Delhi Police on Monday arrested a woman for allegedly demanding Rs 2 crore from Union Minister Mahesh Sharma after threatening to make public an "objectionable" video of him.

Gautam Buddh Nagar Senior Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Krishna told reporters, "Today afternoon, we received a call from minister Mahesh Sharma regarding a blackmail call for ransom. The caller threatened to release an objectionable video featuring him if he denies giving ransom. We probed the matter and got to know that the caller did not have any objectionable video. We have arrested a girl involved in the case."

The SSP said prima facie investigation revealed that there is no such video of Sharma and it is the modus operandi of the gang to target influential people. However, there is a video where the BJP leader could be seen talking to a girl and that is the only video available.

The SSP added that the gang was running an extortion racket for some time now and has targeted influential people.

He added, "It is a racket which has been working for the past few days. An FIR is being registered and more members of the gangs are being identified. This is not the first time they targeted someone."

The other members of the gang are yet to be identified. 

A lawyer today filed an affidavit claiming there is a conspiracy to frame the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi in a "false case of sexual harassment" that would force him to resign.

All 27 judges of the top court have rallied behind the Chief Justice, sources said, following the sexual harassment allegations against him made by a former employee at the top court in an affidavit to several judges.

The judges informally discussed the matter today during the informal meeting over morning tea, a convention of the top court.

The meeting went on longer than usual - the hearings started at 10.45 am instead of 10.30 am - fuelling speculation about a full-court meet to discuss the issue.

Alleging a conspiracy, Chief Justice Gogoi said, "There has to be bigger force behind this, they want to deactivate office of Chief Justice". The allegations, he said, were made as he was scheduled to hear several important cases this week. Since there can be no corruption allegations against him, "people have to find something and they have found this," he added.

Justice Gogoi, who was heading the three-judge bench, said he would not pass any orders and the senior-most judge, Arun Mishra, will dictate the order. The bench, however, refrained from passing any judicial order "at this stage".

A group of civil society activists and eminent citizens has sought a probe by an inquiry committee, headed by a woman and comprising senior retired judges and eminent members of civil society, into the allegations of sexual harassment against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.

A statement, signed by Arundhati Roy, Medha Patkar, Aruna Roy, Palagummi Sainath among others, was issued on Monday.

The charges are prima facie serious enough to warrant an independent inquiry by a high level independent committee, the statement read. 

It criticised the suo moto hearing held in the Supreme Court on Saturday in the presence of Gogoi, saying the act of holding the hearing, goes against all just and settled principles of law. In the hearing, the statement said that one-sided allegations were made by the Chief Justice and senior most law officers of the Prime Minister Narendra Modis government. 

This is unbecoming of a judicial proceeding, especially one where the complainant in a sexual harassment case is absent and is permitted to be openly vilified in court. These actions augur a dark day in the history of the Supreme Court and have, undoubtedly, cast a shadow on the credibility of the Chief Justice and the judiciary, the statement said.

It sought protection for the complainant and asked the CJI to not exercise his administrative powers. This statement was in addition to at least three other resolutions by Supreme Court lawyers groups and a Supreme Court employees group taking various stands about the handling of the sexual harassment complaint against CJI Ranjan Gogoi. 

The Congress has named professional boxer Vijender Singh, the Beijing Olympic Games bronze medallist, as its candidate for the South Delhi constituency.

His (Singhs) candidature has been finalised by Congress president Rahul Gandhi. We are sure he will be able to win the seat, said a senior Congress leader. We wanted to field a celebrity and at the same time, someone whom the people will be able to relate to.

According to sources, the party is confident that Singh will attract voters in the South Delhi constituency, which neighbours Haryana and has a number of Jat and Gurjar voters.

South Delhi is essentially a rural constituency with a number of villages. It is currently represented by the BJPs Ramesh Bidhuri. The Congress had contemplated fielding Ramesh Kumar, who had earlier contested from here but appears to have decided against it.

Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, could be planning to move to Africa after the upcoming birth of their first child, according to reports in British newspaper The Sunday Times.

The royal couple could move abroad for two or three years as part of a major international role being devised by the royal family's courtiers, the paper reports, with Africa raised as a potential destination.

