India

Jaipur, Nov 26 (PTI) A four-year-old girl attending a wedding ceremony in a village in Rajasthan's Pali district was allegedly lured to a deserted field and raped by a 26-year-old man, police said on Thursday.

The incident happened in Sadavas village under the Sadar police station limits on Wednesday, they said.

The minor victim had gone with her family to attend a wedding ceremony. Finding her alone, the accused lured the girl to a field and allegedly raped her, SHO Bhanwarlal said.

Srinagar, Nov 26 (PTI) Two security force personnel were killed in a militant attack on a quick reaction team (QRT) at Parimpora on the outskirts of the city on Thursday, police said.

The ultras opened fire on the security forces at Khushipora in Parimpora area, a police official said.

Security forces have cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to track down the assailants, he said.

Lucknow, Nov 25 (PTI) The Lucknow Police Commissionerate on Wednesday said that prohibitory orders in the state capital will now be extended till December 1 in view of upcoming festivals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement issued here, Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Lucknow Naveen Arora said that section 144 of the CrPC was imposed in the city on October 15 and it was in place till November 25.

Lucknow, Nov 25 (PTI) Ambassador of France to India Emmanuel Lenain on Wednesday called upon Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at his official residence here and had a courtesy meeting, the state government said in a statement issued here.

The ambassador said France wants to increase cooperation with India, especially with Uttar Pradesh.

Adityanath, while inviting France to invest in Uttar Pradesh, said the scope of investment in the state is "immense".

New Delhi, Nov 26 (PTI) Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Thursday tested positive for coronavirus.

Rai is the third minister in the Arvind Kejriwal government to have contracted the virus.

Earlier, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Health Minister Satyendar Jain had been infected with coronavirus.

An official said that Rai, who is also AAP's Delhi convenor, had met party workers around Diwali.

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 26 (PTI) The nationwide strike, called by various trade unions in protest against the BJP-led NDA government's economic policies, was near total in the Left-ruled Kerala on Thursday with shops downing the shutters and state-owned KSRTC buses keeping away from roads.

Normal life in the southern state was affected as the 24 -hour-long agitation, called by a central committee of joint trade unions, hit all major sectors, including government offices, banking and insurance.

Delhi; 26 Nov 2020 (UMMN): More than 200 million workers from all sectors are expected to swarm the streets on November 26 in a nationwide “the mother of all strikes" called by 10 central trade unions and several of their affiliates.

BENGALURU (Reuters) - India’s economy is expected to recover early next year from recession, but at a modest pace, according to a majority of economists in a Reuters poll who said their upgraded growth predictions were based on the progress of COVID-19 vaccines.

The recent vaccine news has boosted Indian stocks to repeated record highs and fueled hopes of a pick-up in economic activity. That, coupled with festive-led demand, has lifted optimism amongst economists over the past month.

New Delhi, Nov 24 (PTI) The Supreme Court Tuesday dismissed sacked BSF jawan Tej Bahadur's plea against the rejection of his nomination papers to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the Varanasi constituency.

A bench comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, that had reserved its verdict in the case on November 18, upheld the Allahabad High Court judgment dismissing Bahadur's election petition against the poll panel's decision to reject his nomination papers.

New Delhi, Nov 25 (PTI) Senior Congress leader and the party's top strategist Ahmed Patel died in a Gurugram hospital on Wednesday due to multi-organ failure. He was suffering from complications related to COVID-19.

Patel (71), who was critical for a few days, was admitted to the Medanta hospital in Gurugram on November 15 after he developed complications.

His son Faisal said he died at 3.30 am.