India

Lucknow, Sep 19 (PTI) The Congress party on Sunday accused the BJP government of trying to weaken all pillars of democracy and said the Godse ideology can be defeated only by that of Mahatma Gandhi'.

"The Congress has worked to strengthen all pillars of democracy but the Narendra Modi government is doing the opposite. Efforts to weaken democracy is the BJP's ideology which can be defeated with the ideology of non-violence of Mahatma Gandhi," media convenor of UP Congress Lalan Kumar said, addressing a media event here.

Bengaluru, Sep 20 (PTI) The alleged rape of a minor girl by a migrant labourer from West Bengal and the demand by the girl's parents and local people urging the police to hand over the accused following his arrest led to tense moments at a police station here.

The minor was allegedly raped on Sunday by Saurav Mistry, a 23-year old labourer from 24 Parganas in West Bengal after he took the five-year old girl on the pretext of showing her a video on his mobile phone.

Chandigarh, Sep 20 (PTI) Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi was on Monday sworn in as chief minister of Punjab.

He is the first Dalit to hold this post in the state.

Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit administered oath to Channi at a ceremony held at the Raj Bhawan here.

Channi took oath in Punjabi.

The Congress on Sunday picked Channi as chief minister of Punjab after Amarinder Singh resigned from the post.

NEW DELHI, Sept 19 (NNN-PTI) – At least nine people were killed in two separate road accidents in the western Indian state of Rajasthan, in less than 24 hours, police said today.

Five people were killed in Sikar district and four others in Hanumangarh district.

According to police, a car carrying five people hit the divider and fell from a culvert in the Ringas area of Sikar district, about 64 km north of Jaipur, the capital city of Rajasthan.

NEW DELHI, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- At a time when the United States has approved COVID-19 booster shots, just 3.5 percent of Africans are vaccinated, The Hindu reported on Sunday.

Quoting World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Indian newspaper underlined COVID-19 vaccine inequity across the world.

On Sept. 14, Ghebreyesus revealed that "less than 3.5 percent of people in Africa have been fully vaccinated so far compared with 54 percent of the total population in the United States," said the article.

New Delhi, Sep 18 (PTI) Ustad Amjad Ali Khan is widely credited with putting the sarod on the world map but the musician, amongst India's best known, says his first love is the tabla and not the stringed instrument.

Khan, in an interview to Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor on Sansad TV, said he was so drawn to the tabla as a child that his "worried father" hid the musical instrument from him for a few months.

Kochi, Sep 18 (PTI) Senior Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday called for a permanent president to head the party, which is 'now at an interim stage'. He said all the Congress leaders have sought a permanent president for the party. "We all liked the leadership of Sonia Gandhi. But we are now at an interim stage.

For the last two years we haven't had a permanent president. That must be remedied. We need to instill energy in the organisational structure of the Congress party. We all have sought for a permanent president for the party," he said.

New Delhi, Sep 18 (PTI) The Supreme Court has quashed criminal proceedings against a man accused of forcible conversion, noting that the person who was stated to have been forced to convert to Christianity has denied the allegation.

A bench comprising justices U U Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat and C T Ravikumar set aside the order passed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court which refused to grant any relief to the accused, George Mangalapilly.

Chandigarh, Sep 18 (PTI) Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit Saturday accepted Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's resignation.

The governor, however, has asked him and his council of ministers to continue in office for the transaction of routine business till alternative arrangements are made, according to an official statement.

"Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit accepted his (Amarinder) resignation and that of his council of ministers," said the statement.

Bengaluru, Sep 18 (PTI) The Karnataka government on Saturday restrained officials from going before the media to air their grievances or share opinions, other than for bonafide official purposes.

It also put a stop on officials using social media as a platform to project government or department achievements as personal achievements and asked them to use accounts or handles created in the name of the administration to share official information.