India

Jaipur, Aug 19 (PTI) Former prime minister Manmohan Singh was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan on Monday.

He was declared elected unopposed as the deadline for the withdrawal of nominations for the bypoll ended at 3 pm.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot congratulated Singh on his election to the Upper House of Parliament.

Baghpat (UP), Aug 19 (PTI) A 22-year-old woman was allegedly beaten to death with sticks by her in-laws in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat district after their dowry demands were not met, police said on Monday.

According to the deceased's father, Puja got married to Saurav Rana in May last year. Immediately after marriage, her in-laws started demanding Rs 5 lakh in cash and a car, which he could not meet.

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 19 (PTI) The driving license of IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman was suspended on Monday by the state Motor Vehicles Department, two weeks after a car driven by him had hit and killed a journalist here.

The Regional Transport Officer (RTO) here suspended the license for one year in the wake of the accident, in which journalist K M Basheer had died at the spot after being hit by the luxury car driven by the officer allegedly in an inebriated condition.

Mumbai, Aug 19 (PTI) A special court on Monday convicted former IPS officer Saji Mohan for illegally possessing and smuggling drugs, sentencing him to 15 years in jail.

The special Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) court also convicted a Haryana Police constable, Rajesh Kumar Kataria, in the 2009 case and awarded him 10-year imprisonment.

New Delhi, Aug 19 (PTI) A plea was moved in the Delhi High Court on Monday alleging that former IAS officer Shah Faesal was illegally detained at the IGI Airport here on August 14 and taken back to Srinagar where he has been kept under house arrest.

Lucknow, Aug 19 (PTI) Taking serious note of six killings in Allahabad, the Uttar Pradesh government on Monday suspended Senior Superintendent of Police Atul Sharma, an official said.

The decision came after three people were killed in Dhumanganj, one in Allahapur and a double murder took place in Tharwai area of Allahabad on Sunday.

"The Prayagraj SSP has been suspended," Additional Chief Secreatry (Home) Awanish Awasthi said.

Pune, Aug 19 (PTI) There was a need to reach out to Kashmiris and bridge the communication gap through "political" measures, Lt Gen DS Hooda (retd) said, adding that scrapping the provisions of Article 370 had changed the status quo in restive Jammu and Kashmir.

There is a fear among Kashmiris about the future, and conditions there were have been deteriorating since 2013 due to upsurge in violence, interference from Pakistan and cease- fire violations, he claimed.

Jammu, Aug 19 (PTI) A 40-year-old man was arrested on Monday for allegedly spreading rumours that created panic among people here, a senior police officer said.

Yashbir Singh alias "Badshah" alias "Don", a resident of Khour, was arrested on the basis of investigation into the widespread rumours in the city on Sunday which led to "panic buying and heavy rush outside fuel stations", Senior Superintendent of Police of Jammu Tejinder Singh told reporters here.

New Delhi, Aug 19 (PTI) Taking a swipe at the BJP government, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday said either Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his dispensation no longer respect RSS's views that all issues should be resolved through "cordial dialogue" or they do not believe there is an "issue" in Jammu and Kashmir.

She cited an RSS tweet mentioning that all issues in society should be resolved through cordial dialogue to attack the government over its actions in Jammu and Kashmir.

Lucknow, Aug 19 (PTI) Petrol and diesel prices in Uttar Pradesh will go up by Rs 2.5 and Re 1 respectively from Monday midnight as the government increased VAT.

The Value Added Tax (VAT) on petrol has been increased to 26.80 per cent or Rs 16.74 per litre (whichever is higher) and on diesel 17.48 per cent or Rs 9.41 per litre (whichever is higher), according to an official order.

The order will come into effect from Monday midnight.