News updates: Govt raises windfall tax on petroleum crude

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The Indian government has raised the windfall tax on petroleum crude to Rs 6,000 ($71.91) per metric ton from Rs 3,250, with effect from July 2, according to a notification issued on Monday.

A dangerous and extremely powerful Hurricane Beryl made landfall Monday on the Caribbean island of Carriacou after becoming the earliest storm of its strength to form in the Atlantic, fueled by record warm waters.

A Delhi court on Monday sentenced activist Medha Patkar to five months in jail in a defamation case filed against her by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena in 2001. The judge said that excessive punishment of one year or two years is not being given, taking into consideration Patkar's age and health condition.

The country's justice system will see three new criminal laws -- Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam -- come into effect today. These laws are set to replace the colonial-era Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act, respectively. Judgments are now required to be pronounced within 45 days of completion of trial and charges framed within 60 days of first hearing. The three new laws will let any person  file a Zero FIR at any police station, regardless of jurisdiction and will allow online registration of police complaints and digital serving of summons.

The far-right National Rally (RN) party of Marine Le Pen in France is eyeing a chance to form a government and claim the post of prime minister after winning the first round of legislative polls with the centrist forces of President Emmanuel Macron coming in only third. The far right would need to win the absolute majority of seats in the new National Assembly in the July 7 second round to be assured of taking power.

Two women died and 11 people were injured after being buried under the debris of an overhead water tank that collapsed in a densely populated area of Mathura district on Sunday, officials said. One of the injured, identified as Nawab (35), has been sent to SN Medical College and Hospital in Agra as his condition was serious, they said. The incident took place at around 6 pm in Krishna Vihar Colony developed by the Uttar Pradesh Awas Vikas Parishad.