PV Sindhu loses to World No 1 Tai Tzu Ying 14-21, 10-21 in All England Championship quarterfinal. 

A court in Gurgaon on Friday convicted 31 employees of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, including 13 on charges of murder, for the violence at the company's Maneser plant in August 2012.

Bailable warrant against BJP MP Babul Supriyo for no-show in court. 

RJD president Lalu Prasad today rubbished the exit polls which gave an edge to the BJP in Uttar Pradesh and said the prediction would fall flat the way it did in Bihar elections.


"Like in Bihar elections, all the exit polls would fall flat in Uttar Pradesh where Samajwadi Party-Congress would emerge victorious," Prasad told reporters.


"In Bihar elections in 2015, exit polls had predicted BJP-led NDA as the winner. But when EVMs were opened and votes counted, all the predictions were proved wrong," he said a day before counting.


Prasad had campaigned for some candidates of the SP-Congress alliance led by Akhilesh Yadav. Asked how poll results particularly in UP would impact Bihar, Prasad said, "It would impact Delhi as it would start decline of BJP across the country."


The RJD chief's version was echoed by his son and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Prasad Yadav. "As they regretted failure of exit poll in Bihar which had written off RJD in particular, the same would happen in UP," Tejaswi Yadav told reporters. He also exuded confidence that SP-Congress would romp home after counting of votes tomorrow.

Reliance Jio, Paytm apologise for using PM Narendra Modi's image in their ads without permission, says government.

The government had issued notices to Paytm and Reliance Jio Infocomm last month, asking them whether they had taken prior permission before using Prime Minister Narendra Modi's photographs on advertisements of their products.


In September last year, Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Jio Infocomm had used Modi's picture in full-page advertisements, which triggered a heated political debate and resulted in a number of PILs in the courts.

Two months later on November 9, the morning after Modi announced demonetisation on TV, PayTm released full-page ads in newspapers welcoming the decision to ban Rs 500 and Rs 1000 bank notes and the push towards digital economy.

Also read: PM in Jio ad: 'Who is in whose mutthi?'

An official with the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution confirmed the move, adding that the companies may also face penalties in the coming week. Two other ministry officials also confirmed the development.

Lalu Prasad Yadav's daughter Dr Misa Bharti reacts to the government accepting apologies from Reliance Jio and Paytm for using the PM's image in their ads.

@MisaBharti And Govt gladly accepted the apology with a thank you (smiley?).

Chief Election Commissioner of India Nasim Zaidi warns of strict action against political parties if they try to avoid the Rs 2000 cap.


Manipur re-poll update: A whooping 84% voters' turn-out recorded in today's re-poll in 28 polling stations.

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea for quashing a government notification to confer Padma Vibhushan in 2016 on late Dhirubhai Ambani, the founder of Reliance Industries Ltd. A bench headed by Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar dismissed the plea for withdrawal of the prestigious honour to the noted industrialist.

In his time, he was known as the biggest industrialist of the country. You are not to decide on who should get the Padma Vibhushan. If they give it to you, we cant question, the bench observed. In May 2016, the Delhi High Court had dismissed the plea, saying no public interest was involved in the petition and it was filed just to malign a person.


In the appeal against the High Court order, lawyer P.C. Srivastava had sought a direction to Kokilaben Ambani, widow of Dhirubhai, to return the sanad (certificate) and medallion of Padma Vibhushan which she had received on behalf of her late husband.

An early Holi for BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad in Patna. The senior BJP leader quipped, "Ek Holi kal bhi khelenge, jo kesariya Holi hogi. We will play another Holi tomorrow which will be a saffron Holi."  Exit polls show a BJP majority in all four states, except Punjab.

The exit poll results for the recently concluded assembly elections have projected that the Bharatiya Janata Party could emerge as the single-largest party in four of five states except Punjab.

The exit polls predicted a hung assembly in the key Hindi heartland state of Uttar Pradesh where the Bharatiya Janata Party would emerge as the single largest party.

Times Now-VMR poll forecast 190-210 seats for the BJP in the UP assembly, while India News-MRC gave it 185 and ABP-Lokniti CSDS 164-176 seats. If the BJP wins UP, it would be a return to power for the party in the politically significant and volatile state after 15 years.

