India

New Delhi, Sep 23 (PTI) The Defence Ministry on Thursday sealed a contract to procure 118 Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) Arjun for the Indian Army at a cost of Rs 7,523 crore, in a major move to boost its combat capabilities.

The defence ministry placed the order for the Arjuna Mk-1A tanks with the Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF), Avadi, Chennai.

The MBT Mk-1A is a new variant of Arjun Tank designed to enhance fire power, mobility and survivability, infused with 72 new features and more indigenous content from the Mk-1 variant

Sultanpur (UP), Sep 23 (PTI) A teenaged girl was allegedly gang-raped by three men in a village in Surapur area, police said on Thursday.

The incident took place on Wednesday and the accused belong to the same village as the victim, they said.

An FIR has been lodged against Shubham, Abhishek and Dinesh who are absconding, they said.

The victim has been sent for a medical examination and the report is awaited, police said.

Kolkata, Sep 23 (PTI) Former Farakka MLA Mainul Haque, who recently quit the Congress, joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Thursday at a public meeting in poll-bound Samserganj constituency of West Bengal's Murshidabad district.

Haque, who sent his resignation letter to interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday, joined the state's ruling party in the presence of its national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.

Thane, Sep 23 (PTI) A private tutor was arrested on Thursday at Kalyan in Thane district of Maharashtra for allegedly molesting a eight-year-old girl student, police said.

The accused, Mudar Talwala, was arrested under IPC section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, they said.

Kanpur: As many as 16000 challan amounting to nearly Rs 2.5 crore were issued by the traffic police in just one and a half month (45 days).

Additionally, all the challan were issued for traffic violations at a single intersection near Fazal Ganj Fire Brigade in the city.

Were the issuance of challan a blunder of the authorities concerned? It was realised that the faulty international transport management system caused it.

As a result,16,000 people being wrongfully challaned Rs 2.40 crore on traffic violations.

Kanpur: It has been reported that families of the employees working at UPCA and Sports Ministry will be asked to vacate the media centre at Green Park here.

Deputy Director, Mudrika Pathak said that a notice was given and the district administration was also informed in this regard.

Deployment of police was also started for security purposes given the ensuing test match between India and New Zealand in November.

Security officials deployed on the ground were also verified for security reasons.

New Delhi, Sep 24 (PTI) Three people including gangster Jitendra Gogi died in a firing incident Friday at Delhi's Rohini court, police said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Rohini) Pranav Tayal said the assailants were in the uniform of advocate when they fired at Gogi.

Police team also fired in return, the DCP said.

It's still not clear how the assailants with weapons got through the metal detectors and Delhi Police security at the court house.

Lucknow, Sep 24 (PTI) The BJP and the Nishad Party will contest the upcoming assembly polls together in Uttar Pradesh and will work towards forming the next government in the state, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Friday.

Pradhan, who is BJP's in-charge of Uttar Pradesh polls, made a formal announcement of the alliance at a press conference here in the presence of Nishad Party, or Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal, chief Sanjay Nishad.

Srinagar, Sep 24 (PTI) PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Friday said the Centre was disempowering the people of Jammu and Kashmir and suspecting them for having alleged links with militants is the new excuse used to dispossess and humiliate Kashmiri.

She was reacting to the recent termination of six government employees on charges of alleged anti-national activities.

Bahraich (UP), Sep 24 (PTI) Eight police personnel were injured when a group of men pelted them with stones here, an official said on Friday.

The incident took place on Thursday night when the police personnel went to the busy the Doctor's Road area to rescue chemist Manoj Sharma, who was attacked over some rivalry by the accused.

Police have arrested three accused, including two brothers, for the incident.