India

Srinagar, Aug 25 (PTI) The flag of Jammu and Kashmir which used to fly along with the tricolour was removed from the Civil Secretariat here on Sunday, three weeks after the Centre revoked Article 370 provisions which granted special status to the state, officials said.

Under Article 370, Jammu and Kashmir was permitted to have its own flag, which was red in colour with three equidistant white vertical strips and a white plough.

SRINAGAR, Aug 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — An Indian soldier was killed by Pakistani forces on the Kashmir border, the military said, as a tense lockdown in the region of seven million residents entered its third week.

The nuclear-armed neighbours regularly target each other with mortar shells and gunfire on the de facto border known as the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Himalayan territory which is claimed by both India and Pakistan.

NEW DELHI, August 24; GANASHAKTI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and 11 leaders of other opposition parties who landed today at Srinagar airport were sent back to Delhi, news agency ANI reported. Restrictions have been imposed in Jammu and Kashmir since the centre withdrew special status from the state and divided it into two union territories earlier this month.

New Delhi, Aug 23 (PTI) The Supreme Court Friday agreed to examine the validity of a newly enacted law which makes the practice of instant divorce through triple talaq among Muslims a punishable offence entailing imprisonment of up to three years.

A bench of justices N V Ramana and Ajay Rastogi issued notice to the Centre on a batch of petitions seeking to declare The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act 2019 as "unconstitutional" on grounds that it allegedly violates the provisions of the Constitution.

Raipur, Aug 24 (PTI) Five Maoists were killed in a gunfight with security forces in Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh on Saturday, police said.

Two jawans of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) were also injured in the gun-battle, they said.

"The exchange of fire took place around 6 am in the forest near Dhurbeda village, located around 20 km away from Orchha police station in the district. It occurred when a DRG team was out on a counter-insurgency operation," Director General of Police (DGP) D M Awasthi told PTI.

Raipur, Aug 23 (PTI) A Class I student of a government school in Chattisgarh's capital Raipur was raped allegedly by three 10-year-old schoolmates, police said on Friday.

The incident took place on August 20 in a school located in Khamtarai police station limits, an official said.

The parents of the 6-year-old girl approached police on Thursday night following which a rape and sexual assault case was registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, he informed.

Mumbai, Aug 23 (PTI) The Aam Aadmi Party will contest the Maharashtra Assembly polls likely to be held in September-October as the state was reeling under failure and systematic collapse, its national joint secretary Ruben Mascarenhas said on Friday.

He claimed the party was foraying into the poll battle to save the "distressed" people of the state.

Chandigarh, Aug 23 (PTI) Drug addicts in five states including Punjab are spending up to Rs 2,000 a day for buying and consuming narcotics with over 70 per cents of the addicts falling in the age group of 15 to 35 years, a study has revealed.

The study sponsored by the Indian Council for Social Science Research (ICSSR) identified peer pressure, unemployment and easy availability of drugs as some of the key factors behind the drug menace that, it said, poses grave threat to the social, economic and political stability of the society.

Kanpur: Disturbed with threats of youth, one terrified woman climbed on the water tank and tried to jump down in Barra Gujaini area on Saturday afternoon.

Dantewada, Aug 23 (PTI) Four Naxals, three of them carrying cash reward on their heads, were arrested on Friday from two places in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh, police said.

While three cadres were apprehended from Farspal police station area, another one was held in Aranpur police station limits, an official here said.