India

New Delhi, Jun 1 (PTI) The country's manufacturing sector activity recorded another sharp deterioration in business conditions during May as new orders placed with producers continued to fall after April's record contraction, leading firms to cut jobs at the quickest pace on record, a monthly survey said on Monday.

Jaipur, May 31 (PTI) The Rajasthan government on Sunday allowed government and private sector organsiations to function with full strength of their employees, while providing for continued closure of religious places, hotels and malls from June 1 during the latest phase of lockdown.

In its guidelines issued for the latest phase of lockdown till June 30, the state government also allowed private and commercial transport vehicle to carry passengers up to their full capacity, but no more.

New Delhi, Jun 1 (PTI) The depression in the Arabian Sea is likely to intensify into a severe cyclone and cross the north Maharashtra and south Gujarat coasts on June 3, and will have an impact on Mumbai, the India Meteorological Department said on Monday.

The depression will intensify into a deep depression --- the third and fourth stage of any cyclone formation --- by this evening.

It will intensify into a cyclonic storm by June 2, the Cyclone Warning Division of the IMD said.

Raipur, Jun 1 (PTI) Swarms of locusts have entered a forest area in Chhattisgarh's Koriya district from the neighbouring Madhya Pradesh state, prompting authorities to intensify efforts to tackle the menace, officials said on Monday.

So far, no damage to crops or trees has been reported due to these short-horned grasshoppers, which have been killed or driven away by spraying of pesticides, they said.

Lucknow, Jun 1 (PTI) Lucknow's Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences has claimed to have developed a cheap rapid test that can detect coronavirus in less than 30 minutes.

Developed by the Department of Molecular Medicine and Biotechnology at the premiere government institution, the RNA-based test will cost just Rs 500 after it gets approval from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

The test uses the same process of RNA testing which is followed in the RT-PCR technology presently used on the directions of the ICMR.

New Delhi, Jun 1 (PTI) The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 5,394?and the number of cases climbed to 1,90,535 in the country, which registered biggest single-day spikes of 230 deaths and 8,392 cases till Monday?8 am, according to the Union Health Ministry

India is the seventh worst-hit nation by the novel coronavirus pandemic

The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 93,322 while 91,818 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, the ministry said.??

NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD, June 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — India expelled two officials of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi after they were apprehended earlier in the day for espionage activities, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said.

The two officials, Abid Hussain and Muhammad Tahir, were caught by the Delhi Police while they were obtaining sensitive documents relating to India’s security installations from an Indian national in exchange of money, official sources said.

NEW DELHI (AP) — A committee appointed by India’s top environmental court has blamed “gross human failure” and lack of basic safety norms for a gas leak in a South Korean-owned chemical factory that killed 12 people and sickened hundreds.

The committee said the tanks from which the gas leaked May 7 at the LG Polymers plant in Vishakhapatnam, a port city in Andhra Pradesh state, were outdated and lacked temperature sensors.

New Delhi, May 30 (PTI) A Delhi court on Saturday granted interim bail for 10 days to former municipal councillor from the Congress Ishrat Jahan, who has been booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, to get married.

She has been booked under the anti-terror law in a case related to communal violence in northeast Delhi in February.

Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana granted the interim relief from June 10 to June 19 to Jahan on furnishing two sureties of Rs 1 lakh.

New Delhi, May 30 (PTI) A Delhi court on Saturday extended by 45 days the interim bail of local leader Ashu Khan who was arrested for allegedly rioting and instigating a mob during anti-CAA protests here on December 15 last year.

Additional District Judge Vipin Kumar Rai granted the interim relief to Khan in two cases related to the violent protests at Jamia Nagar and New Friends Colony on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 2 lakh.

The court directed him not to tamper with evidence or leave the country without its permission.