India

Jammu, Oct 26 (PTI) The National Conference on Saturday hoped that Lt Governor- designate Girish Chander Murmu would appreciate the "sentiment and sensitivity" of the people and would accord priority to the restoration of the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir.

It also hoped the change of guard in the Raj Bhavan would usher a new era of confidence for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

Patna, Oct 26 (PTI) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday launched around 35,000 schemes worth over Rs 1,600 crore, as part of his ambitions 'Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali' campaign that seeks to boost green cover and the water table in the state.

Foundation stones were laid for 32,781 schemes worth Rs 1,359.27 crore, while another 2,391 involving an expenditure of Rs 291.27 crore were inaugurated by Kumar at a function organised at the Samrat Ashok Convention Centre here.

Srinagar, Oct 27 (PTI) The shutdown in Kashmir, following the abrogation of Article 370, has crippled the valley's economy as the business community has suffered losses amounting to over Rs 10,000 crore in three months, a trade body said here.

The deadlock in Kashmir, after the Centre announced the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, completed 84 days on Sunday with the valley in shutdown as the main markets continued to remain shut and public transport off the roads.

Kanpur: Though patchwork on the potholed roads has been undertaken, there is still more work expected. The road users are surprised at dilly-dallying approach of the officials concerned. Now, the deadline for repairing of the roads has been fixed to the last day of the ongoing month.

Distressed road users did not fail to mention if the repairing had been attended before the rains there would not have so much problem during the festival days.

NEW DELHI, Oct 26 (NNN-PTI) – As many as 150 people died, in different incidents of lightening, during rains in India’s central state of Madhya Pradesh, over the past two months, said the latest data.

The Climate Resilient Observing Systems Promotion Council (CROPC), which is running a “lightening resilient India Campaign” in collaboration with Union Ministry of Earth Science, compiled the data.

According to the data, over 625,000 lightening flashes were reported across the state during Aug-Sept.

Chandigarh, Oct 26 : Manohar Lal Khattar was unanimously elected as the leader of the BJP legislative party in Haryana here on Saturday.

The announcement was made by Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Prasad, along with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary Arun Singh, attended the legislative party meeting as central observers.

Khattar's name was proposed by MLAs Anil Vij and Kanwar Pal and seconded by other BJP legislators.

New Delhi, Oct 25 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Friday sought the Centre's response by November 5 on a plea seeking entry of Muslim women in mosques across the country and claiming that such restriction was "unconstitutional" and violative of fundamental rights to life, equality and gender justice.

Srinagar, Oct 25 (PTI) Seven shops were gutted in a fire that broke out in the Batamaloo area here, police said on Friday.

Seven shops were destroyed in a fire incident in the main market at Batamaloo Thursday night, a police official said.

He said the cause of the fire is believed to be an electric short-circuit.

However, the shop owners claimed the shops were set afire by miscreants.

Muzaffarnagar (UP), Oct 25 (PTI) Hundreds of lawyers staged a demonstration outside the district magistrate's office here on Friday in protest against a spate of killings of lawyers in western Uttar Pradesh in the past two weeks.

Muzaffarnagar district bar association president Naseer Haider Kazmi and secretary Pradeep Malik told the media that they had sent a six-point memorandum to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Kota, Oct 25 (PTI) An eight-year-old tribal girl was allegedly raped by her neighbour in the Kawai area of Rajasthan's Baran district, police said on Friday.

The incident occurred on Tuesday but came to light only on Thursday, they said.

The girl was playing outside her house and the accused lured her to a secluded place and raped her there, a police officer said.

In the evening of that day, the girl complained of abdominal pain and bleeding from private parts. Her parents took her to a local dispensary but none suspected rape, he said.