Breaking News, October 31

A court here on Monday sentenced a man to five-and-a-half years in prison for molesting a 10-year-old Dalit girl, a police official said. Judge Dhruv Rai also imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on the convict, Sanjay. On August 14, Sanjay, a resident of Bhavan Bahadurpur Nagar locality, molested the minor girl. A case was registered against him at Bhavan Bahadurpur Nagar police station under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and the SC/ST Act, Circle Officer, Syana, Vandana Sharma said.

In a major spike in stubble burning incidents, Punjab on Monday reported 2,131 farm fires, the highest so far this season, with Sangrur accounting for 330. With the fresh incidents of stubble burning, the cumulative farm fire cases between September 15 and October 31 reached 16,004, according to Punjab Remote Sensing Centre data. During the same period in 2020 and 2021, the state had recorded 29,615 and 13,124 stubble burning incidents, respectively.

 Lieutenant General JS Nain relinquished the command of the Southern Army on Monday, an official said. In a solemn ceremony on his departure, the Army Commander paid homage to the martyrs by laying a wreath at the National War Memorial in Pune, a defence release stated. The General Officer is superannuating after nearly 40 years of glorious and chequered service. He was commissioned in June 1983 into the Dogra Regiment.

A class 10 student has been allegedly raped by five youths, including her friends, after taking her to a hotel here, police said on Monday. Two of the five accused in the Saturday night incident were arrested on Monday, a police officer said. According to the complaint filed by the 14-year-old victim's mother, her daughter had left the house at around 12.
30 pm on Saturday.

A former district cooperative bank chairman has been arrested here in a 16-year-old case of alleged irregularities in the construction of a school building in Para Kunwar village, police said Monday. Dhirendra Kumar Verma was arrested from his house in Lakhpeda Bagh locality on Saturday and was produced in a court, which sent him to judicial custody. The court of the chief judicial magistrate had earlier issued a non-bailable warrant against Verma in the case on October 22.

The Reserve Bank said the first pilot of the Central Bank Digital Currency -- Digital Rupee (Wholesale segment) will be launched on Tuesday for transactions in government securities. The use case for the pilot is the settlement of secondary market transactions in government securities, the RBI said in a statement on Monday.

A 15-year-old Iraqi boy, suffering from nasopharyngeal angiofibroma, a rare tumour, underwent surgery at a private hospital here, a statement said on Monday. The patient came to HCMCT Manipal Hospital, Dwarka with a history of nasal obstruction and recurrent nasal bleeding for the past one year. Nasopharyngeal angiofibroma is a rare tumour found only in males between the age of 10-20 years and usually causes excessive and profuse nasal bleeding, it said.

Three persons were injured when a slab from a flat in a four-storey building collapsed in Kalwa area of Maharashtra's Thane city, police said on Monday.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday flagged off a direct flight service between state capital Bhubaneswar and Jeypore in Koraput district.

When ASI Mini Raju won a 2018 district-level arm wrestling competition organised here by Kerala Police Association after entering it at the last moment, little did she know that four years down the line she would make India proud by winning a double gold in the World Arm Wrestling Competition held at Turkey recently.

The Delhi government has resent the file of its 'Red light on, Gaadi off' campaign to Lt Governor V K Saxena for consideration, sources said on Monday.

The Dalai Lama on Monday extended his condolences to the families of those who died in the Morbi suspension bridge collapse in Gujarat.

Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran on Monday said India is expected to clock better growth than IMF's projections next year aided by enhanced capital formation.

As many as 63 police personnel belonging to five states were on Monday named for the 'Union Home Minister's Special Operation Medal' for the year 2022.

Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Monday extended his condolences to the families of those who died in a bridge collapse in Gujarat's Morbi city.

The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) was extended for six months from October 1 with the continuation of the 'Disturbed Area' tag for Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao districts along with Lakhipur sub-division of Cachar in the Barak valley.

Lok Sabha member from Rajkot Mohan Kundariya on Monday said 12 of his relatives were among those killed in the suspension bridge collapse in Gujarat's Morbi town.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann Monday asserted there was no deficiency on his government's part in ensuring the delivery of justice in the Sidhu Moosewala murder case, a day after the slain singer's father threatened to withdraw the FIR.

The Congress on Monday demanded a judicial inquiry into the Morbi suspension bridge collapse in Gujarat, alleging that prima facie it seems to be a case of "criminal negligence" and "gross misgovernance".

Russian President Vladimir Putin has extended his condolences to the families of the people who lost their lives in a bridge collapse in Gujarat's Morbi city. The more than a century-old bridge, which had reopened five days back after extensive repairs and renovation, was crammed with people when it collapsed on Sunday evening.

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine a plea challenging the Centre's decision that enables linking electoral roll data with the Aadhaar ecosystem.

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Monday expressed grief over a bridge collapse in Gujarat's Morbi city and extended his condolences to the victims and their families.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday congratulated Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on winning the presidential elections in Brazil, and said he looked forward to working closely together to further deepen and widen bilateral relations between the two countries.

Veteran Congress leader and former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy turned 79 on Monday. The senior Congress leader, who is currently staying away from public life owing to ill health, however, celebrated his birthday at Aluva guest house here with his family and senior party leaders.

Senior Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) leader Prof T J Chandrachoodan, who played a key role in Left politics both at the state and national level during his five-decade long political career, died at a private hospital on Monday due to age-related ailments, party sources said. He was 83.

