Maharashtra

Nagpur, Oct 8 (PTI) A sessions court has sentenced four men to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and fined them Rs 55,000 each for raping a woman in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra.

District sessions judge R N Mehere on Wednesday convicted Nikhil Mandal (26), Rajesh Dakva (30), Mahadev Barai (28) and Swarup Mistry (35) under section 376 (rape) and other relevant provisions of the IPC, a release issued by Gadchiroli police stated.

Mumbai, Oct 9 (PTI) Maintaining status quo for the second time in a row, Reserve Bank of India on Friday decided to keep benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4 per cent but maintained an accommodative stance, implying more rate cuts in the future if the need arises to support the economy hit by the COVID-19 crisis.

The benchmark repurchase (repo) rate has been left unchanged at 4 per cent, Governor Shaktikanta Das said while announcing the decisions taken by the central bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

Mumbai, Oct 9 (PTI) The Reserve Bank expects the GDP to contract by 9.5 per cent in the current financial year due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on domestic as well as global economies.

Unveiling the bi-monthly monetary policy statement, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said that GDP was likely to turn positive at 0.5 per cent in the January-March quarter of the current financial year.

Mumbai, Oct 7 (PTI) After spending 28 days in prison, actor Rhea Chakraborty, arrested in a drugs case related to her boyfriend Sushant Singh Rajput's death, was released on bail on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, the Bombay High Court granted her bail but rejected her brother Showik Chkraborty's bail plea.

Rhea stepped out of the Byculla prison here around 5.30 pm amid heavy police deployment, an official said.

A police vehicle escorted her car as a large number of media persons had gathered outside the prison.

Mumbai, Oct 6 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday arrested the former CFO and the former internal auditor of the Cox and Kings Group in connection with its money laundering probe in the Yes Bank alleged loan default case.

The agency said ex-chief financial officer Anil Khandelwal and ex-internal auditor Naresh Jain were arrested under the provision of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Both the accused were produced before a local court that sent them to 7 days' ED custody, it said in a statement.

Mumbai, Oct 5 (PTI) The Shiv Sena may contest 30 to 40 Assembly seats in Bihar, Sena MP Sanjay Raut said on Monday.

The Rajya Sabha member said a decision on the number of seats to be contested is expected to be taken in a day or two.

"Our people in Bihar want us to fight 50 seats. We are saying we should contest 30 to 40 seats," he told reporters.

Asked if the Shiv Sena will field a candidate against former Bihar director general of police Gupteshwar Pandey if he is in the poll arena, Raut quipped, "Keep watching."

Nagpur, Oct 1 (PTI) Congress leader and Maharashtra minister Nitin Raut on Thursday demanded dismissal of the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh over the alleged gang-rape and death of a Dalit woman in Hathras.

Talking to PTI here, Raut, who is also chairperson of the AlCC SC department, said atrocities against Dalits and women have increased "considerably" ever since the BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh in 2017.

He condemned the detention of Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra by the UP police.

Pune, Oct 2 (PTI) A local Shiv Sena leader was killed in a midnight attack by a group of motorbike-borne assailants here, police said on Friday.

The deceased was identified as Deepak Maratkar, an office-bearer of the Shiv Sena's youth wing - Yuva Sena - and son of former party corporator Vijay Maratkar, they said.

Three persons have been detained in connection with the fatal assault, which seems like a fallout of political rivalry, the police said.

Nagpur, Sep 30 (PTI) The RSS on Wednesday welcomed the special CBI court's verdict acquitting all accused in the Babri masjid demolition case and called for harmony in society to face challenges before the country.

"Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh welcomes the special CBI court's decision to acquit all the accused in the demolition of the controversial structure.

Mumbai, Sep 30 (PTI) The NCP on Wednesday said it was not surprised over the special court's verdict acquitting all accused in the Babri masjid demolition case.

The CBI court in Lucknow has acquitted all the 32 accused, including BJP veterans L K Advani and MM Joshi, for want of conclusive proof against them.

"The court has given verdict in the case today. It was expected, and hence, we are not surprised," Maharashtra minister and NCP national spokesperson Nawab Malik said in a video message.