News highlights: Loud explosion reported in Karachi’s Kharadar area, police and rescue teams dispatched

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JUST IN | A loud explosion has been reported in Karachi’s Kharadar area. Police and rescue officials have been dispatched to the site, reports Pakistan's Samaa

Karnataka government to give a reward of Rs 5 lakh to Lakshya Sen, member of the Indian Badminton Team that won the Thomas Cup, announced CM Basavaraj Bommai

Punjab Cong to launch statewide campaign to "wake" AAP govt from its 'honeymoon slumber'

The Punjab Congress on Monday said it will soon launch a statewide campaign to "wake" the AAP government from its "honeymoon slumber" and remind the party of its pre-poll promises.

After presiding over a meeting of the party's mayors, senior deputy mayors and deputy mayors, the Congress' state unit working president Bharat Bhushan Ashu claimed that people were angry with this government.

Junior World Cup Shooting: Sift Kaur Samra makes it 10th gold for India

Sift Kaur Samra won the women's 50m rifle 3 positions (3P) event to make it 10 gold medals for India at the ongoing International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany.

The Indian men's 3P team won a silver and Anish and Vijayveer Sidhu bagged silver and bronze respectively in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol. The women’s 3P team will fight for a bronze.

Water supply in parts of Delhi to be affected from Tuesday

Water supply in several parts of the national capital will be affected from Tuesday due to depletion of pond level of the Yamuna at Wazirabad and reduction in release of raw water from Haryana, the Delhi Jal Board announced on Monday.

"Water supply will be affected since the morning of May 17 till the pond level improves to normal," it said.

Two quakes rock Assam, Meghalaya

Two earthquakes of 3.9 magnitude each hit Meghalaya and Assam in less than 24 hours, official reports said on Monday.

The first quake, recorded at 9.47 pm on Sunday, had its epicentre in Nongpoh area of Meghalaya at a depth of 12 km, the second in Nagaon of Assam at a depth of 55 km.

According to the reports, tremors were felt in parts of central and northern Assam after the second quake jolted the state at 3.22 pm on Monday.

Cash-strapped Sri Lanka out of petrol: PM

Crisis-hit Sri Lanka has run out of petrol as it is unable to find dollars to finance essential imports, the new prime minister said Monday in an address to the nation.

"We have run out of petrol... At the moment, we only have petrol stocks for a single day," Ranil Wickremesinghe said, warning his bankrupt country could face more hardships in the coming months.

Corbevax price slashed to Rs 250 per dose

Vaccine maker Biological E. Ltd (BE) on Monday announced that it has reduced the price of its Covid-19 vaccine corbevax, from Rs 840 to Rs 250 a dose inclusive of GST, for private Covid-19 vaccination centres.

For the end user,the price would be Rs 400 a dose, including taxes and administration charges.

The Hyderabad-based company said it has lowered the price of its vaccine with the aim of making it more affordable and help increase the reach to protect the maximum number of children against the virus.

Gold declines Rs 46 amid weak global trends

Gold prices dipped by Rs 46 to Rs 49,754 per 10 grams in the national capital on Monday in line with global trends, according to HDFC Securities.

In the previous trade, the precious metal finished at Rs 49,800 per 10 gram.

Silver, however, gained Rs 213 to Rs 59,452 per kg from Rs 59,239 per kg in the previous trade.

Counting for 1st phase of J'khand panchayat polls to start on Tuesday

Counting of votes for the first phase of the panchayat elections in Jharkhand will start on Tuesday amid tight security, an official said.

The first of the four-phase panchayat polls took place on May 14. Over 68 per cent of the 52 lakh voters exercised their franchise.

A total of 1,127 panchayats covering 72 blocks in 21 districts of the state went to the polls in the first phase. Panchayat elections in the state are not held on party lines.

Women's World Boxing Championships: India's Nitu loses to Kazakhstan’s Alua Balkibekova 2-3 in the quarter-final of 48 kg weight category.

India-Nepal relations unshakable like Himalayas, PM Modi says during Lumbini visit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that India and Nepal's ever-strengthening friendship and their closeness will benefit the entire humanity in the emerging global situation.

Modi, who is in the Himalayan nation at the invitation of his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba on a day-long visit to Lumbini on the occasion of Buddha Purnima, also said that India and Nepal relations are unshakeable like the Himalayas.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a programme marking the silver jubilee celebrations of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on May 17 at 11 am via video conferencing. He will also release a postal stamp to commemorate the occasion.

