Former prime minister Dr.Manmohan Singh on Monday unveiled the Punjab Congress manifesto for assembly elections slated to commence from next month.

Singh along with former Punjab chief minister captain Amrinder Singh, state party chief Ambika Soni and other party leaders released the manifesto in the national capital.

Punjab will also go for polls in a single-phase on 4 February. The date of notification is 11 January, the last date of nomination is 18 January, the scrutiny of nomination will take place on 19 January and the withdrawal of candidature will take place on 21 January.

The term of the legislative assembly of Punjab will expire on 18 March.

Even as Mulayam Singh has said that he is the boss of the Samajwadi Party, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is leaving no stones unturned to stake claim over the party symbol 'cycle'.

As Mulayam's team reached the Election Commission, Akhilesh-led delegation will visit the office at 2:30 pm on 9 January.

Mulayam, who yesterday made it clear that he was still the party chief will also urge the Election Commission to check the authenticity and legality of papers submitted by his son Akhilesh Yadav's aide Ram Gopal Yadav.

Mulayam also stated yesterday that Ram Gopal had no right to call the convention on 1 January as he had suspended him from the Samajwadi Party earlier.

Goa Chief Electoral Office on 9 January has asked police department to crack down on 'matka' gambling across the state to prevent money abuse as well as curb muscle power during the ensuing Legislative Assembly polls.

Both the district police have been asked to stop matka gambling in their jurisdiction and book cases against them.

This is a part of the measure to prevent matka being used to distribute money during the elections, State Chief Electoral Officer Kunal told PTI today.

The district police have already began identifying the matka gamblers and cracking the whip on them with 26 cases booked till Saturday with some raids underway even today.

The Tamil Nadu government on Monday sought a compensation of Rs 2,480 crore from Karnataka for not releasing water to the state despite getting a Supreme Court directive to do so.

The apex court in its sitting today has ordered both the Tamil Nadu and the Karnataka governments to file a list of witnesses within a week.

It also said that the details of witnesses affidavit should also be listed within four weeks.

However, the apex court on 4 January announced to continue the hearing of the Cauvery water issue on 7 February.

A bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Dipak Misra and comprising Justice Amitava Roy and Justice A. M. Khanwilkar extended the interim order in the water issue, directing Karnataka to release 2,000 cusecs of Cauvery water per day to Tamil Nadu, till the next order.