Fan who attempted suicide on KGF star Yash's birthday dies in hospital

New Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs of Government of India today clarified to the Lok Sabha in a written reply that the so called “Love Jihad” is not defined under the extant laws and no such cases have been reported by any central agency.

It was ministry’s formal response to questions about whether the central government is aware of the observation of Kerala High Court that there is no case of Love Jihad in Kerala.

“The term ‘Love Jihad’ is not defined under the extant laws. No such case of ‘Love Jihad’ has been reported by any of the central agencies. However, two cases from Kerala involving interfaith marriages have been investigated by the NIA,” said the reply.

Communal and anti-Muslim political outfits backed by a section of media often use the term “Love Jihad” to accuse Muslims of marrying Hindu and Christian girls and then forcing them to change religion. Dr Hadiya’s conversion was also termed ‘love jihad’ by the BJP and media. The Supreme Court finally ruled that it wasn’t.

In January 2020, an influential Catholic Church in Kerala had said that “love jihad is a reality” and alleged that scores of women from Christian community from the southern state were being lured into the trap of Islamic State and used in terror activities.

The Viswa Hindu Parishad (VHP) had welcomed the Church statement and called for a united fight against ‘Love Jihad’ in Kerala Society.

The response comes weeks after the MHA, responding to an RTI query, said it has "no information" concerning the 'Tukde Tukde Gang' -- a term that has been used a number of times by PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to attack opponents.

The RTI application was filed by activist Saket Gokhle on December 26 last year. In his RTI application, Saket Gokhle said Home Minister "Amit Shah addressed a public event in New Delhi, and in his address said, 'The Tukde Tukde Gang of Delhi needs to be taught a lesson and punished'." Gokhle's RTI asked for details of the 'Tukde Tukde Gang'.

The home ministry, in its reply to Saket Gokhle's RTI application, said, "Ministry of Home Affairs has no information concerning tukde-tukde gang."

India on Sunday witnessed annual solar eclipse or 'surya grahan' 2020, the third eclipse even for this year after first two lunar eclipses took place in January and June and the last annual solar eclipse of this decade.

The solar eclipse started from around 9 a.m. across the Indian map as the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth came in a straight line, and the country witnessed the 'deepest' annular solar eclipse in over a century.

Astrologers said it a fourth super rare hybrid eclipse which is a mix between an annular and total solar eclipse.

Areas like Hyderabad, Chennai, Bhubaneshwar, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Delhi, Patna, Shillong and more witnessed a partial phase of the annular solar eclipse from 9 a.m.

In the eclipse, the distance of the Moon and Earth will be larger than usual which means the moon will not be able to cover up the sun fully and will leave out the borders of the sun - giving an appearance of a "Ring of Fire".

Press Information Bureau in a tweet informed that it is the last annular solar eclipse in India of this decade.

People can catch glimpse of the partially covered sun between 10 a.m. and 2.28 p.m. as per the time differing as locations in India. The eclipse will continue for over three hours covering 84 per cent Sun.

There are three types of solar eclipses - total, partial, and annular.

Bengaluru, Jan 29: The high court has granted bail to a 37-year-old Bangladeshi woman from the Christian community on the strength of Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019.

The court cited Section 2 of the amended Citizenship Act 1955, according to which minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who entered India on or before December 31, 2014 should not be treated as illegal immigrants, while granting her bail.

Allowing the petition filed by Archana Purnima Pramanik, an illegal immigrant from Bangladesh, who claims to be staying in India since 2003, justice John Michael Cunha on Monday directed her to furnish a bail bond for Rs 2 lakh to the satisfaction of the investigating officer and cooperate with the probe.

The judge observed the allegations made against her must be proved in a full-dressed trial. Archana was booked for obtaining documents such as PAN and Aadhaar cards and also fraudulently obtaining an Indian passport on March 28 last year. Based on a complaint filed by the assistant passport officer, Archana was arrested on November 7, 2019 and her bail petition was dismissed by a sessions court on December 4, 2019.

Born on March 23, 1983 at Tanore, Rajshahi district of Bangladesh, Archana came to India in 2003 to pursue a career in nursing. After obtaining a diploma in general nursing and midwifery at Ranchi in 2006, she worked in many reputed hospitals.

In 2010, she got married to Rajashekaran Krishnamurthy and the marriage was registered at Ranchi. After the wedding, she moved to Bengaluru and obtained PAN, Aadhaar and voter ID cards.

On April 1, 2019, Archana applied for a visa to Bangladesh for herself and her son. During her journey on May 20, 2019, they were detained at Kolkata airport and released later. However, the regional passport office issued a notice revoking Archana’s passport and she was arrested by RT Nagar police on November 7, 2019.