Breaking News, May 15

Additional Director General of Police of the Jammu zone Mukesh Singh on Sunday called for regular anti-tunnelling and anti-drone activities along the International Border after reviewing security arrangements for the upcoming Amarnath Yatra.

Finland's government declared a “new era” is underway after announcing its intention to seek NATO membership, hours before Sweden's governing party on Sunday backed a plan to join the trans-Atlantic alliance amid Russia's war in Ukraine.

Digital payments and financial services company Paytm on Sunday said it will seek a nod for a new general insurance license with a fresh application, aimed at gaining majority shareholding with a 74 per cent upfront equity stake. In a regulatory filing, Paytm reiterated its intention to make inroads in the general insurance sector, as it is extremely bullish about its potential.

A girl, who was allegedly abducted by a youth about 10 days ago, was rescued from Himachal Pradesh and the accused was also arrested, police said on Sunday. Kuldeep Singh, a resident of Thakarakote village of Reasi, allegedly abducted the minor from the house of her guardians in the Bahu Fort area of the city on May 5, a police spokesperson said.

Five youths were feared drowned in the Yamuna here on Sunday after they were attacked with bricks and stones by a rival group while taking bath in the river on Sunday, police said. They said while five youths, in their early 20s, who were attacked, managed to swim to safety, five others were feared drowned and divers have been pressed into service to trace them.

Seeking to spread its wings in southern State of Kerala, New Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday announced his party's political alliance with Twenty20, a political party, promoted by a business group here and targeted the mainstream political parties in the State by alleging that they were not interested in providing jobs for the youth.

The owner of the building in Delhi's Mundka where a massive fire claimed the lives of at least 27 people was arrested on Sunday, even as there was no end to wait for the kin of the deceased with 19 bodies yet to be identified. According to the police, blood samples from over 20 family members of the deceased have been collected so far for carrying out the procedure of DNA profiling for identification purpose.

Seven buffaloes were killed and 15 others were injured after some unidentified person/s slit their throats and cut their leg veins in Bhiwandi in Thane district, a police official said. The incident took place in a 'tabela' in Bunder Mohalla in the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, the Nixampura police station official said.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday visited the UAE and offered condolences to the UAE leadership on the demise of former President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and reaffirmed that India and its people stand by the UAE at this difficult time. Sheikh Khalifa passed away on Friday after battling illness for several years. He was 73.

India on Sunday asked Pakistan to sincerely investigate the "brutal" killing of two Sikh traders in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and take strict action against those responsible for the "shocking" and "deplorable" incident.

A couple was killed when the motorbike they were riding hit a stray bull near the Ginni factory in the Chhata area here, police said on Sunday. The accident took place on Saturday night when a bull suddenly came in front of the speeding motorcycle, which hit the animal, police said.

The NHRC on Sunday sent a notice to the Delhi government over the Mundka fire tragedy, which has claimed 27 lives, while observing the incident has established the city authorities have "learnt little" from past experiences. The police have so far recovered 27 bodies following the Friday incident. Of them, 14 have been identified as women and six as men.

Trouble mounted for Marathi actor Ketaki Chitale as three more cases were registered against her - two in Mumbai and one in Akola district - for allegedly sharing an objectionable post on social media about NCP chief Sharad Pawar, police said on Sunday.

The owner of a building in outer Delhi's Mundka where a massive fire claimed the lives of at least 27 people was arrested on Sunday, two days after the incident, police said

Africa's largest carrier Ethiopian Airlines, which already has a codeshare pact with Tata Group-owned Air India, is looking to have "commercial" tie-ups with domestic budget carriers IndiGo and SpiceJet, a senior company official said.

Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh condemned the killing of two Sikhs in Pakistan on Sunday and slammed the government in the neighbouring country for only paying lip service to the community.

A court-mandated videography survey of the Gyanvapi Masjid complex here was carried out peacefully for the second consecutive day on Sunday, with the major part of the exercise said to have been completed. The survey, which was stalled last week amid objections by the mosque management committee, which claimed that the advocate commissioner appointed by the court for the survey did not have the mandate to film inside the premises, will continue on Monday.

