Delhi

New Delhi, Mar 7 (PTI) More aircraft of beleaguered private carrier Jet Airways have been grounded, mainly due to non-payment to lessors, taking the total number to 49, senior DGCA official said Thursday.

"At this moment, they (airline) have 70 aircraft that are operational. At early December, they were operating 100 aircraft," a Directorate General of India Aviation (DGCA) official told PTI.

According to Jet Airways website, the airline has over 119 aircraft in its fleet.

New Delhi, Mar 7 (PTI) The Union Cabinet Thursday approved three out of six corridors of the Delhi Metro's proposed Phase IV, Finance Minister Arun Jaitely said.

According to the government, corridors of Mukundpur-Maujpur, RK Ashram-Janakpuri West and Aero City-Tughlakabad have been approved by the Cabinet.

There will be 17 underground and 29 elevated stations in the three corridors whose total length will be 61.679 km.

New Delhi, Mar 6 (PTI) Delhiites will get to experience wildlife safari soon, with the central government Thursday saying a city forest or eco park will be developed at the closed site of Badarpur Thermal Power Station at a cost of Rs 343 crore.

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the city forest will be provided with unique herbivore and carnivore safari.

Talking to reporters here, Puri said the ecological project will be spread across 884 acres at the closed site of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) in Badarpur.

New Delhi, Mar 7 (PTI) Muslims are worried and they need someone to address their concerns, All India Imam Association president Maulana Mohd Sajid Rashidi said, reflecting the sentiments of the minority groups present at a BJP pre-poll programme on Thursday.

New Delhi, Mar 7 (PTI) The NCP appealed to the Congress on Thursday to ally with the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi to avoid division of votes that could help the BJP in the coming Lok Sabha election.

Its appeal came hours after Congress president Rahul Gandhi said the party's alliances across the country were "on track" but its Delhi unit was unanimously against any tie-up with AAP, which has been insisting on a pre-poll tie-up with the Congress in the national capital.

Hyderabad, Mar 7 (PTI) Senior Congress leader S Jaipal Reddy Thursday claimed that Rafale negotiations were brought to an "advanced stage" during UPA regime but the Modi government "delayed" the deal.

New Delhi, Mar 8 (PTI) The Supreme Court Friday referred the politically sensitive Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case for mediation and appointed former apex court judge Justice (retd) F M I Kallifulla as chairperson of the panel of mediators.

A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said the other members of the panel will be spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravishankar and senior advocate Sriram Panchu.

New Delhi, Mar 8 (PTI) The Delhi High Court Friday stayed the trial against former AIADMK leader T T V Dhinakaran in the 'two leaves' party symbol bribery case.

Justice Sunil Gaur also sought response of the Delhi Police on Dhinakaran's plea challenging framing of charges against him by the trial court for the alleged offences of criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence in the case.

New Delhi, Mar 7 (PTI) Congress chief Rahul Gandhi Thursday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, dubbing him the "poster boy of Pakistan" for publicly hugging former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif and inviting the neighbouring country's spy agency ISI to Pathankot after the IAF base was attacked.

Gandhi's remarks came after Modi on Tuesday called the opposition as the "poster boys of Pakistan" for seeking proof of the Indian Air Force's (IAF) action on a terror camp in Balakot in Pakistan.

New Delhi, March 6 : The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:

The United States has extended its trade war to India by withdrawing preferential trade treatment for India.  By scrapping the benefits under the Generalised System of Preferences, which will take effect after 60 days, 1900 items of exports from India, which were exempted from duties, will be affected.