Indian Sub-continent

Mumbai, May 24 (PTI) The National Investigation Agency Friday filed a charge sheet in a case related to alleged attempts for revival of Sikh militancy with the ultimate objective of creating a separate 'Khalistan State'.

The Maharashtra ATS had registered a case in this regard in December last year, following which one Harpal Singh Naik from Pune was arrested, the NIA said in a press note.

The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) found a firearm and five bullets from Naik.

New Delhi, May 24 (PTI) The Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), which was blamed for the terror attack at a cafe in Dhaka in 2016 in which 22 people including 17 foreigners were killed, has been declared as a banned terrorist organisation by the government, the Home Ministry said Friday.

In a notification, the home ministry said the outfit has committed and promoted acts of terrorism and has been engaged in radicalisation and recruitment of youths for terrorist activities in India.

New Delhi, May 24 (PTI) The Congress can never die and the country needs it, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot asserted on Friday and said the party will again reach out to people to ascertain the reasons for its drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls.

The senior Congress leader said the BJP played on emotions and sentiments of the people and never fought on real issues.

During the election campaign, the people never got to know the BJP's vision for the country and stand on issues such as unemployment, farm distress and economy, he said.

Raipur, May 24 (PTI) Naxal-hit Bastar Lok Sabha seat saw the maximum number of voters opting for NOTA (none of the above) in the just-concluded general elections.

Of the 1,36,22,725 people who cast their votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Chhattisgarh, 1.44 per cent, or 1,96,265 electors, opted for NOTA, an EC official said Friday.

NOTA stood third behind the BJP and Congress in Bastar, Surguja, Kanker, Mahasamund and Rajnandgaon, he said.

Mumbai, May 24 (PTI) Maharashtra NCP chief Jayant Patil Friday congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the BJP's Lok Sabha victory, but also called for a permanent solution to EVM-related issues to ensure poll transparency.

Former Maharashtra minister Patil said people would lose faith in the election process in the absence of such transparency.

Patil's comments come a day after NCP president Sharad Pawar Thursday said he accepted the mandate gracefully and that he would not blame the EVMs following the result.

Ajmer, May 24 (PTI) Two persons were booked here on the charge of rape, police said Friday.

The accused were identified as Kamal Meghwanshi (20) and Ramesh Meghwanshi (21), both residents of Kanwali village in Pushkar, police added.

The victim had lodged a complaint Thursday, accusing them of raping her in March, police said.

"Kamal allegedly abducted the victim and took her to Gujarat in March, where he along Kamal raped her," police said.

Chennai, May 24 (PTI) The Madras High Court has quashed a criminal case pending against senior IPS officer Jaffer Sait for alleged loss caused to the Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) in connection with allotment of a residential plot in his wife's name under the government discretionary quota (GDQ).

Justice P Rajamanickam on Thursday quashed the proceedings of the criminal case as the Union Home Ministry declined sanction for prosecution against the officer through an order dated November 29, 2013.

Despite such an order, the case had been kept pending for over five years.

Patna, May 24 (PTI) Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan on Friday mocked the Congress for eyeing the prime minister's post, but ending up with a tally which falls short to even help it get the chair of leader of the opposition.

Paswan further said he had predicted victory of his ministerial colleague Smriti Irani from Amethi against Rahul Gandhi.

Raipur, May 25 (PTI) A major tragedy was averted when security forces recovered five powerful IEDs, planted by Naxals, in Chhattisgarh's Kondagaon district, police said Saturday.

The IEDs, weighing 10 kg each and packed in cookers, were unearthed from a dirt track near a well between Uparchandeli and Khalichandeli villages under Keshkal police station when a joint team of security forces was carrying out a de-mining operation on Friday to detect explosives planted by ultras, a senior police official told PTI.

New Delhi, May 25 (PTI) Top Congress leaders from across the country Saturday got together to review the party's drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls, as the Congress Working Committee meeting got underway here.

The CWC meeting, chaired by Congress president Rahul Gandhi, is being attended by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Uttar Pradesh (East) in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and chief ministers of four party-ruled states -- Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh -- and of the Union Territory Puducherry.