Vijay Mallya's defence today fielded a United Kingdom-based prison service expert to claim that jails in India are overcrowded with poor hygiene as they sought to counter Indian government assurances on how he would be treated on being extradited to face fraud and money laundering charges.

Mallya's barrister, Clare Montgomery, deposed Dr Alan Mitchell before the Westminster Magistrates' Court in London where the liquor baron is facing an extradition trial.

The trial seeks to prove that there are no 'bars to extradition' and that Mallya is assured a fair trial in India over his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines's alleged default of over Rs 9,000-crore in loans from Indian banks.

The defence today made an attempt to highlight that conditions in Barrack 12 of Mumbai Central Prison on Arthur Road, where the 61-year-old flamboyant businessman is to be held, were 'far from satisfactory'.

Dr Mitchell, former head of healthcare at the Scottish Prison Service and an elected member of the European Council's European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, said the assurances given by the Indian government were 'general in nature' to state that jail conditions would be 'adequate' for Mallya.

"But adequate in the eyes of whom," Mitchell questioned.

His evidence relied heavily upon his past inspection visit to Alipore Jail in Kolkata and also on an account of the prison conditions in Puzhal Jail in Chennai, from six former British soldiers -- referred to as the Chennai Six -- have recently been released. Mitchell's account of his telephone conversation with one of the six men, identified only as 'Prisoner A' in court, seemed to have caught the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), arguing on behalf of the Indian government, off guard.

The CPS has questioned the 'unusual' nature of the second-hand narration of an anonymous prisoner's account of an Indian jail on the 'other side of India'.

CPS barrister Mark Summers also pointed out that 'Prisoner A' may be using this as a platform to bring a compensation claim against the UK and Indian authorities.

As part of his second-hand account, Mitchell related gruesome details of open defecation, rats, cockroaches and snakes that the Chennai Six allegedly contended within their prison cell in Chennai.

"In one instance, he recalls the deputy superintendent of the jail beating a prisoner with a lathi, for what appeared to be no apparent reason," Mitchell said.

In his cross-examination, Summers made a reference to how the same prison expert's testimony had proved critical in the extradition case of alleged bookie Sanjeev Chawla because he was to be lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail, which 'suffered overcrowding, poor conditions, violence and ill treatment'.

Chawla has since been discharged on human rights grounds over severe jail conditions by Westminster Magistrates' Court in October.

The CPS sought to highlight that Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai cannot be compared with that situation as Barrack 12 is a self-contained facility, which houses just six people.

"India is a huge country, both in terms of population and size...some states are more wealthy than others...and conditions in the prisons in any given state can vary greatly from state to state and within a state...," said Summers.

Dr Mitchell referenced the medical report he had seen on Mallya, which claims he suffers from 'diabetes, coronary artery disease and sleep apnea' and those conditions would require regular 'monitoring' and a healthy 'diet'.

The government of India's assurances highlight that Arthur Road Jail is staffed with four doctors, with one on duty 24 hours a day, and in addition four nursing assistants.

Mitchell said he was unable to assess the effectiveness of that medical provision in jail as there is no reference to how 'many doctors are on duty at one time during the day'.

He claimed that a jail of the size of Mumbai Central Jail, which houses around 3,000 prisoners in all, in the UK would be required to have 12 full time medical staff and 60 nurses.

Today's hearing will continue to hear Mitchell's witness statement with Mallya's defence team trying to establish that India lacks any mechanism to ensure judicial orders on prison conditions are complied with.  -- PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today sought the opposition's cooperation for a constructive Winter Session of Parliament which starts tomorrow even as the Congress insisted on an apology from him for attacking his predecessor Manmohan Singh during the Gujarat poll campaign.

Speaking at an all-party meeting on the session's eve, Modi again pitched for simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies saying that holding elections once in five years will boost development.

Briefing reporters on Modi's remarks, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the prime minister appealed to leaders of all political parties to help build a consensus on the matter.

