India

New Delhi, Dec 5 (PTI) Meeting the government for the fifth time on Saturday with their demands for scrapping the three new farm laws, union leaders decided to have their own tea and food, ferried from their langar (community kitchen) at Singhu border, where thousands of farmers are protesting for over a week.

The fifth round of talks began at 2.30 PM and was attended by 40 representatives of various farmer organisations.

New Delhi, Dec 5 (PTI) The Congress on Saturday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to test the patience of farmers and said he should immediately repeal the "black" farm laws after apologising to them.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that farmers in Bihar are in trouble without the MSP system and APMC Act and now the entire country has been "pushed into this well".

He also supported the women farmers who have joined the farmers' agitation on Delhi's borders.

Barasat (WB), Dec 5 (PTI) Senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya on Saturday said that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act is likely to be implemented from January next year as the Centre and the saffron party are keen to grant citizenship to the large refugee population in West Bengal.

The BJP national general secretary accused the TMC government of not being sympathetic to the cause of the refugees.

NEW DELHI, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- India's indigenous COVID-19 vaccine maker Bharat Biotech on Saturday issued a statement over a vaccine trial volunteer's report of COVID-19 infection.

The company said its vaccine trials are based on a two-dose schedule, given 28 days apart, and that its vaccine Covaxin is designed to be protective two weeks after volunteers receive the second dose.

Allahabad, Dec 4 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court has observed that the attempt to murder charge slapped against a Mau resident, who participated in the religious congregation organised by the Tablighi Jamaat at New Delhi in March, was reflective of "abuse of the power of law".

Kolkata, Dec 5 (PTI) Kolkata Police has decided to re-impose the "no helmet no petrol" rule forbidding petrol pumps from selling fuel to motorcyclists without helmets, a senior officer said.

The "no helmet no petrol" rule would start from December 8 and will continue for 60 days, the officer said.

Bijapur, Dec 4 (PTI) A Naxal was killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's insurgency- hit Bijapur district on Friday, police said.

The skirmish took place around 12.30 pm in a forest under Gangaloor police station area, where joint teams of security forces were on an anti-Naxal operation, inspector general of police (Bastar range) Sundarraj P told PTI.

Personnel from the District Reserve Guard (DRG), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and its elite unit CoBRA were involved in the operation, he said.

New Delhi, Dec 4 (PTI) The CBI has arrested a BJP councillor in Delhi connection with a Rs 10-lakh bribery case, officials said on Friday.

Manoj Mehlawat, the councilor from Vasant Kunj area, had allegedly demanded the bribe to allow the construction of a house without any hindrance, according to officials.

Mehlawat was produced before a special court, which sent him to judicial custody. The agency has caught him red-handed after laying a trap, officials said.

Mahoba (UP), Dec 5 (PTI) The police have arrested a man for allegedly raping a 14-year-old girl in a village in Uttar Pradesh's Mahoba district, officials said on Saturday.

SHO, Ajnar police station, Shashi Kumar Pandey said the incident took place late on Thursday evening and the 22-year-old accused was arrested on Saturday.

"A 14-year-old girl was raped when she had gone to pluck vegetables. Later, the accused had also threatened to kill her, if she told anyone about the incident. Thereafter, the accused had fled from the spot," the SHO said.

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 4 (PTI) The second campus of Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), which will be a major knowledge centre and hub for mid and high level innovation, is ready for dedication to the nation, Union Minister for Science and Technology Dr Harsh Vardhan said on Friday.

The campus will be named after M S Golwalkar (late RSS ideologue), the minister said.