India

Srinagar, Jan 11 (PTI) Former IAS officer Shah Faesal, who quit the service recently, Friday shared his future plans, saying he would not join any mainstream political parties "as of now", or separatist Hurriyat Conference, but would be happy to contest the upcoming parliamentary elections.

The 2010-batch officer said he was deeply inspired by the style of politics of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, but the "situation" in Jammu and Kashmir would not allow him to pursue politics their style.

Banda (UP), Jan 11 (PTI) A 16-year-old girl committed suicide almost a month after she was allegedly raped by a man from her village in Uttar Pradesh's Chitrakoot district, police said Friday.

She hanged herself from a ceiling fan in her room Thursday night in Pahadi area, Police Station Incharge Dinesh Singh said.

The girl was allegedly raped by a man from her village on December 15 last year. After her family lodged a complaint, an FIR was filed and the accused was arrested, Singh said.

Ferozepur, Jan 11 (PTI) A farmer has killed his wife and two children at Armanpura village in the border district here, police said Friday.

Accused Paramjit Singh Pamma, who owned six acres of land, was allegedly in debt, police said, adding that Pamma has been absconding after committing the crime on Thursday .

He killed his wife Pinder Kaur (35), and two children -- an 11-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy -- while they were sleeping, police said.

The matter is under investigation, officials said.

New Delhi, Jan 11 (PTI) Former CBI chief Alok Verma submitted his resignation from service on Friday, a day after he was removed from his post by a high powered committee.

Verma said in his resignation letter, accessed by PTI, that it was a moment of "collective introspection".

New Delhi, Jan 11 (PTI) India has granted consular access to Christian Michel, a British national who was brought here from the UAE last month in connection with the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper deal.

The British High Commission had sought consular access to Michel after he was arrested in the first week of December.

Mumbai, Jan 11 (PTI) The Bombay High Court on Friday asked the BEST Workers' Union to "take the first step" towards resolving its dispute with the state and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and end the civic bus service employees' strike, now in its fourth day.

The court also asked the union to hold a meeting of its office-bearers in the evening in a bid to break the stalemate.

Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni told the court that the Maharashtra government had set up a committee, headed by the chief secretary, to hold talks with the union.

New Delhi, Jan 11 (PTI) BJP president Amit Shah Friday projected the Lok Sabha polls as a clash of ideologies and likened it to the third battle of Panipat between Marathas and the Afghans army, saying the election results will be equally significant for the country.

In his inaugural address at a party convention here, he dismissed the proposed grand alliance of opposition parties against the BJP as a "sham", saying they are a disparate group with neither a leader nor any policy and have been brought together by their greed of power.

New Delhi, Jan 11 (PTI) The roads around Ramlila Maidan and adjoining areas near New Delhi railway station turned saffron as thousands of BJP leaders from across the country are descending down in the national capital for the party's two-day national council meeting which began here Friday.

Bengaluru, Jan 11 (PTI) A court here has closed a sedition case against the Amnesty India, pertaining to a petition filed by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) against the human rights body on August 15, 2016.

The complaint relates to an event the Amnesty India had held as part of a campaign to seek justice for alleged human rights violations in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The First Information Report (FIR) in the case mentioned a number of offences, including sedition, unlawful assembly, rioting and promoting enmity.

New Delhi, Jan 11 (PTI) Industrial output growth dropped to a 17-month low of 0.5 per cent in November on account of contraction in manufacturing sector, particularly consumer and capital goods.

Factory output as measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) had grown by 8.5 per cent in November 2017, as per data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) Friday.

The previous low was in June 2017, when IIP growth contracted by 0.3 per cent.

The growth for October 2018 was revised upwards to 8.4 per cent from 8.1 per cent.