New Delhi, Mar 8 (PTI) Delhi minister Rajendra Pal Gautam on Friday dubbed the Modi government as "anti-Dalit, OBC and tribals" and said these sections of the society should vote the BJP out of power in the upcoming general election.

Gautam, the social welfare minister of Delhi, was addressing a press conference, along with Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Dharmendra Yadav, on the BJP-led central government's decision to bring an ordinance restoring the 200-point roster on faculty appointments in universities.

Jeypore (Odisha), Mar 8 (PTI) Sharpening his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale deal, Congress president Rahul Gandhi Friday accused him of having prepared the new contract for purchase of fighter jets from France, sidlining the official negotiating team in order to benefit Anil Ambani.

Gandhi, who addressed a Congress rally and interacted with women on the International Women's Day here, said public sector Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), which produces fighter aircraft, was ignored by Modi in Rafale deal.

09 Mar 2019; AFP: Australia has admitted it had not focused enough attention on its Pacific backyard but vowed to make "long overdue" amends, amid growing Chinese influence in the region.

"I think we would have to accept some criticism," Australia's minister for international development and the Pacific, Anne Ruston, told AFP on Friday.

"We have perhaps not put as much attention and effort into our own region as we should of."

LIMA, March 8 (Xinhua) -- The Peruvian government on Friday confirmed the resignation of Prime Minister Cesar Villanueva.

In a statement, the president's office said the prime minister "has presented his resignation letter to the President of the Republic."

It said that Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra "deeply appreciates the work carried out with commitment and dedication (by Villanueva) during his tenure."

Villanueva served as prime minister in 2013-2014 and became prime minister for a second time in 2018.

New Delhi, Mar 8; GANASHAKTI: CPI(M) Politburo member Brinda Karat on Friday said a judicial verdict would be required in the Ayodhya case since one of the mediators has already shown his bias, hours after the Supreme Court referred the decades-old case for mediation.

"The Supreme Court has referred the Ayodhya case for mediation to a three-member committee to be monitored by the court. So far all such efforts for a resolution have failed. The court has set a time framework. Normally mediators are expected to come to a case with an objective and impartial view.

ABOARD XUELONG, March 8 (Xinhua) -- China's icebreaker Xuelong, also known as the Snow Dragon, is on its way back home from its 35th Antarctic research mission.

Crew members have made a series of research advances during the four-month-long journey, such as the completion of new buildings and supporting facilities in research bases, marine species surveys, underwater robot tests, and installation of new radar and solar telescopes.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. regulators on Friday gave the green light to salmon genetically modified to grow about twice as fast as normal, but the company behind it may face legal challenges before the fish can be sold domestically.

Ahmedabad, Mar 8 (PTI) Patidar community leader Hardik Patel Friday moved the Gujarat High Court to stay his conviction in a 2015 rioting case.

The plea seeking a stay on his conviction by a lower court would come up for hearing in the coming days.

Hardik has been convicted in a case of rioting and was sentenced to two years of imprisonment, which bars him from contesting an election.

New Delhi, March 8 (PTI) The Delhi Cabinet Friday approved recommendations of a fare revision committee to hike auto-rickshaw tariffs by Rs 1.50 per kilometre.

The meter-down charge of Rs 25 per two kilometre has also been revised by the committee to Rs 25 for 1.5 kilometre, said Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot.

The revised charges will be implemented after the Transport Department's notification, Gahlot said.

Jammu, Mar 9 (PTI) The Jammu and Kashmir administration has approved rehiring of lecturers and teachers on academic arrangement for continued academic activities, an official said on Saturday.

The sanction was accorded at the meeting of state administrative council (SAC), headed by Governor Satya Pal Malik, here on Friday, the official said.

The approval was granted to hire eligible lecturers, who have already rendered their services during the last academic year, purely on academic arrangement basis from March 11-June 30, the official said.

Chennai, Mar 8 (PTI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami Friday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to confer Param Vir Chakra, the country's highest military honour, on Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, captured by Pakistan after a dogfight in the skies and released later.

In a letter to Modi, Palaniswami said the IAF pilot, a native of Tamil Nadu, displayed amazing poise and confidence in the face of adverse condition and it would be appropriate he be awarded the highest military honour.

Muzaffarnagar (UP), Mar 9 (PTI) A 15-year-old girl was allegedly raped by four youths in a field at gunpoint in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district, police said on Saturday.

The incident occurred at a village in Mansoorpur area on Friday, the police said.

According to a complaint, the teenager had gone to the fields to collect fodder when the four accused came and took her to nearby sugarcane field. The accused raped her at gunpoint and threatened her with dire consequences if she informed anyone, a police officer said.