India

Dehradun, Jul 3 (PTI) Pushkar Singh Dhami will be the new chief minister of Uttarakhand following his election on Saturday as the leader of the BJP legislature party in the hill state where assembly elections are due next year.

Dhami, 45, will be the youngest chief minister of the state and replaces Tirath Singh Rawat, who resigned on Friday night within four months of taking charge from Trivendra Singh Rawat.

"My party has appointed a common worker, son of an ex-serviceman, who was born in the border district of Pithoragarh to serve the people.

Lucknow, Jul 3 (PTI) The Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday said nine new medical colleges will come up in the state this month and these will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to an official spokesperson of the medical education department, the new colleges in Deoria, Etah, Fatehpur, Ghazipur, Hardoi, Jaunpur, Mirzapur, Pratapgarh and Siddharthnagar districts will add a new dimension to the state's existing health system.

Agra, Jul 3 (PTI) Family members of a 16-year-old girl here have accused a youth of forcibly converting her to Islam and marrying her against her wish, police said on Saturday.

Police have arrested five people, including the youth's father, mother and sister, in this regard while he is absconding.

The accused have been identified as 18-year-old Kasim Quereshi, a resident of the Naseerabad area in Agra, police said.

New Delhi, Jul 3 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has expressed shock over the government raising false claims and defences with impunity as there is no accountability of officers for doing so and called for framing rules by the Centre and Delhi government to hold officers accountable for the lapses in handling of court cases.

New Delhi, Jul 3 (PTI) Solicitor General Tushar Mehta has denied meeting West Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari at his official residence here after the Trinamool Congress wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his removal over the issue.

The letter to the prime minister was written by TMC MPs Derek O'Brien, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy and Mahua Maitra stating that the alleged meeting between Adhikari and the law officer "reeks of impropriety" as the BJP MLA is an accused in Narada and Saradha cases which are being investigated.

New Delhi, Jul 3 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday conducted searches at various locations in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh in a recent case of alleged conversion of some deaf students and poor people to Islam in UP with purported funding from abroad, official sources said.

The raids are being conducted at six places in Delhi and UP, they said.

Dehradun, Jul 2 (PTI) Another BJP MLA in Uttarakhand has been accused of rape by a former party colleague.

A case of rape was lodged against Jwalapur MLA Suresh Rathore at Bahadarabad police station in Haridwar on Thursday night after a lower court's order.

The legislator has been accused of rape and criminal intimidation, police said.

Rathore is the second MLA from Uttarakhand after Dwarahat MLA Mahesh Negi against whom such serious charges have been levelled.

New Delhi, Jul 2 (PTI) As farmers' protest against the new farm laws entered eighth month, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday appealed to protesting farmers to end their agitation and return home.

He said Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has also appealed to farmers to end the protest while stating that the government is ready to resume talks on the provisions of the three farm legislations.

"I will request that farmers return to their homes. The law is pro-farmer and farmers across the country have welcomed it," Goyal told reporters here.

Fatehpur (UP), Jul 2 (PTI) A girl was allegedly abducted and raped by three youths and thrown into a well in a village here, police said on Friday.

The incident took place on Thursday evening and a case against the three youths was registered on Friday, Superintendent of Police (SP) Satpal Antil said.

According to Kalyanpur SHO Keshav Verma, the victim's father did not mention the girl's age in the complaint but she is stated to be around 18.

Kolkata, Jul 2 (PTI) The Bengal government on Friday urged the Election Commission (EC) to conduct pending bypolls in the state at the earliest, as it gave assurance that all COVID-19 protocols will be adhered to during the process.

Of the seven seats where elections are set to be held, Bhawanipore is the one that is expected to draw significant attention amid speculation that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who faced defeat in Nandigram, may contest bypoll from the constituency, which also happens to be her home turf.