India

Kolkata, Aug 30 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday accused the BJP-led government at the Centre of colluding with Left parties and said the country should move on its inbuilt principle of inclusiveness and not on the path of Duryodhana and Dushashana.

Maintaining that no one is above the law and a criminal should be punished, Banerjee wondered why the CBI is yet to summon a single CPI(M) leader in corruption or chit fund cases.

Kochi, Aug 31 (PTI) Sarah Jacob Cohen, the oldest member of Kerala's tiny jewish community, passed away at her residence at Mattancherry jew town here.

She died on Friday.

Cohen was 96, her caretaker said.

She would be laid to rest on Sunday at the cemetery attached to ancient synagogue in Mattancherry.

Akola, Aug 31 (PTI) While the festival of 'Pola' is dedicated to bulls in Maharashtra, people from certain communities in Akola district worship donkeys on that day.

Farmers in Maharashtra worship bulls and oxen on the occasion of 'Pola', also called as 'Bail Pola', as a mark of gratitude for their year-long hard work for farming. The festival was celebrated on August 30 this year.

Similarly, people from the Bhoi and Kumbhar (potter) communities worship donkeys as a mark of gratitude and respect, said community member Vishnu Chore.

Bhopal, Aug 31 (PTI) It is said marriages are made in heaven but they need commitment to make them work on earth.

However, in Madhya Pradesh, a coaching class owner's 'obsession' with competitive examinations seems to have not only nipped his relationship with his newly-wed wife in bud but has also become the cause for a divorce petition!

Guwahati, Aug 31 (PTI) The updated final NRC, which validates bonafide Indian citizens of Assam, was out on Saturday, with over 19 lakh applicants who failed to make it to the list staring at an uncertain future.

A total of 3,30,27,661 people had applied to be included in the NRC. Of them, 3,11,21,004 have been included in the document and 19,06,657 excluded, a statement from the NRC State Coordinator's office said here.

According to a senior local government official who spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity, at least 5 Kashmiri children, under the age of 18, are part of 3,000 people that have been detained in Indian Administered Kashmir since Aug  5.

“There is an atmosphere of fear in every house,” said Farhan’s mother, Nazia, adding that she did not know why her son was detained. “If they can pick up children, they can do anything.

New Delhi, Aug 30 (PTI) India's economic growth dropped to a seven-year low of 5 per cent in the April-June quarter of 2019-20 due to a sharp deceleration in the manufacturing sector and sluggish agriculture output, according to official data released on Friday.

The previous low was recorded at 4.9 per cent in April-June 2012-13. The economic growth was 8 per cent in the same quarter of 2018-19.

New Delhi, Aug 30 (PTI) In a major development, the government on Friday announced merger of Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank with Punjab National Bank.

Also, Syndicate Bank will be merged with Canara Bank, while Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank will merged with Union Bank of India.

New Delhi, Aug 30 (PTI) BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Friday objected to the lawyer for Congress leader Sonia Gandhi for asking questions in Hindi while being cross-examination in National Herald case, saying he was a Tamil'.

The exchange of words took place between Swamy and senior advocate R S Cheema, appearing for Gandhi, before the court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal, who was recording the cross examination of the BJP leader who is the complainant in the case.

New Delhi, Aug 30 (PTI) Prime Minster Narendra Modi on Friday said that the government has set a target of setting up 12,500 Ayush centres across India, 4000 of which will be set up this year.

Speaking at Yoga Awards ceremony here, he also stressed for the need to create a homogenous system by creating an "Ayush grid" on the lines of one nation, one tax and one nation, one mobility card.

He said this will remove silos in the area of Ayush.