India

New Delhi, May 2 (PTI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will begin a four-day visit to London from Monday primarily to attend a meeting of foreign ministers of Group of Seven (G7) rich nations.

India has been invited to the meeting as a guest country.

"The external affairs minister will be visiting London from May 3-6 to participate in the G7 foreign ministers meeting, at which India has been invited as a guest country. He will thereafter undertake a bilateral visit to the UK," the Ministry of External Affairs said.

Kolkata, May 2 (PTI) In Nandigram, which was the cynosure of all eyes due to its high octane election, BJP star candidate Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday outsmarted TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee by a margin of 1,956 votes to emerge the winner in the constituency, the Election Commission said.

While Adhikari bagged 1,10,764 votes, Banerjee, his one time mentor, managed 1,08,808 votes, the poll panel confirmed.

CPI(M)'s Minakshi Mukherjee finished in a distant third position polling just 6,267 votes, the EC website said.

Guwahati, May 2 (PTI) The ruling BJP-led alliance is set to make a comeback in Assam in the first Assembly election after the Citizenship (Amendment) Act was enacted with the declaration of results on Sunday, although winning less number of seats compared to the 2016 polls.

The alliance has won or is leading so far in 72 seats (48 wins and 24 leads) out of the 126 constituencies of the state and 64 seats are needed to get a simple majority.

New Delhi, May 3 (PTI) The third and largest phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive to inoculate people in 18-45 age group began here Monday morning.

Around 90 lakh people are eligible for the jabs under this category in Delhi. Five vaccination booths each have been set up at 77 schools for the exercise, an official said.

The government set up the vaccination centres at schools to accommodate the large number of beneficiaries, he added.

Till now, vaccines were being given to those aged above 45 at around 500 centres in the national capital.

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi suffered a resounding defeat in a key state election on Sunday, indicating his Hindu nationalist party’s political strength may be slipping as the country struggles to contain an unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases.

Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was unable to dislodge West Bengal state’s firebrand chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, after a hard-fought campaign.

NEW DELHI (AP) — India recorded 368,147 new coronavirus cases on Monday, including 3,417 deaths, as a catastrophic surge ripples through the country.

The latest numbers came after leaders of 13 opposition parties penned a letter to urge the government to launch a free vaccination drive as well as ensure uninterrupted flow of oxygen to all hospitals. Several hospital authorities over the weekend sought court intervention over oxygen supplies in New Delhi, where a lockdown has been extended by a week to contain the wave of infections.

New Delhi, May 3 (PTI) The daily COVID-19 cases in India showed a slight dip with 368,147 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, taking the total tally of cases to 19,925,604, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.

The death toll increased to 218,959 with 3,417 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

While the country recorded 401,993 new cases on May 1, it had registered 392,488 cases on May 2.

(Reuters) --- The incumbent chief minister's party in India's West Bengal state has defeated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party in a state election held as the coronavirus pandemic surged to crisis levels.

Modi has been criticised for focusing on the elections instead of making the pandemic his top priority.

New Delhi, May 1 (PTI) Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced an extension of the ongoing lockdown in Delhi by another week on Saturday amid a sudden surge in COVID-19 cases as the national capital battles an acute shortage of beds and medical oxygen in its hospitals.

"Lockdown in Delhi is being extended by one week," Kejriwal said in a tweet.

The lockdown that was scheduled to be in force till 5 am on Monday now stands extended by another week till May 10.

New Delhi, Apr 30 (PTI) United Sikhs, a human rights and advocacy organisation, is offering dignified cremation services here to those who have succumbed due to coronavirus, a statement said on Friday.

The United Nations-affiliated group is approaching the families who are unable to arrange a funeral either because they are sick, scared or too weak to leave homes for themselves being COVID positive, according to a statement.