Indian Sub-continent

Gadchiroli, Jan 27 (PTI) A 32-year-old villager, who was abducted by a group of Maoists over suspicion of being a police informer, was found dead Sunday here in Maharashtra, police said.

The victim, Sansay Tanu Beig, a resident of Jaravandi village under Erapalli tehsil of Naxal-affected Gadchiroli district, was abducted late Saturday night, a police official said.

Around 40 Maoists entered the village and barged into Beig's house from where they pulled him out after brandishing weapons, he said.

Phulbani (Odisha), Jan 27 (PTI) A man was arrested on Sunday for allegedly raping a 13-year-old tribal girl in Belghar area of Odisha's Kandhamal district, police said.

The 20-year-old man was held for kidnapping and raping the minor girl, a student of Class 7, Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of Belghar Police station, Dasarath Hembram, said.

The arrest was made on the basis of a complaint lodged by the father of the girl on Saturday, he said, adding, medical examination of the accused and the minor have been conducted.

New Delhi, Jan 27 (PTI) The Supreme Court Sunday cancelled the January 29 hearing in the politically sensitive Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid land title dispute case due to non-availability of one of the five judges of a Constitution bench.

Justice S A Bobde will not be available on January 29 due to which sitting of the Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi stands cancelled, as per a notice issued by the Supreme Court registry.

Morigaon (Assam), Jan 27 (PTI) Police have registered a case against senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge over his remark on Assam's legendary singer-composer Bhupen Hazarika, officials said Sunday.

The case has been filed based on a complaint by RTI activist Raju Mahanta, alleging that Kharge has hurt sentiments of Assamese people.

Muzaffarnagar, Jan 28 (PTI) A five-year-old girl was allegedly raped here by a youth, who has been arrested, police said Monday.

The girl was taken by the youth when she was playing near her house and raped at a secluded area on Sunday, they said.

Hearing the girl crying, villagers rushed to the spot and caught the accused person. They thrashed him and later handed him over to police, Circle Officer Yogender Kumar.

The girl was sent for medical examination, he said.

Jind (Har), Jan 28 (PTI) Nearly 25 per cent polling was recorded in the first few hours of the ongoing high-stake bypoll to the Jind assembly constituency in Haryana on Monday.

Polling began at 7 am and will continue till 5 pm.

In the first two hours, 15 per cent voters had exercised their franchise and by 10:30 am, the poll percentage rose to nearly 25 per cent, officials said here.

People, including nonagenarians, queued up outside polling stations since early morning despite cold weather conditions.

Gorakhpur (UP), Jan 28 (PTI) A Jaguar aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed on Monday in Uttar Pradesh's Kushinagar district, police said.

The pilot of the aircraft ejected safely, IAF sources said.

The military aircraft crashed soon after taking off on a routine mission from Gorakhpur, they said.

Police said the plane crashed in the Hatempur area of the district. No casualty has been reported, they said.

KANPUR: One solver from one examination centre of the Uttar Pradesh Police Constable Recruitment Test in Chakeri area has been caught on Sunday. The invigilator’s doubt on a difference in the examinee’s photo identity brought the matter to the fore. He dialled the police and further questioning established the falsification. The police succeeded in recovering the fake documents and I-card.  

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan; 27 Jan 2019; AA: A new high-level medical board has been constituted to examine the health condition of jailed former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, local media reported on Saturday.

The third medical board was constituted after doctors said Sharif has uncontrolled blood pressure, stage 3 chronic kidney disease, borderline raised troponin T level with significant history of ischemic heart disease, reported Dawn, a local daily.

ANKARA; 26 Jan 2019; AA: Apex court of India on Friday reconstituted a five-member bench for the hearing of sensitive Babri Mosque case, local media said.

Indian Supreme Court had on Jan. 10 deferred the hearing of the case on the decades-old Babri Mosque dispute between Muslims and Hindus when one of the five judges recused himself from the case.