New Delhi: The number of civil services personnel recruited by the UPSC has declined in the last four years and reached its lowest of 2,352 in 2018-19, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.

A total of 3,750 candidates were recommended by the UPSC in 2015-16, 3,020 in 2016-17, 3,083 in 2017-18 and 2,352 in 2018-19, according to the data given by Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh in a written reply to the upper house.

As many as 3,750 vacancies were reported by the government for recruitment in 2015-16, 3,184 in 2016-17, 2,706 in 2017-18 and 2,353 in 2018-19, it said.

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts various examinations in accordance with the rules of examination notified by the nodal ministries or departments annually and recommends candidates keeping in view the number of vacancies intimated by the indenting ministries or departments, Singh said.

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Kozhikode (Kerala) (PTI): A Kerala court on Wednesday sentenced a man to 41 years in prison for sexually assaulting a minor boy near Valayam in 2021.

Nadapuram Fast Track Special Court judge K Naushad Ali sentenced 64-year-old Panchara Musa, also known as Ganapathiyat Musa, under various provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC), according to special public prosecutor Manoj Aroor.

As the sentences are to run concurrently, the convict will have to serve the highest term of 20 years’ imprisonment, SPP Aroor said. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 52,000 on Musa.

The incident took place in August 2021 when the accused allegedly took the 14-year-old boy to a bus stop in Valayam town and sexually assaulted him, the prosecutor said. The accused also gave Rs 50 to the boy, he added.

Following the incident, the boy and his father lodged a complaint at the Valayam police station.

A case under various provisions of the POCSO Act and the IPC was registered, and the accused was subsequently arrested, the SPP said.

The prosecution examined 16 witnesses and submitted 16 documents to substantiate its case against the accused, he added.