The air quality in Delhi improved significantly on Sunday due to strong winds but continued to remain in the 'poor' category.

The satellite cities of the national capital also saw significant improvement in the air quality with some having Air Quality Index (AQI) in the 'moderate' category.

The air quality in Delhi-NCR is expected to remain in the 'moderate' and 'poor' categories for the next two days.

At 4 pm, the AQI of Delhi was recorded at 215, which falls in the 'poor' category.

The AQI in Faridabad was 197 (moderate), Ghaziabad 218 (poor), Greater Noida 202 (poor), Noida 203 (poor) and Gurgaon 136 (moderate).

An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered 'poor', 301-400 'very poor' and 401-500 'severe'.

On Saturday, Delhi's AQI was recorded at 357, which falls in the 'very poor' category.

Mahesh Talawat, vice president of Sky Met weather, said strong winds due to western disturbance has helped dispersed pollutants in Delhi-NCR and other parts of north India.

"The air quality is expected to remain in 'moderate' to 'poor' category in the next two days," he said.

The national capital recorded a maximum temperature of 29 degree Celsius and minimum temperature of 16.2 degrees Celsius on Sunday.

The humidity oscillated between 85 per cent and 45 per cent, respectively.

The weatherman has forecast strong surface winds during daytime on Monday with the maximum temperature touching 27 degrees Celsius and minimum of 15 degrees Celsius.  -- PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday telephoned Sri Lanka's President-elect Gotabaya Rajapaksa to congratulate him on his electoral win and invited him to visit India.

Rajapaksa stormed to victory in Sri Lanka's presidential elections, the results of which came on Sunday.

The Lankan leader thanked the prime minister for his good wishes and expressed his readiness to work with India very closely to ensure development and security, the Prime Minister's Office said in a series of tweets.

Modi extended an invitation to Rajapaksa to visit India at his earliest convenience.

'The invitation was accepted,' the PMO said.

Earlier in the day, Modi took to Twitter to congratulate the Sri Lankan leader, saying he looks forward to further deepen relations between the two nations.

'Congratulations @GotabayaR on your victory in the Presidential elections.I look forward to working closely with you for deepening the close and fraternal ties between our two countries and citizens, and for peace, prosperity as well as security in our region,' Modi tweeted.  -- PTI

The Union Environment Ministry will hold a high-level meeting on Monday over the alarming pollution levels in Delhi and nearby areas with top officials of the states in the region.

Environment Secretary C K Mishra will chair the meeting, which will be attended by chief secretaries of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

Senior officials from the ministries of Housing and Urban Affairs, Power, and Agriculture will also be present in the meeting, an official spokesperson said on Sunday.

Among other agenda items related to tackling air pollution, the meeting is called for monitoring the measures that are currently underway, he said.

In view of the deteriorating air quality during the winter months, the meeting will also discuss the additional measures required to reduce the severity of pollution.

Officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs will also be present, who will put forth measures required for more effective traffic management, which is another factor aggravating the problem of air pollution, the spokesperson said.

The meeting will also be attended by municipal commissioners of the civic bodies in Delhi and district collectors of Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida will also participate via video conference.

On Friday, several top officials, including those from the environment ministry, stayed away from a key meeting of a parliamentary panel to discuss the air pollution crisis in Delhi-NCR.

Also, only four MPs of the 28-member panel attended it, leading to a major political row. The national capital is battling alarming levels of air pollution for the past few weeks.

The air quality deteriorated further in the last few days, forcing the authorities to shut schools for two days last week.  -- PTI

A soldier was killed and two more were injured in an explosion near the Line of Control in Akhnoor sector in  Jammu on Sunday, officials said.

The explosion took place when an Army team was patrolling the Pallanwalla area, they added.

The officials said the whole area was cordoned off and further details of the incident were awaited.   -- PTI

Image only for representation.

The Jammu and Kashmir administration headed by Lt Governor G C Murmu has issued a notification ending the tenure of legislative assembly Speaker and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Nirmal Singh who was appointed to the post under provisions of the now-revoked J&K Constitution.

The order comes days after several political parties, especially the Jammu-based National Panthers Party (NPP), questioned Singh's continuation on his post despite the dissolution of the assembly, abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two Union Territories.     

