Breaking News, May 30 | HIGHLIGHTS

With panchayat elections due shortly, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday announced that her administration will make 1.25 lakh fresh appointments across various departments over the next few months. Making the announcement at state secretariat Nabanna, she said that 11,000 primary teachers, 14,500 secondary school teachers, 20,000 policemen, 12,000 Group D staffers, and 3,000 Group C staffers will be recruited. Also, 2,000 professors and doctors each, 7,000 nurses and ASHA workers each, 9,493 Anganwadi workers and 13,926 Anganwadi helpers will be appointed. She urged opposition parties not to "indulge in politics" when it comes to recruitment drives. "The least they can do is not create hurdles in their appointment," she added.

Punjab School Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains on Tuesday ordered the suspension of three officials of the department on charges of dereliction of duty. According to officials, action was taken against Bhagwan Singh, District Manager of Mohali Depot, Lakhan Singh, Deputy Manager of Mohali Depot, and Jaspreet Singh, Statistical Assistant of the Punjab School Education Board.

Four members of an inter-state gang, who allegedly posed as Income Tax department officials, and “decamped” with gold biscuits weighing 1,700 grams (1.7 kg) worth Rs 60 lakh from a gold shop here were arrested on Tuesday, Hyderabad police said. Police took the accused including a gold melting worker into custody and seized seven gold biscuits weighing 573 grams (part of stolen property) from their possession, a release from Hyderabad Police said. The four arrested and six others found absconding belong to Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa. They hatched a plan to loot gold bars from the jewellery shop at Secunderabad and came to Hyderabad on May 24.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi arrived here on Tuesday for a three-city US tour during which he will interact with the Indian diaspora and meet American lawmakers. He was received at the airport by Indian Overseas Congress chairperson Sam Pitroda and other members of the IOC. Gandhi had to wait for two hours at the airport for the immigration clearance, party sources said.

As many as 19 persons have drowned in different districts of Uttar Pradesh since last evening, officials said on Tuesday. While bodies of 14 persons have been recovered, five continue to be missing. According to police, in Sultanpur, two persons from a village under the Baldirai police station area died after getting drowned in the river Gomti. Station House Officer (SHO) Amrendra Bahadur Singh said last evening, Golu Nishad of Ibrahimpur village ventured into deep waters while bathing. By the time his family members could bring him out, he had died.Family members of the deceased said he was not well and used to have seizures. Police have sent 
 his body for a post-mortem examination.

A 30-year-old man allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself in Kamptee town of Nagpur district on Tuesday morning, police said. The incident took place at Orange City Township, around 25 km from here, an official said. Ayush Ajay Trivedi (30) apparently ended his own life by shooting himself in the head with a pistol early in the morning. No suicide note was recovered from the spot but Ayush was reportedly under depression due to the debts he had run up after his sand business collapsed, the police official said. Further probe was on.

A severe thunderstorm reaching speed up to 80 kilometres per hour and rain hit the national capital on Tuesday evening, affecting vehicular movement and leading to diversion of many flights. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said another western disturbance is likely to bring storms and rain to the northern plains, including Delhi, over the next few days. Maximum temperatures are predicted to remain below the 40-degree mark until June 5.

Ten Vaishno Devi pilgrims were killed and 66 injured on Tuesday as the bus carrying them skidded off the road and rammed into the railing of a bridge before falling off it, officials said. The death toll may go up as Government Medical College Hospital Principal Shashi Soodan said two of the injured admitted at the facility are critical. The officials said the bus, which was on its way to Katra from Amritsar, met with the accident in the Jhajjar Kotli area on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway between 6.30 and 7 am. Katra is a base camp for the pilgrims visiting the famous shrine atop the Trikuta hills in Reasi district.

The Goa foundation day was celebrated "for the first time" at the Maharashtra Raj Bhavan on Tuesday, an official release said here.
The celebration took place as part of the Union government's Ek Bharat, Shresth Bharat initiative, it said. Goa got full statehood on May 30, 1987.

The national capital is likely to have 1,500 electric buses by the end of this year, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said on Tuesday after inspecting an upcoming bus depot in the Savda Ghevra area. The bus depot is being built at a cost of Rs 60 crore to park electric buses, the transport department said in a statement.

A 28-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly robbing a jewellery store in the western suburb of Goregaon here and decamping with valuables worth Rs 74 lakh, police said on Tuesday. The police on Monday nabbed the accused from Rajasmand in Rajasthan and recovered the stolen jewellery from him, an official from Goregaon police station said.

Hot and humid days are ahead in south Bengal as pre-monsoon showers remain elusive and the southwest monsoon prepares to advance into Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the forecast by the weather office said on Tuesday. Day and night temperatures are set to rise by two to four degrees Celsius in West Bengal in the next five days, the Met office said. The southwest monsoon is expected to advance into the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and south Bay of Bengal by Wednesday and advance to Kerala around June 4, the Met department said.

Three teenagers drowned while taking a dip in Ramganga river at the Bhamora Police Station area here on Tuesday, police said. According to police, people were taking bath since early morning on the banks of Ramganga on the occasion of 'Jyeshtha Dussehra'.

All those coming in support of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to oppose the central ordinance on control over administrative services in Delhi will be seen by the people as the “corrupt standing in favour of corruption”, the BJP said on Tuesday. The BJP’s reaction came after CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury assured his party's support to Kejriwal on the issue. BJP leader and Union minister Meenakshi Lekhi said the ordinance has been brought to ensure action is taken against those involved in corruption and “make Delhi and India corruption-free.”