Modi has been pushing for simultaneous polls, saying an almost uninterrupted cycle of polls across the country hampers government works due to enforcement of model code of conduct and deployment of officials in elections.

"He also sought their cooperation to make the session meaningful and constructive," Kumar said.

Congress leaders raised the issue of Modi's claim during a speech in Gujarat that Singh colluded with Pakistan to influence the state polls, and said they will raise it in Parliament.

"We will raise the issue in Parliament. Either the government prove the claim or the prime minister apologise. Nothing short of an apology will satisfy us," its leader Anand Sharma said.  -- PTI

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar and other leaders after an all-party meeting on the eve of the commencement of the winter session of Parliament, in New Delhi on Thursday. Photograph: Shahbaz Khan/
PTI Photo

The Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer B B Swain, on Thursday said that they have received a complaint regarding Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's roadshow outside the polling booth in Ahmedabad's Ranip for violating the model code of conduct (MCC) after casting of votes.

Swain also stated that a team to monitor poll code violation is present at the spot and is finalising the probe report.

While addressing the media here, Swain said, "They have received a complaint regarding MCC violation after casting of the vote. It is a complaint which is more anticipatory in nature which says crowd was there and this could be a roadshow. This complaint has been given to District Election Officer (DEO) Ahmedabad".

"Meanwhile, the MCC team is also present there and they are finalising the enquiry report," he added.

Earlier in the day, the Congress workers marched towards the Election Commission (EC) office in Delhi protesting against Prime Minister Modi's 'roadshow' in Gujarat.

The police stopped the party workers and detained them outside Sardar Patel Bhawannear Patel Chowk.

Currently, the security has been increased outside the Election Commission office.  -- ANI

To summarise, exit polls for the Gujarat Assembly elections 2017 show the BJP holding on to Gujarat and wresting control of Himachal Pradesh from the Congress party. In Gujarat, most exit polls predict more than 100 seats for the BJP, which means a comfortable majority in the 182-seat house where the halfway mark at 92. Gujarat recorded 68.70 per cent polling in the second phase of voting today.

Himachal Pradesh registered a 74 per cent voter turnout in the single-phase polling on November 9. The Congress is currently ruling Himachal Pradesh, while BJP has been in power in Gujarat for last 22 years.

What the exit polls say:

Himachal:
Sahara Samay-CNX survey: BJP: 42-52 seats, Congress:  18-24 seats. The halfway mark in the 68-seat Himachal Pradesh Assembly is 35 seats.
Times now-VMR: BJP 51, Cong 16, Others 1
NewsX: BJP 42-50, Cong 18-24, Others 0-2
AajTak-Axis: BJP 47-55, Cong 13-20, Others 0-2
News Nation: BJP 43-47, Cong 19-23, Others 1-3
Z News-Axis: BJP 51, Cong 17. Others 0
Samay-CNX: BJP (42-50), Cong (18-24), Oth (0-2)

Gujarat

India TodayAxis: BJP: 99-113 seats, Congress:  is 68 to 84 seats. Others: 1-4 seats. The halfway mark in the 182-seat Gujarat Assembly is 92.
Sahara Samay-CNX Survey: BJP: 110 to 120 seats, Cong: 65-75 seats.
Times Now VMR poll: BJP: 115, Cong 70 Others 2
Republic C voter: BJP 108, Cong 74, Others 0
News 18 C-Voter  BJP 108, Cong 74, Others 0

ABP Exit Poll:
Phase 1: Of the 54 seats in Saurashtra-Kutch, BJP gets 49% vote (31-37 range); 34 seats Cong with a 41% vote (16-22 range), 19 seats for Others with a 10% vote, which is 1 seat.

ANI figures: 62.24% voting recorded till 4 pm in second phase of polling in Gujarat Assembly Elections. 

