India

Rae Bareli: An Unnao woman who accused BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar of raping her was critically injured on Sunday when her car was hit by a truck in Rae Bareli. The victim was accompanied by her aunt and lawyer Mahendra Singh, both of whom died in the accident.

New Delhi, Jul 26; GANASHAKTI - The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed a plea seeking direction to the Centre to declare 'Vande Mataram' the national anthem, at par with "Jana Gana Mana", or the national song.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar said it finds no reason to entertain this petition, while exercising its powers under Article 226 of the Constitution.

"We see no reason to give direction to the respondent (Centre) to declare Vande Mataram as national anthem or national song," the bench said.

Mumbai, Jul 28 (PTI) For Nikkhil Advani nationalism is an inherent feeling and the "Batla House" director believes the term is "misused" a lot today.

And through his films, the director aims to make people realise the true meaning of loving one's country.

"My sense of nationalism is very personal but at the same time, I feel it is a word that is misused a lot today in this whole feeling of patriotism. And if you can correct it somewhere by making a film or whatever then why not you should do that," Advani told PTI in an interview.

Amethi, Jul 28 (PTI) A 64-year-old retired Army captain was beaten to death by unidentified assailants in Uttar Pradesh's Amethi district, police said on Sunday.

The incident occurred on Saturday night in Godiyan ka Purva village under Kamrauli Police Station limits, they said.

The retired Army personnel, Amanullah, and his wife were in their house when a group of people attacked them with sticks, his son told the police, ASP Dayaram said.

Pune, Jul 28 (PTI) Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said his party and the Congress had come to an agreement on 240 of the 288 Assembly seats in Maharashtra, polls for which are scheduled for later this year.

He also said the Raj Thackeray-led MNS was mulling boycotting the Assembly polls due to reservations about Electronic Voting Machines.

Raipur, July 27 (PTI) Seven naxals including three women were killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district on Saturday, police said.

The encounter took place in a forest near Tiriya village under Nagarnar police station limits around 4 pm, said deputy inspector general of police (anti-naxal operations) Sundarraj P.

A joint team of District Reserve Guard and Special Task Force of state police was out on anti-naxal operation when the gunbattle broke out, he told PTI.

New Delhi, Jul 27 (PTI) Embattled liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya on Saturday approached the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the confiscation of properties owned by him and his relatives.

In the petition, Mallya has said that no other properties other than that of Kingfisher Airlines facing cases of alleged irregularities should be attached.

On July 11, the Bombay High Court had refused to grant stay on proceedings before a special court on confiscation of Mallya's properties.

Alwar (R'than), Jul 28 (PTI) A 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped by two men in Rajasthan's Alwar and her nude photographs were circulated online, police said, the incident coming months after the gang rape of a woman in front of her husband in the district triggered outrage.

Bengaluru, July 28 (PTI) Karnataka assembly speaker K R Ramesh Kumar on Sunday disqualified 14 more rebel MLAs under the anti-defection act till the end of the current term of the assembly in 2023.

The speaker's ruling came a day ahead of Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa moving the confidence motion in the assembly to prove his majority, after assuming office on Friday.

Of the lawmakers who faced the action, 11 are from the Congress and three from JDS.

Kanpur: Only assurances used to come from the officers concerned. No action was taken up to resolve the water-logging problem prevailing in Ompurwa locality for the past six months.

When the elected representatives and officers of Jal Kal, Namami Gangey project and Nagar Nigam reached the area for spot inspection, the area people started narrating their tale of woes.

Upon this, the Jalkal executive engineer AK Rajput made the people straightly responsible for the existing sewer problem.