India

New Delhi, Jul 8 (PTI) The view that a young leader should succeed Rahul Gandhi as Congress president is fast gaining traction with the party's youth cadre batting for a Gen Next chief over the old guard.

The young brigade's preference for youth over experience got a boost when Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday asserted that a young person should be chosen as Gandhi's successor.

New Delhi, Jul 8 (PTI) A Delhi court Monday summoned Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia for July 16 in a criminal defamation complaint filed by BJP leader Vijender Gupta.

Gupta had accused the AAP leaders of "maligning" his image by accusing him of attempting to kill Kejriwal.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal said the allegations of the accused persons were "prima facie defamatory" and referred to Gupta.

New Delhi, Jul 8 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will visit Amethi on July 10, his first visit after losing the parliamentary constituency to Union minister Smriti Irani in the recently-held general election.

He will be attending a party workers meeting there, sources said Monday.

District unit spokesman of the Congress, Anil Singh told reporters in Amethi that the Gandhi scion will meet party workers at Nirmala Devi Educational Institute, Gauriganj.

Bengaluru, Jul 8 (PTI) The special investigation team probing the IMA group ponzi scam Monday arrested the deputy commissioner of Bengauru urban district B M Vijay Shankar on charges of receiving Rs 1.5 crore from company founder Mohammed Mansoor Khan, police said.

The IAS officer had allegedly taken the bribe to give a favourable report after the RBI asked the state government to probe the companys businesses, they said.

With this, the number of people arrested by the SIT has gone up to five.

New Delhi, Jul 8 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and its parliamentary party leader Sonia Gandhi Monday met new MPs of the party here as part of a training programme.

Sonia Gandhi addressed the MPs and assured them of all the support from the Congress, a leader present at the orientation meeting held at the party's war room at 15 Gurdwara Raqabganj Road.

Sonia Gandhi stressed on holding such meetings with elected MPs often, the leader said.

Thane, Jul 8 (PTI) Two women corporators of the BJP from the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) in Thane district of Maharashtra came to blows at a function here on Sunday.

A video of the incident purportedly shows the two women charging at each other following some provocation at the function for distribution of umbrellas to the needy.

The women have been identified as corporators Geeta Jain and Rupali Shinde, both from the BJP, sources said.

Chandigarh, Jul 9 (PTI) Pop singer Honey Singh and music producer Bhushan Kumar have been booked by Punjab police on the charge of using vulgar lyrics against women in their latest song.

The rapper has been booked following a complaint lodged by the Punjab State Women Commission which sought action against him for allegedly using vulgar lyrics against women in the song.

The case has been registered at the Mataur police station in Punjab's Mohali district.

Bengaluru, Jul 8 (PTI) Karnataka minister and Independent MLA H Nagesh on Monday resigned and withdrew support to the H D Kumaraswamy-led government, delivering another blow to the shaky JD(S)-Congress coalition ruling the state.

Nagesh, who was recently inducted into the government as small scale industries minister, met Governor Vajubhai Vala at the Raj Bhavan here and submitted his letter of resignation and also "unequivocally" extended support to the government of BJP, if called for by the governor.

Kanpur: To lessen the load on the New Delhi-Howarh route,  the Railway Board has okayed to lay down the fourth track from Panki to Bhaupur station. The tender process has also started. The track would be ready by the end of next year, as was being claimed. 

The trains coming from Delhi stay either at Panki outer or Govindpuri outer or Diamond Crossing for signal to reach Kanpur Central station. Sometimes the trains take more than one hour to reach the railway station. This proposed new track would bring down the time. 

A petition filed by Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha for Muslim women to enter mosques and to ban the purdah has been dismissed by the Supreme Court.

Live Law quoted Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi’s remarked, “Let a Muslim woman challenge it.” while dismissing the order.