Noted lawyer Ujjwal Nikam, who is among four persons nominated to Rajya Sabha by President Droupadi Murmu, on Sunday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi called him to inform and spoke in Marathi.
'For Nikam I had to gain around 9-10 kgs and I was eating 2 pizzas and lot of sweets and my fav Aloo Parathas, Biryani...'
Ashutosh Gowariker is all set to direct Kantara actor Rishab Shetty in a Hindi-Kannada bi-lingual based on a historical figure.
The baby was born on the couple's fourth wedding anniversary.
Nikam has replaced two-time MP Poonam Mahajan, who is the daughter of the late BJP stalwart Pramod Mahajan.
Lawyer Ujjwal Nikam says that while justice has been delivered to some victims of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, their conspirators are still hiding in Pakistan. He criticizes Pakistan's handling of the trials of those arrested and calls for action against masterminds like Hafiz Saeed and Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.
Mumbai BJP president Ameet Satam stated that his party would not allow any "Khan" to become the mayor of Mumbai, later clarifying that he was referring to an "anti-national mentality" and not a specific community. He cited concerns about radical elements and appeasement politics.
'Unfortunately, terrorists in one country are regarded as heroes in another,' Ujjwal Nikam told a global seminar on terrorism organised by the United Nations Security Council in New York.
Glimpses from around the world that will make you smile and cry.
Former foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, Kerala BJP leader C Sadanandan Master and Delhi-based historian Meenakshi Jain have been nominated to the Rajya Sabha.
Mumbai terror attack operative David Coleman Headley, who had been vehemently denying that he had not been paid by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, finally made a sensational revelation before a court today that the ISI had massively funded his entire operation.
'Kasab was never given mutton biryani.' 'What I had said was Kasab had asked for mutton biryani to be served in jail.'
While political experts claim that the Modi Magic is missing in the 2024 general election, the common people in the street -- at least those in the crowd on Thursday -- vow that they will vote for Modi and the candidate who contests the election doesn't matter much.
Police are examining the past records of the arrested men in the sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh murder case and a related case of extortion to decide if the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) should be invoked, sources said on Thursday. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said he had requested senior lawyer Ujjwal Nikam to appear as a special prosecutor in the murder case. The Crime Investigation Department (CID) has sought old case papers and chargesheets against the arrested men. Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed, was abducted and brutally killed on December 9, allegedly for opposing an extortion bid by some persons who had demanded money from a windmill company. Beed Police has put up posters seeking information about whereabouts of three wanted accused in the murder case. CM Fadnavis said he spoke to BJP MLA from Beed, Suresh Dhas who demanded that Nikam be appointed as special public prosecutor in the case. Nikam was a special public prosecutor in several high-profile cases, including the 26/11 terror attacks and 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts. Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar claimed that "smaller fish" could be killed in fake encounters to save the "big fish" involved in the Deshmukh murder and extortion cases. Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra legislative council Ambadas Danve said the trial in the case should be conducted outside Beed district. NCP leader Dhananjay Munde, who has come under fire after the alleged involvement of his aide Karad in the extortion matter came to light, said those who murdered Santosh Deshmukh should be tried in a fast-track court and "hanged till death." The government on Wednesday set up a 10-member SIT to probe the case, headed by Deputy Inspector General -CID Basavraj Teli.
'Why is the Congress not tendering an unconditional apology to the citizens of India?'
In the post on X, Mahajan said, "I will be indebted to the family-like people from Mumbai North Central who treated me not just as an MP but gave me affection like a daughter."
In the wake of a massive protest at Badlapur in Maharashtra's Thane district over the alleged sexual abuse of two kindergarten girls, internet services in the town were suspended while most schools remained shut on Wednesday, officials said.
The parents of Shubham Shirke, who was abducted and murdered in Pune allegedly by three of his friends for ransom, have demanded justice for their son and stringent punishment for the killers. "My son was innocent and friendly with everybody. The suspects tortured him before strangulating him to death for no reason. We want justice," said Sunita Shirke, the mother of the 15-year-old.
