The 27-year-old lured the girl under the pretext of playing with her and showing cartoons on television in his house and raped her.

NASHIK: A seven-year-old girl was raped on Sunday allegedly by her 27-year-old neighbour in Nashik in Maharashtra, police said.

The accused, identified as Kailas Kokani, was beaten up by angry locals in Ambad locality and handed over to police, an official said.

Kokani lured the girl under the pretext of playing with her and showing cartoons on television in his house. He then allegedly sexually assaulted her in afternoon.

The family of the girl shifted to Mahalaxmi Nagar area in Ambad only recently, the official added.

“When the girl’s mother started looking for her, she knocked on Kokani’s door to ask him whether he knew about her whereabouts. However, he didn’t open the door. His neighbours then forced him open the door and found the girl inside,” he said.

Local people then thrashed Konkani and handed him over to Ambad police who are registered a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the official said.

Singh, addressing a public meeting at Adityapur in Seraikela-Kharsawan district, said he had a discussion with a cross-section of people as well as political analysts after the first phase of the polls

SERAIKELA: Union minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday claimed that the BJP will form a majority government in Jharkhand after the ongoing assembly elections in the state.

Singh, addressing a public meeting at Adityapur in Seraikela-Kharswan district, said he had a discussion with a cross-section of people as well as political analysts after the first phase of the polls on Saturday.

“The feedback indicated that the BJP is going to win 9 to 10 seats out of the 13 constituencies that went to polls in the first phase yesterday. We will form a majority government in the state,” the Union Defence Minister said.

He said the BJP is gaining support of the people as it has been fulfilling its promises, like abrogating Article 370, making ‘triple talaq’ punishable under law, and announcing a “grand” Ram temple in Ayodhya, following the Supreme Court verdict.

About criticism by the Opposition on the National Register of Citizens (NRC), Singh said, “Is it not our responsibility to identify infiltrators living in the country? We will neither accept them as Indian nationals nor grant them citizenship.”

The senior BJP leader, who spoke at the rally in support of party candidate Ganesh Mahali from the Seraikela seat, asserted that the NRC would be implemented across the country.

On the current economic slowdown, Singh said it is due to global cues.

He also claimed that India will become a USD 5-trillion economy by 2025.

Meanwhile, speaking at another public meeting in favour of BJP candidate J B Tubid from the Chaibasa seat, the party’s working president J P Nadda said it has changed the image and fate of Jharkhand in the last five years by providing a stable and corruption-free government.

“This election (assembly polls) is not about any individual, not to make anybody MLA or minister; this election is to change the fate of Jharkhand. You have to elect the party which can fulfil goals,” Nadda said.

“While former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee created Jharkhand, PM Narendra Modi has nourished it,” he added.

Nadda criticised the opposition Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), and said it has always neglected the plight of tribals.

Singh also referred to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s phrase ‘hum do, hamare do’ about the saffron party, when two of its MPs won the Lok Sabha elections in 1984.

“From two seats, the BJP is the only non-Congress political party to achieve a clear majority in the Parliamentary polls after Independence, and it has also formed governments in majority of the states,” he said.

Seraikela and Chaibasa go to polls on December 7 in the second phase.

The air quality in the national capital turned poor on Sunday, primarily due to slow wind speed, and is likely to dip further.

NEW DELHI: The national capital’s air quality was recorded in the poor category for the second consecutive day on Monday morning, while the minimum temperature settled at eight degrees Celsius, a notch below the season’s average.

Relative humidity was recorded at 85 per cent.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) stood at 283 at 7.43 am and deteriorated slightly to 286 at 9.40 am.

The AQI at Faridabad stood at 242 while in Gurgaon, Ghaziabad and Greater Noida it stood at 142, 319 and 299 respectively.

Noida had an AQI of 280. At 9 am on Sunday, Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) was 275, which falls in the “poor” category.

An AQI between 0-50 is considered ‘good’, 51-100 ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 ‘moderate’, 201-300 ‘poor’, 301-400 ‘very poor’ and 401-500 ‘severe’.

