Delhi

New Delhi, May 10 (PTI) All the newly elected 77 BJP MLAs in West Bengal are being provided security cover by central paramilitary forces in view of potential threats to them, official sources said on Monday.

They said the Members of the Legislative Assembly will be secured by armed commandos of the CISF and the CRPF.

New Delhi, May 10 (PTI) A 23-year-old B.Tech student dropped his mother at a hospital for COVID-19 vaccination, came outside and allegedly snatched a woman's bag as he wanted money to buy drugs, police said on Monday after arresting him.

The accused has been identified as Nikhil Kumar Vats, a resident of Mandoli, they said. The incident took place on Saturday.

New Delhi, May 10 (PTI) A request was made to the Delhi High Court on Monday to give an early hearing to a PIL seeking a stay on the construction of the Central Vista here amid the raging COVID pandemic.

The request was mentioned before a bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh by senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, and the court said an early hearing application be filed first.

New Delhi, May 10 (PTI) The Delhi High Court Monday granted bail to JNU student Natasha Narwal, arrested last year in May in connection with the communal riots in north-east Delhi to perform the last rites of her father who succumbed to COVID-19.

A bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and A J Bhambhani granted interim bail to Narwal, a Pinjra Tod activist, for three weeks subject to her furnishing of a personal bond of Rs 50,000.

New Delhi, May 10 (PTI) Petrol and diesel prices on Monday hit record highs across the country after rates were increased for the fifth time in a week, following which Maharashtra joined Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh in the league of states where petrol rates breached the Rs 100-a-litre mark.

Petrol price was hiked by 26 paise a litre and diesel by 33 paise per litre, according to a price notification by state-owned fuel retailers.

New Delhi, May 10 (PTI) Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd and its affiliates have picked up more than three-fourths of the new gas volumes from the firm's eastern offshore KG-D6 block which at current government dictated price will cost it less than half of the imported rate, sources said.

Reliance and its partner UK's BP Plc last week auctioned 5.5 million standard cubic meters per day of incremental gas from the newer discoveries in the KG-D6 block, benchmarking it to a gas marker.

New Delhi, May 10 (PTI) The Guru Tegh Bahadur COVID Care Centre at the Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib in central Delhi is starting operations from Monday afternoon with 300 beds.

Manjinder Singh Sirsa, president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, said 100 more beds will become available on Tuesday.

"The COVID care centre is being managed by 50 doctors from the Delhi government-run Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital. They will be supported by a team of 150 nurses and ward boys," he said.

New Delhi, May 10 (PTI) Hitting out at the Centre, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the government's "repeated chest-thumping" at receiving foreign aid to tackle the COVID-19 crisis in the country is pathetic and had it done its job, it would not have come to this.

The Congress had last week demanded transparency and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make public the details of all the relief material received by India from different countries.

New Delhi, May 10 (PTI) Hockey India on Monday mourned the death of former player George Fernandez, who was battling COVID-19 in Bengaluru.

The 67-year-old died on Sunday due to complications related to the disease.

"We at Hockey India are deeply saddened to learn about the untimely demise of George Fernandez, who represented our nation at the Junior level," HI president Gyanendro Ningombam said in a press release.

"We extend our deepest condolences to his family in this moment of grief."

New Delhi, May 10 (PTI) Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday attacked the government over the Central Vista Project and questioned expenditure on a new residence for the prime minister when it could be utilised for COVID-19- related medical assistance.