Indian Sub-continent

Hyderabad, Dec 20 (PTI) Senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily Thursday accused Indian Air Force chief B S Dhanoa of "lying" a day after the latter called the Rafale deal a "game changer" and the Supreme Court verdict on it a "very fine" judgement.

He also demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi apologise for having sacrificed the security of the nation by entering into the deal.

New Delhi, Dec 20 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the city police to provide protection to social activist Swami Agnivesh who had registered two police complaints against members of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) for allegedly attacking him here and in Pakur district of Jharkhand.

Justice Najmi Wajiri sought response of the Centre, Delhi government and Delhi police on Agnivesh's plea seeking transfer of the case from police to the CBI or any other central independent investigating agency.

Mumbai, Dec 20 (PTI) British politician and economist Meghnad Desai, a self-confessed Narendra Modi admirer till some time back, has accused the prime minister of not being a team player and predicted that the "disappointed" electorate will not vote him back with a majority.

Modi "over promised" and was wrong in believing that he could run the whole country with the help of a few bureaucrats and not with a strong cabinet, as he did in Gujarat when he was the chief minister, Desai said.

New Delhi, Dec 20 (PTI) The Delhi Police on Thursday told the Delhi High Court that the CCTV cameras it plans to install in vulnerable areas of the city will record hi-definition videos and will have facial recognition and number plate identification features.

Taking note of the submission, the High Court directed the police to ensure that CCTV cameras are procured and installed in the 44 vulnerable areas within one year as against the time line of 18 months given by the law enforcement agency.

Colombo, Dec 20 (PTI) Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Thursday named a 30-member Cabinet while rejecting some of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's nominees and retained control over the security forces and police, indicating that the power tussle between them is far from over.

The new Cabinet was appointed after an unexpected delay of three days since Wickremesinghe was sworn in as Prime Minister on December 16 following weeks of political crisis that led to government dysfunction.

New Delhi, Dec 20 (PTI) The Lok Sabha on Thursday agreed to take up for discussion the triple talaq bill on December 27 after the Congress agreed to participate in the debate.

As the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018, was taken up for consideration, Leader of the Congress in the House, Mallikarjun Kharge, suggested it be taken up for discussion next week.

Parlimentary Affairs Minister Narendra Singh Tomar sought an assurance from the Opposition that it would allow discussion on the bill without disruption on that day.

Agra (UP), Dec 19 (PTI) A first year B.tech student was allegedly raped by four men near Poiya Ghat here, police said Wednesday.

The incident took place on Tuesday evening while the girl was going to her coaching centre, en route she was stopped by two men near Bhagwan Talkies crossing on the National Highway and was forcibly taken to an isolated place near the ghat where two other accused were already present and all the four raped her, police said.

Muzaffarnagar (UP), Dec 19 (PTI) The half-naked body of an 18-year-old woman, who had gone missing for a day, was found Wednesday here, police said, suspecting that she was killed after being raped.

According to Circle Officer S S Negi, the body was found in the sugarcane fields in Salarpur village. It carried injury marks caused by a sharp-edged weapon, he said.

A case was registered in this connection against unidentified persons and a probe has been initiated, the CO said.

The body has been sent for post-mortem, he said.

Raipur, Dec 19 (PTI) As many as 11 Naxals were arrested from two districts in Bastar division of Chhattisgrh on Wednesday, police said.

While seven Naxals were apprehended from Bijapur district, four others held in Narayanpur district, a senior police official told PTI.

"In Bijapur, a joint team of CRPF's 168th battalion, District Reserve Guard (DRG) and local police had launched a search operation in the forest of Basaguda police station area to trace some Naxals wanted in separate cases, following inputs about their movements," he said.

New Delhi, Dec 19 (PTI) The Dalit Shoshan Mukti Manch(DSMM) will take out a 'Parliament March' from Mandi House in the national capital on Thursday to highlight the issues of Dalits and tribals in the country.

The livelihood means of working people, specially the Dalits and tribals, are under attack in rule of BJP at the Centre, alleged DSMM president K Radhakrishnan, and general secretary of the outfit Ramchandra Dom addressing a press conference on Wednesday.