India

New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed a bill which seeks to ban electronic cigarettes, with Health Minister Harsh Vardhan saying such a measure was necessary to protect the youth from a new intoxication being promoted by companies as a new "fashion".

The Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement) Bill, 2019, seeks to replace an ordinance issued on September 18

MIAMI, Nov 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Chinese woman who stirred fears of espionage when she entered President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort carrying multiple mobile phones and a malware-spiked thumb drive was sentenced to eight months in prison Monday.

Zhang Yujing, 33, was arrested on March 30 at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, where Trump was on one of his frequent visits. She was found guilty of trespassing and lying in September.

On Monday, a federal judge in Fort Lauderdale, Florida sentenced her to eight months in prison, according to the Miami Herald.

New Delhi, Nov 26 (PTI) Train services in the Srinagar-Banihal section of Kashmir Valley has resumed fully, more than three months after it was suspended due to security reasons, the railways said on Tuesday.

A limited passenger service of two pairs of Trains between Srinagar-Baramulla was started between 10 am to 3 pm with effect from November 12. Later, two more pairs of train services were allowed to operate between Srinagar and Banihal from November 17.

Mumbai, Nov 26 (PTI) In the changed political dynamics in Maharashtra after the resignation of Devendra Fadnavis as chief minister, the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress combine has decided to elect Uddhav Thackeray as its leader to stake claim for government formation, a senior Sena leader said on Tuesday.

Mumbai, Nov 25, GANASHAKTI: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Monday claimed BJP leaders will go crazy if they remain without power.

Talking to reporters, Raut also said mental health clinics will be formed in various parts of Maharashtra for "such people" after the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress combine comes to power in the state.

"The BJP leaders will go crazy if they are thrown out of power. They will lose their mental balance, as we are going to prove our majority during the floor test," Raut claimed.

New Delhi, Nov 25, GANASHAKTI: Former presidents of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU), including CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and politburo member Prakash Karat, expressed solidarity with the students demanding a rollback of a recent fee hike on Monday and said the protest should not be seen as a "Left vs BJP" issue.

At a press conference here, they said the students of JNU always protested against issues in the country and raised concerns over the manner in which they were dealt with by the authorities.

New Delhi, Nov 26; GANASHAKTI: Opposition parties, including the Congress and the Shiv Sena, skipped a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament on Constitution Day Tuesday to mark their protest against the BJP's alleged high-handedness in Maharashtra.

Upset over political developments in the state, the opposition parties, including the DMK, the SP, NCP and the Left parties, boycotted Constitution Day celebrations in the Central Hall of Parliament and held a joint protest in front of the Ambedkar statue inside Parliament complex.

New Delhi, Nov 25 (PTI) The Supreme Court asked the Election Commission on Monday to pass a "reasoned order" on a representation seeking to restrain political parties from fielding candidates with criminal antecedents in polls.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde passed the order while refusing to entertain a PIL filed by lawyer and BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay seeking a direction to the poll panel to devise a mechanism to ensure that parties be restrained from fielding candidates with criminal records.

Agartala, Nov 25 (PTI) After 57 days, animal sacrifice resumed in the Tripureswari temple in Tripura following an interim order of the Supreme Court, a temple official said on Mondauy.

The Tripureswari Temple located at Udaypur in Gomati district is over 500 years old and one of the 51 shakti- peethas in the country.

Kolkata, Nov 25 (PTI) Around 75.34 per cent of over 7 lakh electorate on Monday cast votes in the by-polls to three Assembly seats in West Bengal, amid allegations that TMC activists orchestrated an attack on the BJP candidate from Karimpur segment, Jay Prakash Majumdar.

Besides Karimpur, by-polls were also held in Kharagpur Sadar and Kaliaganj Assembly seats.