India

Dehradun, Nov 1 (PTI) The social media accounts of an Uttarakhand minister holding key portfolios have been hacked.

The Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts of Urban Development Minister Madan Kaushik were hacked at around 2.30 am on Thursday, his Public Relations Officer (PRO) Sumit Bhargav said on Friday.

The hackers also hacked the minister's Gmail account, he added.

New Delhi, Nov 1 (PTI) The Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections came in at Rs 95,380 crore in October, down 5.29 per cent from Rs 1,00,710 crore in the same month last year, as per government data released on Friday.

This is the third consecutive month when GST mop-up remained below the Rs 1 lakh crore mark, despite the festival season.

Revenue collection from GST in September stood at Rs 91,916 crore.

Mumbai, Nov 1 (PTI) The NCP on Friday slammed BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar for his comment that Maharashtra may head for President's rule if the new government is not formed by November 7.

The comment sounded like a threat and insulted the state's people, the opposition party said.

With saffron allies BJP and Shiv Sena bickering over chief minister's post after winning majority in the Assembly polls, the new government is yet to be formed in Maharashtra.

Lucknow, Nov 1 (PTI) At least five people were killed after they inhaled toxic gas, which leaked during repairing of a sewer tank in a village in Sultanpur district on Friday, police said.

According to Superintendent of Police of Sultanpur Himanshu Kumar, the incident took place Katghara Patti village under the Dostpur police station area.

New Delhi, Nov 1 (PTI) Manufacturing activity in the country continued to weaken in October, with factory orders and production rising at the weakest rates in two years, a monthly survey said on Friday.

The headline seasonally adjusted IHS Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to a two-year low of 50.6 in October from 51.4 in September.

This indicates only a marginal improvement in the health of the manufacturing industry, the survey said.

In PMI parlance, a print above 50 means expansion, while a score below that denotes contraction.

New Delhi, Nov 1 (PTI) Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday said if the BJP or the government engaged Israeli agencies to snoop into the phones of journalists, lawyers, activists and politicians, it is a "scandal" with grave ramifications for national security.

Her remarks come after WhatsApp said that Indian scribes and human rights activists were among those globally spied upon by unnamed entities using Israeli spyware Pegasus.

Dera Baba Nanak (Punjab), Oct 31 (PTI) Come November 8, 2019, and the historic town of Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab will witness a convergence of tens of thousands of pilgrims for four days.

To accommodate the pilgrims, many of whom will be coming from distant lands, a sprawling 30 acres of land has been transformed into a well-equipped Tented City, with a capacity to put up around 3,500 people a day.

New Delhi, Oct 31 (PTI) Output of core infrastructure industries shrank by 5.2 per cent in September 2019 as seven of eight sectors witnessed negative growth, according to official data released on Thursday.

The eight core sectors had expanded by 4.3 per cent in September 2018.

Production of seven sectors of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, cement, steel, and electricity contracted in September.

Fertilizers production increased by 5.4 per cent in September 2019 over the year-ago month.

Palghar, Oct 31 (PTI) An offence has been registered against a man for allegedly raping his stepdaughter over a period of one month at Waliv town in Palghar, Maharashtra, an official from the district rural police said on Thursday.

In her complaint, the 15-year-old victim stated that the accused had repeatedly raped her for a month and had threatened her with dire consequences if she revealed the same to anyone, the official said.

Jammu, Oct 31 (PTI) Pampore, the hub of saffron in Kashmir, is expected to have a bumper crop of the spice this season due to initiatives taken by the national mission on saffron (NMS).

Under the NMS, a project of Rs 411 crore was approved by the Government of India in 2010-2011, under which an area of 3,715 hectare of saffron was proposed to be rejuvenated, a senior officer of Agriculture Department said.