India

New Delhi, Feb 5 (PTI) AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal invited Union Home Minister Amit Shah for a public debate on any issue on Wednesday, saying the people of the national capital wanted to know why should they vote for the BJP in the February 8 Assembly polls.

Hyderabad, Feb 5 (PTI) The biennial 'Sammakka-Saralamma Jatara,' a mega tribal festival was celebrated with gaiety and fervor at Medaram village in Mulugu district of Telangana on Wednesday.

According to an official release, about one crore pilgrims from Telangana and neighbouring Maharashtra, Odisha and Chhattisgarh are expected to visit the festival.

State Governor Tamilsai Soundararajan and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao are expected to visit the congregation on February 7, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar told PTI.

New Delhi, Feb 5 (PTI) The Union Cabinet has given its nod to set up a trust for the construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Soon after the meeting of the Union Cabinet ended, Modi reached Lok Sabha to make a statement in this regard.

New Delhi, Feb 4 (PTI) The Supreme Court asked a Delhi BJP leader on Tuesday to approach its mentioning officer to get an early date for hearing of his plea seeking the removal of hundreds of anti-citizenship law protestors occupying a road-stretch in Delhi's Shaheen Bagh area.

Muzaffarnagar, Feb 5 (PTI) A class 9 girl was allegedly raped by two men, who made a video of the act and threatened to release it on the internet if she disclosed the matter to anyone, police said on Wednesday.

The 17-year-old girl was also being blackmailed by the accused, they said.

New Delhi, Feb 4 (PTI) The National Conference on Tuesday attacked the government in Lok Sabha for abrogation of special status of Jammu and Kashmir saying it was a historical blunder and has not brought down militancy.

Speaking on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address in Lok Sabha, NC member Hasnain Masoodi said despite the Centre abrogating Article 370 and withdrawing special status, a senior police officer was caught "hand in gloves" with militants.

Bhopal, Feb 4 (PTI) A 12-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her neighbour in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal city, police said.

The incident took place on Monday night when Manoj Prajapati (37), father of a three-year-old girl, lured the minor with a chocolate when she was playing outside her house, inspector Sudesh Tiwari of Ashoka Garden police station said.

Kolkata, Feb 4 (PTI) Actor Swara Bhaskar, one of the vocal critics of new citizenship law, claimed on Tuesday that the BJP-led Centre was making all efforts to polarise people, but those who have been able to see through its "divisive plans have rejected the party's narrative".

Bhaskar, while participating at a session at the 44th International Kolkata Book Fair, said citizens do not initially realise when their freedom is curtailed, as they try and adjust to the changes.

New Delhi, Feb 4 (PTI) Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who is undergoing treatment for a stomach infection at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital here, is stable and her condition has improved, the hospital authorities said on Tuesday.

Gandhi was admitted to the hospital on Sunday evening.

Fatehpur (UP), Feb 5 (PTI) A youth allegedly tried to rape a mentally unstable teenage girl in a village in Aung area here, police said on Wednesday.

The incident took place on Monday when the girl, about 14-years-old, was alone in her house and the youth who had come to attend a marriage in the village allegedly tried to rape her, police said.