Indian Sub-continent

Kochi, Nov 27 (PTI) A 42-year-old woman was allegedly raped and beaten to death by a migrant labourer from Assam, police said here on Wednesday.

Umar Ali, 27, has been arrested in connection with the incident which occurred on Tuesday night, they said.

The woman's naked body was found lying in a pool of blood near a hotel in the city by a worker this morning.

Gandhinagar, Nov 27 (PTI) A controversial Gujarat anti-terror law, which recognises intercepted telephonic conversations as a legitimate evidence among other provisions, will come into force from December 1, a state minister said here on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, President Ram Nath Kovind had given his assent to the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime (GCTOC) Act, which had thrice failed to get the nod of his predecessors since 2004.

MALE (Reuters) - Former Maldives president Abdulla Yameen was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison for money laundering on Thursday - as dozens of his supporters gathered outside the courtroom saying his was innocent.

Yameen, who ran the Maldives with an iron hand for five years, unexpectedly lost an election last year and has since faced investigations over a number of deals sealed during his tenure.

Gopeshwar, Nov 27 (PTI) A court in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Wednesday sentenced a man to life imprisonment for abducting and raping his minor cousin.

Special District and Sessions Judge Rajendra Singh sentenced Navin Chandra to life imprisonment in an open court for abducting and raping his 12-year-old cousin, special public prosecutor Mohan Pant said.

New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday launched a spirited defence of her handling of the economy, comparing macroeconomic indicators with past Congress rules and said the growth may have slowed down but the economy will never slip into recession.Replying to a short-duration discussion on the state of the economy in the Rajya Sabha, she said steps taken by the government post her maiden budget have started bearing fruits and some sectors such as automobiles have shown signs of recovery.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan’s top court granted a six-month extension to the term of the country’s army head General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Thursday, after initially blocking a three-year extension of his tenure.

“We leave this matter to parliament to make law regarding this,” Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa said while delivering the verdict.

Guwahati, Nov 27 (PTI) The Assam Government on Wednesday announced to set up 100 organic markets for selling such products, grown in the state.

At a meeting of the state agriculture department, chaired by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, the government also decided to roll out different schemes for promotion of direct selling of the organic products.

New Delhi, Nov 28 (PTI) The BJP on Thursday condemned the remarks made by its Lok Sabha MP Pragya Thakur in Parliament on Wednesday referring to Nathuram Godse and said it does not supports such statements.

BJP working president JP Nadda also recommended Thakur's removal from the consultative committee on defence, to which she was recently appointed.

"We have decided that Thakur will not attend meetings of BJP parliamentary party during the session," he said.

Bahraich (UP), Nov 28 (PTI) A man allegedly killed his six-year-old stepson, chopped his body and hid it in different locations in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district, police said on Thursday.

Farid alias Suraj Yadav was allegdly killed by Ram Sawre Yadav on November 19. Yadav disposed his body by chopping it into pieces and hiding it in separate locations at Bhainsia village in Risia area, Superintendent of Police Gaurav Grover said.

New Delhi, Nov 28 (PTI) Amid vehement opposition by the Congress and other parties, Union Labour Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar on Thursday introduced the Industrial Relations Code Bill 2019 in Lok Sabha.

Congress and other opposition parties were protesting against the bill while describing it as "anti-labourers". They demanded that the bill be referred to the parliamentary standing committee on labour.

Speaking about the bill, Gangwar said there is nothing in this bill which is against the right of labourers.