A 90-year-old in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur district has sold her five goats to construct a toilet for her 120-year-old mother-in-law.

When everyone else is celebrating Mother's Day with bouquets and cupcakes, Chandana from Kanpur Dehat gave her mother-in-law a unique gift.

Chandana can be seen as an ambassador for the central government's campaign to improve sanitation in rural India.

She sold her five goats to generate capital to build the toilet as no government authority helped her in this cause.

She said that the day her mother-in-law had gone out for defecation and fell down and broke her leg was when she decided to have a toilet built for her.

Chandana's son Ram Prakash said that the village sarpanch and district authorities didn't do anything even when his mother tried seeking help from them. It was then that she decided to build the toilet by herself.

Chandana facing rejection from the government authorities decided that she will take things in her own hand.

Despite of being financially unstable, she gathered courage and sold her goats for this special gift for her mother-in-law.

When contacted, the village sarpanch tried to shift the blame on the district authorities.

He said, "We have time and again given list to the district authorities but till now not even one toilet has been constructed."

The district officials appreciated Chandana's determination and they said that they will conduct an enquiry into the matter.

Report and photograph: ANI

Financial assistance of Rs 10.5 lakh was announced today for the family of a young woman who was gang-raped and killed in Haryana last week.

As the 23-year old woman was a Dalit, the state welfare department would provide Rs 8.5 lakh to her family under provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

"The remaining Rs 2 lakh will be given by the Red Cross," Sonipat Deputy Commissioner K Makrand Pandurang told PTI over phone.

The mutilated body of the woman was found near the Industrial Model Township in Urban Estate, Rohtak, on May 11, two days after she had gone missing.

Stray dogs had bitten away the victim's face and lower portion of her body which was spotted by a passer-by.

The woman, said to be a divorcee, had been kidnapped from Sonipat on May 9 and taken to Rohtak in a car, police said. -- PTI

Southwest monsoon has advanced into parts of southeast Bay of Bengal, Nicobar Islands, south Andaman Sea and parts of north Andaman Sea, the MeT department has said.

It has advised fishermen not to venture into sea along and off Nicobar Islands during May14-15 and along and off Andaman Islands during May15-17.  -- ANI

In a shocking incident, a 10- year-old girl in Haryana's Rohtak was found to be five months pregnant after being raped repeatedly allegedly by her stepfather, police said on Sunday.

The girl's pregnancy was confirmed by the doctors when her mother took her to a hospital, they said.

The police said that the accused, identified as Suresh, was arrested under section 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant section of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) 2012.

The family, originally hailing from Bihar, was residing at Durga Colony in Rohtak, Deputy Superintendent of Police (City) Ramesh Kumar said.

The mother, in a complaint lodged with the police, alleged that the girl's stepfather had been raping her for a long time and threatened the girl of dire consequences if she dared to disclose it to anyone.

The girl was admitted to PGIMS, Rohtak, police said, adding that they were probing further into the matter.  -- PTI

Emmanuel Macron on Sunday swore-in as the French President at the Elysee Palace after his resounding victory in the second round of the country's presidential elections.

Macron has become the youngest president in France's history and the youngest leader since Napolean.

Macron arrived at the Elysee palace on Sunday and walked down a red carpet.

He was greeted by outgoing Francois Hollande.

Around 300 people including trade union representatives and Nobel Prize winners attended the swearing-in ceremony of French President.

The 39-year-old President has promised to breathe new life into French politics and kick start the country's sluggish economy, CNN reported.

President Macron faces a daunting task of reviving the economy and tackle country's high unemployment rates.

The independent candidate won a resounding victory after crushing off far-right candidate Marine Le Pen with an overwhelming 66 percent majority.

In his first speech as the President, Macron said, "The whole world has watched our presidential election, the responsibility with which they have entrusted me is an honour." -- ANI

An encounter between terrorists and security personnel begins in Handwara's Waripora area in Jammu and Kashmir.

Two Lashkar-e-Tayyaba terrorists have been killed in the encounter.

A search operation on.

More details awaited. -- ANI

Representative image.

Claiming that the party's leadership faced similar allegations of corruption in the past, the Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday went all guns blazing at the Bharatiya Janata Party and called to stop tampering Delhi Minister Arvind Kejriwal's image.

