India

Srinagar, Dec 22 (PTI) PDP youth president Waheed Para, who is in custody of the National Investigation Agency for alleged links with militants, on Tuesday won the District Development Council (DDC) elections from Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir.

Para defeated BJP candidate Sajad Ahmad Raina.

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said she was proud of her party's youth leader to register a win.

Srinagar, Dec 22 (PTI) The BJP on Tuesday won an election for the first time from any seat in Kashmir while facing regional heavyweights like the National Conference and the PDP.

Aijaz Hussain won the Khonmoh-II District Development Council seat in Srinagar, while Aijaz Ahmad Khan gave the party more reason to cheer by winning the Tulail seat in Bandipora district.

Crediting the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and hard work of party workers for his success, Hussain said the DDC election was a fight between the BJP and rest of the parties.

Azamgarh (UP), Dec 22 (PTI) Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad on Tuesday said his party will field candidates in the upcoming panchyat polls in Uttar Pradesh.

He also accused the government of settling scores with the opposition and expressed concern over the law and order situation.

Before the 2022 assembly polls, the Azad Samaj Party will field candidates in the panchyat elections, said the Bhim Army chief, who was here to meet the district magistrate over the alleged delay in providing help to a Dalit village head killed recently.

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 22 (PTI) Twenty eight years after the mysterious death of Sister Abhaya, an inmate of St.Pious convent at Kottayam in Kerala, a CBI special court here on Tuesday held it was a case of murder and found a priest and nun guilty of killing her.

Special CBI Judge K Sanal Kumar, while pronouncing the verdict, said the murder charges against the two will stand.

New Delhi, Dec 21 (PTI) Authorities like the DDA are obligated to ensure that places of worship are not created on public land by unscrupulous persons through encroachment, the Delhi High Court has said.

Justice Prathiba M Singh expressed "grave concern" over encroachment of public land "under the shelter of a place of worship", saying it has been seen in a large number of cases that people claim rights over government land under the garb of temples or other places of worship.

New Delhi, Dec 22 (PTI) The government on Tuesday invited expressions of interest for strategic disinvestment of its 63.75 per cent stake in Shipping Corp of India along with the transfer of management control.

The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) has issued Preliminary Information Memorandum (PIM) inviting Expressions of Interest (EoI) from potential buyers by February 13, 2021.

Haridwar, Dec 21 (PTI) A man was arrested for allegedly raping and killing an 11-year-old girl here on Monday, police said.

The man has been identified as Ram Tirath. His maternal uncle Rajiv, who was also accused of being involved in the crime, is absconding, the police said.

The girl had gone out to play around 4 pm on Sunday and did not return home.

Police sprang into action when the girl's father, a contractor, lodged a missing complaint in connection with the incident.

Ranchi, Dec 21 (PTI) A regional commander of the outlawed Peoples' Liberation Front of India (PLFI), wanted by the police for involvement in over 100 criminal cases, was on Monday killed in a gunbattle with security forces in Jharkhand's Khuti district.

Jidan Gudiya, who carried a reward of Rs 15 lakh on his head, was gunned down in a joint operation by the state police and the CRPF in the forests of Koyangsar in the district, Inspector General of Police Saket Kumar Singh told PTI.

Ghaziabad, Dec 21 (PTI) Farmer protesting against the Centre's agriculture laws on Monday started a hunger strike and briefly blocked the Delhi-Ghaziabad road.

Superintendent of Police (City-II) Gyanendra Singh said farmers were persuaded to lift the blockade after which the National Highway-9 was opened to traffic.

On Monday, a group of 10 farmers initiated a hunger strike against the farm laws. They will be replaced by another group on Tuesday.

Jaipur, Dec 21 (PTI) Farmers protesting against agriculture laws on Jaipur-Delhi highway in Alwar's Shahjahapur on Monday accused the Centre of not looking into their demands despite a threat to their livelihood.

The livelihood of farmers is at stake but the government is paying no heed to their demands, they told reporters.

Farmer leader Balvinder Singh from Kota said they feed crores of people but their interests have been neglected by the Centre.