As rains continue to lash across Kerala days ahead of the expected onset of Southwest monsoon, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday issued a red alert in five districts of the state for Sunday and Monday indicating extremely heavy rainfall. IMD issued red alert in Ernakulam, Idukki, Thrissur, Malappuram and Kozhikode districts for Sunday.

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Sunday ordered an inquiry into the use of force against the Kashmiri Pandit employees who were protesting the killing of Rahul Bhat. Protests were held at several places in J&K against the killing as well as against the “failure” of the administration to provide security to the Kashmiri pandit employees. Police used batons and tear smoke shells at Sheikhpora in Budgam on Friday to quell the protest. The government has ordered an inquiry into Bhat’s killing and a SIT has been constituted. “Bhat’s murder was a targeted killing and an attempt has been made to create an atmosphere of fear and terror. He was a very good employee. We have constituted a SIT over the issue. The SHO has been attached. The SIT will investigate all the angles,’ Sinha said.

A police constable lost a finger and suffered serious jaw injuries, while two firemen were also injured when they were trying to douse a blaze at some shops in Chhattisgarh's Balodabazar district on Sunday, police said. Some six shops near a municipality office in Kasdol town caught fire around 3 am, Balodabazar Senior Superintendent of Police Deepak Kumar Jha said. After being alerted, police and fire personnel rushed to the spot in the town, located around 90 km from the state capital Raipur.

The body of a businessman from neighbouring Mumbai was found in a creek in Maharashtra on Sunday morning, police said. Some passers-by spotted the body in the Vashi creek and alerted police. The police later retrieved the body, identified as that of Prashant Tukaram Vichare (54), from Bhandup suburb in Mumbai, and sent it for postmortem, an official from Vashi police station said. More details about the deceased were not immediately available.

Devasahayam Pillai, who embraced Christianity in the 18th century, was on Sunday declared a saint by Pope Francis at the Vatican, becoming the first Indian layman to be canonised. Devasahayam was recommended for the process of Beatification by the Vatican in 2004, at the request of the Kottar diocese, Tamil Nadu Bishops' Council and the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India. Pope Francis canonised Blessed Devasahayam Pillai along with nine others during a Canonisation Mass in St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. A miracle attributed to Devasahayam Pillai was recognised by Pope Francis in 2014, clearing the path to his canonisation in 2022.

Delhi Congress leaders and workers staged a protest near the BJP headquarters on the DDU Marg here on Sunday against "demolition" drives conducted by the saffron party-ruled municipal corporations in the city. Raising slogans against the BJP and the Narendra Modi government, the protesters marched towards the BJP headquarters and were stopped at barricades put up by police.

Development needs to be regulated and it should not be at the cost of the environment, said Justice B Amit Sthalekar, Judicial Member of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), Kolkata. He warned that If the earth’s temperature goes up with no effort to contain it, it will trigger the melting of glaciers around the world causing the sea level to rise and inundate coastal areas including cities like Mumbai and Kolkata. Justice Sthalekar said this while speaking at the Odisha Environment Congress-2022 held at Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA) university here on Saturday in association with NGT and Odisha State Legal Services Authority.

In one of the largest expansions in the labour market since the beginning of the pandemic, 8.8 million people joined the country's workforce in April, as per data provided by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). However, the jobs that became available were inadequate compared to the demand, it said. India's labour force increased by 8.8 million to 437.2 million in April, one of the largest monthly increases since the beginning of the pandemic, CMIE Managing Director and CEO Mahesh Vyas said.

The Delhi Police team on Sunday reached Jaipur to nab Rohit Joshi, the son of Rajasthan Minister Mahesh Joshi in connection with a case wherein he is accused by a 23-year-old woman of raping her, officials said. "Our team of officers have reached Jaipur in connection with the case to nab Joshi who has been absconding. Our teams are conducting search to locate and trace him," said a senior police officer.

