Moneycontrol Selects: Top stories this afternoon

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls for the full respect of all religions and for ensuring that different communities can live in harmony and peace globally, his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said amidst communal tensions in Rajasthan after the killing of a tailor in Udaipur. Read more.

Romance scams explode, leaving broken hearts and millions lost

Digital romance scams have surged over the past two years, leading to millions of dollars in losses for people who were wooed and then duped out of money. While con artists have long been a part of life on the internet, experts say the trend exploded as Covid-19 lockdowns created the perfect opportunity for swindlers seeking lonely targets. Read more.

Centre asks states to ramp up COVID-19 surveillance as cases surge

The Union health ministry, on June 29, issued fresh guidelines on COVID-19 surveillance in the country saying that sewage or wastewater surveillance should be carried out in states and samples from large outbreaks should be subjected to whole genome sequencing. Read more.

Uddhav Thackeray: Reluctant CM whose tenure cut short by rebellion

Not many would have thought before the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections that Uddhav Thackeray, son of Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, could snap ties with his party's all-weather ally BJP, and become chief minister to head an unlikely coalition with the NCP and Congress. Read more.