Ahmedabad, Mar 12 (PTI) UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of playing the "victim card" as she said people of the country were the victims of his "wrong policies".

She was speaking at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting at the Sardar Patel National Memorial here.

According to sources, the senior Congress leader in her address lashed out at the Modi government for 'politicising' issues related to national interest.

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico would become the first U.S. state to set up its own government-operated marijuana stores and subsidize medical cannabis for the poor under a bill brokered between Republicans and Democrats, as a new wave of states weighs legislation that would legalize recreational sales and consumption.

Ahmedabad, Mar 12 (PTI) Patidar quota agitation leader Hardik Patel on Tuesday joined the Congress in the presence of party president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

Justifying his decision to enter active politics ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Patel said he could now work for the six crore people of Gujarat in a better way.

After joining the Congress at its rally near Adalaj village in Gandhinagar district, Hardik in his address asked the gathering if it was the right decision.

SYDNEY, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Virgin Australia have assured the public that they will not introduce any new aircraft to their fleet unless completely satisfied with its safety, the airline said on Wednesday.

The statement came after Sunday's Ethiopian Airlines crash which killed all 157 people on board.

Just five months prior, another Boeing 737 MAX 8 operated by Lion Air also went down in Indonesia, killing 189 people.

New Delhi, Mar 12 (PTI) Subdued performance of manufacturing sector, especially capital and consumer goods, pulled down the growth in industrial production to 1.7 per cent in January from 7.5 per cent a year ago.

The data of Index of Industrial Production (IIP), released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on Tuesday comes ahead of the Reserve Bank's monetary policy statement on April 4 and may increase the clamour for cut in interest rates to boost economic activities.

WASHINGTON, March 13. /TASS/. Berlin rejects the idea of imposing economic sanctions on Russia over its alleged violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, the German Government’s Commissioner for Disarmament and Arms Control Susanne Baumann said on Tuesday.

"I do not think that economic sanctions would lead to a change in behavior in this special case," she said, commenting on the possibility of slapping Russia with economic sanctions over its alleged non-compliance.

March 13, 2019; AP: Airline pilots on at least two U.S. flights have reported that an automated system seemed to cause their Boeing 737 Max planes to tilt down suddenly.  

The pilots said that soon after engaging the autopilot on Boeing 737 Max 8 planes, the nose tilted down sharply. In both cases, they recovered quickly after disconnecting the autopilot.

MOSCOW, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Russia is willing to reestablish parliamentary contacts with the United States in order to promote bilateral relations of the two countries, the Russian Federation Council, or upper house of parliament, said Tuesday.

Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko met with U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman and the two sides discussed bilateral relations of the two countries, the Federation Council said in a statement.

New Delhi, Mar 12 (PTI) Retail inflation rose to four-month high of 2.57 per cent in February, mainly driven by higher food prices.

The retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 1.97 per cent in January and 4.44 per cent in February 2018.

Food inflation based on CPI, however was in negative at 0.66 per cent. The latest print is higher than (-) 2.24 per cent in January.

The Reserve Bank factors in retail inflation while deciding at its monetary policy.

Kanpur (UP) Mar 12 (PTI) The toll in the hooch tragedy here rose to six on Tuesday with three more people dying at the Lala Lajpat Rai (LLR) hospital, said SSP Anant Dev Tiwari.

Taking cognizance of the incident, the state government has placed the district excise officer, Rajesh Kumar Mishra, under suspension for his negligence, an official release issued in Lucknow stated.

MOSCOW, March 12. /TASS/. Seoul plans to expand contacts in the sphere of cybersecurity at the international level, which includes Russia, South Korean Ambassador to Russia Woo Yoon-keun stated on Tuesday.

New Delhi, Mar 12 (PTI) The three special observers appointed by the Election Commission to suggest as to when Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir can be held, will visit the state soon.

While announcing the schedule for the Lok Sabha elections on Sunday, the poll panel had said that Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir cannot be held simultaneously due to security concerns flagged by the Centre.