Functioning with only 39 judges out of a sanctioned strength of 72 judges, the Calcutta High Court is saddled with more than two lakh pending cases. The Union Law and Justice Ministry on Saturday announced the appointment of three more additional judges to the Calcutta High Court, which will take the number to 42. Legal luminaries say that the number of judges needs to be increased further as soon as possible to deal with the backlog as well as newly filed petitions. A total of 2,34,539 cases are pending before the high court despite efforts by the judiciary to reduce the backlog.

A total of 84 people working at 42 Indian airports were found drunk on duty between January 2021 and March 2022, as per the data of the aviation regulator DGCA. Fifty four (64 per cent) of the 84 workers who failed the mandatory alcohol tests were drivers, stated the Directorate General of Civil Aviation's data, which has been accessed by PTI. While many of the workers who failed the alcohol tests were employed by airport operators, a significant section of them were employed by other companies -- catering companies, ground handling companies, aircraft maintenance companies, etc -- which work at the airport. 56 workers at 35 Airports Authority of India (AAI)-run airports, 17 workers at four Adani Group-run airports, nine workers at two GMR group-run airports and two workers at Fairfax India-run Bengaluru airport failed the alcohol tests between January 2021 and March 2022, as per the DGCA data.

Two bus passengers and its driver were killed and nearly 30 others injured when their vehicle hit a truck near Palanpur town in Gujarat's Banaskantha district on Sunday, police said. The accident took place around 3 am when the private luxury bus was heading from Ramsin in neighbouring Rajasthan to Ahmedabad in Gujarat. While the truck driver was trying to park his vehicle on a roadside on a national highway near Kanodar village, around 150 km from Ahmedabad, the bus hit it from behind, an official from Palanpur police station said. Two bus passengers and its driver died on the spot. The deceased were in the age group of 35 to 40 years, he said.

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With the addition of 25 new COVID-19 cases, the infection count in Maharashtra's Thane district has gone up to 7,09,337, an official said on Sunday. These new cases were reported on Saturday, he said. The death toll remained unchanged at 11,895, he said, adding that the COVID-19 mortality rate in Thane stood at 1.67 per cent.

North Korea has confirmed 15 more deaths and hundreds of thousands of additional patients with fevers as it mobilises more than a million health and other workers to try to suppress the country's first COVID-19 outbreak, state media reported Sunday. After maintaining a widely disputed claim to be coronavirus-free for more than two years, North Korea announced Thursday that it had found its first COVID-19 patients since the pandemic began.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the killing of a Kashmiri Pandit government employee by terrorists, saying speaking about a movie is more important to him than speaking on the "genocide of Kashmiri Pandits". Rahul Bhat, who had got the job of a clerk under the special employment package for migrants in 2010-11, was gunned down by terrorists inside the tehsil office in Chadoora town of central Kashmir's Budgam district on Thursday.

The North Delhi Municipal Corporation on Saturday sought from the Narela Zone authorities a detailed report, including the type of area and tentative year of construction, of the building in Mundka where a massive fire broke out claiming at least 27 lives, officials said. The North Delhi civic body also ordered the zonal commissioners to conduct a detailed survey in their areas to find out if any prohibited activity is going on in non-conforming areas to prevent the recurrence of such a tragic incident.

Delhi on Saturday recorded 673 new Covid cases and four more deaths, while the positivity rate was 2.77 per cent, according to data shared by the health department. The city had on March 18 reported 607 COVID-19 cases and one fatality, while the positivity rate on that day was 0.76 per cent. On Friday Delhi had also reported four deaths, the highest single-day fatality count in over two months.

Police booked a man for allegedly sexually harassing a 16-year-old girl and then posting her pictures on social media. According to police, a Pataudi resident had alleged that their neighbour committed the crime. Following the complaint lodged by the girl’s mother, an FIR was registered under the POCSO Act and the IT Act at the Pataudi police station. The accused is currently absconding and police are conducting raids to nab him, police said.

Former Australian test cricketer Andrew Symonds has died after a single-vehicle auto accident near Townsville in northeast Australia. He was 46. Cricket Australia reported Symonds' death on its website on Sunday, citing a police statement with details of the accident late Saturday night. It described Symonds as "a cult hero during the peak of his international playing career and one of the most skilled allrounders Australian cricket has seen".