India

New Delhi, Nov 16 (PTI) Former chief election commissioner S Y Quraishi has supported a ban on door-to-door campaigning by candidates in the 'silence period' to prevent allurement of voters using cash and liquor.

He also batted for change in law to allow the Election Commission deregister a political party on various grounds, including repeated violation of the model code.

Patna, Nov 16 (PTI) Nitish Kumar, who was sworn-in as Bihar chief minister for the seventh time on Monday was greeted with derision by opposition RJD and the LJP for assuming office though his party, the JD(U) has secured far less number of seats than than its ally - the BJP.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav mocked Kumar calling him a nominated chief minister, while LJP chief Chirag Paswan said tongue-in-cheek that he hoped that the JD(U) president would "continue to be NDA's chief minister".

New Delhi, Nov 17 (PTI) Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday attacked the Uttar Pradesh government over the issue of women's safety, saying will Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath answer how successful is his 'Mission Shakti' as news reports on crimes against women show they are "not safe" in the state at all.

Chief Minister Adityanath last month launched 'Mission Shakti' campaign focusing on ensuring the safety and dignity of women and girls, with a stern warning that perpetrators of crimes against females will be dealt with an iron hand.

Kanpur (UP) Nov 15 (PTI) A six-year-old girl, who had gone missing on Diwali night, was found killed in a jungle near her house in Ghatampur area on Sunday morning, police said.

The police, which earlier suspected that the child was killed by some people practising black magic , later, after the arrest of two youths, said she was killed by the duo for resisting their attempt to outrage her modesty.

Nagpur, Nov 15 (PTI) Australia's High Commissioner to India Barry O'Farrell met Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat in Nagpur on Sunday.

The meeting took place at the RSS headquarters located in the city's Mahal area.

O'Farrell tweeted about the meeting.

Mumbai, Nov 16 (PTI) Places of religious worship in Maharashtra, which were shut since the imposition of COVID-19 lockdown in March, reopened on Monday with devotees visiting some of the prominent temples and shrines in the state.

The reopening of the places of worship coincided with the Diwali 'Padwa', which is an important festival in the state.

Bahraich, Nov 16 (PTI) A 23-year-old man was beaten to death allegedly by a group of people in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district for urinating in the open, police said on Monday.

Patna, Nov 16 (PTI) Bihars main opposition party RJD on Monday said it will boycott the oath-taking ceremony of Nitish Kumar as chief minister, claiming the mandate in the elections was "against the NDA" which has been changed by a "fraud".

Kumar is scheduled to take oath as chief minister for the seventh time in Raj Bhavan this evening.

NEW DELHI, November 15. /TASS/: The first batch of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine for COVID-19 is expected to reach a medical college in the Indian town of Kanpur by next week to carry out phase 2 and phase 3 of clinical trials on humans, college principal R B Kamal told reporters, according to PTI news agency.

New Delhi, Nov 15 (PTI) Gold imports, which have a bearing on the current account deficit, declined 47.42 per cent to USD 9.28 billion during April-October due to fall in demand in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data from the Commerce Ministry.

Imports of the yellow metal stood at USD 17.64 billion in the corresponding period of 2019-20.

The imports, however, recorded a growth of about 36 per cent in October.

Silver imports during the period too dipped 64.65 per cent to USD 742 million.