Breaking News, June 1

The successful G20 meeting has become a historic event in Jammu and Kashmir and set a benchmark for the smooth conduct of upcoming events like Amarnath Yatra, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said on Thursday. Sinha presided over a meeting with senior officials of the police and the civil administration of Kashmir division and commended their efforts for the successful conduct of the G20 event here. He directed the deputy commissioners to take stock of achievements, analyse the execution of projects, saturation of welfare schemes and progress under KCC to have a complete overview of the benefits of development at the grassroots level. Sinha said animal husbandry, agriculture sector and saturation of schemes for farmers should be priority areas. "G20 meeting and enthusiasm of all sections of society reflects aspirations of the people. Collective effort is required to make J-K strong and prosperous. All officers, civil and police department, must focus on fulfilling the hopes and aspirations of people," he said.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday said social and economic development of a region can be ensured only by building good roads. It is the result of the state government's policies that the roads of the state are now better than the neighbouring states, he said. Gehlot was addressing an event to lay the foundation stone and inaugurate 53 roads, Road Over Bridges and bridges costing around Rs 3,377.55 crore through video conference from his official residence. He said that in the last four years, 61,000 km of roads worth Rs 30,000 crore have been built. "Rajasthan's performance is excellent on all financial indicators. As a result of this, public welfare schemes are being run to provide relief to the common people," Gehlot said.

A rare and challenging surgery was performed on a 51-year-old woman with Parkinson's disease at a leading private hospital here, doctors said on Thursday. Doctors used Deep Brain Simulation, an uncommon procedure in which electrodes are implanted to stimulate specific regions of the brain, to treat the woman. Nine years ago, when she was first diagnosed with Parkinson's, it started with tremors and bradykinesia (difficulty in initiating movements), and later she developed rigidity, doctors said. While medicines improved her condition to some degree, her health kept worsening and later developed side effects from her medicines, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH) said in a statement. Without medications, she could not walk turn, or get up from bed. Even with medications, she could not control the movements in her hands and legs.

Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena in consultation with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has allocated the public relations department to Cabinet minister Atishi, officials said on Thursday. A notification issued by the General Administration Department (GAD) said, "In exercise of powers conferred under Rule 3 of the GNCTD (Allocation of Business) Rules 1993, the Lieutenant Governor, in consultation with the chief minister, is pleased to allocate portfolio of Public Relations Department to Atishi Marlena, minister in addition to the portfolios she is presently holding." It also said that the move is "subject to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023 promulgated on May 19". Atishi had been holding the portfolios of power, education, art, culture and language, tourism, higher education, training and technical education. The latest addition will raise the number of portfolios held by her to nine.

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh on Thursday mocked his former colleague and Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia by saying the latter has been given the aviation ministry, which neither has a plane nor an airport. Singh also said he would oppose any possible move by Scindia to return to the Congress ahead of the MP Assembly polls to be held at the end of the year. Just a week before he quit the Congress (in early 2020), Scindia had praised the party while distributing loan waiver certificates to farmers in Karera in Shivpurit when the Kamal Nath government was in place, Singh said. "Then why did he leave the Congress? What did he get? A ministry without an airport and plane. Khud unhonne apne pair pe kulhari mara hai. Now if he tries to rejoin the Congress, I am going to oppose the move," Singh told reporters in Ashok Nagar district.

The third meeting of the Startup20 Engagement Group, part of India's G20 presidency, will take place in Goa on June 3-4, an official said on Thursday. Startup20 serves as a prime opportunity to foster collaboration, exchange ideas, and shape the future of start ups and entrepreneurship on a global scale, he said. "The meeting, which will embrace the spirit of 'Sankalpana', a Sanskrit term for collective resolve, brings together international delegates and experienced members of the Indian start up ecosystem. The focal point of the meeting will be to build consensus on the Draft Policy Communique, which the Startup20 recently published asking public for feedback," he added.

Amid a surge in airfares on certain routes, the civil aviation ministry is doing an analysis of routes that have been affected by the suspension of flights by Go First. Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday said there is an unusual situation due to the Go First crisis and there has been an excess demand on the routes the airline had been operating. Go First, which is undergoing an insolvency resolution process, has not been flying since May 3. "We have given additional routes to other airlines but it is a piquant situation... I doubt any other sector has seen the vicissitudes that civil aviation has seen in the last three years," he said while speaking at the India Economic Conclave here. "... I have put together a group in the last couple of days and we are doing an analysis of a lot of those routes... that have been affected by this unusual event (Go First crisis).

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad on Thursday held a protest in Latur against the brutal murder of a 16-year-old girl in northwest Delhi's Shahbad Dairy area. She was stabbed to death on May 28 by a 20-year-old man with whom she reportedly was in a relationship earlier. The ABVP protest was held at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Chowk with functionaries of the student organisation condemning the onlookers of the gruesome incident for not overpowering the man and saving the minor girl. The incident and the way the people who can be seen in the video behaved is disgraceful, ABVP 'mahanagar mantri' Sushant Ekorge said.

Delhi's Saket court grants 10-day custody of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi to Delhi Police Crime Branch in an extortion case.

