HC declines to dismiss election petition against Chidambaram

Tezpur (Assam), Mar 2: Seven boys, who had appeared for their class 10 board examinations, were apprehended on Sunday for allegedly raping and killing a 12-year-old girl in Assam's Biswanath district, police said.

The girl was hanged from a tree after the crime.

The incident happened on Friday in Chakla village under the jurisdiction of Gohpur police station, they said.

A senior police officer told PTI that the culprits, all of them High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) examinees, were on the run, but were nabbed by a police team.

The accused after the examination had called the victim to a house on the pretext of organising a party and raped her, the officer said.

It is suspected that the girl was raped on Friday night and then hanged from a tree in a forest near the house, the senior police officer said.

The body was found on Saturday.

New Delhi, Jan 4: The Supreme Court on Thursday extended till June 12 its earlier order of May 15 asking the government not to take any coercive action against companies and employers for violation of Centre's March 29 circular for payment of full wages to employees for the lockdown period.

A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, S K Kaul and M R Shah reserved the verdict on a batch of petitions filed by various companies challenging the circular of the Ministry of Home Affairs issued on March 29 asking the employers to pay full wages to the employees during the nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In the proceedings conducted through video conferencing, the top court said there was a concern that workmen should not be left without pay, but there may be a situation where the industry may not have money to pay and hence, the balancing has to be done.

Meanwhile, the apex court asked the parties to file their written submissions in support of their claims.

The top court on May 15 had asked the government not to take any coercive action against the companies and employers who are unable to pay full wages to their employees during the nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Centre also filed an affidavit justifying its March 29 direction saying that the employers claiming incapacity in paying salaries must be directed to furnish their audited balance sheets and accounts in the court.

The government has said that the March 29 directive was a "temporary measure to mitigate the financial hardship" of employees and workers, specially contractual and casual, during the lockdown period and the directions have been revoked by the authority with effect from May 18.

Thiruvananthapuram, May 20: As COVID-19 count surges to 666 with 24 new cases reported on Wednesday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that if cases keep increasing in this manner, then the State will be in a 'serious situation.'

Out of 24 new patients, 12 have returned from abroad, 11 others from other States and one has been infected by a contact. Now, total positive cases in the State stand at 666 including 161 active cases, Chief Minister Vijayan said at press meet.

"If the number of COVID-19 cases increases like this, then the State will be in a serious situation. We have given more relaxations in lockdown guidelines. We need to have more strict measures in some areas," he said.

Speaking about the people who are coming to Kerala from other States, he stressed that all people coming from outside are "not carriers." However, the State has to tighten the security as some among those people are "carriers."

The Chief Minister while clearing that there is no restriction for the people to come back to Kerala, said: "Lakhs of people residing in other states cannot come together."

"There is no relaxation in containment areas. Those who came from outside have to be in quarantine. This is their moral responsibility. The State has implemented home quarantine successfully. Various level committees like ward committee, neighbours and residential associations are monitoring the people in quarantine," he said.

Chief Minister Vijayan has directed the police to visit people under home quarantine to take their report and district panchayat to make sure that all panchayats are working in a proper manner.