New Delhi, Nov 20 (PTI) The Supreme Court Tuesday adjourned the hearing on CBI Director Alok Verma's plea challenging the government's decision to divest him of his duties, expressing anguish over the alleged leak of his response to a CVC report.

The court, while adjourning the hearing to November 29, also expressed displeasure over publication of graft allegations by CBI DIG M K Sinha against senior officers.

The top court adjourned the matter twice, soon after the hearing began and again later in the day.

Srinagar, Nov 21 (PTI) The PDP, National Conference and Congress have agreed to join hands to form a new government in Jammu and Kashmir, senior PDP leader Altaf Bukhari said here on Wednesday.

The businessman-turned-politician said around 60 MLAs were supporting the proposed alliance in the 87-member House.

"The leaders have agreed to form an alliance. The PDP, NC, Congress at the leadership level have agreed. What are the contours of the alliance, it has not come down to MLAs. I am an MLA and I have been told only this much," Bukhari told reporters here.

NEW YORK (AP) — A nearly silent, drone-sized aircraft has shown it can fly, thanks to a scientist who was inspired by watching “Star Trek” as a child.

With neither propellers nor jets, the airplane gets its thrust by applying a strong electric field to the air. That general idea has been demonstrated at science fairs, but the new work shows it can power a free-flying airplane.

So can people look forward to traveling in planes that are almost silent and emit no air pollution?

21 Nov 2018; AFP: The first member of the "Bali Nine" heroin-trafficking gang to be released from prison is expected to leave jail on Wednesday after serving 13 years, in a case that caused a huge diplomatic rift between Indonesia and Australia.

Renae Lawrence, 41, the only female member of the group, was arrested in 2005 when authorities caught her with 2.6 kilogrammes (5.7 pounds) of heroin strapped to her body as she tried to fly out of the international airport on the holiday island of Bali.

Mumbai, Nov 21 (PTI) As many as 2264 women are reported missing in Maharashtra in the last five years, the state Legislative Assembly has been told.

In a written reply, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who holds Home portfolio, said the missing women include 298 minor girls.

A question was submitted by ruling Bhartiya Janata Party's (BJP's) Mangal Prabhat Lodha and others.

Wardha (Maha), Nov 20; PTI:  At least six people were killed and 10 others injured when an explosion took place near an ordnance depot in Maharashtra's Wardha district on Tuesday while ammunition was being unloaded, officials said.

The blast took place between 7.10 am and 7.15 am at the explosive demolition ground near the Central Ammunition Depot (CAD) at Pulgaon town, a Defence official said.

Around 10 to 15 contract labourers were at the site when the explosion occurred, Wardha's Additional Superintendent of Police Nikhil Pingle said.

21 Nov 2018; AFP: A sperm whale has been found dead in Indonesia with 115 plastic cups and 25 plastic bags in its stomach, raising concern among environmentalists and throwing the spotlight on the country's rubbish problem.

The items were part of nearly six kilograms (13 pounds) of plastic waste discovered in the 9.5-metre (31-foot) carcass when it washed ashore in Wakatobi National Park, in Southeast Sulawesi province, on Monday.

Other debris included flip flops and ripped tarpaulins, the head of Wakatobi tourism, La Ode Saleh Hanan, told AFP on Wednesday.

Raipur, Nov 20; PTI:  Voting for the second and final phase of Chhattisgarh Assembly elections began on Tuesday amid high security.

A total of 1079 candidates are contesting in the 72 constituencies of 19 districts in the state with an electorate of 1,54,00,596.

This is the last of the two-phase polls to the 90-member Assembly where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been in power for the last 15 years.

Raipur, Nov 21 (PTI) Voter turnout of 76.35 per cent was recorded in the Chhattisgarh Assembly election which concluded Tuesday, poll authorities said.

It was a little less than the previous 2013 polls when 77.40 per cent of voters had exercised their franchise.

The election to the 90-member Assembly was held in two phases -- November 12 and 20.

The incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in power for the last 15 years.

21 Nov 2018; DW: A German teenager has managed to gain and lose his driving license in less than one hour after police caught him speeding near the city of Dortmund. The 18-year-old was going 95 kilometers per hour in a 50 zone.

Easy come, easy go — a new driver was forced to give up his license less than one hour after securing it, German police said Tuesday.

A police speed trap detected a car going 95 kilometers per hour (59 mph) through the western town of Iserlohn, near Dortmund. The trouble is that the limit was just 50.

LONDON (AP) — A British academic was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday in the United Arab Emirates on charges that he was spying for the U.K. — a verdict that Britain described as shocking as it urged its Mideast ally to reconsider the decision.

Matthew Hedges, a 31-year-old PhD student in Middle Eastern Studies at Durham University, was arrested at Dubai Airport on May 5 and has been held in detention since.

Islamabad, Nov 21 (PTI) Mobile phone services were shut down in Pakistan's major cities on Wednesday as the authorities beefed up security to prevent terror attacks during the Eid Milad-un Nabi celebrations, in the wake of a suicide attack in neighbouring Afghanistan that killed over 50 people, mostly clerics.

Officials said the security was tightened to avert any tragedy on the occasion of the Eid Milad-un Nabi, marking the birth anniversary of the Prophet.

However, internet services were available but faced periodic glitches.