PATNA: LJP chief Mr Ram Vilas Paswan and RJD leader Mr Ramkripal Yadav were among hundreds of RJD-LJP activists who courted arrest here on Saturday to enforce the Bihar bandh to protest fuel price hike as normal life was hit in the state due to the strike that disrupted rail and road traffic.

NEW DELHI: Government has sounded a high alert to security agencies protecting pilgrims during the two-month-long Amarnath Yatra following intelligence inputs that militants based in Pakistan are planning to target them.

NEW DELHI: Terming the defence of honour killings by some of those in power as “abhorrent”, the CPI(M) Saturday demanded that draft of a comprehensive law to deal with such crimes be tabled in the monsoon session of Parliament.

LONDON: The government plans to usher in second generation legal reforms that would eliminate litigation delays sharply in India.
It would also like to put in place a legal regulatory regime and an oversight mechanism for the smooth functioning of the judiciary without infringing on the independence of the institution.

BEIJING: The Pakistan President, Mr Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday ruled out handing over the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to India but said the “non-state actors” who derailed the Indo-Pak rapprochement will “hopefully” be brought to justice in his country.

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani anti-terrorism court conducting the trial of seven Mumbai attack suspects Saturday issued fresh arrest warrants for Ajmal Kasab and Fahim Ansari even as prime accused LeT commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi submitted an application for bail.

UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council strongly deplored recent confrontations between south Lebanese villagers and UN peacekeepers in the area and called for the troops to be allowed to do their work.

WASHINGTON: Tasked to improve ties with the Muslim world, a top official of the Obama Administration Saturday said that Indian Muslims are not terrorists, even as many of them are increasingly tired of being defined as such.

PANAJI: The Calangute police appeared to be facing the brunt for having acted on the complaints from the local community about the “illegal” activities involving women going in its jurisdiction and “rescuing” 29 girls who were allegedly being physically abused, last week.

PANAJI: Given the sensitivity of the case and the media glare that it has generated, the police were not allowing any person to meet the high-profile former tourism minister,  Francisco Xavier Pacheco alias Mickky, now lodged in police custody at Calangute police station, saying that the meetings with outsiders was not permissible.