India

New Delhi, Oct 24 (PTI) Congress chief Rahul Gandhi Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of removing CBI Director Alok Verma in a bid to stop him from investigating the Rafale "scam".

He also alleged that the prime minister "broke the law" and "bypassed" the Chief Justice of India and the Leader of Opposition, who were part of the panel that selected the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chief.

There was no immediate reaction from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on the allegations.

KANPUR:  In a sample collected from a survey of as many as 60 cities in the country, the city remained at the most polluted level in the country on Tuesday.

There was found sixfold increase in its normal 2.5 pm level. The air quality index level was also worse, according to the Central Pollution Control Board.

New delhi, Oct 24 (PTI) CBI Director Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana have been "divested of all powers" amid an ongoing spat between them, sources said, calling it the first such case in the history of the agency.

As an interim measure, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given charge of the CBI to Joint Director M Nageswar Rao, an Odisha-cadre officer, with immediate effect, a government order said.

JALPAIGURI, WEST BENGAL; PTI: The woman who was raped allegedly by a relative and was tortured with an iron rod inserted in her private parts has been operated upon in a government hospital and is in a serious condition, hospital sources said Monday.

Doctors operated on her at the Sadar hospital in Jalpaiguri on Sunday night and the woman is in the intensive care unit, the sources said.

She is being administered blood as she had been bleeding profusely. "She is a serious condition but is stable," doctors treating her said.

New Delhi, Oct 23; PTI: The Supreme Court Tuesday permitted the sale and manufacture of low emission "green" firecrackers countrywide and fixed a two-hour time period from 8 pm to 10 pm for bursting them on Diwali and other festivals.

A bench comprising Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan also restrained e-commerce websites like Flipkart and Amazon from selling firecrackers which were beyond the permissible limit.

The apex court's order came on a plea seeking a ban on manufacture and sale of firecrackers across the country to curb air pollution.

GUWAHATI: Protesters tried to put up blockades on railway tracks this morning in order to disrupt train services across Assam, as part of the 12-hour state-wide 'bandh' or shutdown called by 46 organisations protesting against the Citizenship Bill.

Police officials said that the demonstrators, who were trying to prevent train movement by sitting on tracks, were being evicted.

Demonstrators also burnt tyres on roads at various places across the state, the police said.

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 23; PTI: Kerala Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan Tuesday attacked the BJP and RSS for the violent agitation at the Lord Ayyappa temple complex in Sabarimala over the entry of women of all ages into the hill shrine.

The agitation was a "planned and deliberate attempt" to create an atmosphere of tension in the state, Vijayan told reporters here.

New Delhi, Oct 23; PTI: Referring to an internal feud in the CBI between its director and deputy director, CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury Tuesday alleged the BJP was damaging and destroying the country's institutions.

In a series of tweets, Yechury said the party's "nefarious" design needed to be defeated.

There was no comment from the BJP on the issue.

Nagpur, Oct 22 (PTI) Senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh Monday said here that the fuel pump strike in Delhi was "BJP sponsored" as the prices of petrol in Delhi are less compared to other cities.

He was replying to a query on the strike in Delhi and the AAP government's refusal to cut VAT on petrol and diesel there.

"The price of petrol in Mumbai is around Rs 87 and in Chennai it is Rs 84. Whereas, the price of petrol in Delhi is around Rs 81. This is a BJP sponsored strike," he asked.

New Delhi, Oct 23 (PTI) A five-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her school van driver in Shahbad Dairy area of Rohini, police said Tuesday.

The girl told her mother on Monday that she does not wish to go to school as the van driver does "bad things" to her, they added.

The girl's mother approached police following which a case was registered.

The 39-year-old driver was arrested on Monday.