According to the report, David Manning -- the former British ambassador to the US and special adviser on international affairs to Prince Harry -- has proposed a plan for the pair to take on a more international position that could build on their work for the Commonwealth.

A decision is not expected until 2020, the paper says.

The Election Commission on Monday censured Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu and barred him from campaigning for 72 hours for alleged communal remarks during an election rally in Bihar.

 

The ban comes into force from 10 am on Tuesday.

Addressing an election rally in Katihar on April 16, the cricketer-turned-politician had stoked a controversy when he urged Muslim voters to vote en bloc and defeat Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

At the time Sidhu was canvassing in support of veteran Congress leader and former union minister Tariq Anwar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will file his nomination from Varanasi on April 26 and will be accompanied by the party's top brass, including BJP national president Amit Shah. 

  

Chief Ministers of NDA-ruled states and BJP allies are  expected to attend the event, party sources said.  

Modi will file the nomination papers from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh on April 26, they said, adding a road show will be held there on April 25.  

Various leaders of the National Democratic Alliance, including Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, are slated to attend the road show, the sources said. 

"Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be filing his nomination later this week and given his track record as a Member of Parliament and Prime Minister, Varanasi will be looking forward to welcoming him," BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said. 

Modi represents Varanasi in the Parliament. The city of temples votes on May 19. 

In a move that could have implications on India's energy security, US President Donald Trump on Monday decided not to grant sanctions exemptions to any oil customers of Iran, further squeezing Tehran's top export commodity.

"President Donald J Trump has decided not to reissue Significant Reduction Exceptions when they expire in early May. This decision is intended to bring Iran's oil exports to zero, denying the regime its principal source of revenue," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said.

The US re-imposed sanctions on Iran last November, after President Trump pulled out of the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

The US' move which is seen as an escalation of President Trump administration's "maximum pressure" on Iran comes after it last year gave temporary 180-days waiver to eight countries, including India, China, Turkey and Japan among others.

As a result of this decision all countries including India would have to bring down its import of oil from Iran by May 2. Greece, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have already heavily reduced their oil imports from Iran.

Iran is India's third-largest oil supplier behind Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Iran supplied 18.4 million tonnes of crude oil during April 2017 and January 2018 (first 10 months of 2017-18 fiscal).

The US, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, three of the world's great energy producers, along with its friends and allies, are committed to ensuring that global oil markets remain adequately supplied, Sanders said.

"We have agreed to take timely action to assure that global demand is met as all Iranian oil is removed from the market," she said.

BJP candidate Pragya Thakur will be charged for saying she was "proud to be part of the Babri mosque demolition". An election officer has ordered a First Information Report against her.

Pragya Thakur, the BJP candidate for Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal in the national election, had said in an interview to television channel TV9 over the weekend that she was among the people who demolished the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992 and she was "proud" of it.

"We had removed a blot from the country. We had gone to demolish the structure. I climbed atop the structure and broke it and I feel extremely proud that God gave me this opportunity. We will make sure that a Ram Temple is built at that site," Pragya Thakur said.

She was served notice for "creating mutual hatred or cause tension between different communities", but unfazed, she said she "stands by" what she said. "Yes, I had gone there, I had said it yesterday too, not denying it. I had demolished the structure. I will go there and help in the construction of the Ram temple, nobody can stop us from doing that," she said.

On Sunday, she was reportedly told by her party to "avoid provocative statements", sources said today.

Pragya Thakur is one of the main accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts in which six people were killed and over 100 injured. She was the face of what the previous Congress-led UPA government described as "saffron terror".

Celebrity hairstylist Jawed Habib, on Monday, joined the Bhartiya Janata Party in New Delhi, stating that he had now been promoted to the post of 'chowkidar' of the nation.

"Aaj tak main bus baalon ka chowkidaar tha, aaj main desh ka ho gya hoon (Till today I was just chowkidar for hair, now I have become the chowkidar of the nation)," Jawed said talking to reporters.

"I am happy to join the BJP as I have seen the changes brought in the country by Prime Minister Modi in the last five years. I think nobody should be ashamed of their background, when the prime minister is proud to state that he was a 'chaiwala' then why should I be ashamed of calling myself a 'nai' (barber)," he said.

