Breaking News, May 17 | LIVE UPDATES

One person was killed in a fire that broke out at a banquet hall near northwest Delhi's Ashok Vihar area on Tuesday, Delhi Fire Services officials said. A call about the fire at Atlantis banquet hall at GT Karnal Road was received at 5.47 pm and 10 fire tenders were rushed to the spot, said Delhi Fire Services Director Atul Garg.

Trinamool Congress Party's (TMC) Goa in-charge Kirti Azad on Tuesday said that for a newcomer, the party's electoral performance in the coastal state was much better than that of Congress and the BJP in a similar situation. The Mamata Banerjee-led party, which contested the recent Goa Legislative Assembly elections in alliance with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, failed to open its account.

BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on Tuesday said religious issues like the one related to Varanasi's Gyanvapi mosque complex, where a court-ordered videography survey has been completed, are being raised by common citizens and not his party. He said such issues are being raised by members of the public as they feel the BJP governments at the Centre as well as in Uttar Pradesh are capable of resolving them in a proper manner and also because they do not have faith in the Congress.

BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on Tuesday reiterated his opposition to MNS chief Raj Thackeray's proposed visit to Ayodhya and said Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath should also not meet him. "Thackeray won't be allowed to enter the temple town unless he apologised to North Indians because of his opposition to them in the past," Singh said Addressing a press conference here, Singh alleged that Thackeray has encouraged "atrocities" against North Indians in Mumbai and he should apologise to them.

Demonstrations were held by students in different universities across West Bengal on Tuesday, demanding online examinations. At Rabindra Bharati University in Kolkata, the demonstrations turned violent as some students kicked the door of the vice-chancellor's office and manhandled a non-teaching staff amid a gherao that went on for hours, prompting the authorities to call in the police.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday directed security forces to conduct coordinated counter-terrorism operations pro-actively in Jammu and Kashmir. He also said that to fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a prosperous and peaceful Jammu and Kashmir, the security forces should ensure zero cross-border infiltration to wipe out terrorism in the union territory, a home ministry statement said.

BJP-ruled civic bodies in Delhi are set to be dissolved in the next five days, with the South Delhi Municipal Corporation's term set to end on Wednesday. According to the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2022, the central government will appoint a "special officer" to run the new unified civic body until the first meeting of the corporation is held.

Mumbai on Tuesday reported 158 new coronavirus infections, more than double the previous day's rise, but no fatalities on account of the pandemic, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

The Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) on Tuesday passed a resolution for the removal of loudspeakers and public address systems operating without permission from religious and public places, evoking criticism from the rival Congress. This decision comes after Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra implemented a similar order.

Punjab farmers sat on a protest near the Chandigarh-Mohali border on Tuesday after being stopped from heading to the state capital to press the AAP government with various demands, including wheat bonus and beginning paddy sowing from June 10. A farmer leader said they do not want any confrontation with the state government, but they will have to break the barriers and move towards Chandigarh if their issues were not resolved.

BJP president J P Nadda on Tuesday stressed on the need for party leaders to deepen bond with voters from Scheduled Castes and other deprived sections of the society. In a closed-door meeting with senior party leaders from the party's SC wing and other Dalit leaders, Nadda asked them to reach out to members of the community and maintain constant dialogue with them, sources said.

The rupee on Tuesday hit its life-time intra day low of 77.79 before closing 11 paise higher against the US currency on a stellar rally in the domestic stock markets and a pullback in the dollar. After opening lower at 77.67, the local unit plunged further to its life-time intra-day low of 77.79 due to a spike in crude oil prices and disappointing macroeconomic data.

A group of lawyers and law students has filed a plea in a court here demanding that Muslims be restrained from offering prayers at the Shahi Idgah mosque, which they said has been built at the place believed to be the birthplace of Lord Krishna.

Two women were killed and four others severely injured after their tempo was hit by a tractor-trolley here on Tuesday, police said. The tractor-trolley loaded with sand was coming from the wrong direction and hit the tempo, killing two women labourers and injuring four others, they said.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk says his deal to buy Twitter can't move forward unless the company shows public proof that less than 5% of the accounts on the social media platform are fake or spam.

