Indian Sub-continent

DHAKA, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- In the first public exams in nearly 20 months since outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, around 2.2 million students began Sunday this year's Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent exams in Bangladesh.

The exams, which are usually held every year in February, began at 10:00 a.m. local time Sunday after over a nine-month delay.

NEW DELHI (AP) — Sky obscured by thick, gray smog. Monuments and high-rise buildings swallowed by a blanket of haze. People struggling to breathe.

In the Indian capital, it is that time of the year again.

The city’s air quality index fell into the “very poor” category on Sunday, according to SAFAR, India’s main environmental monitoring agency, and in many areas levels of the deadly particulate matter reached around six times the global safety threshold.

NASA satellite imagery also showed most of India’s northern plains covered by thick haze.

Bhopal, Nov 13 (PTI) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday said the cow as well as its dung and urine can strengthen an individual's economy and make the country financially capable.

The government has developed cow sanctuaries and shelters but it will not work alone and requires participation of society, he said at 'Shakti 2021', a convention of women veterinarians organised by Indian Veterinary Association.

Mumbai, Nov 14 (PTI) Top Maoist leader Milind Teltumbde was among the 26 Naxals killed in an encounter with police in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district, a senior police official said on Sunday.

The gun-battle took place on Saturday at Korchi in Mardintola forest area of the district, located over 900 km from Mumbai, when a C-60 police commando team was conducting a search operation, police earlier said.

Patna, Nov 14 (PTI) RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday launched a blistering attack on the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar, accusing it of "protecting" the alleged perpetrators of a couple of high-profile murders that took place in the state in the last couple of days.

Gaya (Bihar), Nov 14 (PTI) Four persons of a family, including two women, were killed by Maoists who blew up their house in a remote village of this district and hung them from a cattle shed in the courtyard, a top police officer said.

According to ADG, Law and Order, the incident took place in Dumariya police station area, close to the Bihar-Jharkhand area, where members of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) attacked the house of Saryu Singh Bhokta late Saturday night.

Kanpur: Six medical colleges in the state have been provided with super-speciality blocks of 200 beds under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana.

Reportedly, each of these blocks has been built at a cost of around ₹300 crores.

Notably, these super-speciality blocks were launched in certain cities including Jhansi and Prayagraj earlier as well.

Even though the functioning of these blocks was affected by the lack of specialist doctors, these units are all set to run again.

Kanpur: Setting a new record, the state of Uttar Pradesh on Sunday crossed the 14-crore Covid vaccination mark.

UP continues to be at the top among all states in terms of most Corona virus vaccinations.

Meanwhile, health officials on Saturday stated that 50 districts in UP had become free from Covid-19 infection with active cases touching the zero mark.

They said despite the decline in the number of cases, there was a need to adhere to prevention protocol as the risk of infection and complications due to it including that of death was still existent.

Kanpur: There has now been reported 13 new positive Zika cases, ANI reports quoting the city's chief medical officer on Nov 12. With this, the Zika virus tally in Kanpur has now increased to 90.

On the other hand, 31 people recovered and tested negative for Zika virus infection, CMO Dr Nepal Singh informed.

Earlier on Wednesday, the city had crossed the 100 case mark after 16 fresh infections were detected.

ISLAMABAD, Nov 13 (APP): As Pakistan issues visas to 3,000 Sikh Yatrees for 552nd birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak, the Sikh community in India has given a deadline of November 19 to their government for reopening the Kartarpur Corridor.