CVoter Gujarat till 2 PM in South Gujarat predicts 19/33 seats for BJP. 14/33 for INC+. Others get 0/33

Two big news breaks at this hour.

Exit poll figures from Times Now projects a win for BJP with 111, Congress with 68; ABP projects a win for BJP with 91-99; Congress with 78-86. The halfway mark in the 182-seat Gujarat Assembly is 92.


The India Today-Axis poll predicts a win for the BJP in Himachal with a 50 per cent vote share to the BJP as against 40 per cent to the Congress and 9 per cent to other parties. The poll predicts between 47-55 seats for the BJP,  So, it's goodbye to Virbhadra Singh's government in Himachal and PK Dhumal is expected to be the CM. 


And the other news is that the Shiv Sena's Aditya Thackeray says his party will leave the BJP in the next one year and form a government on its own. The Sena is an ally at the Centre.

The Congress will hold a press conference at 5:30 pm, the BJP at 5:45 pm.

There has been 57.56 per cent voting till 4 pm in Gujarat.

Voting for Gujarat Assembly Election ends as the second phase polling concludes. Exit polls in a bit.

The Gujarat poll results are keenly awaited as both the ruling BJP and the Congress have run a long and intensive campaign with their star campaigners, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi respectively, leading from the front. A respectable show by the Congress will energise opposition ranks and embolden it in its fight against the BJP, which may be left dispirited by a poor show in Modi's and its chief Amit Shah's home turf.

A total of 851 candidates are in fray for the second phase. The first phase of voting, held on December 9, covered 89 seats of the 182-member House. In the 2012 assembly polls, the BJP had won 115 seats, while the Congress bagged 61. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 18.

Exit polls any time now.

This is what former J-K CM Omar Abdullah had to say, @OmarAbdullah "I don't know what the exit polls are going to say but I do know they've been wrong more times than they've been right so I'll just wait for the real results on the 18th."

The Supreme Court today reserved its interim order for tomorrow on a batch of pleas seeking a stay on the government's decision of mandatory linking of Aadhaar with various welfare schemes, as the Centre extended the deadline up to March 31 next year.


A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said the final hearing on the petitions challenging the Aadhaar scheme itself would commence from January 17 next year.


The government had yesterday issued a notification to extend till March 31 the deadline for mandatory quoting of Aadhaar and Permanent Account Number (PAN) for bank accounts and certain financial transactions.


However, there is no word on extending the February 6, 2018 deadline for linking mobile SIM cards with Aadhaar. On the issue of linking of Aadhaar card with mobile services, the Attorney General said that the deadline of February 6 next year was fixed in pursuance of an apex court direction and the constitution bench may consider extending this deadline also. -- PTI

The Congress and a number of opposition parties today met to formulate a joint strategy to corner the government on key issues during the Winter Session of Parliament starting tomorrow.


Leaders of a large number of opposition parties, including the Congress, NCP, Trinamool Congress (TMC), Samajwadi Party (SP), RJD, J-K National Conference and the Left parties met in the chamber of the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, and discussed key issues to be raised in Parliament.


Prominent among those who attended include NCP leader Tariq Anwar, TMC leader Derek O'Brien, NC's Farooq Abdullah, SP's Naresh Agrawal, RJD's Jaiprakash Narain Yadav, and CPI's D Raja. The meeting comes ahead of the government's meeting with all the parties later in the day for a smooth conduct of the Winter Session of Parliament. The opposition is seeking to corner the government on several issues during the session, which is scheduled to conclude on January 5. -- PTI

He may be a retired basketball legend, but when it comes to total prize money earned through sport, Michael Jordan takes the top spot.In the latest list released by Forbes, Jordan has been named as the highest-paid athletes of all time.


The 54-year-old has a whopping $1.7 billion in the bank, thanks to his longtime endorsement relationships with Beverage company Gatorade, clothing brand Hanes, American Sportswear giant Nike and playing card manufacturer Upper Deck.


