At least six security personnel, including an Army major, were killed when a roadside bomb struck a patrol vehicle in southwestern Pakistan's restive Balochistan province, close to the border with Iran. The Army on Friday said in a statement that a vehicle of paramilitary Frontier Corps was targeted through a remote-controlled improvised explosive device (IED) in Kech district's Buleda area, about 14 km from the Iran border. A major and five soldiers were killed while one soldier was injured, according to the Army. Baloch militants on Saturday claimed responsibility for the attack. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) in a statement said the roadside bomb was planted by its operatives and it will continue its struggle until the establishment of an independent homeland and a free society". BLA is a banned entity in Pakistan. It was also declared a terrorist group by the US in 2019. Security sources said the route where the explosion took place was monitored round the clock because of ...

Turkey reported 50 new COVID-19 deaths and 1,546 fresh cases on Saturday as it prepared steps to return to normal life. Total fatalities stand at 3,739, while infections number 137,115. According to figures posted on Twitter by Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, 89,480 patients have recovered. Shopping malls, barber shops, hairdressers and beauty salons will open for business on Monday as Turkey starts easing restrictions. Meanwhile, one of Turkey's biggest soccer clubs, Besiktas, announced a player and a club employee had tested positive for the new coronavirus. Earlier this week, the Turkish Football Federation said matches behind closed doors would resume next month, prompting the resumption of limited training sessions.

Former President Barack Obama harshly criticized President Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic as an absolute chaotic disaster during a conversation with ex-members of his administration. Obama also reacted to the Justice Department dropping its criminal case against Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, saying he worried that the basic understanding of rule of law is at risk. More than 78,400 people with COVID-19 have died in the United States and more than 1.3 million people have tested positive, according to the latest estimates from the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Obama's comments came during a Friday call with 3,000 members of the Obama Alumni Association, people who served in his administration. Obama urged his supporters to back his former vice president, Joe Biden, who is trying to unseat Trump in the Nov. 3 election. What we're fighting against is these long-term trends in which being selfish, being

The US PGA Tour's Memorial Tournament will use radio frequency identification (RFID) chips in spectator badges to ensure fans maintain social distance at the July 16-19 event, Golf Digest reported. Dan Sullivan, director of the tournament hosted by 18-time major champion Jack Nicklaus in Ohio, said on Saturday a Zoom presentation conducted by the Greater Columbus Sports Commission that the high-tech badges were just one measure that will be used to maintain safety amid the coronavirus pandemic. "At any time we can know around the golf course how many people are collecting in a certain area," Sullivan said of the benefits of the tracking technology. "We're going to use that technology to make sure that we're protecting everyone around us, protecting the folks that are inside those various venues and make sure that we're monitoring effectively and producing a tournament that everyone can be comfortable with." In a phone interview with Golf Digest Sullivan explained that a small group of

Mary Pratt, believed to be one of the last surviving members of the women's baseball league which was celebrated in the Hollywood film "A League of Their Own," has died. She was 101. The baseball icon Pratt pitched in the 1940s for the Rockford Peaches, one of the original teams in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She was the last surviving member of the Peaches. She died peacefully in her sleep at the John Scott Nursing home in Quincy, Massachusetts. "We are terribly sad to report that former Rockford Peaches and Kenosha Comets pitcher, Mary Pratt passed away on May 6th. She was 101 years old," the AAGPBL wrote on its Twitter account. "Mary was the last known original Peaches player that played on the 1943 team. Her stories, her energy will be missed for a long time." The league was immortalized in the 1992 film which was directed by Penny Marshall and starred Tom Hanks and Geena Davis. Born in 1918 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Pratt joined the inaugural season of

Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal has refused to divulge details of his two meetings with suspected bookies before the Disciplinary Panel which handed him a three-year ban after a hearing, according to Board sources. According to the source, Akmal had a meeting with two unidentified men in Defence Housing Society in Lahore. "Umar claims both these gentlemen met him at parties thrown by friends in DHA. But he has refused to even tell the Anti-Corruption officials what was discussed at these meetings," a reliable source in the Pakistan Cricket Board told PTI. "Even when the Anti-Corruption officials first presented their report to him on the night between 19th and 20th February in Karachi, Akmal admitted he committed a mistake by not reporting the meetings to them but refrained from giving any details, the source said. Akmal was found guilty of two charges under the PCB Anti-Corruption Code and on April 27, he was banned from cricket activities till February 19, 2023. The 29-year-old has 14 ..

