India

Mumbai, May 17 (PTI) A special court here conducting trial in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, Friday directed all the seven accused, including BJP's Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit, to appear before it once a week.

Upset over the frequent absence of the accused during the trial, NIA court judge Vinod Padalkar gave this direction.

He also directed that exemption sought without cogent reasons will be rejected.

Kota (Rajasthan), May 17 (PTI) Seven persons including three brothers were booked for allegedly raping a 26-year-old woman in Rajasthan's Jhalawar district, the police said on Friday.

Bane Singh, Ghanshyam, Dewan, Mangilal, Durgalal, Pappu and Magilal hail from village Manpura Jagir in Jhalawar district and are yet to be nabbed, they said.

Of the seven accused, Bane Singh, Ghanshyam and Dewan are brothers, they added.

Varanasi, May 17 (PTI) Voters may complain that the competitive zing was missing in the prime minister's constituency but the BJP had a clear-cut strategy to keep the campaign ship sailing -- entrusting senior leaders and celebrities to canvass for votes while a handful of carefully chosen lieutenants managed the back end.

A string of senior leaders such as Sushma Swaraj and Yogi Adityanath visited the town to address meetings and Bhojpuri showbiz stars Manoj Tiwari and Nirahua added a dash of glamour in the campaigning for the BJP's most prestigious seat.

Ambala (Har), May 17 (PTI) A 13-year-old girl was allegedly abducted and raped at knifepoint by three youths here, police said Friday.

The police have booked the three accused under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and also charged them with abducting the minor.

Police said the girl had gone to a local market to purchase items of daily need on Wednesday, but did not return till late evening. She reached her home the next day.

Ramgarh (Jharkhand), May 17 (PTI) A Ramgarh fast track court Friday sentenced a man to 10-years imprisonment for raping a 15-year-old girl in August 2017.

Ramgarh Additional District Judge (I), Babita Prasad, sentenced Suraj Barla to 10-years imprisonment for rape and five years for cheating the girl of Rs 65,000.

Both the sentences will run concurrently, Additional Public Prosecutor S K Shukla said here.

Mumbai, May 17 (PTI) Targetting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his statement that he will not forgive BJP's Bhopal candidate Pragya Singh Thakur for calling Nathuram Godse a "patriot", Maharashtra Congress president Ashok Chavan Friday said the definition of "patriotism" was different for the ruling party.

"Its definition is different from the rest. Modi and Amit Shah might have distanced themselves from her comments but the fact is Godse's ideology and BJP's ideology are the same," Chavan alleged.

New Delhi, May 17 (PTI) The Indian Navy has successfully test-fired a Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM), achieving a significant milestone to enhance its anti-air warfare capability, the defence ministry said Friday.

The test-firing of the missile was undertaken on the western seaboard by Indian naval ships Kochi and Chennai.

"The Indian Navy achieved a significant milestone in enhancing its anti air warfare capability with the maiden cooperative engagement firing of the MRSAM," the defence ministry said in a statement.

New Delhi, May 17 (PTI) A 27-year-old man was gored to death allegedly by a stray cow after his bike hit the bovine in west Delhi's Inderpuri area, police said.

The incident took place on Thursday evening at Dev Prakash Shastri Marg when Ravi Takral was riding his motorcycle, they said.

The victim was going from his home to Todapur on his motorcycle when a stray cattle came in the way, a senior police officer said.

New Delhi, May 17 (PTI) The Congress Friday said it is committed to constituting a progressive and secular government and ready to lead a coalition, a day after its senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the party is not averse to supporting a regional leader for the Prime Minister's post even if it emerges as the single largest party.

Noida, May 17 (PTI) The Noida Police on Friday registered a case against e-commerce giant Amazon for allegedly hurting "Hindu sentiments" after rugs and toilet seat covers with pictures of Hindu gods were available for sale on its US website.

An online campaign to "boycott Amazon" was initiated by several social media users Thursday over the issue, with an Amazon spokesperson saying all sellers must follow the company's selling guidelines and those who do not comply will be subject to action, including potential removal of their account.