India

Kanpur: The very aspect on the opening day of the Test match that shortly caught the eye of most fans as well as the cricket players was the heavy fog and smog that engulfed the Green Park Stadium here.

Many fans expressed their deep concerns about the pollution.

The condition remains so worse over the stadium that led them to say the BCCI should be careful while organizing the matches in areas where smog and haze are quite heavy.

This is so because the welfare of the players and the spectators is of utmost importance.

Mumbai, Nov 22 (PTI) Market benchmark Sensex crashed over 1,170 points to log its worst single-day drop in over seven months on Monday amid concerns over government's reform measures after farm laws repeal announcement and weak listing of country's largest fintech firm Paytm.

Extending its losses for the fourth straight session, the BSE gauge plunged 1,170.12 points or 1.96 per cent to settle the day at 58,465.89 its lowest closing level in over two months. In terms of absolute single-session drop, this was the biggest fall since April 12 this year.

Kolkata, Nov 24 (PTI) The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday granted bail to BJP leader Rakesh Singh, who was arrested by the city police in connection with a drug-related case.

A division bench comprising justices Arijit Banerjee and B Pattanayak asked Singh to furnish a bail bond of Rs two lakh -- four sureties of Rs 50,000 each.

The Kolkata Police had on February 23 arrested Singh, who is also a leader of many workers' unions in the city's port area, in connection with his alleged involvement in a drug recovery case.

Ballia (UP), Nov 24 (PTI) A 17-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a close relative in a village in the Sahatwar area here, police said on Wednesday.

The accused was arrested on Wednesday, a day after he committed the crime, Superintendent of Police R K Naiyar said.

An FIR was lodged under relevant sections of the IPC and the POCSO Act based on a complaint by the victim's father, the police said.

The minor has been sent for a medical examination, and a detailed probe is underway, they added.

New Delhi, Nov 24 (PTI) BJP leader Subramanian Swamy met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday in the national capital, days after his meeting with the state's Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar in Kolkata.

After meeting the Trinamool Congress chief, Swamy said they discussed the political scenario in West Bengal. The duo even posed for photographs after their meeting.

When asked if he will join the Trinamool Congress, the BJP leader said, "I was already with her. There is no need for me to join."

Faridabad (Haryana), Nov 24 (PTI) A tomb was vandalised by some right-wing activists, accusing its Maulvi of being a quack, giving wrong medicines to women, police said on Wednesday.

The vandalization of the tomb located in the Ballabhgarh panchayat premises on late Tuesday night has led to communal tension, necessitating the deployment of police, the Faridabad police spokesperson said.

Khargone, Nov 24 (PTI) Two persons have been arrested in Madhya Pradesh's Khargone district for allegedly converting 22 persons to Christianity by offering inducements, a senior police official said on Wednesday.

A video of the alleged conversion has also surfaced, he said.

Following a complaint, a case was registered against three people including a resident of Arunachal Pradesh for allegedly converting people by offering them inducements.

New Delhi, Nov 25 (PTI) India logged 9,119 new coronavirus infections taking the country's total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,45,44,882, while the active cases declined to 1,09,940, the lowest in 539 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

The death toll climbed to 4,66,980 with 396 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.

The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been below 20,000 for 48 straight days and less than 50,000 daily new cases have been reported for 151 consecutive days now.

New Delhi, Nov 25 (PTI) In another milestone for the DMRC, driverless train operations on 59-km Pink Line of the Delhi Metro were flagged off on Thursday.

With this, the total stretch of DMRC's network which is under driverless operations, now stands at close to 97 km, putting Delhi Metro at fourth position globally among such networks, officials said.

Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot jointly flagged off the driverless train operations via video conference.

Kochi, Nov 22 (PTI) A plea was moved in the Kerala High Court on Monday to seek the opinion of the Thantri (chief priest) of the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala with regard to propriety of using 'halal' jaggery to prepare prasadam like 'aravana' and 'appam' and the steps for remedying the situation.