Indian Sub-continent

Muzaffarnagar, Dec 19 (PTI) A POCSO court in Kairana has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for raping a 16-year-old girl in 2020.

Special Judge Mumtaz Ali also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on Azad alias Arvind on Saturday after holding him guilty under various sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

According to POCSO lawyer Pushpendra Malik, the crime took place in Shamli district on February 2, 2020.

Kolkata, Dec 19 (PTI) Three voters were injured, one of whom is in a serious condition, after bombs were lobbed in Sealdah area of Kolkata during the ongoing KMC elections on Sunday, police said.

One of the injured persons has lost his leg, while the other two are also undergoing treatment at the hospital, an officer said.

The incident took place around 11 AM in front of Taki School in ward number 36 during polling, he said, adding that the three persons are voters of the area.

Jaisalmer, Dec 19 (PTI) A BSF jawan was killed and four others were injured in a mortar explosion in the Kishangarh firing range in Rajasthan's Jaisalmer district on Sunday, police said.

The incident took place when BSF jawans of the 136 batallion had come to take part in a training exercise.

The deceased soldier was identified as Sandeep Singh, they said, adding the injured have been rushed to a hospital in Ramgarh.

Senior BSF and police officials have reached the spot to investigate the matter.

New Delhi/Mumbai, Dec 19 (PTI) India's Omicron COVID count rose to 145 on Sunday after a 45-year-old NRI and a teenage boy, who recently arrived in Gujarat from the United Kingdom, tested positive for the variant.

According to central and state officials, omicron cases have been detected in 11 states and union territories -- Maharashtra (48), Delhi (22), Rajasthan (17) and Karnataka (14), Telangana (20), Gujarat (9), Kerala (11), Andhra Pradesh (1), Chandigarh (1), Tamil Nadu (1) and West Bengal (1).

Lucknow, Dec 19 (PTI) Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday accused Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath of getting his telephones tapped and listening to his talks every evening.

Yadav made the allegation while dubbing Adityanath as the most anupyogi' (useless) chief minister and seeking to counter Prime Minister Narendra Modi's poll formula UP+Yogi=Upyogi , aimed at asserting the utility of the Adityanath government for UP's growth.

Kanpur A lawyer Tarun Agarwal has been arrested in connection with the murder of advocate Gautam Dutt, who was shot dead during the elections of the Kanpur Bar Association (KBA) in the District Court campus here.

The firing took place on Friday evening outside the Shatabdi Gate on the district court campus after the cancellation of Bar association elections.

Advocate Dutt was shot in the stomach. He died during treatment later in the night in the Lala Lajpat Rai (LLR) hospital.

ISLAMABAD, Dec 18 (APP): The congressmen from both the Democrats and Republican parties asked the Biden Administration to release frozen Afghan assets, clarify the existing sanctions exemptions on humanitarian aid and allow international financial institutions to inject necessary economic capital into Afghanistan.

ISLAMABAD, Dec 18 (APP): The opening session of the senior officials meeting started here Saturday to finalize the agenda and work plan for the OIC’s foreign minister’s meeting set to take place Sunday.

Convened by Saudi Arabia and being hosted by Pakistan, the 17th Extraordinary Meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of Organization of Islamic Cooperation will be held on Sunday here.

KARACHI, Pakistan, Dec 18 (Reuters) - At least 15 people were killed and 16 others injured in an explosion on Saturday at a bank branch in Karachi's industrial area, police said.

A senior police officer said the blast at a branch of Habib Bank Limited, Pakistan's largest lender, could have been caused by a gas leak, Sarfaraz Nawaz also told reporters that the building appeared to have been constructed over a sewage drain.

KABUL, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Senior Taliban officials appealed on Saturday for international help to combat a deepening economic crisis that has fuelled fears of another refugee exodus from Afghanistan.

The comments, at a special meeting to mark the U.N.'s international migrants day, underlined the new Islamist Taliban government's push to engage with the world community, four months after they seized power in Kabul.