However, the investment that made Jordan a billionaire was his 90 percent stake in American professional basketball team Charlotte Hornets, which is now worth $780 million.


Meanwhile, former world number one golfer Tiger Woods is standing at the second spot, with an eye-popping $1.7 billion pretax. -- PTI

The Sensex overcame early losses and ended with a gain of 194 points today on fag-end buying as investors turned their attention to exit poll results of Gujarat elections.

The NSE Nifty went above 10,250-mark. India's economic growth has bottomed out and will recover further to 7 per cent over the next few quarters, but it is likely to take a few years to return to 7.5 per cent above levels, Standard Chartered said in its report.


The 30-share BSE Sensex bounced back in the last one hour of the session to hit a high of 33,321.52 before closing up 193.66 points -- or 0.59 per cent -- at 33,246.70.


The gauge had lost 402.75 points in the previous two sessions disappointed by grim economic data and the ADB lowering India's economic growth forecast. The 50-issue NSE Nifty in range-bound movements settled higher by 59.15 points, or 0.58 per cent, at 10,252.10. Intra-day, it shuttled between 10,276.10 and 10,141.55. An appreciating rupee against US dollar gave more support. -- PTI

The BJP delegation leaves from the office of the Election Commission of India. The BJP approached the EC over Rahul Gandhi's interview to a Gujarati TV channel and Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala's press conference this afternoon after the PM held a mini roadshow after voting in Ahmedabad.   

Police detains Congress workers who were marching to the Election Commission in protest over PM Modi's roadshow after casting his vote today.

The Congress Party on Thursday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP on their road shows during the polls, saying that the Election Commission has gone mum and distanced itself from its responsibility.

"The way Modiji is doing road shows with the help of Election Commission shows that the puppet EC has shut its eyes while the constitution is being blasted every moment. Prime Minister Modiji forgot that after 22 years of poor governance, people of Gujarat have rejected the BJP and no techniques are going to help him. The EC too has distanced itself from all its responsibilities," Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said in a press conference in Delhi.


He added that Prime Minister Modi's sinking boat is getting help from the EC, which is not going to help the former.Another Congress leader, Ashok Gehlot, further said that Prime Minister Modi's road show after casting vote is a clear case of violation of the model code of conduct.


"EC seems to be working under pressure from the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister Office", he added.Surjewala further said when the Congress Party went to the Election Commission to speak about it (Prime Minister Modi's road show) "they asked us to come after 5 p.m."

However bitterly contested politics may be, you never question a rival or predecessor's patriotism. Poor judgement, spinelessness, woolly-headedness are fine. But treason, never. Read Shekhar Gupta's column here.

Dhruva Jaishankar @d_jaishankar This one photograph has more interlocking storylines than Pulp Fiction.

More than 600 fishermen from Tamil Nadu and Kerala continued to remain missing after Cyclone Ockhi rampaged through parts of south and western India a fortnight ago, a home ministry official said today.


As many as 433 fishermen from Tamil Nadu and 186 from Kerala were yet to be traced, the official said.


However, the official said, the two state governments were yet to give a final figure of the people missing since the cyclone made a landfall on December 2.


House-to-house verification process was going on and a final figure of the missing fishermen would be known once the process was over, the official said. Several fishermen had ventured into the sea in boats and "small crafts" before Ockhi approached the coastal region, authorities say.


The anxiety is about the people who had gone in such small vessels. As of now, 63 people have lost their lives in Kerala and 14 in Tamil Nadu during the cyclone. Cyclone Ockhi, which in Bengali means 'eye', made the landfall in Lakshadweep on December 2 and caused extensive damages to houses, power lines and other infrastructure in the islands and coastal areas of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It dissipated near the south coast of Gujarat on December 6.


Yesterday, the DMK urged Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit to take steps to declare the cyclone, which battered Kanyakumari, a "national calamity," and sought expeditious search and rescue operations for the missing fishermen.


