LIVE: Congress burns Yogi's effigy for stopping Rahul en route to Hathras

Hathras gang rape and murder case: Borders of Hathras are sealed. Section 144 of CrPC has been imposed in the district. Stay tuned for Latest LIVE news

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will visit Hathras in Uttar Pradesh today to meet the family of the woman who died after being gang raped, and whose cremation in the night by the police has provoked nationwide outrage.

Party sources said the permission for the visit has been sought from the Uttar Pradesh government, and they will leave for Hathras on Thursday. Many leaders of the Congress are going to accompany them.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday unveiled the new Defence Acquisition Procedure of 2020 (DAP 2020), which will govern the procurement of defence equipment from the capital budget. It will supersede the Defence Procurement Procedure of 2016 from today.

Stay tuned for the latest news of the day.

2:52 AM

UP police behaviour with senior oppn leaders 'draconian': CPIM

Hitting out at the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, the CPI(M) on Thursday said that the behaviour of the state police with senior opposition leaders was “draconian”.
 

A 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly raped by four upper-caste men in Hathras on September 14 and referred to the Safdarjung hospital in Delhi on Monday with spinal cord injuries, paralysis and cuts in her tongue. She died around 3 am on Tuesday.
 

Her brutal death and subsequent cremation in the dead of the night in Hathras allegedly under police pressure on Tuesday triggered massive outrage over the law and order situation in UP and over women safety in general.
 

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi were on Thursday stopped from visiting Hathras.
 

“The statement from the UP Police that it was not a case of rape makes clear the criminal actions of the state government when they hurriedly and forcibly cremated the victim in the dead of the night.

2:52 AM

Hathras gang-rape: Lawyers demand President's Rule in UP

Amid the widespread outrage over the alleged gang-rape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit woman in Hathras and her forcible cremation subsequently, scores of Ghaziabad lawyers on Thursday demanded imposition of President Rule in Uttar Pradesh.
 

The lawyers demanded the dismissal of the Yogi Adityanath government and imposition of President Rule, saying that the gang-rape of a Dalit woman and her brutalization amid a spate of crime against women in Uttar Pradesh has tarnished the image of the country and would flatten its progress graph.
 

The lawyers sought imposition of President Rule in a memorandum addressed to President Ram Nath Kovind that they gave to District Magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey.
 

The agitating lawyers reached the district collectorate in a march from Civil Court under the banner of Adhivakta Sangharsh Samiti.
 

During the march, the lawyers raised anti-government slogans and burnt effigies of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, accusing him of having failed in controlling the “soaring” crime graph against women in the state.

2:50 AM

Biden campaign to start in-person voter outreach as US election nears

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's campaign said on Thursday it would launch an in-person voter-canvassing operation in several battleground states, shifting tactics in the final weeks of a race upended by the coronavirus pandemic.
 

Some of Biden's Democratic allies have expressed concern the campaign has been too cautious about getting boots on the ground for in-person voter mobilization in the states that will decide the Nov. 3 election.
 

The campaign had put safety first in light of the pandemic, choosing to forgo door-knocking in favor of remote contacts even though President Donald Trump's campaign has been running an extensive in-person effort.
 

But in coming days, the Biden team will send several hundred volunteers to Nevada, Michigan, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania to focus on contacting voters who may be difficult to reach by phone or computer, with plans to expand the effort to more states ahead of the election.

9:04 PM

Govt buys over 100,000 tonnes of kharif paddy at MSP from Punjab, Haryana in 5 days

The Centre on Thursday said it has procured 104,417 tonnes of paddy worth Rs 197 crore in the past five days at minimum support price (MSP) from Punjab and Haryana. With the release of procurement data on a daily basis, the government possibly aims to send a message to farmers protesting against new farm laws that it has no intention of scrapping procurement at MSP.

 

Farmers of Punjab and Haryana and several other states are protesting against the new farm laws, which they feel will lead to procurement in the hands of corporates and the end of MSP regime.

 

In a statement, the Union Agriculture Ministry said about 91,005 tonnes of paddy from Punjab and 13,412 tonnes from Haryana has been procured at MSP of Rs 1,888 per quintal in the past five days till September 30.

8:55 PM

Assam flood situation improves marginally; 270,000 still affected

Assam's flood situation improved marginally on Thursday with river waters showing a receding trend and affecting a population of 2.70 lakh in seven districts, a bulletin issued by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said. Till Wednesday, over 2.83 lakh people were affected in eight districts.

 

At present, 426 villages are under water and more than 25,307 hectare of crop areas have been damaged in the state, the ASDMA said.

 

The Brahmaputra was flowing above the danger level at Dhubri and the Kopiliu in Nagaon, the bulletin said.

8:51 PM

AYUSH minister to inaugurate naturopathy hospital for tribals in Pune

Union AYUSH Minister Shripad Yesso Naik will inaugurate a naturopathy hospital at a tribal hamlet in Maharashtra on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti on Friday.

 

The project will serve as a naturopathy and yoga treatment centre for the tribal community at Gohe Budruk in Pune and also as a training centre for the tribal youth who wish to incorporate the skills of naturopathy and yoga in their health practices, the AYUSH ministry said in a statement.

