India

Visakhapatnam, May 6 (PTI) Frontline missile destroyer of the Indian Navy'INS Ranjit' was decommissioned Monday at the Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam, after serving the Indian navy for 36 years.

INS Ranjit, the third of the five Kashin-class destroyers built by the erstwhile USSR, was commissioned on September 15 1983.

The ship was decommissioned ata solemn ceremony at the Naval Dockyard when the national flag, naval ensign and Commissioning Pennant were lowered.

New Delhi, May 6 (PTI) The Samajwadi Party said on Monday it would support the Bahujan Samaj Party in Delhi and also the Aam Aadmi Party in two seats.

As per directions of the top leadership, the SP workers in Delhi will work for the BSP candidates, the spokesperson of the Samajwadi Party's Delhi unit, R S Yadav, said in a statement.

"We will also support New Delhi and North West Delhi(reserved) candidates of the AAP as the BSP has not fielded its candidates there," Yadav added.

Jammu, May 6 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party Monday expressed shock over the allegations levelled by the Leh Press Club against BJP leaders for trying to bribe journalists to influence the parliamentary elections.

On Saturday, the Press Club Leh had accused the BJP of trying to bribe its members by offering "envelops filled with money", a charge denied by the party which said the allegations were "politically motivated".

New Delhi, May 6 (PTI) The Election Commission has given clean chit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in two more cases, sources aware of the development said Monday.

The Congress had alleged that he held a "roadshow" in Ahmedabad on April 23 and the sources said the commission has concluded that Modi did not violate the model code and the election law.

New Delhi, May 6 (PTI) Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi Monday got a clean chit from the Supreme Court's In-House Inquiry Committee which "has found no substance" in the allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him by a former woman employee of the apex court.

A notice by the office of Supreme Court Secretary General said the report of the Committee, headed by Justice S A Bobde, "is not liable to be made public".

New Delhi, May 5; PTI/GANASHAKTI: The Supreme Court Sunday termed as "wholly incorrect" a media report that said that justices RF Nariman and DY Chandrachud met Justice SA Bobde, who is heading the in-house committee inquiring into sexual harassment allegations against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.

A statement issued by the office of the Supreme Court's secretary general said it is "most unfortunate" that a leading newspaper chose to state that the two judges met Justice Bobde on Friday evening.

Lucknow, May 5; PTI/GANASHAKTI: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi charged the SP with going soft on the Congress as part of a "big game" against the BSP, the two "mahagathbandhan" partners blamed the PM on Sunday for trying to create a rift in the alliance.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati said the alliance "will continue in the future as well", while Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav said the prime minister was "misleading" people.

Puducherry, May 5 (PTI) Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy Sunday urged Kiran Bedi to quit as Lt Governor after the Madras High Court had recently held that the Lt Governor "cannot interfere in the day-to-day activities of the elected government in the union territory."

The High court had laid down very clearly that the Lt Governor had no powers to act independently and that she must work "in tandem with the Chief Minister and the Council of Ministers," he told reporters here.

Bengaluru, May 5 (PTI) A tweet by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tipu Sultan triggered a war of words between senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah and BJP's Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Sunday, with the former saying he was not the one to "eat biryani" with the premier of an enemy country.

Siddaramaiah's comment came in the wake of Khan's tweet on Tipu Sultan, the 18th-century ruler of the erstwhile Mysore kingdom.

Raipur, May 5 (PTI) Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel Sunday announced a financial aid of Rs 11 crore to Odisha following cyclonic storm Fani to help the state carry out restoration work.

'Fani' barrelled through Odisha on Friday, unleashing heavy rain and winds of up to 175 kmph, killing at least 29 people, blowing away thatched houses and swamping towns and villages.

A Chhattisgarh government statement said Baghel had spoken to Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik and assured him of all support.