The TMC on Tuesday accused the Congress of breaching trust, referring to senior leader Jairam Ramesh's comments where he lashed out at the Mamata Banerjee-led party over the "poaching" of MLA Bayron Biswas. The spat between the two parties assumes significance as it comes at a time when efforts are being made to forge a united Opposition to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. "'Despite Mamata Banerjee's support Congress vows to fight Mamata Banerjee in Bengal' Statement from Congress two weeks ago. Congress breaches trust on Opposition unity and then expects bouquets of roses! And about strengthening BJP? Grow up," TMC MP Derek O' Brien said in a tweet, attaching Ramesh's post in the comments.

In a major crackdown, the civic body in Maharashtra's Thane has issued show-cause notices and imposed fines of up to Rs 5 lakh on contractors and officials for lapses in the ongoing works in the city, an official said on Tuesday. Thane Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar had earlier warned contractors and civic officials that any lapses in the ongoing works in the city will not be tolerated.

A woman died here on Tuesday after she was allegedly stabbed multiple times by her husband, who later attempted suicide as well, police said. The woman died on the spot while Rajkumar was rushed to the hospital, where his condition was stated to be serious.
The incident took place in Mohanpur village, where Aarti (25) was stabbed by her husband Rajkumar (28), who also tried to kill himself with the knife after they had an altercation over some issue, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Shivraj said.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah Tuesday visited Churachandpur, the scene of some of the worst rioting in the recent ethnic conflict which broke out in Manipur earlier this month, to hold talks with Kuki civil society leaders. Among others, Shah who flew down in a helicopter accompanied by the IB chief and home secretary, is meeting church leaders as well as intellectuals from the Kuki community to understand their grievances and find ways to bring peace to the northeastern state which has witnessed a seroies of clashes between Meiteis and Kukis.

Delhi's primary weather station, the Safdarjung Observatory, has not recorded any heat wave in the pre-monsoon season for the first time since 2014, officials said on Tuesday. A few isolated areas, however, witnessed heatwave conditions for a brief period in April and May, they said. May, historically the hottest month in Delhi with a mean maximum temperature of 39.5 degrees Celsius, has recorded below-normal temperatures and excess rain this time.

The country's top wrestlers, who were detained by Delhi Police and removed from their Jantar Mantar protest site, on Tuesday said they will immerse their hard-earned medals in river Ganges and sit on a hunger strike "until death" at the India Gate. Sakshi Malik, a bronze medallist at the 2016 Rio Olympics, said in a statement on her Twitter handle that the wrestlers will go to Haridwar on Tuesday to immerse the medals in the holy river at 6 pm.

Nine crew members stranded on an Indian fishing boat due to engine failure off the Gujarat coast have been rescued by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), the maritime agency said on Tuesday. The ICG ship 'Shoor,' which was on operational patrol, was immediately diverted to provide necessary assistance to the boat and its crew on the night of May 27, the Coast Guard said in a release. At 11.45 pm on Saturday, the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) at Mumbai intimated the Maritime Rescue Sub Centre at Porbandar in Gujarat about the boat.

Justice Mamidanna Satya Ratna Sri Ramachandra Rao was sworn in as the 28th Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court here on Tuesday. Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla administered the oath of office to Justice Rao at an impressive ceremony at the Raj Bhawan in the presence of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.

Suspecting his wife of having an extramarital affair, a man allegedly injected his newborn daughter with a poisonous substance in Odisha’s Balasore district, a police officer said. The infant was admitted to the district headquarter hospital in Balasore on Monday and her condition was stated to be serious, the hospital authorities said.

Karnataka Congress is silent over the allegation of winning elections in Karnataka by illegally distributing special cards with Rs 5,000 balance that could be used in malls.

On the back of sound macroeconomic policies and softer commodity prices, India's growth momentum is likely to be sustained in 2023-24 in an atmosphere of easing inflationary pressures, said the Reserve Bank's annual report released on Tuesday.

An 18-year-old man drowned while taking a holy dip the Ganga on the occasion of 'Ganga Dussehra' on Tuesday, police said. The incident took place at the Majhouwan Ghat in Haldi police station area of the district.

Union Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Minister Parshottam Rupala claimed that the union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands has the potential to become India's biggest export hub in fishery sector especially in live marine assets like 'Groupers', 'Tuna' and 'Snappers' fishes. He said that international air connectivity and promotion of cargo facilities will also help in the export of these fishes (live and frozen) to neighbouring countries.

Over 25 people were injured, including two persons in serious condition, in an accident involving two private buses near Irinjalakuda in Thrissur district of Kerala district on Tuesday morning, police said. According to the police, one of the buses had stopped at a bus stop when the other rammed it from behind.

Kerala Police has taken into custody the wife of a senior officer of the force based on several complaints of cheating registered against her, officials said.

A mentally unstable elderly woman in Pathikonda village of Andhra Pradesh's Kurnool district, who was allegedly abandoned by her sons and had no social connections left, cremated her husband all by herself at her home, after he passed away due to ill health, police said.

North Korea on Tuesday confirmed plans to launch its first military spy satellite in June and described such capacities as crucial for monitoring the United States' “reckless” military exercises with rival South Korea.

"A fire broke out in a warehouse near the Royal Classic Hotel in the Shilphata area of Thane & the fire spread from one to three warehouses. Seven fire engines reached the spot. No casualties were reported. The cause of the fire is currently unknown," said Thane Municipal Corporation. 

A civilian was shot by militants in J&K's Anantnag town on Monday and succumbed to his injuries in a hospital, police said.

President Joe Biden lauded the sacrifice of generations of U.S. troops who “dared all and gave all” fighting for their country and called on Americans to ensure that their “sacrifice was not in vain” as he marked Memorial Day with the traditional wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.