Indian Sub-continent

New Delhi, Sep 12 (PTI) Air India on Monday said it will progressively induct 30 new aircraft, including 5 wide-body Boeing planes, from December this year, as the Tatas-owned airline looks to boost its domestic and international services.

The airline has signed leases and letters of intent for inducting 5 wide-body Boeing and 25 Airbus narrow-body planes over the next 15 months.

Chennai, Sep 12 (PTI) The Tamil Nadu Idol Wing CID thwarted an attempt to smuggle antique idols out of the country and seized 20 idols from the residence of a French national in Auroville, police said on Monday.

Following information that a handicrafts shop illegally dealt with stolen antique artefacts belonging to Tamil Nadu, the Idol Wing initiated a search on September 11 under the leadership of Inspector Indira, after obtaining an order from the Judicial Magistrate.

Pilibhit, Sep 12 (PTI) Two people were booked for allegedly raping a 16-year-old Dalit girl in a village here, police said.

The incident took place around 4 am on Sunday, they said.

In his police complaint, the minor's father alleged that the accused, who belong to the same village, took his daughter to a field and raped her, Station House Officer (Jahanabad) Prabhas Chandra said.

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 12 (PTI) The Congress party's Bharat Jodo Yatra entered the second day in Kerala on Monday, amid an encouraging turnout of people who have been lining up the streets of the state in thousands to extend support to Rahul Gandhi who has embarked on the 3,500 km Kanyakumari-Kashmir footmarch.

The 150-day yatra had been launched from Kanyakumari in neighbouring Tamil Nadu on September 7.

Gandhi commenced his walk from Vellayani junction here on Monday morning.

Kanpur: A 30-year-old man was allegedly killed by his elder brother in the Ghagghu Kheda village under the limits of Maharajpur police station here.

The police identified the deceased as Shiv Bahadur, son of Jagdish Yadav, as reported.

Family members informed the police after they found the body of Shiv with serious injury marks lying on the cot in the verandah of his house on Sunday.

Accused Dhananjay Singh, after committing the murder, escaped on a bike from the spot.

The deceased Shiv Bahadur was a lawyer and used to practice in the Kanpur court.

DHAKA, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Bangladeshi government on Sunday launched a special sales drive of essentials at subsidized rates across the South Asian country to help millions of low-income families cope with soaring prices.

Senior secretary of Bangladesh's Ministry of Commerce Tapan Kanti Ghosh inaugurated the special sales drive at a dealer point in the national capital Dhaka.

The drive run by the state-owned Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) is aimed at selling essentials at subsidized prices for 10 million low-income families across the country.

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Two more U.S. military planes loaded with tons of aid for Pakistanis affected by flooding from deadly monsoon rains landed Sunday in southern Sindh province, one of the worst-affected regions in the impoverished country.

Saif Ullah, spokesman for the country’s Civil Aviation Authority, said each plane was loaded with about 35 tons of relief aid that would be distributed in the province by the World Food Program. The aircraft landed at Sukkur Airport in Sindh and Ullah said the U.S. operation that began Thursday would continue until Sept. 16.

KARACHI, Sep 10 (APP): Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) António Guterres has said that UN will strongly advocate for ‘debt swaps’, with IMF and World Bank through which developing countries like Pakistan instead of paying a debt to foreign creditors will be able to use that money to invest in climate resilience, investments in sustainable infrastructure, and green transition of their economies.

He said, ‘We will go on strongly advocating for these solutions in the meetings with IMF and World Bank, which will take place soon. And, also in G-20 meeting.’

KABUL, Sept 10 (Reuters) - A Black Hawk helicopter crashed during a Taliban training exercise in Afghanistan's capital Kabul, killing three, the group's defence ministry said on Saturday.

"An American Black Hawk helicopter, which was flown ... for training, crashed due to a technical problem inside the campus of the National Defence University," said Ministry of Defence spokesperson Enaytullah Khowrazmi, adding five people were also injured.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The United States on Saturday announced $40 million in aid to buy fertilizer and other key agricultural inputs in time for the next cultivation season in crisis-hit Sri Lanka.

USAID Administrator Samantha Power, who is visiting Sri Lanka, made the announcement after she met farmer representatives in Ja-Ela outside the capital, Colombo. She said the money will be in addition to the $6 million announced earlier to assist low income farmers.