India

Barrackpore (WB), Dec 12 (PTI) A BJP worker was beaten to death and six others were injured when a group of people attacked them during a door to door campaign of the party in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district on Saturday, police said.

Saikat Bhawal was one of those who were assaulted in Halisahar area. When he was taken to the JNM Hospital at Kalyani, doctors declared him "brought dead", police said adding that the matter is being investigated.

Jaipur, Dec 12 (PTI) Farmers in Rajasthan blocked highways at several places on Saturday to protest against the Centre's new agri laws, with BJP-ally Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) MP Hanuman Beniwal joining one such demonstration.

Terming the new farm laws as "anti-farmer", Beniwal, the convenor of RLP, said if Prime Minister Narendra Modi is equally concerned about the farmers, he should implement the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission.

New Delhi, Dec 12 (PTI) Israel and Bhutan established formal diplomatic relations on Saturday with both countries asserting that the development would open the path to greater cooperation, particularly in the sectors of technology, agriculture and water management.

The notes verbale on the establishment of diplomatic relations were exchanged between Bhutanese envoy to India Major General Vetsop Namgyel and Israeli Ambassador to India Ron Malka at the Israeli Embassy here.

Kolkata, Dec 12 (PTI) The Citizenship Amendment Act will be implemented in West Bengal soon, BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya Saturday said.

Vijayvargiya, the BJP Bengal minder who was talking to reporters at Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas district which is largely inhabited by backward Matua community, did not say anything on the contentious National Register of Citizens.

Kolkata, Dec 13 (PTI) A spectacular meteor shower will enthral skygazers in the city and elsewhere on the night of December 13 and early hours of December 14.

The Geminid meteor shower, which peaks this year on the late night of December 13, is the most intense meteor shower of the year, Director of M P Birla Planetarium and well-known astrophysicist Debiprasad Duari said in a statement on Saturday.

Lucknow, Dec 13 (PTI) Government doctors in Uttar Pradesh completing postgraduate courses will have to give their services in the department for 10 years or pay a compensation of Rs 1 crore, according to an official.

The order, issued last Wednesday, reiterated an earlier one issued on April 3, 2017. It said had been cases of some doctors completing the PG course and seeking a no objection certificate (NOC) for doing senior residentship, which would not be allowed and they had to return to their native departments.

New Delhi, Dec 12 (PTI) The Centre has told the Supreme Court that India is unequivocally against forcing family planning on its people and any coercion to have a certain number of children is counter-productive and leads to demographic distortions.

Chennai,Dec 12 (PTI) The Madras High Court has quashed the Income Tax proceedings initiated against Karti Chidambaram, son of former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram,and his wife over alleged non-disclosure of cash transactions of about Rs seven crore following sale of a property near here.

The Court, while ruling that the action is "not maintainable and premature", clarified that proceedings may be initiated again if the authority concerned deemed the same is required after proper assessment.

New Delhi, Dec 12 (PTI) The Delhi Police has increased security arrangements at the city's border points following the announcement by agitating farmers to block the Jaipur-Delhi and the Delhi-Agra Expressways on Saturday to further intensify their protest against the Centre's new agri laws.

Thousands of farmers have been protesting at various areas on Delhi's borders for the last 16 days and demanding that the legislations be withdrawn.

Surat, Dec 11 (PTI) An 18-year-old college student was allegedly raped and thrown off the terrace of a building in Parle Point area of Gujarat's Surat city, police said on Friday.

According to the police, the victim was found unconscious and bleeding on the road in Parle point area surrounded by four to five-storey residential buildings on Wednesday night.