Prayagraj, Oct 12 (IANS) The Allahabad High Court has observed that a Muslim man, who marries for the second time against the wishes of his first wife, cannot seek a decree from any civil court to compel the first wife to live with him.

The bench comprising Justice Surya Prakash Kesarwani and Justice Rajendra Kumar, made this observation while dealing with an appeal filed by a Muslim man, challenging a family court's order dismissing his case for restitution of conjugal rights.

The bench, while dismissing the plea, said as per the mandate of the Holy Quran, a man can marry up to four women but if he fears that he will not be able to deal with them justly then can marry only one.

"If a Muslim man is not capable of fostering his wife and children, then as per the mandate of the Holy Quran, he cannot marry another woman," the court observed.

The court also opined that a Muslim husband has the legal right to take a second wife even while the first marriage subsists.

"But if he does so, and then seeks the assistance of a civil court to compel the first wife to live with him against her wishes, she is entitled to raise the question of whether the court, as a court of equity, ought to compel her to submit to co-habitation with such a husband," the judges said.

The bench also observed that when the appellant has contracted the second marriage suppressing this fact from his first wife, then such conduct of the plaintiff-appellant amounts to cruelty to his first wife.

"Under the circumstances, if the first wife does not wish to live with her husband, then she cannot be compelled to go with him in a suit filed by him for restitution of conjugal rights. If the contention of the husband for grant of decree of conjugal rights is accepted, then from the point of view of the wife, it would amount to breach of her fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India," it added.

 Bhopal, Oct 12 (IANS) Veteran Congress leader and party's presidential poll candidate Mallikarjun Kharge will, on Wednesday, visit the state capital as part of his campaign for the October 17 election.

New Delhi, Oct 11 (IANS) The change of weather, or rather unexpected rains may have brought relief to Delhiites from soaring temperatures, but the present condition has also resulted in an 'unexpected' burden -- in the form of price rise -- which is going to affect the common man's pocket yet again.

Following three days of rain, the national capital is witnessing a sharp rise in prices of vegetables. And if vegetable sellers are to be believed, this will stay for some time now.

In the last week, most vegetable prices shot up by Rs 10 to 15 in the markets. The prices are expected to rise further in the next few days and the reason is "unwanted rains".

Speaking to IANS, Sachin Bhagat, a businessman in Azadpur Mandi, said that rates have already gone up if one compares it with Monday market.

"All the local vegetables which come from Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana have been impacted with the unwanted rains. The crops got damaged in a few areas.

"Beans were Rs 50 per kg on Monday (wholesale rate), and on Tuesday morning we sold it for Rs70 per kg. Cauliflower was Rs 60 and now reached Rs 80. Spinach was Rs 10 and now Rs 50. Lady finger jumped from 20 to 35, Brinjal from 25 to 50. Beetroot from 20 to 40. These are wholesale rates I am talking about,'' he said.

However, the businessman further claimed that rates will go down in November and December.

"This happens every year. November and December are quite easy going for common man. Fasal achi hoti hai (good harvesting)... so rates go a bit down. Let's hope for the best (if there is no rain like this).''

Lalit Kumar, another vendor in Azadpur Mandi, said the prices of fruits, too, have also gone up.

Skyrocketting prices of essentials has dealt a heavy blow to the public already struggling to recover from the repercussions of the Covid-induced lockdowns imposed in phases since early 2020.

Be it vegetables or foodgrains, the prices have touched the roof, right from taking them out of the farms to reaching the common man's kitchen.

Prices increase manifold by the time it reaches the consumer from the farms via markets, wholesaler and the vendors.

Interestingly, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in a video shared by her office last week, was seen buying vegetables during her day-long visit to Chennai. The video shared on Twitter evoked mixed reactions from the netizens.

The Finance Minister was seen buying some sweet potatoes and interacting with vegetable vendors.

Rising food prices have spiked inflation, which has been above RBI's tolerance limit for the past eight months.

