Breaking News, August 6

The analysis showed that two cases were infected with monkeypox virus strain A.2 which is related to the lineage of hMPXV-1A clade 3.

A 27-year-old man was arrested for allegedly stealing bronze sculptures from a temple in Govandi in Mumbai, a police official said on Saturday. A probe began on the complaint of the temple priest and it led to the nabbing of Akhtar Haider Ansari, the Shivaji Nagar police station official said.

A 30-year-old Sikh woman here in the US has committed suicide after suffering years of alleged domestic abuse by her husband. Mandeep Kaur, 30, allegedly committed suicide on August 3 after she posted a video online in which she spoke about years of domestic abuse by her husband Ranjodhbeer Singh Sandhu.

Five persons and 23 sheep were killed in separate incidents of the lightning strike in Janjgir-Champa district of Chhattisgarh on Saturday, police said.

The bodies of two girls who went missing from their homes in Khargone in Madhya Pradesh on Friday afternoon were found in a well a day later, a police official said.

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Saturday filed in a Mohali court a charge sheet in the corruption case in which former state minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot is one of the accused. A spokesperson of the Vigilance Bureau said the court of additional and session judge, Mohali, has fixed August 8 as the next date of hearing in the matter.

A special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act court in Latur in Maharashtra sentenced a man to 10 years in jail for raping a minor girl in 2017.

Amid rainfall deficit across Jharkhand, 56 reservoirs in the state, barring a few, are experiencing a declining water level with only 40 per cent of capacity full, an official said on Saturday. If the monsoon rain continues to remain elusive, this could lead to a drinking water crisis in months to come and aggravate water supplies to agricultural fields for irrigation, state Water Resource Department Chief Engineer (monitoring) Motilal Singh said.

The Border Security Force (BSF) on Saturday seized two Pakistani fishing boats from a creek area close to the Indo-Pak border in Gujarat's Kutch district.
With this, the BSF has seized nine boats and apprehended a Pakistani fisherman in the last three days, an official release said.

A court here on Saturday acquitted BSP Lok Sabha MP Atul Kumar Singh in a case of alleged rape and cheating filed in 2019 by a woman who committed suicide outside the Supreme Court last year after accusing senior police officers of colluding with the accused.

Israeli jets pounded militant targets in Gaza on Saturday and rocket barrages into southern Israel persisted, raising fears of an escalation after a wave of Israeli airstrikes on the coastal enclave killed at least 12 people, including a senior militant and a 5-year-old girl.

An explosion took place in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, police said. No injury or loss of life was reported in the incident. A police official said, a loud sound was heard in the morning by inhabitants of the Kralpora area of the central Kashmir district, where some families from the minority community also live.

The COVID-19 tally in Nashik in Maharashtra reached 4,80,209 on Saturday with the addition of 89 cases, while the death toll stood unchanged at 8,902, an official said.

Massive fire breaks out in a godown and hutments in Reti Bandar area of Mumbai. Four fire tenders are present at the spot. Four fire tenders are present at the spot. Details awaited.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Saturday. "CM of Chhattisgarh Bhupesh Baghel called on PM Narendra Modi," the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a tweet. It also posted pictures of the meeting between the two leaders on Twitter.

Setting an example of communal harmony, Muslim residents of Kursari Panchayat in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda joined hands with Hindus in moving giant idols to an ancient temple here. Six idols, each weighing between 500 kg and 700 kg and made of granite, were bought from Rajasthan to be installed at the recently renovated Shiv temple in Kursari, located at a hill top, three kilometres away from the Bhaderwah-Doda highway. The Shiv Mandir committee was caught in a fix due to non-availability of a road, making the transport of the idols an uphill task.

Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has suspended 11 officials, including then Delhi excise commissioner Arava Gopi Krishna and deputy excise commissioner Anand Kumar Tiwari, over "serious lapses" in the implementation of the Excise Policy 2021-22, sources said on Saturday. Three ad-hoc DANICS officers and six officials of the Delhi government's excise department have also been suspended, the sources at the LG office said. The LG has taken the decision in view of the "serious lapses on the part of the officers concerned" in the implementation of the excise policy, including "irregularities in finalising the tender and extending post-tender benefits" to select vendors, they said. The action was taken by Saxena on the basis of an inquiry report filed by the Directorate of Vigilance (DoV).

