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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday demanded to know about the violent confrontation between Indian and Chinese armies along the undefined Line of Actual Control (LAC) at Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh. The Indian Army has said 20 of its soldiers, including a commanding officer, had been killed in clashes with Chinese troops in a major escalation of a weeks-long standoff between the two neighbours in the western Himalayas. “Why is the PM silent? Why is he hiding? Enough is enough. We need to know what has happened,” Gandhi tweeted. “How dare China kill our soldiers? How dare they take…

Thiruvananthapuram: Convalescent plasma therapy, an experimental medical procedure, where critical coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patients are treated using plasma collected from those who have recovered from the viral infection, have come to the rescue of a critical patient (51), who is undergoing treatment at Thrissur Medical College Hospital in Kerala, the state health department authorities said. The patient, who had returned from Delhi recently, amid the easing of nationwide lockdown restrictions, which were enforced from March to contain the spread of the Covid-19 outbreak, had tested positive and was on a ventilator support for six days, as his condition had worsened.…

China on Tuesday lodged a protest with India over the June 15 violent face-off between the troops of two countries, which it claimed took place when the Indian personnel crossed the border line for “illegal activities and provoked and attacked Chinese personnel” leading to serious physical conflict. The protest was "mentioned" during a meeting with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui, Indian Ambassador here Vikram Misri said. When asked if China has lodged the protest, Mr. Misri said “Yes, it was mentioned in the meeting,” but clarified that he was not summoned. “Summon is a wrong word,” Mr. Misri said…

Twenty new coronavirus cases were reported in the Siliguri Municipal Corporation area on Monday, taking the total number of patients across north Bengal to around 1,100. Siliguri MLA Asok Bhattacharya whose swab sample was taken on Sunday has tested negative for the pathogen. The new Covid-19 patients in Siliguri are in localities like Subhashpally, Nabagram, Tikiapara, Ghogomali, Chayanpara, Samarnagar, Maharaj Colony, Sevoke Road, Bagrakote, Jadavpally, Srawannagar, Bhupendranagar and Darjeeling More, said sources. “All necessary precautions would be taken in the areas concerned,” said an official of the Darjeeling district health department. The rise in the number of patients has made…

Prized delicacy hilsa is likely to be in short supply this year, dashing the hopes of a better catch in cleaner rivers because of the lockdown. Hilsa fishing formally resumed on Monday here — after the annual two-month ban from mid-April to promote breeding — but only around 15 per cent of the trawlers could hit the sea. Most trawlers of East Midnapore and South 24-Parganas fishermen are damaged by cyclone Amphan that hit the state on May 20. Though the state government compensated fishermen with damaged trawlers, repairmen are in short supply. So most trawlers are docked.

Sky lovers in the city are expected to catch glimpses of a partial solar eclipse on June 21, provided clouds do not play spoilsport. An annular solar eclipse, which occurs when the disc of the moon covers the central portion of the sun leaving only a ring-like peripheral region called the “ring of fire” visible — will happen on June 21, Debiprosad Duari, the director (research and academic) of MP Birla Planetarium, said. A similar annular solar eclipse had happened on December 26 last year. The eclipse was prominently visible from a stretch of southern India. Calcutta was tipped to…