Breaking News, May 28 | HIGHLIGHTS

The much-awaited meeting of parties opposed to the BJP may be held here on June 12, according to hints that have emanated from a meeting of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) here on Sunday. While no significant office bearer confirmed or denied the same, many present at the meeting said on condition of anonymity that the disclosure was made by the chief minister himself. Kumar, the JD(U)'s supreme leader, has been pitching for "opposition unity" ever since he snapped ties with the BJP in August last year, following accusations that the ally was trying to create fissures in his party and diminish his standing.

The Pakistan High Commission here has suspended the activities of its school in the national capital on account of low enrolment. The school catered to the needs of children of the mission's staff, which dwindled after Islamabad downgraded its strength in 2020. Upon completion of the current academic year, the activities of the Pakistan High Commission School have been suspended, because of low enrolment levels in view of the downgraded strength of the High Commission, a Pakistan High Commission spokesperson said in response to media queries. 

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday said the upcoming Bandra-Versova sea link in the western part of Mumbai will be named after Hindutva ideologue late VD Savarkar, while a state-level gallantry award on the lines of the one given by the Centre will also be named after him. Speaking in New Delhi on the birth anniversary of Savarkar, the CM said some people were deliberately maligning the former for their selfish gains and out of fright that they will have to shut shop if his thoughts become popular in society.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi received a new ordinary passport on Sunday, two days after a Delhi court gave its clearance, sources said. The former Congress president, who had applied for an ordinary passport after surrendering the old diplomatic passport issued to him when he was a member of parliament, is set to travel to San Francisco in the United States on Monday evening on a three-city tour.

Two children died when the boundary wall of a house collapsed on them in Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh on Sunday, police said. A child was seriously injured in the incident that took place in the Kandhla area, they said. Three children were playing near the house when its boundary wall collapsed on them. While Zoya and Abdul Gaffar, both aged seven, died, Monu (4) was seriously injured, said Additional Superintendent of Police O P Singh.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday announced an increase in the scholarship given to the children of workers registered with the state government. The scholarship amount of Rs 7,000 for classes 9 and 10, Rs 7,750 for classes 11 and 12, and Rs 8,500 for higher education has been increased to Rs 10,000 for all the three categories, said Khattar. The chief minister was interacting with the workers and their children registered under the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, Haryana, through audio conferencing, according to an official statement here.

Preliminary, unofficial results from Turkish news agencies showed incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead with 88 per cent of ballot boxes counted in a presidential runoff that will decide whether the country's longtime leader stretches his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade. The state Anadolu news agency showed Erdogan at 53 per cent, and his challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, at 47 per cent.

Six people including two children and a woman died on the spot in a road accident involving a car and a lorry in Kushtagi taluk here on Sunday, police said. The incident happened on Sunday evening on the national highway near Kalkeri village here. According to initial reports, all the deceased are said to be from Vijayapura, police sources said, adding that the car was en route to Bengaluru from Vijayapura and the lorry was said to be on its way to Gujarat from Tamil Nadu.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will hold separate meetings with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his bete noire Sachin Pilot on Monday in Delhi, a senior party leader familiar with the development said. The chief minister's office has also released Gehlot's programme confirming his visit to Delhi, where he will also lay foundation stone of the Rajasthan House. The proposed meeting comes close on the heels of Pilot's "ultimatum" that if three demands he made from the state government were not met by the end of this month, he would launch a state-wide agitation. Pilot has asked for a high-level inquiry into the alleged scams that took place during the tenure of the former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje government, as one of his demands.

The third edition of the Patnitop marathon organised in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur district witnessed the participation of over 550 enthusiastic runners and fitness lovers from different parts of the country. Known as India's most beautiful hill race, the Patnitop marathon is an initiative of Kapil Arora, an International Tri-Athlete, Ultramarathoner and a Fit India ambassador, an official said.

The Border Security Force (BSF) on Sunday recovered five packets, each containing a kilogram of suspected drugs, from two isolated islands off Jakhau coast in Gujarat's Kutch district, an official said. With the latest recovery, the number of such packets found along the coastline since April this year has gone up to 41, he said. As per a release issued by the BSF's Gujarat frontier, five packets were recovered from two isolated islands near Jakhau coast during the day.

The Border Security Force (BSF) shot down a Pakistani drone which arrived in Indian territory at a village near the Indo-Pak border here, officials said on Sunday. According to an official statement, at around 9.30 pm on Sunday, BSF troops heard the buzzing sound of a drone in village Dhanoe Khurd in Amritsar. The troops immediately shot down the drone.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Sunday condemned the alleged manhandling of the protesting wrestlers by Delhi Police. Soren also criticised the detention of the athletes and demanded their immediate release. "On a day when the new Parliament building is dedicated to the nation, it’s distressing to witness such brutal & shameful manhandling of India’s most celebrated champion wrestlers, our national pride. Their crime - seeking justice through peaceful democratic protests. I strongly condemn their detention & demand their immediate release," he said.

A 40-year-old man was arrested for allegedly sexually molesting his minor niece here on Sunday, police said. The eight-year-old victim narrated the ordeal to her mother on Saturday following which she filed a complaint and the man was arrested, SHO (Sikandarpur) Dinesh Pathak said. A case has been registered against the accused under sections of the IPC and POCSO Act, Pathak said, adding that he has been sent to jail.

