Indian Sub-continent

Mirzapur (Uttar Pradesh), July 20; IANS/GANASHAKTI: "I am now leaving because my purpose of meeting the families of the victims has been fulfilled. But I will return very soon. I had come here on the instructions of my brother Rahul Gandhi."

This is what Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi told people and party workers before ending her 24-hour dharna on Saturday and returning to Delhi.

Allahabad, Jul 19 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court Friday issued notice to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a petition challenging his election from Varanasi parliamentary constituency.

Justice M K Gupta fixed August 21 for hearing of the case.

New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) Richest Indian Mukesh Ambani has kept his annual salary from his flagship firm Reliance Industries capped at Rs 15 crore for the eleventh year on the trot.

Ambani has kept salary, perquisites, allowances and commission together at Rs 15 crore since 2008-09, forgoing over Rs 24 crore per annum.

This is at a time when remunerations of all whole-time directors of the company, including cousins Nikhil and Hital Meswani, saw a handsome increase in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019.

Islamabad, Jul 19 (PTI) Pakistan's anti-graft body on Friday filed a new case of corruption against former president Asif Ali Zardari for allegedly being involved in transfer of billions of rupees to a company, co-owned by him and his son Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, through fake bank accounts.

According to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Zardari, who is also the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman, had acquired Karachi-based real estate firm Park Lane Estate Company (Pvt) Ltd illegally through a front man in 1989.

Lucknow, Jul 20 (PTI) BSP chief Mayawati Saturday alleged that the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh was using Section 144 to hide its shortcomings and not allowing anyone to visit Sonbhadra, where 10 people were gunned down this week.

Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) empowers an executive magistrate to prohibit an assembly of more than four persons in an area.

Lucknow, Jul 19 (PTI) A 28-year-old Dalit man Friday sustained injuries after some people mistook him for a thief and allegedly tried to burn him alive when he entered a house to avoid stray dogs in Uttar Pradesh's Barabanki district, police said.

The victim, Sujit Kumar, was rushed to a hospital, where his condition is stated to be stable, they said, adding that two of the four accused named in the FIR had been arrested.

New Delhi, Jul 19 (PTI) The Indian Army "successfully" conducted trials of third generation anti-tank guided missile NAG at Pokhran firing ranges, paving the way for its induction.

The trials were carried out between July 7 and 18.

Lucknow /Mirzapur, July 20 (PTI) Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra spent the night at the Chunar guesthouse in Mirzapur district, turning down all requests of the local administration to return without meeting the Sonbhadra clash victims.

In a late-night tweet, she said she is ready to go to jail if she is not allowed to go ahead.

Chandigarh, July 20 (PTI) Days after Navjot Singh Sidhu resigned from the state cabinet, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Saturday accepted his "one-line" resignation.

The chief minister has sent the resignation to Governor V P Singh Badnore for formal acceptance, an official spokesperson said here.

Amarinder, who had been indisposed for the last two days, since arrival from Delhi on Wednesday, saw the resignation letter Saturday morning, the spokesperson said.

Mirzapur/Lucknow, Jul 20 (PTI) Family members of the Sonbhadra clash victims Saturday met Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at the Chunar guesthouse in Mirzapur district, where she spent a night in detention.

Twelve members of the affected families met the Congress general secretary at the guesthouse, senior party leader Ajay Rai said.

Priyanka Gandhi was stopped from going to Sonbhadra and detained on Friday. She spent the night at the guesthouse, turning down all requests of the local administration to return without meeting the families of the clash victims.