Countering sacked Delhi minister Kapil Mishra's allegations, AAP's spokesperson Raghav Chadha said, "The BJP is raising the same questions from last two years which were raised by Kapil Mishra today. I think he is mentally unstable."

Speaking on the accusations of foreign visits, Chadha claimed that even before joining the party, he use to travel abroad.Echoing similar views, AAP senior leader Sanjay Singh alleged that the BJP and Kapil Mishra are hand-in-glove.

"Neel is an agent of BJP. He has also worked with BJP. I would ask BJP to stop using 'Sanghi Formula'," he said.

Refuting Mishra's claims, Singh further stated that 'we have followed all the rules while taking donations. The BJP is totally involved in this'.

Condemning the language used by Mishra in his conference, another AAP leader Ashutosh said, "I invite you, Kapil Mishra to AAP's office. I will open the door and then will make Kejriwal stand in front you.. If you won't drag him by the collar then I will think that there is still humanity left in you."

In a dramatic press conference that ended with sacked Delhi minister Kapil Mishra fainting, the former accused Kejriwal of corruption and warned him to resign by the evening.  -- ANI

The Uttar Pradesh government will take suggestions and change the syllabus to include 'forgotten personalities' in history, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said underlining the need to 'expose' those who have distorted history.

He also said that there was a need to decide whether there should be a place for those who 'relate themselves' to Mehmood Gaznavi, Allauddin Khilji, Babar and Aurangzeb.

"The name of Maharaja Suheldev and other great personalities were removed from history as per a conspiracy. There is a need to expose those who distorted history. We will carry forward this campaign," he said.

Adityanath was addressing Vishwa Hindu Parishad's 'Hindu Vijayotsav' programme in Lucknow.

"Maharaj Suheldev, who defeated foreign attacker Sayed Salar Masood Ghazi, was forgotten as per a conspiracy. History was distorted for political purposes to divide society and its not hidden. The day when correct history comes to the fore the people will identify those who have distorted it," he said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has been wooing the Pasis and Rajbhars. Suheldev, a warrior king, wielded influence around Bahraich and is revered by both Rajbhars and Pasis.

He said the Narendra Modi government has initiated work to honour those great personalities who contributed to the freedom struggle.

"The state government has already decided not to give holidays on anniversaries of great personalities instead students will be taught about their contributions on that day," he said.

He announced that his government will take suggestions from persons for all walks of society and 'change syllabus to include forgotten personalities in history'.

The chief minister advocated a debate on communalism to conclude 'who is communal and who is nationalist'.

"We have to decide whether there should be a place for those who are relating themselves to Mehmood Gajanavi, Allauddin Khilji, Babar or Aurangzeb," he added. -- PTI

The condition of rebel Aam Aadmi Party leader Kapil Mishra, admitted to the RML hospital in New Delhi after he fainted while addressing the media today, is stable, doctors said.

The former water resources and tourism minister in the Delhi government is suffering from 'a little weakness and mild dehydration', an RML doctor said.

"But he is conscious and his vitals are all normal," the doctor said.

His condition was being monitored, and he could be shifted to the RML's nursing home, the doctor added.

Mishra, who has been on a hunger strike for five days, fainted at around noon in the midst of a press conference.

Late last night, a team of doctors from RML hospital had examined Mishra and said his blood sugar level, pulse rate and blood pressure were normal.

The doctors had also advised that he be hospitalised, but Mishra carried on with his hunger strike.

The doctors said that the mild dehydration suffered by Mishra was because of no salt intake for the last few days, and described the condition as 'starvation ketosis'.

Mishra started his hunger strike on May 10, with the demand that his party release details of foreign tours undertaken by five leaders.

He has also levelled allegations of corruption against several party leaders, including the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and PWD Minister Satyendra Jain.  -- PTI

IMAGE: MLA Kapil Mishra, who fainted after his press conference on revelations on AAP's finances, being taken to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, in New Delhi on Sunday. Photograph: PTI Photo

The Centre will soon begin work on a Rs 11,000-crore project to provide road connectivity to 44 Naxal-affected districts, including Sukma in Chhattisgarh, which had recently witnessed one of the deadliest Maoist attacks.