Image: Congress leader @milinddeora  tweeted this image saying, "Few political leaders can match @OfficeOfRGs empathy, endurance & willingness to alleviate grief & suffering. Even fewer can keep up with his strenuous travel & work hours #RahulWithFishermen #CycloneOckhi."

Election officials in Gujarat are going through Congress president-elect Rahul Gandhi's television interviews to see if any legal provisions related to the country's poll code were violated by the channels which aired them, an official said today.


Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer B B Swain said all the videos of Gandhi's interviews telecast yesterday had been obtained. "The Election Commission yesterday directed us to take action after screening the videos of the interviews to decide if there was any violation of legal provisions, as prescribed under section 126(1)(b) of the Representation of People Act," Swain told reporters in Gandhinagar. "Our officials acquired those videos today.


The screening process has been initiated," he said. A political storm broke out yesterday after some Gujarati news channels aired Gandhi's interviews on the eve of the second phase of the state Assembly elections, being held in Central and Northern Gujarat today.


The interviews were telecast a day after campaigning came to an end. Following a complaint by the BJP, the EC issued a show cause notice to Gandhi for "prima facie" violating the provisions of the election law and the model code by granting interviews to the channels.


The EC also directed the Gujarat CEO to lodge an FIR against anyone found guilty of violating the legal provisions. -- PTI

Delhi court reserves for Saturday order on sentence against ex-Jharkhand CM Madhu Koda, ex-Coal Secy S C Gupta, convicted in a coal scam case. 

Police in Rajsamand district in Jaipur have frozen a bank account in which 516 people donated Rs 2.75 lakh for fighting the court case of Shambhulal Regar, who is in custody for hacking a Muslim migrant labourer to death, burning the body and filming the barbaric act.


Two local businessmen were also arrested for allegedly circulating images on social media of receipts acknowledging their donations to the account of Regar's wife, police said.


"Rs 2.75 lakh was deposited into Sita's bank account, details of which were circulated on social media.


At least 516 people from across the country deposited the money for fighting Regar's case. Police have frozen the account," IG (Udaipur Range) Anand Shrivastava said. SHO, Bhim police station, Gyanendra Singh said two businessmen, Prakash Singh and Dinesh Singh, were arrested under relevant sections of the law for circulating receipts of donations on social media.


The administration has imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC in Rajsamand after some right-wing groups announced to take out processions in support of Regar today.


"All processions, rallies and protests have been banned and those who defy the rule of law will be dealt with accordingly," Shrivastava said.


Regar, 36, had hacked Mohammed Afrazul to death and burnt the body on December 6. Afrazul had migrated to Rajsamand from West Bengal for work. Regar had roped in his 14-year-old nephew to film the killing. After the barbaric act, Regar posted videos of the killing with inflammatory and communal comments to defend the act. -- PTI

Congress leader P Chidambaram today asked the Election Commission why it picked on the party's president-elect Rahul Gandhi for giving media interviews while leaving out BJP leaders who did the same thing. In a series of tweets, Chidambaram accused the poll panel of sleeping on the job and also asked people in Gujarat to exercise their franchise and "change" the BJP government in the state.


"Yesterday, PM made a speech. BJP's President gave an interview. Railway Minister gave an interview. Why have all these escaped the EC's attention? Why pick on only Mr Rahul Gandhi's interview?" Chidambaram said.


The former finance and home minister said the BJP petitioning the Election Commission is an act of "desperation".


An interview after the campaign ends is the norm for every candidate and every campaigner in every election, he said. "Allowing a roadshow of PM on voting day is a gross violation of code of conduct. It is an election campaign. What is the EC doing?" Chidambaram asked.


The second and final phase of the Gujarat elections is being held today. The votes will be counted on December 18.

Senior BJP leader LK Advani casts his vote in Ahmedabad district's Jamalpur Khadiya.