 Chennai, Oct 11 (IANS) A 17-year-old boy studying in a polytechnic tied the nuptial knot with a 16-year-old minor girl at a bus shelter in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu in the presence of onlookers. The video of the incident went viral on social media and the Cuddalore police arrested the boy under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.

The district police and the District Child Protection Unit launched an investigation after the video of the act went viral and finally, the police arrested the boy on Tuesday.

The boy was sent to a juvenile observation home in Cuddalore while the girl was given counselling at the office of the child welfare committee. The Cuddalore police in a statement on Tuesday said that it arrested another person, Balaji Ganesh. P (51) for circulating the video of the marriage.

Balaji was booked under the Juvenile Justice Act, Prevention of Women Harassment Act, and the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act as the boy and girl belong to the Scheduled Caste.

Shillong, Oct 11 (IANS) After having 'strained relationship' with the National People's Party (NPP), which dominated Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday announced to field candidates in all the 60 seats in the next assembly elections, due in February next year.

Meghalaya BJP President Ernest Mawrie said that the party would contest in all 60 Assembly seats in the state in the assembly election, which is less than five months away from now. "The BJP would do well in Meghalaya in the upcoming polls as the people are very happy for the schemes being implemented by the BJP-led Central Government," Mawrie told the media.

He said that the party has already finalised its strategies to take on the other parties in the ensuing assembly polls.

In the last assembly polls in 2018, the BJP had nominated 47 candidates including two women nominees, and won two seats - Pynthorumkhrah (Alexander Laloo Hek) and South Shillong (Sanbor Shullai). Shullai is now a cabinet minister of the MDA government headed by Chief Minister and the NPP President Conrad K. Sangma.

With two members, BJP is the junior partner of the NPP-led MDA government but the saffron party's relations have been deteriorating since last year on various policy matters.

Last month, state BJP leaders threatened to withdraw support from the MDA government. But the party is now silent on the pullout decision. BJP MLA and Minister Shullai, who holds the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary, Arts and Culture, Prisons and Correctional Services, Labour Departments, recently indicated that his party might not withdraw support from the MDA government.

With state BJP leaders largely mum after their pullout threat, political pundits are saying that the party's Central leaders did not endorse the state unit's decision. Chief Minister Sangma has already termed the state BJP leaders' threat as an "individual decision" while NPP state President W.R. Kharlukhi described it as "total farce".

Meghalaya BJP President Ernest Mawrie, former Health and Family Welfare Minister Alexander Laloo Hek, BJP national Vice-President and party's Meghalaya in-charge M. Chuba Ao earlier separately said that the state party leaders unanimously decided to withdraw support from the MDA government but the final decision would be taken by the Central leadership.

To a query about the reasons behind the decision to quit the ruling coalition almost at the end of the full five year term, Hek had told IANS that "everything would be disclosed and explained in detail at an appropriate time".

NPP's relation with the BJP had been gradually souring over various issues, specially after the arrest of BJP state Vice President Bernard N. Marak, who was arrested from Uttar Pradesh by the Meghalaya Police on July 25 for allegedly running a brothel in the West Garo Hills district.

Hyderabad, Oct 11 (IANS) From a gun-wielding Maoist to lawyer to a legislator and now PhD in political sciences, Danasari Anasuya's life is full of struggles.

Seethakka, as the Congress leader and member of the Telangana Assembly, is popularly known, Tuesday took to Twitter to declare that she has completed the PhD from Osmania University.

The 50-year-old tribal MLA did her PhD in social exclusion and deprivation of migrant tribals of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh - a case study of Gotti Koya tribes in Warangal and Khammam district.

"In my childhood, I never thought I would be a Naxalite (Maoist), when I am Naxalite, I never thought I would be a lawyer, when I am lawyer, I never thought I would be MLA, when I am MLA I never thought I will pursue my PhD. Now you can call me Dr Anusuya Seethakka PhD in political science," wrote Seethakka, MLA from Mulugu.