Five per cent of the total project cost i.e Rs 550 crore will be kept aside for administrative expenses including for deployment of security forces at strategic locations, officials said.

To improve rural road connectivity in the left wing extremism affected districts, the cabinet had last year approved the centrally-sponsored 'Road Connectivity Project for Left Wing Extremism Affected Areas' scheme.

The project will be implemented under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana in the districts that are critical from a security and communication point of view.

Under the project, there will be construction or upgradation of 5,411 km of roads and 126 bridges. Work will be taken up at an estimated cost of Rs 11,724.53 crore in the above districts.

The project is likely to be started in the next few weeks and all necessary arrangements have been made for its launch, a top government official said.

Out of these 44 districts, the maximum are in Chattisgarh, where 25 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force were killed by Naxals last month.

Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra are the other states that will be covered under the scheme.  -- PTI

The post-mortem report of the Rohtak gang rape victim states that the cause of her death was due to head injury as blunt force injuries and multiple wounds were found on her skull and scalp.

The report said the victim's face, tongue, eye, ears was totally distorted, which made the face totally unidentifiable.

What makes the brutality every more evident, is that her oesophagus was missing and gnawing effects were seen over chest of the victim.

Meanwhile, Haryana Inspector general of police Inspector general of police informed that two accused have been arrested in connection with the case.

"We cannot tell the investigation details. Two accused has been arrested till now. The investigation is underway," said IG.

A case has been registered under the Indian Penal Code sections 376, 365, 302 against the accused.

On May 9, a woman was brutally gang-raped and murdered, wherein later her mutilated body was found in an empty plot in Haryana's Rohtak.

The incident came to light when the victim's body was found in city's IMT area. The victim had allegedly refused a marriage proposal, following which the accused reached her home a week later with his friends.

A heated argument broke out which resulted in the woman slapping him.

In revenge, the accused along with his friends allegedly raped and murdered her. The family of the victim said that on May 9, at least five to six youth abducted her from the gate of a private company.

After that the accused took her to a deserted place and gang-raped her.

The victim's mother said that the accused have been pressurising the woman for marriage for the past one year.

The forensic reports suggested that the victim was mutilated with sharp-edged weapons.

Later, the accused tried to run her over to hide her identity.

"The victim was tortured and her body was mutilated after the gang rape. She was killed after being raped involving at least seven people. Her skull was smashed in a way which indicates that she was run over by a vehicle in order to hide her identity," the forensic team has stated.

The victim was living with her mother and brother and used to work in a private medicine company.

The woman's parents had filed a missing complaint, based on which the police tracked her parents down.

The parents were called to Rohtak to identify her body.

The distraught parents have claimed that this ghastly attack was carried out by the girl's neighbour and have demanded capital punishment for the rapists. -- ANI

A civilian, injured in a terrorist attack in south Kashmir's Kulgam district on May 6, succumbedin Srinagar on Sunday, police said.

Mohammad Hussain Dar, a resident of Malpora area of the district, succumbed to his injuries at SKIMS hospital in Srinagar, a police official said.

Dar and five others, including two policemen, were injured when terrorists attacked a police party, which was trying to restore traffic after an accident in Mir Bazar area of the district on May 6.

While three civilians and a policeman succumbed to their injuries at a hospital that day, Dar and another police personnel were referred to SKIMS hospital, where Dar succumbed on Sunday morning, the official said.

A terrorist was also killed in the retaliatory firing by the security forces after the attack.  -- PTI

An encounter has broken out between Naxals and Central Reserve Police Force's COBRA commandos and District Reserve Group in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur.

Two DRG personnel have been injured  in the encounter.

Firing and search operation are still on.

More details awaited. -- Agencies

As digitisation and automation become the new normal, Information Technology biggies like Infosys, Cognizant and Tech Mahindra are seeing a spate of layoffs and this trend may continue for the next 1-2 years, say experts.

The pink slips are being handed out to thousands of employees as part of their performance appraisal process, but it is believed that these are directed more towards cost control amid pressure on bottom line due to a rising tide of protectionism in most target markets.

Indian software exporters in particular are facing headwinds in the business environment and stricter work permit regime in countries like the United States, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. Moreover, with newer technologies in artificial intelligence (AI), robotic process automation and cloud computing, which help complete the job with less manpower, software companies are now having to reconsider their strategies.

