Officer heading demolition drive shot dead in Himachal Pradesh

New Delhi, Jan 9: The Union government has removed the central security cover of Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Paneerselvam and DMK leader M K Stalin, officials said on Thursday.

They said while Paneerselvam had a smaller 'Y+' cover of central paramilitary commandos, Stalin had a larger 'Z+' protection.

The security cover of these two politicians has been taken off from the central security list after a threat assessment review was made by central security agencies and approved by the Union home ministry, they said.

Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) commandos were protecting these two leaders of Tamil Nadu.

However, they said, the central security cover will be formally taken off after the state police takes over their security task, they added.

Lucknow, Feb 2: In an early morning firing at Lucknow's Hazratganj, the city centre, Vishva Hindu Mahasabha state president Ranjit Bachchan was killed while he was out on a morning walk on Sunday.

Ranjit Bachchan was taking a stroll in Hazratganj in the morning when bike-borne assailants opened fire on him and killed him on the spot. The Mahasabha leader was shot in the head multiple times.

The incident took place near the CDRI building in Lucknow's Hazratganj.

In the firing, Ranjit Bachchan's brother also suffered bullet injuries. He has been rushed to the trauma centre. Ranjit Bachchan was a resident of Gorakhpur.

The early morning shootout in the Uttar Pradesh capital's central area has caused tension in the area.

Dinesh Singh, DCP Central Lucknow, said, "The body has been identified as of Ranjit Bachchan, who had gone out on morning walk when some unknown assailant shot him. A police team has been formed and further investigation is being carried out."

Before being associated with the Mahasabha, Ranjit Bachchan was a Samajwadi Party member and was often spotted with former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.

The Samajwadi Party has hit out at the Yogi Adityanath government over the law and order situation in the state and demanded immediate resignation of the government.

Mar 5: The fourteen Italians, who have tested positive for coronavirus, have been shifted to the Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon from an ITBP quarantine centre.

The hospital issued a statement on Thursday morning, saying these patients are housed on a completely separate floor, which has been quarantined and has no contact with the rest of the hospital.

There is a dedicated medical team wearing protective gear looking after these patients.All items used on the floor are isolated to that floor.

The isolated floor will completely contain the disease even with these asymptomatic persons. All other hospital operations are operating as normal, and there is no increased risk to patients, visitors or staff, the statement said.

Twenty-one Italian tourists and their three Indian tour operators were shifted out from an ITBP quarantine centre here on Wednesday as they were exposed to novel coronavirus.

An affected Italian couple is being treated at Jaipur's SMS medical college.

Officials on Tuesday said the foreigners have been sent to a private hospital in Gurgaon and a centre in the national capital while the Indians have been transferred to the Safdarjung Hospital.

Fourteen Italians and an Indian (driver), who were in the same group as the affected Italian couple, tested positive for the virus as per information provided by the Health Ministry.

The Italian tourists and three Indians were admitted to the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force centre in Chhawla on Tuesday.

The Centre already has 112 people, 76 Indians and 36 foreigners, since February 27 after they were evacuated by an Indian Air Force (IAF) plane from China's Wuhan, the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus.

The first samples of these 112 people had tested negative when reports came in last week.