India

KANPUR: Unnao police and its SWAT team arrested an alleged contract killer Dhiraj Gupta r/o Burra area from Chakalwan Puliya on late Monday night.

Gupta was wanted in several cases of murder, attempt to murder and loot.

He had come to the district to commit a murder for which he had taken a hefty sum, said Harish Kumar, Superintendent of Police, Unnao.

New Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) Huge investment opportunities exist in India in various sectors including construction for Turkish companies, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu said Tuesday.

He said all issues such as trade deficit, raised by Turkey, would be looked upon by India.

"There is a huge potential for Turkish construction companies to operate in India," Prabhu said here at India-Turkey Business Forum meet.

While India's exports to Turkey stood at USD 5 billion, imports were only USD 2.2 billion in 2017-18.

New Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) The Ram temple should be built in Ayodhya through mutual consent, and is not a "communal or religious" issue, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said Tuesday.

The senior BJP leader also said that the issue is linked to India's rich culture, heritage and history.

Jaipur, Dec 18 (PTI) In the first bureaucratic reshuffle after the Congress formed government in Rajasthan, 40 IAS were transferred Tuesday, according to a release.

Kuldeep Ranka, who was principal secretary tourism and forest, was appointed as principal secretary to the chief minister. He replaced Tanmay Kumar who has been appointed as commissioner irrigation command area development in Bikaner, it said.

New Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) Inspired by the decades old National Women's Party in the United States, a 36-year-old doctor and social activist launched a women's only party here on Tuesday to fight for issues like reservation for women in Parliament and harassment of women at workplace.

Guwahati, Dec 18 (PTI) Assam government has approved farm loan waiver to the tune of Rs 600 crore which will benefit around eight lakh farmers of the state, its spokesman said Tuesday.

As per the scheme, the government will write off 25 per cent loan of farmers up to a maximum of Rs 25,000 of all farm debts, Assam Government spokesperson and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said.

The waiver will be for all the loans taken through Kisan Credit Card (KCC) and from PSU banks, he said.

New Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) The CBI has booked two Army officers for allegedly taking bribes of over Rs 82 lakh from a civilian supplier in the procurement of rations for troops posted in Nagaland, officials said Tuesday.

The action has been taken on a complaint from Brigadier Rajiv Gautam posted at the headquarters of the Army's 3 Corps.

Mumbai, Dec 18 (PTI) The BJP's warring ally Shiv Sena Tuesday chose to stay away from the inauguration of various projects by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Mumbai metropolitan region and Pune.

The prime minister Tuesday laid foundation stones for two metro lines - Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan (Metro 5) and the Dahisar-Mira Bhayander (Metro 9) at Kalyan in neighbouring Thane district. He also launched the Navi Mumbai town planning authority Cidco's (City & Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) mass-housing scheme worth Rs 18,000 crore.

Hyderabad, Dec 18 (PTI) The AIMIM Tuesday alleged that the triple talaq bill introduced by the NDA government was discriminatory.

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi said he would be proposing amendments to it to "ensure that deserted spouses are protected."

"Continuing his longstanding tradition of terrible lawmaking, Modi has introduced a "revised" Triple Talaq Bill that is discriminatory & anti-women," the Hyderabad MP said in a tweet.

New Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) The All India Kisan Sabha Tuesday called for 'Gramin Bharat Bandh' on January 8 and 9 to protest Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "non-committal" stand on farm loan waiver.

In a two-day meeting the Central Kisan Council has taken a resolution to call a two-day Gramin Bharat bandh on January 8 and 9, Ashok Dhawale, president, AIKS, said.

The AIKS is a CPI(M) affiliated farmers' organisation.