India

Srinagar, Dec 29 (PTI) The National Conference Wednesday expressed dismay over the "clean chit" given by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Jammu and Kashmir Police to security forces in the Hyderpora encounter, saying the report fails to address the legitimate concerns of the aggrieved families and the general public.

Demanding an independent investigation into the matter, NC spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said the "self-trial" by police in the form of SIT "stands rejected" by the affected families.

New Delhi, Dec 30 (PTI) Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Thursday urged the Centre to reimburse to the state a sum of Rs 15,000 crore it had spent on central security forces deployed for anti-Naxal operations in the state.

At the meeting of state finance ministers with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman here, Baghel also asked the Centre for payment of GST compensation and transferring of the amounts collected as 'additional levy' from coal block companies.

Dehradun, Dec 30 (PTI) Uttarakhand Raksha Abhiyan founder Darshan Bharti has submitted a complaint to Dehradun SSP Janmejay Khanduri against AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi for allegedly instigating people against the Hindu religion and issuing an open threat to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, endangering his life.

In a letter handed over to the senior superintendent of police (SSP) on Wednesday, Bharti accused the Hyderabad MP of instigating people against the Hindu religion and threatening those who believe in it.

Kohima, Dec 30 (PTI) The Centre's decision to extend the stringent Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act by another six months has raised the hackles of prominent Naga outfits, which said the measure was "unacceptable" and made with the intention to "suppress Nagas for generations to come".

The Centre on Thursday declared the entire state of Nagaland a "disturbed area" for six more months with effect from December 30 under the AFSPA while terming the situation there as "disturbed and dangerous"

Kanpur: Four persons have been arrested for vandalising a car with PM Narendra Modi's poster on it.

The four arrested persons have been accused as Mulayam Singh Youth Brigade spokesperson Sukant Sharma, National Secretary of the SP students' body Sachin Kesharwani, city secretary of the youth brigade Abhishek Rawat, and Nitesh Kumar.

An FIR was registered against 8-10 persons in Kanpur after Samajwadi Party workers allegedly went on a rampage, following the departure of PM Modi's convoy on Tuesday. They allegedly vandalised a car with PM Modi's poster on it.

Chandigarh, Dec 28 (PTI) Farmers on Tuesday lifted their blockades on rail tracks at several places in Punjab after representatives of the farm body spearheading the agitation held a meeting with Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi here.

Farmers under the banner of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) had started their 'rail roko' stir on December 20 at various places, affecting the movement of several trains and causing inconvenience to passengers.

Kolkata, Dec 28 (PTI) "The doors of the Mother House are open to all," said a nun nonchalantly as she went about doing her work. Money, apparently, doesn't matter in a place where service is not a dogma but a way of life.

At Mother House, the abode of Saint Teresa, it was work as usual on Tuesday as the nuns went about attending to the destitute, the wayward alcoholic, and the leper, with crumbling maggot-filled limbs.

Rewari (Haryana), Dec 28 (PTI) A newborn girl was allegedly tied to a stone and thrown into a canal in the Kosli area here, police said.

Passersby saw the body afloat in the canal on Tuesday and informed the police, they said.

A police team reached the spot and took the body to its possession, a police official said.

Police said the girl was two days old.

Chaibasa (Jharkhand), Dec 28 (PTI) Naxals shot down a 25-year-old scribe working with the Jharkhand forest department in West Singhbhum district on Tuesday suspecting him to be a police informer, police said.

Superintendent of Police Ajay Linda said the Naxals also set ablaze an earth moving machine.

After killing the man, the Naxals left behind a pamphlet near his body saying that he had paid the price of being a police informer.

Linda said that investigation into the incident is on.

BENGALURU, Dec 28 (Reuters) - India has approved Merck's (MRK.N) COVID-19 pill and two more vaccines for emergency use as the world's second most populous country braces for a possible spike in coronavirus cases due to the rapidly spreading Omicron variant.

Asia's third-largest economy has already said it will allow COVID-19 booster shots for some of its population as some Indian states logged an uptick in Omicron cases.