The country's biggest lender State Bank of India (SBI) on Saturday posted a 7 per cent decline in standalone net profit at Rs 6,068 crore for the first quarter of the current financial year due to fall in income. The bank had reported a net profit of Rs 6,504 crore in the April-June quarter of 2021-22. Its standalone total income declined to Rs 74,998.57 crore in the first quarter of 2022-23, as against Rs 77,347.17 crore in the same period a year ago, SBI said in a regulatory filing. The bank's gross non-performing assets (NPA) ratio improved to 3.91 per cent from 5.32 per cent at June-end last year. Similarly, net NPAs declined to 1.02 per cent in June 2022 from 1.7 per cent a year ago. On a consolidated basis, SBI's net profit fell marginally to Rs 7,325.11 crore compared to Rs 7,379.91 crore in the same quarter a year ago. 

Ukrainian military personnel are fortifying their positions around the eastern city of Sloviansk in expectation of a fresh Russian attempt to seize the strategic point in the fiercely fought-over Donetsk region. As heavy ground fighting continues on the front line only miles to the east, southeast and north of Sloviansk, members of the Dnipro-1 Regiment are digging in after a week of relative calm. The last Russian strike on the city occurred on July 30. While the lull provided Sloviansk's remaining residents a reprieve after regular shellings between April and July, some unit members say it could be a prelude to renewed attacks.

The Delhi Police has registered a case at the Tughlaq Road police station in connection with a protest staged by the Congress party, officials said on Saturday. The opposition party called for a nationwide protest on Friday against inflation, unemployment and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) hike on essential items. Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Amrutha Guguloth said a case under sections 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered at the Tughlaq Road police station. The Delhi Police had denied permission to the Congress to stage a protest in the national capital as prohibitory orders are in place in New Delhi district. Police detained more than 300 protesters, including 65 members of Parliament, from Lutyens' Delhi on Friday. 

At least 18 people, mostly students, were injured when a mini-bus skidded off the road and plunged into a gorge in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur district on Saturday morning, officials said. The mini-bus was on its way to Udhampur from Barmeen, they said, adding that the driver lost control over it and the vehicle fell into a gorge near Ghordi village. The officials said a rescue operation was launched immediately and 18 injured people, including 11 students, were rushed to the Udhampur district hospital for treatment.

A leopard was electrocuted after coming in contact with a live-wire trap allegedly set up by poachers in a forest area of Shahdol district in Madhya Pradesh, and two persons have been detained in this connection, an official said on Saturday. The full-grown leopard was found dead in the bushes in Kharpa beat of Beohari forest range on Friday, Divisional Forest Officer (North) Gaurav Choudhary told PTI. On being alerted, a dog squad from Sanjay Tiger Reserve was roped in to find the clues, and the initial probe suggested that the big cat died after stepping onto the electric wire trap laid by poachers possibly for some other animals, he said.

The protest launched by sarpanches against Rajasthan's Panchayati Raj Minister Ramesh Meena entered Day 2 on Saturday as they continued to demand his ouster for calling them "corrupt". For his part, Meena said he had exposed shortcomings in an inquiry and action was taken against officials involved in irregularities in Barmer, Nagaur and Bhilwara. He, however, said no action was taking against the sarpanches. State secretary of Sarpanch Sangh, Hanuman Chaudhary, had on Friday said the minister made the statement in Nagaur sometime back. "The allegations against sarpanches are baseless. We demand his sacking. We are hurt by his allegations," he said.

The Uttar Pradesh government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Deloitte India, appointing it as a consultant for achieving the target of lifting the state's economy to USD 1 trillion. The MoU was signed in the presence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath here on Friday, an official statement issued here said. The Uttar Pradesh government has entrusted the big responsibility to Deloitte India for the prosperity of the country's largest populous state, it said. The state government had on July 19 decided to appoint Deloitte India as a consultant during a meeting of the council of ministers chaired by Adityanath. This decision was based on the recommendation of a high-powered committee.

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With incessant rains and frequent flood situations posing a threat to the state, the Kerala government is mulling to launch a disaster management literacy drive among people. State Revenue Minister K Rajan said the objective of the drive is to make the people of the state aware and knowledgeable about the disaster management initiatives. The drive would be conducted coordinating the Revenue and the Disaster Management Departments under the aegis of the local self government institutions in the state, he said. Through the drive, the impact of the natural calamities can be reduced by making people aware on how to respond during an emergency situation and manage such disasters, he said.

The animal husbandry sector in Kerala has suffered a loss to the tune of Rs 42.85 lakh so far in the ongoing heavy rains and as many as 40 shelters have been opened to protect animals across the state. J Chinchurani, the minister for Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development, said the department already took measures to assess the impact of the monsoon rains and provide necessary assistance to the farmers in the sector. As per the directions given, control rooms were opened in all districts under the chief veterinary officers and rapid action forces pressed into the service as soon as the rain got intensified, she said on Friday detailing the precautionary measures taken by her department to tackle the situation.

