India

Lucknow, Dec 26 (PTI) Claiming that Uttar Pradesh's economy is worsening instead of improving, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday alleged that this has made Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath silent on his vision to make the state a USD 1 trillion economy.

Making the assertion in a statement, Yadav, however, did not elaborate on what basis he had claimed that the UP economy has gone into a tailspin.

In his statement, Yadav also claimed that owing to the wrong policies of the BJP, the country's economy has crumbled.

Lucknow, Dec 26 (PTI) The Congress on Sunday sought to dub Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath as "Bulldozernath" or the lord of bulldozers, allegedly out to trample the dreams of youths.

The Congress made the allegation a day after the Lucknow police denied the party to hold a five-km race in the city as part of Congress president Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's 'Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti Hoon' poll campaign.

It accused the chief minister of crushing the dreams of girls who wanted to run a marathon organised by the party in Lucknow.

New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI) Former Punjab chief minister and leader of the newly floated Punjab Lok Congress Amarinder Singh on Monday met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J P Nadda here.

The BJP has announced that it will contest the Punjab assembly polls in alliance with Singh's party.

The meeting is underway at Shah's residence where all three are present.

Singh has been meeting various BJP leaders to chalk out a strategy for the Punjab elections.

Mumbai, Dec 27 (PTI) Former India coach Ravi Shastri has supported the splitting of captaincy in the red and white ball formats, saying it is the right way to go.

While Virat Kohli remains the Test skipper, one of the finest white-ball exponents and star opener, Rohit Sharma has been appointed as the T20 and ODI captain.

New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI) Kerala has again emerged as the top ranking state in terms of overall health performance among larger states, while Uttar Pradesh is the worst, according to the fourth Health Index launched by Niti Aayog.

The fourth round of the Health Index took into account the period 2019-20 (reference year).

The report by the government think tank said Tamil Nadu and Telangana have emerged as the second and third best performers, respectively, on health parameters.

NEW DELHI, Dec 26 (NNN-PTI) – Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, yesterday said that, a new COVID-19 vaccination drive for youths aged between 15 and 18 years will be launched in the country from Jan 3, 2022.

In addition, booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines will be given to health workers, frontline workers and those aged above 60 years, starting from Jan 10, Modi said.

Addressing the nation on TV, Modi asked the Indian people not to panic and avoid rumours about COVID-19 or the Omicron variant.

PATNA, India (AP) — A factory boiler exploded in eastern India on Sunday, killing at least six workers and injuring six others, police said.

Rescuers were looking for any workers who may be trapped in the rubble of the factory that produced food snacks in an industrial area 95 kilometers (60 miles) north of Patna, the Bihar state capital.

The cause of the blast in Muzaffarpur was being investigated, said police officer Ram Naresh Paswan. He said the death toll was likely to rise as four of the injured were critical.

Srinagar, 26 December 2021: A Kashmiri was killed on Sunday by Indian security forces in Anantnag district of the Indian Administered Kashmir, Indian officials said.

Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar identified the slain insurgent as Faheem Bhat, resident of Kadipora Anantnag.

Jammu, Dec 25 (PTI) After spending 29 years in a Pakistani jail, Kathua resident Kuldeep Singh returned to a rousing welcome at his hometown here on Friday night, following which he asked the youth to never pull back from making any sacrifice for the country.

Singh (53), along with Mohammad Gufran from Aurangabad, were released by Pakistan on Monday and they reached Red Cross Bhavan at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital in Punjab after their repatriation.

New Delhi, Dec 25 (PTI) The Delhi Police has arrested six women members of a gang for allegedly trafficking in infants, officials said on Saturday.

The gang, involved in trafficking of over 50 infants, used to procure them from the parents belonging to poor financial background by offering them money and further sold the babies to childless couples for a hefty amount, police said.

On December 17, police were tipped off that the members of the gang would come near Shamshan Ghat, Gandhi Nagar, around 3.30 pm to sell an infant.