Delhi

New Delhi, Aug 17 (PTI) Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday dubbed the detention of party's Jammu and Kashmir chief Ghulam Ahmad Mir as "outrageously illegal" and hoped that the courts will take cognizance of the matter.

In a series of tweets, the former finance minister said Mir is under house arrest in Jammu since Friday.

"There was no written order of detention. Outrageously illegal ... I hope the courts will act and secure the liberty of citizens," he wrote.

New Delhi, Aug 16 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Friday refrained from examining the legal challenges posed to the changes made in the constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir, saying that the petitions filed on the "serious issue" of abrogation of provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution suffer from defects.

The apex court, which was dealing with the first petition filed on August 6, a day after the decision to scrap Article 370 was announced, expressed its anguish that there have been six petitions on the issue and all were filed with the defects.

New Delhi, Aug 16 (PTI) Director General of the Election Commission Dhirendra Ojha has been given a one year extension, a government order said on Friday.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the extension in the central deputation tenure of Ojha, the DG (Media and Communications) of the Election Commission of India, it said.

Srinagar, Aug 16 (PTI) National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Friday returned to Delhi after spending 11 days in Kashmir Valley to ensure smooth implementation of plans after the withdrawal of special status accorded to Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

Doval, Who came here on August 6, took charge of security and development-related activities with a special focus on ensuring that there was no loss of life, they said.

New Delhi, Aug 16 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad condemned the arrest of the party's Jammu and Kashmir unit chief Ghulam Ahmed Mir and senior leader Ravinder Sharma in Jammu on Friday.

New Delhi, Aug 15 (PTI) The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Friday the petitions posing legal challenges to the Centre's decision to scrap provisions of Article 370 which abrogated special status to Jammu and Kashmir and subsequent measures putting restrictions on the working of media in the region.

A special bench, comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S A Bobde and S A Nazeer, will hear the petitions filed by advocate M L Sharma and Executive Editor, Kashmir Times, Anuradha Bhasin.

New Delhi, Aug 14 (PTI) The Inter-State Council, which is mandated to investigate and advise on disputes between states, has been reconstituted with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as its chairman and six Union ministers and all chief ministers as members.

According to a notification, the Union ministers who will be members of the reconstituted council are Amit Shah (Home), Nirmala Sitharaman (Finance), Rajnath Singh (Defence), Narendra Singh Tomar (Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj).

Hyderabad, Aug 14 (PTI) AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday blamed "shoddy prosecution" for the acquittal of all six accused in the lynching of Pehlu Khan in April, 2017 by a mob for transporting cows.

In most lynchings, the accused were happy being filmed while they lynched a human being. They wanted to be famous for these awful acts, But are we to now believe that no one killed Pehlu Khan? What will this deliberately shoddy prosecution tell his family, he tweeted.

New Delhi, Aug 15 (PTI) In a major decision, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday announced creation of a chief of defence staff (CDS) as head of the tri-services.

Modi made the key announcement in his address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the occasion of 73rd Independence Day.

The prime minister said the CDS will ensure synergy among the three services and provide effective leadership to them.

New Delhi, Aug 15 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday batted for holding Lok Sabha and Assembly polls together, saying 'one nation, one election' is imperative to make the country great.

During his address to the nation on the 73rd Independence Day, he made a fresh pitch for his pet idea, saying today India is talking about simultaneous polls which is a good thing.

Supporting further dialogue on the issue among stakeholders, he said discussions should now be held on 'one nation, one election' as it is imperative to make the country "great".