Kolkata, May 10 (IANS) In a virtual snub for the Mamata Banerjee government, the Calcutta High Court Friday ordered three-phase panchayat (rural body) polls and directed the state to fully compensate the shortfall in security forces by deploying central paramilitary forces. The court asked the commission to intimate the state [...]

Lucknow, May 10 (IANS) In a blow to the Akhilesh Yadav government, a Barabanki district court Friday dismissed its request to withdraw cases against alleged terrorists Tariq Qasmi and Khalid Mujahid, involved in the 2007 serial blasts in Gorakhpur. The state government, in its petition before the court, had pleaded [...]

Kolkata, May 10 (IANS) Three persons, including the step-mother, have been arrested in West Bengal’s Hooghly district after they set on fire a minor girl who refused to be forcibly married, police said Friday. Class IX student Roshanara Khatoon was set on fire Thursday morning by her step-mother and two [...]

New Delhi, May 10 (IANS) CPI-M leader Brinda Karat Friday wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, seeking his intervention in the appointment of the chairperson of the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI), which she said plays a big role in advancing the interests of the disabled. Karat said the post [...]

New Delhi, May 9 (IANS) A Delhi court Thursday sentenced to life imprisonment three convicts in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case in which Congress leader Sajjan Kumar has been acquitted, despite the prosecution seeking the death penalty. The victim’s kin called the punishment inadequate. District and Sessions Judge J.R. Aryan [...]

New Delhi, May 9 (IANS) The male friend of the woman gang-raped here Dec 16, 2012 was Thursday described as a “womaniser” by a defence counsel in a Delhi court. Advocate V.K. Anand, appearing for accused Mukesh, appeared before Additional Session Judge Yogesh Khanna and cross-examined the victim’s male friend, [...]

Shillong, May 9 (IANS) An apex body of northeastern students’ groups has suggested to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to depute a parliamentary team to study the misuse of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in the region, a student leader said Thursday. “We have suggested to the prime minister [...]

New Delhi, May 9 (IANS) The Supreme Court Thursday said a report from the CAG – a constitutional functionary – commands respect but it could not be solely relied upon for deciding any contentious issue. “We may, however, point out that since the report is from a constitutional functionary, it [...]

New Delhi, May 9 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Thursday refused to stay the television release of Saif Ali Khan-starrer “Race 2″ on a PIL alleging that the movie showed nude scenes and had dialogues with double-meaning. A division bench of Chief Justice D Murugesan and Justice Jayant Nath dismissed [...]

Kolkata, May 9 (IANS) Rejecting the bail pleas of Saradha Group promoter Sudipta Sen and two of his close aides including Debjani Mukherjee, a West Bengal court Thursday remanded the trio to nine days in police custody. In another case, the court ordered 14 days’ judicial remand for them. The [...]