There is no action against the "BJP-linked" school management but an arrested accused is shot dead in suspicious circumstances, he said, adding "we have no trust in Badlapur police".
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati, and Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray were among the famous faces who queued up at the polling booths on Monday to caste their votes in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP and Shiv Sena, which along with Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party comprise the ruling Mahayuti, for some time now have been courting Thackeray, who founded the MNS in 2006.
The Bharatiya Janata Party suffered a setback in Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra on Tuesday, with its tally dwindling by less than half compared to 2019, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi of Congress, Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar was on a roll, pocketing 30 of the 48 seats.
The constituency of Mumbai South, home to industrialists as well as high-ranking government officials, fared the worst with 47.7 percent voting.
This will be the first major electoral test after the political realignment that emerged in 2019.
Besides Defence Minister Singh (Lucknow), Minister of Women and Child Development Irani (Amethi), those in the fray are Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishor (Mohanlalganj) and Minister of State of Consumer Affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (Fatehpur).
Homage has been paid to all those who lost their lives in the 26/11 attacks by the execution of Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told Rediff.com
With the Supreme Court on Thursday ruling that it cannot restore Uddhav Thackeray as Maharashtra chief minister, legal experts said the ball was now in the court of the speaker of the Maharashtra assembly.
A special court will hear arguments on Tuesday on the quantum of sentence to be awarded to Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab, who has been held guilty for the murder of 170 people in the 26/11 terror strikes in the financial capital of the country.
'We know the reason behind it. We also know who is behind the curtain (in prompting Kasab to withdraw his confessional statement), says Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam.
Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana, a key accused in the 26/11 terror attacks case, stayed at a hotel in Mumbai's Powai area for two days in November 2008 ahead of the attacks, where he discussed about the crowded places in south Mumbai with a witness in the case, the police said on Tuesday.
Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam informed media persons about Kasab's request at the end of the Monday's court proceedings.
Eminent public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, who was instrumental in sending Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving militant of 2008 Mumbai attack to the gallows, has termed David Headley's sentence as meagre in comparison to the brutality and heinousness of the crime.
A four-member team of Indian legal experts has arrived in Pakistan to finalise the terms of reference of a judicial commission that is expected to visit India next year to gather evidence on the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Ujjwal Nikam, special public prosecutor in 1993 serial blasts case, on Thursday said the Supreme Court upholding death penalty to Yakub Memon will send a strong message to the absconding accused in Pakistan that they will also be brought to book.
Ejaz Naqvi, advocate for Laila father Nadir Hussain Patel, told rediff.com that they have written to Home Minister R R Patil seeking his intervention in the matter. He also sought Patil's intervention to probe those officers who had negligently branded Laila Khan and her family as Pakistani terrorists
A Mumbai court on Monday issued a production warrant against suspected Laskhar-e-Tayiba terrorist Sayed Zabiuddin alias Abu Jindal, who was arrested in Delhi for his alleged complicity in the 26/11 terror attack. The warrant was issued by Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate P S Rathod, on an application by Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam and 26/11 case Investigating Officer Ramesh Mahale.
The Maharashtra government has appointed special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam to represent it during the trial of 13/7 Mumbai triple blasts that claimed 27 lives and left several others wounded.
The upholding of acquittal of Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed Shaikh by the Supreme Court on Wednesday left Mumbai police's elite crime branch red faced after it linked the duo with the 26/11 attacks.
With the Supreme Court upholding the death sentence of Ajmal Kasab in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case, Pakistan should now expedite the trial in their court, special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam on Wednesday said.
The verdict of a United States court holding Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Rana not guilty of the Mumbai terror attacks would not affect the legal proceedings against terrorist Ajmal Kasab and the charge against Lashkar-e-Tayiba of masterminded the strikes, special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said on Friday.