BJP chief Nitin Gadkari on Saturday denied having any business relations with corporate lobbyist Niira Radia. He also dismissed allegation that senior leader and BJP Parliamentary Party chairman L.K. Advani had favoured Ms Radia during the NDA rule.

The CBI questioned former telecom minister A. Raja for the second consecutive day on Saturday in connection with its probe into the 2G spectrum scam. The CBI officials grilled Mr Raja for nearly seven hours at the agency headquarters.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has requested government to honour former Prime Minister and its patriarch Atal Behari Vajpayee with the country’s highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna.

In the wake of complaints of alleged irregularities against the Delhi Technological University vice-chancellor Prof. P.B. Sharma, the Delhi government has stripped his administrative powers and delegated extra powers to the pro vice-chancellor Prof. Moinuddin who will also be appointed co-chairman of the university’s Academic Council and a member of the Board of Management.

Many international and domestic flights were delayed by several hours on Saturday due to fog for the first time this winter at the IGI airport here, an official said. “Due to foggy conditions around the runway, many international and domestic flights were delayed by two to three hours in the early morning,” a Delhi Intern-ational Airport Limited (DIAL) official said.

Delhiites celebrated Christmas with joy and enthusiasm amid elaborate security arrangements. City churches held midnight masses and people thronged to the streets to usher in the Christmas festivities, marking the day when Lord Jesus was born.

In a move to ensure that the city do not get short of onions and its price remains stable over the weekend, Delhi’s largest wholesale market, the Azadpur Mandi will remain open on Sunday.

Delhi BJP on Saturday charged that the city government has failed to check prices of vegetables. Delhi BJP chief Vijendra Gupta has charged that the onion, tomato and other vegetable prices at Mother Dairy outlets are higher than in the retail markets in the city.

Delhi Book Fair opened on Saturday at Pragati Maidan with “Books of Rural India” as the theme. The Book Fair is expecting participation of over 250 publishers from India and abroad. Various seminars, book launches and panel discussions will be held during the fair.

A 26-year-old commodity share broker was allegedly drugged and raped by two youths whom she met through a social networking site after they threatened to release her semi-nude photographs captured through a webcam. The FIR of the incident which took place on the intervening night of December 23, 24 has been lodged at the Safdarjung Enclave police station.