The three polls projected 110-130, 120 and 156-169 seats respectively for the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance and 57-74, 90 and 60-72 seats for the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party.

In the NDTV poll of polls, an average of several exit polls, the BJP was projected to win 179 seats, the SP-Congress 136 and the BSP 77 seats in the country's largest state.

However, the India Today-Axis My India and News24-Today's Chanakya predicted landslide victory for the BJP with absolute majority.

A day after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav hinted at an alliance with the BSP, Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal said the former was misquoted while adding that there are no permanent friends and foes in the politics.


"Chief Minister was misquoted though there are no permanent foes or friends in politics, and 'impossible' word has no place in it," Agarwal told ANI.


Rubbishing the victory of the BJP in the assembly elections as per exit polls, Agarwal said, "I don't trust exit polls as they are manipulated."


Akhilesh yesterday hinted at sewing an alliance with the BSP, if need be, in order to form the state government, and most importantly, in a bid to keep the BJP out of the fray.


"We are sure that the SP- Congress will win maximum seats in the assembly. But, we don't know about the circumstances after results. So, let's see, if it's required to form a government... Nobody would want President's rule in the state and that the BJP runs it through a remote control. Nobody would want that," Akhilesh told a TV Channel when asked about the possibility of the alliance.


This comes close on the heels of March 11, when the results of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections come out.

The Chinese embassy in Berlin is demanding a German online retailer stop the sale of a line of T-Shirts with slogans it says are insulting to China. The offerings from retailer Spreadshirt.de include T-shirts with slogans like "Save a dog, eat a Chinese," ''Save a shark, eat a Chinese," and an image of two faux Chinese alphabet characters having sex, with the caption "now I understand Chinese." The embassy said in a statement Friday that it's complained to the German government, demanding "the company concerned cease the sale of T-shirts insulting to China" and issue an apology and explanation.

The BSP's take on the UP polls with the slow but sure breakdown of the cycle, the SP symbol, and the withering away of the BJP's lotus. The poster reads, "The cycle is broken, the flower has withered, only behenji will reach/ascend UP's peak."

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday said all exit polls are indicating Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's exit, and added the latter should be given an opportunity to be happy for one more day.

"Tell Rahul Gandhi that many exit polls were shown earlier but this time the predictions are indicating only Rahul Gandhi's exit," BJP leader Kiran Kher told ANI.

BJP leader and Union Minister Sanjeev Balyan also ridiculed Gandhi and said, "Let Rahul Gandhi remain happy for one more day. We should give him this opportunity to live in this misunderstanding for one more day as it will all be clear by tomorrow after the result declaration."

Balyan further said that Gandhi would accept his failure once the results of the assembly election are declared.

With various exit polls showing the BJP leading in assembly elections held recently in four of the five states, Gandhi earlier in the day said such predictions are nonsensical and pointed to the 2015 Bihar elections' exit polls to back his view.

"Our alliance is winning and such exit polls we saw in Bihar also. We will talk about it tomorrow when the results will be declared," Gandhi told media here.

Pollsters have predicted the BJP as the largest party in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur while a setback for SAD- BJP alliance in Punjab.

Chhattisgarh police will soon figure out that it simply can't keep a good man down as journalist Santosh Yadav returns home to Darbha, in Bastar district after spending one-and-a half years in prison, full of plans to keep up with his 'patrakarita' and 'samaj seva' and tell the world about the plight of the adivasis in this strife-torn area.


Yadav was granted bail by the Supreme Court on February 27, making him the third journalist after Prabhat Singh and Deepak Jaiswal to be released on bail. While their cases will continue, adivasi journalist Somaru Nag, arrested in July 2015, was acquitted by the Chhattisgarh High Court in July 2016 due to lack of evidence against him.  Read more

Listen up Ram Gopal Yadav... Sanjay Kumar of the respected CSDS says, "UP heading for a very close election. BJP and SP Congress alliance neck to neck. Both likely to get close to 32 percent votes.

