India

New Delhi, Dec 28 (PTI) The Union Cabinet Friday approved the Gaganyaan project under which a three-member crew will be sent to space for at least seven days, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

The project will cost Rs 10,000 crore, he said at a press conference here.

The Gaganyaan project was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech.

He had said the mission will be undertaken by 2022.

India has already inked agreements with Russia and France for assistance in the ambitious project.

Gopeshwar (Uttarakhand), Dec 28 (PTI) A college student was raped at knifepoint in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district earlier this week, following which three accused have been arrested, police said Friday.

The incident took place on December 25 when she had gone for a walk with her male friend on Gochar road in Karnaprayag, station house officer, Karnaprayag, Chitragupt said.

The three men accosted them and threatened them with a knife, asking him to leave. When the student's friend left, the accused took turns to rape her at knifepoint, he said.

New Delhi, Dec 28 (PTI) Over 1.9 lakh children went missing in the last three years, the Lok Sabha was told Friday.

From June 2, 2015, to December 21, 2018, a total of 1,91,679 children have gone missing, Minister of State for Women and Child Development Virendra Kumar told the Lok Sabha.

The highest number of children went missing from Gujarat at 37,063 followed by Madhya Pradesh 32,925 and West Bengal 25,275, he said.

The number of children tracked using the Khoya Paya, a child tracking portal, is 5,828, Kumar said.

New Delhi, December 27; GANASHAKTI: The CPI(M), Delhi State Committee condemns the Noida administration for banning namaz in public parks. This is a deliberate attempt to deprive people belonging to the Muslim minorities of their right of freedom of religion guaranteed by Constitution of India. This step is in fact nothing but the implementation by the Noida administration of the public declaration of Yogi Adityanath that namaz should not be allowed in public places.

New Delhi, Dec 27; PTI: The government is batting for the triple talaq bill in Parliament to push its Hindutva agenda in the country, the CPI(M) alleged on Thursday.

CPI(M)'s politburo member and its deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Md Salim said the main concern of the opposition parties regarding the bill was that it criminalises triple talaq.

Siliguri , December 27; GANASHAKTI:   Over Thirty thousand farmers and agricultural labourers   from 6 North Bengal districts today afternoon  met in a long march cum encroachment programme at Siliguri in North Bengal, with determination and dedication to tear open  the anti farmer policies of the Modi led Union Government and the West Bengal State Government.  Crossing the initial estimate of 10,000 particpants the long march evinced huge interest in North Bengal  and over 30000 peasants joined the March at the call of All India Kisan Sabha- All India Agricultural Workers Union Combine .

Nagpur, Dec 27 (PTI) The Bombay High Court has taken suo motu (on its own) notice of an incident where a sessions court judge was allegedly assaulted by an assistant public prosecutor on the court premises.

Vacation judge Justice R K Deshpande of the high court's Nagpur bench said Wednesday that such incidents are a "threat to independence of the judiciary".

Assistant public prosecutor Dinesh Parate allegedly slapped senior civil judge K R Deshpande outside a lift on the seventh floor of the Nagpur District and Sessions court around noon Wednesday.

Bhopal, Dec 27 (PTI) An eight-year-old girl, student of a private school in Bhopal city, was allegedly raped by her classmate, police said Thursday.

According to the complaint filed by her parents, another unidentified boy was also involved in the crime.

While the police were yet to receive the girl's medical report, a special investigation team (SIT) has been formed to probe the shocking incident.

The alleged incident took place near the girl's house Tuesday. The case was registered Wednesday after the girl's parents approached police.

New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI) The government has banned Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) for its involvement in several killings, bombings and other terror activities during its violent campaign for "secession of Punjab".

The decision to ban the outfit under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) comes in the backdrop of agencies unearthing several KLF modules in recent months which has led to apprehensions that it is attempting to revive militancy in the state.

New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI) A group of 40 women rights activists has opposed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018, in its present form, raising concerns over 10 points in the Bill which was passed by the Lok Sabha Thursday.

In a statement, they urged the government to withdraw the Bill from consideration in the Rajya Sabha, and review the fundamental flaws pending broad-based community consultations.

Following are the 10 concerns raised by the activists.