McDonald's to sell its Russian business, try to keep workers

McDonald's said Monday that it has started the process of selling its Russian business, which includes 850 restaurants that employ 62,000 people, making it the latest major Western corporation to exit Russia since it invaded Ukraine in February.

The fast food giant pointed to the humanitarian crisis caused by the war, saying holding on to its business in Russia “is no longer tenable, nor is it consistent with McDonald's values”.

The construction of the Lumbini Museum in Nepal is also an example of the shared cooperation between the two countries. And today we also decided to set up DrAmbedkar Chair for Buddhist Studies at Lumbini Buddhist University: PM Modi

The place where I was born, Vadnagar in Gujarat, was a very big centre of Buddhist education centuries ago. Even today, ancient remains are coming out there, where conservation work is going on: PM Modi

The growing andstrengthening friendship between India andNepal will work for the benefit of entire humanity amid the kind of global situation that is emerging today. The devotion to Lord Buddha binds us together, makes us members of one family: PM Modi

Don't take my words for granted, Gautam Buddha said. He asked people to listen and examine the words and decide for themselves. Today many years ago, he was born as Siddhartha. In Bodh Gaya the same day, he found moksha and became Lord Buddha. This is no co-incidence: PM Modi in Lumbini

Buddha sacrificed a big kingdom and all luxuries. He wasn't born a normal child. He made us realise how important sacrifice is. He walked jungles, he meditated, he searched and after introspection, when he found knowledge, he never claimed to be a people's saver. He showed us his own path: Modi in Lumbini

Our love and spirituality is our biggest treasure, and both India and Nepal must strengthen this treasure to spread the message of Gautam Buddha: PM Modi

Without Nepal, even our Ram is incomplete. I know the citizens of Nepal are as happy as us for the construction of Ram temple in India. Nepal is home to a lot of holy sites of the world: PM Modi attends Buddha Purnima event in Lumbini

Ukraine says it has repelled Russian incursion in Sumy region

Ukrainian border guards repelled an incursion by a Russian sabotage and reconnaissance group in the northeastern region of Sumy on Monday, the governor of the Sumy region said.

Dmytro Zhyvytsky wrote on the Telegram messaging app that the Russian group entered Ukrainian territory under the cover of mortar shells, grenades and machine gun fire but retreated after the border guards fought back.

Court orders sealing area in Gyanvapi Mosque where 'Shivling' found

A Varanasi court on Monday ordered immediate sealing of the area where Hindu advocates claimed a 'Shivling' was found.

As the videography survey of the Gyanvapi Masjid complex completed on Monday, the Hindu advocates claimed that a 'Shivling' was found inside the well.

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Nationwide curfew in Sri Lanka from 8 pm-5 am

A nationwide curfewwill be imposed in Sri Lankafrom 8 PM on Monday,May 16, to 5 AM on Tuesday, May 17.

NHRC team visits Mundka building that was gutted in massive fire

What did BJP do in 15 years of its MCD rule? Kejriwal targets BJP

PM Modi, Nepal PM Sher Bahadur Deuba participate in foundation stone laying ceremony for construction of Buddhist culture & heritage centre

PM Narendra Modi arrives at Lumbini, Nepal PM Sher Bahadur Deuba comes to receive him

4 NCP workers booked for allegedly slapping Pune BJP leader Vinayak Ambekar

Maharashtra | Pune police have registered a non-cognisable offence against four NCP workers for allegedly slapping Pune BJP leader Vinayak Ambekar over his social media post against NCP leader Sharad Pawar

Buddha's thoughts can make planet more peaceful, says Modi

North Korea registers eight new Covid deaths and 392,920 more people with fever symptoms, reports AP.

One dead, four 'critically wounded' in California church shooting

One person was dead and four others in "critical" condition after a shooting at a church near Los Angeles, law enforcement said Sunday, just one day after a gunman killed 10 people at a grocery store in New York state.

Parishioners were attending a banquet following a morning church service when the gunman began his rampage, authorities said.

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Police say suspect in California church shooting is Asian male in his 60s who is not believed to live in the community, reports AP.

US president, first lady to travel to Buffalo -- the site of gun attack -- on Tuesday to 'grieve with the community'