Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has kept one of the promises that he made before the Bihar assembly elections - a ban on the sale of liquor in the state.

The Chief Minister on 26 November announced a ban on the sale of alcohol from 1 April 2016.

File Photo

Peter Mukerjea was remanded to the custody of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for four days till November 30 after the central agency told the court that Peter and Indrani Mukerjea had siphoned off nearly 900 crores to bank accounts in Singapore.

CBI officials said, possibility that the accounts in Singapore were in the name of Sheena Bora cannot be ruled out. The agency told the court that they have sought help of the Interpol to identify accounts in Singapore.

Photo: Patrika

Chief Justice of India, H L Dattu revealed that the Supreme Court disposed off over 83 thousand cases in 2014, the highest in a year since its inception.

He was addressing a function organized by Supreme Court Bar Association on the occasion of the Law Day yesterday, when he urged his fellow judges to not be complacent but the torch- bearers in a movement against pendency and delay of cases.

The Chief Justice said that in his opinion, the loopholes of judicial delay and pendency could be plugged by adjusting, modifying and inventing new court procedures.

Representational Image/ Patrika

Border Security Force Inspector General Rakesh Sharma on Thursday said militant organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief " Hafiz Muhammad Saeed had been delivering provocative speeches in militant base camps" across the International Border (IB) with Pakistan and Line of Control (LoC) to wage a war against India.

Saeed was mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai attack, in which 166 people were killed.

During a news conference in Jammu district, Sharma said there was an increase in provocative speeches in militant-base camps.

-ANI

Representational Image/ ANI

At least 10 people were feared killed in a Mi-8 helicopter crash in northern Krasnoyarsk region on Thursday. The West Siberian Transport Prosecutor's Office said latest data showed that 10 people were killed in the crash, while 15 others had been shifted to hospital.

Russia's Emergency Situation Ministry confirmed there were altogether 25 people aboard the helicopter, including three crew members and 22 passengers.

The helicopter, en route to an oilfield in the region, crashed near the airport of Igarka and was found lying on the bank of the Yenisey River.

-ANI

Photo: AFP

Reaching out to main opposition, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh for tea this evening during which issues like GST may come up. Modi on Friday invited the Congress leaders at his Race Course Road residence at 7 PM, sources said

This assumes significance as the Government and the Congress are at loggerheads which is stalling the passage of crucial legislations like the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill.

In Parliament news, a day after the word "secular" word became cause of much heated debate in Lok Sabha, the Prime Minister will intervene and conclude the Constitution Day debate.

Photo: Screengrab/ Rajya Sabha

The Day two of the Winter Session which began with a discussion on "Commitment to Constitution " on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of BR Ambedkar saw another round of firefighting between the Opposition and the ruling party today. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley raised a host of issues like conversion, Article 48 on animal protection, reservation and Uniform Civil Code to highlight that a lot of these provisions are being misused today.

Congress, on its part raised questions on what basis was the Constitution Day being observed. Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad said that any notification regarding a special day like Constitution Day could be issued only by the Home Ministry. He said the government flouted rules to make 26 November the Constitution Day and that the ruling party was rewriting history.

The Supreme Court today asked the former telecom minister, Dayanidhi Maran, to appear before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for seven days for questioning in the telephone exchange case.

Maran is being investigated for corruption into the alleged telephone exchange scam, the CBI had earlier told the apex court that Maran wasn't cooperating with them and that his custodial interrogation was must.

In October, 2015, the CBI had filed an affidavit in the apex court in which it had stated that the custodial examination of Maran was essential to ascertain the actual usage of these lines for the benefit of SUN TV.

Photo: Patrika

After Punjab Congress chief Pratap Singh Bajwa and state CLP leader Sunil Jakhar resigned on 26 November, former chief minister Amarinder Singh has now become the new state unit chief.

Punjab Assembly elections are scheduled in 2017 and Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi has held a series of consultations in the past few months on how to push the party in the state where its prospects appear to be bright.

During day two of the winter session of Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the nation would run only according to the Constitution.

Stressing that democracy was the real strength of the nation, Modi said that it was important to understand how the Constitution could help the nation's marginalised communities.