Indian Sub-continent

New Delhi, Oct 22 (PTI) A court here has come down heavily on the Delhi Police Commissioner for non-submission of a report in a 2020 riots case and sought an explanation from him as to why appropriate action as per law be not taken against him.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Arun Kumar Garg on September 25, had imposed a cost of Rs 5,000 on the police, after noting that the investigating officer and prosecutor sought adjournment in a very casual manner and had directed the police commissioner to conduct an inquiry.

Mumbai, Oct 22 (PTI) A city-based lawyer on Friday filed a criminal complaint against lyricist Javed Akhtar before a magistrate court here over his alleged remark against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) made during a television interview.

The complaint against Akhtar was filed before the metropolitan magistrate court in Mulund for the offence under section 499 (defamation), 500 (punishment for defamation).

Akhtar, 76, in a recent interview had drawn parallels between the Taliban and Hindu extremists.

New Delhi, Oct 22 (PTI) Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said there are a lot of non-tariff barriers that need to be addressed and wherever India will face an unfair treatment at trade front, it will take reciprocal action.

Non-tariff barriers to trade are restrictive practices which create impediments in smooth flow of imports and exports.

New Delhi, Oct 22 (PTI) The Congress on Friday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of misleading the country on vaccinations when only 21 per cent of the country's population was fully vaccinated.

The opposition party asked the prime minister to bring out a white paper on how his government intends to vaccinate all adults by year-end, a promise made by him earlier.

Lucknow, Oct 22 (PTI) The Uttar Pradesh government has planned to provide cheap accommodation to its employees on the property freed from the possession of members of the land mafia, said a release issued by CM Yogi Adityanath's PR team.

Preparations have also been intensified to build shelter homes for the poor on the land of illegal 'havelis', it further said, adding that the CM has directed the Housing Department to prepare a proposal for it.

Balasore (Odisha) Oct 22 (PTI) India on Friday successfully flight-tested the indigenously developed High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT), ABHYAS, from the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur off the coast of Bay of Bengal in Odisha, DRDO officials said.

Dehradun, Oct 22 (PTI) The death count in Uttarakhand rose to 75 on Friday as rescue workers found more bodies and also brought to safety score of stranded people after the rains that recently lashed the state.

State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) men rescued 65 trekkers, including six foreigners, stranded near Bageshwar's Pindari and Kafni glaciers. Twenty-three people were rescued from from Darma Valley of Pithoragarh.

New Delhi, Oct 22 (PTI) India is looking to bring together PSU and private sector refiners to seek better crude oil import deals from Saudi Arabia and other nations, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Friday.

As the country grapples with record-high fuel prices, he said joint procurement will bring better bargaining power and help cut the import bill.

Jammu, Oct 22 (PTI) Many Kashmiri pandits on Friday joined the National Conference here at a function presided over by party chief Farooq Abdullah who promised them to raise their issues and facilitate resolution of their demands, the party said.

The joining of 75 Kashmiri pandit activists was facilitated by National Conference minority cell president M K Yogi, who met Abdullah at his residence here where various pertinent issues of the migrant community living in exile for over thirty years were discussed, a release issued by the party said.

Agra, Oct 22 (PTI) Azad Samaj Party chief Chandrashekhar Azad on Friday demanded a CBI probe into the custodial death of a sanitation worker in Agra.

If the demand was not met, he said a protest will held in Agra.

Azad on Friday evening visited Agra and met family members of Arun Narwar, who allegedly died in the custody of police on Tuesday night.

Arun was from the Valmiki community and lived near the Lohamandi police station in Agra city.