Delhi

Ludhiana, May 18 (PTI) As Gurjal Kaur, 75, stares blankly at the dirty, moldering wall of her house, her nightmarish memories of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots turn into fresh bleeding wounds.

With Punjab going to polls on Sunday, Congress leader Sam Pitroda's flippant remark that "1984 hua to hua" and the BJP's relentless offensive over it has brought the anti-Sikh riots back into the political discourse.

The survivors of the riots in the CRPF colony of Ludhiana claim that successive Congress governments delayed justice to the affected families.

New Delhi, May 18 (PTI) Alleging that the BJP was after his life, Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal Saturday claimed that he will be assassinated like former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by his personal security officer.

"The BJP would get me murdered by my own PSO (Personal Security Officer) one day like Indira Gandhi. My own security officers report to BJP," Kejriwal told a news channel in Punjab.

"The BJP is after my life, they will murder me one day," he added.

New Delhi, May 16 (PTI) Taking note of the pendency of sexual assault and business dispute cases, the Delhi High Court Thursday directed the Delhi government to place before the Cabinet the requirement for 18 more fast track and 22 commercial courts.

A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice A J Bhambhani said the high court had sanctioned certain posts of judges for establishing fast track and commercials courts but the matter has been pending before the government for over two years.

New Delhi, May 16 (PTI) East Delhi, New Delhi and South Delhi parliamentary constituencies saw more women turning out to vote as compared to men, officials said Thursday.

Delhi recorded a turnout of 60.52 percent in the polls on May 12, five percentage points down from 2014.

According to official data, 60.82 per cent male voters and 60.15 per cent female voters exercised their right this time.

New Delhi, May 16 (PTI) The Election Commission Thursday ordered repoll at a booth in the Chandni Chowk parliamentary constituency, officials said Thursday.

The Chief Electoral Office of Delhi had submitted a report to the EC asking for a repoll in polling station number 32 after the presiding officer forgot to delete the 'test votes' that were cast during mock poll before actual polling commenced at 7 am on May 12, they said.

New Delhi, May 16 (PTI) Under fire for her "Nathuram-Godse-is-a-patriot" remark, BJP's Bhopal Lok Sabha seat candidate Pragya Singh Thakur tendered an apology on Thursday night and said she respected Mahatma Gandhi as his work for the country cannot be forgotten.

"My sentiment was not to hurt anyone's feelings. If it has hurt anybody's feelings then I apologise. What Gandhi ji has done for the country cannot be forgotten. I respect him a lot," she said in a video statement.

New Delhi, May 16; PTI/GANASHAKTI:  The Congress on Thursday accused the Election Commission of losing its credibility and independence and said time has come to review the process of the poll panel's appointment.

Asking whether the model code of conduct had become the "Modi code of misconduct", Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the Election Commission order curtailing campaigning in West Bengal by 20 hours is a "dark spot" on India's democracy and institutions like the poll panel.

New Delhi, May 14 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Wednesday declined to entertain a PIL filed by a BJP leader seeking directions to the Election Commission to "restrict" misuse of religion for poll gains.

The high court also asked the EC to decide BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay's representation against the remarks of actor-cum-politician Kamal Haasan that "free India's first extremist was a Hindu", referring to Nathuram Godse who killed Mahatma Gandhi.

Bargari (Pb), May 15 (PTI) Congress President Rahul Gandhi Wednesday lashed out at Narendra Modi, saying the Prime Minister thinks "only one person can run the country while actually it is the people who run the nation.

Gandhi noted that Modi used to make "fun" of former PM Manmohan Singh "but after five years now Modi ji does not make fun of Manmohan ji.Today the country is making fun of him (Modi)".

New Delhi, May 15 (PTI) India's exports rose marginally by 0.64 per cent in April to USD 26 billion while imports increased by 4.5 per cent to 41.4 billion compared to the year-ago month, according to official data released Wednesday.

Trade deficit, the difference between exports and imports, widened to USD 15.33 billion in April 2019 from USD 13.72 billion in April 2018.

Oil imports grew by 9.26 per cent to USD 11.38 billion and non-oil imports expanded by 2.78 per cent.

Gold imports rose by 54 per cent to USD 3.97 billion in April.