AAP senior leader Manish Sisodia on Tuesday attacked the Himachal Pradesh government saying the education system in the state is "in shambles" and also claimed that while his party delivers quality education, the BJP indulges in "politics of riots" Sisodia, who is also the deputy chief minister of Delhi, is visiting the northern state ahead of the assembly polls due in December.

Asserting that there will not be any shortage of key fertilisers during the upcoming kharif season, Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said the government has secured in advance enough DAP supplies and has also entered into a long term pact with Jordan for import of potassic and phosphatic soil nutrients.

The value of foreign portfolio investors' (FPI) holdings in domestic equities reached USD 612 billion in the March quarter, down 6 per cent from the preceding quarter, according to a Morningstar report. This was largely on the back of a massive sell-off by foreign investors and correction in the Indian equity markets.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be the chief guest at the inaugural ceremony of a three-day international seminar being organised at the Delhi University on May 19. In a statement, the university said the seminar titled 'Revisiting Ideas of India from 'Swaraj' to 'New India' is being organised as part of the DU's centenary celebrations.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday reviewed logistical and security arrangements for the Amarnath Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir in two high-level meetings, officials said. The back-to-back meetings to discuss the pilgrimage, scheduled to begin on June 30 after two years, follow several targeted killings, including of Kashmiri Pandits, in the union territory. Jammu and Kashmir Lt Gov Manoj Sinha and Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla as well as senior officials attended both the meetings. National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, Army chief Gen Manoj Pande and Jammu and Kashmir Police Chief Dilbag Singh attended the meeting to discuss security arrangements for the pilgrimage.

A 24-year-old man allegedly hanged himself at his home in Maharashtra's Aurangabad city, claiming that he was unhappy with his wife, police said on Tuesday. Samadhan Sable, a resident of Mukundnagar, was found hanging at his home on Monday, an official from Mukundwadi police station said.

Making a strong case for reduction in taxes on petrol and diesel, CII President Sanjiv Bajaj on Tuesday said it should be done in a collaborative manner between the Centre and states with a view to containing the rising inflation. In an interview to news agency PTI, he said taxes on petrol and diesel were increased by the government at a time when the price of crude oil in the international market was low and the same needed to be reversed.

A fire broke out in a DTC cluster bus in southeast Delhi's Govindpuri area on Tuesday morning, officials said. According to fire department officials, information about the blaze was received at 8.45 am after which three fire tenders were rushed to the spot. The flames were brought under control and the fire tenders returned to the station at 10.20 am, the said, adding that no one was injured in the incident. 

SpiceJet on Tuesday said it has appointed Anil Singla, an aviation veteran with more than three decades of experience, as its vice president and head of Engineering. He has previously worked with aircraft maintenance company Air Works as associate vice president and Sahara Airlines as director, engineering, SpiceJet's statement said.

The ruling Biju Janata Dal on Tuesday named Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik among its 40 star campaigners for the May 31 bypoll to Brajrajnagar assembly segement in Jharsuguda district. The regional party made this announcement after the opposition Congress and BJP invited neighbouring Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and its ex-CM Raman Singh to campaign for their party candidates in Brajrajnagar assembly seat respectively. Patnaik, who did not campaign in previous by-elections in Pipili, Tirtol and Balasore assembly seats, may this time go for campaigning, party sources said. The Brajrajnagar Assembly seat is likely to witness a triangular fight between BJD's Alaka Mohanty, former MLA Radharani Panda of BJP and Kishore Patel of Congress.

A 26-year-old transwoman was found dead in a rented apartment at Chakkaraparambu in the city on Tuesday, police said. A model and actress, Sherin Selin Mathew was found hanging from a ceiling fan by her room mates, they said. Though she was hailing from neighbouring Alappuzha district, she had been staying here for some years. The transgender was reportedly suffering from depression due to some personal differences with some of her friends.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated the country's first 5G testbed to enable startups and industry players to test and validate their products locally and reduce dependence on foreign facilities. The testbed has been set up at a cost of around Rs 220 crore. Speaking at the silver jubilee celebrations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), the Prime Minister said the 5G testbed is an important step for self-reliance in the direction of critical and modern technologies. "I invite youth friends, researchers and companies to utilise the testing facility for making 5G technology," Modi said.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday reviewed the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir following several targeted killings, including of Kashmiri Pandits, in the union territory, officials said. The high-level meeting, attended Lt Gov Manoj Sinha, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla as well as the heads of intelligence and security agencies, also took stock of the preparedness for the Amarnath yatra that is scheduled to begin on June 30 after two years. On May 12, Rahul Bhat, a government employee, was killed by terrorists inside his office in Budgam district. A day after the death of the Kashmiri Pandit, police constable Reyaz Ahmad Thokar was shot dead by terrorists at his residence in Pulwama district.

