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Lalu Prasad Yadav on Saturday urged the Rouse Avenue Court in New Delhi to discharge him in the IRCTC corruption case, asserting that there is no evidence to frame charges against him. Special judge Vishal Gogne heard the arguments on framing of charges in the IRCTC corruption case and has scheduled for April 21 for hearing the further arguments. Senior advocate Maninder Singh, counsel for Lalu Prasad Yadav, argued that there are no irregularities on the part of Lalu Prasad Yadav. The tenders were awarded in a fair manner. There is no sufficient evidences to frame charges against Lalu Prasad Yadav. He deserved to be discharged of the charges. On March 1, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had concluded its arguments on charges against former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rabri Devi, RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav and other accused persons. This case is related to alleged corruption in tender of the IRCTC hotels. Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) D P Singh, along with Advocate Manu Mishra, had argued that there was corruption and conspiracy in the allotment of maintenance contracts for two hotels of IRCTC to a private company.

Novak Djokovic had some company for another Miami Open victory. With Lionel Messi watching, Djokovic cruised into the Miami Open final by routing 14th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-3 on Friday at Hard Rock Stadium. The fourth-seeded Djokovic is trying for his seventh Miami Open title in his first appearance in the event since 2019. The 37-year-old Djokovic, who won six times at the tournament's previous venue at Key Biscayne, also is going for his 100th professional title. He has been out of form this year, starting with an injury retirement at the Australian Open in January. Earlier this month, he lost his first match at Indian Wells to Botic van de Zandschulp. Djokovic next plays the winner of Friday night's Taylor Fritz-Jakub Mensik semifinal.

Jason Stanley and historians Timothy Snyder and Marci Shore—are leaving the university and the United States to join the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy starting in fall 2025. Their departures, driven by concerns over America’s political climate and academic freedom, mark a significant loss for Yale and highlight growing anxieties about higher education under pressure from partisan attacks.

BJP MP Jagadish Shettar on Saturday raised concerns over the alleged honeytrap scandal in Karnataka, claiming that several insiders, including ministers and influential figures, are involved in it. He accused the state government of attempting to suppress the issue to prevent a political crisis and reiterated his demand for a CBI investigation. Speaking to the media, Shettar alleged that a thorough probe could expose high-profile individuals, which is why there is a concerted effort to shut down the case. «Several insiders are involved, and if a serious investigation takes place, many Karnataka ministers and important people will be implicated, which is why they want to close everything. I have insisted multiple times that the honey trap issue should be investigated by the CBI to reveal the truth, as the current government appears to be trying to suppress the matter to avoid a political collapse,» the BJP MP said. Recently, the Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a PIL seeking an independent probe by CBI or SIT into the alleged honeytrapping of legislators, public servants and judges in Karnataka.

Delhi court on Saturday dismissed a plea filed by a BJP leader seeking prosecution of AAP's Saurabh Bharadwaj for allegedly making defamatory remarks against him in September 2018. Special judge Vishal Gogne turned down the petition filed by BJP's Suraj Bhan Chauhan against a trial court's February 19 order which rejected his complaint against Bharadwaj, citing delay in filing it. The limitation period was found to have lapsed on March 16, 2024, the court said while noting the magisterial court had already accorded the permissible liberal construction to the limitation period. The court finds the conduct of Chauhan to have been «whimsical and opportunistic» in filing the belated defamation complaint, regarding the press conference of the year 2018, only in December 2024 against respondent Saurabh Bharadwaj on the cusp of the Delhi Assembly elections in early 2025, the judge said. Chauhan had alleged that Bharadwaj defamed him in 2018 by falsely claiming at a press conference that an FIR had been lodged against him. He claimed before the special judge that he had «inadvertently» filed the complaint against Bharadwaj, a former Delhi minister, before Saket court instead of Rouse Avenue Court which came up for hearing in September 2020.

Jagjit Singh Dallewal has not ended his indefinite fast even though he drank a glass of water after farmers detained last week by the state police were released from different jails, farmer leader Abhimanyu Kohar said on Saturday. The Punjab government on Friday told the Supreme Court that Dallewal accepted water and broke his fast. Countering the Punjab government's claims, Kohar said on Saturday Dallewal had made it clear he would take water only after all the farmers are released. «And Dallewal drank a glass of water after farmer leaders were released,» said Kohar, a close aide of Dallewal. «We want to make it clear that a false impression was being given that Dallewal has ended his indefinite fast. His hunger strike continues.» Punjab Advocate General Gurminder Singh told the apex court on Friday they dispersed on March 19 the farmers protesting at Khanauri and Shambhu border points with Haryana, and opened the roads and highways that were blocked due to the sit-ins. Protesting farmers and some of their leaders were also detained by the Punjab Police on that day.

Kunal Kamra's legal troubles have escalated, with three more cases filed against him at Khar police station over his alleged remarks about Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, ANI reported. According to Mumbai Police, the complaints were registered by the Mayor of Jalgaon city, a Nashik-based hotelier, and a businessman. Despite being summoned twice for questioning, Kamra has not appeared before the police.

In Dholera, India’s first semiconductor cluster that is emerging as a hub for expat talent, the Gujarat government is aiming to recreate the “look and feel” of their home countries for this tribe of globe trotters. Termed the “Global Tent City” in keeping with Dholera’s terrain, the multi-faceted agglomeration is expected to house food streets from across nations – Taiwan, Korea, Japan, the US, as well as some European nations, a high-end mall and a hotel or guesthouse to cater to the cosmopolitan tastes of the well-travelled employees.

