Counting of votes began on Sunday for lakhs of panchayat seats in Uttar Pradesh, a process expected to take two days across 829 centres. There were scuffles involving the supporters of candidates in three districts and social distancing to fight the spread of coronavirus went for a toss at several places, reports said.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Uttar Pradesh government to submit medical records of journalist Sidhique Kappan who was arrested last year on the way to Hathras where a young Dalit woman had died after being allegedly gang-raped.
Amar Singh built an extensive network for the party, and was often spotted with celebrities, from the Bachchans to Anil Ambani to Subrata Roy.
Melody queen Lata Mangeshkar, Sitar maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and music composer AR Rahman also paid tributes to the musician.
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.
Ending months of speculation, expelled Samajwadi Party leader leaders Amar Singh and Jaya Prada joined the Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal on Monday ahead of Lok Sabha polls.
'With Punjab and Kashmir in flames, it would not have been politically wise to alienate the West.' 'It would have inclined Western countries towards Pakistan.' 'It would have been a self-goal.'
A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde asked the petitioner to amend the petition and observed that they should approach the Allahabad high court for the relief.
Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin, who were acquitted in the Mumbai terror attacks case recently, will soon be shifted from the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai to the central prison in Bareilly in connection with the 2007 attack on a Central Reserve Police Force group centre at Rampur in Uttar Pradesh.
They are the first to be declared terrorists under the new anti-law, a home ministry official said.
Polling in Phase II of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections consists of 67 constituencies spread across 11 districts.
Even as the Uttar Pradesh police arrested a journalist and three other people in Mathura while they were on their way to Hathras, home to a Dalit woman who died after being allegedly gang-raped, the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) has filed a habeas corpus petition in the top court against the arrest of the journalist, Sidhique Kappan.
"The jail authorities were supposed to bring him to court on June 29 but they didn't because they did not want us to get the new chargesheet," his lawyer said, alleging that the UP Special Task Force does not want his client to get a fair trial.
The Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Lok Dal and some smaller parties will contest the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls together, and an announcement in this regard would be made soon, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Tuesday.
The BSP, which fielded nearly 100 Muslim candidates, won only four out of the 77 assembly seats dominated by Muslim voters.
The 1,113 arrested include social activist and Congress worker Sadaf Jafar and noted theatre artist Deepak Kabir who are being kept in a Lucknow jail.
Journalist Siddique Kappan was arrested on October 5 while he was on his way to Hathras, home to the young Dalit woman who died after being allegedly gang-raped by four upper-caste men.
Actress-turned-Congress leader from Meerut, Nagma, put herself in a spot after she confused late Shehnai maestro Bismillah Khan with Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
An investigating officer told rediff.com that Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorists Sabahuddin and Fahim Ansari -- whose names are likely to figure in the 26/11 attack chargesheet -- confessed before interrogators in Mumbai that the Rampur attack was aimed at distracting security agencies to enable the smuggling of arms into Mumbai for the big attack.
Very light rains and thundershowers occurred at isolated places in Uttar Pradesh though, and a fresh warning of heavy showers was issued in Himachal Pradesh as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely in several parts of the country, including the northern region, over the next six-seven days.
Take a look at the famous faces who exercised their democratic right.
The arrest of Mohammed Sabauddin in connection with the recent blast at Central Recruitment Police Force camp at Rampur in Uttar Pradesh has shocked people of Mithila belt on the porous Indo-Nepal border where terrorist activity is unheard of.
Armed with AK-47 rifles and grenades, a group of four terrorists attacked the CRPF troops centre at around 2.20 am on Tuesday, a CRPF spokesperson said.
Eminent Dalit scholar, Kamal Bharti, was arrested in Rampur on Tuesday on a complaint by Uttar Pradesh Minister Azam Khan's aide for his alleged Facebook post on suspended Indian Administrative Service officer Durga Sakthi Nagpal.
In a sudden late Wednesday night development, the Election Commission gave marching orders to 22 district magistrates, 19 district police chiefs and three DIGs of police in Uttar Pradesh.
We asked you to share pics and stories of your furry companions. This is what Ravi Yadav had to share.
Kappan was arrested on October 5, 2020 while he was on his way to Hathras, home to the 19-year-old Dalit woman who died after being allegedly gang-raped by four upper-caste men on September 14.
In one of the encounters in the higher reaches of Naugam, 112 kms from Srinagar, the troops cornered a group of infiltrating militants and have killed four so far.
This is the second time this month that the EC has imposed a ban on him. The fresh ban will come into force at 6.00 am on Wednesday.
A class XII student was arrested and sent to jail for allegedly posting derogatory remarks about Azam Khan
An alleged cow smuggler was lynched by a mob while his four accomplices were apprehended by police with the help of local people after nearly four hours of chase in the forests in Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh on Friday.
Uttar Pradesh's police helpline recently got a strange call when an elderly person made an 'urgent request' for rasogullas. The cop who answered the phone thought it was a prank. But when a volunteer delivered the sweets in Lucknow's Hazratganj, it was found that the man in his 80s really needed them.
The FIR claimed that police recovered pamphlets "Justice for Hathras victim", six mobiles and a laptop from them, and during the initial probe it was found that they were going to Hathras with an intention "to breach the peace" as part of a "conspiracy".
Some of it was squandered on a futile opposition, the youth rooted for Modi's promise. But a recent statement from minority affairs minister questioning the minority tag may damage BJP's prospects.
"We state that the most precious fundamental 'right to life' unconditionally embraces even an undertrial. The consideration made herein is keeping in view the peculiar facts and circumstances of this case.
Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh government had told the bench that "shocking findings" have emerged in the investigation so far in the case in which Kappan was arrested on his way to Hathras.
Three Naxals were arrested on Tuesday and a cache of arms, ammunition and electronic gadgets seized after security forces busted a Maoist transit camp in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district, the police said.
Shivpal Yadav will contest the elections from Jaswantnagar, the constituency sought for him by SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.
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.
