Morning Digest | Six women, two children burnt to death in Bengal’s Birbhum; IIT-Kanpur hasn’t forecast fourth wave of COVID-19: Centre, and more
The Hindu
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Six women, two children burnt to death in Bengal’s Birbhum
Eight people, six women and two children, were burnt to death in violence that erupted at Baktui village in West Bengal ‘s Birbhum district on Tuesday following the murder of a deputy pradhan of the Trinamool Congress (TMC). Several houses were set on fire after the murder and seven charred bodies recovered from one house alone. One person died of burn injuries at a hospital in Birbhum, the police said.
Steep fuel price hikes spark uproar in Parliament
After a four and a half month freeze on fuel prices in the run up to five State Assembly elections, India’s oil marketing companies began recovering the higher crude oil costs that have prevailed in recent months on Tuesday, with an 80 paise increase per litre in retail prices for petrol and diesel, along with a ₹50 increase in domestic cooking gas prices.
IIT-Kanpur hasn’t forecast fourth wave of COVID-19: Centre
The Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, has clarified that they have not forecasted another wave of COVID-19. It was an independent study done by a team of researchers from their Department of Mathematics and Statistics who have prepared a mathematical model and submitted the same to a pre-print server for experts to comment on. The same was not peer-reviewed, the Health Ministry submitted in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
Sonia Gandhi reaches out to G-23 leaders
The election authorities are gearing up for the counting of votes cast in the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, scheduled to be held on June 4. The Collectors and Election Officers of Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) districts said on May 23 (Thursday) that their teams were ready for the counting of votes.
Responding to the prolonged water scarcity, the residents of the area took to the streets in protest on Wednesday. The protest, which drew attention to their plight, stopped only after the intervention of the police. It was not until 1.30 p.m. that a 4000-litre tanker was finally delivered by BWSSB, providing relief to the water-starved residents.