New Delhi, Feb 7 (PTI) UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi Thursday led the Congress in Lok Sabha in appreciating Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari for the "wonderful" work he has been doing in improving the country's infrastructure.

During the Question Hour, the House took up two questions related to Gadkari's ministry in which he gave detailed description of the works being executed and works being undertaken for expanding the country's network.

New Delhi, Feb 6 (PTI) The Supreme Court Wednesday reserved verdict on a batch of petitions seeking review of its September 28, 2018 judgement that allowed women of all age groups to enter the Sabarimala temple in Kerala.

A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi heard submissions on behalf of parties including the Kerala government, Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), Nair Service Society and others and said that it would pronounce its order as to whether to review the judgment or not.

Mumbai, Feb 6 (PTI) The Maharashtra government will soon make forcing a woman to undergo virginity test a punishable offence, it said Wednesday.

Certain communities in the state follow a custom whereby a newly-wed woman has to prove that she was virgin prior to the marriage.

06 Feb 2019; DW: Between the late bedtimes and early morning tweets the leader of the free world is renowned for needing just four hours' sleep but his young State of the Union guest Joshua Trump hardly lived up to the name -- nodding off mid-speech.

The 11-year-old -- who is not related to Donald Trump but has been bullied at school because of his surname -- had been invited as a special guest of the first family to the prestigious annual address.

Lucknow, Feb 7 (PTI) Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Ayodhya Thursday got a significant share in the Uttar Pradesh Budget, including Rs 200 crore for an airport and Rs 101 crore for the development of tourist spots in the city.

As part of its focus on development and beautification of religious places in the state, the UP government has selected Ayodhya, Varanasi, Mathura and Allahabad while earmarking funds in the annual budget for 2019-20.

07 Feb 2019; DW: Australian airline Qantas Airways on Thursday announced it had formally canceled an order for eight Airbus A380 superjumbo jets.

"Following discussions with Airbus, Qantas has now formalized its decision not to take eight additional A380s that were ordered in 2006," a Qantas spokesperson said. "These aircraft have not been part of the airline's fleet and network plans for some time."

New Delhi, Feb 6 (PTI) The tenures of two senior IPS officers -- Anish Prasad and Abhay Singh -- at the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have been curtailed, according to a Personnel Ministry order issued Wednesday.

Prasad, a 2003 batch IPS officer of Tripura cadre, was reportedly at the centre of controversy involving the CBI's two former top officers -- ex-chief Alok Kumar Verma and the then Special Director Rakesh Asthana.

Bengaluru, Feb 6 :  India's latest communication satellite GSAT-31 was successfully launched by European launch services provider- Arianespace's rocket from French Guiana in the early hours of Wednesday.

Blasting off from Ariane Launch Complex at Kourou, a French territory located in northeastern coast of South America at at 2.31 am (IST), the Ariane-5 vehicle injected GSAT-31 into the orbit in a flawless flight lasting about 42 minutes.

New Delhi, Feb 7 (PTI) Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday alleged that the RSS was trying to capture the institutions of the country and his party's governments in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh will remove the organisation's loyalists from the system.

He also launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling him a "coward" and challenging him to a debate on issues such as national security, Rafale and the economy.

06 Feb 2019; DW: Two freight cars carrying spray cans and other hygiene products caught fire late Wednesday as a train was traveling through Rhineland-Palatinate, state police said in a statement.

The blaze caused spray cans aboard the train to explode and fly through the air, a police spokesman said. The flames caused damaged to the two freight cars, an overhead line and a barrier designed to limit noise from the railway, though no residential buildings were affected.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s state TV says Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has pardoned a “large number” of prisoners in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

The report Thursday did not say how many prisoners were released, but previous reports suggested it would apply to some 50,000 prisoners, the largest number ever covered in a single pardon. Some prisoners would be released while others would have their sentences reduced.

Chennai, Feb 6 (PTI) Vexed with the filing of numerous anticipatory bail pleas, the Madras High Court on Wednesday observed that the accused need not be arrested in all criminal cases at the stage of investigation and the probe can be carried out effectively without custodial interrogation.

Justice Anand Venkatesh made the observation while granting anticipatory bail to an accused in a matrimonial dispute case and asked the police to pull up their socks and show more quality and maturity in investigations.