Delhi

New Delhi, May 22 (PTI) Cyclone Yaas is likely to intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm and cross the Odisha and the West Bengal coasts on May 26, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Saturday.

A low pressure area formed over the east-central Bay of Bengal and the adjoining north Andaman Sea on Saturday.

New Delhi, May 22 (PTI) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said COVID-19 vaccination centres for those in the 18-44 years age group are being closed in the national capital due to lack of doses and appealed to the Centre to provide more vaccines.

From Sunday, all vaccination centres for youths in Delhi will be closed as stocks have run out, he said in a press conference.

New Delhi, May 21 (PTI) The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a COVID-19 antibody detection kit that offers results in just 75 minutes, the defence ministry said on Friday.

The testing kit is called DIPCOVAN and it offers a "significantly faster turn-around-time as it requires just 75 minutes to conduct the test without any cross reactivity with other diseases", the ministry's statement noted.

The kit has a shelf life of 18 months, it added.

New Delhi, May 21 (PTI) The Indian Navy's Kashin-class destroyer INS Rajput, the first warship to be fitted with long-range BrahMos missile, was decommissioned on Friday after 41 years of service.

The destroyer, built by the erstwhile USSR and commissioned on May 4, 1980, had the distinction of being part of both the Western and Eastern fleets.

Indian Navy spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said the warship was decommissioned in a low key event at the naval dockyard in Visakhapatnam.

New Delhi, May 21 (PTI) Delhi Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Imran Hussain on Friday directed officials to ensure that all fair price shops (FPS) open daily without any weekly off to ensure smooth distribution of ration free of cost to the NFSA and PMGKAY beneficiaries.

The directions were issued by Hussain at a high-level meeting to review the distribution of ration.

New Delhi, May 20 (PTI) Two days after filing a police complaint in the 'Covid-19 toolkit' case, the Congress Thursday wrote to Twitter asking it to permanently suspend the accounts of BJP leaders including party chief JP Nadda and Union minister Smriti Irani for allegedly "spreading misinformation and unrest in the society".

New Delhi, May 20 (PTI) The relationship between India and China is at a crossroads and its direction depends on whether the neighbouring country adheres to various agreements on maintaining peace and tranquillity along the border, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday referring to the eastern Ladakh standoff.

New Delhi, May 21 (PTI) The daily rise in coronavirus cases in India remained below 3 lakh (300,000) for the fifth consecutive day with 259,000 new cases recorded in a single day, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.

With a total of 259,551 fresh cases, India's total tally of COVID-19 cases climbed to 26,031,991.

The death toll climbed to 2,91,331 with 4,209 daily deaths, the data updated at 8 am showed.

New Delhi, May 19 (PTI) The Congress on Wednesday attacked the Narendra Modi government over a hike in fertiliser prices, and said this will put an additional burden of Rs 20,000 crore on the farmers.

Party leader Rahul Gandhi said the government has increased the prices of fertilisers, petrol and diesel, and lowered agri subsidies and income of farmers.

New Delhi, May 19 (PTI) An AAP councillor has joined the investigation in a case wherein over 20 people were arrested for allegedly pasting posters across the city criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the COVID-19 vaccination drive, officials said on Wednesday.

A notice was sent to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor from Sitapur Praveen Kumar to join the investigation, a senior police officer said.