Hollywood star Mark Wahlberg and Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House have joined hands to provide food to the city's healthcare workers and first responders. The Boston-based burger chain Wahlburgers - run by Wahlberg brothers, Mark, Donnie and Paul - has been shipping its patties to the steak house in Midtown to be cooked up, and the city's legendary firefighter themed sports bar Bravest have been helping deliver the meals. "They wanted to honour the hospital workers and first responders," Gerard Fitzgerald, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, told Page Six. The meal deliveries started in Manhattan last week and end in Staten Island on Monday. The 'Jason Bourne' star said it was nice to help champion for someone else and give them the credit they deserve. "Not being able (to have our restaurants) fully operational these past several weeks has been heartbreaking for our entire organization. But that hasn't stopped our commitment to supporting the communities we ...

Dubbing Congress' criticism of the central government's handling of COVID-19 crisis as "absurd", the BJP on Saturday said the opposition party is weakening the country's fight against COVID-19 instead of extending cooperation. BJP's national media incharge Anil Baluni said Congress leaders, on a regular basis, are making "absurd statements on the behest of their party president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, to remain relevant in news". Baluni said the BJP-led government at the Centre welcomes Opposition's constructive suggestions in the battle against COVID-19, but "the opposition party should not do politics" over the pandemic. "Rather than becoming a part of the battle against COVID-19, the Congress is unfortunately resorting to politics and its leaders are trying to weaken the fight by making absurd statements, Baluni said. Underscoring that India has done relatively well than other countries and has been praised for effectively handling the coronavirus, Baluni said the Congress ..

In the wake of the gas leak at a factory in Visakhapatnam, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued detailed guidelines for restarting industries after the lockdown and the precautions to be taken for the safety of the plants as well as the workers. In a communication to all states and union territories, the NDMA said due to several weeks of lockdown and the closure of industrial units, it is possible that some of the operators might not have followed the established standard operating procedures. As a result, some of the manufacturing facilities, pipelines, valves may have residual chemicals, which may pose risk. The same is true for the storage facilities with hazardous chemicals and flammable materials, it said. The NDMA guidelines said while restarting a unit, the first week should be considered as the trial or test run period after ensuring all safety protocols. Companies should not try to achieve high production targets. There should be 24-hour sanitisation ..

The Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government to issue a clear directive to the state police to ensure ambulances or other vehicles ferrying pets and sick animals to and from veterinary clinics are not stopped during the lockdown. Justice S C Gupte in an order on Friday said the police administration must not obstruct or stop such vehicles. He also directed the state to clarify its stand on permitting residents across the state take their dogs out for a walk during the coronavirus-enforced lockdown period. The court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a Pune resident seeking permission to take her pet dogs outside for their daily walks. The PIL, filed through advocate Harshwardhan Bhende, claimed several police stations under the jurisdiction of Pune Police had issued "arbitrary directions" to housing societies to stop residents from taking their dogs outside for walks. Advocate Bhende also told the high court that several ambulances and

INS Jalashwa carrying 698 repatriated Indian citizens from the Maldives arrived in Kochi harbour on Sunday morning, completing the Indian Navy's first massive evacuation exercise from foreign soil during the COVID-19 lockdown, official sources said. The passengers would disembark from the cruise terminal of Cochin Port Trust, they said. Inspector General of Police Vijay Sakhare said all arrangements are in place to facilitate the safe stay of those repatriated, comprising 440 Keralites and people from other parts of the country. Four passengers are from Lakshwadeep. Besides these, the other passengers are from Tamil Nadu (187), Telganana (9), Andhra Pradesh (8), Karnataka (8), Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan (3 each) and Goa (1), Assam (1). There are seven passengers each from Uttarakhand and West Bengal, Delhi (4), Puducherry (3), while there are two passengers each from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand, the sources said.

