India

Mumbai, Aug 1 (PTI) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday sought in-camera trial of the 2008 Malegaon blast case in which BJP MP Pragya Thakur is one of the accused.

In in-camera hearings, general public as well as the press are not allowed to be present.

The NIA filed an application before special judge V S Padalkar here, seeking in-camera proceedings. The judge posted the matter for hearing on Friday.

Mumbai, Aug 1 (PTI) In order to reach out to young voters, the Maharashtra Youth Congress on Thursday announced a 45-day `Wake up Maharashtra' campaign.

It is aiming to reach out to four to five crore youngsters in the state before the party comes out with a `youth manifesto' for coming Assembly elections.

New Delhi/Lucknow, Aug 1 (PTI) Faced with public outrage, the BJP on Thursday expelled its jailed Uttar Pradesh lawmaker Kuldeep Sengar, accused of raping a minor girl from Unnao two years ago and killing two members of her family, from the party.

UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh said in Lucknow that the party's central leadership has expelled him.

His statement earlier in the day that Sengar was suspended and not sacked from the party had created confusion over the MLA's fate.

Ballia (UP), Aug 2 (PTI) A man allegedly killed his father over a property dispute in Ekwari Mathiya village here, police said on Friday.

The incident took place around 10 pm on Thursday.

Subhsh Giri, who has been arrested, hit his father Nand Giri (65) with a stick and then with a stone, killing him, Superintendent of Police, Devendra Nath, said.

It is suspected that Subhsh Giri killed his father over a property dispute.The body has been sent for postmortem, police said.

Simdega (Jharkhand), Aug 2 (PTI) A local court has sentenced a juvenile to 20 years in prison in connection with gang-rape of a minor girl in Simdega district last year.

Additional District Judge, Niraj Kumar Srivastav on Thursday also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on the 16-year-old boy, additional public prosecutor (APP) Subhas Prasad said here.

"Cases of heinous crime can be shifted to the district courts," Prasad said, adding that the boy will not be lodged in a prison as he is a minor but will be kept in a probation home till he attains the age 21.

New Delhi, Aug 2 (PTI) Opposition parties on Friday slammed the amendment to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act which will empower government to declare individuals as terrorists, saying the new law was "draconian" and could be misused against anyone opposed to the ruling establishment.

Resuming the discussion in Rajya Sabha on the amendment, Elamaram Kareem (CPM) said the government was imposing "state terrorism" and dissenting individuals can be declared terrorist.

"This will lead to large-scale harassment and injustice," he said

PAHALGAM, India (AP) — India is pitching a Hindu pilgrimage to a snowy cave shrine in disputed, Muslim-majority Kashmir as evidence of peace in a state marred by decades of armed conflict amid popular resistance to Indian rule.

The annual yatra, or spiritual journey, to the Amarnath shrine, the hallowed mountain cave where devotees revere an icy stalagmite as an image of Lord Shiva, presents an opportunity for the state of Jammu and Kashmir to show something beyond the frequent skirmishes between armed separatists and Indian soldiers that have cost tens of thousands of lives.

New Delhi, July 31; IANS/GANASHAKTI: The total assets of the BJP in 2017-18 registered a rise of 22 per cent compared to previous financial year's asset declaration of Rs 1,213 crore to Rs 1,483.35 crore, election watchdog Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) has said.

An ADR report said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was among the seven national parties whose assets, as declared by them during 2017-18, was 6 per cent more than their declaration in 2016-17.

New Delhi, Jul 31; GANASHAKTI: The CBI has booked BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar and 10 others on murder charges in the accident case of Unnao rape survivor, officials said on Wednesday.

Immediately after filing the FIR, a team of officers from the CBI's Lucknow unit reached the crime scene in Gurubakshganj area of Uttar Pradesh's Rae Bareli district, where the accident took place.

According to the normal procedure, the CBI has taken over the investigation in the case from the Uttar Pradesh Police by re-registering its FIR.

31 July 2019; GANASHAKTI: Doctors across the country went on a 24-hour medical strike from 6 am on Wednesday, withdrawing all non-essential services. However, the emergency, casualty, intensive care unit (ICU) and related services will function normally. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has called for the strike in protestagainst the passage of National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill, 2019, in the Lok Sabha.

Public demonstrations against the Bill will take place across the country. Few doctors are also likely to go on hunger strikes, said the IMA.