Indian Sub-continent

Malegaon (Maha), Jan 18 (PTI) Three farmers allegedly committed suicide in separate incidents here apparently due to crop failure and mounting loan burden, police said Friday.

The cultivators hailed from Malegaon taluka of Nashik district in North Maharashtra.

One of them, Dnyaneshwar Shivnakar, consumed poison while sitting on a heap of his perished onions at around 9.30 am Friday, they said.

Mumbai, Jan 18 (PTI) A 54-year-old woman allegedly tried to commit suicide by setting herself on fire outside the Maharashtra secretariat here on Friday, police said.

According to police, she took the step due to debt burden.

"The woman, Sharda Kamble, a resident of Chembur, tried to set herself ablaze. But the police personnel, who were posted on duty there, stopped her from doing so," a police official said.

New Delhi, Jan 18 (PTI) RSS executive head Bhaiyyaji Joshi has expressed confidence that the Ram temple will be constructed in Ayodhya by the time of next 'Kumbh' in 2025, the Sangh said in a statement on Friday.

In a bid to "contextualise" the comments, the RSS in a statement issued by spokesperson Arun Kumar said Joshi had made these remarks on Thursday at the ongoing Kumbh in Praygraj in Uttar Pradesh.

New Delhi, Jan 18 (PTI) Lt. Governor Anil Baijal on Friday reviewed the air pollution situation in Delhi and asked agencies to direct field officers to visit hotspot and heavily penalise instances of burning of waste, polluting units and dust-generating activities.

Baijal also asked the Delhi government to ensure greening of areas where waste has been lifted to control dust pollution.

Jammu, Jan 18 (PTI) National Conference president Farooq Abdullah Friday reiterated that his party was committed towards ensuring regional autonomy in Jammu and Kashmir as it will assuage the aspirations of the people of all the regions.

The former chief minister sought a massive mandate for his party in the ensuing elections, saying a strong and stable government alone can steer Jammu and Kashmir to peace, progress and development.

Dumka (Jharkhand), Jan 18 (PTI) A local court on Friday sentenced a man to seven years rigorous imprisonment for raping a 13-year-old girl for a week in a Dumka district forest in 2015.

The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge-I, Taufiq-ul Hasan sentenced Chunda Hembram alias Manoj Hembram to seven years rigorous imprisonment under the Pocso Act.

The court also slapped a fine of Rs 1000 on Hembram and noted that upon failing to pay, the convict will have to serve three more months in prison.

Muzaffarnagar, Jan 19 (PTI) A 22-year-old woman was allegedly gang-raped by two men in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district, police said on Saturday.

The incident took place on Friday when the woman was alone at her residence in Kheri Firozabad village here under Kakroli police station, they said.

According to a complaint lodged by the woman's father, the accused, Gaurav and Ravi, who hail from the same village, barged into her house and raped her while her parents were away, the police said.

Balasore (Odisha), Jan 18 (PTI) A court here has sentenced two men to 20 years of imprisonment for raping a minor girl in 2016.

Awarding the jail term to Dhulia Manual and Bikas Majhi on Thursday, Additional District Judge Ajanta Sarangi also slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 each on the convicts for raping the 14-year-old girl at Chakarada village.

In case of non-payment of the fine amount, the convicts would have to serve an additional three months in jail, the judge said.

Kolkata, Jan 19 (PTI) Zoram Nationalist Party leader Lalduhawma on Saturday said the entire north east was "burning" because of the Citizenship Amendment Bill.

"If the bill was enacted ... , India will no longer be the place that it used to be ... so we want a secular government at the Centre, so that this bill was withdrawn or exemption must be given to the north east," he said at the opposition rally at the Brigade Parade ground here.

Srinagar, Jan 19 (PTI) PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday sought the release of separatist leader Shahid-ul-Islam, who is in the NIA's custody, on humanitarian grounds as his wife was not feeling well.

The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister spoke to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh over phone after reports of Islam's wife having suffered a brain hemorrhage emerged.