The Indian automotive sector will continue to face challenges related to non-availability of labour and concerns over health and safety management on the shop-floor following the coronavirus pandemic, which may force firms to accelerate adoption of digital technologies in manufacturing, a report by consultancy firm EY said. This health crisis will settle gradually and would leave a profound impact on people and the ways of working especially on the shop-floor. There will be several changes to existing working norms and guidelines that organisations will need to abide by in order to ensure safety at the workplace, said the report titled 'Now, next and beyond: Auto factory of the future'. Elaborating on how automotive shop-floors will evolve and adopt digital technologies post COVID-19, the report said automobile companies will now have to rebuild and reinvent a new ecosystem to accommodate the new normal that is likely to emerge. "The auto sector will continue to face challenges ...

Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has proposed radical changes in the LBW laws, stating that a batsman should be given out leg before as long as the ball is hitting the stumps irrespective of the spot of its landing and impact. Chappell also said captains should agree on one way of working up the ball which will encourage swing bowling, even as the ICC is considering the use of artificial substances to shine the ball instead of sweat and saliva in post COVID-19 scenario. "The new lbw law should simply say: 'Any delivery that strikes the pad without first hitting the bat and, in the umpire's opinion, would go on to hit the stumps is out regardless of whether or not a shot is attempted'," he wrote in a column for ESPNcricinfo. "Forget where the ball pitches and whether it strikes the pad outside the line or not; if it's going to hit the stumps, it's out." The 76-year-old said the change in lbw law would attract expected criticism from the batsmen but it would make the game more ...

Senior Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader and Chairman of the Western Odisha Development Council (WODC), Subash Chauhan died at a private hospital here on Sunday following a prolonged illness. He was 54. Chauhan, who was undergoing treatment for liver ailment was a bachelor and breathed his last in the morning, family sources said. Closely associated with the RSS and VHP for many years, the former national Convenor of the Bajrang Dal had quit the BJP and joined the Biju Janata Dal in the run-up to the 2019 general elections. Chauhan was subsequently appointed the chairman of WODC in September last year. A host of dignitaries including Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Pratap Sarangi condoled the demise of Chauhan describing it as a big loss for the state. Expressing deep grief, Patnaik said the contributions made by Chauhan for the welfare of the people will always be remembered by all in the state. Praying for peace for the ...

India's fuel consumption fell almost 46 per cent in April as all petroleum products, except LPG, saw massive demand erosion following the nationwide lockdown that halted economic activity and travel. The demand, which showed signs of pick up in the last 10 days of April after the government allowed resumption of economic activity beyond the urban municipal limit, is likely to rebound in second half of May as more areas are opened. India's fuel consumption fell 45.8 per cent to 9.929 million tonnes in April, down from 18.32 million tonnes fuel consumed in the same month a year back, according to official data released by the petroleum ministry. Fuel consumption during March, when travel restrictions began to be imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus, stood at 16.08 million tonnes. Petrol sales were down 60.43 per cent to 9,73,000 tonnes in April. The demand for the fuel had fallen 64 per cent in first half of the month, but there was some pick up in sales after reopening of some ...

Himachal Pradesh reported two fresh cases of COVID-19, taking the total virus count in the state to 55, officials said on Sunday. Two people quarantined at Swarghat in Bilaspur district along the HP-Punjab border have tested positive, Bilaspur deputy commissioner Rajeswar Goel said. The two are taxi drivers and had recently ferried two families from Gujarat's Ahmedabad and Haryana's Gurgaon to their native places in Mandi and Kangra districts respectively. As the two showed symptoms during screening at the border, the two were quarantined and their samples were taken, he added. One of them is from Gujarat. They are being shifted to Nerchowk's Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Government Medical College and Hospital (SLBSGMC) in Mandi, he added. Samples of their contacts will also be taken for testing. The number of active cases in Himachal Pradesh now stands at 13 three each in Chamba and Kangra, two in Hamirpur, Bilaspur each and one each in Mandi, Una and Shimla districts. While 35 patients

