LIVE news updates: Nirmohi Akhara opposes Centre’s plea to return acquired land around Ayodhya site to owners

Nirmohi Akhara, one of the litigants in the Ayodhya case, moved the Supreme Court Tuesday opposing the Centre's plea which seeks to return to the original owners the 67.390 acre of "non-disputed" land it had acquired around the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site.

The Allahabad High Court in 2010 had decided that the 2.77-acre of disputed land at the site would be divided into three equal parts and handed over to Nirmohi Akhara, Sunni Waqf Board, and Ram Lalla.

The Nirmohi Akhara, in its fresh plea, has opposed the Centre's application by which it had sought modification of the Supreme Court's 2003 order so as to allow it to return to original owners the 67.390 acre of "non-disputed" acquired land around the disputed site.

A blind man, accused of sexually assaulting his daughter repeatedly since she was six years old, is to be tried for the offences of rape and molestation, the Delhi High Court has directed.

It set aside a trial court order discharging the man in the case and sent back the matter to the lower court to frame appropriate charges against him.

"The reasoning given by the trial court, that the allegations are general in nature without mentioning specific dates and are not substantiated as she had not called the police on 100 number or informed any of the close relatives, is clearly not sustainable," Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva said.

The headless body of a woman has been found dumped in a creek in Maljipada village in Vasai in Palghar district of Maharashtra, police said Tuesday.

The body with a bag of cement tied to its neck was found floating in water Monday night, said police PRO Hemant Kumar Katkar.

The body has been sent for postmortem, he said, adding that the identity of the victim is being established.

Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, was admitted to a private hospital in New Delhi on Tuesday with a chest infection, his aided said.

"His Holiness was feeling some discomfort this morning in Dharamsala. As a precaution, we came down to Delhi," Tenzin Taklha, his private secretary, told IANS.

He said the spiritual leader has been diagnosed with a chest infection.

A Bangladeshi man wanted in the UK on charges of murdering his wife and two daughters has appeared before a court in London after being extradited from India over the weekend.

Mohammed Abdul Shakur's case marks the first of its kind successful extradition from India to the UK.

According to Scotland Yard, the 45-year-old landed at Heathrow Airport in London on Saturday and was taken into custody before being charged with the triple murders dating back to 2007 on Sunday.

Google-owned YouTube on Tuesday announced that India was its largest and fastest growing audience in the world with more than 265 million monthly active users.

"India is now both our biggest audience and one of our fastest growing audiences in the world. YouTube today has become the first stop for users to consume content, whether they're looking for entertainment or information," said Susan Wojcicki, YouTube's CEO, at the company's annual flagship event "Brandcast" here.

In the past one year, YouTube's consumption on mobile has increased to 85 per cent -- with 60 per cent of the watch time coming from outside of the six largest metros in the country.

NIA has arrested accused Shaibu Nihar in ISIS Wandoor case. He has been remanded to judicial custody up to 22nd April.

CBI on Tuesday vehemently opposed in the Supreme Court the bail plea of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav in the fodder scam cases saying that the ailing leader suddenly claimed to be "fully fit" to undertake political activities in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Yadav, who has been in hospital instead of jail for last over eight months, has sought bail on medical grounds and for leading his party simultaneously, CBI said while arguing that granting of bail to him would set "very wrong precedent" in cases involving "serious corruption in high offices".

Congress President Rahul Gandhi Condemns Naxal attack on the BJP convoy Shri Bheema Mandavi , his driver and 3 PSOs killed in naxal attack in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh.

Despite tall claims made by Facebook that it is removing 10 lakh fake accounts a day in India, a survey revealed on Tuesday that one in two Indians has received fake news in the last 30 days and Facebook and WhatsApp are the platforms which are being used excessively to misinform the users.

The survey by online startup Social Media Matters and New Delhi-based Institute for Governance, Policies and Politics found that over 53 per cent of Indians received fake news related to the upcoming elections over various social media platforms.

"Nearly 62 per cent of the population believes that the upcoming elections will be influenced by the misinformation that the users are receiving," the findings showed.

