Indian Sub-continent

New Delhi, Oct 25 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Friday sought the Centre's response by November 5 on a plea seeking entry of Muslim women in mosques across the country and claiming that such restriction was "unconstitutional" and violative of fundamental rights to life, equality and gender justice.

Srinagar, Oct 25 (PTI) Seven shops were gutted in a fire that broke out in the Batamaloo area here, police said on Friday.

Seven shops were destroyed in a fire incident in the main market at Batamaloo Thursday night, a police official said.

He said the cause of the fire is believed to be an electric short-circuit.

However, the shop owners claimed the shops were set afire by miscreants.

Muzaffarnagar (UP), Oct 25 (PTI) Hundreds of lawyers staged a demonstration outside the district magistrate's office here on Friday in protest against a spate of killings of lawyers in western Uttar Pradesh in the past two weeks.

Muzaffarnagar district bar association president Naseer Haider Kazmi and secretary Pradeep Malik told the media that they had sent a six-point memorandum to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Kota, Oct 25 (PTI) An eight-year-old tribal girl was allegedly raped by her neighbour in the Kawai area of Rajasthan's Baran district, police said on Friday.

The incident occurred on Tuesday but came to light only on Thursday, they said.

The girl was playing outside her house and the accused lured her to a secluded place and raped her there, a police officer said.

In the evening of that day, the girl complained of abdominal pain and bleeding from private parts. Her parents took her to a local dispensary but none suspected rape, he said.

New Delhi, Oct 25 (PTI) German Chancellor Angela Merkel will pay a day-long visit to India on November 1 during which she will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a focus on strengthening ties in key sectors such as trade, energy and defence.

Prime Minister Modi and the German chancellor will co-chair the Fifth Biennial Inter Governmental Consultations (IGC) during the visit, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

Mumbai, Oct 26 (PTI) As many as 176 newly-elected MLAs in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly are facing criminal charges, as per data released by an advocacy group on Saturday.

On analysing self-sworn affidavits of 285 of the total 288 MLAs, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) found that 62 per cent (176 MLAs) have criminal cases pending against them while 40 per cent (113 MLAs) have serious criminal cases.

Banda (UP), Oct 26 (PTI) A girl was allegedly raped while returning from a Ram Lila performance in the neighbouring Fatehpur district, police said on Saturday.

The 16-year-old girl was returning after watching a Ram Lila performance along with her younger brother at Khaga township late on Thursday night, they said.

A youth, identified as Arun (21), assaulted the victim's brother and then took her to a secluded spot where he allegedly raped her, Circle Officer (CO) Anshuman Misra said.

Chandigarh, Oct 26 (PTI) The BJP staked claim to form the government in Haryana on Saturday with the support of the Dushyant Chautala-led JJP, party sources said here.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Manohar Lal Khattar and state party chief Subhash Barala, met Haryana Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya for staking claim to form the government.

Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) leader Chautala also met the governor and gave his party's letter of support to him.

The JJP has extended support to the saffron party.

Mumbai, Oct 26 (PTI) The Maharashtra BJP has convened a meeting of its newly-elected MLAs on October 30 to elect the leader of the House, state unit chief Chandrakant Patil said on Saturday.

Patil said the meeting will be held in Vidhan Bhavan at 1pm.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is in touch with 15 MLAs, Independents as well as from smaller parties, for support.

The BJP returned a less-than-impressive performance in the state Assembly polls, with its seats dropping from 122 to 105 in the 288-member House.

Kanpur: Paucity of the anti-rabies vaccine (ARV) in the government hospitals the patients' sufferings are bound to increase during the festive occasion. Whether it is Kanshiram hospital or Kamlapati Memorial hospital or Ursula hospital in the city's different areas, the vaccines quantity are not available as per the needs.

Even Dr Ashok Shukla, CMO, said a letter to UP Medical Supply Corporation has been forwarded. There is a paucity of ARV in Ursula and KPM hospitals respectively. All the CHCs are also made available the vaccine so that the patients could not face trouble.