Indian Sub-continent

Kolkata, Dec 23; GANASHAKTI:  CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechuri on Sunday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was resorting to manipulation of statistics to paint a rosy picture of his government's achievements.

Yechuri claimed Modi's announcement that 99 per cent goods will now attract 18 per cent or lower GST as a "post truth", since 97 per cent of merchandise or services already attract 18 per cent or less GST.

"The method adopted by Modi surpasses Goebells," he said, drawing a parallel with Hitler's Propaganda Minister during the Nazi rule in Germany.

Balasore (Odisha), Dec 23; PTI: India on Sunday   successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable long-range ballistic missile Agni-IV, with a strike range of 4,000 km, as part of a user trial by the Army.

The strategic surface-to-surface missile was flight tested from launch complex-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Dr Abdul Kalam Island, earlier known as Wheeler Island, at about 8.35 am, defence sources said.

Samastipur (Bihar), Dec 22; GANASHAKTI: Senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury on Saturday asserted that no clean chit has been given to the Narendra Modi government in the Rafale deal by the Supreme Court, which has "merely stated" that it did not have the jurisdiction to intervene in the matter.

The former Rajya Sabha member said the Opposition has, therefore, been seeking a probe by Joint Parliamentary Committee, but the government appears to be wary of the same.

Jaipur, Dec 23 (PTI) A 32-year-old woman was allegedly stoned to death by her husband in the Rajsamand district of the state, police said Sunday.

Police have detained Narsingh Rawat for allegedly killing his wife of 12 years, Rekha Devi, following a heated argument, police said, adding that the couple has four children.

"The accused (Rawat) following a dispute with his wife, stoned her to death," SHO Bheem Police Station Labhu Ram said.

MUMBAI, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval here Sunday.

The two sides exchanged views on bilateral relations as well as on regional and international issues of common concern.

Wang is on a visit to India to co-chair the first meeting of China-India high level people-to-people exchanges mechanism with Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

KANPUR:  A dead body of married woman was found on a sleeper coach of Lokmanya Tilak Express. Taking corpse into possession the railway police sent the dead body for the post-mortem. Injury marks were found on her body. On complaints of the relatives, the police arrested the husband.

KANPUR: As many as five candidates appearing at examinations of village development officer run away with their answer sheets from the centres here on Saturday. The centre in-charge lodged first information report against them at the police station. Besides, two candidates were also caught for copying.  

Ahmedabad, Dec 21 (PTI) BJP leaders, including Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and former Gujarat police officers Friday welcomed the verdict in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh encounter case and claimed vindication of their stand, adding the court ruling has "exposed" the Congress.

They said the encounter was genuine and the entire case against policemen from Gujarat and Rajasthan, who were named accused, was part of a "political conspiracy".

Imphal, Dec 21 (PTI) Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh Friday told the state Assembly that five policemen have been suspended after a man picked up by security forces in Thoubal district on Wednesday was found dead on Thursday.

In reply to a call attention motion moved by opposition Congress MLA Kh Joikishan Singh, the chief minister further informed that his government has asked the Assam Rifles authorities to make arrangements for surrender of AR personnel who were involved in the arrest of the person along with the suspended five policemen.

Udaipur, Dec 21 (PTI) Hindustan Aeronautics Limited chairman R Madhavan Friday said the HAL was capable of producing the Rafale aircraft but suggested that the question of transfer of technology does not arise in the current order of just 36 aircraft.

The Congress has alleged that Narendra Modi government is buying the military aircraft from French company Dassault Aviation at a much higher price than what was being negotiated by the previous UPA government, which planned to procure 126 aircraft.