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Teen dies after allegedly gang-raped, set on fire
A 16-year-old Dalit girl, who was allegedly gang-raped and set on fire by two men in Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit district on Sept 7, died during treatment at King George's Medical University (KGMU) in Lucknow on Monday. Police arrested the two accused - Rajveer, 19, and Tarachand alias Tarun Kumar, 25.
The girl's death came less than a week after two Dalit sisters, aged 15 and 17, were found hanging from a tree in Tamoli Purva village just over 200km from Lucknow. They were believed to have been sexually assaulted and murdered by six men.
After 75 years, cheetahs return to India in grand experiment
Eight Namibian cheetahs arrived in India last Saturday, seven decades after their local extinction, in an ambitious project to reintroduce the big cats that has divided experts on its prospects.
Officials say the project is the world's first intercontinental relocation of the planet's fastest land animal. The five females and three males were moved from a game park in Namibia aboard a chartered Boeing 747 dubbed "Cat plane" for an 11-hour flight.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over the release at Kuno National Park, a wildlife sanctuary 320km south of New Delhi.
"Today the cheetah has returned to the soil of India," he said in a video address after their arrival, which coincided with his 72nd birthday.
"The nature-loving consciousness of India has awakened with full force. We must not allow our efforts to fail."
Maharashtra to produce record sugar levels in new season
India's top sugar-producing state Maharashtra is set to churn out record levels for the second year in a row as farmers expanded the growing area for the cane crop, the state government said on Monday.
Higher production will weigh on local prices and prompt New Delhi to allow sugar exports in the 2022-23 marketing year to start from Oct 1. Indian exports might also weigh on global sugar prices.
Maharashtra can produce 13.8 million tonnes of sugar in the season, slightly higher than 13.7 million tonnes this year. Monsoon starts retreating India's monsoon season entered its withdrawal phase on Wednesday, the state-run weather office said, after a vigorous spell of rains towards the tail-end of the four-month season.
The monsoon, vital for India because almost half of its farmland lacks irrigation, usually starts retreating from the desert state of Rajasthan in the west by mid-September. Summer rains first lash the southern Kerala coast in June.
Politician arrested for threatening to blow up Parliament
The Crime Branch of Delhi Police arrested former Madhya Pradesh MLA Kishor Samrite on charges of threatening to blow up the Parliament building in New Delhi with explosives.
Police said Samrite sent a package containing a threat letter, some flags, a copy of the Constitution and a few gelatin sticks to the Parliament office.
"He threatened that if his 70 demands were not met, he would blow up the Parliament House on Sept 30," said Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravinder Yadav.
Kerala man flies to Dubai to buy iPhone 14 Pro
A man Kerala travelled thousands of kilometres to Dubai to buy the latest iPhone, hours before it went on sale in India.
Dheeraj Palliyil flew abroad to buy the iPhone 14 Pro last week in a bid to become one of the first few in the world to own the new phone, reported the BBC.
He spent Rs40,000 ($708) on his tickets and another Rs129,000 rupees to buy the new model.
The iPhone is arguably one of the most coveted smartphones in the world.
Boy mauled to death by tiger in Uttar Pradesh
In yet another case of man-animal conflict, a teenage boy was killed in a tiger attack at Dhaurahra forest range in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri district on Tuesday.
Kishan Kumar, a 14-year-old resident of Paraspur village, was reportedly collecting fodder for his cattle in a sugarcane field when he was mauled by the tiger. His body was recovered from the forested area by his family members.
300 Indian hostages forced into cybercrime by Myanmar gangs
PMK founder S. Ramadoss on Tuesday expressed concern over reports that as many as 300 engineers from India, lured to Thailand with promises of jobs, were kidnapped and taken to Myanmar, where they are being forced to commit cybercrimes.
Noting that the group of distressed Indians included 60 persons from Tamil Nadu, Dr Ramadoss urged the Central government to depute a team of officials to secure the release of the Indians held captive in Miyawadi forest region by Myanmar gangs.
Fashion designer Leepakshi to be questioned in extortion case
In the latest development in the Rs200 crore ($35 million) extortion case involving multimillionaire conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar and Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police has summoned fashion designer Leepakshi to join the probe.
This came after Jacqueline admitted before EOW officers that the jailed Sukesh paid a huge amount of money to Leepakshi for designing exclusive costumes for her.
WinZO sues Google to stop new gaming policy
Indian online gaming platform WinZO has sued Google to stop the tech giant from allowing real-money games for fantasy sports and rummy on its platform, saying that Google's doing so is discriminatory.
WinZO's app offers real-money games in those categories but also in many others that Google still will not accept, such as carom, puzzles and car racing, and will therefore not be eligible to benefit from the newly adopted Google policy.
For years, Google allowed no games involving real money in India, but this month said such games for fantasy sports and rummy could join its Play Store marketplace in the country as part of a year-long pilot programme.
MotoGP to make India debut in 2023 with Grand Prix of Bharat
MotoGP, the pinnacle of two-wheel racing, will come to India next year, providing a massive boost to the motorsport scene in the country.
The master agreement between MotoGP commercial rights owner Dorna and Noida-based race promoters Fairstreet Sports was signed on Wednesday.
The race will be called Grand Prix of Bharat.
