Morning Digest | Cyclone Mandous kills five, snaps power, uproots hundreds of trees; Morocco first African team ever to enter World Cup semifinals, and more

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Five killed, many trees uprooted as Cyclone Mandous made landfall with fierce winds and downpour

Cyclone Mandous that crossed the north Tamil Nadu coast near Mamallapuram during early hours of Saturday with fierce winds and heavy downpour, claimed five lives, uprooted about 500 trees and caused power disruptions till Saturday afternoon in many areas in the city. Of the five persons who died, four were electrocuted in different locations.

Rocket-propelled grenade fired at police station in Punjab’s Tarn Taran

A police station building in Punjab’s Tarn Taran district was attacked by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) wielded by unidentified assailants, yet again putting a question mark on the deteriorating law and order situation which the opposition has been using to corner the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.

Uttarakhand plans genetic enhancement of its indigenous Badri cow

To increase the productivity of its indigenous petite Badri cow, that grazes on the medicinal herbs of the Himalayas, Uttarakhand is now planning for its genetic enhancement. At the recent chintan shivir (brainstorming session) of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami with Uttarakhand’s bureaucrats, the officials of the animal husbandry department of the hill State proposed to use sex-sorted semen technology to improve production of Badri cattle. They also proposed to opt for the embryo transfer method in order to produce more cattle of high genetic stock.

Supreme Court to hear on December 13 Bilkis Bano’s petition challenging remission to convicts