India

Thane,Mar 31 (PTI) A court in Thane district of Maharashtra has awarded three years' rigorous imprisonment to a 47-year-old man for molesting a Dalit woman.

Special Judge G P Shirsat in his order issued last Friday also imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 on the convict Prakash Andhere.

According to the prosecution, the woman, a widow (age not specified), was sleeping along with her children at their house in Ganeshpuri village on October 20, 2008 when the accused came there and molested her.

Baghpat/Kairana (UP), Mar 31 (PTI) Tractors loaded with cane waiting to be crushed line the roads across swathes of western Uttar Pradesh, telling the bitter story of sugarcane farmers caught in a pincer trap of unpaid dues and low prices.

With posters, buntings and rallies, the clamour of poll-time campaigning is all around in the area famed as the country's sugar bowl but the very word election strikes a sour note for many farmers.

New Delhi, Mar 31 (PTI) A MiG 27 aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed on Sunday near Jodhpur in Rajasthan, official sources said.

The MiG 27 UPG jet was on a routine mission, they said.

New Delhi, Mar 31 (PTI) Ending speculation, Congress Sunday announced that party president Rahul Gandhi will contest from Wayanad parliamentary constituency in Kerala along with Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.

The announcement was made by senior party leader AK Antony at a press conference here.

"Rahul Gandhi will contest from Wayanad parliamentary constituency in Kerala," Antony said.

There were several requests for Rahul to contest from Wayanad, he added.

New Delhi, Mar 29 (PTI) The Supreme Court Friday asked the Gujarat government to take disciplinary action in two weeks against the erring police officials, including an IPS officer, convicted by the Bombay High Court in the sensational Bilkis Bano gang rape case during the 2002 riots in the state.

Besides, Bano in a plea before the top court sought exemplary compensation from the state government, refusing to accept its offer of Rs 5 lakh.

Thane, Mar 30 (PTI) A man from Bhayander here was Saturday arrested for allegedly beating to death his 70-year-old mother, police said.

Somnath Mitra (45), a resident of Mandvi Lake area, used to have frequent fights with his mother Roma, senior inspector Chandrakant Jadhav of Bhayander police station said.

"They had a fight at around 9am today. The accused banged the 70-year-old's head against the wall, killing her instantly. He has been arrested and charged with murder," Jadhav said.

Hyderabad, Mar 30 (PTI) The Pulwama terror attack was a gift to the BJP ahead of the elections and it was 'alright' to carry out surgical strikes on terror camp in Pakistan, former chief of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) A S Dulat said Saturday.

"I think it is, I mentioned this before, I think it was gift from the Jaish to the BJP or to Modiji. Because of elections. It was inevitable that something would happen.

Something would be done. So, the surgical strike deep inside Pakistan was alright," he told reporters here.

Kanpur: Inspecting the polling booths set up in the city areas on Friday, the district election officer  VV Pant & chief development officer Akshay Tripathi looked irritated at improper arrangements.

The District Magistrate was annoyed at two booths in one small room at primary school in Parmat. Giving stern order for making correction, he told the staff responsible to not to erect two booths in a small space. He made it clear two polling booths could be set up in a spacious hall with partition. 

Kanpur: It is after a decade the Harcourt Butler Technology University in line with IIT-Kanpur gets ready to colloborate with foreign Asian universities. 

It was being assumed that the University administration will enter into MoU with other foreign universities. 

It has been learnt that the HBTU has approached Japan, Singapore, New Zealand and Australian universities under the education exchange programme plan. 

Begusarai (Bihar), Mar 29 (PTI) Former JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar, who is contesting the Lok Sabha polls here as a CPI candidate, was on Friday booked for violation of Model Code of Conduct.

The case was lodged at Mansur Chak police station of the district under relevant sections of the Representation of People Act, SHO Arvind Kumar said.