"...Singh, speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir shall be deemed to have ceased to hold the office of speaker of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir with effect from 31st October, 2019," read the notification issued by the Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs on Saturday.

On November 13, NPP chairman and former minister Harsh Dev Singh termed Singh's continuation on the Speaker's post as 'an insult to the constitution and the prevalent laws'.

Singh was elected as the Speaker of the legislative assembly of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state on May 10, 2018, over a month before the fall of the People's Democratic Party-BJP government and imposition of Governor's rule on June 20, 2018.

The BJP leader continued as the Speaker even after re-organisation of the state into two union territories and held the office on November 4 after the government shifted its base from Srinagar to Jammu following the bi-annual 'darbar' move.

Alleging brazen defiance of the rule of law and Constitutional provisions by the helmsman in J&K so as to favour a member of the ruling party, the NPP Chairman had said the continuance of the Speaker defied all logic and rationale besides being violative of the Indian Constitution and the provisions encapsulated in J&K Reorganisation Act.

The notification pointed out that Singh was appointed as Speaker of the legislative assembly of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir under section 57 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir.

"Whereas, the matter has been examined in consultation with the learned advocate general of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir and the legal position which has emerged in that the speaker of the legislative assembly of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir cannot hold the said office after the reorganization of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into the UT of Jammu and Kashmir and UT of Ladakh with effect from October 31," the notification said.   -- PTI

Kerala Law Minister A K Balan on Sunday said there was a 'de facto' stay of the Supreme Court's September 28 order on Sabarimala women's entry issue and the state government could act only on the basis of the court's verdict.

Amid tight security, thousands of devotees offered prayers at the Lord Ayyappa temple when it opened for the annual two-month-long Mandala-Makaravilakku pilgrimage on Saturday, though police said 10 women were sent back from Pamba base as they were in the 'barred' age group.

The five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had on November 14 in a 3:2 verdict decided to refer the issue to a larger bench to re-examine religious issues including those arising out of its 2018 verdict lifting a centuries-old ban on women of menstruating age visiting the hill top shrine.

"In this case, a constitutional government can act only according to the orders of the court. Now we have a new problem. The question was whether the verdict of November 14 stayed the earlier order. De jure there is no stay.... but de facto there is a stay. The 2018 order has been stayed in effect even though it was not officially mentioned," Balan told reporters.

'De jure' means existing or holding a specified position by legal right while 'de facto' means existing or holding a specified position in fact but not necessarily by legal right.

The apex court said the seven-judge bench will look into pending questions similar to Sabarimala, related to Muslim women's rights to enter a mosque and permission to Parsi women who marry outside the community to enter its fire temple and the practice of female genital mutilation in the Dawoodi Bohra community.

Though the apex court did not stay its September 2018 order allowing entry of women into the Lord Ayyappa temple, the Left Democratic Front government in Kerala this time said the shrine is not a ground for activism and made it clear it would not encourage women who want to visit the temple for publicity.

The state and temple precincts had witnessed protests by right wing outfits and BJP workers last year after the LDF government had decided to implement the Supreme Court verdict of September 28, 2018 allowing women of all age groups to offer prayers at the shrine.  -- PTI

Chief Justice of IndiaJustice Ranjan Gogoi offered prayers at the hill shrine ofLord Venkateswara at Tirumala near in Tirupati on Sunday.

Justice Gogoi and his wife Rupanjali Gogoi worshipped at the famous hill shrine at the crack of dawn, a temple official said.

On his arrival at the shrine's main entrance on Sunday, Justice Gogoi and his wife were accorded a traditional welcome by high priests.

After offering prayers at the temple, administered by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, he left for Delhi.

The Chief Justice had also offered prayers at the shrine on Saturday.

He had visited the temple of goddess Sri Padmavathi at Tiruchanur near in Tirupati on Saturday.   -- PTI

IMAGE: Outgoing CJI Ranjan Gogoi pays obeisance at Lord Venkateswara temple in Tirupati, on Sunday. Photograph: PTI Photo

All India Muslim Personal Law Board has decided to file a review petition against the Supreme Court's verdict in Ayodhya land dispute case.

