“The RSS is expanding its role-from being the cultural organisation to master strategist, influencing the BJP’s decisions ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. This is certainly a significant development,” viewed a member of the Congress “think tank” here on Monday.

Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday said that the Shiromani Akali Dal would take up the issue of Gujarat farmers with chief minister Narendra Modi and would also provide them total legal support in their ongoing case in the apex court.

Actor Salman Khan, who was scheduled to shoot in the UK for his upcoming film Kick, has got UK visa on second try. The film was held up as Khan’s UK visa was allegedly rejected. The actor was denied a visa by the British authorities last week and no reason was given for it.

A petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Monday seeking review of its judgement scrapping the single common entrance test or NEET for admissions to MBBS, BDS and post-graduate courses in all medical colleges across the country.

The Supreme Court on Monday held as “valid in the eyes of law” the extradition of underworld gangster Abu Salem from Portugal in 2005 despite that country’s apex court terminating his repatriation to India on the ground that the authorities here had violated the terms of extradition.

The Supreme Court on Monday pulled up the Madhya Pradesh government for disclosing the names of two minor rape victims and directed that both school-going girls, who were gangraped by 16 men in Indore district last year, be paid compensation of `10 lakh each.

Amid the ongoing tussle between the Centre and the CBI over complete functional autonomy to India’s premier investigating agency, the CBI is now all set to raise the issue before the Supreme Court about several instances of various state governments making it mandatory to take their sanctions for prosecuting even Central government’s group “B” and “C” grade employees posted at various Central departments offices in their states.

“We don’t want this to become a second Ayodhya,” said an ageing Nazar Mohammed squatting on a large chattai (matting) spread out in front of the wall of the mosque which is currently under construction.

Unfazed by the stinging criticism over the suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said on Monday that if officers make mistakes, they will be duly punished.

Resumption of mineral transportation in Rebana Reserve Forest in Orissa’s Keonjhar district has once again posed a serious threat to the elephant population in the region.