The 11th fast-track sessions court on Wednesday convicted cab driver Shivakumar for the kidnap, rape and murder of BPO employee Pratibha Srikantmurthy. Shivakumar had kidnapped Pratibha on December 13, 2005, and her body was discovered in Anjanapura New Layout under Kumara Swamy Layout police limits three days later. The judge posted the pronouncement of sentence to October 8 after hearing the arguments on the case.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice of the Delhi high court Dipak Misra and Justice Manmohan on Wednesday directed the labour department of the city government to take appropriate action against contractors who fail to provide details about the construction workers.

Pulling up the Delhi police for not taking action against its erring officials, the Delhi high court has said that instead of taking action against them, the department tries to protect them.

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar said that the world’s population is poised to grow to eight billion by 2025 and it would be stretching the earth’s resources to their limit. She wants Parliaments and parliamentarians to act as agents of change to ensure sustainable development.

Has governor H.R. Bhardwaj played killjoy with chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa by not giving him an audience on Wednesday at the time that the chief minister had requested?

Mr Abhishek Singhvi, an eminent lawyer, was on Wednesday virtually “suspended” as the Congress spokesperson as he was barred from holding media briefings till the party high command decided on the controversy over his appearance in a lottery case in the Kerala high court.

The main Opposition BJP on Wednesday attacked AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi for showing “political immaturity” and “engaging in unruly behaviour” by comparing Sangh Parivar fountainhead RSS with banned outfit Simi. The party said Mr Gandhi seems to have “lost his mental balance” for comparing a nationalist institution with a banned outfit. The RSS asked the AICC general secretary to “brush up his knowledge” before making “meaningless” statements.

The Congress on Wednesday hit back at the RSS and the BJP for its remarks against AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi saying the right-wing outfit is a “master in spreading rumours” and that its statements should not be given any significance.

Wary of its alliance partner BJP possibly using the Allahabad high court’s verdict to drum up support for it in the upcoming Assembly elections, the JD(U) on Tuesday said that it would not allow the emotive issue to become a part of the campaign in the state. It also said that those, who are not satisfied with the high court’s verdict, could go for an appeal in the Supreme Court.

The BJP on Tuesday said it is “unfortunate” that the Congress is raising the Babri Masjid demolition issue “again and again”. The party said the law is taking its course in the matter, advising the Congress against giving “edification”.