India

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 3 (PTI) Days after the Kerala Assembly passed a resolution on repealing the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday wrote to his counterparts in 11 states on the need to save secularism and democracy.

In a letter to the chief ministers, including Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal, Vijayan said, "Apprehensions have arisen among large sections of our society consequent to the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019.

Bengaluru, Jan 3 (PTI) Protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) continued here on Friday with hundreds joining the agitation called by Congress legislator and former Minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan.

Though the protest date coincided with Prime Minister Narendra Modis presence in the city to inaugurate the 107th session of the Indian Science Congress, it was held only at around 2 pm, hours after Modi departed for New Delhi.

Chandigarh, Jan 3 (PTI) Nobody sleeps hungry in Punjab unless they are dieting, a minister here said when asked to comment on the state's lower ranking in the latest Niti Aayog's sustainable development goals (SDG) Index.

"Look, there is no person in Punjab who sleeps without having food at night," Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said.

"And if anybody is missing on his meal then he has done so just to reduce his weight. Punjab's diet is very heavy and healthy and our food is rich. There is no one in Punjab who sleeps hungry," Sidhu said.

Guwahati, Jan 3 (PTI) Former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday said the Congress will bring a resolution during the special one-day session of the Assam Legislative Assembly on January 13 to ensure that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is not implemented in the state.

The resolution will make a plea to ensure that the Assam Accord is not violated or diluted in any way by the CAA which should not be implemented in the state, Gogoi told reporters here.

Kolkata, Jan 3 (PTI) Senior CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami on Friday accused the BJP government at the Centre of turning Kashmir into a virtual prison by locking up leaders of different political parties after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution and by suppressing dissent.

Muzaffarnagar, Jan 4 (PTI) An eight-year-old boy was allegedly sodomised by a man in Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district, police said on Saturday.

A complaint was received by police from the victim's family that one Niraj Kumar took the boy to a sugarcane field and sexually assaulted him there, Station House Officer Parbhakar Kentura said.

The incident took place on in the Kandhla area of the district on Friday, he said.

A case was registered against the accused and efforts are on to nab him, Kentura said.

Shirdi, Jan 4 (PTI) The 11-day holiday rush saw over 8 lakh visitors thronging the Saibaba Temple in Shirdi, which received Rs 17.42 crore in donations, Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust (SSST) said on Saturday.

From December 23 last year to January 2, as many as 8.23 lakh devotees visited the famed temple at Shirdi in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district, the trust's chief executive officer Deepak Mugalikar said.

Meerut (UP), Jan 4 (PTI) Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday visited Meerut to meet the families of those killed in violence during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh police had stopped Priyanka and her brother Rahul Gandhi from entering the town on December 24, citing prohibitory orders under section 144 CrPC.

At least five people were killed during the protests in Meerut.

Hyderabad, Jan 4 (PTI) Hundreds of people on Saturday marched towards the Dharna Chowk in the central part of the city to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR).

On the busy road from Masab Tank to the Dharna Chowk, the protesters travelled in cars, two-wheelers and by walk, raising slogans, including against the CAA.

Some of them held national flags in their hands and also placards that read 'No CAA, No NRC and 'Boycott CAA, NPR & NRC'.

Mumbai, Jan 4 (PTI) A Bollywood production manager was arrested for his involvement in an alleged sex racket operating out of a four-star hotel in suburban Juhu here, police said on Saturday.

Acting on a tip-off, the Social Service (SS) branch raided Zed Luxury Residency Hotel on Friday, arrested Bollywood production manager Rajesh Kumar Lal and rescued two Uzbekistan nationals, an official said.

Earlier on December 23, the SS branch had rescued three women from a sex racket at the same hotel, he added.