Indian Sub-continent

New Delhi, Jan 25 (PTI) No-frills airline IndiGo will start daily direct flights from the national capital to Istanbul from March 20.

IndiGo would be the first Indian airline to fly to Turkey and Istanbul would be the 16th international destination for the budget carrier, the airline said in the release Friday.

IndiGo, which is India's largest carrier in terms of domestic market share, would operate daily non-stop flights between Delhi and Istanbul from March 20, with A321 aircraft, the release said.

Guwahati, Jan 25 (PTI) The CPI(M) announced on Friday that it would would protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill across the country on February 4.

The CPI(M) Politburo appealed to all parties, groups and citizens who believe in the unity and diversity of the country and the common basis of citizenship as enshrined in the Constitution to join this protest, a release issued by Hari Singh Kang on behalf of the CPI(M)'s Central Committee office said.

New Delhi, Jan 25 (PTI) IndiGo's new CEO Ronojoy Dutta Friday told the staff that the airline would be making a major expansion into international markets.

Dutta's appointment as the CEO of InterGlobe Aviation, the parent of IndiGo, was made by the board on Thursday amid the carrier working on expansion of its presence.

IndiGo is the country's largest airline in terms of domestic market share.

Bhubaneswar, Jan 25 (PTI) Congress president Rahul Gandhi Friday said his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's entry into politics was not sudden as she had decided to play a role in the party after her children grew up.

The decision on the timing of Priyanka's political plunge was taken some years ago. She was delaying it because of the children, he said, replying to a question at an interactive session here.

"Now her children are grown-ups. While one of them has entered university, another too has grown up. Therefore, she decided to join politics," he said.

Hojai (Assam), Jan 25 (PTI) A local court awarded capital punishment to a person for raping and murdering a 7-year-old girl in Hojai district of central Assam in 2017.

Hojai sessions court judge N S Deuri sentenced Krishna alias Sagar to death.

Jaipur, Jan 25 (PTI) The popular "Jai Ho" song would not have won the prestigious Oscar without the contribution of music maestro A R Rahman who changed the face and form of Indian film songs, veteran poet-lyricist Gulzar said Friday.

Composed by Rahman for the 2009 film "Slumdog Millionaire", "Jai Ho" is the first Hindi song to win an Academy Award in the Best Original Score and Best Original Song categories.

Gulzar penned the lyrics and singer Sukhwinder Singh lent his voice to the track.

Ahmedabad, Jan 25 (PTI) Former Gujarat Chief Minister Shankarsinh Vaghela Friday confirmed he will soon join the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), starting a new political innings after stints in the Congress and the BJP.

Vaghela said he took the decision after discussion with NCP president Sharad Pawar and a formal announcement of him joining the party can be expected by Sunday from Mumbai.

Raipur, Jan 25 (PTI) A woman naxal was gunned down Friday in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, police said.

The gun-battle took place at around 4 pm in the forests under Puspal police station area when a team of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) was returning after carrying out an anti-Maoist operation, Deputy Inspector General (anti-naxal operations) Sundarraj P told PTI.

The DRG is a locally raised force vested with the task to tackle Maoists.

Thrissur (Ker), Jan 25 (PTI) National award-winning Malayalam film director Priyanandanan was allegedly attacked with cow dung water near here Friday, days after he courted controversy over an objectionable Facbook post on Sabarimala women's entry issue, police said.

In a swift action on a complaint lodged by the director, police registered a case and arrested an RSS worker within hours of the attack.

Jind, Jan 25 (PTI) The BJP and the Congress put up shows of strength Friday as the Jind by-poll neared, with the ruling party accusing the Congress candidate Randeep Singh Surjewala of not taking his role as an MLA seriously.

At a rally, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar suggested that Surjewala, the Congress' chief spokesperson, hardly attended the state assembly to which he was elected from Kaithal.

"Congress is such a buffalo who eats fodder of Haryana but gives milk in Delhi," Khattar said.