India

New Delhi, May 16 (PTI) Taking note of the pendency of sexual assault and business dispute cases, the Delhi High Court Thursday directed the Delhi government to place before the Cabinet the requirement for 18 more fast track and 22 commercial courts.

A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice A J Bhambhani said the high court had sanctioned certain posts of judges for establishing fast track and commercials courts but the matter has been pending before the government for over two years.

New Delhi, May 16 (PTI) East Delhi, New Delhi and South Delhi parliamentary constituencies saw more women turning out to vote as compared to men, officials said Thursday.

Delhi recorded a turnout of 60.52 percent in the polls on May 12, five percentage points down from 2014.

According to official data, 60.82 per cent male voters and 60.15 per cent female voters exercised their right this time.

Madurai, May 16 (PTI) The Madras High Court Thursday reserved its order on the anticipatory bail petition filed by MNM chief Kamal Haasan over his "free India's first extremist was a Hindu" remark made during an election meeting in the Aravkurichi assembly constituency.

When the bail plea by the actor-politician came up, Justice B Pugalendhi reserved the orders without mentioning a date.

Police in Aravakurichi in Karur district have registered a case against the actor based on a complaint filed by a right wing activist.

Puducherry, May 16 (PTI) A 27-year-old man was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor girl at her house in a village near here Thursday, police said.

The man, a Puducherry government electricity department employee, was noting down the power consumption details at the nine-year-old girl's house when the incident occurred, they said.

She was alone as the parents had gone shopping.

New Delhi, May 16 (PTI) The Election Commission Thursday ordered repoll at a booth in the Chandni Chowk parliamentary constituency, officials said Thursday.

The Chief Electoral Office of Delhi had submitted a report to the EC asking for a repoll in polling station number 32 after the presiding officer forgot to delete the 'test votes' that were cast during mock poll before actual polling commenced at 7 am on May 12, they said.

Kolkata, May 16 (PTI) In a first in the country, campaigning for nine Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal going to polls in the last phase came to an end at 10 pm on Thursday, 20 hours before the scheduled time, as per orders of the Election Commission.

Polling will be held in nine constituencies of south Bengal on Sunday where an electorate of 1,49,63,064 will decide the fate of 111 candidates, the EC said.

New Delhi, May 16 (PTI) Under fire for her "Nathuram-Godse-is-a-patriot" remark, BJP's Bhopal Lok Sabha seat candidate Pragya Singh Thakur tendered an apology on Thursday night and said she respected Mahatma Gandhi as his work for the country cannot be forgotten.

"My sentiment was not to hurt anyone's feelings. If it has hurt anybody's feelings then I apologise. What Gandhi ji has done for the country cannot be forgotten. I respect him a lot," she said in a video statement.

Bhopal, May 16 (PTI) Bhopal police Thursday registered an FIR against self-styled godman Namdev Das Tyagi alias Computer Baba for allegedly violating the model code of conduct (MCC), an official said on Thursday.

The FIR was registered at the directions of the district election officer.

Computer Baba had organised a "hath yoga" camp in Bhopal to campaign for Digvijaya Singh, Congress candidate from Bhopal, who had also participated in the event.

Nagpur, May 17 (PTI) Naxals have called for a 'bandh' in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra on May 19 to protest the killings of two fellow women in an encounter last month, police said.

Naxals had put up banners in some villages in Etapalli tehsil of Gadchiroli on Wednesday night, in which they gave the 'bandh' call, an official from Gadchiroli superintendent of police (SP) office said Thursday.

Lucknow, May 17 (PTI) BSP chief Mayawati Friday alleged that outsiders are being used to lure and threaten voters in Varanasi to ensure a win for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asked why the EC was not focusing on the constituency.

Slamming the Election Commission, she asked why the poll body was not keeping a watch on Varanasi like it was doing in West Bengal.