Rajasthan governor: Rapists should be sterilised like dogs
Rape accused should be beaten up on the spot and sterilised like dogs, Rajasthan Governor Haribhau Kisanrao Bagade said in Bharatpur on Monday.
“There are numerous laws and punishments, but criminals still don’t have any fear,” he said. “Rapists should be caught on the spot and beaten up by people. The municipality sterilises dogs when their population grow in an uncontrollable manner. Similarly, rapists should be sterilised like dogs.”
Mr Bagade’s comment came amid protests in southern Rajasthan following the arrest of 11 people for allegedly raping five young girls for over a month in Beawar’s Vijainagar.
India brings home 300 citizens rescued from Asean scam centres
India has brought home nearly 300 of its nationals who were lured to various south-east Asian countries, including Myanmar, with fake job offers and made to engage in cybercrime and other fraudulent activities, the government said.
Thousands of people have been freed from cyber scam centres along the Thailand-Myanmar border this year as countries work together to crack down on the criminal networks.
“Indian embassies in Myanmar and Thailand have coordinated with local authorities to secure the repatriation of 283 Indian nationals today by an IAF (Indian Air Force) aircraft from Mae Sot in Thailand,” India’s foreign ministry said on Monday.
Temasek takes bite of Haldiram’s for US$1 billion
Singapore’s state investment company Temasek has signed a deal to pick up close to a 10 per cent stake in the snacks business of India’s Haldiram’s at a cost of about US$1 billion ($1.3 billion), two people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.
The deal was signed after months of negotiation and Temasek considers Haldiram’s a “prized asset” that will help expand its focus on India’s consumer sector, said one of the sources.
Temasek’s purchase price translates into a roughly US$10 billion valuation for the company.
US vice-president to visit India with wife this month
United States Vice-President J.D. Vance is set to visit India later this month, accompanied by Second Lady Usha Vance, American political digital newspaper Politico reported on Wednesday.
Mrs Vance, whose parents emigrated from Andhra Pradesh to the US, will visit her ancestral country for the first time as Second Lady.
Third accused arrested in tourist rape case
Karnataka Minister Shivaraj Tangadagi said on Sunday that the third accused in the tourist rape case in Koppal district had been arrested.
Two women, including a 27-year-old Israeli tourist, were allegedly gang-raped and assaulted while stargazing near Hampi, police said on Saturday. The incident occurred on March 6.
Mr Tangadagi said that three individuals were involved in the crime. While two were arrested on March 8, the third accused was apprehended in Tamil Nadu, where he had fled to after the crime.
Air India confirms Chicago flight returned due to clogged toilets
Air India has confirmed that one of its flights from the United States was forced to turn around last week after passengers trying to flush away plastic bags, rags and clothes clogged up most of its toilets.
The plane, which was heading from Chicago to New Delhi, spent several hours in the air before it returned to the US city.
Video clips from inside the aircraft showed scenes of confusion as passengers huddled around crew members who seemed to be explaining the situation. The incident has stirred a lively debate on social media, with many Indians weighing in on aeroplane bathroom etiquette.
Actress Ranya’s friend arrested in gold smuggling case
Actress Ranya Rao’s friend, who accompanied her to Dubai, has now been arrested in the Bengaluru airport gold smuggling case as the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) expands its investigation.
Tarun Konduraju, who belongs to a prominent business family in Bengaluru, was produced in court, reported NDTV.
Ranya, 33, was arrested last week when a DRI team searched her luggage at Bengaluru airport and found her allegedly smuggling 14kg of gold from Dubai.
Starlink, Airtel tie up to challenge Ambani in broadband race
American Elon Musk’s Starlink has signed a deal with India’s No. 2 telecoms company Airtel to bring Starlink’s Internet services to the world’s most populous country, intensifying rivalry with fellow billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s telecom firm Reliance Jio.
The pact will allow the US satellite Internet giant to utilise Airtel’s retail store network to distribute its devices throughout India, and is conditional upon Starlink obtaining government approval to begin.
The Starlink announcement comes weeks after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Mr Musk in Washington where they discussed issues including space, mobility, technology and innovation.
Starlink, which has long wanted to launch in India, recently clashed with Jio over how the country should grant spectrum for satellite services.
Massive clean up after mega-festival ends
Thousands of sanitation workers are toiling to clean up 20,000 tonnes of waste left behind by hundreds of millions of Hindu devotees after the Kumbh Mela mega-festival in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh.
Around 550 million people from around the world visited the city during the festival, according to government figures, with mounds of discarded clothing, plastic bottles and other waste now littering the grounds.
“We have deployed 15,000 workers to clear up some 20,000 tonnes of waste generated from the festival,” Prayagraj municipal commissioner Chandra Mohan Garg told AFP.
