Indian Sub-continent

New Delhi, Jun 19 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday wished good health and a long life to Congress president Rahul Gandhi on his birthday.

Modi took to Twitter to convey his wishes to Gandhi, who turned 49 on Wednesday.

"Best wishes to Shri Rahul Gandhi on his birthday. May he be blessed with good health and a long life," he tweeted.

Gorakhpur (UP), Jun 18 (PTI) A 10-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a driver here, police said Tuesday.

The suspect, identified as Ravi Prakash Rai (30), had been arrested, they said.

The girl was alone when the accused allegedly took her to an isolated place near Bhagwanpura village around 9 pm on Monday and raped her, police said.

Aizawl, Jun 18 (PTI) Eight Rohingya girls, suspected to be victims of human trafficking, were rescued from a village near the Mizoram-Myanmar border in Champai district, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police of Northern Range Lalbiakthanga Khiangte said here Tuesday.

The girls, all of them minors, were rescued from Dungtkang village on Monday, the DIG said, adding that they were being taken to Myanmar from Bangladesh via India. Khiangte told PTI that the girls were produced before the chief judicial magistrate on Tuesday.

Mumbai, Jun 18 (PTI) Maharashtra Health Minister Eknath Shinde Tuesday said over 2,400 people in the state have died of HIV infection in the past one year.

He was responding to a question raised by Shiv Sena MLA Vilas Potnis.

"Between April 1 last year and February this year, 2,460 people have died (of HIV infection) in Maharashtra.

However, the government has not stopped the process of carrying out determination tests of suspected people. The required funding for the scheme is still on," Shinde said.

Mumbai, Jun 18 (PTI) Maharashtra government Tuesday presented an additional budget for 2019-20 with a revenue deficit of Rs 20,292.94 crore, higher than last year's deficit of Rs 14,960.04 crore.

The government has estimated revenue expenditure of Rs 3,34,933.06 crore against revenue receipts of Rs 3,14,640.12 crore, said Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, who tabled the budget proposals in the Legislative Assembly.

Mumbai, Jun 18 (PTI) Alleging that EVMs are being manipulated, the Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi (VBA) Tuesday demanded that upcoming assembly elections in Maharashtra be held through ballot papers.

VBA leader A R Anjaria said the electronic voting machines are not reliable, and that even the counties like the USA have discontinued their use.

Jaipur, Jun 18 (PTI) Unemployed youth having graduation or equivalent degree will be given unemployment allowance up to Rs 3,500 by the Rajasthan government, an official statement said.

They will get the benefit of the Chief Minister Yuva Sambal Yojana from February this year, the statement read.

The state government has implemented the scheme from February this year after rechristening the earlier Akshat Yojana.

MUMBAI, June 18. /TASS/: Russia and India should jointly use the dollar less and develop national currencies instead, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Trutnev said on Tuesday at the session of the Eastern Economic Forum in India.

"This is an advantage that the US enjoys. With the help of the dollar, they significantly influence world economy," Trutnev said.

"The world should be multipolar both politically and economically. We should work on this together. I am confident that there should not be only one dominant currency in the world, this is just wrong," he added.

Cuttack, Jun 18 (PTI) Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) vice chairman Justice Arijit Pasayat Tuesday suggested appropriate amendments in existing tax laws to curb the use of money power to win elections.

"It has come to the notice of the SIT that nearly Rs 3,800 crore was seized from across the country during the time of elections in April-May this year," he said.

Bengaluru, Jun 18 (PTI) The Congress Tuesday suspended rebel MLA R Roshan Baig from the party with immediate effect for "anti-party" activities.

"All India Congress Committee has approved the proposal sent by KPCC to take action against R Roshan Baig, MLA on account of his anti-party activities," the state Congress said in a release.