India

Bengaluru, Mar 20 (PTI) India and France are working on their third joint satellite mission, even as the bilateral space collaboration is entering into multiple domains, including human spaceflight programme, ISRO Chairman K Sivan said.

Sivan, also Secretary in the Department of Space, said many French companies are keen to tap into opportunities thrown up by recent reforms injected into the space sector by the Government.

New Delhi, Mar 20 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday attacked the government, alleging that under it unemployment, price rise, poverty and income of its "friends" have increased.

"What did this government increase? Unemployment, inflation and poverty. And, only the earnings of friends," he said in a tweet in Hindi.

He cited a media report that claimed 9.9 crore people were part of the middle class before the COVID-19 outbreak and they were reduced to 6.6 crore after it.

New Delhi, Mar 20 (PTI) With a little over a month left before Chief Justice of India SA Bobde retires, the government has started the process of appointment of next CJI, asking the incumbent to recommend his successor, sources said Saturday.

Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad Friday sent a letter to Justice Bobde, who is set to retire on April 23, seeking his recommendation, the sources said.

Ballia (UP), Mar 20 (PTI) A 20-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the alleged rape of a four-year-old girl at a village here, police said on Saturday.

Revti police station SHO Yadvendra Pandey said around 10.30 am on Friday, the accused lured the girl to his house and raped her.

On a complaint of the girl's mother, a case has been registered against the accused under provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the POCSO Act.

The girl has been sent for a medical examination, police said.

Lahowal (Assam), Mar 19 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Friday assured that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will not be implemented in Assam if the party is voted to power in the state in the coming Assembly poll.

It will be ensured in the state assembly that the CAA is not implemented in Assam, Gandhi told students of Lahowal College in Dibrugarh district.

"In the other states, we will stop it (CAA implementation) after we (Congress) come to power at the national level," he said.

Dehradun, Mar 19 (PTI) Facing flak over his "ripped jeans" comment, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat on Friday said he apologises for the remark if it has hurt anybody.

But at the same time, he repeated his objection to ripped jeans, saying he has no problem with jeans with but wearing "torn" ones is "not right".

Referring to his remark made earlier this week, Rawat told the media that he had commented that nowadays children bring a costly jean home and then cut it with a scissor.

Bhopal, Mar 19 (PTI) In view of the spurt in coronavirus cases, the Madhya Pradesh government has announced lockdown in Indore, Bhopal and Jabalpur cities every Sunday till further orders, an official said here.

The lockdown will be in force from Saturday 10 PM to Monday 6 AM.

Besides, all educational institutions will remain closed in these three cities till March 31, said a public relations department official on Friday.

Madhya Pradesh on Friday reported 1,140 new COVID-19 cases and seven deaths.

Thane, Mar 19 (PTI) A 29-year-old building supervisor was sentenced to 10 years in jail by a special POCSO court in Thane for raping a teen girl in 2015.

Judge SB Bahalkar, in his order on Thursday, convicted Mangesh Kamble under sections 376(2)(i) and 354B of IPC as well as POCSO Act for raping a 14-year-old girl on September 11, 2015 at a construction site in Mira Road, Additional Public Prosecutor Varsha Chandane said.

Noida (UP), Mar 19 (PTI) The BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government has done nothing in four years to help home buyers who are awaiting possession of their flats in Noida and Greater Noida, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) here alleged on Friday.

On a day the Yogi Adityanath-led government marked four years of its completion in Uttar Pradesh, the AAP's Gautam Buddh Nagar unit also hit out at the state government for its "wrong policies" on issues of inflation, health, education, industrial development.

Hyderabad, Mar 20 (PTI) The ruling TRS candidates continued to hold the lead over their rivals on Saturday as counting of votes in the election to Telangana Legislative Council from two Graduates constituencies was underway.

Vani Devi, TRS nominee from Mahabubnagar-Rangareddy- Hyderabad Graduates' constituency, was ahead of her nearest BJP rival and sitting MLC N Ramachander Rao as the process of elimination of candidates with less number of votes and counting of second preference votes was currently on, official sources said.