Indian Sub-continent

JALALABAD, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan religious scholars Saturday criticized a ban on female education, as a key Taliban minister warned clerics not to rebel against the government on the controversial issue.

Girls cannot go to school beyond sixth grade in Afghanistan, with the education ban extending to universities. Women are barred from public spaces, including parks, and most forms of employment. Last week, Afghan women were barred from working at the U.N., according to the global body, although the Taliban have yet to make a public announcement.

BENGALURU, India (AP) — Just hours away from several of India’s major tiger reserves in the southern city of Mysuru, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to announce Sunday how much the country’s tiger population has recovered since its flagship conservation program began 50 years ago.

Protesters, meanwhile, will tell their own stories of how they have been displaced by such wildlife conservation projects over the last half-century.

New Delhi, Apr 8 (PTI) The prices of CNG and cooking gas piped to household kitchens in the national capital on Saturday were cut by up to Rs 6 - the first reduction in two years - after the government changed the pricing formula of natural gas.

CNG in the national capital territory of Delhi will now cost Rs 73.59 per kg, down from Rs 79.56, Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) - the firm which retails CNG and piped cooking gas in the city, said in a Twitter post.

Islamabad, Apr 8 (PTI) Pakistan’s judicial imbroglio intensified on Saturday after President Arif Alvi returned to Parliament for reconsideration of a bill aimed at clipping the powers of the chief justice, saying the proposed legislation is beyond the jurisdiction of the legislative body.

Visakhapatnam, Apr 8 (PTI) As many as 21 policemen accused of gang-raping 11 Kondh tribal women 16 years ago at a village in Alluri Sitarama Raju district in the state have been acquitted by a Special Court.

The Court held the accused were primarily acquitted because of the failure of the two investigating officers to conduct a fair and impartial investigation.

The women were allegedly gangraped by the police personnel who belonged to Greyhounds, a special team, in August 2007.

Lahore, Apr 8 (PTI) A Pakistani court on Saturday fixed April 12 as the date for the much-awaited hearing on the Toshakhana corruption case against ousted prime minister Imran Khan.

A five-member bench of the Lahore High Court headed by Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan will hear the plea, according to the Dawn newspaper.

New Delhi, Apr 8 (PTI) The CBI has filed a charge sheet against former MD and CEO of ICICI Bank Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar and Videocon Group founder Venugopal Dhoot in a Rs 3,250 crore loan fraud case, officials said on Saturday.

The agency has filed the charge sheet under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 409 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, among others, they said.

New Delhi, Apr 8 (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said the Supreme Court committee to look into the Hindenburg research report on Adani group has limited terms of reference and "cannot bring out the deep nexus between" the prime minister and the billionaire businessman.

The remarks came soon after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar said this panel will be more useful and effective than a joint parliamentary committee to probe the Adani issue.

ISLAMABAD, Apr 8 (NNN-APP) – Three people were killed in a clash with police, in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi, this morning, the city’s police said in a statement.

“The police stopped three people on two motorbikes during routine patrolling across the city, but rather than stopping they opened fire at the police,” the statement read.

All three suspects were killed in retaliatory fire by the police, who later seized their weapons and motorbikes, according to the statement.

CHARIKAR, Afghanistan, Apr 8 (NNN-ANA) – Afghan security forces, stormed a hideout of the Daesh, in eastern Afghanistan, killing one insurgent and arresting 11 others, police said today.

Police spokesman of Afghanistan’s eastern Parwan province, Mohammad Kamran Zaid, said, security forces launched operations against the Daesh militants in Shahrak Malamen area of Police District 1 of Charikar city, capital of Parwan province, last night.

The arrested included three women and eight children, Zaid told reporters.