India

Kanpur: Consumers at the window counter of the power sub-division coming under Jajmau Division felt no annoyance in depositing their respective electricity bills on Thursday afternoon. The reason behind this was straight, no crowd was converged at the concluding days of the month.

Even the consumers' face was brightening with a satisfactory gleam as they were not minding the passing of time to reach the counter. They knew it that there was no need to rush though the weather's icy condition was disturbing them in the queue.

Pulwama, Jan22: A Kashmiri separatist was killed in an alleged encounter with Indian security forces in Budgam district of Indian administered Kashmir, police said.

An Indian soldier and a special police officer (SPO) were also killed in a gunbattle in the area of Tuesday.

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s top court on Wednesday began hearing dozens of petitions seeking the revocation of amendments to the citizenship law following nationwide protests and a security crackdown that led to more than 20 deaths.

The Supreme Court would not grant a stay before hearing from the government, which has argued the law is a humanitarian gesture allowing citizenship for people fleeing religious persecution in Muslim-majority Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

Jaipur, Jan 22 (PTI) Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday slammed the Centre over economic issues, saying inflation and unemployment may lead to starvation in the country.

He accused the Centre of diverting people's attention from real issues and said disagreement today was being taken as sedition.

Korba, Jan 22 (PTI) A 23-year-old tribal woman was allegedly raped by three men at a forest in Chhattisgarh's Korba district, a police official said on Wednesday.

All the accused have been arrested, he said.

The incident took place late Sunday evening when the woman went to relieve herself in a forest area under Balco Nagar police station limits, the official said.

New Delhi, Jan 22 (PTI) India slipped 10 places to 51st position in the 2019 Democracy Index's global ranking, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit, which cited "erosion of civil liberties" in the country as the primary cause for the downtrend.

India's overall score fell from 7.23 in 2018 to 6.90 in the Index that provides a snapshot of the current state of democracy worldwide for 165 independent states and two territories.

Thane, Jan 21 (PTI) A 24-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly raping his five-year-old neighbour in Maharashtra's Thane city, police said.

The accused, Deepesh Sutar, an employee of a courier company, lived in the same chawl as the victim at Lokmanya Nagar Pada no. 2, senior inspector S B Gaikwad of Vartak Nagar police station said.

The incident took place at around 6 pm on Sunday, when Sutar lured the victim to his house and sexually abused her when no one was around, he said.

Lucknow, Jan 21 (PTI) Reacting to Union Home Minister Amit Shah's statement that the CAA will not be withdrawn, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said it reflected intolerance as the BJP "wants to crush people with the road roller of its majority".

Lashing out at the BJP, the former UP CM said the saffron party is making "intolerance" as its identity.

Bhopal, Jan 21 (PTI) The National Commission for Scheduled Castes on Tuesday directed Sagar district police in Madhya Pradesh to submit a report within a week in connection with the setting ablaze of a Dalit youth on January 14.

Dhanprasad Ahirwar (24) was doused with kerosene in Dharmshri Colony, some 170 kilometres from here, over a dispute allegedly by a group of 15-20 men, five of whom were arrested later.

Noida (UP), Jan 21 (PTI) Two police constables were allegedly found stealing packets of milk from outside a kiosk here, prompting disciplinary action against them, officials said on Tuesday.

A constable was purportedly seen in a CCTV footage sneaking out two packets from a milk crate kept outside a kiosk in Phase 2 police station area around 5 am on January 19, the officials said.

The other constable was inside their duty vehicle, which was seen standing next to the milk crates kept on the road outside the kiosk, they said.