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A girl was allegedly gang-raped at an abandoned factory in Hooghly district, and two people have been arrested in connection with the incident.

The 16-year-old girl had entered the closed Hindmotor factory premises on Thursday evening with a friend.

“It is alleged that the accused, along with their associates, sexually assaulted the minor inside the premises,” a police officer told news agency PTI.

“Statements of the arrested accused are being recorded, and the case is being investigated from all angles,” he said, adding that further investigation is underway.

Police have slapped charges under the POCSO Act in the case, he said.

One of the arrested accused has been identified as Dipankar Adhikari, also known as Sonai, reportedly a Trinamool Congress youth leader in the locality, he said.

The other person arrested is the girl’s alleged boyfriend, who is also a minor, the officer said.

“We are looking for two more associates of the accused. They are on the run, and search operations are underway to trace them. A Test Identification (TI) parade will be conducted on Saturday as part of the investigation,” the officer told PTI.

“We do not know whether any of the arrested accused has any political connection or not,” he added.

“The girl is 16.5 years old, while her friend is 17 years old. He has been sent to the Juvenile board. We have received her medical report, and the necessary probe is on,” the IPS officer told PTI.

Later, a local Trinamool Congress leader, who identified himself as Nitai Dasgupta, said that the arrested accused was with their party.

“This person, if found guilty, should be punished. I would demand that the party's highest authority remove him from the party,” Dasgupta said.

Another party leader in the district, Ajay Shankar, said, “We do not support any such criminal activity. If found guilty, then he must be punished.”

When contacted, BJP party leader and MLA Agnimitra Paul lashed out at the TMC government and demanded strict action against the culprits.

Construction of over 100 new concrete roads, establishment of a 300-bed civil hospital, measures to mitigate air and noise pollution are some of the key promises that the BJP mentioned in its manifesto for the citizens of Mira Bhayandar in Thane district ahead of the civic polls.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, state BJP President Ravindra Chavan and local MLA Narendra Mehta on Friday released the party's manifesto for the January 15 elections to the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) elections during a rally.

The manifesto, titled ‘Resolve for the Development of Mira-Bhayandar’ outlines a comprehensive roadmap to transform the city into a modern, safe, and environmentally sustainable smart city.

Two Mahayuti allies—BJP and Shiv Sena—are in the race to take control of the civic body.

Construction of over 100 new concrete roads to ensure a pothole-free city, addition of new bus services, and a dedicated shared rickshaw system are some of the promises mentioned in the manifesto.

The party also promises to complete the Metro rail project, the Dahisar-Bhayander Link Road, and the Jesal Park-Ghodbunder Coastal Road to drastically reduce the travel time to Mumbai.

It said it is committed to achieving 24-hour water supply through the Surya Project and a new 75 MLD water scheme.

The party said if it comes to power in the civic body, it will establish a new 300-bed Civil Hospital, modernise the existing Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Hospital, and open more Ayushman Bharat card centres.

Implementation of a Cluster Development policy modified to local requirements and redevelopment of slums with modern toilets and regular water supply are other promises.

The manifesto says the party will cancel the Penkarpada garbage project, set up a biodiversity park, take air and noise pollution control measures, and install high-tech camera surveillance towers for women and girl child safety.

Elections to the 95-member civic body in Mira Bhayandar will be held on January 15, along with 28 corporations in the state.

ISRO has said its Aditya-L1 solar mission has provided new insights into how a powerful solar storm can impact Earth’s magnetic shield.

"The most severe effects occurred during the impact of the turbulent region of the solar storm,” the space agency said in a statement on Saturday (January 10).

In a breakthrough study published in the Astrophysical Journal in December 2025, ISRO scientists and research students analysed a major space weather event that struck Earth in October 2024.

The study used observations from Aditya-L1, India’s first solar observatory, along with data from other international space missions to decode the impact of a massive eruption of solar plasma from the Sun.