Habib is considered amongst the best hairdressers in the world and currently has over 550 unisex hair salons across India with three international ones.

This move has come right in the middle of the Lok Sabha elections.

Delhi will see polling on May 12 in the sixth phase of elections. The counting of votes will begin on May 23.

Cross FIRs were lodged on Monday in connection with an incident of clash between supporters of CPI candidate from Bihar's Begusarai seat

Kanhaiya Kumar and a group of locals, police said.

Two complaints have been lodged by both sides at Gadhpura police station about Sunday's clash, which erupted after the former JNU students' union president was shown black flags at Koray village here during a roadshow.

Youths in the group had also raised slogans against Kumar, police said.

Kumar is locked in a triangular fight with BJP candidate and Union minister Giriraj Singh, and RJD's Tanveer Hasan, in the Begusarai Lok Sabha seat, which would vote in fourth phase on April 29.

Congress is expected to shortly announce the name of its candidate from South Delhi - the boxer Vijender Singh. 

The party had earlier announced the names of six candidates from Delhi, including its state unit chief Sheila Dixit who will be contesting from North-East Delhi. 

The Congress list drew the curtains on the possibility of an alliance with the Aam Admi Party in Delhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union minister Arun Jaitley and BJP patriarch L K Advani are among top leaders who will vote Tuesday in Gujarat, which will have a single phase polling for its 26 Lok Sabha seats.

The BJP, in a release said, all its key leaders, including Modi and Advani - who are registered voters in Gujarat - will exercise their franchise in morning hours.

The prime minister, who is expected to land in Ahmedabad Monday night, will cast his vote at a booth set up inside a school in the Ranip area of the city, which falls under the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency, it said.

BJP chief Amit Shah is the BJP nominee from Gandhinagar, earlier represented by Advani.

Shah would exercise his franchise at a booth in the Naranpura area here and Advani at a government school in Khanpur, said the release.

It said Finance Minister Jaitley would cast his vote at a booth inside a college located on the SG Highway.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and state BJP president Jitu Vaghani would vote in Rajkot and Bhavnagar, respectively.

The Sri Lankan government on Monday announced that it will compensate the victims of the ghastly bomb blasts that hit churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka, killing over 290 people and injuring over 500 others during Easter celebrations, according to a media report.

  

Eight coordinated explosions targeted Easter worshippers and high end hotels popular with international guests.

The blasts targeted St Anthony's Church in Colombo, St Sebastian's Church in the western coastal town of Negombo and another church in the eastern town of Batticaloa around 8.45 am (local time) as the Easter Sunday mass were in progress.

Three explosions were reported from the five-star hotels - the Shangri-La, the Cinnamon Grand and the Kingsbury. Foreigners and locals who were injured in hotel blasts were admitted to the Colombo General Hospital.

Government spokesperson Rajitha Senaratne said that the each victim in the attacks will be paid 1 million Sri Lankan rupees ($5,722), while about 100,000 Sri Lankan rupees ($572) would be given for the costs of the funeral processions, The Sunday Times reported.

He said that the injured in the attacks would be paid between 100,000 Sri Lankan rupees ($570)- 300,000 Sri Lankan rupees ($1717).

The spokesperson also stressed that all the damaged churches will be completely repaired by the government.

Police have till now arrested 24 people, reportedly members of a Muslim radical group, in connection with the country's bloodiest attacks in a decade. 

He attributed this to part of strategy so that leaders of the grand alliance cover more places during campaign. 

Gandhi addressed four election rallies so far in the state in Purnea (on March 23), Gaya (April 9), Katihar (April 10) and Supaul (April 20), but Tejashwi Yadav did not share the stage with the Congress president which was taken as a signal of fissure within the opposition alliance. "I will definitely share the stage with him (Rahul Gandhi) and you will see it in the coming days. This is a part of strategy that we (leaders of Grand Alliance) should cover more and more places during election campaigning, Yadav said. To present a picture of unity, prominent leaders of the alliance constituents were present at the press meet." -- PTI 

A day before the third phase of polling begins fresh controversy from politicians. Maharashtra Minister of Rural Development Pankaja Munde's made an objectionable comment against Congress president Rahul Gandhi while addressing a rally at Jalna parliamentary constituency.

