India News

Unnao case: Congress walks out, Smriti Irani warns against “politicising” rape

How are criminals feeling so emboldened, asked Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary, the leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, before his party MPs walked out of the House to protest the gruesome incident in Unnao, where a 23-year-old woman was thrashed, stabbed and set on fire by her alleged rapists.

Published

6 years ago

December 6, 2019

Opposition uproar leads to adjournment of Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha

She was on her way to the court for a hearing in the rape case on Thursday when five men, included two rape accused, attacked her.

According to reports, the woman, with 90 per cent burns, ran for almost a kilometre crying for help. One witness claimed that the woman was running in a ball of fire when he saw her screaming for help. He said he dialed the emergency 100 helpline and put his mobile on speaker to get the woman to speak to the police.

“The Unnao victim has 95% burns. What is going on in the country? On one hand there is a Lord Ram temple being built and on the other hand Sita maiya is set ablaze. How are criminals feeling so emboldened?” Chaudhary said in the Lok Sabha.

Union Minister Smriti Irani hit back at the Opposition for “politicising” rape cases. “Women safety and respect should not be given communal colour. A member used Telangana and Unnao incidents but selectively forgot Malda. Rape has been used as a political weapon in the West Bengal,” she said.

As Opposition MPs continued to shout slogans against her remarks, Irani reiterated that whatever happened in Telegana and Unnao was “shameful and accused should be hanged” but warned against “doing politics”.

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar condemned the way MPs behaved when she was speaking and demanded that they apologise to her.

Shiv Sena’s Arvind Sawant suggested that a law be constituted through which such (crimes against women) cases are heard directly by the Supreme Court. “Right now the procedure starts from lower courts and the process goes on and on. I appeal to you (Speaker) to set up a committee to discuss this,” he said.

One of the two men accused of raping the Unnao woman last year was granted bail 10 days ago. The other man had been on the run.

All the five men were arrested and the woman was airlifted to Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital.

The woman in her statement said that she was on her way from her village in Unnao district to Rae Bareli where the trial in the rape case is going on.

“I was going to a local railway station at 4 am to catch a train to Rae Bareli. Five people were waiting for me. They surrounded me and first hit me on the leg with a stick and also stabbed me in the neck with a knife. After that they poured petrol on me and set me on fire,” the woman told the police from her hospital bed in Unnao.

“When I started shouting, a crowd collected and the police was called,” she said.

The incident, just days after the Hyderabad rape case in which the woman’s body was set of fire by the accused, triggered outrage in the Parliament. In a shocking twist, all four accused in the case were killed in a police encounter this morning.

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for 30 minutes amid an uproar by opposition parties on Thursday.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav hit out at the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh over the law and order situation.

Priyanka Gandhi said BJP leaders should stop their “false propaganda”.

“Yesterday the home minister of the country and Uttar Pradesh chief minister lied that law and order in Uttar Pradesh has become good. Seeing such incidents every day leads to anger,” she said.

The Samajwadi Party demanded that the Adityanath government should step down.

“The state government should take moral responsibility of the incident and resign,” demanded Akhilesh Yadav.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma sought an action taken a report from the Uttar Pradesh police as well as a detailed report on the reported heinous crimes committed against women and bail granted in such cases in the last three years.

“Considering the gravity of the matter, it is requested to send a detailed action taken report in the matter from the date of filing complaint of rape by the rape survivor and strict action be taken against erring officials for not providing protection to the rape victim, if found guilty,” Sharma said in the letter.

Unnao has been in the spotlight after a young woman accused former BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar of raping her.

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India News

Delhi-NCR sees second spell of rain and thunderstorms in four days

Delhi-NCR experienced another spell of rain and thunderstorms on March 18, with IMD forecasting more showers over the next few days.

Published

8 hours ago

March 18, 2026

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Delhi and parts of the National Capital Region witnessed another spell of rain, thunderstorms, and strong winds on Wednesday evening, marking the second such weather event in the past four days.

The sudden change brought relief from unusually high temperatures recorded earlier this month. According to officials, the temperature at Safdarjung — the city’s base weather station — was recorded at 24 degrees Celsius at 7 pm.

The India Meteorological Department had earlier issued an alert predicting light to moderate rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning on March 18. Several areas across the capital experienced gusty winds along with brief but intense showers.

More rain likely over next two days

The weather department has forecast partly cloudy skies for March 19 and 20, with chances of light rain or thundershowers occurring once or twice during the day. On March 21, skies are expected to remain cloudy with the possibility of light showers continuing.

