India

New Delhi, Sep 3 (PTI) Amid a raging controversy over Facebook's alleged political bias and interference in India's democratic process, the social media giant has told the Congress that it is non-partisan, denounces hate and bigotry in all forms and strives to ensure that its platforms remain a space where people can express themselves freely.

Kanpur: Cleaning of the polluted rivers is a big challenge these days. The National Green Tribunal is bent upon improving the poor health of the much-talked Pandu river originating from a lake in Farrukhabad.

Completing its 120-Km long journey through this industrial city it merges directly into the Ganges at Fatehpur district.

Greenish Pandu river requires a check on the free flow of the four drains carrying polluted, contaminated water into its depth. 

New Delhi, Sep 2 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the state of the economy, rise in COVID-19 cases and "external aggression" at borders, alleging that India is reeling under "Modi-made disasters".

His attack comes after official data showed on Monday that the country's economy suffered its worst slump on record in April-June, with the gross domestic product (GDP) contracting by 23.9 per cent as the coronavirus-related lockdown weighed on the already declining consumer demand and investment.

New Delhi, Sep 2 (PTI) The government on Wednesday blocked 118 more mobile applications, including popular gaming app PUBG, terming them prejudicial to the sovereignty, integrity and defence of the nation.

The banned apps include Baidu, Baidu Express Edition, Tencent Watchlist, FaceU, WeChat Reading and Tencent Weiyun, besides PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite, according to an official statement.

All these banned apps have Chinese links, sources said.

GUWAHATI, India (Reuters) - India has moved troops to its eastern stretch of border with China since clashes erupted between the nuclear-armed rivals on the western part of their border in the Himalayas in June, a government official said.

The June clash in the Ladakh region, in the western part of their border, was the worst violence between the Asian giants in decades and there has been little sign of a reduction in tension, with more military action in the past week.

New Delhi, Sep 2 (PTI) The Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday that 54 per cent of the COVID-19 cases reported in India are in the age group of 18-44 years, while 51 per cent deaths are among people aged 60 and above.

Presenting an analysis of COVID-19 cases and mortality on the basis of age, it also said that 36 per cent of the fatalities reported are in the age group of 45-60 years, 11 per cent in the age group of 26-44 years and 1 per cent each among people aged 18-25 years and those below 17 years.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A regional party governing India’s West Bengal state has accused Facebook Inc of bias toward Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), adding to the clamor of opposition voices which have called out the social media giant for its content regulation practices.

In a letter to Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg, West Bengal’s ruling party, the Trinamool Congress, said the company’s recent blocking of pages and accounts in the state pointed to the links it had with the BJP.

New Delhi, Sep 1 (PTI) A strike called by a section of Ola and Uber drivers here on Tuesday had no major impact as passengers said they did not face any hassle in booking the cabs.

A section of drivers associated with the two cab aggregators went on a strike to demand a fare hike and a moratorium on loan repayment.

Kamaljeet Singh Gill, the president of the Sarvodaya Drivers Association of Delhi said that nearly 250 drivers gathered at Mandi House here to raise their demands but police dispersed them.

Chennai, Sep 1 (PTI) One-fifth of the population here has been exposed to COVID, a sero survey for the transmission of the infection in Greater Chennai Corporation areas has revealed.

"Overall, one-fifth of the population in Chennai was exposed to SARS-CoV-2 (the virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) infection," the GCC said in its preliminary finding.

The sample size was around 12,000 to detect a sero- prevalence of 2 per cent, for a relative precision of 20 per cent design effect of 2.5 and for 95 percent confidence interval.

Lucknow/Mathura, Sep 1 (PTI) Following an order of the Allahabad High Court, Dr Kafeel Khan was released from Mathura jail late on Tuesday night, his lawyer said.

"Mathura jail administration informed at around 11.00 pm that Dr Kafeel will be released, and at around midnight, he was released," Khan's lawyer Irfan Ghazi told PTI.

The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday quashed Khan's detention under the National Security Act and ordered his immediate release.