India

New Delhi, Jun 1 (PTI) India's manufacturing sector activity witnessed a significant loss of growth momentum in May due to the intensification of the COVID-19 crisis and its detrimental impact on demand, a monthly survey said on Tuesday.

The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), fell to 50.8 in May, down from 55.5 in April, as companies observed the slowest rises in new work and output in ten months amid intensification of the COVID-19 crisis.

New Delhi, Jun 1 (PTI) Police have arrested three farmers from central Delhi for allegedly violating lockdown norms, officials said on Tuesday.

The three men, residents of Punjab, were arrested on Monday as they did not have movement passes, a senior police officer said.

The farmers said they came to the Bangla Sahib Gurdwara at Connaught Place to pay obeisance and stayed there for two days, he added.

Jaipur, May 31 (PTI) A woman was hacked to death allegedly by her husband in Rajasthan's Banswara district on Sunday night, police said.

The accused, Shaymlal, is absconding, SHO, Arthuna police station, Gajveer Singh said.

"Shaymlal hit his wife Alka, aged around 23 years, with an axe leaving her dead on the spot. The couple had a minor son," he said.

"The reason behind the murder is not clear and the matter is being probed. The postmortem of the body is being conducted," the SHO added.

Jaipur, May 31 (PTI) A woman was allegedly raped by three men when she stepped out of her house to attend nature's call in Rajasthan's Nagaur district, police said on Monday.

The incident took place on May 24, they said.

The victim, who is married, had gone out with her sister to attend nature's call. The main accused, Devekaran Gurjar, and two others threatened to kill her, forcibly took her to a secluded place on a tractor and raped her there, Station House Officer (SHO), Makrana, Roshan Lal Samaria said.

Kolkata, May 31 (PTI) With the TMC having emerged victorious with a thumping majority in the recently concluded West Bengal assembly elections, turncoats who had quit the party to join the BJP seem to be making a beeline for re-entry into the Mamata Banerjee camp, the latest being Dipendu Biswas.

Biswas, who had switched sides after his name did not feature in the TMC's candidate list for the assembly polls, has expressed his desire to return to the ruling party in the state.

Kendrapara (Odisha), May 31 (PTI) A 35-year-old man, posing as a doctor allegedly molested a woman patient at the government-run Community Health Center (CHC) in Aul in Kendrapara district, police said on Monday.

The accused identified as Deepak Mohanty (35) of Badaambila village allegedly perpetrated the crime at the diarrhoea ward of the hospital. Posing as a doctor, he had allegedly outraged the modesty of the woman on Sunday late night. As the victim raised the alarm, the accused managed to escape, police said.

Chennai, May 31 (PTI) Indian Institute of Technology Madras on Monday announced its collaboration with IBM on quantum computing education and research.

The collaboration would provide IIT Madras faculty, researchers, and students access to IBMs quantum systems and tools over IBM Cloud, the IIT(M) said.

New Delhi, May 31 (PTI) The Congress on Monday alleged that banking frauds have risen under the Modi government and accused it of allowing the fraudsters to either continue functioning in the country or leave.

Citing an Reserve Bank of India (RBI) report, Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh alleged that there have been bank frauds to the tune of 5 trillion rupees.

Gorakhpur, May 31 (PTI) A video clip in which three men can be seen burying a body wrapped in a plastic sheet with the help of an excavator, went viral on social media.

It was later found that the clip was captured in Parsa Shukl village in Sant Kabir Nagar district and three men were burying the body of their deceased father along with some packets and sheets, police said.

Village head Triyoganand Gautam said: We offered help to perform last rites of the man but his sons didn't accept it."

Aligarh (UP), May 31 (PTI) The toll in the Aligarh hooch tragedy climbed to 36 on Monday with 11 more deaths being confirmed by the district authorities amid apprehension that it may rise further.

Viscera samples of 35 other people, who are suspected to have died after consuming spurious liquor, have been sent for examination to confirm the cause of death, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Bhanu Pratap Kalyani said.