Delhi

New Delhi, Sep 18 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Wednesday said parties to the Ram-Janmabhoomi Babri Masjid land dispute case can amicably resolve the matter through mediation if they want to and that it wants day-to-day hearings in the case to be concluded by October 18.

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said it has received a letter from former apex court judge F M I Kalifulla, who was heading the three-member mediation panel, saying some parties have written to him for resumption of the mediation process.

New Delhi Sep 19 (PTI) The Government on Thursday issued an ordinance to ban e-cigarettes, making the production, import, export, transport, sale or advertisements of such "alternative" smoking devices a cognizable offence attracting jail term and fine.

First time violators will face a jail term of up to one year and a fine of Rs 1 lakh. For subsequent offences, a jail term of up to three years or a fine of Rs 5 lakh, or both according to the ordinance.

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 19 (PTI): In a big boost to Kerala, the Union Government has decided to extend the Chennai-Bengaluru industrial corridor to Coimbatore and then to Kochi.

The decision in this regard was conveyed to the state government by the National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust (NICDIT), a government release said.

It had been Kerala's plea for long to include the state in the corridor and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had made a strong pitch for the same.

New Delhi, Sep 19 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday told Union Home Minister Amit Shah that genuine Indians belonging to Bengali, Bihari, Gorkha and Assamese communities were excluded from the NRC in Assam and sought his intervention to ameliorate their miseries.

This was conveyed by Banerjee to Shah in her first meeting with the home minister, who assumed the office about three months ago.

New Delhi, Sep 18 (PTI) Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, who is lodged in Tihar Jail, on Wednesday said the idea that Hindi alone can unite the people of the country is a dangerous trend.

Chidambaram said while he supported the idea that all languages should be developed, he will never accept that Hindi can alone unite the country.

"I have asked my family to tweet on my behalf the following: A dangerous idea that Hindi alone can unite the people of this country has been floated," a tweet from Chidambaram's official Twitter handle said.

New Delhi, Sep 17 (PTI) The Delhi government is likely to provide coaching to IAS aspirants in Urdu, taking steps towards making the language a means to build a career, an official statement said on Tuesday.

It stated Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Art, Culture and Languages Manish Sisodia interacted with toppers in Urdu language hailing from various universities of Delhi on Monday evening.

"The Urdu Academy should start providing coaching to interested students," the statement quoted Sisodia as saying at the event.

New Delhi, Sep 18 (PTI) Senior Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ahmed Patel met former finance minister P Chidambaram at Tihar Jail on Wednesday morning, sources said.

They were accompanied by Chidambaram's son and Congress MP, Karti.

The leaders are learnt to have discussed the current political situation, including Kashmir, upcoming elections and the economic situation in the country, during the half-hour meeting, the sources added.

Chidambaram has been lodged in Tihar jail since September 5 on charges of corruption in the INX Media case.

United Left has swept Jawahar Lal University’s Student Union (JNUSU) polls to wins all four central panel posts, and Student Federation of India’s (SFI) Aishe Ghosh has been elected as JNUSU president

New Delhi, Sep 16 (PTI) The DRDO on Monday handed over to the Navy a new-generation wargaming software, aimed at creating an environment that would enable the Maritime Warfare Centres (MWCs) to train using the latest technological and computing tools, the Defence Ministry said.

New Delhi, Sep 16 (PTI) Days after Home Minister Amit Shah pitched for Hindi as a common language for the country, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said India's many languages are not its weakness.

Congress leader Rajiv Shukla, at a media briefing, said Hindi is India's official language which "we want to grow", but along with that regional languages should also be encouraged.

There should be no fight over language, he said.