AIMPLB's Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas said, "The Board has decided to file a review petition regarding Supreme Court's verdict on Ayodhya case."

The decision was taken in a meeting of AIMPLB that was held at an unidentified location.

Earlier, Maulana Arshad Madani of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind said, "Despite the fact that we already know that our review petition will be dismissed 100 per cent, we must file a review petition. It is our right."   -- ANI

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held talks with United States Defence Secretary Mark T Esper in Bangkok on Sunday on a range of issues of strategic importance including situation in the Indo-Pacific region and ways to further bolster bilateral security cooperation.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Association for South East Asian Nations Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus), a platform comprising ASEAN and its eight dialogue partners including India, officials said in New Delhi.

The defence minister also held a separate meeting with his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono with a focus on adding further momentum to bilateral defence cooperation.

In the meeting with Esper, Singh reaffirmed New Delhi's vision for a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region based on a rules-based order and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.

China has been fast expanding military and economic influence in the Indo-Pacific region, triggering concern in various countries of the region and beyond.

Singh said there has been a growing convergence between India and the US on the Indo-Pacific, adding the 10-member grouping of ASEAN is central to New Delhi's vision for the region.

'Had an excellent meeting with US Secretary of Defence, Dr. Mark T Esper in Bangkok today. We talked about ways to expand defence cooperation between India and the United States,' he tweeted.

Singh conveyed to his American counterpart that he was looking forward to have substantial discussions during the deliberations under the 'two-plus-two' foreign and defence ministerial dialogue between the two countries in Washington later next month, the defence ministry said in a statement.

The inaugural Indo-US 'two-plus-two' talks took place in New Delhi in September last year.

Expressing happiness on the growing Indo-US ties, Singh said the cooperation between the two sides has grown across a wide range of sectors, including defence and security, economy, energy, counter-terrorism and people-to-people relationship.

Singh and Esper also discussed a number of key issues concerning regional security and bilateral defence cooperation.

The ADMM-Plus is also likely to review the evolving security scenario in the region, particularly in the maritime domain.

The inaugural ADMM-Plus was convened in Hanoi in 2010. The Defence Ministers then had agreed on five areas of practical cooperation to pursue under the new mechanism, including maritime security, counter-terrorism, humanitarian assistance and peacekeeping operations.  -- PTI

Shiv Sena MPs are being allotted seats on the opposition side in both houses of parliament as its minister has resigned and the party is 'working out' alliance with the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party to form government in Maharashtra, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Sunday.

Arvind Sawant, the lone Sena minister in the Union council of ministers submitted his resignation last Monday. The party said on Saturday that it would not attend a meeting of National Democratic Alliance constituents on the eve of the winter session of Parliament.

"Shiv Sena's minister has resigned from the NDA government' they are not attending today's NDA meeting and working out alliance with the Congress and the NCP. So it is natural that they will be allotted seats on the opposition side in both houses," Joshi told reporters after the all-party meeting.

According to sources, all the three Shiv Sena MPs in the Rajya Sabha have been allocated seats on the opposition side, while in the Lok Sabha it is yet to be done.

The decades-old alliance between the Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party turned sour after the former pressed for the demand of sharing the chief ministerial post in Mahrashtra.

It is now holding parleys with the NCP and the Congress to form a non-BJP government in the state.  -- PTI

Delhi Police on Saturday registered a first information report in connection with the 'defacement of public property' at Jawaharlal Nehru University.

This is the first FIR registered by the police in connection with students' protest against fee hike in the university.

A plethora of posters and slogans have come up at the administration block of the Jawaharlal Nehru University alleging that the varsity administration had only partially fulfilled their demands and that they will continue protests until all their demands are met.

JNU students have been protesting against Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar, fee hike and the draft hostel manual which also includes provisions on dress code and curfew timings.Slogans proclaiming, 'Reject IHA Manual', 'JNU is not your estate' among others were seen on the walls of the administration block.

Meanwhile, the university administration on Saturday had filed a complaint against the alleged vandalism and defacement of Swami Vivekananda's statue.

On November 14, the statue of Swami Vivekananda, which was to be unveiled inside the campus, was found defaced with slogans and graffiti painted on its base by unknown miscreants.

