Indian Sub-continent

Kanpur: Expressing concern at the rapidly rising cases of Zika virus in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath chaired a high-level meeting on Saturday, instructing officials to speed up sanitisation work.

Infection of Zika virus is spreading rapidly in Kanpur. Considering the seriousness, special caution is required," he said.

Meanwhile, Kannauj district has reported its first Zika virus case, Chief Medical Officer Dr Vinod Kumar told ANI.

Sultanpur (UP), Nov 6 (PTI) Former Union minister and Sultanpur MP Maneka Gandhi on Saturday welcomed the cut in petrol and diesel prices and also called for lowering the LPG cylinders rates.

Maneka Gandhi made the request to the Union government while touring her parliamentary constituency on a four-day visit.

The petrol and diesel prices have come down. The Union government should consider lowering the prices of other things, like gas (LPG cylinder), too to provide relief to the people, she said during a programme in her constituency.

New Delhi, Nov 6 (PTI) In a significant move, India and France agreed to strengthen defence and security partnership by enhancing intelligence and information sharing, bolstering mutual capabilities, expanding military drills and pursuing new initiatives in maritime, space and cyber domains.

The two countries resolved to expand the defence ties at a meeting of India-France strategic dialogue in Paris on Friday that was co-chaired by NSA Ajit Doval and Emmanuel Bonne, the Diplomatic Advisor to French President Emmanuel Macron.

Mau (UP), Nov 6 (PTI) A five-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a youth who took her to a sugarcane field here with the promise of giving her a toffee, police said on Saturday.

The girl was grazing goats along with her younger brother in a village under Kopaganj police station area on Friday evening when the 22-year-old man from a neighbouring village took her to a sugarcane field and allegedly raped her, police said.

Mumbai, Nov 6 (PTI) A witness in the NCB's alleged drug bust on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast on Saturday claimed that Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan had been "framed up" in the case.

Aryan (23), who got bail from the high court after spending three weeks in prison following his arrest on October 3, was implicated by some people to make money, witness Vijay Pagare told Marathi news channels.

It was a pre-planned raid, he alleged.

Jaipur, Nov 7 (PTI) Former Rajasthan BJP MLA Amrita Meghwal was injured when a stone was hurled at her car in the city, police said on Sunday.

The former MLA from Jalore sustained minor injuries on her ear in the attack on Saturday, police said.

Meghwal alleged that some "miscreants chased her car from Biological Park where she along with her family members had gone and pelted a stone at the running car," SHO of Transport Nagar Police Station, Gayasuddin Khan, said.

Banda (UP), Nov 7 (PTI) A nine-year-old girl, who had gone to a farm to fetch pulses, was allegedly raped by a 14-year-old boy here, police said on Sunday.

Marka Station House Officer Rakesh Saroj said the incident took place on Friday evening.

Two other girls had accompanied the victim to the farm, he said. However, no information about them has been disclosed.

A case was registered on Saturday based on a complaint lodged by the girl's father, Saroj said, adding she has been for a medical examination.

Lucknow (UP), Nov 7 (PTI) Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Sunday sought to know why the people should believe in BJP's slogan of 'sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas' when the government has failed to win the faith of the protesting farmers.

"The BJP says 'sabka saath, sabka vikas and sabka vishwas'. But, how can people believe this 'jumlaa' (rhetoric) when the country's farmers have been so fiercely protesting against the three farm laws for such a long time and are agitated," she tweeted in Hindi.

Kanpur: Ten more people have been added into the list of patients who tested positive for the Zika virus here on Sunday. 

This has taken the total number of those infected in the district to a total of 89.

Of those recently infected with the virus, three are Air Force personnel, two are women and men each, officials said.

Till Friday, the total infections of Zika virus in the district was 66, which included 9 IAF personnel, 45 men and 21 women, according to officials.

Kanpur: The residents continued to breathe polluted air with the air quality remaining in the 'poor' category here on Monday.

According to Central Pollution Control Board, the air quality index stands at 270 here. It was categorised as the 'poor', with particulate matter 2.5 as the main pollutant in the air.

The residents have blamed the bursting of crackers on the occasion of Diwali for the thick layer of smog covering the entire city.