India

Burdwan (WB), Feb 9 (PTI) A tunnel, believed to be centuries-old, was unearthed while digging a plot of land for building the foundation of a house in West Bengal's East Burdwan district, officials said on Sunday.

During foundation work on the land of Jiarul Mullick in Mahata village under Bhatar block on Saturday, a seven feet by four feet opening of the tunnel was found, the district officials said.

Panaji, Feb 9 (PTI) Archbishop of Goa and Daman, Rev Filipe Neri Ferrao, has urged the central government to "immediately and unconditionally revoke the Citizenship Amendment Act" and stop quashing the "right to dissent".

He also appealed to the government not to implement the proposed countrywide National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR).

Bhubaneswar, Feb 9 (PTI) Littering railway properties will attract hefty fines from Monday as the East Coast Railway (ECoR) has revised penalties, as part of its measures to maintain cleanliness and hygiene.

According to an ECoR oficial, commuters will have to cough up more for strewing trash on railway station premises, defacing property, spitting, sticking unauthorized bills and open defecation.

New Delhi, Feb 8 (PTI) Delhi recorded a voter turnout of 57.06 pc till 6 pm, even as polling at some booths was underway and the figure is likely to rise, Delhi's Chief Electoral Officer Ranbir Singh said on Saturday.

Polling officially ends at 6 pm. But voters, who enter polling stations till 6 pm, are allowed to cast their vote.

Singh said there were long queues at many polling booths.

Kanpur: Once this city boasted of trams running at selected destinations now gears up for the metro rail.The work on this modern fast transport system continues at a fast pace. 

In this connection, Kumar Keshav, MD, UP Metro Rail Corporation, conducted an  inspection of metro rail sections that were put on priority level. The metro will run on both the lines overhead and underground in this business city.

New Delhi, Feb 7 (PTI) Former Union Minister M J Akbar told a Delhi court Friday that scribe Priya Ramani's accusations of sexual misconduct against him in the wake of #MeToo movement in 2018 were "figment of her imagination" and caused him "great humiliation" and "irreparably damaged his reputation".

London, Feb 7 (PTI) A UK court on Friday directed Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani to pay USD 100 million towards a conditional order granted to three Chinese banks pursuing the recovery of over USD 680 million owed to them as part of a loan agreement.

Kendrapara (Odisha), Feb 7 (PTI) A 21-year-old woman, who was battling for life for nearly a week after being set ablaze by her in-laws in Odisha's Kendrapara district over dowry, succumbed to the burn injuries, police said on Friday.

Rashmita Sahu, who sustained more than 60 per cent burns, died on Thursday night at the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, they said.

Jajpur (Odisha), Feb 7 (PTI) A 40-year-old man was arrested for allegedly raping his 7-year-old stepdaughter in Odisha's Jajpur district, police said on Friday.

The incident happened at Dharmasala area of the district, the police said.

New Delhi, Feb 7 (PTI) There is a need to improve the collegium system of appointment of judges, former Supreme Court judge Justice A K Sikri said on Friday while stressing on the requirement of judicial reforms in the country.

Justice Sikri, who is currently international judge of the Singapore international commercial court, said that around 30 million cases are pending in courts across the country and the executive and the judiciary are equally responsible for delay in appointments of judges.