With salaries and allowances of 2.5 lakh per month, Telangana's MLAs are now the highest paid in the country, thanks to a 163 per cent hike in a bill passed by themselves on Tuesday.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who himself received a 72 per cent hike and now gets Rs 4.21 lakh per month said: "This is not an era of sacrifices", according to the Hindustan Times.

The speaker of the assembly, the chairman of the council, the ministers, chief whip and whip will all get Rs 4 lakh a month.

A video released by the Pakistan Army on Tuesday purportedly of the alleged R&AW spy Kulbhushan Yadav confessing to funding militants in Balochistan has been rubbished by Indian authorities.

Intelligence officers say that there are several errors in the alleged testimony that indicate signs of coercion. For instance, in the video, Jadhav says that he reported to a joint secretary in the R&AW called Anil Kumar Gupta, but there is no one by that name at any senior rank in the agency, according to The Indian Express.

The head of the National Investigation Agency that is hosting a joint investigation team from Pakistan to look into the Pathankot terror attack, said that India will ask Pakistan to reciprocate with access to Masood Azhar, chief of the Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed. India blames the JeM for the Pathankot attack.

"We will ask for access to Masood Azhar," said Sharad Kumar, chief of the National Investigation Agency. New Delhi will send a formal request after the Pakistan JIT returns home, says NDTV.

An associate professor of the Central University of Jharkhand has been suspended for having invited Prof MN Panini, a retired JNU academic, to be the guest of honour at an event to commemorate the 140^th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhai Patel.

The suspension order issued to Dr Shreya Bhattacharji by CUJ vice chancellor Nand Kumar Yadav on Tuesday said: "...Prof Panini is considered as mentor to the group of students of JNU who were involved in anti-national activities on JNU campus recently."

Bhattacharji, dean of the school of languages, school of education, and of students' welfare, has been relieved of all her responsibilities, says The Telegraph.

Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya has reportedly reached out to banks and offered to pay Rs 4000 crore - a little over half of the Rs 7,000 crore he owes the consortium of 13 banks, as reported by news channels.

Senior bank executives, meanwhile told The Financial Express that the offer was turned down by the consortium of banks - headed by SBI. Banks have been making efforts to recover the amount due and the Enforcement Directorate has already launched its investigation into Mallya's finances.

"We cannot accept such a small amount and have rejected the proposal," one of the banking executives was quoted as saying.

A two-judge bench of the Nainital High Court on Wednesday stayed the floor test for the Harish Rawat Government in the Uttarakhand Assembly, which was scheduled for 31 March. The court will hear the matter on 6 April. Earlier, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had urged the court to put a stay on its 29 March order for three days, and hear the matter next week.

Seven Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans of the 230 Battalion were killed after their vehicle was blown up by IEDs in Chhatisgarh's Dantewada district on 30 March. Dantewada Superintendent of Police Kamlochan Kashyap confirmed the incident. At least four jawans have reportedly been severely injured in the blast.

No law prevents women from entering a place of worship and if men are allowed, then women too should be permitted, the Bombay High Court observed on Wednesday while stating that any temple or person imposing such restriction can face a six-month jail term under a Maharashtra law. Two women activists had filed a PIL seeking the abolishment of a century-old tradition which barred women from entering the Shani Shinganapur temple in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra.