India

New Delhi, Mar 27 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi urged voters on Saturday to cast their ballots against "divisive forces" to strengthen democracy as polling began for the first phase of the Assembly elections in West Bengal and Assam.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who has been campaigning for the Assam polls, urged people to vote for progress and the golden future of the state.

In a Facebook post in Hindi, she urged the people of Assam, especially youngsters and women, to vote in large numbers.

Ballia (UP), Mar 26 (PTI) A 19-year-old woman was found dead with her throat slit in Uttar Pradesh's Ballia on Friday, police said.

The accused, Dhyanu Paswan, has been arrested, they said.

"Paswan, a resident of Bhagav village in Sahatwar area has been arrested along with the weapon used in the crime. He loved the woman but was upset as she had agreed to marry another person with whom her family members had fixed her marriage," Additional SP, Sanjay Yadav said.

Mumbai, Mar 26 (PTI) The country's foreign exchange (forex) kitty rose USD 233 million to USD 582.271 billion in the week to March 19, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday.

The overall reserves had risen USD 1.74 billion to USD 582.04 billion in the previous reporting week.

The increase in the overall reserves during the reporting week was largely on account of a swelling of the foreign currency assets, which rose USD 157 million to USD 541.18 billion.

Chennai, Mar 26 (PTI): The Madras High Court on Friday directed the Election Commission to preserve the postal ballots of the elderly voters, the differently abled and and the COVID-19-affected in strong rooms with CCTV cameras.

This directive was given so that there is no room for any complaint at a later stage.

The First Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy gave the direction to this effect while disposing of two public interest writ petitions of the DMK.

New Delhi, Mar 26 (PTI) The 12-hour 'Bharat bandh' called by farmers protesting the three agri laws was a "big success", the Samkyukta Kisan Morcha said on Friday, and claimed that shutdown was observed in many parts of the country, including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Bihar.

However, there was minimal impact in Delhi with no report of disturbance in the metro and road transport services, and major markets of the city remaining open during the day.

Kolkata, Mar 26 (PTI) The Trinamool Congress on Friday lodged a complaint with the Election Commission accusing the BJP of providing shelter to miscreants in parts of West Bengal's Purba Medinipur district to create violence on polling days.

TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O' Brien and Lok Sabha MP Kakali Ghosh Dastidar told reporters they have several reports about "miscreants being brought to Purba Medinipur from neighbouring districts and Kolkata ahead of the polls".

Mumbai, Mar 26 (PTI) Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday ordered night curfew in entire Maharashtra from March 28 in view of the unabated rise in COVID-19 cases, an official statement said.

The curfew order will come into effect from the Sunday night. Also, local authorities should ensure that shopping malls remain shut between 8 pm and 7 am, Thackeray ordered after a meeting here.

He also warned of stricter restrictions if people did not observe COVID-19 safety protocol, an official release said.

New Delhi, Mar 26 (PTI) The Delhi police on Friday fined over 800 people for not wearing face masks at public places amid the rising coronavirus cases in the national capital.

Officials said the police have been asked by the Lieutenant Governor to intensify the drive against violations of COVID norms.

A police official said 813 challans were issued to people for not wearing face masks while five people were fined for not adhering to the social distancing norm.

New Delhi, Mar 27 (PTI) Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Saturday dismissed any possibility of imposing another lockdown in Delhi, saying it was not a solution to check the spread of the coronavirus that is again surging rapidly.

Jain said there was a logic behind the lockdown enforced earlier as nobody knew then how the virus propagates.

"It follows a 14-day cycle -- between a person catching the infection and recovering from it. Experts said the virus will die if a lockdown is imposed for 21 days," Jain told reporters.

NEW DELHI (AP) — Two Indian states with sizeable Muslim populations began voting in local elections Saturday in a test of strength for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose Hindu nationalist agenda is being challenged by monthslong farmer protests and a fresh wave of the pandemic.

Top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including Modi, have campaigned heavily to win West Bengal for the first time and dislodge the state’s chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, as well as retain power in northeastern Assam state.