Indian Sub-continent

Gorakhpur (UP), Mar 1 (PTI) Former Uttar Pradesh Minister Swami Prasad Maurya, who is fighting the state assembly elections from Fazilnagar constituency in the Kushinagar district after quitting the BJP, on Tuesday accused the saffron party workers of attacking his convoy during electioneering.

Maurya's daughter Sanghmitra Maurya who is a BJP MP too supported her father's allegation as the Samajwadi Party condemned the alleged attack by power-protected miscreants .

Kolkata, Mar 2 (PTI) Ruling Trinamool Congress inched towards a massive victory in the West Bengal civic elections, as it won 13 of the 107 municipalities and was leading in 40 other bodies, an SEC official said on Wednesday.

The ruling party in the state bagged Kanthi Municipality, the bastion of Leader of Opposition and Nandigram's BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari, while Hamro Party, a new entrant in hill politics, trounced TMC, GJM and BJP to win Darjeeling Municipality.

Shimla, Mar 2 (PTI) Himachal Pradesh is currently facing a debt burden of Rs 63,200 crore, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur informed the state assembly on Wednesday.

Replying to discussion on Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar's address in the ongoing budget session, Thakur stated that the state's debt burden was about Rs 48,000 crore till 2017-18 financial year.

The previous Congress government had taken a loan of Rs 28,707 crore from 2012-13 to 2017-18 during its five years tenure, he added.

New Delhi, Mar 2 (PTI) Russia on Wednesday said it is working "intensely" to create a "humanitarian corridor" for safe passage to Russian territory of Indians stuck in Kharkiv, Sumy and other conflict zones in Ukraine.

At a media briefing, Russian Ambassador-designate Denis Alipov said Russia is in touch with India on the issue of safety of Indians and that the safe passage will be put into place "as soon as possible.

"We are working intensely on creating the corridor and secure safe passage for Indians stuck in various conflict zones in Ukraine," he said.

Kanpur: Rachna Singh, Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate from Bilhaur assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh has levelled allegation that an unidentified person was tampering with EVMs kept at Galla Mandi in Kanpur City.

A complaint has been lodged in this regard after CCTV footage purportedly showing a man frequently going inside the strongroom and coming out of it.

The Assembly polls had been conducted on all the seats in Kanpur district on February 20. 

The Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were stored at the Galla Mandi strongroom for counting on March 10.

New Delhi, Mar 1 (PTI) Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri left for Budapest on Tuesday to oversee evacuation of Indians from Ukraine through its border crossing with Hungary.

"All set to bring back our young students back home safely. Enroute to #Budapest with a refuelling stop in Istanbul with the ever efficient 6E boys & girls," Puri tweeted and posted a picture with the Indigo crew.

Jaipur, Mar 1 (PTI) A case was registered against three people for allegedly raping a minor girl in the Bhankrota area here, police said on Tuesday.

The minor was allegedly gang-raped on Sunday, and the case was registered on Monday. She underwent a medical examination, after which her statement was recorded, they said.

The survivor's father lodged a complaint with the police, accusing three people identified as Rahul, Rajveer and Naksh, the police said, adding that efforts are underway to nab them.

Pune, Mar 1 (PTI) A special POCSO court here in Maharashtra sentenced a man to death for raping and killing a two-and-a-half-year old girl last year.

Principal District Judge (special judge for POCSO cases) Sanjay Deshmukh convicted Sanjay Baban Katkar (38) on Monday evening.

According to public prosecutor Vilas Pathare, the convict kidnapped the girl on February 15, 2021.

He then raped her and strangled her to death. There were 11 bite marks on the girl's body, Pathare said.

Kanpur: An unknown youngster was brutally murdered and his corpse was set on fire. It was reportedly dumped on the side of the Delhi-Kanpur highway.

The incident took place at around 10 p.m. on February 28. The body was set ablaze to erase his identity.

Upon seeing the fire on the side of the Highway, passersby informed the police.

The incident happened near the Yashoda nagar crossroad in the Naubasta area.

After setting the body on fire to hide his identity, the killers fled from the scene.

Hyderabad, Feb 28 (PTI) Political strategist Prashant Kishor's meeting with Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao here has assumed political significance ahead of next year's Assembly elections in the state, even as the TRS supremo is making efforts to stitch up an anti-BJP bloc comprising various regional leaders including Mamata Banerjee and Uddhav Thackeray.