Nearly a month after recovering from the coronavirus, actor Zoa Morani says she has donated her blood plasma to do her bit in helping the patients currently suffering from the novel virus. The actor, who was quarantined and kept under medication in April, also urged those who have recovered from COVID-19 to donate their plasma. "Donated my blood today for the Plasma therapy trials at Nair hospital. It was fascinating! Always a silver lining I suppose. The team there was so enthusiastic and careful. There was a general physician on standby just incase of emergency and the equipment brand new and safe (sic)," Zoa wrote on Instagram on Saturday. She thanked the doctors for taking care of her and hoped patients benefit from the donation. "All #Covid19 recovered people can be a part of this trial, to help others covid patients recover! I hope this works #IndiaFightsCorona. They even gave me a certificate and Rs 500. Wont lie, I felt super cool today (sic)," she added. Zoa, along with her ..

Plans are in place to start outdoor training in premier centres in India later this month and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government had to tread a careful path to ensure that athletes remained free from COVID-19. Rijiju had already said that his ministry was devising a plan for a phased resumption of national camps for Olympic-bound athletes, starting with the athletes currently based at NIS Patiala and SAI Centre in Bengaluru by the end of this month. "A roadmap is being prepared. If something happens to top athletes it will be a set back and so we are careful and that's why there are no positive coronavirus cases for our athletes till now. Players are pride of our country and so we can't risk anything," Rijiju said. "Medical experts, technical committee are working to start things. We have started preparing, NIS Patiala, Delhi IG stadium, SAI centres, premier sports centres will be opened after lockdown," he was quoted as saying by India Today. The coronavirus-forced ...

: Communicating across its nine factories and setting up milk collection points are some of the steps taken by dairy products major Thirumala as per COVID-19 guidelines for manufacture, to ensure supply does not get affected, a top official said. Thirumala was acquired by France-based dairy group Lactalis in 2014 and the company produces dairy products across nine manufacturing units in southern states. Thirumala CEO Christophe Jouin said the company had taken precautions by communicating across factories, setting up milk collection points and issuing safety guidelines to employees. "The first step was to carry out checking of temperatures of employees before they enter the factory and maintaining social distancing norms during daily work, among others," he told PTI. The entire process, from the collection of milk till the distribution, has been enhanced and totally protected with the help of intensive comunication done well in advance, he said. The company collects milk ..

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said 75 per cent of COVID-19 cases in the city are asymptomatic or with mild symptoms. The chief minister said the government has also issued an order for requisition of ambulances of private hospitals, adding that the decision has been taken in the wake of shortage of state-run ambulances. "They (private ambulances) will have to be pressed into service when the government requires their service," Kejriwal said while addressing an online media briefing. The government has made arrangements for treatment of those at their homes with mild COVID-19 symptoms in accordance with the Centre's guidelines. "Out of 6,923 COVID-19 patients, only 1,476 are admitted at hospitals, rest getting treatment at their homes and COVID-19 centres," Kejriwal added.

Tour the five luxury homes featured in our Listing of the Day series this week

Do alternative schools work? After all, every child has to ultimately face a society that puts a premium on competitiveness and commodification. Or are alternatives only an option for children of parents from a certain class of society? Deepa A finds out.

The disconnect between civil society and government has led to successive generations of policy and implementation failures. The India Together editorial.

Despite laws banning dry latrines and the transport of human excreta, thousands of people still make their livelihood this way, sometimes even working in government departments. The social structure has also forced nearly all of this work on to Dalit women and girls. Sachin Kumar reports.

A National Convention of Nomads and Adivasis was organized last month in Delhi. This was perhaps one of the first attempts to give a unified political voice for Adivasi and Nomadic communities in India. G. N. Devy writes on the efforts to make this convention happen, and its import.

Ruth Manorama is a women's rights activist well known for her contribution in mainstreaming Dalit issues. Herself from the Dalit community, she has helped throw the spotlight on the precarious situation of Dalit women in India. She calls them "Dalits among the Dalits." A peacewomen profile from the Women's Feature Service and Sangat.

While Mayawati's projects to build parks and statues have drawn derision in the drawing rooms of the stately homes in the country, the people at her rallies are in awe of her. Her work is Dalit power, they feel and will make her immortal. Kulsum Mustafa has more.

