Indian Sub-continent

Kannauj (UP), Sep 27 (PTI) Two girls were allegedly held hostage and gang raped in a cyber cafe in this district when they had gone to get some documents photocopied, police said on Monday.

Four men took hostage of the two girl students at the cafe on September 13 and one of the accused also recorded the act, police said. The accused also extorted Rs 10,000 from the girls, threatening to circulate the video.

Gadchiroli, Sep 27 (PTI) A Naxal camp was destroyed in Mouza Fulnar forest in Gadchiroli in Maharashtra and an IED was recovered from the spot, a police official said on Monday.

The camp was busted after a team of C-60 commandos, a specialised combat unit of the district police, came under fire between 4:30 pm and 7pm on Sunday in Abujmad area along the Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border, a release from the Gadchiroli superintendent of police's office said.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban banned barbershops in a southern Afghanistan province from shaving or trimming beards, claiming their edict is in line with Shariah, or Islamic, law.

The order in Helmand province was issued Monday by the provincial Taliban government’s vice and virtue department to barbers in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital.

New Delhi, Sep 27 (PTI) A new version of the Akash missile was successfully flight-tested on Monday from the integrated test range at Chandipur in Odisha, officials said.

The missile -- 'Akash Prime' -- intercepted and destroyed an unmanned aerial target mimicking an enemy aircraft in its maiden flight test, they said

The flight testing took place at around 4:30 pm, the officials said.

Coimbatore, Sept 27 (PTI): The custody of a lieutenant in the Indian Air Force (IAF), charged with raping a woman officer, was extended till September 30 by a Mahila Court here on Monday.

The flight lieutenant Amitesh Harmukh, belonging to Chattisgarh, was arrested by the city police on Sunday based on a complaint from the officer that she was raped while sleeping after taking pills for some injury.

Lucknow, Sep 27 (PTI) The charge of the Uttar Pradesh technical education department has been given to Jitin Prasada who was inducted into Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's council of ministers on Sunday after crossing over to the BJP from the Congress in June.

The allocation of the department to Prasada was announced on Twitter by Adityanath on Monday. The portfolio was earlier held by Kamal Rani Varun who succumbed to Covid on August 2 last year.

Kanpur: Not only financial help but assurance of severe punishment to the accused was also given to the family members of the deceased girl by the UP deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya here.

He has visited the girl's village on Monday evening. He handed over a cheque of ten lakh to the victim's family.

He also assured the family of security. 

The girl was allegedly molested by a dairy operator in the Kalyanpur area.

Agra (UP), Sep 27 (PTI) A road in Agra, known till now as 'Ghatia Azam Khan', has been renamed after late Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Ashok Singhal, who was born in a house located on the same stretch, the city mayor said on Monday.

Agra Mayor Naveen Jain said the proposal to change the name was proposed by Jagdeesh Pachori, a corporator from Shaheed Nagar ward in Agra, and it was accepted during the 13th session of the executive committee of Agra Nagar Nigam organised in the Smart City, Agra office premises.

Lucknow, Sep 28 (PTI) Accusing the BJP of working in the interest of capitalists who had helped it come to power, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav has said the "success" of the farmers' Bharat Bandh has unnerved the ruling party.

The Bharat Bandh was called on Monday by farmer unions to protest against the Centre's three agri laws.

In a tweet in Hindi on Monday night, the SP chief also charged that the BJP was working for those who hold its reins in their hands.

ISLAMABAD, Sep 27 (APP): Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that Pakistan must not be blamed for the outcome of war in Afghanistan and for the losses of the United States and stressed on setting eyes on the future to avoid another conflict instead of sticking with the blame game.

“Today, with Afghanistan at another crossroads, we must look to the future to prevent another violent conflict in that country rather than perpetuating the blame game of the past,” he said in his article published in the Washington Post on Monday.