The Congress Party has slammed PM Narendra Modi for walking around and waving to the crowds and greeting people after he cast his vote at the Ranip constituency in Ahmedabad's Sabarmati.

The Congress has equalled the walk to a roadshow and has filed a complaint to the Election Commission against the BJP for flouting the model code of conduct. The code of conduct ends after polling closes at 5 pm today. 

The Congress said that allowing a roadshow of the PM on voting day is a gross violation of the code of conduct. Senior leader P Chidambaram said it was an election campaign and asked what the EC was doing. He tweeted saying, "the images on TV will leave no one in doubt that the BJP and PM have conducted a full fledged campaign on polling day. Shocking violation of Rules. EC is sleeping on the job."


Another Congress leader Ashok Gehlot said, "PM Modi's road show after casting vote is a clear case of violation of the model code of conduct. EC it seems is working under pressure from PM and PMO."


Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, "The EC is working on BJP's whims and fancies. It is working like PM's personal assistant, like a puppet for the PM. The PM fearlessly, brazenly is violating the poll code. Rahul gets a notice for his TV interview, but no action is taken against the PM. Poll panel's double standards are exposed."


He said democracy is in danger if institutions like the EC are compromised. The EC has become the frontal organisation of the BJP. Road shows, photo ops, sea planes cannot win Gujarat, he said.  

The casting director had one hand pressed to the phone at his ear; the other, according to a police complaint, he rested on Reena Saini's thigh."He was casting for TV serials,' Saini, 26, recalls.

"One day he called me for an audition. And when I reached the place he said, come into my car and talk, I'm in a hurry."

While the car idled in Mumbai traffic, and his young nephew sat in the backseat, Saini says the casting director, Sohan Thakur, started to grope her. "It made me so embarrassed,' the Bollywood hopeful says. "I didn't know if it was intentional, or by mistake. I was numb, I was freaked out."

The Harvey Weinstein's of Bollywood. Read the report in the Guardian.

The PM shows his inked finger to rapturous voters at Sabarmati's Ranip locality in Ahmedabad.

A landmark decision by the Supreme Court that will hopefully change the misogyny in the Parsi community.


A Parsi woman, Goolrukh Gupta, who was barred from entering fire temples and the Towers of Silence after marrying outside the community granted the right to enter a Parsi temple in Gujarat by Supreme Court. She had approached SC challenging Ahmedabad High Court order. Details awaited. 

39% voting till 12 pm in second phase of the Gujarat elections. 

Following protests over its decision, the National Green Tribunal today clarified it has not declared a "silence zone" at the Amarnath cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas.


A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said that due silence has to be maintained only in front of the ice stalagmite resembling the 'ShivaLinga'.


A detailed order is still awaited.


The green tribunal had yesterday declared the cave shrine as a "silence zone" and prohibited religious offerings beyond the entry point. It had earlier said that declaring the area around the Amarnath cave shrine a "silence zone" would be helpful in preventing avalanches and maintaining its pristine nature.


The Amarnath cave shrine is considered one of the major holy shrines by the Hindus. The cave itself is covered with snow most of the year barring a short period of time in summer when it is opened for pilgrims. NGT's clarification today followed protests by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a Hindu right-wing outfit, which had termed its earlier order as a "Tughlaki fatwa" (whimsical whip).


It had said that Hindus were not responsible for every ecological problem on the earth.


However, environment activist Gauri Maulekhi, on whose plea the directions were passed, had welcomed the order and termed it "good and progressive".


"The Amarnath cave is located in a delicate ecosystem. The directions would make the Amarnath Yatra safe and convenient for the devotees. This would protect the shrine from degradation and ensure it is protected for the coming generations. It is indeed a very good and progressive direction," Maulekhi had told PTI yesterday. -- PTI

The Prime Minister urged the people of Gujarat to vote in record numbers in the second phase of the assembly elections. Around 2.22 crore people are eligible to exercise their franchise in polling for 93 seats -- 61 in central Gujarat and 32 in north Gujarat. "Today is phase 2 of the Gujarat elections. I request all those voting today to vote in record numbers and enrich this festival of democracy," he tweeted. Modi cast his vote at a polling station in Ahmedabad.

