Delhi

New Delhi, Jan 11; PTI: Nepal on Friday strongly pitched for convening of the SAARC summit, saying differences should be resolved through dialogue and the grouping should collectively deal with terrorism and other key challenges facing the region.

Nepalese Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali also cited last year's historic talks between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore, saying dialogue was the only way to address differences.

New Delhi, Jan 11: In a big setback to CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana, the Delhi High Court Friday refused to quash the FIR lodged against him on bribery allegations and set a a 10-week deadline to complete the investigations.

Holding that permission for prior sanction to prosecute Asthana was not required considering the facts of the case, the court vacated its interim order that granted the CBI's No. 2 protection against criminal proceedings which in effect meant there is no bar on his arrest.

New Delhi, Jan 11 (PTI) Former CBI chief Alok Verma submitted his resignation from service on Friday, a day after he was removed from his post by a high powered committee.

Verma said in his resignation letter, accessed by PTI, that it was a moment of "collective introspection".

New Delhi, Jan 11 (PTI) India has granted consular access to Christian Michel, a British national who was brought here from the UAE last month in connection with the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper deal.

The British High Commission had sought consular access to Michel after he was arrested in the first week of December.

New Delhi, Jan 11 (PTI) BJP president Amit Shah Friday projected the Lok Sabha polls as a clash of ideologies and likened it to the third battle of Panipat between Marathas and the Afghans army, saying the election results will be equally significant for the country.

In his inaugural address at a party convention here, he dismissed the proposed grand alliance of opposition parties against the BJP as a "sham", saying they are a disparate group with neither a leader nor any policy and have been brought together by their greed of power.

New Delhi, Jan 11 (PTI) The roads around Ramlila Maidan and adjoining areas near New Delhi railway station turned saffron as thousands of BJP leaders from across the country are descending down in the national capital for the party's two-day national council meeting which began here Friday.

New Delhi, Jan 11 (PTI) Industrial output growth dropped to a 17-month low of 0.5 per cent in November on account of contraction in manufacturing sector, particularly consumer and capital goods.

Factory output as measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) had grown by 8.5 per cent in November 2017, as per data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) Friday.

The previous low was in June 2017, when IIP growth contracted by 0.3 per cent.

The growth for October 2018 was revised upwards to 8.4 per cent from 8.1 per cent.

New Delhi, Jan 10 (PTI) Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has been appointed the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president after Ajay Maken resigned from the post citing ill-health.

Maken congratulated Dikshit saying that under her leadership the Congress party will play the role of a powerful opposition against the governments in the national capital and at the Centre.

However, an official announcement of Dikshit's appointment is yet to be made.

Sources said it would be made soon and she will have a few working presidents to assist her.

New Delhi, Jan 10 (PTI) The high-powered committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi met for over two hours on Thursday to decide fate of CBI Director Alok Verma, reinstated by a Supreme Court order after he was sent on forced leave by the government.

The meeting was also attended by Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and Justice A K Sikri, who was nominated by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi to represent him.

It was not immediately clear what transpired in the meeting, called for the second consecutive day.

New Delhi, Jan 10 (PTI) Alok Verma was shunted out as the CBI chief after a marathon meeting of high-powered selection committee led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, officials said.

Verma, a 1979-batch AGMUT cadre IPS officer, has been removed from the high-profile post on the charges of corruption and dereliction of duty making him the first chief in the history of the agency to face such action, they said.

He is likely to be moved to the National Human Rights Commission, they said.