1. Petrol, Diesel Prices Hiked Again; Rates Highest Since 2013
The petrol price on Sunday, 20 May, touched a record high of Rs 76.24 per litre and diesel climbed to its highest-ever level of Rs 67.57 as the oil PSUs passed on four weeks of relentless rise in international oil prices to consumers.
Petrol price increased by 33 paisa a litre in Delhi – the highest since the daily price revision came into force in mid-June 2017, and diesel by 26 paisa, according to price notification issued by state-owned oil firms.
Rates vary from state to state depending on local sales tax or VAT. Prices in Delhi are the cheapest in all metros and most state capitals.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. Security Forces Have New Mantra in Kashmir: 'Try to Catch Them Alive'
"Catch them alive" is the new mantra in Jammu and Kashmir, as security forces, which have killed over 70 terrorists in the last seven months, shift gear to focus on finding new recruits and motivating them to return to their families, senior officials said.
The strategy of police and security agencies is to cut the "umbilical cord" by smashing the overground worker network, which is instrumental in radicalising youth and pushing them to jihad, the officials said.
"Our effort is to catch them alive and understand their grievances. After all, a 15 or 16 year old boy can't be brainwashed to the extent that he would like to be killed in a gunfight. There has to be a counter-narrative," said a senior official engaged in counter-insurgency operations.
(Source: The Times of India)
3. After Notice to Vacate, Mayawati Home Gets a New Nameplate
Four days after the Uttar Pradesh government served notices to six former Chief Ministers, including BSP chief Mayawati, to vacate their government bungalows within 15 days, a signboard reading “Shri Kanshiram Ji Yaadgar Vishram Sthal” surfaced on Monday, 21 May, outside her 13A, Mall Avenue bungalow.
Notices, also sent to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh, SP leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav, and Congress veteran ND Tiwari, came after the May 7 Supreme Court order that struck down a provision in the Uttar Pradesh Ministers (Salaries, Allowances and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act that made former CMs eligible for official accommodation even after the end of their term.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. Black Panther Spotted in Odisha’s Reserve Forest
Odisha forest department officials on Monday, 21 May, confirmed the presence of a black panther in the state’s Garjanpahad reserve forest in Sundargarh district after camera traps caught its movement.
The state wildlife department often gets reports of black panthers being spotted, particularly in Kalikamba Reserve Forests of Bhanjanagar and Nawarangpur forest division, but this is the first instance of camera traps capturing the movement of one.
“We already have confirmed presence of a black tiger and the black panther sighting makes the state possibly the only in India to have both,” said Odisha chief wildlife warden Sandeep Tripathy.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. Had ‘Extremely Productive’ Talks with Putin, Says Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, 21 May, said he had “extremely productive” discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and they reviewed the complete range of India-Russia relations as well as other global subjects during their first ever informal summit in this Black Sea coastal city.
Mr Modi said friendship between India and Russia had stood the test of time, and the ties would continue to scale new heights.
The prime minister said the seeds of the ‘strategic partnership’, sown by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and President Putin, had now grown into a “special privileged strategic partnership”, which is a “very big achievement” in itself.
(Source: The Hindu)
6. Panic Grips Kerala as Deadly Nipah Virus Suspected to Have Killed 12
A deadly and contagious virus is suspected to have killed 12 people in Kozhikode in north Kerala, leading to hundreds of people with symptoms of fever into rushing to hospitals in panic, and forcing the central government to send a team of experts to monitor and control the spread of infection.
The Pune-based National Institute of Virology on Sunday, 20 May, confirmed three deaths, and a fourth illness from the same family, as caused by the Nipah virus. The surviving member of the family is critical and on ventilator support.
Humans get infected by consuming fruit or date-palm sap contaminated by infected bats but while human-to-human transmission through body fluids is rare, it was recorded in Siliguri district in West Bengal in 2001 and is being suspected in Kerala. Four deaths were reported on Monday, 21 May, including of a nurse who treated the three initial infections at the EMS Cooperative Hospital in Perambra. At least six persons are in critical condition and another 20 are under observation, state health officials said.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
7. Congress to Get Deputy CM, Speaker Posts in Karnataka
Congress will get the post of speaker and a deputy chief minister in Karnataka, the first names that party president Rahul Gandhi will decide in the coming hours ahead of HD Kumaraswamy’s swearing-in as chief minister of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government on Wednesday, 23 May.
The CM-designate met Rahul and his mother, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, at the Congress chief ’s residence on Monday, 21 May. The visit was a courtesy call to invite the Congress leaders for the swearing-in. It was preceded by a half-hour meeting with pre-poll ally and BSP chief Mayawati, JD(S) secretary general Danish Ali said.
Rahul and Kumaraswamy alluded to the history of acrimony between Congress and JD(S) to say they should forget the past and look to the future. Congress sources said the party’s entire focus was on Kumaraswamy’s oath, election of the speaker and the confidence motion, and no formal negotiations were held on the specifics of power-sharing.
(Source: The Times of India)
8. Secular Fabric Under Threat, Let’s Pray for India: Archbishop
In a letter written to all parish priests in the capital, the Archbishop of Delhi, Anil Couto, asked for a prayer campaign to be launched and also appealed for fasting on Fridays ahead of the 2019 general elections.
Citing the “turbulent political atmosphere which poses a threat to the democratic principles enshrined in the Constitution and the secular fabric of our nation,” the letter says, “It is our hallowed practice to pray for our country and its political leaders all the time but all the more so when we approach the general elections.”
“As we look forward towards 2019 when we will have new government let us begin a prayer campaign for our country,” states the letter.
When contacted, the Archbishop’s secretary, Father Robinson Rodrigues, told TOI such prayer campaigns took place before every general election, but the exercise was being politicised this time.
(Source: The Times of India)
9. Kumaraswamy to Take Oath as Karnataka Chief Minister Tomorrow
JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy will take oath as chief minister of Karnataka on May 23 at 4.30 pm on the steps of the Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat.
Governor Vajubhai Vala will administer the oath of office and secrecy to Kumaraswamy, a government release said.
Kumaraswamy will visit Dharmashala and Sringeri on Wednesday to seek the blessings of Lord Manjunath, Sringeri Sharada Devi and the present Shankaracharya Sri Bharati Teertha, the release said.
(Source: The Times of India)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)