India

Shahjahanpur, Sep 20 (PTI) Former Union minister Swami Chinmayanand, accused of rape by a law student, was arrested on Friday, his counsel said.

The BJP leader was arrested by the special investigation team (SIT) of Uttar Pradesh police from his residence 'Divya Dham' here amid heavy security deployment, his lawyer Pooja Singh told PTI.

He was taken for medical examination to a government hospital. He was then taken to the the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate where he will be presented.

Patna, Sep 19 (PTI) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday chaired a meeting to review the schemes of the state government for welfare of minorities.

Kumar laid stress on measures like renovation of Madrasas and equipping the seminaries with modern facilities, besides ensuring that the Waqf Board had its own building in each district of the state.

Nagpur, Sep 19 (PTI) A 22-year-old woman allegedly killed her infant daughter at Ranala village near here on Thursday, the police said.

The accused was identified as Payal Anil Kanoje, resident of Aroli in Mouda tehsil of Nagpur district.

An official of Kamptee police station said Payal had given birth to the baby daughter 23 days ago. It was a premature delivery.

Agra (UP), Sep 19 (PTI) An Uttar Pradesh court has sentenced a man to death for the rape and murder of his seven-year-old daughter in Agra two years ago.

A special POCSO court in Agra awarded the sentence to the accused and also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh, according to public prosecutor Basant Gupta.

The man raped his daughter on the night November 24, 2017, at Etmadpur area of Agra district, following which he strangled her to death, Gupta said.

Nashik, Sep 19 (PTI) Around 20 workers of the Nationalist Congress Party were detained by police ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Maharashtra's Nashik city on Thursday.

Those detained included city NCP president Ranjan Thakare and state vice-president Nanasaheb Mahale and also some women.

It was a preventive measure as NCP workers had staged a protest during chief minister Devendra Fadnavis' rally here on Wednesday, said an official of Ambad police station.

All of them were released in the evening, he said.

Ahmedabad, Sep 19 (PTI) Five members of a family died of suffocation inside a well where sewage collected in Patan district of Gujarat, the police said on Thursday.

The incident took place at Gujarvada village in Sami tehsil two days ago.

The state government announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh each for the surviving members of the family.

Pune, Sep 19 (PTI) Policies adopted by the BJP-led Union government after coming to power in 2014 were responsible for the current economic slow-down, economist Dr Bhalchandra Mungekar said here on Thursday.

The Narendra Modi government should invite eminent economists and hold a round-table conference to find a way out, the former Rajya Sabha member said, speaking to reporters here.

Nagpur, Sep 20 (PTI) The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) has planned a slew of programmes to promote the country's 'cultural identity' worldwide and boost its soft power, the organisation's president, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, has said.

Sahasrabuddhe, who is also BJP vice-president, said the ICCR will organise programmes like 'Understanding India' and 'Destination India' in the coming months.

Raipur, Sep 20 (PTI) A villager was hacked to death allegedly by Naxals on suspicion he was a police informer in Chhattisgarhs Dantewada district, police said on Friday.

The body of Budhram Tati with his throat slit was found near Perpa village in the Kirandul police station area on Thursday evening, a senior police official said.

A Maoist leaflet recovered from the spot stated that "whoever works as a police informer for money will meet the same fate" in 'jan adalat' (Naxals kangaroo court), he said.

Goa, Sep 20 (PTI) In a major fiscal booster, the government on Friday slashed effective corporate tax to 25.17 per cent inclusive of all cess and surcharges for domestic companies.

Making the announcement, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the new tax rate will be applicable from the current fiscal which began on April 1.