LIVE news updates: India is under undeclared Emergency under Modi says Lalu Prasad 

India has been under an undeclared Emergency as the opposition leaders are called "anti-national" or "unpatriotic" and did not kill minorities, Dalits and even journalists, says Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad in his memoir.

In his autobiography titled "Gopalganj to Raisina: My Political Journey", which went on sale on Sunday, he narrates how the very idea of India enshrined in the Constitution is threatened under the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rule.

"Though there is no official censorship, several media houses, owned by major corporates, hesitate to air opinions or shows that are unpalatable to the Modi government," he has written.

He also highlights the incident of four senior-most Supreme Court judges holding a press conference saying the democracy is in danger.

More than Rs 2 lakh in cash were seized, today, from the car of BJD's candidate from Lanjigarh Assembly constituency, Pradip Dishari in Odisha

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday questioned why the Maternity Benefit Act would not be applicable to the ad-hoc employees of the Delhi University (DU) when it was applicable to contract labourers of any establishment or government undertaking.

The query by Justice Suresh Kait was posed to the DU while issuing notice to the Centre, the university and the Aurobindo College here, seeking their stand on a female ad-hoc professor's plea alleging that she was denied maternity leave as she was not a permanent employee.

British Prime Minister Theresa May expressed regret for Jallianwala Bagh Massacre; said, "We deeply regret what happened and the suffering in British Parliament caused."

Jallianwala Bagh tragedy shameful scar on British Indian history: UK PM Theresa May

In a bureaucratic reshuffle, the Centre has appointed Gargi Kaul, a 1984-batch officer of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IA&AS), as Secretary, Defence Finance.

Kaul was earlier Financial Advisor, Defence Services in the Defence Ministry.

In an order issued on Tuesday, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet appointed Sumeet Jerath -- who was earlier Special Secretary and Financial Advisor in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) -- as Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat.

1 house and 2 sheds in Dari village of Tirthan Valley, Himachal Pradesh gutted in fire. Fire doused now; one fire tender had reached the spot. Reasons remain unknown

BSF seized Fake Indian Currency Note (FICN) with face value of Rs 96,000 in Churiantpur, Malda, West Bengal

In Chhattisgarh a joint team of District Reserve Group and Special Task Force on their way to Bukmarka Pahadi in Rajnandgaon was attacked by Naxals today. The police party reiterated and destroyed the Naxal camp. Incriminating materials recovered

Punjab cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu Wednesday lashed out at the BJP led Centre over its "failure" to release the requisite funds for revamping Jallianwala Bagh ahead of the centenary of the massacre on April 13 that took place during the British regime.

The tourism and cultural affairs minister of Punjab also impressed upon chief minister Amarinder Singh to write to the Centre and British government seeking the apology of the Prime Minister of Britain for the Jallianwala Bagh incident.

"On April 13, 2019, as we join our nation in paying tribute to the martyrs and observe the 100th anniversary of Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The institutional ignorance and unforgiving silence of the Government of India haunts my mind," Sidhu said in his letter to the CM.

The families of the two men killed in the police firing during the "anti-sacrilege" protests in 2015 Wednesday criticised the transfer of the officer probing the case on EC orders, claiming that the poll watchdog "played into the hands" of the BJP government at the Centre.

Gurjit Singh and Krishan Bhagwan Singh were killed in police firing at Behbal Kalan in Faridkot on October 14, 2015 following protests over desecration of holy books.

"The decision of the Election Commission to shift an IPS officer seemed to be politically motivated as it was done at the behest of the complaint of Akali Dal," said Sukhraj Singh, son of Krishan Bhagwan Singh.

Violence broke out in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar town on Wednesday as angry mourners clashed with police during the funeral procession of the senior RSS functionary killed in Tuesday's terror attack along with his PSO, prompting the Army to stage flag march in the area.

No one was injured in the clashes, officials said. Curfew remained imposed for the second day in the communally-sensitive district following the killing of senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) functionary Chanderkant Sharma and constable Rajinder Kumar, even as police intensified searches to nab the assailant.