An AQI above 500 falls in the ‘severe plus’ category.

The air quality in the national capital turned poor on Sunday, primarily due to slow wind speed, and is likely to dip further.

Delhi-NCR’s air quality improved to “satisfactory” on Friday for the first time in around two months due to rains and favourable wind speed over the previous two to three days.

The petition sought directions to the companies to stop selling drinking water and other beverages in PET bottles.

NEW DELHI: A 16-year-old has moved the National Green Tribunal seeking ban on selling PET-bottled beverages by IRCTC, Coca Cola, Pepsico, Bisleri and others till they start collecting back the plastic waste generated due to their products.

The petition, which is likely to come up for hearing in the coming week, sought directions to the companies, also including Patanjali Peya Pvt Ltd, to stop selling drinking water and other beverages in PET bottles till they formulate and implement a scheme under rule 9 of Plastic Waste Management Rules for 100 per cent collection of plastic waste produced by them in course of their business.

PET (polyethylene terephthalate) is a general-purpose thermoplastic polymer which belongs to the polyester family of polymers.

The PET bottles form 10 per cent of total plastic waste created in India.

The petition, filed by Aditya Dubey, said, “The respondent companies are producing 9,49,000 tonnes of Pet Bottles every year but have not made any proper, effective and complete arrangement for management of plastic waste created due to their activities as required under Rule 9 of the Plastic Waste Management Rules which leads to plastic pollution of our environment”.

It added that the PET bottles produced by these companies are used and thrown in garbage by consumers and the same ends up at land fill sites, leading to burden on earth and damaging environment due to non-biodegradability.

“Direct the respondents to stop using PET bottles to pack water and other beverages produced by them, till they formulate and implement a scheme as required under rule 9 of Act to collect and dispose the plastic waste created by them,” the petition, filed through advocate Meenesh Dubey, said.

The rule 9 of the Act says that the primary responsibility for collection of used multi-layered plastic sachet or pouches or packaging is of producers, importers and brand owners, who introduce the products in the market.

“They need to establish a system for collecting back the plastic waste generated due to their products,” the rule says.

It also says that the manufacture and use of non-recyclable multi-layered plastic, if any, should be phased out in two years time.

Various parts of Nellore, Anantapur, Prakasam districts and Tirupati received moderate to heavy rains on Sunday.

VISAKHAPATNAM/VIJAYAWADA: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) warned of thunderstorm accompanied with lightning at isolated places in all districts of South Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema in the next 48 hours. 

Heavy rains are likely to occur at isolated areas in Prakasam, Nellore, Chittoor and Kadapa districts in the next 24 hours. In the last 24 hours, rain occurred at many places in Rayalaseema and isolated places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh.

Currently, the cyclonic circulation over Comorin area and neighbourhood has become less marked. This influences weather change in Nellore and Prakasam districts. “There is prevalence of northeast monsoon which will witness thunderstorm activity in the districts of Prakasam and Nellore of Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Chittoor and Kadapa of Rayalaseema,” said IMD director Nagaratna.

Various parts of Nellore, Anantapur, Prakasam districts and Tirupati received moderate to heavy rains on Sunday. According to Prakasan Chief Planning Officer, 37 out of 56 mandals received 219 mm rainfall on Sunday.  Similarly, several parts of Anantapur district received rains since Saturday night. The district recorded 2.1 mm rainfall. Southern parts of Nellore district also received heavy rainfall. District Agriculture department district officials are closely monitoring the situation and field -level officers were deployed to advise the farmers.

“As of now, the rainfall will not affect crops in the district. But, if the rain continues, it may damage crops. Our field staff are available to farmer community and they will give suitable suggestions to them,” Joint Director, Agriculture (JDA) PV Srirama Murthy

“We have cultivated cotton and red gram this season and the yield is good. The untimely rains may damage crops. We are worried,” Gonepalli Sreenivasa Rao, a tenant farmer from Cheemakurthi mandal, said.