The Delhi High Court will hear on April 26 the plea seeking strict compliance of provisions of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013.

A Division Bench, headed by Chief Justice Rajendra Menon, on Tuesday was hearing a petition by advocate Amit Sahni seeking appropriate directions to civic bodies to ensure strict compliance of the provisions of the Act to prevent loss of lives in the manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks.

There are instances when civic bodies engaged people for cleaning sewers and septic tanks in the national capital, either directly or indirectly by outsourcing the work to private contractors, according to Sahni.

Supreme Court to pronounce its judgment tomorrow on the Rafale review petitions

SC To Pronounce Order Tomorrow On Preliminary Objections By Centre That Court Cannot Examine 'Privileged' Document

National Commission for Women after taking cognizance of a media report "Why many women in Maharashtra's Beed district have no wombs" has written to the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra Dinesh Kumar Jain to take swift and immediate action

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s Rath Yatra was stopped and its leader Lal Krishna Advani arrested in Bihar in October 1990 though then Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had advised against it, said Lalu Prasad, who was the Chief Minister of the state then.

In his autobiography titled "Gopalganj to Raisina: My Political Journey", which was made available from Sunday, he has said Hindu religious figures impressed upon him that the yatra should not be blocked.

"To be honest, nobody had asked me to stop the procession or arrest Advani. The Prime Minister had said nothing. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who was then the Union Minister for Home Affairs, called me to Delhi and enquired if I planned to detain Advani," he has written.

Asian champion shot putter Manpreet Kaur has been banned for four years by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) for flunking four dope tests in 2017.

The period of suspension would begin from July 20, 2017, the date of her provisional suspension, according to an order of the anti-doping disciplinary panel (ADDP) of the NADA dated March 29.

She has the option of filing an appeal before the Anti-Doping Appeal Panel.

Manpreet is set to lose the gold she won in the 2017 Asian Championships in Bhubaneswar as well as her national record as the panel ruled that all her competitive results from the date of sample collection would be disqualified.

The NCP on Tuesday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he targeted its chief Sharad Pawar for "standing with" the National Conference which recently advocated a separate 'Wazir-e-Azam' (Prime Minister) for Jammu and Kashmir.

NCP national spokesperson Nawab Malik said National Conference has never talked about contesting polls with separatists and has fought elections as per the Constitution.

On the other hand, Malik claimed, it was the BJP that had formed a government with the People's Democratic Party (PDP) "which supported separatists".

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah had last week said his party will strive hard for restoring the autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir and that could include having a 'Sadar-e- Riyasat' (President) and 'Wazir-e-Azam' (Prime Minister) for the northern state.

The Trinamool Congress on Tuesday alleged that the BJP was resorting to selling merchandise like pens and T-shirts for votes as the promises made by them to the people in the last elections have not fulfilled.

TMC spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O' Brien listed 15 such promises made by the BJP during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls campaign and said how they were all "lies and never delivered to the people".

The TMC leader also said the party has launched the "Jumla metre" just so that people can go on the site and do a fact check on the speeches of BJP leaders, especially that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he is speaking on issues related to West Bengal.

Five Kenyan and one Swedish women have been arrested by the customs officials for allegedly smuggling gold worth Rs 1.78 crore at Delhi airport.

They were intercepted after their arrival from Nairobi, Kenya, via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Saturday, a statement issued on Tuesday by the customs department said.

A detailed personal and baggage search of the passengers resulted in the recovery of 33 pieces of gold weighing 3.9 kg, assorted gold jewellery weighing about a kilogram and gold granule/dust collectively weighing 1.3 kg -- in all 6.2 kg, it said.

The statement said the market value of the seized gold is Rs 1.78 crore.

RJD Chief and Former CM of Bihar Lalu Prasad Yadav likely to use bail on medical ground for political purpose, CBI tells Supreme Court

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday in a tweets said the European Union has been taking advantage of the US for years, vowing to impose tariffs on USD 11 billion of products from the 28-nation bloc.

A 20-year-old man was killed and three others injured on Tuesday allegedly after a speeding bike ploughed into pedestrians in east Delhi's New Ashok Nagar area, police said.