"It's a situation wherein the available talent haven't kept up with the pace at which the industry was evolving and hence, many of them find themselves redundant," said Rituparna Chakraborty, Team Lease Services Executive vice president and co-founder.

Executive search organisation Global Hunt MD Sunil Goel said: "This rationalisation does happen in every 3-5 years in the industry through new-age technologies, but this has impacted it more this time as the US also has changed policies for foreign IT workers."

Goel further noted that 'the consolidated trend may continue for next 1-2 years', but sees it as an opportunity for IT professionals to upgrade themselves and get into the newage technologies where demand is going to be huge.

Pink slips are likely for jobs in manual testing, technology support and system administration since these are increasingly going to be managed by AI and robotics process automation based systems.

However, there is surge in demand for latest and innovative technologies like data science, artificial intelligence and digital domain specific skills.

"It is a painful transitory phase. However, things would look up in the next two quarters as each of the IT services company successful steers towards a stable growth phase," Chakraborty said.

Talent management solutions provider KellyOCG India Country Director Francis Padamadan said, "We will continue to see some amount of rationalisation happening among IT companies though it is difficult to put a number."

Japanese brokerage firm Nomura, in a research note, said that the job cuts of 2-3 per cent of the overall headcount of nearly 7,60,000 by Infosys, Cognizant, Tech Mahindra and Wipro are not material.

However, this kind of rationalisation is likely to be a continuing phenomenon until the workforce realignment towards digital skills is complete.  -- PTI

Sacked Aam Aadmi Party leader Kapil Mishra falls unconscious immediately after his press conference on revelations on AAP's finances on fifth day of his hunger strike.

During his press conference, he dared Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to resign.

"Arvind Kejriwal, tumhari aankhon mein sharm bachi hai toh isteefa deke dikhaao aaj (Arvind Kejriwal, if you're even slightly ashamed today then resign.)," Mishra said.

"Agar aaj isteefa nhi diya toh collar pakad ke kursi se ghaseet ke jail ke andar daalunga,farzi karnaame janta ke saamne launga (if you do not resign today, I'll grab you by your collar and drag you to jail and expose your fraud in front of people),' Mishra said before fainting. -- ANI

IMAGE: Kapil Mishra faints during press conference. Photograph: ANI

Sacked Aam Aadmi Party leader Kapil Mishra, whose hunger strike entered its fifth day on Sunday, has claimed that the AAP gave false information to the Election Commission regarding its accounts.

Addressing the media at his residence, Mishra shows a presentation in this regard and also alleged that the party converted black money into white.

Mishra had earlier said that he will continue with his mission to expose corrupt elements in his party. -- ANI

IMAGE: A screenshot of the presentation shown by Kapil Mishra to media. Photograph: ANI

Real estate firm Parsvnath Developers has informed the Supreme Court that it has arrived at a settlement with Union minister Rajyavardan Singh Rathore over the possession of his flat in the plush Exotica project  in Gurugram.  

Aam Aadmi Party rebel Kapil Mishra, whose hunger strike entered its fifth day on Sunday, asserted that he will continue with his mission to expose corrupt elements in his party later today.  

The 112 feet tall 'Adiyogi' Lord Shiva steel statue located in Coimbatore at the Isha Yoga Centre, has been declared the world's largest bust by the Guinness Books of World Records.  

The RSS's cultural affiliate Sanskar Bharti, is planning to tie up with the Union ministry of culture to promote activities that will "correct the lies that people have been fed' about ancient Hindu scriptures being "anti-Dalit and anti-woman', starting with the Manusmriti, a senior office-bearer of the organisation has told Pragya Kaushika in The Sunday Express.

A group of petrol pump owners on Saturday said it has deferred the plan to shut shop on Sundays, reports Shine Jacob in Business Standard.  

The Central Reserve Police Force and the Jharkhand police, in a joint operation, busted a Naxal ammunition dump in the forest area of Lohardanga, Jharkhand yesterday evening. 

In what happens to be the first test since a new president took office in South Korea last week and called for dialogue with the North, the latter has launched a ballistic missile. 

The Pakistani army on Sunday initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatic weapons, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars along the Line of Control in Chiti Bakri area of Rajouri sector in Jammu and Kashmir.