Downpour in Tirumala caused severe hardship to devotees on Sunday morning. Devotees faced a lot of difficulties in finding shelter.

Naqvi made the remarks after signing the bilateral annual Haj 2020 agreement between India and Saudi Arabia with Haj and Umrah Minister of Saudi Arabia Mohammad Saleh bin Taher Benten.

JEDDAH/NEW DELHI: India has become the first country to make the entire process for pilgrims going on Haj completely digital, Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Sunday after signing the bilateral agreement for next year’s pilgrimage with the Saudi Haj Minister in Jeddah.

An online application, e-visa, Haj mobile app, “e-MASIHA” health facility, “e-luggage pre-tagging” providing all information in India itself regarding accommodation and transportation in Mecca and Madina will be provided to 2 lakh Indian Muslims going for Haj in 2020, he said.

Naqvi made the remarks after signing the bilateral annual Haj 2020 agreement between India and Saudi Arabia with Haj and Umrah Minister of Saudi Arabia Mohammad Saleh bin Taher Benten.

He said for the first time facilities were provided for digital pre-tagging of pilgrims’ baggage.

This will ensure the Indian pilgrims will get information in India itself about the building and the room allotted to them as well as the transportation details for travel after reaching the airport in Saudi Arabia, Naqvi was quoted as saying in a statement issued from his office.

Even the mobile phone SIM card has been linked to mobile App which will ensure pilgrims immediately get all the latest information regarding Haj in Mecca and Madina on their mobile phones.

This year, a 100-line information centre has been established at the Haj House, Mumbai for providing information regarding the entire Haj process.

A health card is being provided to Indian Haj pilgrims in the country, Naqvi said.

E-MASIHA (E-Medical Assistance System for Indian Pilgrims Abroad), an online system to create and maintain the complete health database of Indian pilgrims along with doctors’ prescriptions, medical treatment as well as medicine disbursal, has been developed to deal with any emergency in Mecca and Madina, Naqvi said.

“Haj Group Organisers (HGOs) have also been connected with 100 per cent digital system which has ensured transparency in their functioning and has also ensured better facilities to Indian Haj pilgrims,” Naqvi said.

“A portal of HGOs http://haj.nic. in/pto/ (Portal for Haj Group Organisers) has been developed which contains all the details of HGOs and their packages,” the minister said.

The Ministry of Minority Affairs has taken effective and successful steps during the last four years to make Haj and other programmes completely digital or online as a part of Digital India campaign of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Naqvi said.

Making the entire Haj 2020 process digital has helped in providing better facilities to people going for Haj and ensured transparency by eliminating middlemen, he said.

The minister said the Indian government – in coordination with the Saudi Arabian government, the Indian Consulate and various concerned agencies in Saudi Arabia – was working to ensure safety, better services and medical facilities for the pilgrims during the Haj.

In 2020, a total 2 lakh Indian Muslims will perform Haj that too without any subsidy, he said.

Naqvi said that till November 30, 1.76-lakh haj applications, including 15,000 online applications from Jammu and Kashmir, had been received.

The last date of submission of Haj application is December 5, 2019.

The Saudi Arabian government has always played an active and effective role to ensure safety and better facilities to Indian Haj pilgrims, Naqvi said, adding that it is a part of strengthened bilateral relations between the two countries.

India-Saudi Arabia relations have achieved newer heights under the leadership and guidance of gulf nation’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Prime Minister Modi, Naqvi said.

Both the countries share strong cultural, historical, economic and political relations, he said.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s visit to India and Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Saudi Arabia in October 2019 have further strengthened relations between the two countries, the minister said.

Naqvi thanked King Salman for his guidance and active support to make Haj 2019 successful.

Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ausaf Sayeed, Additional Secretary Ministry of Minority Affairs Jan-e-Alam, Consul General Mohd Noor Rehman Sheikh, Haj Committee of India Chairman Nabi Jinna Sheikh, Haj Committee of India CEO M A Khan and other senior officials were present on the occasion.

