Delhi

New Delhi, Jan 20 (PTI) The Supreme Court Monday rejected the plea of a death row convict in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case challenging the Delhi High Court order which had dismissed his claim of being a juvenile at the time of commission of offence.

A bench comprising Justices R Banumathi, Ashok Bushan and A S Bopanna dismissed the plea of the death row convict, Pawan Kumar Gupta, and upheld the Delhi High Court verdict.

New Delhi, Jan 20 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Monday sought response of the Uttar Pradesh government on a PIL filed by Allahabad Heritage Society challenging renaming of Allahabad to Prayagraj.

A bench comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant issued notice to the state.

The Centre had on January 1 last year approved renaming of Allahabad as Prayagraj.

New Delhi, Jan 20 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Monday sought response of the Centre and the Election Commission on a plea seeking stay on the electoral bond scheme meant for funding political parties.

The top court, however, refused to grant an interim stay on the electoral bond scheme.

New Delhi, Jan 20 (PTI) J P Nadda was elected unopposed as the BJP national president on Monday after he emerged as the only leader in the fray following the nomination process in which his candidature was endorsed by top party leaders.

Senior BJP leader Radha Mohan Singh, who is the incharge of the organisational election process, made the announcement at the party headquarters here.

New Delhi, Jan 20 (PTI) Hundreds of students marched from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar on Monday to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register for Citizens.

Students, belonging to different universities, raised slogans demanding "azaadi" from the new citizenship law and carried posters which read "We stand united against CAA', 'Agar tum decent hote toh dissent ko samajhte' (If you were decent, you would have understood dissent), 'Secularism up, Communalism down down'.

New Delhi, Jan 19 (PTI) As many as 2,200 Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel died in accidents and suicides in a span of five years from 2014 to 2018, with the annual figures of such casualties coming down in recent years, according to an official data.

In 2018, 104 CAPF personnel died in accidents while 28 in suicides, totalling 132 deaths during the year, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data showed.

New Delhi, Jan 19 (PTI) Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday accused the BJP of repeatedly harassing party leader Hardik Patel, who has been arrested for failing to appear before a court in a 2015 sedition case.

The Congress general secretary said Patel has been fighting for the employment of youth and the rights of farmers.

Mumbai, Jan 17 (PTI) Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Friday said India and Iran need to work together to expedite rail connectivity to Afghanistan and procurement of equipment for development of Chabahar Port.

The minister who was in the city said that India has good relations with Iran as well as US and can play a role in bringing both the countries to negotiating table.

New Delhi, Jan 18 (PTI) A POCSO court convicted two men on Saturday for raping a five-year-old girl in east Delhi in 2013, saying the case had shaken the collective conscience of the society.

Additional Sessions Judge Naresh Kumar Malhotra convicted Manoj Shah and Pradeep Kumar in the case, saying that the child experienced exceptional depravity and extreme brutality.

New Delhi, Jan 17 (PTI) A Delhi court Friday issued fresh death warrants for February 1, 6 am against the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case.

Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar Arora was hearing a plea by one of the four death row convicts in the case, Mukesh Kumar Singh, seeking postponement of the date of his execution scheduled for January 22.

Earlier in the day, the Tihar jail authorities sought issuance of fresh death warrants against the four convicts.