India and the US have “a natural synergy” and similar aspirations and it is important for them to work together in the field of science and technology not only for the welfare of their own people but also to solve global problems, a top American scientist has said.

A case has been registered against a BJP leader for allegedly pointing a gun and threatening a doctor on duty at the Government Medical College here, a senior police officer said on Monday.

Nearly 100 people have died in one of the most destructive storms to lash the Philippines this year with dozens more feared missing after villagers fled in the wrong direction and got buried in a boulder-laden mudslide.

A sanitation worker and one more person died of suffocation while cleaning the septic tank of a house in a village here, police said on Monday.

Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s roadshow in Haryana's Adampur on Monday for the upcoming bypolls has been cancelled in view of the Morbi bridge collapse in Gujarat, a senior party leader said.

The Congress on Monday paid tributes to former prime minister Indira Gandhi on her death anniversary, with Rahul Gandhi saying he is carrying her love and values in his heart and will not allow the India for which she sacrificed her life to fall apart.

The rupee appreciated 15 paise to 82.32 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday tracking easing crude oil prices and a positive trend in domestic equities.

The death toll from the Halloween stampede in Seoul has increased to 154, including 26 foreigners, officials said on Monday, as the country mourned the deadliest tragedy in years.

The death toll could rise further, as 33 others remain in serious condition, according to officials at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, adding that a total of 116 people sustained minor injuries, reports Yonhap News Agency.

All but one of the fatalities have been identified, officials said.

Two people were killed and two others injured during a shooting at a Halloween party in Covina, a city in California, local authorities said, adding the suspect is currently at large.

The injured persons are receiving medical treatment and in unknown condition, Xinhua news agency quoted the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department as saying in a statement on Sunday.

One of the party goers produced a firearm, fired at other revellers and fled the scene, it said.

Two Maoists were killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district on Monday, a police official said.

The gunfight took place at around 4 am in a forest surrounding Kadme village under Siksod police station limits when separate teams of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the Border Security Force (BSF) were out on an anti-Maoist operation, he said.

Some Maoists opened fire on the DRG's patrolling team following which the gun-battle broke out in the forest, located around 150 km from state capital Raipur, the official said.

Rupee rises 13 paise to 82.34 against US dollar in early trade

With 1,326 people testing positive for coronavirus infection in a day, India's tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 4,46,53,592, while the active cases declined to 17,912, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.

The death toll climbed to 5,29,024 with eight fatalities which includes five deaths reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated.

Sensex advances 563.09 points to 60,522.94 in early trade; Nifty climbs 161.55 points to 17,948.35

• Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel realised the dream of a strong and united India with his farsightedness, despite attempts by anti-India forces to keep the country divided
• We have seen how Sardar Patel brought Junagarh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Hyderabad under the fold of the Union of India through his farsightedness and political acumen
• Without Patel, a strong and united India would not have been possible
• Sardar Patel was instrumental in making the present-day India and his contribution to realise the dream of India was immense
• Whenever people take Patel's name, India's map comes to their minds, and without Patel, the huge and strong India would not have come into existence
• The challenge at the time of Independence was to bring all princely states under the Union of India. Sardar Patel brought all of them under the fold of the Union of India
• Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India was marching ahead to become strong, self-reliant and prosperous. The country has achieved several milestones in the last eight years in this regard
• By 2047, we will be able to make India as envisaged by Sardar Patel
• The 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav', every citizen will take the pledge to make India one of the strongest and most prosperous in the world by 2047, when the country would celebrate its 100th years of Independence

FIR filed by Morbi B Division Police Insp Prakashbhai Dekavadiya against maintenance & mgmt agencies of the bridge, u/s 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) & 114 (abettor present when offence is committed) IPC

• I am in Ekta Nagar but my mind is with the victims of Morbi
• Rarely in my life, would I have experienced such pain. On one hand, there is a pain-riddled heart and on the other hand, there is the path to duty
• I express my condolences to families of those who lost their lives in the accident
• In this hour of grief, Govt is with the bereaved families in every manner. Gujarat Govt is carrying out relief & rescue ops since yesterday. Centre too is extending all help to the State Govt
• Authorities are alert even in the hospital where the injured are under treatment. Priority is being given to ensure that people face minimum problems: 

Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh: State police today arrested 4 more people in connection with the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) paper leak case, thus taking the total number of arrests to 14.

"I sell tea there every Sunday. People were hanging from cables & then slipped down. I didn't sleep & helped people the entire night. It was heart-wrenching to see a 7-8-month-pregnant woman die. Never saw anything like that in my life," says an eye-witness of Morbi tragedy

"I can't describe it in words. There were children as well. I helped people as members of my own family. I also gave my vehicle to carry bodies to the hospital. The admin also helped too. I never saw anything like this ever," says Haseena, an eyewitness to Morbi tragedy.

The Philippines has recorded 80 deaths from flooding and rain-induced landslides after tropical storm Nalgae barrelled across the country over the weekend, with 31 people reported missing, reports Reuters citing the nation's disaster agency

Brazil's Lula da Silva has emerged as the country's new president after he defeated incumbent president Jair Bolsonaro in fierce voting which was a tight race between the two politicians, CNN reported.

Widely known as "Lula", the politician gained 50.83 per cent of the votes, with over 98 per cent of the votes counted in a fiercely contested run-off election on Sunday whereas his opponent Bolsonaro managed to get 49.17 per cent votes.