India

Jaipur, Jul 24 (PTI) BJP legislators stormed the well of the Rajasthan assembly on Wednesday and raised slogans demanding a reply from the ruling Congress on alleged religious conversions in Ajmer district's Kishangarh town.

Raising the issue in the assembly, Ajmer MLA Vasudev Devnani said there is tension in Kishangarh and alleged that three Christian women were pressurising children aged 12-15 years to convert and lured them by financial support.

Mumbai, Jul 24 (PTI) The Maharashtra government on Wednesday doubled the minimum wages of workers employed in shops and establishments across the state.

Talking to reporters, Labour Minister Sanjay Kute said the decision will benefit nearly one crore workers employed in 10 lakh shops and establishments in the state in 67 different types of employment.

"As per clause III of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, the minimum wages are revised after every five years. However, they were not revised in the last nine years due to technical reasons," he said.

Bengaluru, Jul 24 (PTI) Expelled BSP MLA N Mahesh said Wednesday his expulsion from the party for abstaining from voting in favour of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy was an outcome of a "communication gap" between him and the party leadership because he does not know anything about Twitter.

Soon after the H D Kumaraswamy government lost the majority in the floor test in the assembly on Tuesday, BSP supremo Mayawati expelled him from the party.

Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 24 (PTI) Shweta Bhatt, the wife of Sanjiv Bhatt, the former IPS officer, who was recently sentenced to life, Wednesday met Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and senior congress leader Ramesh Chennithala seeking support for her "fight against injustice" towards her husband."

Bhatt, who was an officer of the Gujarat cadre, was sentenced in a 1990 custodial death case.

He had earlier filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court against the role of then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 riots in the state.

Hyderabad, Jul 24 (PTI) A 13-year-old girl was allegedly abducted and raped by her neighbour here, police said on Wednesday.

According to a complaint filed by the mother of the victim, the girl had gone to buy some grocery around 8 pm when the man, who lives in the same locality, forcibly took her to his house on a motorcycle and committed the crime, they said.

Muzaffarnagar, Jul 25 (PTI) A five-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her neighbour at a village in Muzaffarnagar district, police said on Thursday.

They said the 20-year-old man picked up the minor from outside her home and brought her to his residence in Sujru village, where he raped her on Wednesday evening.

The girl's family reached the man's residence after hearing her cry, but the accused had fled, they added. A case has been registered and police are investigating the matter.

Pilibhit (UP), Jul 25 (PTI) A girl was allegedly gang-raped at gunpoint in a village here, police said on Thursday.

Rehan and Mintu of the same village took the minor away from her home on Tuesday night and allegedly gang-raped her, Station House Officer of Bisalpur Harishankar Verma said.

The girl was left with a broken arm when she tried to resist the assault, he said.

She was sent for medical examination and a case registered on the basis of a complaint from the girl's family, the SHO added.

Patna, Jul 25 (PTI) Three Naxals were killed in an encounter with security forces in a forest area of Bihar's Gaya district on Thursday, officials said.

The firefight took place around noon between the ultras and a joint team of the CRPF's CoBRA squad and district police in the Chakarabandh area of the district, they said.

As the guns fell silent, the bodies of three Maoists were found in the spot, the officials said, adding that seven guns, including an AK-47 and three INSAS rifles, and some improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were also recovered.

Muzaffarnagar (UP), Jul 25 (PTI) The post-mortem report of two cows found dead at a shelter run by a village panchayat here has confirmed the cattle were killed by a pack of dogs, an official said on Thursday.

The death of the cows prompted the district administration to book the village head and a panchayat secretary for alleged negligence.

According to veterinary officer Hemant Kumar, the post-mortem of the cow carcasses was conducted by a three-member panel which found dog attack as the cause of deaths.

Kanpur: What Jajmau lacks the most is obviously the civic amenities in its inhabited localities. Some areas are very old while there are newly inhabited areas too. Both types of areas are presenting dirty sites, potholed or broken roads and crowds.

The residents are regularly complaining of garbage spread at different spots. The roads are not up to the mark. The rains have exposed the worse condition. Muck and water-logging cannot be avoided.