India

Sehore (MP), Jul 20 (PTI) BJP vice president and former Union minister Uma Bharti on Monday termed a remark made by NCP chief Sharad Pawar on the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya as "Bhagwan Ram drohi" (anti Lord Ram).

Pawar on Sunday said some people think building a temple will help get rid of the COVID-19 pandemic, a day after the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust suggested two dates in August for laying the foundation stone for a Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Kolkata, Jul 20 (PTI) With several weddings and religious functions being put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many Hindu priests in Kolkata and its vicinity are in dire straits, some even looking for an alternative source of income to make ends meet.

Sushanta Chakraborty, a priest in Agarpara on the northern outskirts of the city, is selling vegetables in his locality, something that he said his "ancestors couldn't have thought of, no matter what the circumstances".

Thane,Jul 20(PTI) A 25-year-old priest of a gurdwara in Thane district of Maharashtra has been arrested for allegedly killing his wife after an argument, police said on Monday.

The accused, Bhajan Singh Sardar Singh Jadhav, allegedly attacked his wife Pooja (23) with a fan stand at their house in Bhiwandi on Sunday morning, after she refused to feed milk to their one-year-old daughter, Narpoli police station inspector R A Wani said, adding that neighbours alerted the police about the incident.

The victim died on the spot.

Jaipur, Jul 20 (PTI) Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday called Sachin Pilot useless , using the Hindi word nikamma in a no-holds-barred attack on his former deputy with whom he is locked in a power tussle.

Referring to the dissident leader's tenure as the Pradesh Congress Committee president, Gehlot claimed that nobody raised questions for the sake of the party even when they knew that he didn't work.

KANPUR: Online classes are now the reality of the day. It is not practical to open the school in view of increasing cases of the coronavirus. Control is yet not clearly possible that leads to the execution of lockdown again.

Students are attending the virtual classes staying at the precincts of their respective homes. What they require is an internet link for learning their subjects on different days.

Kolkata, Jul 20 (PTI) The BJP Mahila Morcha held a protest rally here on Monday over the death of a teenage girl at Chopra in North Dinajpur district, alleging that she was sexually assaulted and murdered.

As per the initial post mortem report, the girl died of poisoning and there was no sign of any external injury.

The rally, led by BJP Mahila Morcha state unit president Agnimitra Paul, which was to be held from Gariahat to Deshapriya Park in south Kolkata, was stopped by the police at the outset.

New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) IndiGo has decided to lay off 10 per cent of its workforce due to the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, its CEO Ronojoy Dutta said on Monday.

"From where things stand currently, it is impossible for our company to fly through this economic storm without making some sacrifices, in order to sustain our business operations," Dutta said in a statement.

Vijayapura (Karnataka), July 20 (PTI) A Dalit man was stripped and thrashed by a group of people in this district in Karnataka for allegedly touching the motorbike of another community member, police said on Monday.

As a video of the incident went viral on social media, a counter-complaint was lodged, claiming he was assaulted for teasing two girls of Minajagi village, a police official said.

Two people had been arrested and further investigation was on into both complaints, District Superintendent of Police Anupam Agrawal said.

New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) A 45-year-old man was found hanging inside the Congress headquarters' servant quarters here, police said on Monday.

The deceased has been identified as Prakash Singh, they said.

New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) The free trade agreements (FTAs) that India entered into over the years have not been able to largely serve the country's economy well in terms of building its capacities, though all such pacts are not the same, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday.

The external affairs minister said there are ways of engaging the world which do not necessarily have to be "FTA-centric".