India

NEW DELHI, May 2 (Xinhua) -- India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday ordered a probe into the turbulence incident in which around 15 passengers were injured, some of them seriously, during a domestic flight late on Sunday.

Two of the passengers are said to be in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), said media reports.

The domestic flight of SpiceJet, a private airline, was flying from Mumbai to Durgapur in the eastern state of West Bengal when it experienced a major mid-air turbulence while descending.

New Delhi, May 3 (PTI) The Centre has sought time from the Supreme Court to file its response on a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the colonial era penal law on sedition.

A three-judge bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, on April 27, had directed the Central government to file the reply saying it would commence the final hearing in the matter on May 5 and would not entertain any request for adjournment.

New Delhi, May 3 (PTI) Amid a controversy over the use of loudspeakers, Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta on Tuesday said the Delhi government has not yet complied with the Supreme Court orders regarding the removal of loudspeakers from mosques and other religious places.

According to the norms, loudspeakers are prohibited within a circumference of 100 metres of silent zones such as hospitals, courts and schools among others.

Chandigarh, May 3 (PTI) Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday said hatemongers have no place in Punjab and seeds of hatred don't bloom on this land, remarks which come days after two groups clashed in Patiala.

Anything can be planted in the fertile land of Punjab but not the seeds of hatred, he said addressing a gathering in Malerkotla after offering prayers at the local Idgah on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr.

Mann said, "Punjab's social bonding is very strong. We live in brotherhood and those who spread hatred find no place here".

Shimla, May 2 (PTI) The Aam Aadmi Party has expelled its Himachal Pradesh social media incharge Harpreet Singh Bedi over his alleged pro-Khalistan tweets.

The move came after the ruling BJP on Sunday accused Bedi of openly supporting Khalistan, alleging that he had put out a series of tweets in its support some years ago.

In a tweet, the state unit of AAP said, "Views expressed by Harpreet Singh Bedi in his tweets are against Aam Aadmi Party's ideology & do not represent the opinion of the party in any way."

New Delhi, May 2 (PTI) Top BJP leaders met here on Monday to deliberate over a host of organisational issues and coordination between the party and government in a meeting which was also attended by senior RSS functionaries.

Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari, all former BJP presidents, besides RSS joint general secretary Arun Kumar met at the residence of incumbent party chief J P Nadda. Their deliberation went on for close to three hours.

Srinagar, May 2 (PTI) PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said the Jammu and Kashmir administration's decision to disallow Eid prayers at the Jamia Masjid here proves that the Centre's claims about normalcy in the union territory are "self serving lies and contradictions".

The administration had put conditions on holding Eid prayers at the Jamia Masjid including that prayers be held at 7 am and the management committee of the mosque give an undertaking that no untoward incident will take place during or after prayers.

Gonda, May 2 (PTI) The district administration has freed a 56-bigha enemy property from encroachers in Akauni village here, officials said on Monday.

An enemy property is the one which is left behind by the people who took the citizenship of Pakistan and China during and after the partition.

Mumbai, May 3 (PTI) A police constable suffered serious injuries in an encounter with Naxals in Maharashtra's insurgency-hit Gadchiroli district on Tuesday, a senior official said.

The skirmish took place near Dodraj forest in Bhamragad, located over 900 km from the state capital Mumbai, when a team of C-60 commandos, a specialised combat unit of the Gadchiroli police, was patrolling in the area, he said.

The ultras, who had gathered in the forest, opened fire at the police patrolling team, following which the security personnel retaliated.

New Delhi, May 3 (PTI) A 32-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly raping and killing a 14-year-old girl in north Delhi's Narela area, police said.

The accused has been identified as Sunil, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Hardoi district, they said.

The police said a case of kidnapping had been registered on February 15 after receiving a complaint from the girl's father, a resident of a village in Narela.