Students of the university, however, have denied their involvement and termed it an act by some miscreants to dilute the movement of JNU Students' Union against the varsity administration over fee hike and hostel manual.

On Friday, the JNU Vice-Chancellor (VC) had appealed to the agitating students to stop their protests.

"The administration has taken an extremely grim view of this condemnable and reprehensible behaviour of the agitating students and their mentors. Let us all appeal to the agitating students, once again, to stop their protests, which have been hampering studies of thousands of students on the campus who are preparing for their end-semester examinations and trying to write their term papers," the VC had said in a statement. -- ANI

Pakistani troops shelled forward posts and villages along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, a defence spokesperson said.

The unprovoked firing of mortar shells in Shahpur sector started around 10.15 am, prompting befitting retaliation by the Indian Army, he said.

Officials said mortar shells fired by Pakistan also hit Kerni and Qasba areas of the district.

There was no report of any casualty in the shelling, which has prompted people to take shelter in safe places such as underground bunkers.

The cross-border firing was going on from both sides when last reports came in.  -- PTI

The Ram temple construction in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya will begin in April next year and it will be ready by 2022, ANI reported quoting sources.

 "The Ram temple's construction in Ayodhya is likely to begin in April next year and by 2022 the temple will be ready," the sources told ANI.

For the temple, the Centre is contemplating over a multi-member trust like the Somnath Temple Trust of Gujarat, which will be responsible for the construction of the temple in Ayodhya.

While Somnath Trust had six members, it is likely to be a 14-17 member panel in Ayodhya, the sources said.

"It's also being discussed if instead of forming a new body if some changes can be done to old Ram Janm Bhumi Nyas by inducting new members," they said.

The sources told that Vishva Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal organisations can also be the part of Ram Mandir Trust but the participants will be finalised by the Prime Minister's Office.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take the final call on who will be the part of the trust.

As per the sources, the new trust will be registered with the Culture Ministry.

This ministry will look after the proceedings of formation of Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

Meanwhile, the VHP is of the opinion that the government should not pay for the formation of the temple rather it should be crowdfunded by people all across the country.Stressing on the requirement of more land for the temple, the sources said: "We have 67 acres of land and to construct temple we may need 100-acre of land and if needed around 33 acres land will have to be acquired."

"As far as giving land for Masjid is concerned, we cant give them land in this campus as we are short of 33 acres of land and we may need to acquire more land. So it's not possible for the centre to give 5-acre of land to another party, it will be given by state government in some other area," the source said.

"The Centre will not interfere in the process of land allocation for the mosque. It will be on the state government to provide land for the building mosque in proposed 5-acre," the source added.

The sources further said that the government is considering the proposal to redesign Ayodhya considering Hanuman Garhi as the epicentre.

The centre is also preparing for a masterplan of 388 km square of Ayodhya with facilities of smart city, which will have outer Ring road, Park treatment plant, bus stand Railway, Airport and other facilities in the city.-- Kumar Gaurav/ANI

The European Union has offered technical assistance to Pakistan for the implementation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) action plan by the country, according to a media report.

A joint press release issued at the conclusion of the 10th session of the European Union-Pakistan Joint Commission in Brussels on Friday said the two sides emphasised the importance of the implementation of FATF action plan by Pakistan, the Dawn reported.

Global terror financing watchdog FATF last month retained Pakistan on its 'Grey List' till February next year for its failure to take adequate action against money laundering and terror financing.

Pakistan was placed on the Grey List by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in June last year and was given a plan of action to complete it by October 2019, or face the risk of being placed on the Black List with Iran and North Korea.

The Pakistan side at the meeting appreciated the EU's offer of technical assistance.

Implementation of 'GSP-Plus', issues hampering trade and investment, and improving the business climate remained focus of the discussion during the meeting.

The plenary of the joint commission was preceded by meetings of sub-groups on trade, development cooperation, democracy, governance, rule of law and human rights on November 13-14, the daily said.

The next session of the joint commission will be held in Islamabad in 2020.

The two sides undertook to hold the next political dialogue in Islamabad that would contribute towards the EU-Pakistan strategic dialogue at high representative and foreign minister level at mutually agreed dates in Brussels.   -- PTI

Sri Lanka's former wartime defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has emerged victorious in the presidential election the results of which were announced on Sunday.