"Serving people & gaining knowledge is my habit. I will never stop doing it until my last breath," she said.

She thanked her PhD guide Prof. T Tirupathi Rao, former Vice Chancellor of Osmania University, HOD Prof Musalaia, Prof Ashok Naidu, and Prof Chandru Nayak.

Congratulations poured in for Seethakka on her achievement. Leaders of Congress and people from different walks of life congratulated her and expressed their best wishes for her future endeavors.

Party's central leader and incharge of party affairs in Telangana Manickam Tagore, state Congress chief A. Revanth Reddy, and senior leader Madhu Goud Yaskhi were among those who congratulated her.

Belonging to the Koya tribe, Seethakka had joined Maoist movement at an early age and was heading an armed squad active in the same tribal belt. She participated in many gunfights with the police and lost her husband and brother in encounters.

Disillusioned with the movement, she surrendered to the police under a general amnesty plan in 1994. With this, life took a new turn for Seethakka, who pursued her studies and secured a law degree. She also practised as an advocate at a court in Warangal.

She later joined the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and contested from Mulug in 2004 elections. However, facing a Congress wave, she finished runner-up. However, in 2009, she won the election from the same constituency.

She finished third in 2014 polls and in 2017, quit the TDP to join Congress. She made a strong comeback in 2018 by wresting the seat despite the statewide sweep by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

Seethakka hit the headlines with her humanitarian work in remote villages in her constituency during Covid-19 pandemic.

Carrying a load of essentials on her shoulders, she walked through the forests, rocky terrain and crossed rivulets to help the needy during the ongoing lockdown.

Having operated in the same forest as a gun-wielding Maoist rebel in the late 1980s and early 1990s, she was not unfamiliar with the terrain. The only difference, in her own words, was that as a Maoist had a gun in her hand and during the pandemic she carried food and other essential commodities.

 Rajkot (Gujarat) [India], October 11 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a public meeting at Jamkandorna in Rajkot district of Gujarat today.
"Being in Jamkandorana is always special," tweeted PM Modi. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel along with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders of Gujarat were present at the public rally.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is on a Gujarat visit on Monday laid the foundation stone and dedicated to the nation multiple projects worth over Rs 8,000 crore at Amod, Bharuch.
He laid the foundation stone of Bulk Drug Park at Jambusar, Deep Sea Pipeline Project at Dahej, Phase 1 of Ankleshwar Airport and the development of Multilevel Industrial Sheds at Ankleshwar and Panoli.
The Prime Minister also dedicated several projects which will give a boost to the chemicals sector in Gujarat including GACL Plant, Bharuch Underground Drainage and IOCL Dahej Koyali Pipeline.
He said the foundation stone of Bharuch Airport in Ankleshwar has also been laid so that the people here do not have to depend on Baroda or Surat.
Noting that Bharuch district has more industry than some other small states of the country, he said that with the new airport project, the region is bound to take the high road in terms of development.
"This is the new face of Gujarat. Gujarat, in the last two decades, has transformed from a state lagging in every field to a thriving industrial and agricultural state. With busy ports and a developing coastline, the lives of the tribal and fisherman community got transformed," he said.
PM Modi said that due to the hard work of the people of Gujarat, a golden age has started for the youth of the state.
"We should not lose this opportunity by creating an enabling environment free of obstacles, he said. Both policy and intention (Niti and Niyat) are needed for realizing these dreams, he said. (ANI)

