India

Chandigarh, May 24 (PTI) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday said he has shunted out Health Minister Vijay Singla from the state cabinet.

Mann said he took the decision after learning that the minister was allegedly demanding one percent commission for tenders.

Police have been directed to register a case against him.

I am taking strict action against the minister. I am removing him from the cabinet, the chief minister said in a video message.

New Delhi, May 24 (PTI) To chart the Congress' future course, its chief Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday formed three groups -- on political affairs for guidance on key issues, Task Force-2024 to implement the Udaipur 'Nav Sankalp' declaration and another to coordinate the October 2 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'.

While Rahul Gandhi and two prominent members of the G23 -- Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma -- are part of the political affairs group, senior leaders P Chidambaram and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are members of the Task Force-2024.

Dehradun, May 23 (PTI) The Kedarnath yatra was suspended amid heavy rains on Monday with devotees en route to the shrine halted at various places between Gaurikund and Kedarnath, an official said.

Conscious of the 2013 Kedarnath deluge tragedy, the Rudraprayag district administration appealed to pilgrims to stay put at their respective stations till the weather improves, he said.

Guwahati, May 24 (PTI) The flood situation in Assam has slightly abated even though the death toll rose to 25 as one more person died and over 6.5 lakh people remained affected by the deluge across 22 districts, an official bulletin said.

According to the daily flood report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), one person in Silchar of Cachar district was lost to floodwaters.

With this, the total number of people losing their lives in this year's flood and landslides has gone up to 25 across the state, it said on Monday.

Kanpur: Two bogies of goods trains going towards Bilhaur derailed near Chaubepur railway station here.

There was a commotion at this incident. The railway division has come into alert mode.

It was reported that the accident occurred owing to the cattle suddenly coming in front of the train near Hanuman temple in Chaubepur.

The driver slowly brought the train one kilometer ahead and stopped it at the station.

NEW DELHI, May 23 (NNN-PTI) – India’s COVID-19 tally rose to 43,138,393 today, as 2,022 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry’s latest data.

Besides, 46 deaths were reported from the pandemic across the country since yesterday morning, taking the total death toll to 524,459.

There are still 14,832 active COVID-19 cases in the country, with a fall of 123 active cases during the past 24 hours.

Mathura (UP), May 23 (PTI) A petitioner in the Shri Krishna Janmasthan-Shahi Idgah Masjid dispute has sought permission from a local court to perform a Hindu ritual inside the mosque, claiming that the sanctum sanctorum of the temple was located there.

The petitioner submitted an application in the court of the Civil Judge on Monday seeking permission for purification of the sanctum sanctorum of the Keshav Dev temple, which he claimed was inside the mosque, his counsel said.

Kolkata, May 22 (PTI) In a jolt to the saffron camp in West Bengal, BJP MP Arjun Singh on Sunday rejoined the Trinamool Congress, ending weeks of speculation over his possible switchover to the ruling party.

Singh was welcomed into the party by TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee at his office in south Kolkata.

Bulandshahr, May 22 (PTI) A 45-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly raping a four-year-old girl, police said on Sunday.

According to police, the girl was playing outside her house in Chhatari area here when the accused, her neighbour, took her to a secluded place and raped her.

Bulandshahr Senior Superintendent of Police Santosh Kumar Singh said that the matter of raping a four-year-old girl has come to the fore.

Chandigarh, May 23 (PTI) Haryana State Election Commissioner Dhanpat Singh on Monday announced to conduct polls to 46 municipal bodies in the state on June 19.

Counting of votes will take place on June 22, Singh said here.

Singh said the nomination process will commence from May 30 and the last date for filling of nominations will be June 4.

The scrutiny of nominations will be done on June 6 while the last date for the withdrawal of candidature will be June 7.

The polling will be held on June 19 from 7 am till 6 pm, he said.