The stage is set for counting of votes tomorrow for 117 assembly seats in Punjab which could see the exit of ruling SAD-BJP alliance and a neck-and-neck fight between the debutant AAP and the Congress. Counting of votes will commence at 8 am at 54 centers in 27 locations, an election office spokesman said here. More than 14,000 officials have been deployed at the counting centers, where tight security arrangements have been made to ensure that the exercise is completed peacefully. Unauthorised persons would not be allowed to enter the counting centers. Nobody, barring the election observers, would be allowed to carry mobile phones there, the spokesman said. Live results will be shown on TV screens at district election offices, prominent public places and malls. Poll results will also be updated at regular intervals on the Election Commission's website.


Despite the exit polls predicting a total rout for the ruling SAD-BJP alliance, which is targeting a third term in the state, 89-year-old Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal claimed the combine will win 72 seats. State Congress chief Amarinder Singh claimed his party would emerge victorious on 65 seats, while the AAP was confident of bagging close to 100 seats.

Justice CS Karnan, the high court judge against whom the Supreme Court has issued a warrant for not appearing in court in a contempt case, has said he is being targetted because he is Dalit. 


"This issue is a national issue. I have made a representation to the PM stating that some judges committed illegal activities, justice Karnan said. "I am being targetted as I am Dalit. This is a caste issue. It's an attempt to ruin my life. The order has been deliberately issued against me.


It's an unprecedented move by the Supreme Court and Justice Karnan, who is in the Calcutta High Court, will be served a warrant by the West Bengal police chief "personally" and produced on March 31, the top court directed.

The surgical strike at the terror launch pads in PoK last year resulted in "significant casualties' to the terrorists and their supporters across the border, government said today. "During the surgical strike, significant casualties were done to terrorists and those who provide support to terrorists," Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre said in Lok Sabha during Question Hour.


The surgical strike on the intervening night of September 28 and 29, 2016, was carried out by the Army to foil the designs of Pakistan-based terrorist groups to strike on Indian security forces and other places of importance, he said. It also came as a "huge morale booster' for the rank and file of the security forces, Bhamre said.


Though no specific assessment of psychological conditions/morale of defence personnel has been carried out after the surgical strike, he said "notwithstanding this, surgical strikes by themselves were a huge booster for the rank and file of the Armed Forces." The minister also said that all those who participated in the surgical strike were suitably rewarded.

The calm before the storm?

Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat reacts to the exit polls which predict a BJP win, "We will win again and with full majority."

Normal life was affected in Kashmir today due to a strike called by separatists against the civilian killings in Pulwama district allegedly during a gunfight between militants and security forces yesterday. Top separatist leaders including chairmen of both factions of Hurriyat Conference were placed under house arrest as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order in the Valley, officials said. While hardline Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani continued to be under house arrest, chairman of moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was confined to his home this morning. Shops, business establishments and educational institutions remained closed due to the strike called jointly by both factions of Hurriyat Conference and JKLF, they said. While most of public and private transport remained off the roads, a few vehicles could be seen plying on some routes.

India asks Nepal to share postmortem and forensic report of a Nepali national allegedly killed in a firing incident along the Indo-Nepal border: Officials of two bordering districts of India and Nepal met after the incident and agreed to maintain peace and order. 

Akhilesh Yadav's definitive interview with the Indian Express.  And his answer to this question nails why so many in the state are rooting for him.


Q. This election began with tumult in your family; you were seen to take on your father for control of the party. Now, with the election winding down, another family member, Sadhana Gupta, has spoken out, suggesting more conflicting and unrequited political ambitions within.


This was a seven-phase election, and this has come just before the seventh phase. I will say three things. One, in the Mahabharata, the seventh citadel (of the chakravyuha) was the most impenetrable. Two, it takes seven steps around the fire for the marriage ceremony to be completed. Three, Delhi se door rahoge toh sukhi rahoge (he who maintains distance from Delhi remains the happiest).


Read the full interview here.

And yes, Sonam Kapoor gets a thumbs up for this awesome response to RGV's tacky comment on Women's Day. When the 'Neerja' actress was asked about her response to the tweet, she said, "Oh my God! I can't comment on Ram Gopal Varma. We have better things to talk about."

For the unversed, on the occasion of International Women's Day, Varma tweeted, "I wish all the women in the world give men as much happiness as Sunny Leone gives."

Repolling in 28 polling stations across four districts of Manipur began today amidst tight security. Voters were seen standing in queues before the polling stations to exercise their franchise which has been peaceful so far, an election commission official said. Polling in Ukul, Tengnoupal, Kangpokpi and Senapati districts was held during the second phase of the assembly elections on March 8. The repoll was ordered on Tuesday following electoral malpractices in these polling stations, the official said. Repolling started at 7 am.


