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Executions of Delhi gang-rape culprits inch closer
The executions of four men over the notorious 2012 gang-rape and murder of a student in New Delhi moved closer on Wednesday after the Supreme Court rejected a death sentence review petition by one of those convicted.
The Supreme Court ruled that there were no grounds to hear a review petition by Akshay Kumar Singh, the last of the four to bring such a plea.
Their options now to avoid the gallows include filing a final petition to the Supreme Court and appealing for mercy to the President.
Former cop begins 1,150km for hockey icon
Mr Tarak Kumar Parkar, 61, a retired Madhya Pradesh policeman, set off last Sunday on foot from Khargone, a city in Madhya Pradesh, to New Delhi with a national flag in his hand to demand the Bharat Ratna for hockey icon Dhyan Chand.
He believes Chand, considered the game's greatest player, should not be denied the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, since it has also been awarded to cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar.
Prayers resume at Kashmir's biggest mosque after four months
Kashmir's main mosque, the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar, re-opened for prayers on Wednesday for the first time since the restive valley's semi-autonomous status was axed by the Central government in August and a curfew imposed.
Locals believe the closure was the longest the 13th-century mosque had endured since Kashmir was split between India and Pakistan in 1947 after independence from Britain.
'Plot to kill Modi' in draft charges against 19 Elgar accused
The Maharashtra state prosecution has included "conspiracy to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi" in the draft charges submitted to a special court in Pune on Wednesday against the 19 accused in the Elgar Parishad case along with "waging war against the country" and "resorting to acts of terrorism".
The accused include nine human rights lawyers, academics and writers with alleged links to the banned CPI (Maoist) group, five members of the Kabir Kala Manch, a left-leaning cultural organisation, and five underground Maoist operatives.
Four convicted for Jaipur blasts that killed 80
Eleven years after 80 people were killed and more than 170 injured in eight successive blasts that rocked Jaipur on a warm May evening, a special court in the Rajasthan capital on Wednesday convicted four of the accused in the case and held the banned Indian Mujahideen responsible for the attack.
The fifth accused, who was the first to be arrested in the case, got the benefit of the doubt and was acquitted.
Taj finds waiter who gave cricket tips to Tendulkar
A day after former batsman Sachin Tendulkar asked netizens to find a staff of Taj Hotels whose advice helped him during his cricketing days, the hotel found the staffer, S. Guruprasad, and said it would be a delight to connect the two for a meeting.
Tendulkar had tweeted last Saturday: "A chance encounter can be memorable! I had met a staffer at Taj Coromandel, Chennai, during a Test series with whom I had a discussion about my elbow guard, after which I redesigned it. I wonder where he is now & wish to catch up with him."
Study: Most pollution-linked deaths in India
India leads the world in pollution-linked deaths - 2.3 million - followed by China (1.8) and Nigeria, according to a report published on Wednesday that estimated the global impact of contaminants in the air, water and workplace.
The report by the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution found pollution to be the largest environmental cause of premature deaths on the planet, causing 15 per cent of all deaths - some 8.3 million people.
