NEWS

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately repeal the farm laws in order to resolve the ongoing farmers protest. The chief minister made the appeal stressing on the fact that there was nothing wrong with the demands of the farmers.

CM Singh said, "The farmers have made their stand very clear that the laws should be repealed. It is the job of the government of India to listen to them."

Categorically rejecting as "highly irresponsible" reports in a section of the media that Punjab had already implemented the new farm laws, the Chief Minister said Food Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu's statement had been mischievously twisted by one newspaper, with others picking it up.

Vehicular traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway remained suspended for the fourth straight day on Wednesday following more snowfall around Jawahar Tunnel and landslides at many places between Banihal in Ramban district to Udhampur.

Eight people were also rescued after their vehicles got trapped in a mudslide near Panthial in Ramban district late Tuesday, officials said on Wednesday.

The highway has been closed since Sunday following heavy snowfall and incessant rains which triggered multiple landslides.

Additional director general of police, T Namgyal said there has been fresh snowfall on both ends of Jawahar Tunnel and landslides at several places along the highway.

In a sensational turn of events, former Andhra Pradesh minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader Bhuma Akhila Priya was arrested on Wednesday for the abduction of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's close relatives in Hyderabad on Tuesday evening.

Former hockey player Praveen Rao and his brothers Sunil and Naveen were kidnapped from their home in Hyderabad's Bowenpally area around 7pm on Tuesday. At 3:30am on Wednesday, the kidnappers left the victims at Kokapet and fled.

Police have named the Akhila Priya's uncle AV Subba Reddy as prime accused, while also booking the former Andhra minister and her husband Bhargava Ram in the case. Involvement of others, including Priya's brother and former MLA Jagadwikhyath Reddy and brother-in-law Chandrahas are is also suspected.

A day after registering a case against a roadside vendor in Uttar Pradesh for selling shoes that had "Thakur" written on it, the Bulandshahr police on Wednesday dropped the IPC Section 153A from the FIR, which pertains to promoting enmity between groups and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony.

The vendor, Nasir, was booked following a complaint by a local resident, Vishal Chauhan, that the shoes being sold by him had the word "Thakur" written on it.

Initially, an FIR was lodged under IPC Sections 153A (promoting enmity between groups and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), according to officials.