India

New Delhi, Jun 13 (PTI) With the government all set to bring a fresh bill in Parliament to ban the practice of instant triple talaq, the Congress on Thursday said there are still some issues which it will debate and oppose.

The bill will be introduced in the Budget session which begins on Monday to replace an ordinance issued in February by the previous BJP-led NDA government. With the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha last month, the previous bill had lapsed as it was pending in Rajya Sabha.

New Delhi, Jun 13 (PTI) India is planning to launch its own space station, ISRO chief K Sivan announced Thursday about this ambitious project which will enable the agency to send more humans to space when executed.

He also said India will not join the International Space Station (ISS).

After Chandrayaan Mission 2, also known as Moon Mission 2, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch another mission to the Sun by launching Aditya-L1 in the first half of 2020, Sivan said.

Ahmedabad, Jun 13 (PTI) Sparing Gujarat after changing course, Cyclone Vayu Thursday began moving away from the state coast towards Oman, even as the danger of heavy winds and rain in coastal areas continued, officials said here.

Though the "eye of the storm" is away from land, the cyclone's outer periphery would leave its impact on the coast, officials said.

State authorities have already evacuated three lakh people from low-lying areas near the coast to safer places.

Bijnor, Jun 13 (PTI) A man has been arrested here for allegedly raping his seven-year-old niece, police said Thursday.

Superintendent of Police Laxminiwas Mishra said the incident occurred Wednesday in Nangla Chakka village.

Shahjahanpur, Jun 13 (PTI) A 13-year-old girl was raped by two men on June 7 at her home in a village here, police said Thursday.

SHO of Khutar Police Station Sanjay Singh said the minor was raped when her parents had gone out to purchase medicines.

When the parents returned home, the accused fled the scene flashing a countrymade pistol and sword, officials said.

Madurai, Jun 13 (PTI) The Tamil Nadu police on Thursday informed the Madras High Court that it would not arrest film director Pa Ranjith against whom a case has been registered in connection with his reported "derogatory" remarks against a 10th century Chola emperor.

When the anticipatory bail plea of Ranjith came up before Justice P Rajamanickam, the government prosecutor informed that police would not arrest him.

Recording the submission, the court posted the matter for hearing to June 19.

Bengaluru, Jun 13 (PTI) Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy Thursday launched 118 websites that would enable citizens get building plan approvals, diversion of land use change and other related permissions through online submissions, avoiding middlemen and delays.

"We have simplified the process of getting building plan sanction and land use change. It will bring greater transparency and end corruption and save people's time and money," Kumaraswamy told reporters.

Raipur, Jun 14 (PTI) Two Naxals were killed in an encounter with the security forces in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Kanker district, a police officer said on Friday.

The gunbattle took place on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday in the jungles between Malepara and Murnar villages in Tadoki police station area, 200 km from Raipur, the senior officer said.

A team of the police's District Reserve Guard was out on an anti-Naxal operation when the encounter broke out, state Director General of Police (anti-Naxal operations) Girdhari Nayak told PTI.

Kanpur: Anti-land mafia drive is on. There is also effort to find ways for minimizing the flood relief works. Incomplete bridges are being completed fastly. The BJP is bent upon erasing corruption and  corrupt people, stressed the state deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Mauraya while speaking to the Press here on Thursday. 

New Delhi, June 13; IANS/GANASHAKTI: The government has convened an all-party meeting on June 16, a day before the first session of the newly elected Lok Sabha, informed sources said on Thursday.

The government will seek the support of the opposition parties in getting crucial bills passed in the session including one on triple talaq which among others were approved by the union cabinet on Wednesday, the sources said.