India

Chennai 28 Aug 2018; GANASHAKTI: Soon after his elevation as DMK chief, MK Stalin expressed concern over the present political situation and said that the secular fabric of the country is under attack by authoritative and communal forces.

New Delhi, Aug 28; PTI: The CPI(M) today lodged its strong protest against the police raids on several civil and human rights activists and left intellectuals, and said it constituted a brazen attack on democratic rights and civil liberties.

The CPI(M) Polit Bureau demanded withdrawal of the cases against these activists and their immediate release, while the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation said the move was "reminiscent of the infamous Emergency" of the 1975.

New Delhi, Aug 29 (PTI) As many as 99.3 per cent of the old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes, that were banned overnight in November 2016, have been returned, the Reserve Bank of India said in its annual report.

Of the Rs 15.41 lakh crore worth 500 and 1,000 rupee notes in circulation before November 8, 2016, notes worth Rs 15.31 lakh crore have been returned.

The "humungous task of processing and verification of specified bank notes (SBNs) was successfully achieved," it said.

Two Kasmiris have been killed by Indian security forces in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, in an alleged encounter.

"It was a specific operation and in a swift action both the terrorists involved in several cases of civilian atrocities and attacks on policemen were eliminated," Inspector General of Police, Kashmir Range, S P Pani said.

A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday the 21st Aug 2018 found itself split on triple talaq, with 3 opposed and 2 towards maintaning status quo.

Bench constituted judges from a varied ethnic background. Chief Justice J S Khehar is a Sikh, Justice S. Abdul Nazeer is a Muslim, Justices Kurian Joseph and R F Nariman are Christians, and Justice U U Lalit a Hindu.

Police has raided the homes of Dalit and human rights activists in Maharashtra, Telangana, Delhi, Haryana and Goa, and arrested Vernon Gonsalves in Mumbai, Gautam Navlakha in Delhi, Sudha Bharadwaj in Haryana, and poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad.

Mr. Rao’s daughter in Hyderabad, Mr. Navlakha and Ms. Bhardwaj’s homes in Delhi and Haryana respectively, and professor Anand Teltumbde’s house in Goa were also raided by police.

Kolkata, Aug 28 (PTI) Mounting a scathing attack on the BJP, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today accused the saffron party of resorting to "politics of killing" in the state and using central agencies against opposition parties.

Referring to the recent panchayat polls in the state, the chief minister alleged that BJP members were working in connivance with goons who had earlier served the CPI(M).

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) refused to provide details of extradition request to Malaysia to extradite Di Zakir Naik, who is now a permanent resident of that country.

The request was made by a PTI correspondent, in accordance with Section 8 (1) (a) (f) and (h) of the Right to Information Act, 2005.

MEA said the information cannot be provided because it would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders.

Raipur, Aug 26; PTI: A 24-year-old man has been awarded death sentence by a court in Chhattisgarh's Durg district for raping and murdering a five-year-old deaf and mute girl in 2015.

Special Judge, POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act), Shubhra Pachouri, pronounced Ram Sona, guilty on Friday and sentenced him to death, Durg's Additional Public Prosecutor Kamal Kishore Verma told PTI.

By Pradipta Tapadar

Kolkata, Aug 26 (PTI) Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram has said that a formidable alliance of opposition parties can be stitched together to defeat the BJP and free India from the "reign of fear" in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

Chidambaram, however, avoided directly answering a question on the leadership issue or who would be the prime ministerial candidate of the alliance, saying it is a premature question.