India

Simdega (Jharkhand), May 17 (PTI) An ultra of the banned Peoples Liberation Front of India (PLFI) was killed and another injured on Sunday in a gunbattle with the police in Jharkhand's Simdega district, officials said.

The gunbattle happened near Bendochuan village in the Jaldega police station area.

The ultra was killed on the spot, while another has been admitted to a hospital with bullet injuries, Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Kumar told reporters.

An AK-47 rifle was among the weapons seized from the spot, he said.

New Delhi, May 16 (PTI) The government will soon start auctioning of six more airports under public private partnership and additional investment by private players in total of 12 airports will be around Rs 13,000 crore, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday.

Airports Authority of India (AAI) has already awarded three out of the six aerodromes that were bid out for operation and maintenance under public private partnership (PPP).

Bhopal, May 16 (PTI) Eight migrants including four women were killed in three separate road accidents in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday, police said.

At least 29 others were injured in these accidents which took place in Sagar, Guna and Barwani districts, police said.

Six persons -- four women and two men -- were killed in an accident near Sagar, said Superintendent of Police (SP) Amit Sanghi.

Ahmedabad, May 16 (PTI) The number of COVID-19 cases in Gujarat crossed the 10,000-mark on Saturday, with 1,057 new patients being found positive for coronavirus including 709 "super spreaders" in Ahmedabad, which accounted for 14 of the total 19 deaths, a Health official said.

The total cases now stands at 10,989 while the number of fatalities rose to 625, the official said.

"Ten of the 19 deceased were suffering from comorbidities," said Principal Secretary (Health) Jayanti Ravi.

New Delhi, May 16 (PTI) Objecting to the fourth tranche of the economic package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday, RSS-affiliate Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh said the government is moving in the "wrong direction" and has "dearth of ideas".

The Union minister on Saturday announced the easing of limits on foreign direct investment in defence manufacturing, privatisation of six airports, opening up of more air space and allowing private sector in commercial coal mining.

Mumbai, May 17 (PTI) Maharashtra government on Sunday extended the lockdown in the state till May 31, an official said.

State Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta has issued an order notifying extension of the lockdown, the official said.

"The calibrated phase-wise relaxation/lifting of lockdown orders will be notified in due course," the order said.

The present lockdown was valid from May 2 to 17.

New Delhi, May 17 (PTI) The government on Sunday announced suspension of new bankruptcy filings on loan defaults for one year and raised the threshold for insolvency as it moved to ease COVID-19 pain for the industry.

It also announced a new policy for companies under state control saying public sector undertakings under the non-strategic sector will be privatised while those in the identified strategic sector would be capped by not more than four by merging some of them.

Mumbai, May 17 (PTI) TV actor Manmeet Grewal, who worked on shows like "Aadat Se Majboor" and "Kuldeepak", committed suicide after struggling with dwindling finances amid lockdown, family friend-producer Manjit Singh Rajput said.

Grewal, who was originally from Punjab, hanged himself on Friday night at his Kharghar residence here where he lived with his wife. He was 32.

Kolkata, May 17 (PTI) The West Bengal government has released around 3,000 inmates on bail or parole to decongest correctional homes since the last week March in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, an official said on Sunday.

The department of correctional services has also taken several measures to check coronavirus infection inside the jails of the state.

The official said there are around 60 correctional homes in West Bengal, housing nearly 25,000 inmates and of them, close to 7,000 are convicts while others are undertrials.

New Delhi, May 17 (PTI) Following are the highlights of the fifth and final tranche of the Rs 20 lakh crore comprehensive economic package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to tide over the COVID-19 crisis: