Delhi

New Delhi, Dec 24 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Monday declined to accord urgent hearing on the BJP's plea challenging a Calcutta High Court order not allowing its Rath Yatra in West Bengal.

The lawyer associated with the plea said they have been informed by the apex court registry that the matter would be listed in the normal course.

The top court is closed for winter vacations.

The party, which sought an urgent hearing on the petition, had planned to launch the yatra from three districts of the state.

New Delhi, Dec 21 (PTI) A Delhi court Friday directed the CBI to cancel the look out circular (LOC) issued against former IAF chief S P Tyagi, who is an accused in the VVIP chopper scam.

Special Judge Arvind Kumar directed the probe agency to inform the concerned authorities about it.

CBI had issued LOC against Tyagi in 2013. It is a circular issued by the authorities to check if a person who is travelling is wanted by the law enforcement agencies.

New Delhi, Dec 22; PTI:  The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Saturday arrested Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal case.

Michel was produced before Special Judge Arvind Kumar where the ED sought his 15-day custody.

The court allowed the ED to interrogate the British national inside the courtroom for 15 minutes after the agency sought his custodial interrogation. Michel was arrested thereafter.

New Delhi, Dec 22; PTI: In a relief to the common man, the GST Council Saturday cut rates on 23 commonly used goods and services, including TV screens, movie tickets and power banks.

The annual revenue implication of the rate cuts would be Rs 5,500 crore, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.

The council rationalised the 28 per cent slab by bringing down the tax rate on seven items in the highest tax bracket, thereby leaving only 28 items in the slab.

MUMBAI, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval here Sunday.

The two sides exchanged views on bilateral relations as well as on regional and international issues of common concern.

Wang is on a visit to India to co-chair the first meeting of China-India high level people-to-people exchanges mechanism with Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Ahmedabad, Dec 21 (PTI) BJP leaders, including Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and former Gujarat police officers Friday welcomed the verdict in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh encounter case and claimed vindication of their stand, adding the court ruling has "exposed" the Congress.

They said the encounter was genuine and the entire case against policemen from Gujarat and Rajasthan, who were named accused, was part of a "political conspiracy".

New Delhi, Dec 22 (PTI) Former Union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy was Saturday appointed as a BJP national spokesperson by party president Amit Shah.

A party statement said his appointment will take place with immediate effect.

A Lok Sabha MP from Bihar who had defeated RJD president Lalu Prasad's wife Rabri Devi in 2014 general elections, Rudy has held organisational responsibilities in the past as well and was also a general secretary, a key position.

New Delhi, Dec 21 (PTI) Media firm NDTV group's digital arm NDTV Convergence Friday said it has signed a five-year deal worth over Rs 300 crore with content recommendations engine Taboola.

"The five-year deal ties NDTV Convergence exclusively to Taboola and involves a minimum guarantee of more than Rs 300 crore for NDTV Convergence, making it one of the largest deals, not just for digital content, but for the media space in its entirety," NDTV said in a BSE filing.

New Delhi, Dec 20 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the city police to provide protection to social activist Swami Agnivesh who had registered two police complaints against members of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) for allegedly attacking him here and in Pakur district of Jharkhand.

Justice Najmi Wajiri sought response of the Centre, Delhi government and Delhi police on Agnivesh's plea seeking transfer of the case from police to the CBI or any other central independent investigating agency.

Mumbai, Dec 20 (PTI) British politician and economist Meghnad Desai, a self-confessed Narendra Modi admirer till some time back, has accused the prime minister of not being a team player and predicted that the "disappointed" electorate will not vote him back with a majority.

Modi "over promised" and was wrong in believing that he could run the whole country with the help of a few bureaucrats and not with a strong cabinet, as he did in Gujarat when he was the chief minister, Desai said.