The CBI on Friday closed the disproportionate assets case against Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, citing lack of evidence. The clean chit to Mr Yadav in the six-year-old case comes at a time when the SP government in Uttar Pradesh is facing severe criticism for failing to contain the communal riots in Muzaffarnagar.

President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday expressed concern over the recent incidents of communal clashes and stated that the country has not learnt lessons from history and same “tragic mistakes” are being repeated.

The Mumbai police crime branch will file an 11,609-page chargesheet in the Indian Premier League scandal on Saturday. The police claims it has made a watertight case against the 22 arrested accused, including CSK team principal Gurunath Meiyappan and actor Vindoo Dara Singh, as 80 per cent of their evidence is technical evidence that will stand strong scrutiny in court.

Medal-winning wrestlers Amit Kumar Dahiya and Bajrang on Friday returned home from Budapest to a hero’s welcome with hundreds of fans and well-wishers turning up at the international airport to receive the champions.

The administration in Rajasthan is gearing up for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s day-long visit to the state on Saturday and UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s visit the day after.

The Congress party on Friday intensified its attack on the Akhilesh Yadav government on the day the CBI closed a six-year-old disproportionate assets case against the Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

With the arrest of BJP MLA Suresh Rana for making “hate speeches” which led to the Muzaffarnagar riots, the saffron outfit is now expected to make a strong pitch to consolidate the Jat and Hindu votebank by playing its tried and tested Hindutva card.

It couldn’t have been a better week for Rafael Benitez. At Naples, his boys in sky blue kick-started their campaign at the Champions League with a superb 2-1 victory over last year’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund, while at his former ‘temporary home’ Stamford Bridge in London, Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea were embarrassed by a similar scoreline by Swiss champions FC Basel.

The process of political realignment appears to have begun after the naming of Mr Narendra Modi as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate. The Congress on Friday expressed confidence of the coming together of “like-minded” parties against communalism, saying it is the “biggest threat” to Indian democracy.

Days after the communal clashes in Uttar Pradesh claimed more than 40 lives, home minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Friday said every citizen of the country has the right to live with his or her individual faith.