Munde said that Balakot air strike doubters like bomb Congress president Rahul Gandhi should be "tied with a bomb and thrown in some other country". 

"They questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he tried to make this country terror-free. When our soldiers were attacked, it was us who responded with a surgical strike. Rahul Gandhi asked us to furnish proof. I would say tie a bomb around his neck and throw him in some other country. Nowadays anyone questions us on the surgical strike to grab headlines," Munde said.

The minister made the comments in presence of Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and the BJP's state unit chief.

The Congress has condemned Munde's remarks calling it cheap politics of the BJP. "We don't expect anything less than that from them. Those who label a martyr (Karkare) as anti-national are capable of going to any extent. We condemn Munde's statement,' said Sachin Sawant, Congress spokesperson. 

Colombo was rocked with a fresh explosion on Monday in a van near a church in Sri Lanka where scores were killed the previous day. 

Bomb squad officials were trying to defuse it when the bomb went off, news agency Reuters reported. 

"The van exploded when the bomb defusing unit of the Special Task Force and air force tried to diffuse the bomb," the witness said. 

Indian Coast Guard has been put on high alert along the maritime boundary with Sri Lanka and has taken preventive measures following the eight coordinated bomb blasts that rocked Sri Lanka during Easter celebrations on Sunday.

Maritime surveillance aircraft Dornier and ships have been deployed on the maritime border to prevent any attempts of escape by the group which carried out suicide bombings in Sri Lanka, Coast Guard sources said

At least 290 people lost their lives and more than 500 were injured in the eight coordinated bomb blasts that rocked Sri Lanka during Easter celebrations on Sunday.

Police spokesperson Ruwan Gunasekara told The New York Times that 24 people have been arrested in connection with the deadly explosions. Sri Lankan authorities have termed this a case of intelligence failure and were carried out by suicide bombers. 

The Indian Coast Guard has been put on high alert along the maritime boundary with Sri Lanka and has taken preventive measures following the eight coordinated bomb blasts that rocked Sri Lanka during Easter celebrations on Sunday.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena (pictured) has declared nationwide emergency from midnight on Monday following the Easter blasts. Government officials have also fixed responsibility for the blasts on a local group called the National Thowfeek Jamaat. 

At least six Indians are among 290 killed in a string of eight powerful blasts, including suicide attacks, which struck three churches and luxury hotels frequented by foreigners in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, officials said on Monday.

The Indian Coast Guard said it was on high alert along the maritime boundary with Sri Lanka. Ships and maritime surveillance aircraft Dornier have been deployed on the maritime border to prevent any attempts by suicide bombing perpetrators to escape from Sri Lanka.

The apex court on April 15 had given a categorical clarification that in its Rafale judgment there was no occasion for it to make a mention of the contemptuous observation that "chowkidar Narendra Modi chor hain" as has been attributed to it by Gandhi.

BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao, addressing a press conference here, said, "Today, by filing an affidavit in the honourable SC, Rahul Gandhi accepted that he had lied on his allegations against PM Modi on the Rafale deal."

The Congress party's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala hit out at the BJP saying, "Fakery has no boundaries. Lies no limitations, disinformation no confines! BJP's blasphemous misrepresentation of Rahul ji's reply to the SC is itself a criminal contempt of court proceedings." 

"The issue is sub-judice, Stop passing verdict today! We reiterate -- ek hi chowkidar chor hai (only one watchman is a thief)!" he said. Gandhi on Monday expressed regret over his remarks, saying he had made the statement in the heat of political campaigning which has been misused by his opponents. 

He said he had no intention to lower the dignity of the apex court. The court had directed Gandhi to give his explanation on April 22 on a petition filed by BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi seeking criminal contempt action against him for his remarks. It is scheduled to hear Lekhi's petition on Tuesday.

Gandhi, who filed an affidavit in response to the apex court's April 15 order, also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi too has used the SC judgment in the Rafale jet deal case to claim the government has been given a "clean chit" in the matter. -- PTI

"When the Batla House encounter happened, Sonia Gandhi shed tears on the killing of terrorists, however, she did not cry for the police personnel who lost his life in the incident. Congress must answer this," Amit Shah said.  

