Delhi

New Delhi, Mar 28 (PTI) A court here on Thursday extended the Enforcement Directorate custody of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal till April 1 in the excise policy case.

The agency had sought seven-day custody of the AAP chief, but the court said he has to be produced before the court on April 1 at 11 am.

The ED had produced him before Rouse Avenue court Special Judge Kaveri Baweja as his current custody was ending on Thursday.

New Delhi, Mar 28 (PTI) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal on Thursday claimed he is not keeping well and is being "harassed a lot".

Kejriwal has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy. Earlier on Thursday, a court here extended the chief minister's ED custody till April 1.

New Delhi, Mar 28 (PTI) The government's fiscal deficit at Rs 15 lakh crore touched 86.5 per cent of the revised annual target at the end of February, according to official data released on Thursday.

In the corresponding period last year, the fiscal deficit or gap between the expenditure and revenue was 82.8 per cent of Revised Estimates (RE) of the Union Budget 2022-23.

For 2023-24, the government's fiscal deficit is estimated at Rs 17.35 lakh crore or 5.8 per cent of the GDP.

New Delhi, Mar 28 (PTI) Amid a lingering border row in eastern Ladakh, top diplomats of India and China held a fresh round of talks and both sides agreed to "maintain regular contact" through diplomatic and military channels, with no indication of any breakthrough.

Singapore, Mar 24 (PTI) Russia is a country with which India has always had a positive relationship and both countries have taken extra care to look after each other's interests, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday, as he dismissed the notion that Moscow is drifting towards China.

Interacting with the Indian community in Singapore, Jaishankar said India should look at its relationship with Russia or any other country from its perspective.

New Delhi, Mar 24 (PTI) The INDIA bloc is intact despite Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's "somersault" and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee deciding to be Mamata Banerjee, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has said, rejecting as "hollow" Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pitch against the opposition on corruption.

In an interaction with PTI editors at the news agency's headquarters here, Ramesh also said the opposition will unitedly cross the halfway mark of 272 in the elections and oust the BJP from power.

New Delhi, Mar 24 (PTI) The opposition INDIA bloc will hold a "maha rally" at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan on March 31 to safeguard the country's interests and democracy, AAP leader Gopal Rai said on Sunday.

The announcement comes after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (55) was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday from his official residence in connection with an excise policy-linked money-laundering case. A court on Friday sent the AAP national convenor to the central agency's custody till March 28.

New Delhi, Mar 23 (PTI) The BJP's Central Election Committee met here on Saturday to finalise the party's candidates in several states for the Lok Sabha polls.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP president J P Nadda were joined by other CEC members as they went over the list of probables to take a final call.

The states for which candidates were discussed include Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Rajasthan.

New Delhi, Mar 23 (PTI) The Congress on Saturday released its fourth list of 45 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, fielding its Uttar Pradesh unit chief Ajay Rai from Varanasi to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

While the Congress fielded its veteran leader Digvijaya Singh from Madhya Pradesh's Rajgarh, it nominated newly-inducted leader Lal Singh from Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur to take on Union minister Jitendra Singh.

Vikas Thakare will take on Union minister Nitin Gadkari in Nagpur, according to the list.

New Delhi, Mar 21 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed applications seeking a stay on the appointment of two new election commissioners, saying it would lead to "chaos" and "uncertainty" as the elections are round the corner.

Observing that the Election Commission is not under the "thumb of executive", the apex court also refused to grant any interim stay on the operation of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Terms of Office) Act, 2023.