Daily News Dose: COVID-19 rearing its head again in Kerala after a lull | June 4, 2022

Hello, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. I'm your host, Ajish Jimmy George, and these are the major news stories of the day:

COVID-19 rearing its head again in Kerala after a lull

Top singer, actor who handed over credit card to Vijay Babu to be quizzed

Pressure mounts on KCR govt over rape case, police apprehend 2 juveniles

G-6 rebel group is giving Congress a tough time for 4th Rajya Sabha seat in Rajasthan

MVD to ensure foolproof location tracking device in vehicles

Let’s get into the details.

After a lull COVID-19 is rearing its head again in Kerala and elsewhere even as day-to-day affairs have almost returned to the pre-pandemic normalcy.

The situation in Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram and Kottayam districts, which have reported an increase in new COVID-19 cases, would be monitored closely. Those with suspected symptoms should get tested themselves.

The investigation into the rape case filed against leading filmmaker-actor Vijay Babu is set to pick up pace with his return from the Middle East.

So far 30 witnesses have deposed to the investigators.

In the coming days, the police would also be taking statements from an actor who had travelled to Dubai from Kerala with Babu’s credit card when he was hiding there.

Officers will also speak to a top singer who had reportedly seen Babu with the complainant in a luxury hotel in Kochi on one of the days the alleged rape took place.

According to the police, most of the witness statements received so far indicate that Babu had sexually abused the actress giving her false promises.

Two juveniles, accused of raping a schoolgirl in Hyderabad's Jubilee Hills last week, were apprehended on Saturday by the police.

Out of the 5 accused already identified, an 18-year old man was arrested on June 3.

One of the juveniles is the son of a local leader of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's Telangana Rashtra Samithi party.

The 17-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by five young men when she was returning home after a party in the Jubilee Hills area of Hyderabad on May 28. The police have identified all five based on CCTV footage and the statement of the survivor. Three of them are minors.

The crime in the heart of the Telangana capital, allegedly involving children of politicians driving luxury cars, has triggered a massive outcry.

The fielding of media baron Subhash Chandra as an independent candidate for the fourth Rajya Sabha seat in Rajasthan has left the ruling party, Congress, tensed. The Congress was thinking of easy win on three seats, while for the BJP at least one Rajya Sabha seat is assured.

In an attempt to save their MLAs from being poached, the Congress government has taken them to Udaipur as a part of political fencing.

Overall, four BSP and two Congress MLAs are giving a tough time to the Congress government and have evaded the party bid to secure them.

The group of these six MLAs is being called as G-6 as they are going vocal against the Congress government the same way G-23 once did against the Congress leadership.

Meanwhile, the BJP has also announced a blockade for its MLAs by herding them in what is called as a training camp.

The Motor Vehicles Department in Kerala has initiated steps to ensure the accuracy of Vehicle Location Tracking Device installed in all vehicles including school buses.

Under the Nirbhaya Scheme for women's safety, the Central government has made vehicle location tracking system mandatory for public transport vehicles and goods vehicles.

GPS-based vehicle tracking system enables easy tracking of locations of multiple vehicles in real time. The system keeps providing latest information on the vehicles' path, speed etc.

That brings us to the end of this episode! Be sure to come back tomorrow. As always, thanks for listening to Daily News Dose.