Indian Sub-continent

Bokaro (Jharkhand), Nov 6 (PTI) A man was lynched and another was seriously injured when a group of people thrashed them for allegedly stealing the battery of a truck in Bokaro district on Wednesday, a senior police official said here.

Five persons have been arrested in connection with the incident which took place at Govindpur village, Bokaro superintendent of police P Murugan said.

Of the two who were thrashed one died on the spot, while the other was admitted to hospital in a serious condition.

Dehradun, Nov 6 (PTI) A majority of the BJP's block pramukh candidates won in Uttarakhand on Wednesday, with the party thanking the people of the state for reposing their faith in it once again.

Out of the total of 89 block pramukh posts that went to polls, 53 were won by the BJP, 20 by the Congress and 16 by Independents, according to the final results.

Polling was held on Wednesday and the results declared this evening.

Gurgaon, Nov 6 (PTI) A man was arrested for sexually assaulting a pregnant woman here, a police officer said on Wednesday.

Ravinder (30), a resident of Sohna, was arrested from his residence.

"He sexually assaulted his relative after he found her alone at her residence on Monday. The victim on Tuesday gave a written complaint against him at the Sohna police station," Gurgaon police PRO Subhash Bokan said.

"Taking the matter seriously, a police team immediately raided Ravinder's house and nabbed him. He has confessed to the crime," he added.

New Delhi, Nov 6 (PTI) Employee unions at Air India on Wednesday decided to oppose privatisation of the airline as there is still no clarity on various issues, including payment of salary arrears and pension, according to a union's representative.

The development comes at a time when the government is working on the final contours for the proposed disinvestment of loss-making Air India.

Nagpur, Nov 6 (PTI) A 62-year-old man has been arrested by Nagpur police for allegedly raping an 11-year-old girl.

The accused was identified as Umesh alias Gullubaba Shankarrao Guralwar (62), a resident of Indora area who runs a grocery shop.

On Monday, when the girl went to buy something from his shop, Guralwar allegedly lured her inside and raped her, police said.

After the girl returned home and narrated the incident to her parents, a complaint was lodged on Tuesday morning.

New Delhi, Nov 6 (PTI) Deputy Mayor of North Delhi Yogesh Verma on Wednesday said all NDMC schools will have "compulsory" yoga classes to promote health consciousness among students.

He said officials have been directed to create a sports academy in all North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) schools.

"In order to encourage health (awareness) and sports activities in all primary schools of North Delhi Municipal Corporation, they would have compulsory yoga classes," an official statement quoted Verma, who is also the NDMC's Sports Promotion Committee chairman, as saying.

Kolkata, Nov 6 (PTI) The air quality in Kolkata turned 'very poor' on Wednesday night with the pollution levels in the city breaching the 300 mark for the first time in recent months, a WBPCB official said.

Measures are being taken to bring down the pollution levels, he said.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) in Kolkata was recorded at 343, which falls in the 'very poor' category, at the green zone Fort William automated air monitoring station at 11 pm, according to the West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) official.

New Delhi, Nov 7 (PTI) A CRPF jawan was killed in an encounter with Naxals in Chhattisgarh on Thursday, officials said here.

The encounter took place in the Tonguda-Pamed area of Bijapur district at about 4 am, they said.

The jawan belonged to the 151st battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force and this team along with the commando unit of the force, CoBRA, and the state police was out for an operation in the jungles, the officials said.

Mumbai, Nov 7 (PTI) Maharashtra minister and senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar said his party would not stake claim on Thursday to form government in the state.

Ahead of the BJP delegation's meeting with Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Thursday, Mungantiwar told reporters here that the BJP was not in favour of forming a minority government in the state.

He also dubbed as "unfair" the talks that Shiv Sena MLAs may cross sides, amid the stalemate over government formation in the state.

Srinagar, Nov 7 (PTI) Heavy snowfall across Kashmir on Thursday cut off the valley from the rest of the country as the arterial Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was closed for traffic while all flights to and fro Srinagar airport were cancelled, officials said here.

An official of the traffic department told PTI that roads which connect the summer capital with far-flung areas like Gurez, Macchil, Keran and Tangdhar have also been closed due to adverse weather conditions.

Over 2000 vehicles are stranded on the highway due to the closure.