India

Kanpur: Those who were not wearing a face mask are being challaned for their irresponsible attitude. A large number of people were caught without a mask and a fine was also taken from them.

They are penalised for not wearing a face mask, said Rajkumar Agarwal, SP (East).

Even a drone is being used to catch people moving without a mask either in crowded space or other places.

Bada Chauraha, Meston Road, Mall Road, Shivala Bazaar and other roads in city areas were are covered to search people moving without a mask.

Srinagar, Nov 28 (PTI) Voting for the first phase of the maiden District Development Council (DDC) election in Jammu and Kashmir began on Saturday, officials said.

Lucknow/Baghpat, Nov 27 (PTI) Farmers on Friday staged demonstrations at some places in Uttar Pradesh leading to traffic jams on roads, officials said.

Protesting against the Centre's new farm laws and the police action on the agitating farmers, the activists of Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) blocked the Delhi-Dehradun National Highway at Nawla Kothi in Muzaffarnagar district and also staged sit-ins in Meerut and Baghpat.

Dehradun, Nov 27 (PTI) National coordinator of Kisan Congress Rakesh Kumar Singh on Friday accused BJP-ruled states of using repressive measures against farmers and warned that attempts to quell their protests will only further intensify them.

Referring to Thursday's incident in Haryana where farmers marching to Delhi had to face water cannons and teargas shells, Singh said coercive methods to silence farmers would only worsen the situation.

New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) The Indian economy contracted by 7.5 per cent in the July-September quarter of this fiscal amid the COVID-19 crisis, official data showed on Friday.

The gross domestic product (GDP) had expanded by 4.4 per cent in the corresponding July-September period of 2019-20, according to data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO).

The economy had shrunk by an unprecedented 23.9 per cent in the first quarter of this fiscal due to the coronavirus pandemic and resultant lockdowns.

Rajnandgaon, Nov 27 (PTI) Five people were arrested in Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon district for allegedly abducting a 23-year-old woman and her 4-year-old son and selling them in Haryana, police said on Friday.

The arrests were made over the last five days after the victim and her son returned home and her husband filed a complaint on November 22, said Alexander Kiro, Station House Officer (SHO) of Dongargarh police station.

New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) The Union government's fiscal deficit further widened to Rs 9.53 lakh crore, which is nearly 120 per cent of the annual budget estimate, at the end of October of the current financial year, according to official data released on Friday.

The deficit widened mainly on account of poor revenue realisation. The lockdown imposed to curb spreading of coronavirus infections had significantly impacted business activities and in turn contributed to sluggish revenue realisation.

New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) Contracting for the eighth consecutive month, the output of eight core infrastructure sectors dropped by 2.5 per cent in October, mainly due to decline in production of crude oil, natural gas, refinery products and steel.

The production of eight core sectors had contracted 5.5 per cent in October 2019, data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry showed on Friday.

Ahmedabad, Nov 27 (PTI) In a bid to bring in "ease of doing business" and attract new investment, the Gujarat government on Friday made some changes in the rules of two labour acts through a notification, an official said.

According to a government release, these changes were applied to the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 and Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Services) Act, 1979, to help industries hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jaipur, Nov 27 (PTI) Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday accused the BJP of trying to destabilise his government by resorting to negative politics by speculating on its fall and stoking fears about coronavirus pandemic.

Asserting that the BJP leaders' speculations on behalf of their central leadership reveal their anti-democratic moorings, the chief minister expressed faith in the people of Rajasthan, saying they would accept no "unethical" practices and reply to the BJP's efforts to take political mileage.