L A T E S T      N E W S

Delhi rape: Key accused held

New Delhi: The nation stands in disbelief over the shocking gang-rape of a 23-year-old para-medical student in the heart of the national capital. Admitted to a city hospital, the victim was in a "critical condition" on Tuesday even as the police arrested three accused and launched a manhunt for the remaining.

In a late night development, Ram Singh, the driver of the bus in which the girl was raped, and his brother Yogesh were arrested. Both were inside the bus when the incident took place, a senior police official said.

Singh and Yogesh are the first to be arrested, police said, and added that Yogesh was driving the bus when Singh raped the girl along with others.

The police have identified four people, who allegedly raped the girl, and have already prepared sketches of two of them.

The girl, who is pursuing the course in Uttarakhand and is in New Delhi for her internship, was battling for life at the Safdarjung Hospital where she was rushed late Sunday night after the incident that has sparked nationwide outrage.

The girl, who has undergone a lot of trauma, is currently on ventilator support and a team of doctors is keeping a close watch on her health condition.

Bal Thackeray's memorial removed

Mumbai: A month after Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray was cremated, his party workers today removed the temporary structure at the funeral spot at Shivaji Park which had become a makeshift memorial for his followers.

The process to remove the structure began around midnight in presence of Mayor Sunil Prabhu and senior Sena leaders including party group leader in Assembly Subhash Desai and was completed three hours later.

Curtains were put up around the structure and a soil extractor machine was used for removal after which the debris was put in a truck.

Although the process which went on after 3 AM, was largely peaceful, police foiled a bid by zealous Shiv sainiks to erect a memorial of the Sena patriarch adjacent to the Shivaji statue at the park. Media was prevented by Sainiks from filming the structure removal.

RBI rates unchanged; no change in EMIs  

New Delhi: The Reserve bank of India (RBI) in its mid-quarter review of monetary policy kept policy rates unchanged on Tuesday.

Repo is the rate at which RBI lends money to the banks. It stands at 8 percent at present, leading to a high interest rate regime - much blamed for slowing industrial growth while the reverse rates stand at 7 percent.

The central bank has also kept the CRR unchanged. CRR is the portion of deposits that banks have to mandatorily park with RBI, which is 4.25 percent now.

Inflation declined to 10-month low of 7.24 percent in November from 7.45 percent in the previous month, raising hopes that RBI may cut rates to spur growth.

At the same time, the economic growth in the first half of the fiscal fell to 5.4 percent, as against 7.3 percent in the year-ago period. The growth in 2011-12 had fallen to a nine-year low of 6.5 percent.