Breaking News, April 24 | LIVE UPDATES

The ruling BJP-led alliance on Sunday secured a clean sweep by winning 58 seats in the 60-seat Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) elections while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) opened its account in the civic body.

Two terrorists have been killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Sunday, officials said.

A major fire broke out in a plastic factory in the outskirts of Delhi on Sunday afternoon but was brought under control after over an hour, officials said. No one was injured in the incident.

An 18-month-old child was killed and her mother injured on Sunday after an elephant attacked them in Assam's West Karbi Anglong district, police said.

 A police Sub-Inspector (SI) was suspended on Sunday for allegedly misbehaving with a seer in Bulandshahr district, officials said. 

A Mumbai court on Sunday remanded independent MP Navneet Rana and her MLA husband Ravi Rana in 14-day judicial custody, a day after they were arrested in connection with their announcement to recite Hanuman Chalisa outside Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s residence here.

 A passenger was electrocuted and another injured when a bus came in contact with an overhead high-tension electricity wire in Madhya Pradesh's Mandla district on Sunday afternoon, police said.

A married couple and one more person were arrested by Jabalpur police for allegedly trafficking women with the promise of jobs and then forcing them to dance at marriage functions in Bihar, an official said on Sunday.

Ashish Mishra, son of Union Minister Ajay Kumar Mishra Teni and also the main accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence of October 3, 2021, surrendered in the court of the chief judicial magistrate on Sunday in compliance of the Supreme Court directive.

An 11-year-old girl was allegedly raped by the priest of a church here, following which he was arrested, police said on Sunday. The incident took place in a village in Chandinagar area here on Saturday, they said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said eight people, including a three-month old baby, were killed during Russian shelling in the port city of Odessa.

Amid the sizzling hot weather, Pakistanis have been suffering eight to 15 hours of scheduled and unscheduled power load-shedding on a daily basis across the country.

Two students from Telangana were killed in a road accident in the US.

In a breakthrough, four robbers, who had looted Rs one crore at gunpoint from the employees of a cash collection company on April 18, have been arrested, the police said on Sunday.

Gujarat Congress leader Kailash Gadhvi on Sunday joined the Aam Aadmi Party here and said he will continue to fight the "arrogant" BJP government in the state. Gadhvi, a former Congress spokesperson, formally switched sides along with 300 Congress functionaries a day after meeting AAP convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Gadhvi said the BJ[P government in Gujarat had failed to provide health and education facilities as well as safety and jobs to people, adding that the ruling dispensation had made the state a "laboratory of politics" during its 27-year rule.

Volunteers and low-level government workers in Shanghai have erected metal barriers in multiple districts to block off small streets and entrances to apartment complexes, as China hardens its strict “zero-COVID” approach in the metropolis. In the city's financial district, Pudong, the barriers- either thin metal sheets or mesh fences- were put up in several neighbourhoods under a local government directive, according to Caixin, a Chinese business media outlet. Buildings where positive cases have been found sealed up their main entrances, with a small opening for pandemic prevention workers to pass through. China reported 21,796 new community-transmitted COVID-19 infections on Sunday, with the vast majority being asymptomatic cases in Shanghai. Across the country, many cities and provinces have enforced some version of a lockdown in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus.

The nondescript hamlet of Palli in Jammu and Kashmir's border district of Samba entered into the 'modern history' of India on Sunday as country's first "carbon neutral panchayat" with Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicating to the nation 500 KV solar plant, installed in a record time of nearly three weeks. Modi, inaugurated the solar power plant amid cheer and applause from the people. The prime minister said that Palli has shown the way to the country for achieving carbon neutral state. "People of Palli has helped in the project. They have also provided food to people engaged in the project," he said.

Bajrang Muni Das of Maharishi Shri Laxman Das Udasi Ashram, who allegedly made a hate speech and issued a "rape threat" in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur, was granted bail by a local court. District judge Sanjai Kumar granted bail to the seer on Saturday. He was released from the district jail Sunday morning. Das was arrested on April 13 after one Ramnaresh filed a complaint against him.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari will take oath as Pakistan's foreign minister in a day or two, a senior party leader has said, ending speculation that all allies of the government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif are not on the same page. The 33-year-old scion of the Bhutto-Zardari family- who is the front-runner for the coveted post of the foreign minister- did not take the oath on Tuesday, giving rise to speculation about his reluctance to join the new government. Qamar Zaman Kaira, Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader and Adviser to the Prime Minister on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, in a conversation with journalists in London, confirmed that Bilawal will take oath as the foreign minister in a day or two.