The deceased was identified as Aakash (20), a resident of New Ashok Nagar, while Shivam (21), Vishal, also residents of New Ashok Nagar, and Shiv Shankar, a resident of Badarpur area were injured in the accident, they said.

Special Investigation Team of Kerala Police files charge sheet against rape accused priest Father Franco Mullakal in Kerala nun-rape case.

State-owned telecom firm BSNL has collected a record revenue of Rs 6,500 crore from enterprise segment, making it sufficiently funded, which will help in meeting its various requirement.

"We have collected Rs 6,500 crore from enterprise segment for 2018-19. This is highest ever that BSNL has collected with 91 enterprise making payment. On average, annual collection used to be from 50-60 enterprises," said BSNL CMD Anupam Shrivastava

When asked if this will help BSNL to make salary payments, he said that financially, the company is in comfortable position and it has seen revenue stabilising in other segments as well.

Malayalam superstar Dileep on Tuesday got a relief in a 2017 case related to assault and abduction of an actress in which he is a key accused.

The Kerala government told the Supreme Court that it will not press for framing of charges against him before the trial court in the case till his pending plea in the apex court for access to visuals of assault captured by main accused Pulsar Suni is decided.

The government said an understanding has been arrived at with Dileep in this regard.

BJP Dantewada MLA Bheema Mandavi attacked by Naxals in Dantewada in Chhattisgarh

IED blast triggered by Naxals hit the convoy of BJP MLA in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district, leaves three injured

The incident occurred at Shyamgiri hills when the MLA's convoy was heading towards Kuwakonda from Bacheli area.

The Naxalites blew up a vehicle in the convoy with an IED and opened fire at the occupant. Five security personnel were in the attack, police officials said.

Security forces have been rushed to the area.

Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh says Congress President Rah is coming and he'll pay his respects at the memorial on the occasion of 100 years of Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

1 dead and 4 injured after blast in a boiler in ordnance factory in Vijay Nagar in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh

Veteran Kerala Congress (M) leader and former minister K M Mani passes away at a private hospital at the age of 86

The Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party on Tuesday said the Governor administration's decision to withdraw and downgrade security of its top leaders, including five candidates who are fighting the Lok Sabha polls, was against the democratic norms.

The JPNPP alleged that the move has put a break on the free movement of the leaders in the region, especially in the valley.

"The security has been completely withdrawn from various Kashmir-based leaders of the party, including vice president Masood Andrabi, general secretary Maqbool Malik, provincial president Farooq Ahmad Dar and district president Ganderbal and party candidate from Srinagar Abdul Rashid Ganai," a spokesperson of the JKNPP said.  He said the security cover provided to Bhim Singh, the party patron and a candidate from Jammu seat, was downgraded from "Z category".

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Assam government to apprise it of possible "ways and means" that can be adopted for releasing illegal foreigners who have been kept in the state's detention centres for a very long period.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi also took note of the state's submissions that the observations during the hearing of this case may have some impact in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in Assam and sought the hearing of the plea after April 23.

Lok Sabha elections in Assam would be held on April 23.

All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be best remembered for mob-lynching incidents during his tenure.

Referring to reports of a man being thrashed by a mob for allegedly selling beef in Assam, Owaisi said ...These incidents will haunt Modi in his entire life that being a Prime Minister he was unable to stop such incidents.

He described the reported incident as 'horrible' and the 68-year old man was beaten because he was selling beef.

Special Investigation Team of Kerala Police files charge sheet against rape accused priest Father Franco Mullakal in Kerala nun-rape case.

Kerala Police on Tuesday submitted a 1,400-page charge sheet against Bishop Franco Mulakkal. The Bishop was arrested for alleged sexually abusing a nun between 2014 and 2016.

The charge sheet was filed before the Magistrate Court in Pala, near here, where the trial will take place. The charges include rape, unnatural sex and keeping in forced custody.

Mulakkal was arrested on September 21, 2018, on rape charges after four nuns joined a public protest in Kochi forcing the police to take action against the bishop.