The TDP’s 2024 Assembly elections manifesto is a plagiarised melange of poll promises made by the BJP and Congress in Karnataka, including schemes of YSRCP, said Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday. The Chief Minister ridiculed TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu for allegedly cooking a ‘bisi belle bath’ and a ‘pulihora’ (lemon rice) of manifesto by copying other parties’ schemes, including those from erstwhile Y S Rajaseskhar Reddy's regime. "Chandrababu’s manifesto was not born in Andhra state. It was not born in our state because this man doesn’t mingle with people. Do you know where his manifesto was born? It was in Karnataka," said Reddy on the sidelines of doling out a DBT scheme at Pattikonda in Kurnool district, in a video link shared by the state government.

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended lower in highly volatile trade on Thursday due to selling in banking, metal and energy counters amid a mixed trend in the global markets. Falling for the second day in a row, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 193.70 points or 0.31 per cent to settle at 62,428.54 even after a positive beginning. During the day, it fell 263.1 points or 0.42 per cent to 62,359.14. The NSE Nifty fell 46.65 points or 0.25 per cent to finish at 18,487.75. From the Sensex pack, Bharti Airtel fell 3.42 and Kotak Mahindra Bank declined 3.31 per cent. ICICI Bank, ITC, HDFC Bank, UltraTech Cement, HCL Technologies and Maruti were the other major laggards.

China's government criticised the United States' plans to sign a trade treaty with Taiwan and called on Washington on Thursday to stop official contact with the self-ruled island democracy claimed by Beijing as part of its territory. The agreement due to be signed on Thursday comes amid increased Chinese efforts to intimidate Taiwan by flying fighter jets and bombers near the island, a global centre for high-tech industry. American and European politicians have visited Taiwan in a show of support for its elected government. The Chinese foreign ministry accused Washington of violating agreements on the status of Taiwan, which split with the mainland in 1949 after a civil war. The United States has no official relations with Taiwan but has extensive informal ties and multibillion-dollar annual trade.

A coach of an express train which halted at the Kannur railway station in Kerala caught fire in the small hours of Thursday, resulting in the opposition Congress and the BJP slamming the ruling Left government in the state over the incident. The fire broke out after all the passengers had deboarded and therefore no one was injured. While the Congress said that the government and the police were not dealing with such matters seriously, and demanded a proper probe into the reasons behind such incidents, the BJP accused the ruling Left of encouraging and supporting religious extremists and terror groups as part of their alleged vote bank politics.

Saket court grants 10-day custody of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi to Delhi Police Crime Branch in an extortion case.

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the BRICS Ministerial in Cape Town, South Africa.

IAF trainer aircraft crashes near Chamarajanagar in Karnataka, pilots eject safely, say officials.

IPS officer Rajiv Singh appointed new Director General of Police, Manipur.

 "Ever since the 'Mahagathbandhan' government was formed, they (BJP) have been worried about 2024 (Lok Sabha elections). They will surely be ousted from power by the people this time," said Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav.

US Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti meets BJP national president JP Nadda at BJP HQ in Delhi.

Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court allows businessman Sarath P Reddy to turn approver in the ED case in the alleged excise policy case.

Manipur Govt will provide Rs 5 lakh compensation to the next of kin of deceased victims through DBT. Central Govt to also give Rs 5 lakh compensation to next of kin of deceased victims through DBT. Relief measures for victims of violence in Manipur, said Union HM Amit Shah.

Central Government has constituted a committee to probe into these incidents headed by a retired judge of the High Court. The Governor of Manipur will head a peace committee with members of Civil society, said Amit Shah.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that a judicial commission will be formed to probe Manipur violence. Shah said that he had a detailed discussion with political parties from Manipur.

Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ lays a wreath at the Rajghat in Delhi and pays tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.

"Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has invited all the big leaders who are not with BJP and all the patriotic parties who want change in 2024, to Patna on 12th June. Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar have also been invited. We are thinking of going to Patna," said Uddhav faction leader Sanjay Raut.

Union Minister Anurag Thakur offers prayers at Shree Siddhivinayak Ganapati Mandir in Mumbai.  

Rahul Gandhi says his disqualification from Lok Sabha has given him huge opportunity.

Assam: Fire broke out in an Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) bus in Tinsukia. Short circuit is said to be the cause of fire. The fire department reached the spot and brought the fire under control.

Sensex declines 77.28 points to 62,544.96 in early trade; Nifty dips 15.35 points to 18,519.05.

Authorities carry out demolition drive near Pragati Maidan in Delhi.

19kg Non-Domestic cylinder price reduced by Rs 83.50 from today. Delhi retail sale price of 19kg Non-Domestic cylinder price is Rs 1773. No change in Domestic cylinder price.

Pakistani intruder shot dead by BSF troops along International Border in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district, said Officials.

One bogie of Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express caught fire at Kannur Railway Station. It was stopped at Kannur railway station. The bogie was completely gutted. Further details awaited, informed Southern Railways.

Karnataka: Rain lashes several parts of Hubballi.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that two state laws banning abortion are unconstitutional, but the procedure remains illegal in the state in most cases, reported Associated Press.