Keenan-Reuben murder: All four accused found guilty; sentenced to life imprisonment

A special women's court on Thursday convicted all four men accused in the 2011 Amboli murder of KeenanReuben Fernandez and sentenced them to life imprisonment.

Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said the court has held them guilty under Section 302 as well as Section 354 of the IPC.

"We prayed today that all the accused be sentenced forlife imprisonment and court has awarded the same," he added.

The four men Jitesha Rana, Sunil Bodh, Satish Dulhaj and Dipak Tival have been in jail since their arrest on October 20, 2011, the night of the murder.

Keenan, 24, and Reuben, 29, were attacked outside a popular eatery in Amboli in Mumbai's Andheri on October 20, 2011.Read More.

Ruckus in RS as Manohar Parrikar speaks on AgustaWestland deal

Despite opposition from the Congress, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikaron Wednesday told the Rajya Sabha that he only wanted to give chronology of the events with regard to corruption in the Rs 3,600-crore sale of 12 VVIP choppers to India.

"This matter is not of today, this pertains to year 2002. I just wanted to inform the House, the chronological order of events, without any comments on them, so that the House is aware of when it took place and what happened," Parrikar said in the Upper House.

"Whether they want or don't want, it is for them (Congress)," he added amid uproar in the upper house.

Parrikar, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modiyesterday, had earlier on Monday said that his address in the Parliament would include how and when necessary clauses or provisions were relaxed to suit the company.

Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, has accused the Centre of pursuing a politically motivated campaign to defame the grand old party through the AgustaWestland copter scam.

Meanwhile, former Indian Air Force chief S.P. Tyagi is being grilled for the third consecutive day by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) at its headquarter here in connection with alleged irregularities in the Rs. 3600 crore VVIP chopper deal.

As per reports, the former IAF chief is said to have told the CBI yesterday that he met senior officials of Finmeccanica, the parent company of AgustaWestland, while negotiations for the purchase of VVIP choppers were going on.

He also told the interrogators that he had met Finmeccanica's Chief Operating Officer Georgio Zapa in New Delhi on February 15, 2005.

The CBI yesterday quizzed the former IAF chief on the four firms which he and his wife set up after his retirement from service.Read More.

How Prashant Kishor has upended the UP elections by proposing Priyanka Gandhi for CM

Prashant Kishor’s formula for the Congress’s resuscitation in Uttar Pradesh is as follows: Rahul Gandhi; if he demurs, then Priyanka; and if she also doesn’t want to lead the party in the state, then Sheila Dikshit. This is a sure way of shooting down the chances of at least one person. Even assuming that the venerable Dikshit – who has proven credentials as a chief minister and administrator, having bucked incumbency three times (a record not many Congress CMs can boast of) to lead the Delhi Congress – is willing to re-enter the snake-pit of UP politics at the age of 75-plus, what should we really expect from her? Every mohallaBrahmin who is a secret Congress sympathiser will be ready to jump into the fray – if it is to be Sheila Dikshit, why not me?

UP Elections : Two things are obvious. One, that Sonia Gandhi has retreated completely from decision making. She merely initials suggestions emanating from Tughlak Lane and 10 Janpath is merely a re-tweeting authority where a retweet is an endorsement. The leadership transition is happening even as we speak. In this process, many are deeply unhappy. They had invested in 10 Janpath and that piece of real estate is rapidly becoming worthless. The older leaders in the party knew and trusted the moves made by 10 Janpath. They don’t understand alternate poles of power like Prashant Kishor. No rebellion yet, but sabotage cannot be ruled out.

The second follows the first. If Sonia Gandhi is retreating, Rahul Gandhi cannot leave the running of the party and allow himself to be boxed in. If he becomes party president after May 19, as is generally expected, Priyanka will have to willy-nilly take charge in UP. To that extent, Dikshit etc are red herrings: no doubt they are conscious of it as well.

What is clear is the Kishor strategy of disruption. The Congress was nowhere in the reckoning in UP. Now suddenly people have begun talking about the party, there is discussion and speculation and the games have begun.Read more about this Article.

