India

New Delhi, Sep 30 (PTI) Contracting for the sixth consecutive month, the output of eight core infrastructure sectors dropped by 8.5 per cent in August, mainly due to decline in production of steel, refinery products and cement.

The production of eight core sectors had contracted 0.2 per cent in August 2019, showed data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry on Wednesday.

Barring coal and fertiliser, all sectors -- crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, steel, cement and electricity -- recorded negative growth in August.

Jharsuguda, Sep 29 (PTI) The deputy collector of Odisha's Boudh district was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly torturing and assaulting his wife, a senior police officer said.

Sarat Bag, an Odisha Administrative Service (OAS), was arrested on the basis of a complaint lodged by his wife on September 26, said Suchismita Mohanty, the inspector in-charge of BTM police station in Jharsuguda.

Bags wife has accused him of torturing and physically assaulting her. Based on her complaint, police registered a case and launched a hunt for Bag, she said.

New Delhi, Sep 29 (PTI) The Congress on Wednesday will hold internal discussions on the seat-sharing arrangements with like-minded parties for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections.

According to sources, the party has called its Bihar unit chief Madan Mohan Jha and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Sadanand Singh to the national capital on Wednesday.

The Congress is contesting the Bihar assembly polls as part of the 'Mahagathbandhan' with the RJD, Left parties and some smaller state parties.

New Delhi, Sep 29 (PTI) Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday tested positive for COVID-19 but is in good health, the Vice President Secretariat said.

Naidu, 71, who is asymptomatic, has been advised home quarantine.

In the evening, Naidu had addressed a virtual event on post-COVID healthcare where he urged the private sector to pitch in to improve healthcare system in rural India.

Raigarh, Sep 29 (PTI) A woman has told police she was raped and impregnated by her employer last year when she was suffering from mental illness, Raigarh police in Chhattisgarh said on Tuesday.

The Gharghoda resident worked as a domestic help at the house of the accused identified as Raja Ram Rathia last year when she was a teen, said Superintendent of Police Santosh Singh.

New Delhi, Sep 29 (PTI) The amended Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, which makes it mandatory for office-bearers of NGOs to furnish their Aadhaar numbers for registration, came into force on Tuesday, according to a Home Ministry notification.

The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Act, 2020, was passed by Parliament during the recently concluded Monsoon Session.

Kanpur: The district administration is serious to provide ample quantity of oxygen cylinders to the covid hospitals.

With the increase in the number of oxygen cylinders, a proposal to purchase as many as 300 cylinders has been prepared on the directives of the district magistrate Alok Tiwari.

Meanwhile, Dr Dinesh Sachan, CMS, Kanshiram Hospital, said: The DM has issued a directive to purchase as many as 320 oxygen cylinders in view of the rising requirement. He has extended budget to buy the cylinders from the Covid Fund. It would take one month in delivery.

Lucknow Sep 30 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday constituted a three-member SIT to probe the Hathras gang-rape incident which has sparked outrage.

A senior government official said the chief minister has also asked for conducting the trial of the case in a fast track court.

A 19-year-old woman was brutally gang-raped in a village in Hathras district two weeks ago. She died of her grievous injuries at a Delhi hospital on Tuesday, prompting outrage, protests and calls for justice.

New Delhi, Sep 30 (PTI) The national capital's air quality was recorded in the 'moderate' category on Wednesday morning, while a government forecasting agency said it is likely to turn 'poor' by Friday.

Delhi recorded an air quality index (AQI) of 160 at 10:30 am, which falls in the moderate category. The 24-hour average AQI on Tuesday was 177.

An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'.

Lucknow, Sep 30 (PTI) The verdict by a special court in the Babri Masjid demolition case comes 28 years after kar sevaks razed the 16th century mosque and almost a year after the Supreme Court settled the land case in favour of a Ram temple at the disputed Ayodhya site. A timeline:

- 1528: Babri Masjid built by Mir Baqi, commander of Mughal emperor Babur.

- 1885: Mahant Raghubir Das files plea in Faizabad district court seeking permission to build a canopy outside the disputed structure. Court rejects the plea.