India

Lucknow, Sep 30 (PTI) All the 32 accused in the Babri mosque demolition case, including BJP veterans L K Advani and MM Joshi, were on Wednesday acquitted by a special CBI court here.

The court said there was no conclusive proof against the accused.

The case relates to the razing of the disputed structure in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.

Mumbai, Sep 30 (PTI) The NCP on Wednesday criticised the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government over the Hathras gang-rape victim's family being allegedly denied the right to perform her last rites.

Amid allegations by the 19-year-old victim's family that the local police forced them to conduct the last rites in the dead of the night, Maharashtra NCP chief Jayant Patil termed it as "inhuman and unfortunate".

New Delhi, Sep 30 (PTI) India on Wednesday successfully test fired the supersonic cruise missile BrahMos having a range of around 400 km, officials said.

The BrahMos cruise missile travels at a speed of Mach 2.8, nearly three times that of sound.

The test firing of the missile was carried out by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) off the coast of Balasore in Odisha, the officials said.

NEW DELHI, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- The death toll due to COVID-19 in India is inching towards the 100,000-mark, reaching 97,497 on Wednesday.

As many as 1,179 deaths were registered during the past 24 hours, according to the data released by the federal health ministry.

Meanwhile, 80,472 new COVID-19 cases took the total tally to 6,225,763, according to the data.

Still there are 940,441 active COVID-19 cases in the country, while 5,187,825 people have been cured and discharged.

Bengaluru, Sep 29 (PTI) The 300th Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH-Dhruv) was rolled out from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited's hangar here on Tuesday.

Speaking on the occasion, HAL CMD, R Madhavan said ALH never looked back from the day when the prototype took its maiden flight on August 30, 1992 and has "evolved into a world class helicopter with its unparalleled performance".

Nagpur, Sep 29 (PTI) Four men were arrested in Nagpur in Maharashtra on Tuesday for allegedly raping a 15-year-old girlfriend of one of them last month, police said.

The arrests were made after the victim approached the police earlier in the day, a day after one of the accused asked her to go out with him, said Jaripatka police station in-charge Khushal Tijare.

The alleged incident occurred on August 8 in Nara area when the victim had gone out with her boyfriend Yash Meshram (23), who is prime accused in the case, he said.

New Delhi, Sep 29 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Jammu and Kashmir administration to respond to Iltija Mufti's amended plea challenging the detention of her mother and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti under the J-K Public Safety Act, saying detention cannot be forever and "some via media" should be explored.

A bench of justices S K Kaul and Hrishikesh Roy said that PDP leader should place a request to the authorities for attending party meetings.

The apex court permitted Iltija and her uncle to meet Mehbooba Mufti in detention.

Puri, Sep 29 (PTI) At least 351 servitors and 53 employees of Shree Jagannath Temple here have tested positive for COVID-19, an official said.

A total of 404 persons engaged in the 12th century shrine have tested positive for the virus since August, said Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) administrator Ajay Jena said on Tuesday.

New Delhi, Sep 29 (PTI) The present security scenario along our northern frontiers is at an uneasy "no war no peace" status, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria said on Tuesday, referring to the prolonged border row with China in eastern Ladakh.

In an address at a conference, Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria said the Indian Air Force has responded to the situation with rapidity and is fully resolved to counter any "misadventure" in the region.

Srinagar, Sep 28 (PTI) The investigation into an alleged fake encounter in Shopian, in which three men from Rajouri district were killed, is in the final stages, Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh said on Monday.

"The SSP, Shopian is himself monitoring the investigation process and further details about the case will be shared very soon. Our investigations are in the final stage," the DGP told reporters at Awantipora in Pulwama district.