The Army was called out in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar town on Tuesday after a suspected militant shot and seriously wounded RSS leader Chandrakant Singh and killed his personal security officer, police said.

Kishtwar District Magistrate Angrez Singh Rana told reporters that the troops had been called out to maintain law and order in Kishtwar town where curfew has been imposed.

Internet services were also suspended as a precaution.

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Tuesday lashed out at the government over reports of waiver given in the Rafale deal to two foreign defence companies and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "playing" with national security.

Alleging that there were several anomalies in the defence deal, Yechury said the government had not only acquired less number of fighter jets than what IAF required, but also did favours to its cronies in the deal.

"Lesser fighter aircraft than what IAF required, favours to a crony who had set up a company weeks ago and now this: after dubious procedures with NSA negotiating directly in violation of processes. The corrupt Modi government will be held to account for playing with national security.

Appearance of separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq before the NIA has paved the way for a thorough probe into charges of terror funding and conspiracy against the Hurriyat leader, officials said on Tuesday.

Mirwaiz appeared before the National Investigation Agency for the second consecutive day on Tuesday for questioning in connection with a case related to funding of terror groups and separatist organisations in Jammu and Kashmir.

Vice Admiral Bimal Verma on Tuesday withdrew his petition challenging the appointment of Vice Admiral Karambir Singh as the next chief of naval staff after a military tribunal told him to first explore "internal remedies", official sources said.

Verma, commander-in-chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command, approached the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) on Monday, asking why he was overlooked as the next Navy chief despite being the senior-most in the line of command.

Medical Assistant Chandrakant Sharma working at district hospital in Kishtwar injured in an attack by terrorists, his PSO shot dead. Sharma is also associated with the RSS.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition filed by a Congress activist seeking stay on the release of biopic on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The apex court said it was not entertaining the petition for the stay on the release of the film as the plea is "premature" as the movie has not yet been certified by the Censor Board.

Indian Navy chief supersede case was started at Armed Forces Tribunal, Delhi at 10:26 AM today. The arguments have started. During the hearing Judge asks Vice Admiral Bimal Verma's counsel, “What is the necessity to make Defence Minister party in this case?”

A woman, who is forced to leave her matrimonial home, can file a case against her estranged husband and in-laws at the place where she resides thereafter, the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday.

The apex court said that the woman who is forced to leave her in-laws home due to commission of cruelty on her is allowed to initiate criminal proceedings under Section 498A of IPC, from any place she was residing in -- be it a temporary arrangement or from the residence of her parents.

This SC judgement settled a debate on the issue regarding the place of filing of the case under the above section.

CBI has filed a counter affidavit opposing the bail. CBI, in its counter affidavit, stated that in the garb of political activities during the elections, Lalu Yadav sought bail, which should not be granted.

Nirmohi Akhara files an application in the Supreme Court opposing Centre’s request to release excess land acquired in Ayodhya. Akhara says acquisition of land by the government had led to destruction of many temples managed by the Akhara. So it wants Court to decide title dispute

Domestic equity benchmarks opened on a flat note Tuesday ahead of the beginning of the earnings season and general elections amid lacklustre global cues.

The BSE Sensex was trading 35.69 points or 0.09 per cent higher at 38,736.22. The gauge had ended 161.70 points lower at 38,700.53 in the previous session.

Similarly, the NSE benchmark Nifty was trading 5.65 points, or 0.05 per cent, higher at 11,598.85 in early session.

Fire has broken out in a jute godown near Sonali chowk in Katihar, Bihar. Fire tenders are present at the spot. Fire fighting operations are underway.

Mumbai’s Colaba police registered a Non Cognizable Offence under IPC Section 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) after an argument between Dilip Bora alias DK Rao (gangster Chhota Rajan's aide) and his subordinate Anil Patil at Sessions Court premises.

The Special Investigation Team probing allegations against Franco Mulakkal, will submit the charge sheet at the Court in Pala today, in connection with Kerala nun-rape case.

Sri Lankan Navy apprehended 4 Indian fishermen and seized a boat on Monday. They have been taken to Kankesanthurai Naval camp.