Officially known as Operation Batla House, Batla House encounter took place on September 19, 2008, against Indian Mujahideen terrorists in Batla House locality in Delhi's Jamia Nagar.Two suspected terrorists, Atif Ameen and Mohammad Sajid, were killed while two other suspects, Mohammad Saif and Zeeshan, were arrested. 

The seven-phased Lok Sabha polls began on April 11 and will continue till May 19. The counting of votes will take place on May 23. -- ANI

In one case, the Delhi High Court had quashed the summons issued to Irani in a defamation complaint filed against her by Nirupam. The high court had however dismissed a similar plea of Nirupam seeking to set aside the summons issued against him in a cross defamation complaint filed by Irani. 

The high court, on December 19 last year, had said the case against Nirupam will continue. 

Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock in a Twitter message said, "Interpol strongly condemns the horrific attacks and has offered its full support to the investigation being carried out by national authorities." Paris-based Interpol is an organisation which facilitates worldwide police cooperation. Stock said Interpol can deploy an Incident Response Team at the request of a member country to provide on-site support during a crisis situation.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the victims," he tweeted. Eight coordinated explosions targeted Easter worshippers and high end hotels popular with international guests.

The blasts targeted St Anthony's Church in Colombo, St Sebastian's Church in the western coastal town of Negombo and another church in the eastern town of Batticaloa as the Easter Sunday mass were in progress. Three explosions were reported from the five-star hotels - the Shangri-La, the Cinnamon Grand and the Kingsbury. 

According to the Government Analysts Department, a total of seven suicide bombers carried out the devastating blasts killed 290 people and injured 500 others. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but police on Monday arrested 24 people and declined to give further details. 

The blasts - the deadliest attacks in the country's history shattered a decade of peace in the island nation since the end of the brutal civil war with the LTTE. -- PTI

Amethi returning officer declares Congress President Rahul Gandhi's nomination valid.

An independent candidate Saturday raised objections over Congress president Rahul Gandhi's nomination from Amethi, alleging discrepancies over citizenship and educational qualifications in his election affidavit.

Rahul Gandhi's lawyer, KC Kaushik, said, "Rahul Gandhi was born in India and he holds an Indian passport, he never took citizenship of any other country. His passport, Voter-ID, and his income tax, everything is of India." 

On objections raised on Rahul's educational qualification, Kaushik said, "I don't know who Raul Vinci is or where he came from. Rahul Gandhi had done his M.Phil in 1995 from University of Cambridge, I have attached a copy of the certificate."

Complainant Dhruv Raj's lawyer Ravi Prakash showed reporters purported copies of a certificate of incorporation of a UK-registered company in which the Congress leader is stated to be a British national.

In a huge victory for the BJP, Congress President Rahul Gandhi today  expressed 'regret' to the Supreme Court for 'misquoting the SC order' on the Rafale verdict. The Congress president said the remarks were made in the heat of campaigning and the court had 'never said these words'.

Rahul Gandhi was filing his response in the court in connection with a contempt petition filed by BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi over his statement on Rafale verdict. 

In his reply in Supreme Court, Rahul Gandhi said "my statements were used and misused by the political opponents." and that he "gave the statements in the heat of the political campaigning."

The Supreme Court had on April 10 ruled that documents submitted by the petitioners were admissible as evidence and the case, alleging irregularities in the purchase of the Rafale jets from France, would be heard on its merits. The Centre had said that the documents submitted by the petitioners were stolen documents and were hence not admissible as evidence.

Soon after the verdict, Rahul Gandhi claimed vindication and said that the Supreme Court had accepted that there was corruption in the Rafale deal. "Supreme Court has made it clear that chowkidar allowed the theft. SC has accepted that some sort of corruption took place in the Rafale deal," Rahul told reporters after the top courts ruling.

Dikshit will be pitted against Manoj Tiwari of the BJP. 

The announcement of candidates came after talks of alliance between the AAP and the Congress failed as the Rahul Gandhi led party wanted a tie up only in Delhi while the Aam Aadmi Party wanted the alliance to be forged in Haryana as well. -- PTI

Image: Sri Lankan military officials stand guard in front of the St Anthony's Shrine, Kochchikade church after an explosion in Colombo. Photograph: Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters

For the participants in YS Jaganmohan Reddy's political campaign, achhe din has arrived. The staff has been given a paid holiday for a month. While the junior staff gets a paid holiday, some senior employees have been offered a holiday at a destination of their choice. Only a core team of about 20 people has been retained to continue working with Reddy on the final details. They have been promised 'good rewards' if the results are good.