 New Delhi [India], October 11 (ANI): The Chief Justice of India UU Lalit on Tuesday recommended Justice DY Chandrachud's name as his successor to the Centre in accordance with the convention.
Justice Chandrachud is to become the 50th CJI and will assume office on November 9. Once appointed he will have a tenure till November 10, 2024. The Union Law Ministry had last week initiated the process for the appointment of the next CJI, asking the outgoing CJI to recommend his successor.
Today, CJI Lalit requested all judges to assemble in the judge's lounge at 10.15 AM as he handed over the letter, naming his successor.
Justice Lalit succeeded Justice NV Ramana, who retired on August 26. CJI Lalit had a brief tenure of 74 days as the head of India's judiciary and would demit office on November 8.
According to the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP), which governs the process of appointment of judges in the higher judiciary, the outgoing CJI initiates the process of naming the successor after getting a communication from the Law ministry.
The MoP states that the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court is considered fit to hold the office of the CJI and the views of the outgoing head of the judiciary have to be sought at the appropriate time.
The MoP, however, does not specify the time limit for the initiation of the process of recommending the name of the successor CJI.
Justice Chandrachud is the second most senior judge of the Supreme Court.
Justice Chandrachud's father Justice YV Chandrachud was the 16th Chief Justice of India serving from 2 February 1978 to 11 July 1985.
Justice Chandrachud, born on 11 November 1959, was appointed judge of the Supreme Court on 13 May 2016. He was the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court from 31 October 2013, until his appointment to the Supreme Court. Justice Chandrachud was the judge of the Bombay High Court from 29 March 2000 until his appointment as Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court.
He had also served as Additional Solicitor General of India from 1998 until his appointment as a judge in the Bombay High Court. He was designated as a senior advocate by the Bombay High Court in June 1998. (ANI)

 New Delhi/ Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 11 (ANI/PRNewswire): IIFL Finance , one of India's largest retail-focused diversified non-banking financial companies, has partnered with Credgenics , the leading provider of SaaS-based collections and debt resolution technology solutions worldwide, to implement Credgenics' end-to-end debt collections technology platform. Digitization to drive the next level of efficiencies and profitability. ML-based strategies to strengthen customer-focused approach in collections.
Credgenics AI-powered collections platform, deployed at IIFL Finance, covers a range of solutions across the collections stages from pre-due management to post-due recoveries. The platform has enabled completely digitized loan collections at IIFL with ML-based analytical capabilities to segment borrowers and roll out tailored collections strategies. With Credgenics, IIFL has implemented a multichannel strategic digital communications approach resulting in reduced bounce rates, higher recoveries, and enhanced customer engagement. The CG Collect mobile app has digitized field collections with its innovative capabilities including agent route map planning, proximity-based allocation, google maps navigation, field force tracking, unified borrower details, and simplified visit management. The Billzy digital payments application ensures that IIFL borrowers can easily complete their loan repayments digitally through custom payment links embedded in the communications. Credgenics, recognized as the top market-leading loan collections platform in India by IBS Intelligence in their Annual Sales League Table 2022, has reduced the operations cost with its automated and simplified processes.
Credgenics has also implemented 'Project Litigal', derived from 'Legal + Digital', a unique approach to digitize the collections related to legal processes at IIFL. Credgenics dashboards provide a 360-degree view of all litigation activities while integration with eCourts offers legal case tracking, real-time updates, and reminders. With Credgenics, the entire legal communication including notices, summons and warrants, across the lifecycle is sent digitally with tracking capabilities. Advocate dashboards that provide a comprehensive overview of the associated activities and costs incurred, offer enhanced visibility and transparency. An advanced version of the platform's mobile app will further provide advocates with quick access to notices and eCourts data.
Sanjeev Srivastava, Chief Risk Officer, IIFL Finance said, "Delivering disruptive products by combining innovation and setting a new benchmark in customer-centricity is a key differentiator for IIFL Finance. We take great pride in being the trendsetter when it comes to making our solutions and processes future-oriented. We partnered with Credgenics as we believe that their platform will bring in tremendous business agility, dynamism, and efficiencies across our collections value chain."
Sandeep K Rajput, Head Legal Recoveries, IIFL Finance said, "I would like to extend my thanks to the Credgenics team for their utmost efforts to set up the process of Litigal. Now, a new era has begun which is called 'LITIGAL', a unique form of Legal + Digital. We adopted it at a very fast pace through Credgenics and implemented the way of legal in Digital. This will definitely set up a new precedent in IIFL Finance while we move forward with a 100 per cent digital hybrid model. The legal and recovery team is dedicated to implementing all processes in this manner one by one. Automation of legal notices, servicing in a digital way, Chatbot, AI, IVR for legal cases is the way forward."
Rishabh Goel, Co-founder, and CEO of Credgenics said, "We are proud to be working with IIFL Finance for the digital transformation of debt collections. IIFL is a pioneer in leveraging technology innovations to redefine customer experience and Credgenics is extending this approach to collections. Soon after implementation, our market-leading platform has made a significant positive impact to the key collections-related metrics at IIFL, and we are confident of delivering more business value in the future."
IIFL Finance Ltd is a leading retail-focused diversified NBFC in India, engaged in the business of loans and mortgages along with its subsidiaries - IIFL Home Finance Limited and IIFL Samasta Finance Limited. IIFL Finance, through its subsidiaries, offers a wide spectrum of products such as Home loan, Gold loan, Business loan, Microfinance, Capital Market finance and Developer and Construction finance to a vast customer base of over 8 million customers. IIFL Finance has widened its pan-India reach through an extensive network of branches spread across the country and various digital channels. https://www.iifl.com/
Credgenics is the leading provider of Loan Collections and Debt Resolution technology platform to Banks, Non-banking finance companies, FinTechs, and ARCs worldwide. The SaaS-based platform provides solutions for end-to-end collections lifecycle including digital collections, multi-channel communications, calling, predictive dialers, litigation management, digital payments, mobile-based field collections, dashboard, and analytics. Credgenics reduces the time and cost to collect, increases the collections rate, brings down the NPAs, improves operational efficiencies, and transforms the borrowers' experiences. Credgenics works with 75+ customers and handles USD 2 bn NPA stage retail loan book value, and USD 6 bn delinquent stage retail loan book value. It manages 22 million retail loans and sends 50 million digital communications every month. With Credgenics, lenders have increased resolution rates by 20 per cent, improved collections by 25 per cent, reduced collections cost by 40 per cent, reduced collections time by 30 per cent, and improved legal efficiencies by 60 per cent. https://www.credgenics.com/
This story has been provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content in this article. (ANI/PRNewswire)