As the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts federal jobs, many MAGA supporters are experiencing the consequences firsthand. Some people are now questioning their support for Trump. Despite voting for Donald Trump, she now regrets her decision, as thousands of government employees, many of whom are MAGA supporters, have been laid off.

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It upheld the 2022 guidelines issued by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) that prohibited hotels and restaurants from automatically levying a 'service charge' on food bills, reinforcing that these payments must remain voluntary. Dismissing the petitions filed by the Federation of Hotels and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) and the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), which challenged the CCPA’s power to issue such guidelines, Justice Prathiba M Singh said that the Authority is not merely a recommendatory body but is fully empowered and has the jurisdiction to pass the guidelines under the CPA, 2019. “In fact, issuing guidelines in consumer interest is an essential function of CCPA and the guidelines would have to be mandatorily complied with as the scheme of the Act clearly provides for enforcement of guidelines, which would not curtail fundamental rights it held.

The move comes after SEC acting chair Mark Uyeda indicated last month that the regulator would be rolling back on its policy and yesterday (28 March), the SEC sent a letter to the US courts stating that the Commission withdraws its defence of the rules.  The letter also noted that the Commission counsel are no longer authorised to advance the arguments in the brief the regulator had filed. How financial firms' ESG backlash could soon backfire In a statement Uyeda said, «the goal of today's Commission action and notification to the court is to cease the Commission's involvement in t...

Imran Pratapgarhi, a bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said literature including poetry, dramas, films, stage shows including stand-up comedy, satire and art, made lives of human beings more meaningful. «Seventy-five years into our republic, we cannot be seen to be so shaky on our fundamentals that mere recital of a poem or for that matter, any form of art or entertainment, such as, stand-up comedy, can be alleged to lead to animosity or hatred amongst different communities,» the bench said. The court went on, «Subscribing to such a view would stifle all legitimate expressions of view in the public domain which is so fundamental to a free society.» The top court said this case showed even after 75 years of the existence of our Constitution, the law enforcement machinery of the state was either ignorant about this important fundamental right or did not care for it. Advocating free expression of thoughts by individuals, the top court said the effect of spoken or written words couldn't be judged on the basis of standards of the people who always had a sense of insecurity or those who always perceived criticism as a threat to their power or position.

Elon Musk's X for wrongly labelling as a «censorship portal» an official website that allows tech companies to be notified about harmful online content, court papers reviewed by Reuters showed on Friday. The lawsuit marks an escalation in a legal dispute between X and the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over how it orders content to be taken down, at a time when Musk nears the launch in India of his other key ventures, Starlink and Tesla. The comments came in a rejoinder to X's new lawsuit filed on March 5 in the southern state of Karnataka seeking to quash the government's website initiative.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday reiterated that individuals working for online news portals are not officially recognized as journalists under state government rules. His statement followed the arrest of a Guwahati-based journalist, Dilwar Hussain Mozumder, who was detained under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. A Guwahati court granted Mozumder bail on Wednesday, but he was arrested again in another case the next day. The Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court (Kamrup) confirmed that multiple cases were registered against him. Sarma, in a statement on X, clarified, “It has come to my notice that some media houses have reported the arrest of a journalist by Assam Police. I would like to clarify that Assam Police has not arrested any journalist in recent times.” He emphasized that the Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) does not recognize individuals from online news portals as journalists. “He works for a portal, and we do not recognize people working for portals as journalists. In Assam, no individual employed by a portal is recognized as a journalist. I believe he is just an individual, and there are speculations that he is a businessman. He owns dumpers and operates as a part-time journalist for a portal. The portal in question is a politician-promoted,” Sarma said. The journalist had gone to the Assam Cooperative Apex Bank (ACAB) to cover a protest regarding alleged irregularities in recruitment. A video shared on social media showed him questioning the bank’s managing director, Dambaru Saikia, who refused to respond.

Gymshark has reportedly settled a lawsuit with a US influencer who had alleged that the company terminated a sponsorship deal with her after her pro-Israel views attracted a backlash on social media. The lawsuit was filed in the British High Court by Alix Earle, who has 7 million followers on TikTok. She also has more than 4 million Instagram followers.

Trump administration, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday temporarily halted the deportation of suspected Venezuelan gang members under the infrequently used Alien Enemies Act (AEA), reported Wusa9. The 18th-century law had been invoked by US president Donald Trump earlier this month to immediately deport a group of Venezuelan men suspected of being affiliated with the Tren de Aragua gang, according to the report.

Ajeet Prakash Shrivastava on alleged complaint of corruption, misuse of official position, and regulatory violations, till April 2, the next date of hearing. A Bench led by Justice JB Pardiwala sought response from the Madhya Pradesh government and others on a petition filed by Shrivastava and Madhya Pradesh Real Estate Regulatory Authority and posted the matter for further hearing on April 2. Shrivastava had sought directions for quashing the inquiry proceedings against him, which were pending before the inquiry committee constituted by the MP High Court. Senior counsel Shyam Divan, appearing for Shrivastava, told the SC that the inquiry had been initiated in complete disregard and violation to the procedure prescribed under Rule 35 of the Madhya Pradesh Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Rules, 2017 and other provisions of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016. The Economic Offences Wing had last year started investigations in the matter on a complaint that alleged that Srivastava had manipulated the recruitment process for various RERA positions. Thereafter, the state government wrote to the state HC's chief justice, who appointed Justice Maninder Singh Bhatti to probe the allegations.

The government had asked for 72 days to complete the process. Some local organisations in Pithampur were opposed to the disposal of the waste near the town, but the government, in its affidavit filed before the court on Thursday, said the three trials of disposal were successful and did not lead to any adverse impact. The court then directed the government to ensure that all safety measures were taken, and dispose of the waste.