France began voting in a presidential runoff election Sunday in a race between between incumbent Emmanuel Macron and far-right politician Marine Le Pen. Macron is in pole position to win reelection for a second five-year term in the country's presidential runoff, yet his lead over Le Pen depends on one major uncertainty: voters who could decide to stay home. A Macron victory in this vote- which could have far-reaching repercussions for Europe's future direction and Western efforts to stop the war in Ukraine- would make him the first French president in 20 years to win a second term.

Fears of an aggressive rate hike by the US Fed continue to dent investor sentiments with foreign investors pulling out nearly Rs 12,300 crore from the Indian equity market so far this month. Going forward, foreign flows into Indian equities could continue to be under pressure due to an imminent rate hike by the US Fed, uncertainty surrounding the Russia-Ukraine war, volatile crude prices, high domestic inflation numbers and weak quarterly results, experts said. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) remained net sellers for six months to March 2022, withdrawing a massive net amount of Rs 1.48 lakh crore from equities.

Three criminals allegedly involved in a loot case were arrested by the police after an encounter here in city area, police said on Sunday. Two country made pistols and a knife were also recovered from their possession. Acting on a tip-off on Saturday night, Rahul alias Ranjit, Sachin Jaiswal and Shubham were surrounded by a police team while they were going somewhere, Superintendent of Police, Vipin Kumar Mishra, said. In a bid to flee, the trio opened fire on the police team and in exchange of fire all of them were arrested.

On National Panchayati Raj Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said panchayats are the basic pillar of Indian democracy, in whose strength lies the prosperity of the new India. April 24 is observed by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj as the National Panchayati Raj Day (NPRD) every year to celebrate the constitutional status accorded to the Panchayati Raj system in the country. "Best wishes to you all on National Panchayati Raj Day. Panchayats are the basic pillar of Indian democracy, in whose strength lies the prosperity of the new India," Modi said in a tweet in Hindi.

A cooperative based here in Madhya Pradesh has sent 2,000 chicks of the famous protein-rich 'Kadaknath' breed to a farm at Ranchi in Jharkhand following an order placed by former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, an official said on Sunday. The black Kadaknath chicken meat from Jhabua district of MP got the Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2018 after a legal battle with Chhattisgarh. The tag denotes that the product comes from a particular geographical area, and often enhances its commercial value. This chicken, its eggs and meat are sold at a higher rate than the other breeds. Jhabua Collector Somesh Mishra told news agency PTI that 2,000 'Kadaknath' chicks ordered by Dhoni from a local cooperative were on Friday sent in a vehicle to Ranchi, the cricketer's home town.

Police have so far arrested 175 people in connection with the violence in Khargone city of Madhya Pradesh during Ram Navami celebration earlier this month, an official said on Sunday. Local administration relaxed the curfew in Khargone for nine hours - from 8 am to 5 pm - for the second day in a row on Sunday. But, night curfew will continue, in-charge Superintendent of Police Rohit Kashwani said, adding that no untoward incident was reported during the curfew relaxation on Saturday.

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The global coronavirus caseload has topped 509.1 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 6.21 million and vaccinations to over 11.23 billion, according to the Johns Hopkins University. In its latest update on Sunday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 509,166,036 and 6,216,725, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered increased to 11,233,194,944. The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 80,971,925 and 991,231, respectively, according to the CSSE. India accounts for the second highest caseload at 43,052,425.