“Space weather refers to conditions in space caused by transient activity on the Sun, such as solar plasma eruptions, which can affect satellites, communication and navigation services, and power grid infrastructure on Earth,” the statement said.

According to ISRO, the turbulent region of the solar storm “strongly compressed Earth’s magnetic field, pushing it unusually close to the Earth and briefly exposing some satellites in geostationary orbit to harsh space conditions.” The space agency noted that this phenomenon occurs only during severe space weather events.

The study also revealed that during the turbulent phase, currents in the auroral region (high latitudes) super-intensified, a process that could heat the upper atmosphere and lead to enhanced atmospheric escape.

ISRO said the findings reinforce the need for close monitoring of solar activity, noting that the study highlights the importance of understanding of space weather phenomena and their real-time assessments to safeguard the critical space assets.

RJD president Lalu Prasad's daughter Rohini Acharya has criticised the members of her family for allegedly destroying a legacy, and claimed that outsiders are not needed for that.

Acharya did not name anyone in her post on X.

She also alleged that attempts were being made to "wipe out signs of those who gave identity and existence to a legacy".

“There is no need for outsiders to destroy the great legacy that was created and established with a great effort….our loved ones are enough for that. ‘Newly made own’ and ‘our own’ are more than enough”, Prasad's daughter wrote a post on X.

Without naming anyone, she also claimed that it was "shocking that our own are trying to wipe out signs of those who gave identity and existence to a legacy".

"When arrogance takes over, destructive forces become the eyes, nose and ears…such forces control a person's thinking and judgment. It happens when the veil falls over wisdom," she said.

It was speculated that she was “unhappy” over the expulsion of Tej Pratap Yadav, elder son of Prasad, from the party.

After the RJD was drubbed in the Bihar assembly polls last year, Acharya, a doctor by qualification, who chose to become a homemaker and settled down with her Singapore-based husband, had announced that she was “quitting politics” and severed ties with the family.

"I am quitting politics, and I am disowning my family…This is what Sanjay Yadav and Rameez had asked me to do …and I am taking all the blame," she had written in her post in November last year.

Sanjay Yadav is the Rajya Sabha MP from RJD and one of the most trusted aides of Tejashwi Yadav, the son and heir apparent of the RJD supremo. Rameez is said to be Tejashwi’s old friend, hailing from a political family in the adjoining state of Uttar Pradesh.

Acharya, who was in the news for donating a kidney to her father a few years ago, had unsuccessfully contested last year’s Lok Sabha polls from Saran.

The Telangana Drugs Control Administration has issued an urgent advisory to immediately stop the use of Almont-Kid Syrup, commonly prescribed to treat allergies, hay fever, and asthma in children, as it was allegedly found adulterated with Ethylene Glycol (EG), a highly toxic substance.

A notification of the DCA said it received an alert from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), East Zone, Kolkata, regarding a laboratory report that has declared the syrup (Levocetirizine Dihydrochloride and Montelukast Sodium Syrup) as adulterated.

“In light of the above, the public is hereby strongly advised to immediately stop the use of the above syrup, if in possession, and report the same to the nearest Drugs Control Authority without delay,” the DCA said.

All the Drugs Inspectors and Assistant Directors across the state have been directed to immediately alert all retailers, wholesalers, distributors, and hospitals to freeze any available stocks of the said product and ensure that those are not dispensed or sold under any circumstances.

The public may also report possession of the said product directly to the Drugs Control Administration, Telangana, through the Toll-Free Number, it added.

The Drugs Control Administration, Telangana, has initiated necessary enforcement measures and is actively monitoring the situation to prevent further risk to public health.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached hundreds of acres of land in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh worth more than Rs 580 crore in a money-laundering case against a Delhi-NCR-based real estate company that allegedly duped numerous homebuyers.

The probe is against ADEL Landmarks Ltd. (formerly Era Landmarks Ltd.) and its promoters Hem Singh Bharana and Sumit Bharana, the agency said in a statement.

An order was issued on Friday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for provisional attachment of 340 acres of land located in Gurugram, Faridabad, Palwal and Bahadurgarh in Haryana and Meerut and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, it said.

