MOSCOW, January 2. /TASS/. Russia has allowed consular access to US citizen Paul Whelan detained in Moscow on suspicion of carrying out espionage, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told TASS on Wednesday.

"Russia has granted consular access to Whelan," the diplomat said.

On Monday, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said US citizen Paul Whelan was detained on December 28, 2018 in Moscow while on a spy mission. A criminal investigation was opened against the US citizen on charges of espionage. He might face between 10 and 20 years in jail.

New Delhi, Jan 2 (PTI) Former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie and advocate Prashant Bhushan Wednesday moved the Supreme Court, seeking review of its December 14 verdict dismissing all PILs alleging irregularities in the procurement of 36 Rafale jets from France.

In their review plea, they alleged that the judgment "relied upon patently incorrect claims made by the government in an unsigned note given in a sealed cover" to the apex court.

They have also sought that the plea be heard in an open court.

New Delhi, January 2: The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared in an interview that after the judicial process the government will be ready to make all efforts for the Ram temple.

This stance of the Prime Minister, welcomed by the RSS as a “positive step”, is deplorable. It is a move to pressurize the Supreme Court by indicating that the government will take steps to facilitate the building of the temple irrespective of the verdict of the court.

Jodhpur, Jan 2 (PTI) International Hindu Parishad president Pravin Togadia on Wednesday said he would launch a political party in a month's time and rope in candidates for almost all the seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha election.

He said the preparations for floating the party had already been initiated, adding that he would soon announce the name of the party.

On a day-long visit to Jodhpur, Togadia claimed that the BJP-led central government had failed on every front and the people of the country needed an alternative.

Jamshedpur, Jan 2 (PTI) The Jharkhand Disom Party (JDP), a tribal outfit, Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to announce recognition of Sarna Dharma of the adivasis as a fundamental right during his visit to Jharkhand and Odisha on Saturday.

Sarna Dharma is centred around the worship of nature.

In a letter to the prime minister, JDP president Salkhan Murmu said the adivasis across the country are neither Hindus nor Christians and they worship only the nature.

Hyderabad, Jan 2 (PTI) The Communist Party of India (CPI) appeared to disapprove of two women of menstruating age group entering the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala "secretly" on Wednesday and said it should have been done "openly".

"Generally, we want women's entry (into the Sabarimala shrine), but we don't want something secretly to be done. It is to be done openly, everybody should accept, that's our view," CPI general secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy said.

Jammu, Jan 2 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir Police Wednesday issued an advisory warning people not to make investments in cryptocurrencies like bitcoin due to the "heightened risk" associated with them.

The police also said this form of currency was not backed as legal tender by the government and central financial institutions.

Mumbai, Jan 2 :  Over 1,000 women formed a humanchain in Mumbai to express solidarity with the 'Women's Wall'formed in Kerala as part of an initiative to uphold genderequality amid the row over entry of females of certain ages inthe Sabarimala temple.

On Tuesday, over 35 lakh women stood shoulder-to-shoulder across the national highways in Kerala, creating a620 km-long human 'wall' from the northern end of Kasaragod tothe state's southern tip.

New Delhi, Jan 2 (PTI) BJP ally Shiv Sena Wednesday supported the Opposition demand in Lok Sabha for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the Rafale issue and drew a parallel with the alleged Bofors scam, claiming that people say Rafale aircraft is good but the deal is bad.

Speaking in a discussion on the Rafale issue, Arvind Sawant (SS) said the government speaks of transparency, then why it is rejecting the demand for a JPC probe.

New Delhi, January 2; INN: All India KisanSabha (AIKS) condemns the attack on Saghir Khan and 2 others by Gaurakshaks in Alwar District of Rajasthan. It is in continuation of similar attacks on farmers or cattle rearers transporting cattle that have been going on in this region in the last few years.

AIKS demands that the newly elected Congress Government in Rajasthan should immediately act against the culprits. It is shocking that the police have arrested the victim on the charge of “cow smuggling” while not taking any strong deterrent action against the culprits.

New Delhi, Jan 2 (PTI) The BJP Wednesday demanded Congress president Rahul Gandhi's apology for terming Prime Minister Narendra Modi's televison interview "staged" and that it was conducted by a "pliable journalist".

In a late night statement, BJP media head Anil Baluni defended the journalist who interviewed Modi and said Gandhi's attack on the media person was reflective of the Congress' mindset about journalists in general.

New Delhi, Jan 2 (PTI) The CBI has arrested a Sub Inspector of Delhi Police for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 80,000, officials said Wednesday.

Sub Inspector Gopal Singh posted at Lodhi Colony Police Station was taken into custody by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), they said.

It was alleged that the officer had demanded the bribe from the accused in a case that he was probing, assuring to "go soft on him", they added.