Indian Sub-continent

New Delhi, Jul 11 (PTI) Supreme Court lawyer Indira Jaising alleged on Thursday that she and her husband were being "targeted" by the CBI due to their work in the field of human rights, after sleuths from the central agency carried out searches at her residence and office.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is carrying out searches at the residence of former Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Jaising and the offices of Lawyers Collective, an NGO run by her husband Anand Grover, officials said.

New Delhi, Jul 10 (PTI) There is a shortage of nearly 1,500 IAS officers in the country, the Lok Sabha was informed Wednesday.

Officers in position as on January 1, 2019, was 5,205, against the total authorised strength of 6,699, Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said in a written reply.

In order to address the shortage of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers in the regular recruitment quota, the government has increased the annual intake from 55 in civil services examination (CSE) 1998 to 180 in CSE 2013, he said.

Mumbai, Jul 10 (PTI) The Congress in Maharashtra Wednesday accused the BJP of attempting to destablise the democratically elected government in Karnataka, where over a dozen MLAs of the ruling combine have resigned.

Maharashtra Congress president Ashok Chavan said what was happening in the southern state was detrimental for democracy in the country.

Another party leader Satyajit Tambe said the Mumbai police were planning to send Karnataka minister D K Shivakumar, who is in the city to meet rebels MLAs, back to Bengaluru.

Muzaffarnagar (UP), Jul 10 (PTI) A Muzaffarnagar court has granted bail to three persons accused of killing a youth whose death was a trigger for the Muzaffarnagar riots in 2013.

District Sessions Judge Sanjay Kumar Pachori gave bail to Prahlad, Bishan Singh and Tendu. He said the accused would be released after furnishing two sureties of Rs 1,50,000 each.

According to prosecution, the there are among the six people accused of stabbing Shahnawaz to death at Kawal village in Jansath area on August 27, 2013.

Bareilly (UP), Jul 10 (PTI) The daughter of an Uttar Pradesh BJP legislator has alleged that her life is in danger from her father after she married a Dalit man and asked the police for security.

Sakshi Misra (23), who is the daughter of Rajesh Misra, the MLA from Bithari Chainpur in Bareilly district, uploaded a video on social media on Wednesday and informed about her wedding to Ajitesh Kumar (29) last Thursday, police said.

New Delhi, Jul 10 (PTI) Pro-Khalistan group The Sikhs for Justice was on Wednesday banned by the government for its alleged anti-national activities, officials said.

US-based The Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) pushes for Sikh Referendum 2020 as part of its separatist agenda.

A meeting of the Union Cabinet decided to declare SFJ as outlawed under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, a home ministry official said.

Balrampur (UP), Jul 10 (PTI) A 'tantrik' was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly raping a 22-year-old woman here, police said.

The incident occured under Nagar Kotwali police station area of the city when the woman, who had been ill for a few days, was taken to the 'tantrik', Phoolchand, on Monday, Superintendent of Police Dev Ranjan Verma said.

Phoolchand had sent her family members out of the room before treating the woman. He allegedly raped her after giving her some intoxicating drug, the SP said.

Noida (UP), Jul 10 (PTI) Sixty foreign nationals were detained and face deportation after police searches in Greater Noida found them staying in the country without valid travel documents, officials said.

Almost all of those held are from eight African countries, including Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Ivory Coast and Angola, police said. Twenty-eight of them are women.

Machilipatnam (AP), Jul 10 (PTI) A 13-year-old girl was allegedly raped and impregnated by her cousin in Machilipatnam town of Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh, police said Wednesday.

The incident came to light Wednesday evening after Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) CDPO S Jaya Lakshmi received information about it and accompanied the minor to the local Inaguduru police station to file a complaint.

Accused Mohan Kumar (21) has been detained for questioning, Machilipatnam Deputy Superintendent of Police Mehboob Basha told PTI.

Palghar, Jul 11 (PTI) A major portion of a bridge across a river was washed away on Thursday following heavy rains in Maharashtra's Palghar district, officials said.

No casualty was reported in the incident, district disaster management cell chief Vivekananda Kadam said.

The bridge was located over a small river at Morchundi village in Mokhada taluka, he said.