India

Hyderabad, Dec 2 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Sunday accused the Congress of obstructing construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya and charged the Rahul Gandhi-led party and TRS with indulging in Muslim appeasement.

"If anyone is creating obstruction in the way of construction of a grand temple in the birthplace of lord Ram, it's Congress, Congress," he said, addressing a BJP election rally in Sangareddy.

"We should all make efforts to understand the intention of the Congress party," he said.

Muzaffarnagar, Dec 2 (PTI) A man allegedly attempted to rape an eight-year-old girl and thrashed her when she opposed him in Shamli district, police said Sunday.

According to a complaint lodged by the victim's father, the incident took place in Adarsh Mandi area Saturday, Circle Officer Ashok Kumar said.

The 19-year-old accused attempted to rape the victim and he thrashed her when she opposed him, the officer said, adding a case was registered and the man was arrested.

Rajnandgaon, Dec 2 (PTI) A 28-year-old farmer was killed in Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon district by Naxals who accused him of being a police informer, an official said Sunday.

Naresh Salame was shot dead Saturday night by a group of Naxals in Belgaon village in Kohka police station limits, the official said.

Salame was watching television in his home when the ultras barged in and dragged him on to the street outside and shot him, he added.

Prior to shooting him, Naxals had accused Salame of being a police informer, the official said.

Dhenkanal/Bhubaneswar, Dec 2 (PTI) An NGO-run shelter home was Sunday sealed in Odisha's Dhenkanal district in the wake of allegations of sexual abuse by its minor inmates, an official said.

The action came two days after District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) Anuradha Goswami and members of Child Welfare Committee (CWC) raided the shelter home, acting on media reports which stated that girls were being abused at the facility.

New Delhi, Dec 2 (PTI) India's first locomotive-less train, known as Train 18, breached the 180 kmph speed limit during a test run on Sunday, a senior railway official said here.

When this Rs 100-crore indigenously designed train is made operational, it will become the country's fastest train.

KANPUR: First Kanpur Literature Festival revived the forgotten memories of the city. If a famous writer Asghar Wazahat stressed on initiation of the dialogues, the historian R Mukherjee maintained that this city was founded by the British rulers. Otherwise, it was simply a rural area. They set up cantonment, mills, and railway lines.

KANPUR: Gorakhpur-Yashwantpur Express developed a technical snag due to knock with an animal near Unnao on Saturday evening. Not only was this hitch in the engine but the OHE line also damaged. This caused trains running on the railway line bring to a sudden halt.

KANPUR: The final nod on the part of the Railways Board has been approved for extending the length of platform number 2 & 3 of the Kanpur Central station. Giving this information the NCR chief public relations officer GK Bansal said the work would start soon.

This would help stand the train with 24 bogies at both these platforms. Owing to shorter length three to four coaches remain standing out of the platform precincts. This caused trouble to passengers in boarding the train, he added.

Gonda (UP), Dec 1 (PTI) A case has been registered against five people for allegedly raping a minor Dalit girl in Uttar Pradesh's Gonda district, police said Saturday.

On November 3, a youth managed to dupe the girl and took her away to an unknown place, where the girl was locked up in a room and the accused, along with his friends, raped her, said Superintendent of Police R P Singh.

After a few days, when the girl was able to reach her home, she narrated the entire sequence of events to her father, the SP said.

Jaipur, Dec 1 (PTI) Congress president Rahul Gandhi Saturday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi what kind of Hindu he is as he "does not understand" the foundation of Hinduism, prompting a strong retort from senior BJP leaders.

"What is the essence of Hinduism? What does the Gita say? That knowledge is with everybody... Knowledge is all around you. Every living being has knowledge," he said at an interactive session in Udaipur in Rajasthan.