India

Agra, Dec 25 (PTI) Accusing Christian missionaries of using the Christmas festival as an opportunity to spread Christianity by resorting to gift-distribution spree through Santa Claus to attract children and the poor towards their religion, some Hindu outfits on Saturday burnt effigies of the mythical character.

Moradabad, Dec 26 (PTI) A seven-year-old girl was abducted, raped and killed in a village in the district, police said on Sunday.

A farmer spotted the girl's body in a sugar cane field in Kanth area of Moradabad and informed police on Friday.

Muzaffarnagar (UP), Dec 26 (PTI) A 17-year-old girl was allegedly abducted and raped by a youth from her village here, police said on Sunday.

The accused has been identified as Akshit. He is on the run, they said.

The girl was allegedly abducted by the youth four days ago from her village under Kotwali police station area. She was found unconscious by her family members at a nearby place, the police said.

Later, the girl told her parents that she was raped by Akshit, they said.

Muzaffarnagar, Dec 26 (PTI) The body of a 30-year-old woman was found hanging at her in-laws' house in Shamli district, with her father alleging she was murdered by her husband over a dowry dispute, police said on Sunday.

Bhumika used to live with her in-laws in the Maniharan locality of the district, and she was found dead on Saturday, they said.

Her father, Anil Sharma of Noida, has lodged a complaint with the police stating she was murdered by her husband and four other people over dowry, officials said.

Dang, Dec 26 (PTI) Police have arrested six men and detained three minors in connection with the alleged gang-rape a 14-year-old girl in Gujarat's Dang district, an official said on Sunday.

The incident took place around two months back, but came to light recently when a relative of the girl came across a video of the crime on a social media platform. The purported act was recorded by one of the accused on his mobile phone and later circulated on social media, he said.

Silchar (Assam), Dec 26 (PTI) Miscreants disrupted a Christmas programme in Silchar in Assam's Cachar district, demanding that Hindus should shun the celebrations, a senior police official said on Sunday.

Seven youths involved in the incident that happened on Saturday evening have been detained so far, she added.

New Delhi, Dec 26 (PTI) The Government's plans to build India's biggest centre for performing arts in the national capital have been put into cold storage in view of the Central Vista project.

The Culture Ministry recently told a Parliamentary panel that the shifting on the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA) to Jamnagar House had made the continuation of the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) project unviable .

Agra (UP), Dec 24 (PTI): Two people have been arrested after an 18-year-old woman alleged that they raped her in a moving car here, police said on Friday.

Krishna (22) and Hemant (22), residents of Etmadpur here, forced the woman to consume liquor and then raped her on December 19. They also filmed the act and threatened her of leaking the video if she revealed the incident, according to her complaint at the Sikandra police station here.

Lucknow, Dec 24 (PTI) Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday promised regular and cheap power supply for agricultural, domestic and industrial purposes if voted to power in next year's Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

"Had the proposed power plants in Etah and other districts been built, the people of Uttar Pradesh would not have been compelled to buy electricity at the highest rate in the country," his tweet in Hindi targeting the BJP government read.

Chandigarh, Dec 24 (PTI) The Aam Aadmi Party on Friday declared 18 more candidates for the next year's Punjab Assembly elections.

The party has till now declared 58 candidates for the polls, a release said here.

Punjab has 117 Assembly seats.