Delhi

New Delhi, Aug 30; GANASHAKTI: Calling raids on prominent activists and intellectuals an attempt by the government to strike terror among those fighting for the marginalised, Jharkhand's civil society members, including economist Jean Dreze, have demanded the immediate release of the people arrested.

NEW DELHI, August 30. /TASS/. The members of the first Indian space crew may undergo training in a foreign state, Russia being one of the options, Kailasavadivoo Sivan, head of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), told journalists.

ISRO will need to take the help of a foreign country for advanced training of the crew, he said. "We have not decided which country we will choose for training. Russia, Germany and USA have the facilities," Sivan said, according to the PTI news agency.

New Delhi, August 29: Intellectuals, academics, artists has jointly  issued the following statement:

We the undersigned are utterly shocked and appalled by the simultaneous arrests of several prominent civil rights activists in different parts of the country, and the raids on their houses and those of many others.

New Delhi, August 29; GANASHAKTI: The All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), with a membership 1.12 crore women in 23 states, expresses its serious concern about the spate of rising hate crimes and violence, fear, unemployment, and hunger. It pledges that the women are not going to stay quiet anymore and in order to express their anger, it is holding a National Women’s Protest Rally in Delhi on 4 September 2018.  The Rally will begin at Mandi House at 11 am and culminate in a public meeting at Parliament Street.

New Delhi, Aug 28; PTI: The CPI(M) today lodged its strong protest against the police raids on several civil and human rights activists and left intellectuals, and said it constituted a brazen attack on democratic rights and civil liberties.

The CPI(M) Polit Bureau demanded withdrawal of the cases against these activists and their immediate release, while the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation said the move was "reminiscent of the infamous Emergency" of the 1975.

A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday the 21st Aug 2018 found itself split on triple talaq, with 3 opposed and 2 towards maintaning status quo.

Bench constituted judges from a varied ethnic background. Chief Justice J S Khehar is a Sikh, Justice S. Abdul Nazeer is a Muslim, Justices Kurian Joseph and R F Nariman are Christians, and Justice U U Lalit a Hindu.

Kolkata, Aug 28 (PTI) Mounting a scathing attack on the BJP, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today accused the saffron party of resorting to "politics of killing" in the state and using central agencies against opposition parties.

Referring to the recent panchayat polls in the state, the chief minister alleged that BJP members were working in connivance with goons who had earlier served the CPI(M).

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) refused to provide details of extradition request to Malaysia to extradite Di Zakir Naik, who is now a permanent resident of that country.

The request was made by a PTI correspondent, in accordance with Section 8 (1) (a) (f) and (h) of the Right to Information Act, 2005.

MEA said the information cannot be provided because it would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders.

New Delhi, Aug 25 (PTI) In a major decision, the Defence Ministry today gave its nod to acquisition of 111 utility helicopters for the Navy at a cost of over Rs 21,000 crore besides approving separate procurement proposals worth nearly Rs 25,000 crore, according to officials.

A meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), the ministry's highest decision-making body on procurement, cleared the proposals.

A 24 old man, identified as Prakash, has been arrested in South West Delhi for raping a 9 year old girl, in a portable toilet.

The girl described the man as “a tall, dark-complexioned uncle” to her counsellors.

It has been alleged that Prakash attempted to kidnap another minor girl hours before he raped the nine-year-old.