Conditions are likely to stabilise from March 23 onwards, with forecasts indicating a return to partly cloudy to clear skies across the region.

Weather activity across India to intensify

The IMD has also indicated widespread weather activity across multiple regions of the country in the coming days. Rainfall is expected to intensify in several states, accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds.

In the northeastern region, heavy rainfall is likely over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and Meghalaya during the early part of the week.

Meanwhile, the western Himalayan region is also set to witness a shift in weather patterns. Himachal Pradesh is likely to receive heavy rainfall on March 19 and 20, while Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir may experience heavy showers around March 20.

India News

Centre pushes states to cut levies to boost PNG adoption

The Centre has asked states to reduce local levies and streamline approvals to accelerate PNG adoption and city gas infrastructure growth.

Published

10 hours ago

March 18, 2026

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The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has urged states and Union Territories to ease local levies and procedural barriers affecting City Gas Distribution (CGD) projects, in a bid to accelerate the adoption of piped natural gas (PNG) as a cleaner fuel alternative.

In a communication sent to Chief Secretaries, Petroleum and Natural Gas Secretary Neeraj Mittal highlighted that high right-of-way charges, road cutting fees, lease rentals and other local levies imposed by urban bodies are discouraging investments in CGD infrastructure.

High costs slowing expansion

The ministry pointed out that the CGD sector, particularly PNG supply to households and commercial establishments, does not receive direct subsidies. As a result, it depends heavily on viable returns, which are being impacted by excessive and inconsistent local charges across states.

It noted that these financial and procedural hurdles are slowing down infrastructure expansion and affecting the broader adoption of natural gas.

Gap between connections and usage

According to the government, while around 12.63 crore PNG connections have been recorded, only about 1.6 crore are currently active. The ministry stressed that improving ease of doing business at state and local levels could help bridge this gap and expand the consumer base.

Officials believe that rationalising levies may initially reduce local revenues but could lead to higher long-term gains through increased gas consumption and economic activity.

LPG shortage adds urgency

The push for PNG adoption comes amid supply constraints in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), linked to ongoing tensions in the Middle East. Oil marketing companies are currently supplying only 20 per cent of normal commercial LPG demand to states.

To address this, the ministry has proposed increasing LPG allocation to 30 per cent for states that implement reforms supporting PNG and CGD expansion.

Reform-linked incentives for states

The Centre has suggested a set of measures that states can adopt to qualify for higher LPG allocations. These include:

Setting up empowered state and district-level committees for faster approvals
Introducing single-window clearance with deemed approvals within 24 hours
Implementing a dig-and-restore model using bank guarantees instead of restoration charges
Eliminating annual rental or lease charges for CGD infrastructure

The ministry said compliance with these reforms would be verified before granting additional LPG allocations.

Industry support measures

The communication also noted that GAIL and its subsidiaries have already allocated full gas supply to the commercial PNG segment to support businesses affected by reduced LPG availability.

The government reiterated that expanding natural gas usage aligns with its broader push for cleaner and domestically sourced energy.

India News

BJP seals Assam seat-sharing pact, Modi to hold 3 rallies in April

BJP has finalised its Assam seat-sharing plan with allies and is gearing up for an intense campaign led by PM Modi and Amit Shah.

Published

10 hours ago

March 18, 2026

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The Bharatiya Janata Party has finalised its seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Assam Assembly elections, firming up its strategy alongside National Democratic Alliance partners as campaigning gathers pace in the state.

Under the agreement, the BJP will contest 89 seats, while its allies — Asom Gana Parishad and Bodoland People’s Front — will field candidates in 26 and 11 constituencies respectively. The distribution has been decided after internal deliberations, with the focus now shifting to candidate announcements and campaign execution.

Campaign push led by top leadership

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address three rallies in Assam during the final leg of the campaign. Tentative dates for the rallies are April 1, April 3 and April 6, with events likely to be held in key constituencies.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is also set to spearhead an extensive campaign across the state through March, aiming to energise party workers and strengthen voter outreach.

Candidate selection underway

The party’s Central Election Committee is currently meeting to finalise candidates. Sources indicate that approvals for most constituencies are expected soon, and the BJP may release its complete list of candidates within the next two days.

Ticket distribution remains a crucial exercise, with internal discussions highlighting its potential impact on local political dynamics. Party leaders have also touched upon the proposed delimitation exercise scheduled for 2027, which is expected to have long-term implications for Assam’s electoral landscape.