According to eye-witnesses, a large number of people came out of their houses to take part in the funeral procession of Sharma. In Dak Banglow area, an irate crowd held protests and raised slogans against Pakistan and terrorists.

BJP MLA Jagan Prasad Garg, from Agra, has passes away. He was admitted to hospital earlier today

Manipuri Journalist Kishorechandra Wangkhem has been released from jail. He was imprisoned under the National Security Act (NSA) in November 2018 for allegedly criticising the state government in a social media post.

A 65-year-old man committed suicide at 12 noon on Wednesday by jumping before a Metro train at the Ramesh Nagar station in west Delhi, police said.

The deceased could not be identified as he was not carrying any identity proof, police said.

Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, diagnosed with a chest infection and admitted to a private hospital, could be discharged in the next two days and plans to spend some more time in Delhi, his aide said

An angry mob on Wednesday ransacked the office of the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) in Jammu and Kashmir's curfew bound Kishtwar town.

The mob defied curfew and ransacked the SSP's office despite the security forces using tear smoke shells to disperse them.

The protesters were demanding transfer of the SSP and the District Magistrate (DM) of Kishtwar after a militant on Tuesday killed RSS leader Chandrakant Singh and his security guard near the Kishtwar district hospital

New Zealand's Parliament on Wednesday passed sweeping gun laws that outlaw military style weapons, less than a month after mass shootings at two mosques in the city of Christchurch left 50 people dead and dozens wounded.

A bill outlawing most automatic and semi-automatic weapons and banning components that modify existing weapons was passed by a vote of 119 to 1 in the House of Representatives after an accelerated process of debate and public submission.

The bill needs only the approval of New Zealand's governor general, a formality, before becoming law on Friday.

The Left parties on Wednesday lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over comments made by his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan in support of the BJP and said with this statement the neighbouring country has made it clear who it wants as India's next PM.

CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said that Khan's statement raised concerns over foreign governments "influencing" the outcome of the general elections in India.

In an interview to foreign journalists, Khan has said he believed there was a better chance of peace talks with India and settling the Kashmir issue if the BJP wins the general elections.

Nearly half a million children are at "direct risk" in Libya as rogue general Khalifa Haftar's forces advance on the UN-recognized government in the capital of Tripoli, according to Unicef.

In a statement on Tuesday, the UN agency said: "Violence has escalated over the past few days in and around the Libyan capital of Tripoli. Nearly half a million children in Tripoli and tens of thousands more in the western areas are at direct risk due to the intensification of fighting.

"Unicef calls on all parties to the conflict to protect every child at all times and keep them out of harm's way in line with International Humanitarian Law.

Senior CPI leader D Raja on Wednesday welcomed the Supreme Court order allowing leaked documents to be relied upon by petitioners seeking review of its Rafale judgment, saying the order was a "setback" for the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre.

The CPI national secretary said the "truth has to be found out now".

Earlier on Wednesday, the apex court allowed leaked documents to be relied upon by petitioners seeking review of its Rafale judgment and dismissed the government's preliminary objections claiming "privilege" over them.

"It is a setback and a slap in the face for the government. The court has rejected the government's argument. And now what is the answer from Mr (Narendra) Modi and Mr Arun Jaitley who were referring to Supreme Court all the time on the clean chit," he told.

A Delhi court on Wednesday sent Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chairman Yasin Malik to National Investigation Agency's (NIA) custody till April 22 in connection with a case related to the funding of terror and separatist groups in the state.

Additional Sessions Judge Rakesh Syal, during in-chamber proceedings, allowed the NIA to question Malik for 12 days.

The NIA on Wednesday arrested Malik, a day after he was shifted to Tihar Jail here from Jammu's Kot Balwal Jail. The anti-terror agency's move followed an order of a special NIA court in Jammu giving it go ahead for Malik's custodial interrogation, an official said.

Any biopic that subserves purpose of any political entity or individual should not be displayed in electronic media, says EC

The Supreme Court in its judgement today has exposed the lies Modi has been peddling on the Rafale deal, says Surjewala

“PM Modi used to hide behind a self-pronounced clean chit by the Supreme Court. But today the SC has demolished that lie in its judgement”

The govt. and PM hid crucial facts and evidence from the Supreme Court. They hid that the price of the jets was increased from ₹526 cr to ₹1600 cr, and refused to tell the price to the SC on the so called ground of breach of national security, said Congress spokesperson.

