India

New Delhi, Oct 23 (PTI) The CBI may soon question its Special Director Rakesh Asthana in connection with alleged bribery to give relief to a businessman who was being probed in a case involving Moin Qureshi, sources said Tuesday.

They said the directions of the Delhi High Court on the plea of Asthana to maintain status quo in the matter do not bar the agency from carrying on its investigation and questioning of the accused.

Questioning of an accused does not come in the definition of coercive action which Asthana had sought to be stopped, they said.

KANPUR: Extending their large-heartedness, the Kanpur Municipal Corporation employees have donated one-day salary to the families of the dead people in Amritsar tragic accident. A total amount of Rs 45 Lakh was collected.

A cheque of the collected amount will be given to the state chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

New Delhi, Oct 22 (PTI) Petrol pumps across the national capital were shut on Monday in protest against the Delhi government's refusal to cut sales tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel.

But for a dozen company-owned-company-operated petrol pumps in the city, all pumps refused fuel, sending motorists running low on fuel and scrambling for alternate refuels.

"All 400 petrol pumps and linked CNG pumps shut operations from 6.00 am Monday and will remain closed till 5 am tomorrow (Tuesday)," said Delhi Petrol Dealers Association (DPDA) President Nishcal Singhania.

New Delhi, Oct 22 (PTI) The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has started forming new frontal organisations ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election, party's Delhi unit convener Gopal Rai said.

In the first phase of the exercise, youth wing and senior citizen wing of the party have been formed in Delhi, he said.

Party councilor in South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) Ramesh Matiala will be head of the youth wing and Suresh Gupta will be president of the senior citizens' unit, Rai said.

Muzaffarnagar (UP), Oct 22 (PTI) The body of a woman was found hanging from the ceiling of her house in Jaroda village here in a suspected case of dowry death, police said Monday.

Rama (25), wife of Sonu, was found dead Sunday, they said.

Sonu has been arrested following a complaint by the victim's brother that the accused along with his family used to torture the woman for dowry, police said.

The brother claimed that his sister was strangulated to death by her husband and in-laws, they said.

Muzaffarpur, Oct 22 (PTI) A class nine student has been allegedly gang raped in her home in Bihar's Muzaffarpur town, police said on Monday.

The incident took place at the girl's residence at Imli chowk here on Sunday night, Mithanpura SHO Vijay Prasad Rai said.

Four persons, one of them the owner of a carton factory, forced their way into the girl's house, beat up her family members, tied their hands and gagged them before committing the alleged crime, he said.

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 22 (PTI) Accusing the Centre of discriminating against Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Monday said denying permission to ministers from the state to go abroad for raising funds for flood relief works was the latest example of its bias.

Denying permission to the ministers and other stands taken by the Centre regarding flood relief works could only be seen as "moves" against Kerala, Vijayan, who returned early Monday morning after a five-day visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), told reporters here.

New Delhi, Oct 22 (PTI) Delhi's air quality improved to 'poor' on Monday, even as authorities said it might deteriorate in the coming days with possibilities of 'severe' pollution.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) recorded the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi at 272 in the evening.

An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'.

Chennai, Oct 22 (PTI) The Congress has never said "officially" that its president Rahul Gandhi should be the prime minister if an opposition alliance formed the next government, senior party leader P Chidambaram said Monday.

He insisted the Congress' focus was on dislodging the BJP government and bringing in a "progressive" alternative.

Chidambaram said the decision on who will be the prime minister in the event of an opposition alliance winning next year's Lok Sabha poll will be taken by its constituents.

New Delhi, Oct 22 (PTI) As many as 542 people have died of swine flu so far this year, with Maharashtra alone accounting for almost 50 per cent of fatalities.

Maharashtra recorded 217 deaths out of 1,793 cases reported till October 14, said a government official.

It was followed by Rajasthan where 191 people succumbed to H1N1 complications out of 1,912 cases during the same period.

In Gujarat, 45 persons died out of 1,478 reported cases, the official said.