The Ukrainian fighters who doggedly defended a steel mill in the devastated port city of Mariupol have completed their mission, Ukrainian officials said, and efforts were underway to rescue the last of the defenders who remained inside. Ukraine's deputy defense minister said more than 260 fighters, including some badly wounded, were evacuated from the hulking Azovstal plant Monday and taken to areas under Russia's control. Officials planned to keep trying to save an unknown number of fighters who stayed behind.

President Ram Nath Kovind has met Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness and discussed enhancing bilateral cooperation in trade and investment, service, health, railway and transport services and sports with the Caribbean island nation. President Kovind, accompanied by his wife Savita Kovind, arrived on Sunday on a state visit, the first by any Indian President to Jamaica. 

Nearly one in 25 people in a county in the Uyghur heartland of China has been sentenced to prison on terrorism-related charges, in what is the highest known imprisonment rate in the world, an Associated Press review of leaked data shows. A list obtained and partially verified by the AP cites the names of more than 10,000 Uyghurs sent to prison in just Konasheher county alone, one of dozens in southern Xinjiang. In recent years, China has waged a brutal crackdown on the Uyghurs, a largely Muslim minority, which it has described as a war on terror. The list is by far the biggest to emerge to date with the names of imprisoned Uyghurs, reflecting the sheer size of a Chinese government campaign that swept an estimated million or more people into internment camps and prisons. It also confirms what families and rights groups have said for years: China is relying on a system of long-term incarceration to keep the Uyghurs in check, wielding the law as a weapon of repression.

Swiss building material major Holcim said its USD 6.38 billion deal with Asia's richest man Gautam Adani's group is tax-free. Holcim had on Sunday signed a binding agreement with the Adani Group to sell its business in India -- about a 63 per cent stake in Ambuja Cement, which owns a 54.53 stake in ACC (of which 4.48 per cent is direct shareholding). "So, according to our analysis, it is a tax-free transaction," Holcim CEO Jan Jenisch said while addressing investors after the deal on Monday. When asked about the tax implications, he said: "Never know if any complication arises, but we assume that we will get the 6.4 billion Swiss Francs as net proceeds".

The CBI has filed a fresh case against Lok Sabha MP Karti Chidambaram, son of former finance minister P Chidambaram, for allegedly facilitating visas of 250 Chinese nationals after receiving illegal gratification of Rs 50 lakh, officials said on Tuesday. The CBI on Tuesday morning started coordinated search operations at nine locations in multiple cities in the country, including Karti Chidambaram's residences in Chennai and Delhi, they said.

A paper of the Rajasthan Police Constable Recruitment Exam has been cancelled after it was leaked, police said on Tuesday. The paper was leaked shortly before the second shift of the exam on May 14. Its screenshot was taken and leaked from an exam center in Jhotwara town. According to the police headquarters, during the second shift of the examination on May 14, the envelope of the paper was opened before time by the centre superintendent of Diwakar Public School, Jaipur. The paper of this shift will be conducted again. The decision was taken on Monday, police said.

US Special Coordinator for Tibetan issues Uzra Zeya will travel to India and Nepal this week to deepen cooperation on human rights and democratic governance goals with the two nations, the State Department has announced. Zeya, the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights and an India-American, is expected to visit Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh during her visit to India. Dharamsala is home to the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile.

The country's largest insurer LIC on Tuesday listed its shares at a discount of 8.11 per cent at Rs 872 per share on the NSE. On the BSE, the shares got listed at Rs 867.20 apiece, down 8.62 per cent over the issue price of Rs 949 a share. LIC had fixed the issue price of its shares at Rs 949 apiece after a successful initial public offering, which fetched Rs 20,557 crore to the government. LIC policyholders and retail investors have got the shares at a price of Rs 889 and Rs 904 apiece, respectively, after taking into account the discount offered. 