Image: The PM waiting in queue to cast his vote. Most other senior leaders of the party also queued up to cast their vote.

PM Modi casts his vote at booth number 115 in Sabarmati's Ranip locality of Ahmedabad.  Modi stood in queue to vote and after voting, instead of getting into his car, the PM walked around the area, a stronghold of the Patel community, showing his inked finger. The BJP's sitting MLA Arvind Patel is up against Congress' Jitubhai Patel from the Sabarmati seat.

A total of 851 candidates are in fray for the second phase. The first phase of voting, held on December 9, covered 89 seats of the 182-member House. The election is being seen as a "prestige battle" for Prime Minister Modi and a litmus test for the leadership of Congress president-elect Rahul Gandhi. In the 2012 assembly polls, the BJP had won 115 seats, while the Congress bagged 61. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 18.

Ameerul Islam, convicted for the rape and murder of 29-year-old law student Jisha, has been handed out a death sentence by the Ernakulam chief judicial magistrate court.


Claiming innocence, Islam told ANI yesterday, ''I didn't do anything. I don't know who did it."The 29-year-old law student, Jisha was brutally raped and murdered on April 28 last year, in which her body sustained at least 30 injuries, including in her private parts.


Yesterday, the Counsel for Islam told media, "The court has found the accused guilty to an extent that he had entered with a commission of an offense and thereafter has committed the murder. The court found him guilty for that.


"I will try to get minimum punishment for the accused before the high court," he added.


Earlier on September 17, 2016, the charges against Islam were filed under Indian Penal Code sections 376 (punishment for rape), 376A (punishment for causing death or resulting in persistent vegetative state of victim), 442 (house trespass), 449 (house-trespass in order to commit offence punishable with death), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offense, or giving false information to screen offender), 302 (punishment for murder) and charges on Dalit Atrocities Prevention Act.


The chargesheet of the case revealed that Islam, a resident of Assam, murdered Jisha following an attempt to rape her at the latter's residence in Iringol near Perumbavoor. -- ANI

Eight extremists killed in exchange of fire with police in Telangana: police.

The Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti convener Hardik Patel casts his vote in Viramgam. The BJP is hoping that Patel supporting the Congress will not impact the party in a major way. A large number of Patels are traders and the party is hopeful that the recent decision by the centre on the goods and services tax will turn things in their favour. Modi has also reached out to the Swaminarayan sect, whose members are mostly Patels.

Apart from Saurashtra, Patels also have a strong presence in northern and central Gujarat.

Patel had gone on a 15-km-long roadshow in Ahmedabad on the 11th despite being denied police permission.

Hundreds of supporters of the quota agitation leader had gone on a rally on motorcycles and four-wheelers through the main city area, even as police said they will take legal action against him for holding the roadshow without permission.

PM Modi's mother Heeraben arrives to vote at a polling booth in Gandhinagar.  

The voting for the second and final phase of Gujarat assembly elections is underway today on 93 seats of North and Central Gujarat.

After an acrimonious campaign, around 2.22 crore voters would be exercising their franchise today to choose between the two main contenders, the BJP and the Congress.

A total of 851 candidates are in fray for the second phase. The first phase of voting, held on December 9, covered 89 seats of the 182-member House. The election is being seen as a "prestige battle" for Prime Minister Modi and a litmus test for the leadership of Congress president-elect Rahul Gandhi. In the 2012 assembly polls, the BJP had won 115 seats, while the Congress bagged 61. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 18.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stands in queue to vote at polling booth no 961 in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur. 

INS Kalvari, the first made-in-India Scorpene class submarine, was commissioned into the Navy by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today. The induction is being seen as a huge boost to the navy.