Exit poll predictions for Manipur: The state which has 60 seats is forecast to pick the BJP in one poll, and the Congress in another.

After much uproar nation-wide, Sunny Leone has finally opened up on Ram Gopal Varma's tweet fiasco.The actress chose a very few words to express her feelings. She posted a video on her Twitter handle, saying, "Hey everyone! I read all the news today and I believe that change only happens when we have one voice, so choose your words wisely. Change only happens when we have one voice, so let's choose your words wisely! Peace and love!!" Sunny captioned it.


For the unversed, the whole controversy started on International Women's Day, when RGV took to Twitter to make some sexist and misogynistic remarks, specially targeting Sunny Leone in one. "I wish all the women in the world give men as much happiness as Sunny Leone gives," his tweet read.

This tweet, as expected, did not go down well with the Twitter users, who suggested that he must say this to his mother and daughters as well.


After his series of controversial tweets, Film Studio Setting and Allied Mazdoor Union, with 52,000 members, decided to boycott the ' Sarkar' helmer.


Ranragini, which has affiliation to Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, filed a complaint with Mapusa police, with its local office-bearer Vishakha Mhambare demanding that Varma be booked under Cyber laws and section 292 of IPC.


The director later apologised to "those who genuinely got offended."


He took to his Twitter handle to say, "Was just expressing my feelings but I apologise to all who were offended due to my unintended insensitive tweets in context of women's day. My apology is only to those who genuinely got offended and not to those who ranted for publicity and threatened to take law into their hands," he added.

The Parliamentary Board of the BJP may meet tomorrow afternoon when results of the five state assembly elections will be out. With exit polls projecting a good show by the saffron party, including in the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh where it is projected to emerge as the single largest party, its highest decision-making body is likely to take stock of the situation and chalk out future strategy.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah are among the board's 12 members who also include Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Nitin Gadkari, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu, Ananth Kumar, Thawarchand Gehlot and J P Nadda. A party source said the meeting has been tentatively scheduled for tomorrow.


However, there is a possibility that it could be held on Sunday depending on how the results pan out. The counting of votes will start tomorrow morning. Exit polls had yesterday projected a hung assembly in Uttar Pradesh, with BJP likely to lead the table, winning anywhere between 164 and 210 of the 403 seats. They also projected a good show by the party in Goa and Uttarakhand.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi reacts to the exit polls, which gives the BJP a majority in the state with between 164 and 285 seats. While some polls predict a hung assembly, others say the party will get a clear majority and form government. The exit polls also predict the Congress will be decimated in Manipur, Goa, Uttarakhand. In Punjab, it's a tie with the AAP with the ruling SAD a poor third.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said the party's alliance with the SP is winning and added that "Such exit polls we saw in Bihar also."


Of the six exit polls in Bihar during the assembly elections in 2015, most predicted a the BJP and its allies would win the state. The Nitish Kumar-led grand alliance went on to form the government.

 
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi are predicted to win somewhere between 88 to 112 seats while Mayawati's BSP will be a distant third with anywhere between 28 to 42 seats.


Gandhi, 46, is expected to chair an informal meeting tomorrow with Congress lawmakers tomorrow on their strategy for the parliament session that began today and runs till April 12.

A warrant has been ordered against a High Court judge after he failed to appear in the Supreme Court in a contempt case. The Kolkata police chief has been asked to serve the warrant and produce Calcutta High Court judge CS Karnan before the top court on March 31.


A seven-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice of India will take up the contempt case against Justice Karnan for his alleged misconduct. He has been accused of writing letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others alleging corruption against several sitting and retired judges in the country.


The top court will also take up a petition by the wife of a sitting Judge of Madras High Court accusing Justice Karnan of harassing their family and making false allegations against her husband. For the first time in judicial history, a high court judge was issued a contempt notice and asked to appear in February. The top court had taken off judicial and administrative work from the Judge.

Denying the rumours of entering into an alliance with any other party, Mayawati led-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Friday said it would wait for the results and then take a call on it.


"Will wait and watch for results, as of now not thinking of alliance with anyone," said the BSP sources.


