Delhi

New Delhi, Dec 14 (PTI) The Supreme Court Friday gave the Narendra Modi government a clean chit on the procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France and dismissed all the petitions seeking a direction to the CBI to register an FIR for alleged irregularities in the deal.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said there was no occasion to doubt the decision-making process in the multi-billion dollar deal.

New Delhi, Dec 13 (PTI) The Supreme Court Thursday dismissed a petition seeking directions for the immediate execution of the four men convicted in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case of 2012.

"What kind of prayer you are making?" a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Depeak Gupta said. "You are making the court a joke," it added.

New Delhi, Dec 13 (PTI) The Supreme Court is scheduled Friday to pronounce verdict on pleas seeking court-monitored probe into India's multi-billion dollar Rafale fighter jet deal with France.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas on November 14.

Advocate M L Sharma was the first petitioner in the case. Later, another lawyer Vineet Dhanda had moved the apex court with the plea for court-monitored probe into the deal.

AAP leader Sanjay Singh has also filed a petition against the fighter jet deal.

12 Dec 2018; AFP: India's rupee plunged on Tuesday after the country's central bank chief quit following a dispute with the government that analysts say raises fears about its independence.

Urjit Patel stood down as governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday evening following months of tensions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government over interference in policy.

New Delhi, Dec 12 (PTI) The number of tuberculosis patients in the country has risen to 18.62 lakh in 2018 till November from 18.27 lakh a year ago, the Rajya Sabha was told.

The increase of 15,000 patients is due to initiatives like expansion of repaid diagnostics and engaging with the patients seeking care in the private sector and community engagement, Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey said in a written reply in the House Tuesday.

New Delhi, Dec 12 (PTI) A Delhi court Wednesday acquitted AAP leader Sanjay Singh in a defamation case filed by a BJP youth-wing leader for allegedly projecting him as the person who assaulted former minister Kapil Mishra last year, after Singh tendered an apology.

The court passed the order after Singh and the complainant, Ankit Bhardwaj, a state executive member of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), moved an application jointly, stating that they have settled the matter after the AAP politician offered an "unconditional apology" to the complainant.

New Delhi, Dec 11 (PTI) The Congress on Tuesday hailed its good showing in assembly polls in three Hindi heartland states and thanked people for choosing "love over hate".

The Congress appeared set to wrest Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh from the BJP, which was trailing marginally in Madhya Pradesh in a cliffhanger.

"Democracy has won! Thank you India, you have chosen love over hate, peace over violence & truth over lies. This victory is yours," read a tweet on the party's official Twitter handle, with the hashtag 'CongressWinsBIG'.

New Delhi, Dec 11 (PTI) Former bureaucrat Shaktikanta Das, who spearheaded the post-demonetisation normalisation of the economy, was Tuesday named the new governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

Das, 61, replaces Urjit Patel, who shocked the establishment and markets by announcing his exit from the central bank Monday.

Das will have a three-year term, an official order said.

He will be the first bureaucrat to head the central bank in almost five years.

New Delhi, Dec 11 (PTI) The Congress was leading in the BJP-ruled states of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and was locked in a close fight in Madhya Pradesh while the TRS forged ahead in Telangana and the MNF in Mizoram, trends indicated on Tuesday as votes for elections in the five states were counted

New Delhi, Dec 10 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Monday ordered that status quo be maintained with regard to a mosque situated in the premises of the Allahabad High Court, which had last year directed that the structure be removed.

A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta also issued notices to the Uttar Pradesh government, Registrar General of the Allahabad High Court and others seeking their responses on a plea filed by the Waqf Board.