India

Jaipur, Mar 16 (PTI) Amid fears of horse-trading ahead of the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls, 22 Gujarat Congress MLAs arrived here on Monday, party sources said.

The Congress has been shifting its MLAs out of Gujarat after some of its legislators resigned from the state assembly.

New Delhi, Mar 16 (PTI) The Congress on Monday accused the BJP of making a "mockery" of democracy and insulting it by its attempts to engineer defections in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said instead of dealing with the pressing issues of unemployment, coronavirus outbreak, productivity and lack of investment, the BJP is busy deciding on which government to topple by "illegal and unfair" means.

Jaipur, Mar 16 (PTI) Three persons have been apprehended for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl in Rajasthan's Churu district, police said Monday.

An FIR was lodged by family members of the minor, following which a case was registered under sections 376(D) (gangrape) and 365 (kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code and the three were detained, said Station House Officer, Taranagar, Radheshyam.

Gadchiroli, Mar 16 (PTI) Security personnel defused a landmine in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra following a gun-battle with Naxals and averted a major tragedy, police said on Monday.

The landmine was unearthed on Sunday in jungles in the Bodmeta area by a joint team of the Gadchiroli police and the CRPF, they said.

Mumbai, Mar 16 (PTI) A sessions court here on Monday issued a bailable warrant against BJP MLA Nitesh Rane and another accused for their alleged involvement in a riot outside a hotel in Worli in 2014.

There are 16 accused in the case, most of whom have been arrested. Rane was not with the BJP when the incident took place.

Mumbai, Mar 16 (PTI) Air India pilots sought an urgent financial assistance from the government on Monday for the disinvestment-bound national carrier amid the coronavirus pandemic.

With global travel bans due to the pandemic, many airlines across the world are staring at massive losses and fear going bust.

Kolkata, Mar 16 (PTI) A cow urine consumption programme was organised in north Kolkata on Monday out of the belief that it will protect people from the coronavirus or cure them in case they have already been infected.

A group of men organised a cow-worship programme at a cowshed at the Jorasanko area and consumed cups of cow urine.

"We believe that consuming cow urine would further strengthen our immunity and protect us from the coronavirus," one of the organisers said.

Muzaffarnagar, Mar 17 (PTI) A doctor and an engineer were arrested on charges of robbery in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district, police said on Tuesday.

They were arrested on Monday for allegedly robbing a trader last week. The accused have confessed of having robbed petrol pump owners in the past, according to police.

Police said they have recovered the Rs 1,30,000 robbed from the trader at gun point from his shop.

Mumbai, Mar 17 (PTI) Veteran devotional singer Anup Jalota on Tuesday said he is in isolation at a Mumbai hotel as a preventive measure in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The 66-year-old singer, who was in Europe for a concert, landed in Mumbai early morning today, was soon taken to a hotel in suburban Andheri.

New Delhi, Mar 17 (PTI) The Centre Tuesday told the Supreme Court that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019 does not violate any fundamental right.

The central government, in its 129-page affidavit in response to the pleas challenging the constitutional validity of CAA, termed the legislation legal and asserted that there was no question of it violating constitutional morality.