Responding to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's statement that hinted at an alliance with the BSP, expelled Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh yesterday said that the alliance would only benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi as people still consider him as one of the most trustworthy politicians.


"The Samajwadi Party and the BSP are like two rivers flowing parallelly; they cannot be merged and if they are joined together, the Lok Sabha elections will become beneficial for Prime Minister Modi because he has repeatedly said that Congress or the SP and the BSP have accumulated black money, plundered poor people they all are corrupt. The allegations may prove to be correct if this alliance takes place," Singh told ANI.

Just in: Arrest warrant against sitting Calcutta HC judge CS Karnan issued for failing to appear before SC in a contempt of court hearing. DGP of West Bengal asked to execute the warrant against Karnan.

In other news, mercurial Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has been named as captain of Kings XI Punjab for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), beginning April 5.


Maxwell takes over the role from Indian Test opener Murali Vijay, who was appointed captain midway through the last season.

The franchise confirmed the news on its official Twitter account.

Maxwell first played in the IPL as part of the Delhi Daredevils in 2012.

Taking into account the bets placed in the satta markets, BJP pipped the SP-Congress alliance in UP after the first phase of polling. The alliance, however, appeared to be convincingly ahead on the day of the first phase. Read more

Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav has rejected the exit polls by television news channels that showed the Bharatiya Janata Party winning or leading in UP. Speaking to news channels, Yadav said that the SP is 100 per cent winning elections and even claimed that the exit polls were changed under pressure. "I have information that the original exit polls were changed under pressure by channels a few days back," Yadav said while speaking to ANI.


The counting of votes for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2017 will take place on March 11.


In fact, after the exit poll predictions last evening, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has said that he was open to forming an alliance with Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party in case of a hung Assembly in Uttar Pradesh. Akhilesh has however maintained that he is confident of winning the elections, and while speaking to the BBC in an interview said, "We are confident of winning UP. But it is a given that we will take support from Mayawati if there is a hung House. We will not let the BJP rule Uttar Pradesh."

1993: BSP founder Kanshi Ram with SP chief Mulayam Singh. In 1993 the SP had joined hands with the BSP to form government in Uttar Pradesh. The BSP-SP alliance won the 1993 elections where SP bagged 109 seats and 67 seats were won by BSP. Mulayam Singh formed a government in UP and became CM with the help of the BSP. But soon after, Mayawati withdrew support and Mulayam lost the majority in the state. On June 2, 1995 Mayawati was attacked, allegedly by SP MLAs, in a state guest house where she was addressing a meeting with her MLAs. The SP MLAs ostensibly wanted to teach her a lesson. After this incident the relations between Mayawati and SP got stained and the party didn't form any pre-election or post-election alliance ever. The exit polls have ranked the SP-Congress alliance second, followed by the BSP. The polls have predicted the BJP emerging as the largest single party, winning anywhere between 164 and 210 of the 403 seats.

The BJP Parliamentary Board meeting likely to be held tomorrow at 4 pm. The definitive results of the five-state polls will be out by the time. The exit poll results for the recently concluded assembly elections have projected that the Bharatiya Janata Party could emerge as the single-largest party in four of five states except Punjab.

The exit polls predicted a hung assembly in the key Hindi heartland state of Uttar Pradesh where the Bharatiya Janata Party would emerge as the largest single party, winning anywhere between 164 and 210 of the 403 seats.

The Congress will hold a meeting today at around 10.30 am to outline its strategy in Lok Sabha. The party has given a notice in the Lok Sabha on the LPG and petrol price rise issue.

The second leg of the Budget session in the Parliament began yesterday, with the Congress party seeking to corner Centre on various issues.

"Congress will play the role of the Opposition in Parliament and we would be co-operating and co-coordinating with other opposition political parties. There are number of issues which are going to be raised by us including question of security threats that have emerged. It is very surprising that the situation in Kashmir remains volatile," Om Prakash Mishra told ANI.

Paytm has withdrawn the 2 per cent fee on adding money to mobile wallets using credit cards, a merely two days after introducing the levy.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg and wife Priscilla Chan are expecting their second child together.   

Congress has given a notice in Lok Sabha on LPG and petrol price rise issue.

Samajwadi Party-Congress workers in Kanpur are performing a 'havan' (prayers) ahead of election results.