“Modiji lied repeatedly to the people and also to the SC. The govt gave an affidavit to the SC that the CAG report has given them a clean chit, based on which a judgement was delivered. We found out later that the CAG report was not even prepared.”

“The fact that PM was directly negotiating the price bypassing the Indian Negotiation Team was hidden from the Supreme Court.”

The curfew imposed in Kishtwar district following killing of senior RSS functionary Chanderkant Sharma and his PSO remained in force for the second day on Wednesday even as police intensified searches to track down those involved in the killing.

The cremation of the RSS leader will take place later in the day in Kishtwar town amid heavy security.

"Curfew continues to remain in force in Kishtwar for second consecutive day today. There is strict enforcement of curfew. Army continues to remain deployed", Deputy Commissioner, Kishtwar, A S Rana

Continuing his attack on the ruling party over the Rafale fighter jet deal with France, CPIM general secretary Sitaram Yechury said the deal "promoted cronyism".

"Modi and his govt have compromised national security for corruption & cronyism in an important defence deal. They tried to evade accountability, denied a JPC, hid price from CAG, tried to first mislead, then stall any hearing in Supreme Court. Important that culprits are booked," he tweeted.

“This is a victory for India! We welcome the Supreme Court’s judgement to review the Rafale petition. Satyamev Jayate!,” said Indian National Congress in a tweet.

“SC has upheld a time honoured legal principle; A rattled Modiji had threatened to invoke Official Secrets Act against independent Journalists for exposing his corruption on Rafale. Don’t worry Modiji, an investigation is going to take place now, whether you like it or not,” tweeted Randeep Surjewala

"We don’t think we will release you on bail, SLP stands dismissed", Supreme Court rejects bail plea by Lalu Prasad Yadav in fodder scam.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed preliminary objections raised by the Centre that documents on which it claimed "privilege" cannot be relied upon to re-examine the verdict in the Rafale fighter jet deal.

The Centre had submitted that the privilege documents were procured by petitioners in an illegal way and used to support their review petitions against the December 14, 2018 judgement of the apex court dismissing all pleas challenging procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France.

"We dismiss the preliminary objection raised by Union of India questioning the maintainability of the review petition," a bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph said. The top court said review petitions against its December 14 verdict dismissing all petitions against procurement of Rafale jets will be decided on merits.

The apex court said it will fix a date for hearing review petitions.

Two IED bombs and one suspicious box found near a school in Gaya; Security forces present at the spot, bomb disposal squad to defuse the bomb

Delhi court frames defamation charge against scribe Priya Ramani in case filed by ex-Union minister M J Akbar. Priya Ramani pleads not guilty and claims trial before Delhi court in defamation case filed by ex-Union minister M J Akbar.

Domestic equity benchmarks opened on a weak note on Wednesday tracking negative cues from international markets after IMF cut global growth estimate to 3.3 per cent for this year amid geopolitical issues like US-China trade tiff and Brexit.

The BSE Sensex was trading 11.68 points or 0.03 per cent lower at 38,927.54. The gauge had settled 238.69 points, or 0.62 per cent, higher at 38,939.22 in its previous session.

The NSE Nifty was trading flat at 11,671.70 in early session.

Fire breaks out at an oil mill in Chandisar, in Banaskantha district; Fire tenders present at the spot

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) brought Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik to Delhi on Tuesday evening, as the NIA Court had issued a production warrant against him.

The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce on Wednesday its verdict on the government's plea claiming privilege over the documents filed by petitioners seeking review of its December 14 Rafale judgment.

Petitioners in the case are former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, journalist-turned-politician Arun Shourie and activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan. Two judgments are likely on Wednesday -- one by the Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and the other by Justice K.M. Joseph.

The top court bench comprising CJI Gogoi, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Joseph had on March 14 reserved the order on the "preliminary issue and the claim of privilege by the government".