India

Ballia (UP), Mar 13 (PTI) BSP MP Afzal Ansari has accused the BJP of indulging in politics of hatred and pushing the country backwards by five decades by "destroying" social harmony.

Ansari claimed that after the upcoming assembly elections to five states were over, the BJP government would divide Uttar Pradesh into four parts.

Mumbai, Mar 12 (PTI) A case of alleged cheating was filed against actor Kangana Ranaut by Mumbai police on Friday on a local court's orders after the author of 'Didda: The Warrior Queen of Kashmir' accused her of copyright violation.

The First Information Report (FIR) was registered at Khar police station against Kangana, Kamalkumar Jain, Rangoli Chandel and Akshat Ranaut, an official said.

Kolkata, Mar 12 (PTI) Two days after being admitted to state-run SSKM Hospital here with severe bone injuries, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was discharged from the medical establishment on Friday evening after doctors found her recovery to be "satisfactory".

Doctors took the decision after the 66-year-old TMC supremo repeatedly requested them to discharge her from the medical establishment.

New Delhi, Mar 12 (PTI) The Congress party's student wing, National Student Union of India (NSUI), organised the "Chhatra Adhikar March" on Friday to protest against rising unemployment in the country.

Thousands of students and party workers from Punjab, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh gathered at the NSUI office here before beginning their march towards Parliament building raising slogans like "Naukri Do Ya Degree Wapis Lo" (give us jobs or take our degrees back).

Palghar, Mar 12 (PTI) A woman constable was arrested along with four others for allegedly killing her husband in Palghar in Maharashtra, police said on Friday.

WPC Snehal Patil was in a relationship with her colleague Vikas Pashte, which was not liked by her husband Pundalik, an official said.

Patil and Pashte and three others took Pundalik, a rickshaw driver, to Mastan Naka on Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway on February 18 and killed him, he said.

Patil and Pashte and the three others were arrested on March 3, the official said.

Hyderabad, Mar 12 (PTI) Two auto-rickshaws and a hotel were allegedly set on fire at a village in Bhainsa of Nirmal district on Friday, police said.

With the help of CCTV footage and eye witnesses, police identified five people allegedly involved in the crime and registered a case against them. One of them has been arrested and efforts were on to nab the others, a police release said.

Meanwhile, an attempt to trigger fire was stopped by police and a man has been arrested in this regard.

Kolkata, Mar 13 (PTI) Former Union minister Yashwant Sinha, a bitter critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi regime, on Saturday joined Trinamool Congress days ahead of the high- octane West Bengal assembly polls.

Sinha, who served in the cabinet of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had quit the saffron party in 2018 after having serious differences with the party leadership.

His son Jayant Sinha is the BJP MP from Hazaribagh in Jharkhand.

Mumbai, Mar 13 (PTI) Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday alleged that Marathi people residing in Karnataka's Belgaum were being victimised, and said an all-party delegation from Maharashtra should visit the city in the neighbouring state to resolve the ongoing stand-off.

Talking to reporters, Raut said that in the last eight days there have been instances of attack on Shiv Sena leaders and the party's office in Belgaum by pro-Kannada outfits.

New Delhi, Mar 11 (PTI) CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Thursday said India is now an electoral autocracy in response to media reports on Swedish Institute's democracy report that downgraded India.

Modi-led government in India has used laws on sedition, defamation and counter terrorism to silence critics. India's level of liberal democracy registered a steep decline since its high in 2013. What a shame," he said quoting from the report.

Kolkata, March 12 (PTI) Mamata Banerjee has earned for herself the image of the gutsy political leader, who has weathered physical attacks and injuries in her four-decade- long career to emerge stronger in her public life.

Her comebacks after such incidents saw her attacking her opposition with greater ferocity.