India

New Delhi, Jan 1 (PTI) The Congress on Saturday slammed the Modi government for an increase in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on several categories from footwear to food delivery, and urged voters to defeat the BJP in the upcoming assembly elections to tame inflation.

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — A crowd surge at a popular Hindu shrine in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed at least 12 people and injured 15 others on New Year’s Day, officials said.

Initial reports suggested an altercation between a group of devotees led to the crush early Saturday at the Mata Vaishnav Devi shrine, where tens of thousands of Hindus gathered to pay respects in the hilly town of Katra near southern Jammu city.

Raipur, Dec 31 (PTI) An inspector with the elite Commando Battalion for Resolute Action allegedly committed suicide in Sukma district in Chhattisgarh, police said on Friday.

Inspector Valang, hailing from Nagaland, hanged himself in the toilet of Burkapal Camp of the CoBRA's 206A Company under Chintagufa police station limits at around 8:50pm on Thursday, said Sukma Superintendent of Police (SP) Sunil Sharma.

Mumbai, Dec 31 (PTI) India's current account slipped into a deficit of USD 9.6 billion or 1.3 per cent of GDP in the September quarter, the Reserve Bank said on Friday.

The current account, which records the value of exports and imports of both goods and services along with international transfers of capital, was in a surplus mode both in the quarter-ago and year-ago periods.

Patna, Dec 31 (PTI) A day after Bihar reported its first Omicron case, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday said that the third wave of COVID-19 has begun in the state and urged people to remain vigilant.

He also mooted opening a genome sequencing laboratory in the state.

New Delhi, Dec 31 (PTI) A 21-year-old woman was allegedly raped by three people, including a juvenile, in northwest Delhi's Budh Vihar Phase-1 area, police said on Friday.

All three accused have been apprehended, they said.

The victim works at the factory of one of the accused persons. The incident took place on Thursday, the police said.

Kolkata, Jan 1 (PTI) Twenty-four years after Mamata Banerjee formed the Trinamool Congress on January 1, 1998 to unseat the Left Front from power in West Bengal, her party has transcended the geographical boundaries of the eastern state and now attempts to expand its footprint across the country to pose a direct challenge to the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Srinagar, Jan 1 (PTI) Scores of activists of the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) took out separate protest marches here on Saturday after authorities allegedly detained top leaders of the parties ahead of a proposed sit-in against the draft proposals of the Delimitation Commission.

The protest call was given by the Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) an amalgam of various mainstream political parties in Jammu and Kashmir including the NC, the PDP, CPI(M), Peoples Movement and Awami National Conference.

New Delhi, Jan 1 (PTI) Continuing a 31-year practice, India and Pakistan on Saturday exchanged a list of their nuclear installations under a bilateral pact that prohibits the two sides from attacking each other's atomic facilities.

The two countries exchanged the list of nuclear installations and facilities covered under the agreement on the prohibition of attack against nuclear installations between India and Pakistan, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

New Delhi, Jan 1 (PTI) GST revenue collected in December 2021 was over Rs 1.29 lakh crore, 13 per cent higher than the same month last year, the Finance Ministry said on Saturday.

Though the collection was lower than Rs 1.31 lakh crore mopped up in November, December is the sixth month in a row when revenue from goods sold and services rendered stood at over Rs 1 lakh crore.