A report released by the Election Commission shows political parties in Tamil Nadu, especially the big two, are locked in some sort of a contest when it comes to committing the maximum number of violations of the model code of conduct. Of the total 4,690 violations reported in the state till April 19, around 1,450 cases were reported against the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam while 1,694 cases were reported against the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. The smaller parties in the state also tried their best with 1,546 cases against them during the period. Most of the violations reported related to defacement of property. Almost 1,368 cases were reported from the southern part of the state, including from Madurai, Theni, Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga, Thoothukudi and Kanniyakumari.

-- Business Standard

Speaking about the impact of the temporary shut down of the 25-year-old airline, the Sena, in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana', said the curse of those rendered jobless would be more powerful than that of a 'sadhvi'. 

It was apparently referring to remarks made by BJP leader Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in the Malegaon blast case, who recently claimed that senior police officer Hemant Karkare died during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks as she "cursed" him for torturing her.

The cash-starved Jet Airways ceased all its operations temporarily last week. The airline had sought a Rs 400 crore emergency fund from its lenders to whom it already owes over Rs 8,500 crore, but was refused as it was not ready to offer more collateral. -- PTI

Singh wrote, "the development model of BJP is a betrayal. Youth come to cities like Bhopal to study but have to migrate to other cities in search of jobs. This will stop with our vision of development which will enable youth getting employment in the same city where they study."

Singh also tweeted taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Pakoda' remark, in which the prime minister suggested in an interview that a person earning Rs 200 a day by selling 'Pakodas' is also employed. 

Singh wrote: "From now on youths will not migrate to different cities to do engineering nor will they fry pakodas due to lack of jobs. We will develop Bhopal like Pune or Bengaluru. Nobody visualised that Bhopal could become an IT hub. We have the vision we will make that happen."

Congress' candidate from Bhopal, Digvijaya Singh on Sunday released a 'Vision Document' for the all-round development of the city. Bhopal will go to polls on May 12. Counting of votes will take place on May 23. -- ANI

SP leader Abdullah Azam Khan, the son of SP leader Azam Khan says in Rampur: "Ali bhi humare, bajrangbali bhi humare. Humein Ali bhi chahiye, bajrangbali bhi chahiye lekin Anarkali nahi chahiye."

Adityanath had compared the Lok Sabha elections to a contest between Ali, a revered figure in Islam, and Bajrang Bali, the Hindu god Hanuman.

"Agar Congress, SP, BSP ko Ali par vishwaas hai toh humein bhi Bajrang Bali par vishwaas hai (If the Congress, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party have faith in Ali, we have faith in Hanuman)," the UP CM had said. 

Azam Khan's son has now kicked up another row after making a sexist comment on actor-turned-politician Jaya Prada, without actually naming her. 

His comments come at a time when his father is already facing flak over his sexist jibes at his friend-turned-foe Prada. Last week, Azam faced a 72-hour election campaign ban for making derogatory remarks against Prada. 

you got represented (by her) for 10 years. People of Rampur, people of Uttar Pradesh and people of India, it took you 17 years to understand her reality. But, I could recognize it in 17 days that she wears a khaki underwear, he had said at an election rally. 

Forex dealers said besides increased demand of the US currency from importers, lower opening of the equity markets weighed on the rupee.

The domestic unit opened lower at 69.78 against the dollar then dropped further to quote at 69.82, down 47 paise over its previous close. The rupee Thursday had gained 25 paise to 69.35 against the US dollar after three sessions of losses. 

Currency market was shut on Friday on account of 'Good Friday'. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.02 per cent to 97.39.

Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark index was trading 309.56 points or 0.79 per cent lower at 38,830.72. The NSE Nifty too cracked to 101.80 points, or 0.87 per cent, to 11,651 in early session.  -- PTI

Budget carrier Spicejet on Monday announced signing of an initial pact for code share partnership with Gulf carrier Emirates.