 New Delhi [India], October 11 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed greetings on the occasion of Parkash Purab of Guru Ramdas, on Tuesday.

The famous Guru Ramdas was the 4th Sikh Guru and has immense contributions to Sikh history. PM Modi said that Guru Ramdas Ji made an indelible contribution to Sikh history and culture, emphasising service and compassion.
Taking Twitter, PM said, "I bow to Sri Guru Ramas Ji on the auspicious occasion of his Parkash Purab. He has made an indelible contribution to Sikh history and culture with an emphasis on service and compassion."
PM also hailed Guru Ramdas as an outstanding poet and his works reflected a pure spirit of devotion."
The birth anniversary of Guru Ram Dass is celebrated as Parkash Divas or Parkash Gurpurab. He is called the founder of the holy city of Amritsar.
On the occasion of the birth anniversary of Guru Ram Das, devotees queued up in large numbers to celebrate the ocassion and took a holy dip in the Golden Temple Sarovar.
The Chief Minister of Punjab Bhagawant Mann also hailed Guru Ramdas on his birth anniversary and greeted people on the occasion.

"Congratulations to all the devotees on the occasion of Prakash Purab of the founder of the holy city Sri Amritsar Sahib... the fourth Patshah Sahib Sri Guru Ram Das Ji", Mann tweeted.
Mann further said that Guru Sahib also gave a message to humanity in his entire life and composed Gurbani to live life with love, egoless and service spirit.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also extended his greetings on the occasion of Parkash Utsav.

"Hearty congratulations and best wishes to all the people of the state and the Sikh community on the holy Parkash Utsav of Guru Sahib Shri Guru Ramdas Ji Maharaj," Yogi said. (ANI)