India

New Delhi, Jun 14 (PTI) In a relief to journalist Vinod Dua, the Supreme Court in a special hearing on Sunday restrained the Himachal Pradesh police from arresting him till July 6 in a sedition case lodged against him in the state over his Youtube show.

The top court said that Dua will have to join the investigation and there shall be no stay on the ongoing probe undertaken by the Himachal Pradesh police.

New Delhi, Jun 13 (PTI) Oil India Ltd on Saturday said it has suffered a production loss of 638 tonnes of crude oil and 0.46 million standard cubic metres per day of natural gas following a blowout and massive fire at a well in its Assam field.

Natural gas mixed with condensate started flowing uncontrollably from one of the wells of the company-operated Baghjan fields in Tinsukia district of Assam on May 27, 2020, leading to a blowout. The well caught fire on June 8, killing two fire fighters and injuring one.

New Delhi, Jun 14 (PTI) Privatisation of any public sector bank (PSB) during the current fiscal is very unlikely due to their low valuations and mounting stressed assets amid the COVID-19 crisis, sources said.

At present, four public sector banks are under the RBI's Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework, which puts several restrictions on them, including on lending, management compensation and directors' fees.

New Delhi, Jun 13 (PTI) Continuing the duel between the TMC and West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar, party leader Derek O'Brien on Saturday accused him of being a spokesperson for the BJP.

The war of words had started after Dhankar expressed anguish over a video purportedly showing the bodies of COVID-19 victims being disposed of in a disrespectful manner in the state.

The video was later declared to be fake by the police, who claimed that the bodies were not of COVID-19 patients and that they were unclaimed and unidentified bodies from the hospital morgue.

Mumbai, Jun 14 (PTI) Four days after hitting coastal Maharashtra, the southwest monsoon made a steady progress and has now covered the entire state, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Sunday.

The progress of the monsoon has so far been normal and on the expected lines, an IMD official said.

In the last 10 days, parts of Central and North Maharashtra and Vidarbha received incessant showers, IMD's Mumbai centre deputy director general K S Hosalikar said.

"The southwest monsoon covered the entire state on Sunday," he said.

Pithoragarh (U'khand), Jun 14 (PTI) Uttarakhand scholars on Sunday cited scriptures and books written before Independence that showed Kalapani as the source of Kali river, a key factor in Indian claim to areas that Nepal has now incorporated in its own map.

The lower house of Nepalese parliament on Saturday approved the controversial map, triggering a strong protest from India.

The new Nepal map lays claim over Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura which India maintains are on its side of the border.

MUMBAI, June 14 (NNN-UNI) – India’s leading automobile company, Tata Motors, discontinued its joint venture by acquiring the balance 50 percent stake in JT Special Vehicles, and making it a wholly owned subsidiary, a company statement said Saturday.

Tata Motors will continue to provide all requisite support and service to customers and users of Tiago JTP and Tigor JTP cars, at their select dealerships, ensuring hassle-free ownership, the statement said.

New Delhi, Jun 13 (PTI) Petrol price on Saturday was hiked by 59 paise per litre and diesel by 58 paise as oil companies for the seventh day in a row adjusted retail rates in line with costs since ending an 82-day hiatus in rate revision.

Petrol price in Delhi was hiked to Rs 75.16 per litre from Rs 74.57, while diesel rates were increased to Rs 73.39 a litre from Rs 72.81, according to a price notification of state oil marketing companies.

New Delhi, Jun 13 (PTI) Ten days after recording two lakh COVID-19 cases, India surpassed the three lakh-mark on Saturday with the worst daily spike of 11,458 infections, while the death toll too climbed to 8,884 with 386 new fatalities, the Union Health Ministry said.

India took 64 days to cross the 1 lakh-mark from 100 cases, then in another fortnight it reached the grim milestone of two lakh cases. It has now become the fourth worst-hit nation by the pandemic with a caseload of 3,08,993, according to coronavirus statistics website Worldometer.

Delhi; 13 June 2020 (UMMN): Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that a visa request was denied to United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) teams, a non-governmental advisory body to the US Congress, after its denouncement of the state of religious freedom in India under BJP government in Delhi.