New Delhi, May 6 (PTI) In one of the steepest increase since daily price revision was started, petrol price on Thursday was hiked by 25 paise per litre and diesel by 30 paise as oil companies raised rates for the third straight day to pass on to consumers the increase in international oil prices.

Petrol price in Delhi was increased to Rs 90.99 per litre from Rs 90.74 while diesel rates went up to Rs 81.42 a litre from Rs 81.12, according to a price notification by state-owned fuel retailers.

Kanpur: Special kits are required for blood tests like d dimer, ferritin, CRP and LDH. But there is a problem with the supply of these kits. This causes a delay in the doctor reports of the test.

According to available news, the patients have to wait for a week. As the Hallet hospital has been conducting the test with the lasting kits, it causes delay in the test reports.

City's Hallet hospital and a few selected labs conduct these kinds of blood tests which unfold the infection among the patients.

New Delhi, May 7 (PTI) Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday accused the Modi government of having failed the people of the country in handling the pandemic and demanded that an all-party meeting be convened immediately on the COVID-19 situation.

The battle against the pandemic transcends political differences and everyone has to fight it together as a nation, she said at a virtual meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party.

Thiruvananthapuram, May 6 (PTI) The Kerala government on Thursday announced a nine-day complete lockdown in the state from the morning of May 8 to arrest the massive spread of COVID-19 in the state.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the lockdown would come into force on May 8 morning and extend up to May 16.

"The entire State of Kerala will be under lockdown from 6am on 8 May to 16 May. This is in the background of a strong 2nd wave of #COVID19," Vijayan tweeted.

The CM said there was no need for panic.

Aligarh (UP), May 6 (PTI) Noted Sanskrit scholar at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Prof Khalid Bin Yusuf has passed away after a brief illness, a university statement said here on Thursday.

Prof Yusuf (60) was showing COVID-19 symptoms and had acute pneumonia, his family members said.

He passed away on Wednesday night while being treated at a hospital, they added.

Prof Yusuf was the first Muslim in India to earn a doctorate on Rigveda, as per the statement.

New Delhi, May 6 (PTI) The Indian Army has set up a 'COVID management cell' to ensure better coordination in extending support to civil authorities across the country to deal with surging cases of coronavirus infections.

Officials said the responsibility of the cell is to bring in greater efficiency in coordinating the Army's response to call for help from state governments as well as authorities in union territories.

BEIJING (AP) — China on Thursday suspended an economic dialogue with Australia, stepping up a pressure campaign that began over Australian support for a probe into the origins of the coronavirus.

Beijing also has blocked imports of Australian coal, wheat, wine and other goods, plunging relations to a multi-decade low. Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government has not offered any concessions.

The Chinese government accused Australia of taking steps “to disrupt normal exchanges” due to a “Cold War mindset and ideological discrimination.”

(Reuters) --- Britain is sending two navy patrol boats to the British Channel Island of Jersey after France suggested it could cut power supplies to the island if its fishermen are not granted full access to UK fishing waters under post-Brexit trading terms.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged his "unwavering support" for the island after he spoke with Jersey officials about the prospect of the French blockade.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Wednesday joined calls for more sharing of the technology behind COVID-19 vaccines to help speed the end of the pandemic, a shift that puts the U.S. alongside many in the developing world who want rich countries to do more to get doses to the needy.

United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced the government’s position, amid World Trade Organization talks about a possible temporary waiver of its protections that would allow more manufacturers to produce the life-saving vaccines.

NEW YORK (AP) — Teams of experts are projecting COVID-19′s toll on the U.S. will fall sharply by the end of July, according to research released by the government Wednesday.

But they also warn that a “substantial increase” in hospitalizations and deaths is possible if unvaccinated people do not follow basic precautions such as wearing a mask and keeping their distance from others.

DUBLIN, May 5 (Xinhua) -- A member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Ireland on Wednesday called on the European Union (EU) to cooperate with China instead of being "led along by the nose by the Americans" into confrontation with China.

Mick Wallace, an incumbent MEP from the south constituency of Ireland, made the calls by tweeting a video speech he made at an April meeting of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament, a legislative body of the EU.

WASHINGTON, May 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Pentagon said it is following the trajectory of a Chinese rocket expected to make an uncontrolled entry into the atmosphere this weekend, with the risk of crashing down in an inhabited area.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is “aware and he knows the space command is tracking, literally tracking this rocket debris,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.

China on Thursday launched the first of three elements for its space station, the CSS, which was powered by the Long March 5B rocket that is now being tracked.