Daily News Dose: UAE president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed dies | May 13, 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:

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi targets prime minister at Chintan Shivir

SC dismisses plea to postpone NEET-PG, says would affect patient care

UAE president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed dies

Model Shahana found dead in Kozhikode, husband in custody

Wayanad advocate hangs himself after bank’s bid to seize his house

Let's get into the details:

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Friday launched a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, charging that it has become clear that his mantra of 'minimum government, maximum governance' means keeping the country in a permanent state of polarisation, "brutalising" minorities and "threatening" political opponents.

In her inaugural address at the party's 'Chintan Shivir', which is being held in Udaipur, she urged delegates to deliberate with an open mind and send out a clear message of strong organisation and unity.

She said the brainstorming camp is also an occasion to deliberate on the many challenges the party faces and bring organisational changes.

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The Supreme Court on Friday refused to postpone the National-Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test, 2022, on a plea of doctors, saying the delay would cause unavailability of doctors and seriously affect patient care.

There are two categories of students -- one which is seeking postponement and the larger category of over two lakh six thousand candidates -- who would be affected by the postponement after having prepared for the examination, the bench said.

It also noted that the government is trying to bring back the schedule of examination on time as it was affected due to the pandemic.

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United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan passed away on Friday.

He served as the president of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi since November 3, 2004.

The Ministry of Presidential Affairs has announced 40 days of mourning for his death.

Flags will be flown at half-mast and ministries, departments, federal and local institutions will suspend work starting today.

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A fashion model and small-time actor was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Kozhikode on Friday.

Kasaragod native Shahana was found hanging on the window railing at her residence in Parambil Bazar. The place is about 14 km from Kozhikode City.

Her husband Sajjad has been taken into custody for questioning. The couple entered wedlock a year-and-half ago and was living in a rental accommodation.

Her relatives alleged that the 20-year-old Shahana was murdered.

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M V Tomy, an advocate, took his own life in Wayanad on Thursday after the bank from where he had availed a housing loan launched attachment procedures after he defaulted on repayments. Tomy, attached to the Bathery Bar, was a former public prosecutor and additional government pleader at the District Court.

Tomy had took a loan from the Pulpally branch of South Indian Bank to build a house on 5.5 cents of land he had purchased near Irulam town.

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Now let's check out the COVID numbers:

With 2,841 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, India's tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 4,31,16,254, while the active cases dipped to 18,604.

The Union Health Ministry data released at 8 am also showed that 9 fatalities, including 8 from Kerala alone, were reported in a 24-hour span.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.58 per cent and weekly positivity rate was 0.69 per cent.

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