India

New Delhi, Aug 26 (PTI) Flood-ravaged Kerala may have to wait a few months to get the complete financial aid package from the Centre as the process of assessing the extent of damage and fund release is time-consuming, officials said.

After the initial release of funds, the central government follows certain rules and guidelines before awarding the final aid to any state for a natural calamity, a Home Ministry official, privy to such circumstances, said.

Mumbai, Aug 25; PTI: The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), which is investigating the recent seizure of explosives and arms in the state, has arrested one more person from Ghatkopar here, an official said today.

Avinash Pawar (30) was arrested last night and will be produced before a court today, the official added.

Kolkata, Aug 25; PTI: Stepping up attack on the government over the Rafale fighter jet issue, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram today accused the Centre of ignoring the defence procurement procedure and "bypassing" several committees to secure the deal.

The former finance minister also alleged the Cabinet Committee on Security was not taken into confidence by the government before signing the deal.

Muzaffarpur (Bihar), Aug 25 (PTI) A complaint was filed against Congress president Rahul Gandhi in a court here today seeking registration of a defamation case against him for allegedly tarnishing and lowering the image of the country.

The complaint was filed by advocate Sudhir Kumar Ojha in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Hari Prasad here, which fixed September 4 as the date for hearing the matter.

New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has said that the rupee has not depreciated to 'too worrying levels', though the government needs to take care of the widening current account deficit (CAD).

The rupee on August 16 had slumped to a life-time low of 70.32 on strong demand for the US dollar.

The rupee today staged a good recovery to end higher by 20 paise at 69.91 against the US currency on bouts of dollar selling by exporters and corporates.

New Delhi, Aug 25 (PTI) In a major decision, the Defence Ministry today gave its nod to acquisition of 111 utility helicopters for the Navy at a cost of over Rs 21,000 crore besides approving separate procurement proposals worth nearly Rs 25,000 crore, according to officials.

A meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), the ministry's highest decision-making body on procurement, cleared the proposals.

A 24 old man, identified as Prakash, has been arrested in South West Delhi for raping a 9 year old girl, in a portable toilet.

The girl described the man as “a tall, dark-complexioned uncle” to her counsellors.

It has been alleged that Prakash attempted to kidnap another minor girl hours before he raped the nine-year-old.

Karuna Shukla, a former BJP cadre but now a Congress leader, says that BJP is trying to cash in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s death.

Shukla, Vajpayee’s niece,  accused the BJP of trying to capitalise on her uncle’s death for “political gains” in Assembly elections.

“I am stunned and pained to see the way BJP is trying to use the name of Atal-ji after his demise for political gains,” Shukla said in a statement.

Hyderabad, Aug 23; PTI:  If the Centre wants to reject the Rs 700-crore offer of the UAE to Kerala for flood relief operations, it should give a Rs 2,600-crore interim assistance as sought by the southern state, the Communist Party of India (CPI) said today.

Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy, the national general secretary of the CPI -- the second biggest constituent in the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala -- also accused the Centre of "standing on false prestige" on the issue of foreign aid at times of natural disasters.

Jind, Aug 24 (PTI) Three people including a woman were arrested for their alleged involvement in the rape and blackmail of a student who later committed suicide, police said.

The victim, pursuing her graduation, had blamed the trio for her death in the suicide note that she left behind. The arrests came after the victim's father lodged an FIR, they said.

In his complaint, the father alleged that the accused woman was his daughter's friend and had secretly shared her photos with her accomplices.