Highlights: Supreme Court to hear tomorrow pleas challenging ban on BBC documentary on 2002 Gujarat riots

Supreme Court will hear tomorrow two petitions challenging the ban on the BBC documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots.

A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and MM Sundresh will take up the petitions, which were mentioned for an urgent listing before the Chief Justice of India on January 30.

Opposition parties on Thursday decided to raise the fallout of the Adani Group crisis during the debate on the President’s speech that starts on February 13, people familiar with the matter said. Read more

India on Thursday questioned the World Bank’s decision to go ahead with two parallel processes to address a dispute with Pakistan over two hydropower projects on cross-border rivers, saying this is not in consonance with provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty. Read more

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale on Wednesday said that there are some Hindus who must have eaten beef under compulsion but that does not mean they are not Hindus, and they can't be shut out. Read more

Authorities in Bangladesh have sought a revision of an agreement with Adani Power Ltd for importing electricity from a thermal power plant in Jharkhand over the “excessive” pricing of coal, according to a Bangladeshi media report. Read more

Supreme Court declines to quash a law that allows candidates to contest from more than one constituency in an election.

"It's a policy matter...an issue of political democracy. It's for the parliament to take a call," says the court, declining the plea by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has undertaken 21 trips abroad since 2019 and over ₹22.76 crore was spent on these visits, the government said on Thursday. Read more

The Centre has not taken any decision as of now on the implementation of a Uniform Civil Code in the country, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju informed Rajya Sabha on Thursday. Read more

The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Thursday demanded the Chief Election Commission of Indi (CEC) to ‘de-recognise’ the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) over recent comments made by leaders of these political parties on Hindu epic Ramcharitmanas. Read more

A Delhi court on Thursday granted bail to Mahamed Sharif, the accused in the Leela Hotel cheating case. 

Sharif allegedly posed as an official of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government at the Leela Hotel and duped it of over ₹20 lakh after checking out undetected without clearing the outstanding bill.

Indian Railways has made a 73% increase in total earnings from its passenger segment from April 2022 to January 2023. It made around ₹54,733 crore during this period, a significant jump from ₹31,634 crore during the same period last year.

Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal on Thursday said the Centre's imposition of cuts in the borrowing limit of the states would adversely impact the southern state's economy, which is yet to completely recover from the challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic and back-to-back natural disasters.

BJP announces its 20 candidates for the Nagaland Assembly election

BJP state president Temjen Imna Along to contest from Alongtaki Legislative Assembly constituency.

“We will contest on 20 out of 60 seats in Nagaland. Rest of the seats have been given to our alliance partner NDPP. We'll contest on all 60 seats in Meghalaya. Our tagline is 'M Power Meghalaya' means Modi-powered Meghalaya and a double-engine government will be formed there,” said BJP spokesperson. 

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said that the government is firm in its resolve to end the "menace of child marriage" in the state.

Urging the people to cooperate in the initiative, the Assam CM said that the action on the 4,004 registered cases would begin on Friday (February 3), reported ANI. 

The Lucknow sessions court on Wednesday signed bail orders to release Kerala-based Journalist Siddique Kappan from Lucknow jail. Kappan, arrested in October 2020 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) lodged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), will walk out of Lucknow prison on Thursday morning after remaining in jail for more than two years. Read more

Militants fired a rocket into Israel's south Wednesday, the army said, setting off sirens and raising already heightened tensions under the country's new ultranationalist government. Read more

Australia will replace the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II from its A$5 currency note with a new design to reflect and honour the history of its Indigenous culture, the country's central bank said on Thursday. (Reuters) 

The United States and the Philippines are expected to announce a deal Thursday that will give US troops access to another four military bases in the Southeast Asian nation, as the longtime allies seek to deter Chinese aggression in the region, reported AFP.