 

The unit will also study tribal health practices and develop a repository of the same, it said.

 

Minister of State (independent charge) Shripad Yesso Naik will inaugurate a naturopathy hospital at tribal hamlet Gohe Budruk in Maharashtra's Pune on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti via video conferencing, the ministry said.

 

8:38 PM

Akhil Gogoi gets bail in NIA case related to protests over CAA

Activist Akhil Gogoi was granted bail on Thursday by a special court here in one of the two cases being probed by the NIA in connection with his alleged role in the violent protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Assam last year.

 

Gogoi was granted bail after five days of hearing in the case, which was filed at the Chabua police station and later transferred to the NIA.

 

NIA special judge Pranjal Das granted bail to Gogoi on a surety of Rs 30,000 and routine conditions, including not tampering with evidence and influencing witnesses.

 

8:31 PM

1.65 mn Indians have returned from abroad under 'Vande Bharat' mission: MEA

As many as 1.65 million Indians have returned from abroad after the government launched the ''Vande Bharat'' evacuation mission on May 7 in view of the coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.

 

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said phase six has come to an end and under this phase, 894 international flights and 142 feeder flights have been operated from 24 countries reaching 24 airports across India.

 

He said under phase six, 1.75 lakh people were repatriated. As on 30 September,  1.65 million Indians have been repatriated through different modes of the Vande Bharat Mission," he said.

 

8:24 PM

Tata Motors reports 5% increase in total sales in July-Sep quarter

Tata Motors on Thursday reported a 5.09 per cent increase in total sales to 1,10,379 units in the second quarter of the current fiscal. The company had sold a total of 1,05,031units in the same period last fiscal, Tata Motors said in a statement.

 

Total domestic sales were up 13 per cent to 1,06,888 units from 94,454 units in July-September period last year, it added.

 

Passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market during the period under review stood at 54,794 units as against 25,898 units in the same quarter last fiscal, over two-fold increase.

8:21 PM

Mazagon Dock IPO huge hit; subscribed whopping 157.41 times

The initial public offer of state-owned defence firm Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders received stellar response from investors and was subscribed a whopping 157.41 times on the last day of bidding on Thursday.

 

The Rs 444 crore public offer received bids for 4,81,64,59,117 shares against 3,05,99,017 shares on offer, as per NSE data.

 

The portion reserved for non-institutional investors was subscribed 678.88 times, qualified institutional buyers 89.71 times and retail investors 35.63 times.

 

The IPO was at a planning stage for the last 2 years and its current closure has been extremely successful, Mazagaon Dock CMD Narayan Prasad said in a statement.

 

7:59 PM

Uttarakhand CM inaugurates projects worth over Rs 119 cr in Haldwani

Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Thursday inaugurated and laid foundation stones of projects worth over Rs 119 crore in Haldwani and said providing a corruption-free transparent government was his goal.

 

Most of the projects are aimed at boosting health, education and tourism infrastructure besides rejuvenating canals in the area.

 

Rawat also distributed cheques for Rs 4,93,000 among six orphaned poor girls to meet their educational expenses.

 

In his address, Rawat said, "Providing a corruption-free transparent government is our purpose."

 

7:52 PM

In MP, Congress burns UP govt's effigy for stopping Rahul, Priyanka

Congress workers burned the Yogi Adityanath government's effigy here on Thursday, questioning the Uttar Pradesh police's move of stopping party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra when they were walking towards Hathras to meet the rape victim's family.

 

The party workers held a protest and burned the effigy near Lillie Talkies.

 

Local MLA Arif Masood, who led the protest, said, "Jungle raj is prevailing in Uttar Pradesh, where a Dalit daughter was raped."

 

7:43 PM

President Ram Nath Kovind turns 75; VP, PM greet him

President Ram Nath Kovind turned 75 on Thursday, with Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi among others wishing him good health and long life on his birthday.

 

The president said he was deeply touched by the birthday wishes and kind words he received from fellow citizens and friends, which gives him strength to serve the nation with deep gratitude and humility.

 

Deeply touched by the birthday wishes and kind words I have received today from so many fellow citizens and friends. Your love and affection gives me strength to serve our people and our nation with deep gratitude and great humility. Thank you very much!, the president tweeted.

7:34 PM

Telangana seeks Rs 500 cr from Centre for Hyderabad-Vijayawada Highway works

The Telangana government sought Rs 500 crore from the Centre to resolve infrastructure related problems on the Hyderabad-Vijayawada section of national highway 65.

 

In a letter to Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, TelanganaIT and Industries Minister K T Rama Rao stated that about 25 kilometers on the Highway has several problems like inadequate land capacity and absence of service roads for local traffic and hence funds were needed.

7:26 PM

Mubadala picks up 1.4 pc stake in Reliance Retail for Rs 6,247.5 cr

Abu Dhabi-based sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co will invest Rs 6,247.5 crore for a 1.4 per cent stake in Reliance Retail, the Indian firm said on Thursday.

 

This is the second investment by Mubadala in a subsidiary of Reliance Industries. It had previously invested Rs 9,093.60 crore for a 1.85 per cent stake in Jio Platforms.

 

"The investment values Reliance Retail at a pre-money equity value of Rs 4.285 lakh crore," Reliance said in a statement.