost ground to quote at 77.62, registering a fall of 12 paise from the last close. On Wednesday, the rupee recovered from its record low to close 21 paise higher at 77.50 against the American currency.

A Hyderabad-based startup has launched its services in Kolkata of delivering liquor in 10 minutes, the firm said in a statement. Booozie, the flagship brand of Innovent Technologies Private Limited, claimed it is India's first 10-minute liquor delivery platform. Online liquor delivery is already offered by several companies but none have the 10-minute service so far, it said.

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The solidarity between India and the United States is a force for global good, a top American lawmaker has said, noting that the two countries worked closely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Congressman Darren Soto said he looks forward to continued collaboration between the US and India. “Madam Speaker, I acknowledge the strong, multidimensional, and mutually vital partnership between the United States of America and the Republic of India,” Soto said in his remarks on the floor of the US House of Representatives on Wednesday.

Four people were killed Wednesday in a shooting at a Tulsa medical building on a hospital campus, a police captain said. Police Deputy Chief Jonathan Brooks confirmed the number of dead and said the shooter also was dead, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. It was unclear how the shooter died or what prompted the deadly assault. “Officers are currently going through every room in the building checking for additional threats,” police said in a Facebook post just before 6 p.m. “We know there are multiple injuries, and potentially multiple casualties.”

Three soldiers were injured in a blast inside their “private hired” vehicle in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, police said. The nature of the blast is being investigated, Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said. "A #blast took place inside a private hired vehicle at Sedow, #Shopian. 03 soldiers injured & shifted to Hospital," Kumar said on Twitter. The nature and the source of the blast- whether it was due to a grenade or already planted IED inside the vehicle or malfunctioning of battery- is being investigated, he said. 

A Russian missile hit rail lines in the western Lviv region, a key conduit for supplies of Western weapons and other supplies, officials said. Lviv region Gov. Maksym Kozytskyy said five people were wounded in the strike, adding that more information would be available Thursday. Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the country's interior minister, said the Russians hit the Beskidy railway tunnel in the Carpathian Mountains in an apparent effort to cut a key railway link and disrupt shipments of weapons and fuel. However, the head of Ukrainian railways said the damage to the railroad was still being assessed but the tunnel was spared. The strike reportedly delayed three passenger trains, but all later resumed their journeys. 

A top official at the World Health Organization said the UN health agency assumes the coronavirus outbreak in North Korea is “getting worse, not better,” despite the secretive country's recent claims that COVID-19 is slowing there. At a briefing on Wednesday, WHO's emergencies chief Dr. Mike Ryan appealed to North Korean authorities for more information about the COVID-19 outbreak there, saying “we have real issues in getting access to the raw data and to the actual situation on the ground.” He said WHO has not received any privileged information about the epidemic — unlike in typical outbreaks when countries may share more sensitive data with the organization so it can evaluate the public health risks for the global community.

Three persons were killed and nine others injured in North Tripura district on Wednesday after a steel bridge collapsed when a timer-laden truck was passing through the structure, police said. The accident took place at Laljuri when the metal bridge collapsed as it could not bear the load of the goods vehicle, a senior officer said.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Wednesday alleged there was "distrust" among people against the government before 2014 and separatism, extremism and terrorism were on the rise.  "Under the leadership and guidance of prime minister, with the mantra of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas', the work done by the central government for the interests of villages, poor, farmers, women, youth without discrimination, was a factor of massive change in the lives of 135 crore countrymen," said the CM.   

A block development officer (BDO) on Wednesday accused the husband of Chaksu panchayat samiti head of harassing her and other staff members. During a general meeting of the Jaipur Zila Parishad chaired by Jaipur district chief Rama Devi, BDO Krishna Maheshwari alleged that Uganta Chaudhary's husband Badrinarayan Chaudhary interferes in official work and passes comments on women employees.

The BJP has appointed three observers for the by-elections to four assembly constituencies in Tripura, a senior party leader said on Wednesday. The by-elections to four assembly constituencies- Agartala, Town Bardowali, Surma and Jubarajnagar - will be held on June 23 and counting is on June 26. “BJP national president JP Nadda has appointed three observers (prabharis) for the by-elections in Tripura. The three prabharis include party general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, Ashok Singhal, a cabinet minister of Assam, and Jayanta Mulla Baruah, the political secretary to the chief minister of Assam,, said a senior party leader.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that 200,000 children are among the Ukrainians who have been forcefully taken to Russia and dispersed across the vast country. They include children from orphanages, children taken with their parents and those separated from their families. “The purpose of this criminal policy is not just to steal people but to make those who are deported forget about Ukraine and unable to return,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address to the nation on Wednesday, which was International Children's Day.