Indian Sub-continent

Ahmedabad, Nov 22 (PTI) After the 182-meter tall `Statue of Unity' of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Gujarat may get a gigantic Buddha statue.

Sanghakaya Foundation, a non-profit Buddhist organisation, said Thursday that it has demanded land from the government for installing an 80-feet high statue of Lord Buddha in Gandhinagar district.

It has roped in Ram Sutar, the sculptor behind the Statue of Unity, for the project, it said.

"We are expecting to get land soon," president of the foundation Bhante Prashil Ratna told reporters here.

Kolkata, Nov 22 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said the rate of unemployment had come down by 40 per cent in the state, due to various developmental schemes.

Speaking in the Assembly House, Banerjee said there are 300 ITIs and polytechnics, and the state government has undertaken the 'Utkarsh Bangla' project, which aims to skill six lakh people every year.

She said with better implementation of the MNREGA and other similar schemes, "unemployment rate has reduced by 40 per cent".

Kolkata, Nov 22 (PTI) A 72-year-old man was sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment by a city court Thursday for molesting a minor girl who worked as a help at his residence.

The retired engineer was accused of molesting the girl and peeping into the bathroom when she was taking bath at his residence in Phoolbagan area of east Kolkata.

Special judge (POCSO) at Sealdah Court Jimut Bahan Biswas sentenced Tapan Bhattacharyya to three years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed on him a fine of Rs 20,000 for the offence.

Amaravati (AP), Nov 22 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh has emerged on top in terms of employability among the states with the engineering graduates having the highest level of employability, according to India Skills Report-2019.

Employability level of B.Tech and B.E graduates from the state shot up significantly to 63.11 per cent this year from 42.08 per cent last year, a release here said Thursday.

Kaushambi (UP), Nov 22 (PTI) A 30-year-old woman was allegedly strangulated by her husband over dowry in Gobar Sahai village in Manjhanpur area here, police said Thursday.

Savita was killed by her husband Ramdhan over dowry, according to a complaint lodged by the victim's family, police said.

A case has been registered and search is on to arrest the absconding accused, police said.

Jaipur, Nov 22 (PTI) US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, arrived in Jaisalmer in Rajasthan Thursday to attend a wedding, a police official said.

Kushner arrived on a chartered flight in the evening, amid tight security.

"US president son-in-law Jared Kushner has arrived in Jaisalmer alone. He is here to attend a wedding ceremony of an industrialist friend who studied with Kushner, Additional Superintendent of Police Rajeev Dutta told PTI.

Kolkata, Nov 22 (PTI) West Bengal Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Minister Firhad Hakim was appointed the new mayor of Kolkata Thursday after Sovan Chatterjee resigned from the post on the directions of Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee.

The decision was taken at an emergency meeting of KMC councillors, where senior party leaders, including Banerjee, were present.

Hakim will be the first mayor of the city from the minority community since Independence.

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian authorities were struggling Thursday to figure out how to recover the body of an American killed after wading ashore on an isolated island cut off from the modern world.

John Allen Chau was killed last week by North Sentinel islanders who apparently shot him with arrows and then buried his body on the beach, police say.

But even officials don’t travel to North Sentinel, where people live as their ancestors did thousands of years ago, and where outsiders are seen with suspicion and attacked.

New Delhi, Nov 22 (PTI) The Supreme Court Thursday closed contempt proceedings against BJP MP Manoj Tiwari for breaking the civic agency's seal on a premises here in September even as it slammed him for levelling frivolous allegations against the court-mandated committee, saying it shows how "low he can stoop".

A bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur said the court was "extremely pained" due to his conduct as he is an elected representative and deprecated his action of taking law into his own hands.

Shahjahanpur (UP), Nov 22 (PTI) A five-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a 12-year-old boy in Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur district here, police said Thursday.

The incident took place on Wednesday in a village under Kalan police station limits, they said.

Police station in-charge Harendra Singh Tomar said the girl was playing outside her residence when the accused allegedly lured her to his house and raped her.

The girl has been sent for a medical examination and investigation is underway, he said, adding that the accused is absconding.