Indian Sub-continent

Bhopal, Apr 12 (PTI) A 23-year-old woman from Madhya Pradesh has filed for divorce, claiming that her husband shuns shaving and bathing for almost a week at a stretch.

The couple, who married last year, was directed by Bhopal family court to stay separately for six months, after which they will be granted divorce decree, a counsellor said.

"Bhopal family court judge R N Chand has directed the couple to stay separately for six months," court counsellor Shail Awasthi told PTI Friday.

Unnao (UP), Apr 12 (PTI) BJP Unnao MP Sakshi Maharaj Friday told people that if they do not vote for him, they will face divine displeasure, prompting the police to lodge an FIR against the priest-turned-politician.

"If you ensure my victory, I will work for you, otherwise do 'bhajan-kirtan' in temple," he said at an election meeting at Sheshpur village in Sihramau area.

"I am a 'sanyasi'. When a 'sanyasi' comes to your door and asks for 'bhiksha' (alms), and is not heard, he takes away all the happiness of the family and transfers his sins onto them," he added.

Mumbai, Apr 12 (PTI) Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal has put in bid for buying stake in the ailing airline, sources said.

Goyal quit as chairman of the carrier last month under a debt resolution plan that saw lenders taking control of the airline.

Airline sources said Goyal has put in bid for Jet Airways.

Srinagar, Apr 12 (PTI) PDP president Mehbooba Mufti Friday accused BJP chief Amit Shah of shaking the country's foundations with his recent controversial statements, and asked him to apologise to the people.

She was reportedly referring to Shah's speech at Raiganj in West Bengal on Thursday.

Calling illegal migrants from Bangladesh "termites", the BJP president had said that his party would throw them out after coming to power at the Centre for a second consecutive term

New Delhi, Apr 12 (PTI) A voter turnout of 69.43 per cent was recorded in phase one of Lok Sabha elections held Thursday, the Election Commission said Friday night.

A total of 91 Lok Sabha constituencies spread across 18 states and two Union territories had gone for polls in the first phase.

Over 14.20 crore people were eligible to vote to decide the fate of 1,279 candidates in the 91 constituencies.

Dehradun, Apr 13 (PTI) A voter turnout of 61.50 per cent was recorded in Uttarakhand which went to polls in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on Thursday.

According to final polling percentage released by the Election Commission after collating data received from remote corners of the hill state late on Friday night a total of 61.50 per cent of the 78.56 lakh voters exercised their franchise on the polling day.

Lucknow Apr 12 (PTI) Alleging that EVM malfunction during the first phase of polling resulted in votes cast going in BJP's account, BSP chief Mayawati asked the Election Commission to take a serious note of this and initiate steps to check its recurrence in the remaining six phases of the general elections.

She said that if the poll panel does not initiate any strict step, the ongoing election process "would be of no use" and hoped that something concrete will be done in this regard.

New Delhi, Apr 11 (PTI) The purpose of art is to "question and provoke" but there is a growing intolerance in society and organised groups pose a serious danger to the right to free speech and expression, the Supreme Court said on Thursday.

The observation was made in a judgement in which the apex court imposed Rs 20 lakh fine on the Mamata Banerjee government over not allowing the screening of satirical film "Bhobishyoter Bhoot" in West Bengal.

New Delhi, Apr 11 (PTI) The Aam Aadmi Party Thursday held talks with Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) to discuss seat sharing in Haryana for the Lok Sabha elections after talks with the Congress on a tie-up in the state was called off recently.

Sources said AAP is eyeing the Faridabad, Gurgaon, Karnal and Ambala seats in Haryana in a 4:6 ratio but the JJP is proposing a seat sharing equation of 3:7.

Raipur, Apr 11 (PTI) A Naxal was killed and a Special Task Force (STF) jawan suffered injuries in a gun-battle in Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh on the day of polling for the Bastar Lok Sabha constituency on Thursday, police said.

The encounter took place at around 4:20 pm when the ultras attacked a team of security forces out on an area domination-cum-search operation in a forest near a helipad in the Orchha area, Deputy Inspector General (Anti-Naxal Operation) Sundarraj P told PTI.