Indian Sub-continent

India: RPF to recruit 4,500 woman constables

New Delhi, Jun 28; PTI/GANASHAKTI:  The number of women constables in the Railway Protection Force (RPF) is less at present and the government has decided to fill up 50 per cent of the 9,000 vacant posts notified with lady constables, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal said in the Rajya Sabha Friday.

"At present, the percentage of lady constables in RPF is 2.25 per cent. The number (of women constables) is less in the entire Railways. Keeping this in mind, the prime minister gave a direction for recruitment," Goyal said during the Question Hour in the Upper House.

India: Lightning kills 20 in Jharkhand

Ranchi, June 28;  IANS/GANASHAKTI: With monsoon hitting Jharkhand there has been some relief, but at least 20 people have also been reported dead due to lightning in different parts of the state over the last three days, police said.

Nine people died on Thursday, seven on Wednesday and rest on Friday.

According to the police three deaths were reported from Lathear, two from Palamau, four in Gumla and Lohardagga district. While there were similar deaths in Jamshedpur, Bokaro, Hazaribagh, Sahebganj also.

India: Sensex ends lower as trade frictions haunt G-20 meet

Mumbai, Jun 28 (PTI) Equity benchmarks nursed losses Friday as investors remained cautious ahead of the crucial US-China trade talks on the sidelines of the G-20 meet.

Domestic trading sentiment was also at a low ebb following tightening of mutual fund norms by regulator Sebi, and the RBI recommending extra vigil regarding non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), traders said.

After a choppy session, the 30-share BSE Sensex settled 191.77 points, or 0.48 per cent, lower at 39,394.64, dragged by index heavyweights RIL, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and TCS.

India: Fiscal deficit touches 52 pc in first 2-months

New Delhi, Jun 28 (PTI) The government's fiscal deficit touched 52 per cent of the budget estimate for the full year in the first two months of 2019-20.

In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit or gap between expenditure and revenue, was Rs 3,66,157 crore, as per the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA).

The fiscal deficit was 55.3 per cent of 2018-19 budget estimate in the year-ago period.

India: Ram Vilas Paswan elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Bihar

Patna, Jun 28 (PTI) Union minister and Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan was on Friday elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Bihar.

He was declared elected and the certificate was handed over to him, Bateshwar Nath Pandey, the Returning Officer and secretary to Bihar Legislative Assembly, told PTI.

The certificate of election was given to him in presence of a host of senior NDA leaders including Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi.

Delhi Uni trend of high cut-offs but shift in popular courses

New Delhi, Jun 28 (PTI) The trend of high cut-offs are nothing new in Delhi University but what seems to have changed since 2015 is the shift in the courses pegging the highest percentage requirement, the varsity's official data shows.

While courses like BSc (Hons) Computer Science and B.Com honours witnessed 100 per cent cut-offs before 2015, the last few years has witnessed courses like B.Sc (honours) electronics, BA programme and BA (honours) political science having high cut-offs.

India: 2 CRPF personnel killed in encounter with Naxal terrorists

Bijapur, Jun 28 (PTI) Two CRPF personnel were killed and another was injured in an encounter with Naxals in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh Friday, police said.

Two girls were caught in the crossfire. One of them died while the other was injured, they said.

The gun-battle took place near Keshkutul village under the Bhairamgarh police station area when a joint team of the CRPF's 199th battalion and local police was out on an area domination operation, IG (Bastar range) Vivekanand Sinha.

India: J&K elections to be held as soon as EC gives nod

New Delhi, Jun 28 (PTI) Lok Sabha Friday gave its nod to extend President's Rule in Jammu and Kashmir for another six months beginning July 3, with Home Minister Amit Shah asserting that assembly elections in the state will be held in a democratic, free and fair manner as soon as the Election Commission announces the dates.

He also told Lok Sabha that Article 370 of the Constitution which extends special status to Jammu and Kashmir, is "temporary in nature" and "not permanent".

India: One labourer dead, two missing while cleaning drain

New Delhi, Jun 28 (PTI) One labourer died and two others went missing after they were washed away while cleaning a 30-feet deep drain in west Delhi's Khayala area, police said Friday.

The labourers were swept away and one of them drowned when the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), which had stopped the water flow for cleaning, suddenly started the supply, officials said.

The police said the DJB had given the contract for construction of a cemented wall over the drain to Pratibha Industries.

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