A 22-year-old man was arrested here on Friday for allegedly killing a friend by hitting him with a paver block last month, police said. Both the accused and the deceased were pavement dwellers, said an official. Suraj Manoj Tiwari (24), who hailed from Delhi, was found dead with an injury to head on J P Road in Andheri West on July 24. Police zeroed in on Monukumar Singh, who knew Tiwari and who was untraceable since Tiwari's death, as the prime suspect. After his arrest, Singh allegedly confessed to killing Tiwari during a spat over consumption of ganja, the official said, adding that further probe was on. 

School drop-out rate is continuously decreasing in the country at all levels of education, including primary, upper primary and secondary, the government informed Lok Sabha on Friday. Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said this in reply to a written question on whether there was an increase in school drop-out numbers in view of the outbreak of COVID-19. "As per information furnished by the Department of School Education and Literacy (Ministry of Education), the drop-out rate is continuously decreasing at all levels of Education including Primary, Upper Primary and Secondary," she said.

Madison (Wisconsin), Aug 6 (AP) Republicans have unanimously chosen Milwaukee in swing state Wisconsin for the 2024 national convention, a win for the city on the shores of Lake Michigan after its hosting of the Democratic convention in 2020 was upended by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Friday’s decision in favour of Milwaukee over Nashville, announced at the Republican National Committee's summer meeting in Chicago, was anti-climactic after Nashville essentially took itself out of the running when the city council on Tuesday rejected a draft agreement for hosting the event. That came after Democratic opposition sunk that city's chances and the RNC's site selection committee picked Milwaukee last month.

State police in north-central Mexico killed 13 alleged gang members in a shootout the same day they captured four people burying one of their officers and a relative, authorities said. The San Luis Potosi state security agency said in a statement on Friday that the clash occurred on Thursday evening in the Vaqueros community in Rayon municipality. Among the victims were 10 men and three women. Authorities did not report any wounded state police. The San Luis Potosi state prosecutor's office said weapons, tactical gear and vehicles were seized. Thursday's operation was the result of intelligence gathered after police arrested four people as they buried a member of the state police and a relative earlier Thursday, the office said.

Two crashes involving Teslas apparently running on Autopilot are drawing scrutiny from federal regulators and point to a potential new hazard on US freeways: The partially automated vehicles may not stop for motorcycles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) sent investigation teams to two crashes last month in which Teslas collided with motorcycles on freeways in the darkness. Both were fatal. The agency suspects that Tesla's partially automated driver-assist system was in use in each. The agency says that once it gathers more information, it may include the crashes in an broader probe of Teslas striking emergency vehicles parked along freeways.

In wake of the hooch tragedy in Saran, Bihar Building Construction Minister Ashok Chaudhary said that people are deliberately violating norms despite liquor ban law imposed in the state. "Whenever any law is made by any government, its implementation on the ground is a challenge. The government makes laws but the people, in a bid to earn money in a short period of time, violate law. Our government is making efforts to make its liquor ban law successful on the ground but some people staying in the system do not want it to be successful," he said. "We have so many laws which were made long ago but people used to violate them. Laws against dowry, arms, child labour are effective in the country. Liquor ban law is also an act in Bihar which came into effect in April 2016, and is regularly violated by people. Keeping arms and ammunition is a criminal offence, still, people used to establish illegal manufacturing units," Chaudhary added.

Delhi Women and Child Development Minister Kailash Gahlot on Friday said a systemic change is being introduced in the supply of existing supplementary nutrition in Anganwadi centres in the national capital. He inaugurated a new Anganwadi centre in Najafgarh that will improve the nutritional and health status of children, pregnant women and nursing mothers by providing a package of services, an official statement said. Sixty children and 15 women have already been enrolled from the vulnerable pockets of more than 600 habitants from the marginalised communities in this area, it said. Anganwadi workers and helpers have been surveying to identify more such women and children to bring them to the newly opened Anganwadi centre, the statement said.

A New Mexico man, who was driving drunk without a valid license, barrelled through a parade that celebrates Native American culture in the western part of the state, injuring at least 15 people, officials said. Jeff Irving (33), was arrested late Thursday and faces charges that include aggravated driving while intoxicated, fleeing from officers and injuring parade-goers and two Gallup police officers who tried to stop the vehicle, court documents said. In a statement, New Mexico State Police said investigators have no reason to suspect the crime was motivated by hate.