India

New Delhi, Nov 12 (PTI) Driven by rising food prices, retail inflation inched up to 7.61 per cent in October, remaining above the comfort level of the Reserve Bank.

According to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released by the government on Thursday, inflation stood at 7.27 per cent in September 2020. It was 4.62 per cent in October 2019.

The rise in general inflation was mainly on account of elevated food prices.

Kendrapara (Odisha), Nov 12 (PTI) A court in Odisha's Kendrapara district on Thursday sentenced two persons to life imprisonment for killing an eight-year-old boy as part of an occult ritual five years ago.

District and sessions judge Basudeb Panda awarded life term to Abhinash Choudhury, an ex-serviceman, and his accomplice Bairagi Das.

Lucknow, Nov 12 (PTI) The Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday suspended senior IPS officer Anant Dev after a probe by a special investigation team pointed at a nexus between police and gangster Vikas Dubey, allegedly responsible for the death of eight policemen.

The Deputy Inspector General (DIG)-rank officer is a former police chief of Kanpur, the district in which the policemen were ambushed shortly after midnight on July 2.

New Delhi, Nov 13 (PTI) The national capital recorded its air quality in the very poor category on Friday morning, and it is likely to enter the "severe" zone on Diwali night.

The city recorded an air quality index (AQI) of 330 at 9 am. The 24-hour average AQI was 314 on Thursday.

NEW DELHI, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Indian Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman Thursday announced a grant of over 120.6 million U.S. dollars for the research and development of COVID-19 vaccine.

The announcement came during the spelling out of the third stimulus for the revival of economy in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

"Rupees 900 crore (120.6 million U.S. dollars) provided for COVID-19 Suraksha (prevention) Mission for Research and Development of Indian COVID-19 vaccine to department of Biotechnology," Sitharaman said.

Kanpur: Crowd surges on the road adjacent to Lal Bunglow in Jajmau here. This is truly because of the festival purchasing.

On the road turning to the main market through Gurudwara side becomes inaccessible in the evening. 

This is because of the electronic items shops have extended its frontage for display and this contracts the width so the jam remains inevitable.

One said: If the road does not look crowded the people do not take the value of the festival in the true feeling.

New Delhi, Nov 12 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday targeted the government over the state of the economy, claiming the country has entered into a recession for the first time in history due to the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"India has entered into recession for the first time in history. Mr Modi's actions have turned India's strength into its weakness," he said on Twitter.

New Delhi, Nov 11 (PTI) A little over seven lakh voters in Bihar used the 'none of the above' or NOTA option in the assembly elections, according to the Election Commission.

Nitish Kumar-led NDA was back in power in Bihar on Wednesday with a slender majority.

The ruling coalition won 125 seats in the 243-member state assembly against 110 clinched by the opposition Grand Alliance to pave the way for a fourth successive term for Kumar in office.

New Delhi, Nov 11 (PTI) A Delhi court Wednesday granted bail to a man in a case related to the communal violence in north east Delhi in February, saying the video footage showing his alleged involvement in the riots and murder does not pertain to the day of the incident.

Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat granted the relief to Anwar Hussain on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 40,000 with one surety of like amount in the case of death of one Furkan due to gunshot injuries during the riots in Kardampur Pulia.

Aurangabad, Nov 11 (PTI) Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) leader Prakash Ambedkar on Wednesday said ballot papers should be used in elections as people have "no faith" in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

He also hailed RJD's Tejashwi Yadav for putting up a "good fight" in the recently-held Bihar elections, results of which were announced on Tuesday.

Addressing reporters here, Ambedkar said many parties alleged malpractices in the recently contested Bihar assembly elections, results of which were declared on Tuesday.