India

Raipur, Jun 19 (PTI) Two Naxals were killed in separate encounters in the forests of Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district on Saturday, a police official said.

The gunfights took place under Orchha police station limits, located 300 kilometres away from Raipur, at around 8am and in the afternoon when a District Reserve Guard (DRG) team was out on an operation, Narayanpur Superintendent of Police Mohit Garg told PTI.

Mumbai, Jun 19 (PTI) In an apparent reference to the clashes between Shiv Sena and BJP supporters in Dadar area here earlier this week, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said his party's workers respond with "bang" when someone makes "noise".

Thackeray, who heads the Shiv Sena, was speaking on the occasion of the party's 55th foundation day.

New Delhi, Jun 19 (PTI) A video purportedly showing a monkey roaming inside a coach of a Delhi Metro train surfaced on the social media on Saturday.

The video clip on Twitter showed the simian first roaming around in the carriage and eventually settling on a seat next to a commuter.

New Delhi, June 20 (PTI) The roll out of Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V at Indraprastha Apollo and Madhukar Rainbow Children's Hospital in Delhi has been delayed for some days, officials said on Sunday.

A spokesperson of Apollo Hospitals said the facility in Delhi will tentatively start administering the two-dose vaccine by June 25.

Kanpur: Though Sunday's afternoon remains cloudless, the sky is wholly not devoid of clouds. Yesterday remained a rainy day till the half of the day. This surely brought much relief to the people distressed with the hot and humid weather.

Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 20 (PTI) The Kerala government has approached the Centre to put in place a moratorium on repayment of loans till December 31 in order to provide relief to individuals in the unorganised sector, MSMEs, agriculture and others adversely affected by COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown.

Kerala has sought a moratorium of loans without accrual of interest and penal interest during the moratorium period.

Srinagar, Jun 19 (PTI) PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday welcomed the release of her uncle and senior party leader Sartaj Madni from a six-month-long preventive detention and said it is high time all political prisoners and other detainees be let go by the Centre.

New Delhi, Jun 18 (PTI) Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has "without doubt" lost the moral authority to rule for not standing with people in need of medical aid during the second wave of COVID-19 and instead focussing on political one-upmanship in polls.

In an interview with PTI, the former union minister launched a hard-hitting attack on the prime minister saying the lack of a credible political alternative did not mean that he should stop discharging his duties believing that his political fortunes are secure.

Banda (UP), Jun 19 (PTI) A 52-year-old farmer allegedly hanged himself at his home in a village here as he was upset over stray animals eating his crops away, district officials said on Saturday.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Atrara tehsil Saurabh Shukla said Lalak Singh of Nandana village hung himself from a ceiling fan on Friday.

Even though the farmer had taken a loan of Rs 1 lakh from a bank, there was no pressure on him for repayment, the SDM asserted.

Srinagar, Jun 18 (PTI) J-K Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Manoj Sinha on Friday approved a proposal to recruit 800 sub-inspectors in the Jammu and Kashmir Police, giving a fresh impetus to the recruitment process which had slowed down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The selection process will be based on written and physical tests, and a committee will be formed by the Services Selection Board (SSB) in consultation with the government for physical endurance tests, an official spokesperson said here.