Daily Bulletin: Unnao rape victim's family given Rs 25 lakh compensation; Cong parliamentary party to discuss Citizenship Amendment Bill; day's top stories

Unnao rape victim’s body to be buried amid heavy police presence; family given Rs 25 lakh compensation

The body of the rape victim who succumbed to severe burn injuries in Delhi hospital arrived at her native village on Saturday. Heavy police arrangements were made to avoid any untoward incident. Fire brigade personnel have also been deployed in the village, where senior officers were camping since morning.

About timings of the victim's last rites, Unnao District Magistrate Devendra Pandey said, "It is yet to be finalised. Senior officials as well as two ministers, who were sent by the Chief Minister would remain in the village till the final rites take place." The family would not cremate the body, and instead opted for burial, he said, adding her memorial will be made beside the already existing memorials of her grandparents. "The land on which the memorial will be built belongs to the victim's family."

Uttar Pradesh Labour Minister Swami Prasad Maurya on Saturday handed a cheque of Rs 25 lakh as an ex-gratia compensation to the father of the victim. An official statement quoted Maurya as saying that "the family will be given a house under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana."

The woman, who was raped last year, was set on fire early Thursday morning when she was on her way to Raebareli in connection with the court case filed by her.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Commission for Women accused the city police of using water cannon and stopping a peaceful candlelight march heading to India Gate from Rajghat by its chief's supporters to demand death penalty for rapists. Police, however, claimed they had to use the water cannon after the protesters began throwing torches (mashaal) towards the policemen.

Hyderabad rape, murder case: Victim’s sister demands stricter laws

Law should be amended to ensure that accused do not get bail in rape cases, sister of Telangana veterinarian who was gang-raped and murdered on outskirts of Hyderabad, told ANI. "There has to be a full stop to such incidents. Justice should be delivered at the earliest. It shouldn't take years and the victim is killed in the meantime," her sister said.

The veterinarian was gang-raped and set ablaze on the night of 27 November. Her charred remains were found on the next day. Four people were arrested in connection with the case and shot dead by police in an encounter while they were being taken to the crime spot on Friday.

AAP to protest against NRC; Congress to discuss Citizenship Amendment Bill

The Aam Aadmi Party will hold protests at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar at 11 pm against the National Register of Citizens, even as another protest over the Citizenship Amendment Bill will be held at Delhi University’s Arts Faculty at 2 pm.

The contentious bill, which got a Union Cabinet nod last week, will be tabled in the Parliament on 9 December. The Bill amends the Citizenship Act, 1955 to make illegal migrants who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, eligible for citizenship.

The Congress will hold a parliament party meet to discuss the issues shrouding the bill at 6 pm today.

TMC leader shot dead in West Bengal's Purba Bardhaman

A Trinamool Congress leader was shot dead in West Bengal's Purba Bardhaman district when he was returning home from a nearby party office on Saturday.

Insan Mallik, who was treasurer of Kalna No 1 Panchayat Samity, was shot from behind while he was riding his two-wheeler to home in Rajkhara village around 8.30 pm on Friday, police said. Mallik was shot below his waist, police said, adding that he was then rushed to the Kalna hospital, from where he was referred to a hospital in Kolkata. He died on the way to Kolkata, about 100 km away.
TMC district president Swapan Debnath hit out at the opposition parties over the killing and said Mallik became their target as he was a deft organiser. However, Mallik's wife Shiuli, who is also a TMC leader, blamed party's infighting for the killing of her husband.

Protesting the killing of Mallik, who was well-known in the area, hundreds of TMC supporters blocked the Kalna-Bardhaman Road for about an hour.

Ajit Pawar approached me, Devendra Fadnavis claims; admits move boomeranged

Former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis claimed that it was NCP leader Ajit Pawar who approached him to form a government in Maharashtra.

Speaking to news channel Zee 24taas, Fadnavis said Ajit Pawar had assured him of support of all 54 NCP MLAs. "He made me talk to some MLAs who told me they wanted to go with the BJP. Ajit Pawar also told me he had discussed it with (NCP chief) Sharad Pawar."

