Indian Sub-continent

New Delhi, March 26; GANASHAKTI: Air India has decided to withdraw the boarding passes featuring the pictures of PM Narendra Modi and Gujarat CM, Vijay Rupani, after former Punjab DGP Shashi Kant's tweet sparked a controversy.

The outrage started as the pictures violate the Model Code of Conduct.

Separately, Railways also had to withdraw its tickets recently, featuring the PM after TMC's complained to the Election Commission. 

Jammu, March 26 (PTI) BSP state general secretary A S Mottan and 16 others, including retired officers, sarpanches and social activists, joined the Congress here Tuesday in the presence of Jammu and Kashmir Congress chief and former tourism minister Gulam Ahmed Mir.

Mottan was accompanied by his supporters, who joined the Congress too at an event at the party's headquarters in Shahidi Chowk.

Kolkata, Mar 26 (PTI) A city court Tuesday sentenced a 22-year-old man to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping a girl after forcibly marrying her at a temple.

Abhijit Paik was found guilty of kidnapping the girl from her home in Narkeldanga area in the eastern part of the city and raping her.

Lucknow, Mar 26 (PTI) Nomination papers of 49 candidates for the first phase of Lok Sabha polls on the state's eight seats were rejected Tuesday after they were found invalid during scrutiny, election officials said.

In a statement issued here, an official said that out of the total 146 candidates who filed nominations for the first phase on April 11, 97 remain in the fray after scrutiny.

Itanagar, Mar 26 (PTI) BJP candidate from Aalo East assembly constituency, Kento Jini, is set to be elected unopposed, after nomination papers of his lone rival Minkir Lollen of the Congress was found invalid on Tuesday.

Additional Chief Electoral Officer Kanki Darang said the official announcement would be made after March 28, the last date of withdrawal of candidature.

Altogether 198 candidates remained in fray for 60 assembly constituencies, after scrutiny of papers on Tuesday.

Kolkata, Mar 26 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Tuesday described LK Advani as one of the pillars of the BJP and said leaving him out of its candidates list is an insult to the veteran leader.

Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress supremo, said political parties should not ignore their senior leaders.

New Delhi, Mar 26 (PTI) Cracking the whip, the Election Commission Tuesday ordered the transfer of the Andhra Pradesh director general (intelligence) and two district superintendents of police, following complaints against them, the EC sources said.

The state Chief Secretary has been asked to transfer DG (Intelligence) A B Venkateswara Rao, and SPs of Srikakulam and Kadapa districts Venkata Raman and Rahul Dev Sharma respectively with immediate effect, the sources said.

Lucknow, Mar 26 (PTI) The BJP has so far given Lok Sabha tickets to three Uttar Pradesh cabinet ministers, a move seen as the party's recognition of the work done by these leaders.

Names of two state cabinet ministers -- Rita Bhauguna Joshi (Allahabad) and Satyadev Pachauri (Kanpur) -- were announced by the party in its 10th list of candidates on Wednesday. The saffron party had in its first list named another state cabinet minister, S P Singh Baghel, as it candidate from Agra (SC).

Chennai, Mar 27 (PTI) The Congress party's minimum income guarantee scheme will be rolled out in phases and the five crore beneficiary families will be covered in phases, senior leader P Chidambaram said Wednesday.

Addressing a press conference here, the former Finance Minister said 'enough' economists and experts in the subject had been consulted and they broadly agreed that India has the capacity to implement the scheme.

Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has said the implementation of the scheme is possible, Chidambaram added.

Islamabad, Mar 26 (PTI) In a relief to Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan's Supreme Court Tuesday granted bail to the jailed former prime minister for six weeks in a corruption case on medical grounds.

Sharif, 69, is in jail since December last year, serving a 7-year imprisonment in the Al Azizia Steel Mills graft case.