Assembly Elections 2016

West Bengal assembly polls: 50,000 security personnel to guard last phase

Close to 50,000 security personnel, including 361 companies of central forces, have been deployed to ensure that polling for the sixth and last phase of West Bengal elections is held in a free and fair manner.

Assembly Elections Commission officials said 123 companies of central forces are manning Coochbehar district while another 238 companies are stationed in East Midnapore district.

Another contingent of 4,500 state police personnel, have been deployed to assist the central forces in Coochbehar while 7,500 personnel are in East Midnapore district.

Together, the two districts have 25 constituencies going to the hustings tomorrow.

Assembly Elections 2016: Political parties go all out to woo enclave voters

With the enclave residents all set to vote for the first time since Independence, the new voters are being aggressively wooed by various political parties, who are taking credit for resolving the 68-year old border dispute.

"It is our government which has resolved this enclave problem. None of the previous state governments could address the same. But we had solved this problem and given you the rights," Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee said at various rallies in Coochbehar district.

Banerjee's comments are echoed by party's district President Rabindranath Ghosh who promised to usher in development if TMC won in Coochbehar.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is heading the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre, also took the credit of resolving the enclave problems.

"It was our government at the Centre that took the initiative and solved the problem. We have been with the people of enclaves from the very beginning and our government has been very proactive," BJP National Secretary Rahul Sinha said.

Assembly Elections Result: The 51 enclaves are spread across Dinhata, Mekliganj, Sitai, Sitalkuchi and Toofanganj Assembly constituencies, with over 14,864 residents, has over 9,776 registered voters.

The six Assembly constituencies were Mekhliganj (584), Sitalkuchi (1,980), Sitai (1,362), Dinhata (5,605), Natabari (0) and Tufanganj (9).

Out of 9,540 eligible voters, 9,209 enrolled themselves to vote on May 5 in 41 polling stations. There were 567 more voters among the 922 people in the settlements in Coochbehar.

In the Sitalkuchi and Sitai Assembly constituencies, where TMC and its then alliance partner Congress had won with a slender margin of 257 and 1,577 votes, respectively, in last assembly polls, the votes of enclave dwellers could play a vital role as well as in Dinhata.

Striking a different note, the CPI(M), however, refuted the claims by TMC and BJP and said that both the parties had stalled the enclave exchange during the United Progressive Alliance rule.

"Both the parties have stalled the process of enclave exchange during UPA rule. It was the rehabilitation package that ensured that the state agreed to give a nod to the enclave exchange," CPI(M) Politburo member Mohammed Salim said.More news about Elections.

Assembly Elections 2016 India

With the campaign intensifying for the May 16 Assembly Elections 2016 in the state, rebel candidates and namesakes are posing a threat to winning prospects of candidates, especially to those of Congress-led UDF, in some constituencies in Kerala.

While UDF candidates face the rebel threat the most, including on many seats they currently hold, CPI(M)-ledLDF and BJP-led NDA seem to have less number of rebels according to the final candidates' list.

The last date for withdrawing nominations ended on Monday and 1203 candidates are in the fray for 140 seats.

Assembly Elections : Even though the main battle is between UDF and LDF, the NDA has made the electoral contest triangular in many constituencies.

K C Joseph, state's minister for rural development and a close confidant of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who is seeking eighth term to the Assembly from Irikkur, is among the prominent UDF candidates facing rebel threat.

It is significant that Joseph's candidature had been objected to by local Congress workers. However, ignoring the protest, the party leadership decided to field him.

Rebel Congress leader Binoy Thomas is taking on Joseph under the banner 'Save Congress'. Sitting MLAs P C Vishnunath (Chengannur), K M Shaji (Azhikode), and Domenic Presentation (Kochi) are also facing the rebel threat.

Former MLA Shobhana George, who was denied ticket this time, is actively campaigning against Vishnunath.

