In 105 days, he addressed 409 meetings, held six road shows and covered almost every Assembly segments in Uttar Pradesh.

With elections inching towards the end in Uttar Pradesh, the betting season has begun in right earnest.
For the first time ever, the bookies are betting heavily on a hung Assembly and the President’s Rule in Uttar Pradesh.

In another tightening of the noose around politicians facing charges in the infamous `950-crore fodder scam, a special CBI court here on Thursday framed charges against RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, former Congress CM Jagannath Mishra and 32 other accused.

India and China on Thursday decided to embark on a maritime cooperation dialogue as part of confidence-building measures. This was finalised by the foreign ministers of the two countries who also discussed Arunachal Pradesh, Tibet and the recent ill-treatment of Indian traders by Chinese authorities, the boundary dispute and the forthcoming BRICS summit.

Not satisfied with “incomplete” data on HIV/AIDS affected people in India, as it had no reference to homosexuals, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the government to submit fresh details on LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) persons separately.

Central intelligence agencies have got information that top separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani had given a letter of recommendation to Lashkar-e-Tayyaba militant Ahtisham Ahmed Malik, arrested by the Delhi police Wednesday, to help him get a Pakistani visa. Ahtisham went to Pakistan in December 2011 for training in explosives and is the main accused in the conspiracy to carry out terror attacks in New Delhi and Srinagar.

To bring more discipline to Indian roads, the Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal to enhance punishments, raging from higher fines to jail terms, for offences like drunken driving, jumping traffic lights, overspeeding and using mobile phones while driving.

The CBI on Thursday conducted searches at the residence of interior designer Zahida Parvez in Bhopal in connection with the murder of RTI activist Shehla Masood. The agency on Tuesday arrested Zahida and an alleged contract killer, Saqib Ali ‘Danger’,' alias Shyam, in connection with the case. Sources said CBI officials conducted searches at Parvez's residence in Maharana Pratap Nagar area in Bhopal and recovered certain documents which are being further scrutinised. The agency sleuths also recovered some files related to the construction of a hotel in Bhopal from the residence of Zahida.

The cloth market and Raymond showroom in Chandni Chowk in Delhi and the State Bank of India’s main branch in Srinagar were the two prime targets of the busted LeT module, investigators said. Notably, Ahtisham Ahmed Malik arrested by the Delhi police on Wednesday, was supposed to plant the explosives in Delhi and catch a flight booked for March 5 to Srinagar indicating that the terror attacks were timed closely. Ahtisham’s passport with recent history of travelling to Pakistan has been seized.

The two suspected Lashkar-e-Tayyaba operatives whose claimed arrest from Tughlaqabad Extension in South Delhi was described by Union home minister P. Chidamabaram as “a very important breakthrough” and had complimented the security agencies for it have been identified. They are Tauseef Ahmed Pir and his cousin Ahtisham Ahmed Malik, both residents of Sopore, a town 48-km northwest of Srinagar.