India

BENGALURU (Reuters) - Facebook Inc’s public policy director for India, South and Central Asia, Ankhi Das, has stepped down to pursue interests in public service, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

The resignation comes weeks after Facebook and Das faced questions internally from employees over how political content is regulated in its biggest market, India.

New Delhi, Oct 27 (PTI) The CBI investigation in the sensational Hathras case, in which a Dalit girl was allegedly brutally raped and died of injuries, will now be monitored by the Allahabad High Court, the Supreme Court Tuesday said.

The apex court said that all the aspects of the case, including monitoring of probe and providing security to the victim's family as well as the witnesses, would be considered by the high court.

New Delhi, Oct 27 (PTI) Ahead of Bihar Assembly elections, an NGO has moved the Supreme Court seeking urgent hearing of its 2017 PIL challenging the 2018 Electoral Bonds Scheme meant for funding political parties.

The NGO, 'Association for Democratic Reforms', had earlier also moved a similar plea seeking stay on the scheme ahead of Delhi Assembly polls in January this year. The apex court had refused to grant the interim stay on the scheme.

New Delhi, Oct 27 (PTI) A Delhi court has dismissed the bail plea of Jamia Millia Islamia student Asif Iqbal Tanha, arrested under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, in connection with a case related to larger conspiracy in the north east Delhi riots in February.

Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat, said in his order passed on October 26, that there were reasonable grounds for believing that the allegations against Tanha were prima facie true.

New Delhi, Oct 27 (PTI) Hitting out at the Uttar Pradesh government over alleged rise in prices, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday said the Yogi Adityanath dispensation which spends crores of rupees on "false propaganda" is silent on people's problems.

In Uttar Pradesh, during the festival season, rising prices have "wreaked havoc" on the common people, Priyanka Gandhi said.

"Vegetable prices are skyrocketing. Work and businesses are already stalled," she alleged in a tweet in Hindi.

Patna, Oct 26 (PTI) Curtain came down on Monday over campaign for 71 assembly segments of Bihar which go to polls on October 28, in the first phase of elections.

Leading the NDA charge, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew down to address as many as three rallies where he urged the voters to vote Chief Minister Nitish Kumar back to power.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, whose party is contesting the elections in alliance with Lalu Prasads RJD and three Left parties, also chipped in with two rallies.

New Delhi, Oct 26 (PTI) India will drive the global energy demand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday as he showcased his government's recent reforms in the sector to global investors.

Speaking at the India Energy Forum by CERAWeek, Modi said the coronavirus pandemic had resulted in global energy demand falling by one-third, investment decisions being impacted and predictions of a contraction in demand over the next few years.

But India is likely to see energy consumption double over the long term, he said.

Srinagar, Oct 26 (PTI) Three PDP leaders from the Jammu region resigned from the party following a statement by its president Mehbooba Mufti regarding the national flag, PDP sources said here on Monday.

Senior leaders T S Bajwa, Hassan Ali Waffa and Bed Mahajan have resigned from the PDP, they said.

The trio was unhappy with Mehbooba's statement about not holding the tricolour till Jammu and Kashmir's special status, including its separate state flag, is restored, the sources said.

Shahjahanpur (UP), Oct 26 (PTI) A man has been booked for allegedly sharing an objectionable post against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UP CM Yogi Adityanath on social media, police said here on Monday.

Superintendent of Police S Anand said one Ravi Kumar Gupta shared a picture of demon king Ravana's effigy on his Facebook account with photos of four leaders, including Modi and Adityanath, on it.

He said the FIR was lodged on the complaint of Vishal Kumar, a resident of Jalalabad township here.

NEW DELHI (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense chief Mark Esper stepped up the Trump administration’s anti-China message in India on Tuesday, exactly a week ahead of America’s presidential election.

With President Donald Trump in a tight race for a second term against former Vice President Joe Biden, Pompeo and Esper sought to play on Indian suspicions about China to shore up a regional front against increasing Chinese assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region. They also lauded joint cooperation in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.