India

Jaipur, Jan 16 (PTI) Around 400 farmers from Kerala have joined the ongoing agitation near the Rajasthan-Haryana border against three new farm laws.

A group of farmers from Kerala came to Alwar's Shahjahanpur on Friday to participate in the sit-in launched by Sanyukt Kisan Morcha against the Centre's farm laws, former CPI (M) MLA Amra Ram said.

New Delhi, Jan 16 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched India's COVID-19 vaccination drive and asserted that the made-in-India vaccines being rolled out will ensure a "decisive victory" for the country over the coronavirus pandemic.

Addressing the nation ahead of the launch, Modi reminded people that two doses of vaccine are very important and asked them to maintain wearing masks and social distancing even after receiving the jabs.

"'Dawai bhi, kadai bhi," he said.

Jalaun (UP); 16 January 2021 (UMMN): A 63-year-old BJP leader has been arrested on Wednesday on charges of sexual exploitation of two children.

Ram Bihari Rathore, the vice-president of the Bhartiya Janata Party’s  Koanch tehsil unit and a former lekhpal’ (revenue record keeper) of the Uttar Pradesh government, may have sodomised more than 36 children as news on social media suggests.

NEW DELHI (AP) — India started inoculating health workers Saturday in what is likely the world’s largest COVID-19 vaccination campaign, joining the ranks of wealthier nations where the effort is already well underway.

India is home to the world’s largest vaccine makers and has one of the biggest immunization programs. But there is no playbook for the enormity of the current challenge.

NEW DELHI, Jan 15 (NNN-BSS) –India is set to launch the world’s largest vaccination drive against COVID-19 tomorrow with a record 300,000 health care workers across the country scheduled to get vaccinated on the first day.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the pan India rollout of COVID-19 vaccination drive tomorrow morning through video conferencing, according to an official statement issued here last evening.

New Delhi, Jan 15 (PTI) The ninth round of talks between protesting farmer unions and three central ministers got underway here on Friday afternoon to break the over-a-month-long deadlock on the three new agri laws.

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Railways, Commerce and Food Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Commerce Som Parkash, who is an MP from Punjab, are holding the talks with the representatives of around 40 farmer unions at the Vigyan Bhawan here.

New Delhi, Jan 13 (PTI) In a major decision, the government on Wednesday approved the procurement of 83 indigenously-developed light combat aircraft Tejas for the Indian Air Force (IAF) at a cost of Rs 48,000 crore.

Bhopal, Jan 13 (PTI) Targeting Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over his demand for a debate on parity in the legal age of marriage for both the sexes, former Congress minister Sajjan Singh Verma on Wednesday said even a 15-year-old girl is capable of reproduction, drawing a sharp reaction from the BJP which demanded his apology.

As Verma's remarks caused uproar, the Congress said the BJP was bent on making an issue out of nothing.

Thane, Jan 13 (PTI) A 15-year-old girl has been raped in Bhayandar in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) by three men, who have been arrested, police said on Wednesday.

The incident occurred at an isolated spot on Tuesday late night when the victim was chatting with her friends, a police official said.

He said the accused, Sanjay Bharti (26), Ambesh Gautam (24) and Indrajit Gautam (24), dragged the victim away while her friends fled.

The trio, all labourers, was remanded in police custody till January 22.

Ballia (UP), Jan 13 (PTI) The All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) is likely to contest the upcoming panchayat polls in Uttar Pradesh under an electoral pact with regional outfit Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP).

The SBSP, headed by former UP minister Om Prakash Rajbhar, is garnering smaller and regional parties under the Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha.

"Candidates belonging to Asaduddin Owaisi's party are likely to be fielded in the panchayat elections as the Morcha's joint candidate," Rajbhar told reporters here on Wednesday.