Delhi Environment Minister Gopla Rai will on Tuesday hold a review meeting with officials of the Forest Department and the Public Works Department to discuss ways to increase roadside green cover in the national capital to curb air pollution. Rai had earlier asked the PWD to form a special task force to increase the roadside green cover in Delhi. 

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US authorities said Monday that they stopped migrants more than 234,000 times in April, one of the highest marks in decades as the Biden administration prepares to lift pandemic-era restrictions on claiming asylum.

Detroit (US), May 17 (AP) Tesla CEO Elon Musk gave the strongest hint yet Monday that he would like to pay less for Twitter than his USD 44 billion offer made last month. Musk told a Miami technology conference that a viable deal at a lower price would not be out of the question, according to a report by Bloomberg News, which said it viewed a livestream video of the conference posted by a Twitter user.

King Abdullah II of Jordan visited an exhibition on Hinduism at the US Capitol last week where he made a round of the exhibits and posters and appreciated the various facets of Hinduism. “We are glad that we were able to give an overview of the Hindu Civilizational culture to His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan along with other guests as part of our Darshana exhibition event at Capitol Hill,” Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) of USA said in a Facebook post on Monday.

More than 7,000 families have received food assistance in two Afghan provinces in recent days, authorities said. In eastern Parwan province, the United Nations World Food Programme with the cooperation of the Afghan Rural Rehabilitation and Development Ministry distributed food packages to 4,400 destitute families in Jabalusaraj and Surkhi Parsa districts, the Ministry confirmed in a statement on Monday. The packages consisted of flour, cooking oil, beans, and salt, according to the statement. Besides, 2,640 displaced, deprived as well as drought-affected and most vulnerable families received food assistance in northern Jawzjan province, Abdul Qayyum Nazari, Head of the province's Refugees and Repatriations Department, told Xinhua news agency.

America is better positioned than any other country to lead the world in the 21st century, US President Joe Biden has said to an eminent Indian American from Boston area as the nation celebrates Asian Heritage month. “Our country faces many challenges, and the road we will travel together will be one of the most difficult in our history. Despite these tough times, I have never been more optimistic for the future of America.

Health officials in North Korea found 269,510 more people with feverish symptoms and reported another six deaths, state media said Tuesday, as the country grapples with an escalating but largely undiagnosed COVID-19 outbreak across its unvaccinated population. According to the North's anti-virus headquarters, 56 people have died and more than 1.48 million fell ill amid a rapid spread of fever nationwide since late April and outside experts believe most of the illnesses to be COVID-19. The North said at least 663,910 people were still in quarantine.

The quick acceptance of Ukrainians fleeing Russia's aggression puts a spotlight on Europe's “double standard” for migrants, standing against its nonwelcome for people fleeing violence in Africa, the Mideast and elsewhere, the head of the world's largest humanitarian network said Monday. Francesco Rocca, president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said he doesn't think “there is any difference" between someone fleeing eastern Ukraine's Donbas region and someone escaping the Boko Haram extremist group in Nigeria.

Moscow suffered another diplomatic setback Monday in its war with Ukraine, with Sweden joining Finland in deciding to seek NATO membership, while Ukraine's president congratulated his soldiers who reportedly pushed back Russian forces near the border. Russian forces pounded targets in the industrial heartland of eastern Ukraine known as the Donbas and the death toll, already many thousands, continued to climb with the war set to enter its 12th week on Wednesday.

New York City health officials issued an advisory Monday urging New Yorkers to wear masks in all indoor public settings as the city approaches “high risk” COVID-19 alert status. Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan said everyone “regardless of vaccination status or past COVID-19 infection” should wear face coverings at all times in settings such as grocery stores, offices and building lobbies.

The All-India Muslim Personal Law Board has termed as "unfair" and an "attempt to create communal disharmony" the sealing of a pond in the Gyanvapi Masjid complex after it was claimed that a Shivling was found there during a survey. During a court-mandated videography survey, the counsel representing the Hindu side claimed that the Shivling was found close to the "wazookhana"-- a small reservoir used by Muslim devotees to perform ritual ablutions before offering the namaz.