India

New Delhi, Jul 22 (PTI) As many as 3,570 Indian citizens died of COVID-19 abroad with the maximum number of 1,154 deaths reported from Saudi Arabia followed by 894 in the United Arab Emirates, the government told Rajya Sabha Thursday.

According to the details provided by the Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan, 546 Indians lost their lives due to COVID-19 in Kuwait, 384 died in Oman, 196 in Bahrain and 106 deaths were reported from Qatar.

New Delhi, Jul 22 (PTI) The Indian Navy and the UK's largest warship HMS Queen Elizabeth and its strike task group carried out a mega wargame featuring a range of complex drills in the Bay of Bengal, signalling a resolve to deepen military cooperation in critical sea lanes.

The Indian Navy said the military exercise on July 21 and 22 was designed to hone the ability of the two navies to operate together in the maritime domain.

Sambhal (UP), Jul 23 (PTI) A 15-year-old girl was allegedly raped by two youths in the Asmoli area here, police said on Friday.

A resident of a village filed a complaint with the police alleging that two youths, Mukesh Pal and Chitrasen, raped his 15-year-old daughter about two months ago in an agriculture field, Circle Officer Arun Kumar Singh said.

On the basis of the complaint, an FIR was lodged on Friday and investigation taken up, Singh said.

Chandigarh, Jul 23 (PTI) Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday took over as the new chief of the Punjab Congress at an event held here, which was attended by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, with whom he was at loggerheads in the recent past.

The new working presidents of the Punjab Congress -- Sangat Singh Gilzian, Sukhwinder Singh Danny, Pawan Goel and Kuljit Singh Nagra -- also assumed charge at the event at the party's state headquarters here in the presence of a huge number of Congress workers and supporters.

New Delhi, Jul 23 (PTI) The Kisan sansad', being held at Jantar Mantar near Parliament where the Monsoon Session is underway, entered its second day on Friday.

Paramilitary forces and police personnel have been deployed at the site with heavy barricading at the entrance to avoid any kind of untoward incident. The protest by the farmers was peaceful.

Sultanpur (UP), Jul 22 (PTI) A court here sentenced a BJP leader to life imprisonment in a 26-year-old murder case and also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on him.

MP-MLA court Judge PK Jayant convicted former State Warehousing Corporation chairman Jang Bahadur Singh and others in the murder case of one Surya Prakash Yadav and awarded them life imprisonment, according to government counsel Atul Shukla.

Kolkata, Jul 22 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday claimed that the snooping on Supreme Court judges, journalists and political leaders among others using the Pegasus spyware, news of which broke earlier this week, was "worse than the Watergate scandal" which broke in the US during the NIxon presidency.

Firozabad (UP), Jul 21 (PTI) A professor, who allegedly made derogatory remarks against Union Minister Smriti Irani on Facebook, was sent to jail after he surrendered in a court here.

Shaharyar Ali surrendered to Additional Sessions Judge Anurag Kumar and moved an interim bail application on Tuesday.

The judge cancelled the bail plea after which the professor was sent to jail.

Mumbai, Jul 21 (PTI) Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut has approached the Bombay High Court seeking the quashing of proceedings initiated by a city magistrate on a criminal defamation complaint filed against her by lyricist Javed Akhtar.

Kolkata, Jul 21 (PTI) Latching on to the snooping row, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday accused the Modi government of trying to establish a "surveillance state", and pitched for opposition unity to oust the "authoritarian" BJP government in the Lok Sabha polls.

She also asked the Supreme Court to take cognisance of the Pegasus snooping scandal that purportedly targeted activists, politicians, journalists and even judges using spyware.