Once a strong loyalist of former chief minister late K Karunakaran, Shobhana had filed her nomination papers in the last Assembly polls also. But she withdrew at the last minute following the intervention by senior party leaders.

Assembly Elections Results : However, Shobhana refused to budge to the party leadership pressure this time. She said she has decided to contest this time as the party leadership "failed" to meet the promise that she would be given a ticket this time.

K M Shaji, who is contesting against CPI(M)'s journalist-turned candidate M V Nikesh Kumar, is facing a huge threat from P K Ragesh, who came into the limelight after winning as rebel against the official candidate in the last civic polls.

Former district panchayat member K J Lenus is threatening the winning prospects of Kochi MLA Domenic Presentation while Kerala Congress (M) leader C F Thomas is facing stiff challenge from Youth Congress leader K Suresh who is contesting as an Independent in Changanassery.

Namesakes, who ensured many prominent candidates did not win in the previous polls, are in fray in some constituencies this time as well.

RMP candidate in Vadakara and widow of TP Chandrasekharan, KK Rema, is one of the contestants facing such a threat.

UDF's K S Sabarinathan and K Babu, LDF's Antony Raju and M Swaraj are also facing similar threats in their respective constituencies. See more Elections news.

IPL T20: Harbhajan Singh, Ambati Rayudu involved in on-field spat

IPL T20: Harbhajan Singh, Ambati Rayudu involved in on-field spat

Veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh sparked a controversy by engaging into a heated argument with his MumbaiIndians' teammate Ambati Rayudu during their Indian Premier League (IPL) match where they had an eight-wicket win against Rising Pune Supergiants at Mumbai Cricket Association Stadium last evening .

The incident took place in the 11th over when Rayudu failed to stop a boundary hit by Pune Supergiants' Saurabh Tiwary on Harbhajan's delivery despite a brilliant effort at the boundary rope.

Furious with Rayudu's fielding, Harbhajan started abusing his teammate which sparked the argument between the two players.

Rayudu, who seemed to be disappointed with Harbhajan's behaviour, walked towards his senior player to oppose him. But, the off spinner was seen pacifying him before the situation would have turned out of control.

It was not the first time when Harbhajan was seen engaging in an on-field spat. He had earlier slapped tainted pacer S. Sreesanth after Mumbai Indians' defeat to Kings XI Punjab in the first edition of the IPL. Read more.

Just like any other Chinese smartphone

The Chinese-manufactured Smartphone segment in India is a heavily crowded space with the likes of Xiaomi, LeEco, Oppo, Vivo and Gionee battling neck to neck to achieve the numero uno spot in terms of market share.

The latest International Data Corporation (IDC) report reveals a change, with Vivo and Oppo making it to the top five smartphone vendors for the first time, based on the number of units they shipped.

But for Gionee, the journey to the top is far from over. Its ambitious Gionee S6, priced at Rs 19,999, is pitted against the Oppo R7 Lite, but does it have what it takes to win the race? Let us find out.

Gionee, like any other Chinese model does not have a stand-out identity of its own like a Moto X Turbo edition or an Asus Zenfone as it has startling similarities to other Chinese models. Keeping that aside, it has done a pretty decent job with the unibody aluminium build and the rose gold colour adds to the phone's looks. It is comfortable to hold and the button placement enables you to use it with one hand easily.

The phone has been designed keeping in mind the aesthetic appeal of the present generation. In terms of hardware, the model weighs just 148 g and can easily slide into your pocket. It boasts of a 13-megapixel (MP) rear camera with LED flash and a 5MP front camera. A 5.5-inch 720p high-definition AMOLED display coupled with a Gorilla Glass 3 for protection is sure to give you a good movie watching experience.

The camera performance is impressive as pictures clicked in daylight show good clarity and colours. However, low-light shots aren't that great as certain amount of noise slithers into the picture, but overall quality is acceptable. A range of shooting features such as the professional mode, ultra-pixel mode and a barcode scanner adds on to the list of your options. The non-removable 3,150 mAh battery lasts for more than a day when put to real world usage.Read More.

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