The intense cold wave snuffed out 15 more lives in Uttar Pradesh taking the toll to 155 as mercury continued to plunge with Muzaffarnagar recording a low of 0.2 degree Celsius.
The fate of 720 candidates will be decided by 2.28 crore voters
The FIR lodged at Chandpa police station in Hathras district against 'unknown persons' mentioned alleged attempts to foment cast conflict, promoting enmity between groups and tarnish the image of the government and invoked section 124A of the Indian Penal Code -- the serious charge of sedition.
The Samajwadi Party on Saturday distanced itself from Shahid Siddiqui, saying he is no longer a part of the party two days after his interview with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi made waves.
Motorcycle-borne assailants had pumped 24 bullets into 45-year-old Ahmad and four into his wife Farzana Khatoon in April last.
The most strident criticism of UP's anti-conversion ordinance has come from the judiciary with several retired Supreme Court and high court judges having described it as being violative of Article 14 (Right to Equality), 15 (Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion), 21 (Right to Life) and 25 (Freedom of conscience) of the Constitution, points out Rashme Sehgal.
Mufti Shameem Kazmi, a key Team Anna member who was expelled from the group for allegedly recording secretly the proceedings of a core committee meeting, on Tuesday said the charges against him were "fabricated".
At present, the state has 81 such courts. Of the new 218, 144 will be for rape cases, 74 for POCSO cases.
Mr Modi and Mr Shah will need him if they want to win UP again in 2022 and India in 2024. This signals a Yogi Adityanath-sized change in BJP politics, even under Mr Modi, Shekhar Gupta.
Polling in Phase II of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections consists of 67 constituencies spread across 11 districts.
The entire north India shivered on Saturday as icy winds lashed the region, claiming five more lives and pushing the country-wide death toll this winter to 128. All the fresh deaths occurred overnight in Uttar Pradesh which has so far accounted for 88 fatalities. Chilly winds swept the state as mercury plunged to a low of 0.5 degrees Celsius in Najibabad area in Bijnor district. The national capital witnessed the coldest day of the season.
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) supporters stayed put on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway on Friday as the crowd swelled there, notwithstanding the Ghaziabad administration's ultimatum to vacate the UP Gate protest site where security force in large numbers was re-deployed.
The Uttar Pradesh police has alerted their counterparts in Uttarakhand about the possible presence of suspected terrorists associated with the banned outfit Students Islamic Movement of India in that state.
Actor-turned-politician Jaya Prada on Thursday said she wants to join the Bharatiya Janata Party as she is impressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.
In Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Yamuna Vihar, Chand Bagh, Mustafabad and Bhajanpura, which were among the areas worst hit by the communal violence, there were more vehicles and people on the roads than in the last five days.
In Assam, nearly 27.80 lakh people across 26 districts have been affected by the deluge. The deaths were reported from the Barpeta, Kokrajhar and Morigaon districts. The death toll due to floods and landslides this year has risen to 122.
Kamlesh Tiwari, 45, was earlier associated with a faction of the Hindu Mahasabha, they said.
Slumdog Millionaire has received tremendous international recognition and highlighted Mumbai's underbelly. While some hail it as a grand endorsement for the city, others think of it as a sorry stereotype.
rediff.com correspondents met children in Mumbai's slums to find out what life really means for them.
Cops are also investigating whether personal enmity or property dispute was a reason behind the murder.
This crisis requires political sophistication and governance skills. This BJP has neither, observes Shekhar Gupta.
The field operations are on in the sub-Himalayan terai region stretching from the Gorakhpur district in eastern UP to Bijnore district in western UP. The two companies were given prospecting licences sometime back, he informed. The licence allows the licence holder to undertake mineral substance prospecting works within a specific area.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Amit Shah on Wednesday moved the Allahabad high court challenging the FIRs lodged against him by the Uttar Pradesh government for alleged hate speeches made by him at election meetings in Bijnore and Shamli districts.
Actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha, who joined the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha election, lost to Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from Patna Sahib constituency in Bihar by 2.84 votes.
Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com gives the lowdown on the constituencies going to polls in the first phase on April 11.
They were planning attacks in New Delhi.
The seat sharing formula reached between the BSP and SP is not on the basis of who emerged stronger in the previous election.
The Special Task Force of Uttar Pradesh police has arrested an active member of the Munir gang wanted in the murder case of National Investigation Agency officer Tanzil Ahmed.
Director General of Police O P Singh said that two people lost their lives in Bijnor and one each in Meerut, Sambhal and Firozabad. But officials reported a death in Kanpur as well.
Given the controversy over Uttar Pradesh's population control moves, Hemant Shivsaran/Rediff.com digs deep to find out how many children BJP MLAs in UP have.
Girls outperformed boys with a pass percentage of 88.67 as opposed to 85.32.
Mohammed Zakir's ordeal is not over yet. He is without work after one of his hands got badly damaged in the blasts and the compensation towards the death of his parents is eluding him.
Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Kunwar Bhartendu Singh, accused of inciting last month riots in Muzaffarnagar, was on Thursday apprehended by the Uttar Pradesh police and sent to 14-day judicial custody.
"Prime facie it seems that Tiwari was murdered due to his controversial statement made in 2015. There is a possibility," the DGP said as he ruled out any terror angle.
BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's key aide Amit Shah was booked on Sunday by the Bijnore district administration for allegedly inciting the public through his controversial "revenge" remark.
Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi read out the Preamble to the Constitution of India as part of the 'Satyagraha of Unity' protest.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited Bijnor district where she met families of two persons killed in the violence. Internet services have been suspended in several areas till Monday, while prohibitory orders remained in force across the state.
Six people were killed in rain-related incidents in Uttar Pradesh where major rivers flowed above the red mark today as showers drenched several parts of the state.
'He totally gets the Gandhis...' 'If anything, he pays too much attention to the Gandhis.' 'I feel that in places like UP, where the Congress doesn't matter, he often spends time blasting the Gandhis.'
UP alone accounted for 35 deaths, which took the statewide toll to 76.
The Allahabad high court on Thursday dismissed as withdrawn Bharatiya Janata Party leader Amit Shah's petition challenging the first information reports lodged against him in Uttar Pradesh for alleged hate speeches after he stated that he wanted to reply to the Election Commission notice in the matter.
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