India

New Delhi, Oct 12 (PTI) Students' groups on Monday staged protests here against the Delhi University (DU) administration over the high cut-offs announced for undergraduate admission.

The protests were held by the Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS) and the Left-affiliated Students' Federation of India (SFI). They alleged that high cut-offs favour students of big private schools and demanded more transparency in the admission process.

New Delhi, Oct 12 (PTI) India and China on Monday held the seventh round of high-level military talks with a sole agenda of finalising a roadmap for disengagement of troops from all the friction points in eastern Ladakh.

As the border standoff entered the sixth month, an early resolution to the row appears dim.

The talks at the Corps commander level began at around 12 noon in Chushul on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, official sources said.

NEW DELHI, Oct 11 (NNN-PTI) – India’s export of essential agri-commodities increased by 43.4 percent to 53,626.6 crore Indian Rupees (seven billion U.S. dollars), in the period from Apr to Sept this year, from 37,397.3 crore Indian Rupees (five billion U.S. dollars) a year earlier, said the Agriculture Ministry on Saturday.

It said that, the major commodity groups recording export growth were groundnut with 35 percent, refined sugar 104 percent, wheat 206 percent, Basmati Rice 13 percent and Non-Basmati Rice 105 percent.

Muzaffarnagar (UP), Oct 11 (PTI) A six-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a youth in her neighbourhood in Shamli district, police said on Sunday.

The victim's mother alleged that the accused lured the girl with Rs 10, following which he took her to a nearby place to commit the crime, Superintendent of Police Nityanand Rai said.

The youth has been arrested, Rai said, adding that the girl was sent for post-mortem.

New Delhi, Oct 11 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched the physical distribution of property cards under the 'SVAMITVA' (ownership) scheme via video conferencing, and asserted that it is a "historic move" that will transform rural India

This will pave the way for villagers to use property as a financial asset for taking loans and other financial benefits, and end disputes among villagers over land ownership, he said.

Kanpur: Not only teaching remains online but the half-yearly examination was also held online. As usual, the questions were asked more than the time allotted for the answer.

Every subject paper was held online in the morning time. Voice and video remained open until the end of the time.

Students kept on listening, "submit, submit quickly as time gets over." They have no choice as to complete answers within the time.

New Delhi, Oct 10 (PTI) A Delhi court hearing a case related to the Northeast Delhi riots has been informed that the police "inadvertently" put a document which contained the details of some of the protected witnesses in the copies of the charge sheet supplied to the accused booked under the stringent UAPA.

New Delhi, Oct 10 (PTI) Any peace deal with the Taliban "will not and should not be detrimental" to the national security of any country including India, and it is for New Delhi to decide whether to engage with the militant outfit, top Afghan peace negotiator Abdullah Abdullah said on Saturday.

Malda, Oct 11 (PTI) Several research scholars, postgraduates and engineering students in West Bengal have applied to the post of forest assistants, the qualification required for which is class 8 pass, a senior official said on Sunday.

The West Bengal government is hiring 2,000 'Bana Sahayaks' or forest assistants on a contractual basis to protect wildlife and prevent man-animal conflict.

Mangaluru, Oct 10 (PTI): The All India Catholic Union (AICU) on Saturday called for the immediate release of 83- year-old Jesuit priest Fr Stan Swamy, who was arrested from Ranchi, Jharkhand, in an operation by the NIA and now in judicial custody.

The century-old AICU, which represents 1.6 crore ordinary catholics in the country, expressed apprehension over the arrest of Stan by saying that the action on the ailing activist was a plan to silence dissent and protest against alienation of the natural and forest resources of the tribals.