"Ajit Pawar approached us and said the NCP doesn't want to go with the Congress. A three-party government (also involving the Shiv Sena) can't run. We (NCP) are ready to go with the BJP for a stable government," Fadnavis said.

The BJP leader admitted that the move "boomeranged", but added that "behind the scenes" and "between the lines" stories about the political drama will be revealed in the days to come.

Punjab shouldn't be blamed for Delhi's pollution, says Amarinder Singh

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said that it was not smoke from his state that was causing pollution in Delhi and stressed on the need to find ways to dispose of paddy straw, which farmers in his state usually burn in October and November.

His remarks come amid claims that stubble burning in Punjab was to be blamed for the pollution in Delhi and the National Capital Region. "You keep blaming Punjab for the pollution. This morning I couldn't come from Chandigarh by chopper because of the pollution in Delhi and Punjab had bright sunshine. So we are not giving any smoke from Punjab," Singh said at the 17th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.

"I don't know where the smoke is coming from... it is coming from within this area,” Singh said. "I have 13 million tonnes of rice which has just been harvested. I have got 26 million tonnes of paddy straw and unless we find a solution for that paddy straw what will the farmer do? They cannot survive and you cannot ask them to do something," he said.

Uttarakhand: Case registered against policeman for celebratory firing during wedding

The Uttarakhand Police registered a case against two, including one police personnel for allegedly indulging in celebratory firing during a wedding function in Haridwar. In a video, the police officer could be seen dancing and firing in the air. After some time, he hands over the gun to another person and assists him in firing shots.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Senthil Abudai said, "We are investigating the matter. FIR is also being registered. If found true, he will be sent to district police lines and appropriate action will be taken." The police officer further said that the erring personnel's gun license will also be permanently cancelled after the due probe is conducted into the matter.

DUTA members plan to march to Parliament on Monday over their demands

The Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA) has planned a series of programmes as part of its indefinite strike to demand one-time regulation for the absorption of ad-hoc and temporary teachers. The association's general body meeting on Saturday decided on the continuance of the indefinite strike with boycott of invigilation, evaluation and all other official duties to press for their demand.

The DUTA general body meeting has agreed on a series of action programmes. Some of these are day-night dharna outside the vice chancellor's office and public meeting of families at the dharna site on 8 December, the teachers' association said. A march to Parliament will be organised on Monday from Mandi House, they said.

North Korea conducts 'very important test', reports state media

North Korea has conducted a "very important test" at its Sohae satellite launch site, state media reported Sunday, as nuclear negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington remain deadlocked. "A very important test was carried out at the Sohae Satellite Launch on December 7th, 2019," a spokesman for the North's National Academy of Science said.

The result of the latest test will have an "important effect" on changing the "strategic status" of North Korea, the spokesman said in a statement carried by the KCNA news agency.

Airtel, Vodafone Idea remove cap on free outgoing calls to other networks

Telecom operators Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have removed cap from free outgoing calls on other networks under new plans for pre-paid customers that came into effect from 3 December.

Both the companies had earlier capped outgoing calls to network of other telecom operators at 1,000 minutes in plan with 28-days validity, 3,000 minutes in 84-days validity and 12,000 in 365 days validity plan. Beyond this limit, customers were required to pay 6 paisa per minute for outgoing calls made to other networks.

Reliance Jio, however, claimed that free-call limit under its plans are five times more than normal usage and its mobile service remains cheaper than rivals by up to 25 per cent. The Mukesh Ambani-led firm announced some plans that were 15-25 per cent cheaper than that of the competitors. However, it has made no change in free call limit to other networks till Saturday evening.

India look to clinch series with victory in 2nd T20I

Virat Kohli and Co will look to clinch the three-match T20I series with a win over West Indies in the second T20I at the Greenfield Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. On the other hand, the Windies will give it their all to take the series to a decider.

In the opening clash of the series in Hyderabad, Virat Kohli (96) and KL Rahul (62) guided the hosts to a six-wicket win over the visitors. Earlier, West Indies powered to 207 with the help of Shimron Hetmyer's 56. As both teams posted over 200 runs on the board, they would be looking to improve in the bowling and fielding department.

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FP Staff