India

Lucknow, Dec 16 (PTI) The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday fixed January 27 as the next date of hearing on the Hathras rape case after the CBI sought more time to conclude its investigation.

The CBI informed the court that it will take some more time to conclude the investigation and failed to file any status report of the probe.

The Bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and Rajan Roy fixed January 27 as the next date of the hearing.

Jaipur, Dec 16 (PTI) The Jaipur-Delhi highway remained partially blocked as the farmers' stir against the Centre's agriculture laws entered its fourth day on the Haryana-Rajasthan border on Wednesday.

Farmers led by Swaraj Abhiyan leader Yogendra Yadav and former CPI (M) MLA Amra Ram are agitating on the stretch leading to Delhi in Shahjahanpur of Rajasthan's Alwar district, which borders Haryana.

They had blocked the road on Sunday after police stopped their march to Delhi.

Dehradun, Dec 16 (PTI) The Uttarakhand Congress on Wednesday launched a "Thanks Jawan" campaign during which people of the state will visit soldiers' families and express their gratitude to them.

Launching the campaign here, Pradesh Congress president Pritam Singh said he would tour all districts of the state and meet the families of the jawans of Indian Army and central paramilitary forces.

Bengaluru, Dec 16 (PTI) Thirteen BJP legislators in Karnataka, appointed as the heads of various boards and corporations, were on Wednesday given the Cabinet rank.

According to official notifications, four other legislators have been given the Minister of State rank.

The move has come amid the delay in the expansion or reshuffle of the Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa's cabinet.

According to party sources, this is also being seen as a signal to these legislators that they may not make it to the ministry and an attempt to placate them.

Ballia (UP), Dec 17 (PTI) A 13-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her teacher in Bairia area of the district, police said on Thursday.

The class 8 student was allegedly raped by the 22-year-old teacher two months ago, SHO, Bairia, Sanjay Tripathi, said.

An FIR was registered by the girl's father on Wednesday in which he alleged that his daughter was raped by the teacher when she had gone to Bairia to fill a scholarship form.

The accused has been arrested.

Lalitpur (UP), Dec 17 (PTI) A 32-year-old woman and her lover were arrested for allegedly killing her husband and throwing his body near a canal, police said on Thursday.

The body of Manoj Nigam, 38, was found near Jakhlaun canal on Tuesday, ASP Brijesh Kumar said.

A case was registered at Lalitpur police station on the basis of a complaint lodged by Nigam's family.

NEW DELHI, Dec 16 (NNN-Bernama) — India imported 333,383 tonnes of crude palm oil (CPO) from Malaysia in November, representing about 56 per cent of its total CPO imports, according to latest industry data.

The country’s overall palm oil imports from Malaysia last month included 9,000 tonnes of refined, bleached and deodorised (RBD) palm olein and 10,000 tonnes of crude palm kernel oil.

NEW DELHI, Dec 16 (NNN-PTI) – India’s COVID-19 tally reached 9,932,547 today, as 26,382 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, the latest data from the health ministry showed.

According to the data, the death toll mounted to 144,096 as 387 COVID-19 patients died since Monday morning.

Delhi has been one of the most COVID-19 affected places in the country. As many as 1,617 new cases and 41 deaths were registered in the national capital during the past 24 hours. On Monday the total death toll in the city had crossed the 10,000-mark.

Chandigarh, Dec 15 (PTI) Launching a scathing attack on the BJP over farmers' protest against the three central farm laws, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday called the saffron party the real tukde tukde gang , accusing it of setting Hindus against Sikhs in Punjab.

Asking the former ally to shun the arrogant attitude over the farm laws and accept what farmers want, Badal warned the BJP against any attempt to set Hindus against Sikhs.

Dhordo (Guj), Dec 15 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said a conspiracy is afoot to confuse farmers over the new agri laws and accused the opposition of using farmers' shoulders to fire their guns.

As the protest by farmers outside Delhi entered the 20th day, Modi made a strong pitch for the agri laws enacted in September, describing them as historic and said his government was ready to remove any doubts about the legislations.