India

Panaji, Sep 19 (PTI) The opposition Congress in Goa on Wednesday claimed that it had the support of over 21 legislators in the 40-member Assembly, giving it enough strength to form the government in the state.

The Congress, which is the single-largest party with 16 MLAs, has already staked claim to form the government in the coastal state.

The opposition party's claim comes at a time when Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar (62) is admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi for a pancreatic ailment.

Palghar (Maharashtra), Sep 19 (PTI) A teen-aged girl was allegedly raped by a 24-year-old man when she went to offer prayers at a pandal during the ongoing Ganesh festival here in Maharashtra, police said Wednesday.

The incident occurred Monday night when the 13-year- old girl along with other children had gone to the Ganesh pandal set up at Agar village in Dahanu area, Palghar police spokesperson Hemant Kumar Katkar said.

A 16 year old girl at a boarding school in Dehradun was raped by four boys. Girl became pregnant and complained, but instead of informing the police and the family of the girl, the school administration gave her pills to end pregnancy, and pressurised her to keep the incident to herself.

The school officials later took the girl to a nursing home for an abortion.

Raipur, Sep 17; PTI:  Two persons, including a woman, were killed when an improvised explosive device (IED), suspected to have been laid by naxals, went off in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, police said Monday.

The incident took place last Friday in Metagudem village, located around 500 km from here, but it came to light on Sunday when some locals informed the police about it, Superintendent of Police Abhishek Meena told PTI.

As per preliminary information, the IED exploded on the village's outskirts, killing two persons on the spot, he said.

Panaji, Sep 17; PTI: With Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar hospitalised, Goa's main opposition Congress party submitted a memorandum to Governor Mridula Sinha Monday, staking claim to form an alternate government.

The move came at a time when the BJP high command has sent three senior leaders -- Ram Lal, B L Santhosh and Vinay Puranik -- here to meet the state party leaders and allies to take stock of the political situation.

New Delhi, Sep 17; PTI: Two bike-borne assailants severed the hands of gateman Kundan Pathak after he refused to open a level crossing gate in north Delhi's Narela area because a train was approaching, railway officials said Monday.

Pathak, 28, is undergoing major surgery to restore the limbs after the assault Sunday night, at a city hospital, they said.

He also received serious injuries to his legs and neck.

New Delhi, Sep 17 (PTI) A plea has been moved in the Delhi High Court Monday challenging the Delhi University Students' Union election results.

The plea filed by three candidates alleged that EVMs were tampered with and questioned how "privately procured" EVMs could have been used in the polls held on September 12.

The candidates sought securing of the Electronic Voting Machines used in the DUSU elections.

New Delhi, Sep 17 (PTI) The Supreme Court Monday said it may order SIT probe if it found that evidence has been "cooked up" and the material supporting the arrest of the five rights activists in the Koregaon-Bhima violence case needed to be examined.

New Delhi, Sep 17 (PTI) Broadband technology provider Sterlite Tech is looking at commanding 10 per cent share of the global fibre market by June 2020, company's chief executive Anand Agarwal said Monday.

The company is also focussed on enhancing production capacity of optical fibre and optical fibre cables.

"We are now looking to move fibre market share from 6-7 per cent to 10 per cent of global by June 2020," Agarwal told PTI.

Godda (J'khand), Sep 17 (PTI) A Bharatiya Janata Party worker washed party MP Nishikant Dubey's feet and drank the water at a function in Jharkhand's Godda district, triggering an uproar.

The incident came to light when Dubey went to lay the foundation stone of a bridge at Kanbhara village in Godda block -- around 330 km from Ranchi -- on Sunday, with Pawan Kumar Sah washing the feat of the BJP MP on a metal plate and then gulping it.