India

New Delhi, Sep 20 (PTI) National convener of AAP and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday appealed to all non-BJP parties to vote against three agriculture-related bills in the Rajya Sabha, saying farmers in the country wished so.

Earlier, Kejriwal had said his party will vote against the three bills and termed them "anti-farmer".

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 19 (PTI): Under attack over the gold smuggling case, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday slammed theCongress-led UDF for dragging the Holy Quran into a controversy and alleged the Opposition was towing the BJP-RSS line on the issue and they need to introspect.

It was the RSS and the BJP which had first made the allegation that gold had been smuggled in the guise of importing Quran from the UAE.

This was later picked up by the UDF's Congress and Muslim League leaders, Vijayan told reporters here.

Badaun (UP), Sep 19 (PTI) In a loathsome incident, a father of five daughters here allegedly ripped open the stomach of his pregnant wife on Saturday evening allegedly to find out if she was going to deliver a son this time.

Pannalal slit the stomach of his wife, aged around 35, with a sharp-edged weapon in the Nekpur locality under the Civil Lines police station area, injuring her seriously, SP (City) Pravin Singh Chauhan said.

New Delhi, Sep 19 (PTI) Lok Sabha on Saturday passed a bill to further amend the Companies Act and decriminalise various compoundable offences as well as promote ease of doing business in the country.

The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2020 seeks to decriminalise various penal provisions, permit direct overseas listing of Indian corporates and introduce a new chapter related to producer organisations in the legislation.

New Delhi, Sep 20 (PTI) Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda on Sunday took oath as a member of the Rajya Sabha.

Gowda, 87, was in June elected to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka. This is the first time that the JD(S) leader has become a member of the Upper House since 1996.

Chandigarh, Sep 20 (PTI) Farmers in Haryana began their protest against the agriculture-related farm bills on Sunday amid elaborate security arrangements which have been made to ensure that the event passes off smoothly.

The Bharatiya Kisan Union's Haryana unit, supported by some other farmer outfits, is holding a statewide protest against the Centre's farm bills during which protesters will block roads for three hours from 12 pm to 3 pm.

The farmers are also joined by the 'arhitiyas' or commission agents during their protest.

MUMBAI, Sept 19 (NNN-PTI) – India’s state-owned Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), will commence new direct vessel service to the Maldives from Monday, the company said.

It will be a container and break-bulk cargo service, with the support of the country’s shipping and external affairs ministry, the company said.

The maiden voyage by SCI, the country’s largest shipping company, operating one-third of India’s shipping tonnage with annual revenue of 602 million U.S. dollars, will be flagged off from Tuticorin port — 586 km South of Bengaluru.

Gonda (UP), Sep 19 (PTI) A married woman was allegedly raped by a youth in a village in Uttar Pradesh's Gonda district while on her way to her in-laws house, police said on Saturday.

The incident happened on Friday evening in a village under Khondare police station area, they said, adding that the accused youth was arrested.

The woman was returning from her parents place along with her children.

New Delhi, Sep 19 (PTI) The farm bills brought by the government undermine the food security system, the Congress claimed on Saturday and urged opposition parties to collectively oppose the bills so that they do not become law in their present form.

Congress leader and former Union finance minister P Chidambaram said that the Congress's 2019 poll manifesto was based on foundational principles of minimum support price (MSP), public procurement and public distribution system (PDS) to ensure food security.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) said on Saturday it has arrested nine al Qaeda militants who were planning attacks in several locations including the capital New Delhi.

“The group was planning to undertake terrorist attacks at vital installations in India with an aim to kill innocent people and strike terror in their minds,” the country’s main counter-terrorism arm said in a statement.

Those arrested “were motivated to undertake attacks at multiple places” including the capital region.