India

NEW DELHI, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Indian President Droupadi Murmu took a sortie in a fighter jet on Saturday, becoming the third president and the second woman president to undertake such a flight.

The Su-30 MKI aircraft took off from the Tezpur Air Force Station in the northeastern state of Assam, said a statement issued by the President's Secretariat.

The president flew for approximately 30 minutes before returning to the ground. The fighter jet flew at a speed of about 800 km per hour at a height of about 2,000 m.

New Delhi, Apr 7 (PTI) Several convicts and undertrial prisoners who were granted emergency bail or parole during the COVID-19 pandemic returned to Delhi's jails on Friday after the Supreme Court directed them to surrender.

New Delhi, Apr 7 (PTI) The rise in Covid cases is indicative of the SARS-CoV-2 virus moving into an endemic state in India and behaving like other coronaviruses that cause common cold-like symptoms and can keep reinfecting, say scientists.

Giving the reassurance that a monster spike on the lines of the Delta wave in the spring of 2021 is unlikely due to the endemic nature of the virus, they also cautioned that the spread could be halted by following established protocols.

New Delhi, Apr 7 (PTI) The Congress on Friday attacked the Centre over the National Green Tribunal constituting a committee to re-examine the environmental nod to the Great Nicobar Island project, alleging that the Modi government has embarked on "ecocide" and what is being pushed through is an "ecological nightmare".

MUMBAI, April 7 (Reuters) - India's federal government asked states to identify emergency hotspots and ramp up-testing for COVID-19, after the country recorded its highest daily case count since September, a Reuters tally showed on Friday.

There were 6,050 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, the federal health ministry said on Friday, continuing a sharp upward trend since a lull last year.

Hyderabad, Apr 6 (PTI) A court granted bail to Telangana BJP president and MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar who was arrested over the alleged leak of secondary school exam papers.

The Principal Judicial Magistrate court in Hanamkonda district granted bail to Kumar on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 20,000 with two sureties.

The Telangana BJP chief was directed not to leave the country without the court's permission. It also asked him not to tamper with the evidence, and cooperate with the investigation.

Washington, Apr 7 (PTI) An Indian national in the US has been sentenced to 33 months in prison and ordered to pay USD 2.4 million for defrauding elderly people in America.

Ashish Bajaj, 29, pleaded guilty on August 4 last year before District Judge Kevin McNulty in Newark federal court to information charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

NEW DELHI (AP) — More than 100 Indian opposition lawmakers, including members of the Congress party, staged a protest march Thursday after the end of a parliamentary budget session that was marred by shouting and disruptions to proceedings amid a standoff with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

The demonstrators carried big national flags and chanted slogans warning that India’s democracy is in danger, and accused Modi’s administration of “misusing” government-run investigation agencies to intimidate opposition leaders.

Kanpur: There is no respite from frequent power cuts in the Jajmau area here. The power supply seems to be like playing hide and seek. The disruption begins during the day and continues up to the night hours.

What most disturbs the residents is the sudden fault in the water purifying machine, the fridge and the ceiling fans. 

The women in the house told that they are annoyed with this persisting problem.

Due to shortage of power supply cosumers are forced to switching off the electricity-driven gadgets till the evening. 

Chandigarh, Apr 5 (PTI) A young woman from Haryana's Rohtak who had gone to Canada last year to pursue higher studies was allegedly murdered and buried in a field in Sonipat by her lover in June 2022 when she came to meet him, police said Wednesday.

The Crime Investigation Agency of Bhiwani, which is investigating the case, found her skeletal remains on Tuesday along the Garhi Jhanjhara road in Ganaur. The accused, who allegedly shot the women dead, was arrested from Uttar Pradesh on April 2.