A quiet but steady revolution seems to be underway as both government and private individuals and organizations increasingly explore ways to make more data available to the people and in various innovative ways to facilitate application. Shamala Kittane reports.

What's in a name? Apparently a lot in a country like ours, where even today regressive practices like identifying a person's caste by his or her surname or identifying a woman by her husband's name continue unabated, writes Navya P K.

A new child-led survey has documented the types of violence children in Maharashtra are exposed to. Alka Gadgil reports the important findings from the survey.

The Social Work Research Centre addresses community problems by building upon people's skills, and placing the solutions in their own hands.

The Centre for Women's Development Studies (CWDS) has developed long-overdue indicators to assess gender sensitivity in governance.

Indra Chopra looks at the dowry custom cloaked within current-day marriages.

Both legalisation and decriminalisation talk about protecting prostitutes from police harassment, as well as guarding their right of choice. But they have so far failed to address the issue of vulnerability of the women in the sex trade. Asha Ramesh notes different voices in the debate over what the legal stance towards prostitution should be.

A pan-India survey conducted recently by the Bangalore-based Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC) has brought an alarming new phenomenon of premature menopause amongst Indian women to light. Neeta Lal has more.

Dilution or outright waiver of punishment if a rapist offers to marry his victim is an extra-legal step, one that is not written into law anywhere. But it continues to be entertained because the internalisation of stigmatisation is wide-spread, and even the victims believe it. Shoma Chatterji reports.

Qurratulain Hyder did tremendous justice to her craft by giving a powerful expression to the psychological, emotional and social concerns of women. Humayun Zafar Zaidi writes about the Jnanpith award-winning writer who recently passed away.

Does inequality engender crime? S Venkatraman presents a graphical exposition of data from a recent WEF report and the NCRB to unravel the many layers of inequality and violence against women in India.

Manjari Singh reports on the opening of the Lucknow branch of Sheroes Hangout, a café run and managed by acid attack survivors under the guidance of the humanitarian organisation “Stop Acid Attacks”

Women are making a mark in a profession almost entirely dominated by men. Shoma Chatterji talks to the women idol makers of Kumartuli to find out about their struggle and success.

October is domestic violence awareness month. Pushpa Achanta shares stories of victims of domestic violence to point out why the dilution of IPC Section 498A by the Supreme Court is a blow to the fight against domestic violence.

New electronic trading exchanges promise to give Indian farmers better options for marketing their crops, eliminating middle-men costs substantially in the process. To gain market-share, the exchanges will have to help farmers become familiar with the system. Gagandeep Kaur reports.

Why is the struggle for women representatives so much harder at the national level? Is every effort merely a pretense, a concession to the few highly educated and aware women voters that ultimately means nothing to the great majority of others? Vaijayanti Gupta notes yet another opportunity thwarted.

There are four ideas for a Lokpal and a 'Sense of the House' resolution of Parliament itself before the standing committee whic begins work shortly. The battle for Lokpal is far from over, writes Mathew Prasad Idiculla.

Over 1400 families who had started living on the rubber plantation of Harrisons & Crossfields -- the Chengara struggle -- will now get land in a deal brokered by the Chief Minister in the presence of the Leader of the Opposition. P N Venugopal takes stock.

A simple way to claim that everyone affected by dam construction is properly rehabilitated is to make a list of affected persons - and then leave off thousands of them from the list. This has been the history of rehabilitation in the Narmada valley. Himanshu Upadhyaya notes that after many years, the game isn't quite adding up in the courts.

Krishna Rupanagunta urges a determined beginning to counting the true costs of hardship in labour.

The World Bank's much touted 'knowledge' products are coming out of a flawed process. The bank hires highly paid consultants who are mostly directed through a system of incentives towards arriving at a pre-determined policy consensus. Information and experiences that run counter to the consensus are ignored. Shripad Dharmadhikary on the implications for India.

"Power to the people" will not be ushered in by the microchip or hydrogen battery, but by a redistribution of wealth. Darryl D'Monte fears the celebrated New York Times columnist may be misplacing his faith.

Popular ideas of development and management of common resources should be revisited in light of this year's Economics Nobel Prize, given to Prof. Elinor Ostrom, writes Prakash Kashwan.