In a major setback to the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, the Calcutta high court on Wednesday declared the two-day janata curfew illegal and unconstitutional and said it violated the human rights of the people of the hills.

The Navy fears the worst for the 18 of its men trapped inside the submarine. However, the Navy divers have not given up their efforts since last night to rescue the sailors.

Pesi Shroff-trained Oxbridge holds an edge over rest of the runners to win the PRA Independence Million, the feature event of the races to be held here on Thursday.

An all-round display by man of the match Rohan Rai (58, 4/21) coupled with Amrendur Rai’s 4/11 helped York Club beat Sankar Cricket Academy by five runs in the 1st GS Rai Under-19 cricket tournament at the Najafgarh Sports Complex on Wednesday.

Colourful politician and the BJP’s Hindutva face in Chhattisgarh Dilip Singh Judeo Wednesday passed away in a private hospital at Gurgaon following prolonged illness. He was 64.

Reacting to the worst-ever incident in the Indian Navy history, Union defence minister A.K. Antony described the two huge explosions and a fire on Indian Naval Submarine (INS) Sindhu-rakshak as a “shocking tragedy”. Following the tragedy, Mr Anthony visited the Western Naval Dock with Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan.

R.V. Gowli-trained Malpensa was ridden well by Shailesh Shinde to win the Sweet Senorita Cup, the feature event of the races held in Kolkata on Wednesday.

The Indian qualifying tournament for the Duke of Edinburgh Cup, an international amateur golf event known for its youth charities, will be staged at the Unitech Golf & Country Club, Noida, this weekend.

Disaster hit the Indian Navy Wednesday with 18 naval personnel feared dead after three explosions destroyed and sank its frontline Russian-origin conventional diesel-electric submarine INS Sindhurakshak at the Mumbai naval dockyard shortly after midnight, at around 12.10 am.

The Russian shipyard which upgraded INS Sindhurakshak, Wednes-day said it had installed advanced weaponry, both Indian and foreign systems, to enhance the submarine’s “combat capability and safe operation”.