India

New Delhi, Dec 30 (PTI) Passenger flights between the UK and India would remain suspended till January 7 and they will resume in a "strictly regulated" manner thereafter, Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Wednesday.

The Civil Aviation Ministry had last week suspended all flights between the European country and India from December 23 to December 31 as a mutated variant of the coronavirus was detected there.

New Delhi, Dec 30 (PTI) Thousands of farmers agitating against the three new central agriculture laws stayed put at their agitation venues near Delhi, which is going through a harsh spell of winter, unrelenting in their demand of withdrawal of the legislations.

On Wednesday, a cold wave swept Delhi as the minimum temperature dipped to 3.5 degrees Celsius. It is likely to get even colder on New Year's Eve, the India Meteorological Department predicted, as dry and icy winds barrelled through the plains.

Kanpur: As the year slowly but steadily passes to its end in a few more hours, the memories are what we are going to recall in the coming year.

I have experienced a very memorable story from a 12-year-old boy who told he wanted to express heartily his joys. He narrated how his father readily agreed his request to buy badminton 🏸  as his old piece got broken while playing with his friends.

What he could not expect got fulfilled in a very short time. Happiness was spreading on his face to find a new racquet which was quite costly in comparison to the old one.

Ballia (UP), Dec 29 (PTI) A 15-year-old girl belonging to a village here was allegedly kidnapped and raped, police said on Tuesday.

According to a complaint given by the girl's father, his neighbour Suraj Paswan (22) kidnapped his daughter on October 9 and took her to Noida where he raped her, Ubhaon police station SHO Yogendra Bahadur Singh said.

On the complaint, an FIR was lodged, after which the girl was recovered and the accused arrested.

The girl has been sent to the district hospital for a medical examination, the SHO added.

Kozhikode (Ker), Dec 29 (PTI) Rashtriya Swayam Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Tuesday inaugurated 'Kesari Media Studies and Research Centre' at nearby Chalappuram and said the new generation should remember the struggle through which the organisation marched forward.

Bhagwat said 'Kesari', a Sangh Parivar affiliated weekly which started publishing in 1951, is a product of certain thoughts "focused on the upliftment of Bharat".

Hamirpur (UP), Dec 29 (PTI) Over 60 Congress leaders and workers were taken into custody on Tuesday during their "Gai Bachao, Kisan Bachao Yatra" here, police said.

Around 60 to 70 Congress leaders and workers were taken into custody at Shahid Park here while staging a protest without permission, Circle Officer (Sadar) Anurag Singh said.

New Delhi, Dec 28 (PTI) The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) on Monday expressed shock and deep concern on the arbitrary, illegal and brazen exercise of brute power by the police against lawyers, including the search conducted at the premises of an advocate representing some of the accused in the north-east Delhi riots cases.

The SCBA also condemned the assault on a lawyer in the Etah district, Uttar Pradesh, by the local police.

Allahabad, Dec 28 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court has quashed an FIR lodged against a Muslim man over a marriage with a Hindu woman, ruling that she had a right to live her life on her own terms.

Upholding the interfaith marriage in a case from Uttar Pradesh's Etah district, a bench of Justice Pankaj Naqvi and Vivek Agarwal said the woman is an adult according to her high school certificate.

Noida (UP), Dec 28 (PTI) Farmers demonstrating against the Centre's new agri laws on Monday performed yoga on the Delhi-Noida Link Road at the Chilla border where they have been camping for 28 days now.

The road remained closed for Noida to Delhi movement but was open for commuters travelling from Delhi to Noida, according to a police official.

New Delhi, Dec 29 (PTI) Six persons who returned to India from the United Kingdom have tested positive for the new UK variant genome of SARS-CoV2, the Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

It said the mutated UK strain was detected in samples in NIMHANS, Bengaluru, in CCMB, Hyderabad and one in NIV, Pune.