The condition of 51-year-old Raj Bala, who suffered serious spine injuries during the skirmishes with the police at Ramlila Maidan on June 5, has deteriorated and is stated to be very critical.

The Congress has virtually blamed the DMK for the drubbing in the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Assembly elections. It wants to have another look at the strategy in the southern state and feels the party must not lose its vote bank due to the mistakes of its coalition partners.

The much awaited check-in of baggage facility was launched on the airport express line on Friday. Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines have set up two counters each at both stations where fliers can check-in their baggage and collect the boarding passes.

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah’s security was breached on Friday when a police constable breaking the security cordon tried to move towards him raising slogans as the former was about to board the state helicopter after attending a function in RS Pura in Jammu district.

Defence minister A.K. Antony on Friday said India was capable of meeting any threat (including any nuclear threat from Pakistan) and added that India is aware of the fact that Pakistan is strengthening its nuclear arsenal.

DMK MP Kanimozhi and Kalaignar TV MD Sharad Kumar on Friday became the first accused in the 2G spectrum case to approach the Supreme Court for bail even as the top court is yet to give its final verdict on the monitoring of the multi-million rupees scam.

The Madhya Pradesh anti-terrorism squad (ATS), which has been involved in grilling the Indian Mujahideen-Simi activists arrested earlier June, have succeeded in recovering from them 6.20 kg of gold looted from the Manappuram gold loan finance company’s office in the state capital in August 2010.

While the perceptions of Maoist threat during the panchayat elections in Bihar in April and May were real, actual impact of the rebels’ threats on the entire election process seems to have been far overblown, especially in the event of claims about candidates withdrawing their nominations under threats from the Maoists.

The government on Friday expressed disappointment at Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Rana’s acquittal by a US court on charges of plotting the Mumbai carnage.

Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, turned 90 on Friday and was made the titular head of the Royal Navy by his wife.