 

The reciprocal partnership will allow opening of new routes and destinations for passengers of the two airlines, SpiceJet said in a statement.

"I am delighted to announce that as part of SpiceJet's international expansion strategy, we have signed a memorandum of understanding for a code share agreement," SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh said in the statement.

SpiceJet passengers from 51 domestic destinations will be able to access Emirates' network across the United States, Europe, Africa and Middle East, it added.

Code-sharing allows an airline to book its passengers on its partner carriers and provide seamless travel to destinations where it has no presence. -- PTI

Grounded carrier Jet Airways on Monday said its non-executive and non-independent director Nasim Zaidi has quit the board, citing personal reasons and time constraints.

Zaidi, the former Chief Election Commissioner and ex- civil aviation secretary, joined the Jet Airways board in August last year.

"This is to inform you that Nasim Zaidi has submitted his resignation as a non-executive, non-independent director of the company with effect from April 21 due to personal reasons and constraints of time," Jet Airways said in an exchange filing.

The  airline, which ceased all its operations temporarily last week, is under the management control of State Bank of India-led consortium of lenders following a debt-recast plan approved by its board last month. -- PTI 

Fire tenders have rushed to the spot. 

No casualties have been reported but property worth lakhs of rupees has been damaged.

More details are awaited.

Sri Lankan authorities have arrested 24 people from the minority Muslim community in connection with the multiple blasts that rocked the island nation on Sunday, killing over 290 people.

A string of eight powerful blasts, including suicide attacks, struck churches and luxury hotels frequented by foreigners in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, killing over 290 people, including five Indians, and shattering a decade of peace in the island nation since the end of the brutal civil war with the LTTE.

Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said the number of arrests on the incidents have now gone up to 24.

However, the government said they will not disclose the details of the suspects involved in the attacks to prevent them from getting publicity.

"Don't give extremists a voice. Don't help to make them martyrs," state minister of defence, Ruwan Wijewardene, told reporters when asked for details of those in custody.

Police officials privately said the suspects were all from the minority Muslim community.

Police said the van which had carried explosives to carry out bomb attacks at the three hotels was arrested with its Muslim driver.

A safe house where the bombers had lived for nearly three months leading to the attacks were discovered in the south of Colombo suburb of Panadura. -- PTI

The toll in a series of eight blasts targeting mostly churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Sunday has risen to 290, a police spokesman said Monday.

 

More than 500 people were wounded in the blasts, he added, in the deadliest violence since the end of the country's long-running civil war a decade ago. 

Fifteen Naxals, including six women, surrendered before the police in Bijapur, Chhatisgarh on Sunday. 

The Naxals surrendered with three rifles before superintendent of police, Bijapur, Gowardhan Thakur. 

"One of the surrendered women Naxals carried a reward of Rs 1 lakh on her head. She was the commander of Naxal Chetna Natya Mandali," Police said. 

"The surrendered Naxals have been identified as Ova Ram Wacham, Sukku Wacham, Banjaram Gota, Rainu Wacham, Mandi Telam, Vadde Shankar, Raju Wacham, Sukku Pallo, Budhri Telam, Jurri Pallo, Sunita Wacham, Jimmo Wacham, Sukku Wacham, Raju Ram Wacham, Irpe Wacham," Thakur told media person here. 

He further informed that the Naxals will be provided with necessary assistance according to surrender and rehabilitation policy of state government. -- ANI

Five Indians were among over 200 people killed in multiple bomb blasts in Sri Lanka on Sunday, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said, as India offered all possible assistance to the island nation to deal with the situation.

Swaraj, in a series of tweets, said the Indian high commission in Colombo has conveyed that a hospital informed it about deaths of the three Indians in the blasts.

"Indian High Commission in Colombo has conveyed that National Hospital has informed them about the death of three Indian nationals," she said. 

Their names are Lakshmi, Narayan Chandrashekhar, Ramesh, K G Hanumantharayappa and M Rangappa, she said adding further details are being ascertained.

 

Over 200 people were killed and at least 450 injured in blasts which ripped through churches and luxury hotels, shattering a decade of peace in the island nation since the end of the civil war with the LTTE.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesingh and called the suicide bombings in the country "cold-blooded and pre-planned barbaric acts". He also offered all possible help to the country.