In just the last one week, four cases of onion theft have been reported in Gadag, Gajendragad and Ron taluks in the district, sending farmers and the local police into a tizzy.

GADAG: With the prices of onions breaching the Rs 100 mark in many places, it is no surprise that the daily use commodity has become a ‘prized possession’.

Numerous memes and videos have also been doing the rounds on social media platforms. But what comes as a shocker is that onions have now become the latest target of thieves who are carting them away by quintals from farms.

In just the last one week, four cases of onion theft have been reported in Gadag, Gajendragad and Ron taluks in the district, sending farmers and the local police into a tizzy. Farmers, who had been badly hit by the recent floods, were hoping to recoup their losses with onion prices at a high now.

Last weekend, about 40 bags of onions were stolen from the fields of Kalkayya Prabhuswamimutt, a farmer from Naregal town, in the early hours. “We never imagined that onions would be stolen from our fields. I don’t know how they transported all the bags when people were sleeping in the field. We lost 25 bags of chilli too the same night. We have lodged a complaint at the local police station,” he said.

A similar case was reported on the outskirts of Gajendragad on Thursday night where thieves made away with onions from a field there too.

Farmer Muttappa Yavagal had planned to harvest the onions the next morning. But he was aghast when he woke and found that onions worth around Rs 80,000 had been stolen from his field.Two cases of onion theft have also been reported in Gadag taluk.

In one of the incidents, thieves made away with onion bags which were kept on the roadside for drying by farmers.Speaking to The New Indian Express, Gadag Superintendent of Police Srinath Joshi said, “We have informed the local police stations to be vigilant in market areas and also near fields where onions
are stocked in large quantities. The police are also checking each and every vehicle carrying onions and verifying the documents”.

The government formation by BJP was a ‘drama’ played out to ensure that the funds meant for development works were ‘protected’, he said.

BENGALURU: Former union minister and BJP MP Ananthkumar Hegde has claimed his party colleague Devendra Fadnavis was made chief minister in Maharashtra last month despite lacking majority only to ‘protect’ Rs 40,000 crore central funds under the CM’s control from being ‘misused’.

Days after Fadnavis resigned barely 80 hours after taking oath for the second time as chief minister, Hegde, known for making controversial statements, sought to give a new twist to the episode describing the government formation by the BJP as a ‘drama’ played out to ensure that the funds meant for development works were ‘protected’.

“You all know that recently in Maharashtra for just 80 hours our person was Chief Minister, but soon Fadnavis resigned. Why did we have to do this drama? Didn’t we know- despite knowing we don’t have majority, why did he become CM? This is the question commonly every one ask,” Hegde said.

Addressing a gathering, reportedly during campaign in bypoll-bound Yellapur in Uttara Kannada district on Saturday, he said, “More than about Rs 40,000 crore was under CM’s control. If NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena come to power certainly that Rs 40,000 crore would not have gone for development work and would have gone for different things (misused).”

“It was entirely planned earlier itself. Once we got to know (about three parties forming government) it was decided that a drama has to be played out.

So, adjustments were made and oath was taken (by Fadnavis as CM), after oath within 15 hours Fadnavis systematically ensured that it (money) reaches where it had to and protected it,” the BJP leader said, speaking in Kannada.

The entire amount was given back to central government, or else certainly the “next Chief Minister would have… you know what would have happened…,” he added.

Fadnavis was sworn in by Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari in a hush-hush ceremony on November 23 for a second term after stunning midnight developments where NCP’s Ajit Pawar had revolted against his party and propped up the government with BJP.

However, three days later, Fadnavis resigned as chief minister ahead of the floor test, admitting he does not have the numbers shortly after his deputy Ajit Pawar quit the government.

Subsequently, on November 28, Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray took oath as the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra, heading an unlikely alliance of the Sena, the NCP and the Congress.

The Shiv Sena broke up its three-decade alliance with the BJP over sharing of the chief minister’s post after contesting the assembly elections together and the combine winning a comfortable majority.