Author: Indmedia

Prayagraj: The Allahabad high court has upheld the conviction of a man in a 1979 gang rape case involving a minor, but reduced his jail term from seven-and-a-half years to four years, taking into account the 43-year pendency of the criminal appeal and his advanced age.Partly allowing the appeal filed by Ram Swarup, Justice Santosh Rai directed the 71-year-old convict to surrender and serve the remainder of his sentence.The court refused to extend the benefit of probation, observing that undue sympathy in such cases would amount to a “gross miscarriage of justice”. It described the offence as “heinous” and underscored…

Berhampur: Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) on Wednesday issued a lease closure notice to a firm, which has been operating the guest house of the civic body, after completion of the five-year term by July 31. BeMC commissioner Sasya Reddy issued the closure notice to the leaseholder following the decision of the special corporation meeting held on Wednesday. “After detailed discussion, the corporation decided that no further extension would be given to the leaseholder. A resolution has been adopted in this regard in the meeting,” said mayor Sanghamitra Dalei. An agreement between the leaseholder and commissioner of BeMC was made on…

A resident of Barota village in Sonipat, Prabhu Dayal, was travelling to Sohna for some work Gurgaon: A retired defence ministry official died after a crane hit the motorcycle he was travelling on near Kanwarsika village in Nuh on Tuesday afternoon.A resident of Barota village in Sonipat, Prabhu Dayal, was travelling to Sohna for some work. According to his son, Dayal had taken a lift on a motorcycle. During the journey, the motorcycle was struck by a crane driven rashly and negligently. The crane driver fled the spot, abandoning the vehicle.A police officer said that while Dayal was being taken…

Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu has emphasised that disaster management strategies for the frontier state must be tailor-made to suit its unique geographical features, climate and local population, rather than relying on standard, centralised policies.In a social media post on Thursday, Khandu shared details of wide-ranging discussions held with a high-level central delegation led by Dr Joram Aniya, the newly appointed full-time member of NITI Aayog. The central team also included National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) member Rita Missal, alongside senior officials from NITI Aayog, the NDMA, and the Central Water Commission.The discussions centered around strengthening long-term disaster resilience…

Jhansi: To promote water-efficient agriculture in the drought-prone Bundelkhand region, the state government has launched a mini pilot farming project based on Israeli technology in Gangawali village of Jhansi district.According to officials, the initiative under the India-Israel Bundelkhand Water Project will continue for three years with a budget of Rs 16 crore, after which it will be expanded to other selected villages of the block.A team of Israeli experts had prepared a detailed implementation plan for the project and submitted it to the administration, following which a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in 2021.The project has been launched on…

Shariq.Majeed@timesofindia.comLudhiana: As the birth anniversary of Param Vir Chakra recipient Flying Officer Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon is on Friday, the residents of his village are unhappy with the treatment meted out by the govt to the village of the martyr and aver that it remained neglected.The late officer’s 42-year-old nephew, Amardeep Singh, who along with hismother Jagnandan Kaur lives in Rajguru Nagar, Ludhiana, and is the holderof the PVC medal of his uncle, also is not happy with the condition of thevillage.Amardeep told TOI that though the central govt has remembered his uncle’ssacrifice, the state govt has not done much. He…

Ban for plastic materials below 40 microns is officially in force in the city limits plastic bags Materials City Shopes. having a free run in the city. Mysuru: Mysuru district administration and Sri Kshetra Chamundeshwari development authority have deployed green warriors to create awareness among devotees against single-use plastic and prevent its use atop Chamundi Hills, during the Ashadha Fridays.Volunteer teams have also been stationed at Lalitha Mahal Palace Grounds and will work in shifts from morning till evening. Green warriors are also deployed from the foothills of Chamundi Hills along the climbing stretch, to check the plastic menace this…

Noida: The district consumer commission has ordered the RWA of Kendriya Vihar-II in Sector 82 to pay Rs 1 lakh in compensation to a resident, holding it responsible for failing to tackle stray dog menace that led to a four-year-old girl being mauled inside the housing society.Calling it a “deficiency in service”, the commission ruled that an RWA collecting maintenance and security charges cannot evade its responsibility to ensure residents’ safety within the residential premises.Allowing the complaint on July 10, the bench of president Anil Kumar Pundir and member Anju Sharma asked the RWA, through its president, to pay the…

The recent torrential rains caused localised flooding and infrastructural disruptions in the city Pune: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has decided to install CCTV cameras to monitor illegal activities like large-scale debris dumping along the riverbeds of Mula and Mutha within the civic limits following repeated complaints.“We have identified 30 chronic spots. New CCTV cameras and signaling systems will be installed at the locations. The administration plans to complete the project in a month,” said Ganesh Sonune of the PMC’s disaster management department.Citizen activists welcomed the idea, but said the administration must maintain the facilities. They said such projects initiated…

Panaji: A decade old, Rs 35,000 crore illegal mining case that dumped barons of the industry, out of the sector ended in a whimper after the Bombay high court quashed the first information report (FIR) filed by crime branch of Goa police based on the Justice M B Shah commission’s findings.Crime branch had registered the FIR based on the complaint of the directorate of mines and geology has closed the illegal mining case. A special investigation team (SIT) was investigating 126 mining cases.In 2023, Supreme Court order quashed and set aside the high court order directing state to register an…