India

Ahmedabad(PTI): The Gujarat High Court today acquitted former BJP minister Maya Kodnani and upheld the conviction of ex-Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi in the 2002 Naroda Patiya riot case in which 97 people were killed by a mob. A division bench of Justices Harsha Devani and A S Supehiya, while acquitting Kodnani, said she should be given the benefit of...

Srinagar(PTI): Mobile Internet services have been temporarily suspended in Srinagar city, while the high-speed network was throttled in parts of south Kashmir today as a precautionary measure to check rumour mongering in the wake of recent protests demanding justice for the Kathua rape victim. A police official said the suspension of the mobile Internet facility is a precautionary measure for...

New Delhi(PTI): Opposition parties led by the Congress today met Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and handed over a notice for impeachment of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra. According to sources, over 60 MPs of the Rajya Sabha belonging to seven political parties gave the notice for the impeachment against the CJI. The MPs who signed...

Bhubaneswar(PTI): Newly appointed Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik today said the party is set to fight a winning battle in 2019. The Congress earlier in the day revamped its Odisha unit naming Patnaik as the new chief, barely months ahead of simultaneous Assembly polls in Odisha and Lok Sabha election. "We are going to fight a winning battle,...

New Delhi(PTI): The Supreme Court today said it was not sure whether bringing people "face to face" with authorities through Aadhaar was the best model as the State should reach them to accord the benefits of the welfare schemes. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, hearing a clutch of petitions challenging Aadhaar and its enabling 2016...

New Delhi(PTI): Congress president Rahul Gandhi met NCP chief Sharad Pawar and discussed the political situation in the country and possibilities of getting all opposition parties together on one platform to defeat the BJP in 2019 polls. According to sources, the meeting between Gandhi and Pawar last night lasted around 1.5 hours at Pawar's residence, during which the political situation...

New Delhi(PTI): The Delhi High Court today directed a top mobile company official to be present before it in a contempt case filed by ace cricketer M S Dhoni alleging that the firm was using his name by projecting him as its brand ambassador despite the termination of the agreement between them way back in December 2012. Justice V Kameswar...

New Delhi(PTI): The Delhi High Court today dismissed a BJP MP's plea to reassess the threat perception against him and enhance his security cover to Z category, after the Centre said he was being provided adequate protection. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) told Justice Mukta Gupta that BJP MP from Kurukshetra in Haryana, Raj Kumar Saini, was provided 'Y+'...

New Delhi(PTI): The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed pleas seeking an independent probe into the death of special CBI judge B H Loya, ruling that the judge died of natural causes and the petitions were a serious attempt to scandalise and obstruct the course of justice The apex court also held that all litigations concerning circumstances of death of judge...

New Delhi & Bhubaneswar: Ending months of speculations regarding revamping of Odisha Pradesh Congress AICC President Rahul Gandhi today appointed Niranjan Patnaik as the new Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) chief dislodging controversial Prasad Harichandan. The move came after the Congress supremo held a meeting with Senior Congress leaders from Odisha including Prasad Harichandan, Niranjan Patnaik, Narasingha Mishra, Bhakta...

Amethi in UP(PTI): Facing flak from the BJP for the virtual washout of the recent budget session of Parliament, Congress president Rahul Gandhi today hit back, saying the Prime Minister who has the time to travel all over the country, could not spare 15 minutes for the Lok Sabha. "Prime Minister is travelling across the country, but he does not...

New Delhi(PTI): Indian scientists have formulated an Ayurvedic drug to cure dengue, claimed to be the first in the world, and the medicine is likely to be available in the market by next year. The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), an autonomous body under the Ministry of AYUSH and ICMR's, regional research centre in Belgaum in Karnataka,...

Ahmedabad(PTI): Former VHP leader Pravin Togadia began his indefinite fast here today in support of his demands, including construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The 62-year-old Hindutva leader, who quit the post of VHP International Working President last week after his nominee Raghav Reddy lost a key organisational poll, launched the fast outside the state VHP headquarters in the...

Hyderabad(PTI): Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will meet his Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik in the first week of May to explore the feasibility of forming a non-BJP, non-Congress front before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, an official statement said today. The meeting between Rao, who heads Telangana's ruling party TRS, and Patnaik, the BJD chief, would take place in...