Indian Sub-continent

Washington/Islamabad, Aug 30 (PTI) Pakistan is at a "challenging economic juncture," the IMF has warned, as the country's economy has been buffeted by adverse external conditions, due to spillovers from the war in Ukraine, and domestic challenges that have resulted in uneven and unbalanced growth.

The Exe cu tive Board of the Interna tional Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday completed the combined 7th and 8th reviews of a loan facility for Pakistan, allowing immediate disbursement of USD 1.17 billion to the cash-strapped country.

New Delhi, Aug 30 (PTI) As many as 45,026 females committed suicides during 2021 in the country of whom more than half were housewives.

According to a latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), a total of 1,64,033 people have committed suicide in 2021 across the country of whom 1,18,979 were males.

New Delhi, Aug 30 (PTI) The CBI found nothing during its search of his locker, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Tuesday.

A four-member team of the CBI conducted the search at a Punjab National Bank branch in Vasundhara, Ghaziabad, for nearly two hours. Sisodia and his wife wre present at the time.

The CBI was acting under pressure, Sisodia told reporters after the search was over.

Muzaffarnagar, Aug 29 (PTI) A POCSO court in this Uttar Pradesh district has sentenced a man convicted of raping and abducting a teenage girl to 10 years of imprisonment.

According to district government council and special POCSO lawyer, a 17-year-old girl was abducted and raped by the accused named Deepak in a village that falls under Gharipukhta police station in Shamli district in January, 2021.

The special judge has also imposed a fine of Rs 35,000 on the accused.

New Delhi, Aug 30 (PTI) Economist Abhijit Sen, a former Planning Commission member and one of the country's foremost experts on rural economy, died on Monday night. He was 72.

"He suffered a heart attack around 11 PM. We rushed him to the hospital, but it was all over by the time we got there," said Dr Pronab Sen, his brother.

New Delhi, Aug 30 (PTI) The national capital in 2021 witnessed a 111 per cent increase in cybercrime as compared to the previous year, with the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data citing sexual exploitation to be the motive behind the highest number of such cases.

According to the data for 2021, most of these cases involved online fraud, online harassment and publication of explicit content among others.

The increase comes despite the Delhi Police having created a separate wing for cybercrime as well as a social media centre.

Ghaziabad, Aug 30 (PTI) CBI officials searched Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's locker here on Tuesday, chaos reigning outside the bank as camera crews jostled with each other and curious crowds gathered to see what was happening.

A team of about five Central Bureau of Investigation officials reached the PNB branch at Sector 4 Vasundhara in Ghaziabad, on the outskirts of the national capital, to execute the search, officials said.

Sisodia was at the bank with his wife.

Jammu, Aug 30 (PTI) As many as 64 senior Congress leaders, including former deputy chief minister Tara Chand, resigned from the party in support of Ghulam Nabi Azad here on Tuesday, asserting that Azad's vision will shape a new and bright future for Jammu and Kashmir.

They submitted a joint resignation letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Chand along with others, including former ministers Abdul Majid Wani, Manohar Lal Sharma, Gharu Ram and former MLA Balwan Singh, announced their resignations from the Congress, at a press conference.

Shamli (UP), Aug 30 (PTI) Locals and traders in Kairana town here staged a dharna condemning the theft of artifacts from a temple.

On Monday night, unidentified people had barged into the temple after breaking open its lock and fled away with an idol of 'sheshnag' and a silver 'chatra' (umbrella).

Condemning this, the locals and traders launched a dharna at Chowk Bazar on Monday night and it continued on Tuesday, president of Kairana Vyapar Mandal Anil Gupta said.

New Delhi, Aug 30 (PTI) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Tuesday said he will visit Tamil Nadu on September 5 to launch three projects there, including schools of excellence on the lines of the national capital.

Kejriwal thanked Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin for inviting him to the southern state.