India

Guwahati, Jul 19 (PTI) Altogether 20,245 cases of rape have been registered in Assam from 2010 to June 30 this year, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in the assembly on Monday.

During the period, 19 cases of rape by family members and four by religious heads have been recorded, the chief minister said in reply to a question by AIUDF MLA Aminul Islam (Senior).

Narayanpur, Jul 20 (PTI) A jawan of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) was killed and an assistant sub-inspector injured in an encounter with Naxals in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district on Tuesday, police said.

The skirmish took place on Aamdai Ghati (valley) under Chhotedongar police station limits when a Road Opening Party (ROP) of the ITBP's 45th battalion was out on patrolling duty, Inspector General of Police (Bastar range) Sundarraj P said.

New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) The government has decided as a matter of policy not to enumerate caste-wise population other than SCs and STs in census, Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.

Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai also said that according to the provisions of the Constitution, the seats are reserved for SCs and STs in Lok Sabha and in the assemblies in proportion, as nearly as may be, to their population.

 Kanpur: "Take a total of seven thousand rupees for above one-year-old seven-kg male goat," said a shopper but the goat seller refused vehemently. He looked at another seller who also refused. The third seller was also not easy to deal with.

Disturbed with the delay in a deal that worried buyer thought it was better to pay eight thousand rupees and take away the not-so muscular goat.

However, the Sarsaul-based vendor, under the strong urge of avarice, said to finalise the deal by paying two hundred rupees more. Thus the bargain was completed.

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s excess deaths during the pandemic could be a staggering 10 times the official COVID-19 toll, likely making it modern India’s worst human tragedy, according to the most comprehensive research yet on the ravages of the virus in the south Asian country.

Most experts believe India’s official toll of more than 414,000 dead is a vast undercount, but the government has dismissed those concerns as exaggerated and misleading.

New Delhi, Jul 19 (PTI) The Congress on Monday demanded an independent probe into the issue involving alleged phone tapping of prominent personalities including journalists in India using Israeli Pegasus spyware.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at the prime minister on the matter using the hashtag "Pegasus".

"We know what he's been reading- everything on your phone", he said on Twitter.

New Delhi, Jul 19 (PTI) The Monsoon session of the Lok Sabha began on a stormy note on Monday with the Opposition creating a ruckus and preventing Prime Minister Narendra Modi from introducing the newly inducted Union ministers.

As the disruptions continued despite repeated Speaker Om Birla's repeated pleas to maintain decorum, the House was adjourned after nearly 40 minutes till 2 pm.

New Delhi, Jul 18 (PTI) The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Sunday prohibited the annual Kanwar Yatra in the city to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

"No celebrations, processions, gatherings, etc. shall be allowed during forthcoming Kanwar Yatra-2021 starting from July 25 in NCT of Delhi," stated an order issued by the DDMA

The DDMA order came a day after the yatra was cancelled in Uttar Pradesh.

Mumbai, Jul 18 (PTI) The toll in rain-related incidents in Mumbai reached 30 as incessant heavy downpour overnight during a major thunderstorm pummeled the Maharashtra capital, causing severe water-logging and traffic disruptions in the city on Sunday, officials said.

New Delhi, Jul 18 (PTI) Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday appointed Navjot Singh Sidhu as the new president of the party's Punjab unit, notwithstanding the strong opposition from Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.

Gandhi also appointed four working presidents to assist Sidhu in the run-up to the next assembly elections.

The appointments came after days of internal squabbling and public bickering that virtually divided the state unit between two factions owing allegiance to Singh and Sidhu.