India

Chennai, Jan 8 (PTI) Asserting that a cartel of doctors, pharma firms and diagnostic labs are fleecing patients in the country, the Madras High court on Wednesday took notice of the practise of providing 'commissions' to doctors for promoting and prescribing their drugs.

New Delhi, Jan 8 (PTI) Hundreds of people sat in front of the Jama Masjid in Delhi on Wednesday with candles and posters to protest against the amended citizenship law, NRC and the National Population Register.

Residents, mostly from all parts of Old Delhi -- Lal Kuan, Gali Kasim, Bhuja Pandi and Ajmeri Gate -- participated in the protest, where they also expressed solidarity with the students of the JNU and the Jamia Millia Islamia.

Mumbai, Jan 8 (PTI) Hundreds of people, including senior citizens, youths and women, took part in a march in sururban Bandra against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the recent violence at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi.

During the march, the protesters also raised slogans against the government over the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR).

New Delhi, Jan 9 (PTI) The Jawaharlal Nehru University has formed a five-member committee to probe the January 5 violence on the campus that had left around 35 people injured, and recommend measures to ensure safety of students, Vice Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar said on Thursday.

The panel will also probe lapses, if any, in security, Kumar told PTI.

A group of masked people armed with sticks and rods attacked students and teachers and damaged property on the campus on Sunday, prompting the university administration to call in the police.

New Delhi, Jan 9 (PTI) An average of 80 murders, 289 kidnappings and 91 rapes were reported every single day across the country in 2018, according to the latest data by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

Altogether, 50,74,634 cognizable crimes comprising 31,32,954 Indian Penal Code (IPC) crimes and 19,41,680 Special and Local Laws (SLL) crimes were registered in 2018, up from 50,07,044 in 2017, the data stated.

New Delhi, Jan 9 (PTI) Ahead of the Union Budget for 2020-21, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met economists and sector experts at the Niti Aayog to discuss the state of the economy and steps which can be taken to revive growth which is projected to drop to 5 per cent this fiscal.

The high-profile meeting was attended by Home Minister Amit Shah, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, besides Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar, CEO Amitabh Kant and other senior officials of the think-tank.

New Delhi, Jan 9 (PTI) Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday accused the BJP of making Delhi the "garbage capital of India" and claimed that the dump at Ghazipur landfill will soon cross the height of Taj Mahal.

Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal said the saffron party has reduced the national capital to a "garbage dump".

The "biggest gift" of the BJP to Delhi is the Ghazipur landfill which has been filled with garbage and the height of the garbage dump would soon cross the height of Taj Mahal, he said.

Kolkata, Jan 9 (PTI) The West Bengal government is testing the viability of white-topped roads, officials said on Thursday.

White-topping is a relatively new technology in which bituminous and asphalt roads are covered with concrete which substantially increases their longevity, a senior state official said.

The state government, in consultation with IIT- Kharagpur, has white-topped one kilometre of the town's bypass road to test cost-effectiveness and feasibility of the technology, he said.

New Delhi, Jan 9 (PTI) Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari flagged off a mega bike rally from the party office on Thursday against the violence in JNU and "misuse" of youth by opposition political parties to push their agenda.

The bike rally was scheduled to pass through Mandi House, Kashmiri Gate and Britannia Chowk. But it was diverted to bypass Mandi House owing to a march by students and teachers in the area, said Delhi BJP media relations head Neelkant Bakshi.

Palghar, Jan 9 (PTI) A 40-year-old tailor has been arrested for allegedly repeatedly raping a woman for more than two years in Maharashtra's Palghar district, police said on Thursday.

Ganesh Dubala, a tailor from Dungipada here, has been charged under sections 376 (rape), 354 (assault to a woman) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, police PRO Hemant Kumar Katkar said.