India

Barabanki (UP), Aug 21 (PTI) Barabanki Superintendent of Police Arvind Chaturvedi on Friday suspended a policeman and ordered an inquiry after pictures of policemen allegedly beating up a 'purohit' were being shared on social media.

Sarvesh Kumar Misra, the priest, has alleged that he and his associates suffered injuries when police beat them up over an issue in Bansa village under Masauli police station area of the district.

Chennai, Aug 22 (PTI) Vinayaka Chaturthi was celebrated across Tamil Nadu with usual fervour on Saturday, although the trademark large idols of the elephant god were missing this year in lines with a government directive in the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chief Minister K Palaniswami held prayers at his residence in his native Salem, strictly following COVID-19 protocols-- social distancing and wearing mask-- with his family.

Chandigarh/New Delhi, Aug 22 (PTI) The Border Security Force shot dead five intruders along the India-Pakistan International Border in Punjab early Saturday, a senior BSF officer said.

This is the highest number of intruders killed in a single incident along the over 3,300 km-long border with Pakistan in more than a decade, officials said.

Punjab shares a 553-km-long frontier with Pakistan, apart from Jammu, Rajasthan and Gujarat, who together constitute the remaining part of the International Border.

New Delhi, Aug 22 (PTI) With a record spike of 69,874 infections in a day, India's COVID-19 tally increased to 29,75,701, while the recoveries rose to 22,22,577 pushing the recovery rate to 74.69 per cent on Saturday, according to the Union health ministry data

The death toll climbed to 55,794 with 945 fatalities being reported in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The COVID-19 case fatality rate has declined to 1.87 per cent, it said.

Lucknow, Aug 21 (PTI) With the UP Assembly in session, BSP chief Mayawati Friday urged all legislators to rise above party politics and raise issues of public interest and focus on the "dismal" state of law and order.

"It is my strong appeal to MLAs, both of the ruling party and opposition in Uttar Pradesh, to rise above party politics and effectively raise the issues of public interest in the House and make the government and administration accountable. This demand is in the wider public interest, she said in a tweet.

New Delhi, Aug 20 (PTI) The Left parties on Thursday hit out at the government over the decision to lease out three airports to the Adani Group, alleging that the move was a "loot of national assets" and would lead to an escalation of ticket prices.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal for leasing out airports at Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram through public-private partnership (PPP).

Mumbai, Aug 21 (PTI) After the Supreme Court nod, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday started its probe into the Sushant Singh Rajput death case in the city as it collected relevant documents and reports from the Mumbai police, officials said.

A special investigation team of the CBI, consisting of officers, other personnel and also forensic experts, landed in Mumbai on Thursday evening to take over probe into the high- profile case which has received much media attention.

Lucknow/Deoria, Aug 21 (PTI) BJP MLA from Deoria Sadar seat, Janmejay Singh, has died of a cardiac arrest at a hospital in Lucknow, party spokesperson Chandra Mohan said Friday. He was 75.

Singh was admitted to Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Institute after he developed health complications and died during pacemaker implantation late Thursday night, Mohan said.

The MLA was initially taken to the civil hospital but referred to Lohia hospital, he added.

The hospital Medical Superintendent Vikram Singh said the MLA suffered a heart attack.

Chennai, Aug 21 (PTI) The opposition DMK in Tamil Nadu on Friday opposed the Centre's decision to "privatise" airports, saying the move "usurps the rights and autonomy from the State."

In an apparent reference to the Centre deciding to lease out three airports, including the one at Thiruvananthapuram, DMK President M K Stalin described the decision as "unilateral" and demanded its revocation.

"The Center's unilateral decision to privatise airports usurps the rights and autonomy from the State," he said in a tweet.

Lucknow Aug 21 (PTI) Vice Chancellor of the King George's Medical University here, Lt Gen (Retd) Dr. Vipin Puri, has tested positive for coronavirus, a university spokesman said on Friday.

The driver and another staff member of Dr. Puri had tested positive for COVID-19 after which he got himself tested and found that he had contracted the disease, university spokesperson, Dr Sudhir Singh, said.