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India backs hydroxychloroquine
India's top biomedical research body on Tuesday backed the use of the anti-malarial hydroxychloroquine as a preventive against coronavirus, after the World Health Organisation suspended clinical trials of the drug over safety concerns.
The endorsement from the Indian Council of Medical Research came a week after United States President Donald Trump said he is taking the drug as a preventive measure.
Right train wrong destination
Indian Railways officials were left red-faced last Saturday after a special train for migrant workers which started its journey from Mumbai for Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh on May 21 ended up in Rourkela in Odisha.
The passengers were not told about the change in the route. "There must have been some operational compulsion for the diversion," said a senior railway ministry official.
"The conditions are really challenging. Routing trains is a complex exercise. This has never happened before."
'Killer' snake sent for forensic test
The Kerala Police team investigating the bizarre murder of a housewife through a snake bite has exhumed the carcass of the cobra and sent it for forensic examination.
The incident took place on May 6 when 25-year-old Uthara Suraj was killed in Anchal, near Thiruvananthapuram. The snake was later killed by Uthara's parents.
On May 24, the police arrested her husband Suraj and his friend Suresh, a professional snake catcher, in connection with the case.
Goa government probing controversial passage
Goa's Education Department is probing how a controversial passage, which implied it is difficult to get a job in the state without bribery or influence, was included in the English language question paper of the recent Staff Selection Commission examinations.
The passage, which was part of a grammar-related question, suggested that, because jobs are difficult to get, local youth were forced to migrate abroad. Nearly 11,000 students appeared for the examinations.
Drones deployed against locusts
Huge swarms of desert locusts are destroying crops across western and central India, prompting authorities to step up their response to the country's worst plague in nearly three decades.
Drones, tractors and cars have been sent out to track the voracious pests and spray them with pesticides.
The locusts have already destroyed nearly 50,000 hectares of cropland.