Rajapaksa, the main opposition candidate, defeated housing minister Sajith Premadasa despite the latter taking an early lead in the fiercely fought election.

The election was the first incumbency test of the UNP-led government since the April 21 suicide bomb attacks that killed at least 269 people and were blamed on local Islamist terror groups.

The government had faced severe criticism for failing to prevent the attacks despite prior warnings.

The six-week campaign in a neck-and-neck race has seen tensions mount across Sri Lanka, with the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) documenting at least 743 electoral violations, including at least 45 cases of assaults or threats.

The alleged violations are split relatively equally between the two leading parties, Rajapaksa's Sri Lanka People's Front (SLPP) and Premadasa's UNP, Al Jazeera quoted the CMEV data as showing.Sirisena's term was also marred by a failed attempt to remove Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe from the office, that sparked a constitutional crisis that even when resolved by the Supreme Court -- which restored Wickremesinghe to his position -- left a government essentially cleaved in two, CNN reported. -- ANI

The all-party meeting convened by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi commenced in New Delhi on Sunday, a day ahead of the winter session of the Parliament.Union Ministers Amit Shah, Thawarchand Gehlot, V Muraleedharan and Arjun Ram Meghwal arrived at the Parliament Library Building for the meeting convened by Joshi for the leaders of parties in the House.

Opposition leaders such as Telugu Desam Party's Jaydev Galla, Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Satish Chandra Mishra of the Bahujan Samaj Party are participating in the meeting.

Trinamool Congress lawmakers Derek O'Brien and Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Lok Janshakti Party lawmaker Chirag Paswan, Republican Party of India leader Ramdas Athawale, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's Navneet Krishnan and Anupriya Patel of Apna Dal-Sonelal are also present in the meeting.

Other leaders including Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's Vaiko, T K Rangarajan of the Communist Party of India-Marxist, T R Balu of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party's V Vijayasai Reddy, Manoj Jha of the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Ram Gopal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party are among those present in the meet.

While the government is expected to lay thrust on its legislative agenda, the opposition parties are likely to raise the issues of their concern.

The Parliament session will continue till December 13.

On Saturday, an all-party meet was convened by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla ahead of the winter session in an effort to ensure the smooth functioning of the House. -- ANI

From uttapam to sprouted dal parantha -- a book by UNICEF tells how to tackle problems of underweight, obesity and anaemia among children by consuming nutritious food that costs less than Rs 20. 

   

The book has been based on the findings of the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey 2016-18 which found that 35 per cent of children under five are stunted, 17 per cent are wasted and 33 per cent are underweight.

It also found that anaemia affects 40 per cent of adolescent girls and 18 per cent of adolescent boys. The report also found that overweight and obesity increasingly begins in childhood with a growing threat of non-communicable diseases like diabetes (10 per cent) in school-aged children and adolescents.

The 28-page book lists out recipes of freshly prepared foods, also giving the cost of preparation of each of them.

For tackling underweight - the books lists recipes like potato stuffed paratha, paneer kathi roll and sago cutlets while for tackling obesity - there are suggestions of sprouted dal parantha, poha and vegetable upma.

Apart from calorie count, the book gives detailed break up of protein, carbohydrate, fat, total fibre, iron, vitamin C and calcium content of the recipe

UNICEF chief Henrietta H Fore said the booklet aims to tell people what is nutritious and in what amount.

Fore said there are two stages in a person's life when nutrition is extremely important.

The overall air quality in Delhi continued to remain in 'very poor' category for the second consecutive day on Sunday, according to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).

The overall Air Quality Index in the national capital was recorded at 365 which falls under 'very poor' category. 

The AQI between the range of 51 to 100 is considered as satisfactory; 101-200 is moderate; 201-300 falls under the category of poor. 

While 300-400 is considered as 'very poor', levels between 401-500 fall under the 'hazardous category'.

The AQI recorded in Lodhi Road in Delhi was 218 (PM 2.5) and 217 (PM 10) on Sunday morning. 

Mathura Road recorded a figure of 304, IIT Delhi docked at 324 and Airport Terminal 3 at 315.