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Sunday said nearly 40 armed militants involved in torching houses and firing at civilians have been killed by security forces since they began an operation to bring peace to the north eastern state beset by ethnic rioting. Singh’s comments came in the backdrop of fresh clashes breaking out between armed groups and security forces at over half a dozen places across Manipur on Sunday, The Chief Minister who was interacting with the media persons at the state secretariat, claimed the latest round of “conflict is not between communities but between Kuki militants and security forces”. Singh also said that there had been cases of armed militants firing at civilians with AK-47s, M-16 and sniper rifles. These militants were targeted by security forces in counter-attacks.

Clashes have broken out between armed groups and security forces at over half a dozen places across Manipur on Sunday, officials said. The latest clashes began after army commenced coming operations to de-arm communities in order to bring peace. Chief Minister N Biren Singh claimed to newspersons on Sunday that the latest round of clashes were not between rival communities but between Kuki militants and Security forces. The house of BJP MLA Khwairakpam Raghumani Singh at Uripok in Imphal West was vandalised and his two vehicles have been set on fire, a top security official told PTI.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday asserted the significance of Sengol as a symbol of transfer of power saying that the sceptre will continue to inspire the parliamentarians in their duty. In his address in the Lok Sabha chamber of the new Parliament to mark the inauguration of the building, Modi said the Sengol in 1947 symbolised of transfer of power under the guidance of Rajaji and the Adheenams. On the contrary, Congress has been claiming that there has been no documented evidence of Lord Mountbatten, C Rajagopalachari, and Jawaharlal Nehru describing the sceptre as a symbol of transfer of power by the British to India.

Pakistan's ruling coalition has rejected former prime minister Imran Khan's offer for dialogue, saying that talks were held with politicians, not terrorists, a media report said on Sunday. The government also stated that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief was now himself seeking a National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), the Express Tribune newspaper reported. The development came as Khan constituted a seven-member team to hold talks with the government - for developing consensus on a date for general elections - amid a massive crackdown on his party.

A man who opened an emergency exit door during a flight in South Korea was formally arrested on Sunday and faces up to 10 years in prison on a charge of violating the aviation security law, officials said. During a preliminary questioning, the 33-year-old told investigators that he felt suffocated and tried to get off the plane quickly, according to police. Twelve people were slightly injured on Friday after he opened the door of the Asiana Airlines Airbus A321-200, causing air to blast inside the cabin and terrifying passengers.

Some testified they suffered severe ear pain and saw others screaming and crying. A video shared on social media shows passengers' hair being whipped by air blowing into the cabin.

Twenty-seven-years after its founding, former cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party is at the crossroads, facing a likely ban by the coalition government following the unprecedented attack on sensitive military installations by his supporters earlier this month. The mainstream parties – Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan-Fazl (JUI-F) – backed by the powerful military establishment are strongly in favour of banning the PTI for "promoting extremism and violence".

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has already indicated that the ruling coalition will propose a ban on the PTI in Parliament soon.
"All coalition partners of the federal government will be taken on board in this issue," Asif told reporters.

Ukraine's capital was subjected to the largest drone attack since the start of Russia's war, local officials said, as Kyiv prepared to mark the anniversary of its founding on Sunday. At least one person was killed. Russia launched the “most massive attack” on the city overnight Saturday with Iranian-made Shahed drones, said Serhii Popko, a senior Kyiv military official.

China's first indigenously built passenger aircraft C919 on Sunday successfully completed its first commercial flight, marking its official entry into the civil aviation market as part of the country's effort to compete with Western rivals like Boeing and Airbus.

A mob on Sunday allegedly blackened the face of a youth who had eloped with a girl and paraded him around their village with a garland of shoes in the district's Kunwargaon area. A purported video of the incident has been widely circulated on social media.

Delhi Mayor Dr Shelly Oberoi issues order refusing permission to convert MCD School, Kanjhawala into a temporary jail

Delhi Police had sought permission to convert MCD School Kanjhawala into a temporary jail in view of wrestlers' Mahila Mahapanchayat

Four people, including three women, were killed when a tractor-trolley overturned near Chadgada turn in the Koraon area here, police said on Sunday. The incident took place on Saturday night.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hailed the Education Ministry's youth exchange programme 'Yuva Sangam' as a great initiative to promote the country's diversity and people-to-people connect.

An ambulance collided with a truck on the Bijnor-Muzzafarnagar road, leaving three people, including a patient, dead and four others injured, police said on Sunday.

A man has been sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment by a court here for raping two minor girls here in 2018.

President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy spoke directly Saturday evening as they raced to strike an agreement that would resolve the looming debt crisis ahead of a June 5 deadline and avert a catastrophic US default.

President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy spoke directly Saturday evening as they raced to strike an agreement that would resolve the looming debt crisis ahead of a June 5 deadline and avert a catastrophic US default.

A search and rescue team was unable to locate a missing Indian-origin climber who reached the Mount Everest summit on May 19, despite its best efforts, his wife said in an Instagram post on Saturday. Interspersing her message between pictures of her husband Shrinivas Sainis Dattatraya on various mountain peaks, Sushma Soma, a 36-year-old musician, said, "He was 39, and in his glorious and rich life, he lived fearlessly and to the fullest. He explored the depth of the sea and scaled the greatest heights of the Earth."

Tens of thousands of Israelis gathered on Saturday for the relentless weekly protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu government's plans to overhaul the legal system in the country.

Iraq's prime minister on Saturday announced plans for a USD 17 billion regional transportation project intended to facilitate the flow of goods from Asia to Europe. The announcement was made at a one-day conference in Baghdad that convened transport ministers and representatives from Iraq, the Gulf countries, Turkey, Iran, Syria, and Jordan.