With the addition of 12 new cases of coronavirus, the infection tally in Maharashtra's Thane district has gone up to 7,08,965, an official said on Sunday. These new cases were reported on Saturday, he said. The death toll in the district remained unchanged at 11,889, he said, adding that the COVID-19 mortality rate in Thane is 1.67 per cent.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to hold a meeting with chief ministers on the current Covid situation of the country on April 27, officials said on Saturday. An official source said that PM Modi will chair the meeting through video conferencing with Chief Ministers. As per the source, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan will prepare a presentation on the current Covid-19 situation. India has seen a steady rise in the Covid-19 cases and the positivity rate in the last few weeks.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said that the sacrifice of the Sikh Gurus has a big role in making India what it is today. Speaking at a programme held to honour Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth of the 10 Sikh Gurus, Adityanath said, "The sacrifice of the Sikh Gurus has a big role in making 'Bharat', a 'Bharat'. We cannot forget them." "The sacrifice made by Guru Tegh Bahadur ji Maharaj was for the Hindus of Kashmir, for the safety of the pandits of Kashmir. The Sikh Gurus also raised their voice for Shriram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya," he said. Adityanath on this occasion thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for designating the martyrdom day of Sahibzadas as 'Veer Bal Diwas'.

The Congress on Saturday slammed the Union government over the inflation issue and asked what it was doing to bring down the prices of essential commodities which were grinding the households of common people. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said while the rate of inflation was 6.95 per cent, the interest rate of fixed deposits in banks was only 5 per cent. "Forget depositing Rs 15 lakh to your bank accounts, PM Modi's 'masterstrokes' have demolished your hard-earned savings," he said on Twitter.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police has arrested two people for allegedly transporting the two JeM terrorists who were killed in an encounter in Sunjwan here, officials said on Sunday. Driver Bilal Ahmad Wagay and his helper Ishfaq Chopan were nabbed from Anantnag district of south Kashmir. Earlier, the police had arrested one person and detained another in connection with the encounter case. Wagey and Chopan are accused of ferrying the two Pashtu-speaking Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists, either from Pakistan or Afghanistan, from Supwal in Samba district, after their infiltration from across the border, to Sunjwan in Jammu a day before the encounter.

Odisha turned into a hot cauldron on Saturday with 21 places recording temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius, weather officials said. State capital Bhubaneswar recorded the season's highest of 41.7 degrees Celsius, while neighbouring Cuttack recorded 41 degrees Celsius. The industrial town of Angul was the state's hottest place as the mercury rose to 42.1 degrees Celsius, they said. Baripada, Bolangir and Parlakhemundi also registered a maximum of 41 degrees Celsius, while Deogarh, Boudh and Dhenkanal reported 41.5 degrees Celsius.

NCP president Sharad Pawar on Saturday said Union Home Minister Amit Shah failed to protect Delhi, the country's capital, from communal riots. Speaking at a rally of the Nationalist Congress Party at Kolhapur in western Maharashtra, Pawar referred to the violence that broke out in Jahangirpuri area of Delhi during Hanuman Jayanti processions earlier this month. "Few days back, Delhi was burning due to communal tensions. The state of Delhi is controlled by (chief minister) Arvind Kejriwal, but its police comes under the Union Home Ministry handled by Amit Shah. Shah failed to protect the city from communal riots," he said. "If anything happens in Delhi, the message goes out to the world. The world would imagine that there is unrest in Delhi," Pawar said.

A man was arrested on Saturday for stealing two boxes of lemon from a shop in Muhana vegetable market, police said. A vegetable seller had lodged a complaint on Friday alleging that an unidentified person stole two boxes of lemons from the platform in front of his shop on April 12 and April 20. After its investigation, police arrested a man named Naveen Ahmed, and recovered a 13kg box of lemons from him. The e-rickshaw used in crime has also been seized, police said. According to police, the accused took advantage of the crowd in the Mandi to steal lemon boxes kept on the platform and spirit them away in his e-rickshaw. Ahmed told police he had been selling the stolen lemons at cut-price to local vendors.

A boat carrying 60 migrants capsized Saturday night off the Lebanese coast, the Lebanese Red Cross said. It was not immediately clear if there were any deaths. The Red Cross said it sent ambulances to the port of the northern city of Tripoli in case there were casualties. Prime Minister Najib Mikati's office said the boat capsized shortly after leaving the northern coastal town of Qalamoun near Tripoli, Lebanon's second largest city. Mikati's office said the Lebanese army and authorities were on high alert following the case.