India

Jammu, Jan 17 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu on Friday said protection of land and jobs for the locals would be ensured keeping in view the interest of the Union Territory.

Interacting with the councillors of Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) here, he also said the non-implementation of 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments was hampering the complete empowerment of panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) and urban local bodies (ULBs) in the UT.

Kakinada (AP), Jan 17(PTI): A four-year-old girl was allegedly raped by two minor boys while she was alone in her residence here on Friday, police said.

Based on a complaint from the victims mother, the boys, aged 8 and 12, have been detained under the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act, the police said, adding that the girl has been sent for a medical examination.

Lucknow, Jan 18 (PTI) Former chief of Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV) Sunil Singh, who was once considered close to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, joined the Samajwadi Party here on Saturday.

Singh joined the SP in the presence of party chief and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Some Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leaders also joined the SP at the party headquarters here.

Singh's shift of loyalty assumes significance as the HYV was founded by Adityanath in 2002 to promote "Hindutva and nationalism".

Jammu, Jan 18 (PTI) Prepaid mobile connections were restored in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday and 2G services resumed in two districts of the valley after being disconnected in August last year, official said here.

Voice and SMS facilities were restored for all local prepaid mobile phones across the Union territory.

Rohit Kansal, the principal secretary to the administration of Jammu and Kashmir said the order will come into effect from Saturday.

Hubballi(Ktk), Jan 18 (PTI) Ahead of BJP National President and Union Home Minister Amit Shah's visit to the city, a group of protesters raised "Go Back Amit Shah" slogans here and released black balloons in the air on Saturday.

Protesters claiming to be members of Samvidhana Samrakshana Samithi (Constitution Protection Committee) tried to stage a protest by sloganeering against Shah, NRC and CAA at court circle here, despite police denying permission.

They were later detained by the police, official sources said.

Mumbai, Jan 18 (PTI) Hitting back at Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut for his remarks on opponents of the Bharat Ratna honour for V D Savarkar, the Congress on Saturday said supporters of the Hindutva ideologue should visit the erstwhile Andaman Jail to understand the sacrifice made by those freedom fighters who never apologised to the British.

Hyderabad, Jan 18 (PTI) The upcoming urban local bodies polls is going to be a litmus test for both Congress and BJP in proving their might in urban areas of Telangana even as the ruling TRS is confident of bagging "lion's share" of municipalities and corporations.

The polling for 120 municipalities and nine municipal corporations will be held on January 22 and the results would be declared on January 25.

New Delhi, Jan 18 (PTI) A POCSO court convicted two men on Saturday for raping a five-year-old girl in east Delhi in 2013, saying the case had shaken the collective conscience of the society.

Additional Sessions Judge Naresh Kumar Malhotra convicted Manoj Shah and Pradeep Kumar in the case, saying that the child experienced exceptional depravity and extreme brutality.

New Delhi, Jan 17 (PTI) A Delhi court Friday issued fresh death warrants for February 1, 6 am against the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case.

Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar Arora was hearing a plea by one of the four death row convicts in the case, Mukesh Kumar Singh, seeking postponement of the date of his execution scheduled for January 22.

Earlier in the day, the Tihar jail authorities sought issuance of fresh death warrants against the four convicts.

Kanpur: After rains appear dark day on Saturday. Gusty winds force the residents indoor while the junior class had attended school amid tough and rough weather in the first month of the new year. Even the public on the road did not dare to move like the normal days.

According to the weather experts, the cloudy conditions will persist until January 22. Today's minimum temperature has been reported as low as 10 degrees Celsius.