The ED said the total value of these plots is Rs 585.46 crore.

The money laundering case stems from 74 FIRs and chargesheets filed by Haryana and Delhi police against the company and its promoters on the charge of cheating “numerous” homebuyers by failing to deliver promised flats and units even after a delay of 12-19 years.

The ED said the realty company launched several residential group housing projects in Gurugram, Faridabad and Palwal in Haryana and collected Rs 1,075 crore as advance booking amount from 4,771 customers across eight projects—Cosmocourt, Cosmocity-I, Cosmocity-III, Skyville, Redwood Residency, Era Green World, Era Divine Court and ADEL Divine Court.

These projects, launched in 2006-2012, remain “incomplete” till today, the agency said. According to the ED, the aggrieved customers sought refunds and were issued cheques by the company, but many of which were “dishonoured” for various reasons.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to arrive in Kerala on Sunday (January 11) to attend various programmes in the state and meet party leaders.

BJP Kerala president Rajeev Chandrasekhar had recently said that Shah, also the Union Minister of Cooperation, will arrive in the state capital on January 11 to kick off the party's campaign for the assembly polls to be held this year.

According to the itinerary of the union minister given in the release, there will be a 'darshan and pooja' by him at the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in the morning and thereafter, he will meet the newly-elected local body representatives in Kerala.

Subsequently, in the afternoon, he will attend a conclave and then hold a meeting with NDA leaders at the BJP state office in Thiruvananthapuram in the evening, a government release said on Saturday (January 10).

The suspension of 12 Congress councillors of the Ambernath municipal council after they joined hands with the BJP could have been avoided had they made a tacit understanding instead of forming a separate group, senior Congress leader Shivajirao Moghe said on Saturday (January 10).

He said the councillors should have secured permission from the state congress president and then made a “tacit understanding” to ensure the local body functions in the larger public interest.

After the December 20 local body polls, the local unit of the BJP joined hands with its arch-rival, the Congress, under the banner of “Ambernath Vikas Aghadi” (AVA) to gain power in the municipal council, sidelining ally, Shiv Sena, which had emerged as the single-largest party. The Aghadi also included the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, another BJP ally in the state government.

Left red-faced after the unforeseen tie-up, the Congress on Wednesday (January 7) suspended its 12 councillors and a block president.

On Friday (January 9), the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the NCP, headed by Ajit Pawar, along with one independent member, formed a group to stake a claim to rule the Ambernath local body by keeping the BJP away from power.

Moghe, a former minister, said alliances with ideological opponents at the local levels are not new, and they are stitched to ensure that elected bodies function in the interest of the people. He recalled the Congress's tie-up with the BJP in Yavatmal after the 2017 Zilla Parishad elections.

"The situation was such that without the Congress’s support, the election of the ZP president wasn't possible," he recalled.

Moghe emphasised that gram panchayat or zilla parishad elections are for the grassroots cadre, and their views and opinions cannot be disregarded.

He said the Congress had an offer from the Shiv Sena (undivided) as well, but the saffron party was not ready to give Congress any share in power.

The BJP, on the other hand, agreed to give the Congress two-and-a-half years of the ZP president's post. The first half was taken by the BJP.

"Our support to the BJP was only for decisions taken for the welfare of people and the Yavatmal district. There was nothing in writing. In 2019, our alliance broke after the formation of Maha Vikas Aghadi at the state level, and Congress decided to support the Shiv Sena (undivided) for the ZP president's post for the remaining two-and-a-half years," Moghe said.

He recalled that then-state Congress president Ashok Chavan wasn't willing to ally with the BJP in Yavatmal, but later allowed the local Congress to proceed to enable the ZP to function.

"It was unavoidable, and a decision needed to be taken in the larger interests," Moghe said.

Referring to political developments in the Ambernath municipal council, Moghe said the 12 councillors forming a separate group with the BJP in the absence of state leadership's permission was wrong.