The spike in air pollution in the national capital is primarily due to insufficient rainfall and low wind speed.

Residents of Delhi have been badly affected by the poor air quality.

Locals especially the middle-aged people complained of breathless and fatigue and have urged the government to take requisite measures to combat the menace. -- ANI

The Congress on Saturday fielded its national spokesperson Gourav Vallabh to take on Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das in the upcoming assembly elections.

 

Congress president Sonia Gandhi approved Vallabh's candidature from the Jamshedpur East assembly constituency, while fielding Mamta Devi from the Ramgarh seat, a party statement said.

With this, the total number of candidates declared so far by the Congress for the Jharkhand elections is 27.

"I am ready for the challenge to take on the chief minister. The people of Jharkhand have been duped and I will emerge victorious in this electoral contest," said Vallabh, who recently went viral on internet after a showdown with BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra at a TV debate.

Jharkhand will vote in five phases, with the first on November 30 and the last on December 20. Results will be declared on December 23.

The Jarkhand Mukti Morcha, the Congress and Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal had recently announced a pre-poll tie-up for the state with former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren as the alliance's CM face.

The Congress will contest 31 seats out of 81 seats in the Jharkhand assembly.

The RJD will contest on seven seats, while the largest chunk of the alliance share has gone to the JMM, which will contest elections on 43 seats. -- PTI 

One of the directors of the scam-hit Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank, Rajneet Singh, son of ex-BJP MLA Sardar Tara Singh, was on Saturday arrested by the Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing, an official said.

Rajneet was taken into custody in evening at the EOW office, as investigators found his replies on the loan granted to the realty group HDIL, which has failed to repay, unsatisfactory and unconvincing, according to the official.

Besides being a director, Rajneet is a member of the loan recovery committee of the bank, he said.

Rajneet was questionned over the loan provided by the bank to HDIL groupcompanies and the steps taken, if any, to recover the pending dues, the official added.

"Rajneet provided unsatisfactory and unconvincing explanations, which hints at his likely role in the scam," he said, adding that Rajneet will be produced before a holiday court and his police remand will be sought.

So far, nine persons have been arrested in connection with the alleged Rs 4355-crore scam including three top bank officials and two promoters of HDIL --Rakesh and Sarang Wadhawan, and auditors.

The EOW suspects a nexus between some of the accused and the realty group HDIL, whose mammoth loan defaults are said to have caused a liquidity crisis at the bank, leading to appointment of administrator by RBI and restrictions on withdrawal of funds. 

Tara Singh had served as the MLA from Mulund constituency in Mumbai.-- PTI

Amidst the political stalemate in Maharashtra, the Nationalist Congress Party has convened a meeting of the core committee in Pune on Sunday

The core committee may discuss  portfolio allocation in the possible coalition government of the NCP, the Congress and the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, sources said.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar will also be present at the meeting.

 

Pawar was expected to meet senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel on Monday or Tuesday to discuss government formation, sources  added.

"A meeting with Sonia Gandhi may happen later," they said.

"Pawar and other NCP leaders will be meeting Congress leaders on Tuesday. In that meeting, the Congress will decide whether it will be part of the government or will support from outside," NCP chief spokesperson Nawab Malik said.

 

"Once that decision is made, further process for government formation will follow," he told reporters.

Allies Congress and NCP have worked out a common minimum program with the Sena for government formation.

Maharashtra is under President's rule since November 12 after the BJP-Sena alliance fell apart over the issue of sharing of chief minister's post.

Main opposition candidate Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has taken an early lead in the Saturday's presidential election.

 

In the results declared by 4.30 am on Sunday, Rajapaksa had won postal votes of nine districts with his main challenger Sajith Premadasa winning postal votes of only three districts.

Postal votes are cast in advance by officials drafted for election duty on polling days.

In the result declared so far from the sole polling division in the south of the country, Rajapaksa has won 65 per cent against Premadasa's 28 per cent.

Premadasa has won three  polling divisions, Jaffna, Nallur and Kayts in the Tamil region of Jaffna district by 85, 86 and 69 per cent against Rajapaksa's six, five and 17 per cent. -- PTI