Indian Sub-continent

Panaji, Nov 29 (PTI) The closure of iron ore mining in Goa since the last eight months has adversely impacted the state's economy which is facing Rs 1,500-crore revenue loss every month from the sector besides jobs taking a hit, said officials and industry bodies.

The Supreme Court, in its February 7 order, had quashed 88 mining leases, which had to wind up their operations from March 16, bringing the entire industry, a key source of revenue for the government, to a grinding halt.

Jamuria (WB), Nov 29 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday called for bringing a change in the government at the Centre in the Lok Sabha polls and alleged that the BJP dispensation has caused hardships to the people of the country.

Banerjee said her party will contest elections in states neighbouring West Bengal such as Jharkhand and Assam to protect the people from alleged attacks by the BJP.

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 29 (PTI) Kerala, which suffered a loss of Rs 31,000 crore during the floods in August, Thursday wanted the Centre to expedite the promised assistance to enable it to rebuild the state.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the state had received only Rs 2,683.18 Crore in its Distress Relief Fund and was finding it difficult to cobble resources for the 're-build Kerala initiative.'

He said the state has to pay Rs 290 crore to the Centre towards the rations received and rescue assistance provided during the floods.

Ranchi, Nov 29 (PTI) Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das Thursday said the government will provide free mobile phones to 28 lakh farmers and a separate electric feeder for them for agriculture purpose.

The mobile phones will be given to the farmers by 2019/2021 with an aim to keep the middle men away and also help farmers to have greater information about the market, he said while speaking at the inaugural function of the two-day Agriculture & Food Summit here.

Ahmedabad, Nov 29 (PTI) The Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) apprehended 22 Indian fishermen and seized three boats off Gujarat coast Thursday, Porbandar-based National Fishworkers' Forum (NFF) said.

The boats and the fishermen belong to the coastal town of Veraval in Gir-Somnath district of Gujarat, said Manish Lodhari, secretary of the NFF.

The PMSA apprehended them near the International Maritime Boundary Line in the Arabian sea, he said.

The fishermen were on board three boats -- Kusum, Annapurna and Kajal.

Patna, Nov 29 (PTI) Opposition legislators in Bihar on Thursday met Governor Lalji Tandon and submitted a memorandum demanding the dismissal of Nitish Kumar government over its "failure" to control law and order in the state.

Members of both Houses of the bicameral legislature, led by Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Tejashwi Yadav, staged a march from the Assembly premises to the Raj Bhavan, located about a kilometre away, and submitted the memorandum.

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 29 (PTI) The BJP, which has been spearheading the agitation against the entry of young women at Sabarimala, Thursday announced its decision to shift its protest from the temple complex to the state capital to intensify its stir.

The announcement comes two days after the Kerala High Court ordered that no protests or demonstrations should be held at Sabarimala, holding that it was not a place for such activities.

Chatra (Jharkhand), Nov 29 (PTI) The main accused in the killing of a journalist of a Hindi daily last month was arrested from Palamau district, police said Thursday.

The accused was identified as Prasant Ji, the Area Commander of an ultra outfit Trutiya Prastuti Committee (TPC), police said.

The arrest was made in a joint raid conducted by the Chatra and Palamau district police on Wednesday, Superintendent of Police, Akhilesh B Beriar said.

Kolkata, Nov 30 (PTI) A research team of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur have come up with new data "confirming" that the Antarctic Ozone hole is on a "healing" path, a statement issued by the institute said Friday.

Researchers of the Center of Oceans, Rivers, Atmosphere and Law Science (CORAL) of IIT Kharagpur have collected data from 1979 to 2017, which shows though there was a loss in saturation of Ozone since 1987 over the Antarctic, the saturation of loss at 12-21 km stretch has significantly reduced over the period 20012017, the statement said.

New Delhi, Nov 30 (PTI) Thousands of farmers from across the country, who have been camping at the Ramlila ground here since Thursday, began their march to Parliament Street on Friday amid heavy policy deployment, to press for their demands, including debt relief and remunerative prices for their produce.

Over 3,500 police personnel have deployed on the route of the march. According to a senior police officer, special arrangements have been made in Central and New Delhi police districts.