The Union government has ordered the complete withdrawal of the counter-terrorist commando force NSG from VIP security duties and handing over its nine "high-risk" VIPs to the CRPF by next month, official sources said Wednesday.

Now, the state has an unprecedented situation where there are six major political players with three on each side.

Shooters involved in the killing of Nationalist Congress Party leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique learnt to handle firearms by watching videos on YouTube at a rented house in Kurla area in Mumbai, officials said on Wednesday.

Nayab Singh Saini on Wednesday staked claim to form the next government in Haryana, hours after he was unanimously elected as the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party legislature party in the state.

Delivering a thinly veiled message to Pakistan from its soil, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said activities across borders characterised by the 'three evils' of terrorism, extremism and separatism are unlikely to encourage trade, energy flows and connectivity.

Here are some instances of celebrities coming in the crosshairs of the underworld with cases of extortion, threats and even a killing.

Siddaramaiah is facing the Lokayukta and ED probes into alleged irregularities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife by the MUDA.

'I challenge Pawar Saheb (Sharad Pawar) to announce their face for the CM post'

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah was sworn in as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, the first elected government in the Union Territory since 2019 when Article 370 was abrogated.

'I want to ask the Congress only one question: What is more important than election management in politics?'

'There is some deep rot that has set in the Congress party. This requires an organisational surgery.'

Micromanagers feel the need to be involved in every decision, hence they will avoid delegating tasks and spend a lot of time focusing on minor details rather than the bigger picture, says Sonica Aron, founder of the HR consultancy firm, Marching Sheep.

'Unlike in the sporting arena, where sports federations moved from partisan to impartial referees, in Indian democracy's biggest festival, it appears we are moving backward from unbiased and objective to one-sided and partisan,' observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.

Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party on Wednesday named former vice chief of army staff, Lieutenant General Krishna Singh, as its candidate for the bypoll to Tarari assembly seat in Bihar.

Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party president Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Wednesday said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde should be willing to make 'sacrifices', in terms of seat-sharing for the assembly polls, like the BJP has done to keep the alliance intact.

'We don't have to go abroad for anything.' 'Anyone who thinks we have a lot to learn from the US needs to have his head examined.' 'We are in a new era.'

European champions Spain claimed a place in the Nations League quarter-finals with a 3-0 home win over Serbia.

Ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections, Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party on Tuesday faced a major setback as over 600 party workers and officials from the Pune city unit resigned.

"When it comes to the Canadian matter, we have made clear that the allegations are extremely serious and they need to be taken seriously. We wanted to see the government of India cooperate with Canada in its investigation. Obviously, they have not chosen that path," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters at his daily news conference.

The brief exchange and handshake between Jaishankar and Sharif took place at a banquet dinner hosted by the Pakistani prime minister at his residence in honour of the delegates attending a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

Sources said the party has also tasked its senior leaders to be observers at the meeting of the Congress Legislature Party in Haryana to elect its new leader.

The escalation in the diplomatic row between India and Canada will not have an impact on the bilateral trade and investment ties between the two countries, government sources said on Tuesday. They also said that the bilateral trade value is not significant and Canadian funds can route their investments through Singapore, the UAE and the US. "India is a preferred investment destination," they said.

The assembly polls in Maharashtra will be held in a single phase while Jharkhand polls will be held in two phases, the Election Commission of India announced on Tuesday.

This has invited sharp reaction from the Opposition, with the Samajwadi Party saying that the BJP was afraid of its defeat in Milkipur due to which it moved the court for "stalling" polls on the assembly seat.

An impressive performance in Jharkhand and, especially, Maharashtra assembly polls next month by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance will lay to rest the doubts over the party's political dominance after its underwhelming performance in the Lok Sabha polls and strike a body blow to the Opposition.

Quite a few film folk and politicians attended the funeral of veteran actor Atul Parchure, who died on October 14 after a long battle with cancer. He was 57.

Lok Sabha polls held over 5 phases so why hold assembly elections in single phase, asks Oppn.

Baba Siddique murder: Pune scrap shop owner held

Bumrah's elevation to vice-captaincy for the Test series, beginning in Bengaluru on Wednesday, came as a bit of surprise as India did not have a deputy to Rohit in the recent series against Bangladesh.

Will Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, who gets his orders from New Delhi, call the shots or allow a democratically elected government to independently govern, questions Ramesh Menon.

'Alongside economic growth and the Asian century, stress has become an Asian caravan.' 'But stress doesn't arrive in one's country as invitation to taste exhaustion. It comes dressed as a challenge.' 'Its evangelists ask: Are you man enough to shoulder stress?' points out Shyam G Menon.

Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) raised Rs 8,315 crore from anchor investors on Monday, setting the stage for the country's biggest-ever maiden share sale. The Indian arm of the South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) allotted 42.4 million shares to 225 funds at Rs 1,960 apiece, the higher end of its price band. Among the investors receiving allotments were the Singapore government's sovereign wealth fund (GIC), New World Fund, and Fidelity.

IPO bound HMIL, which is also from South Korea, had faced severe labour unrest for nearly a decade till the realisation -- a worker's union cannot be avoided -- dawned on it.

While the term of the Maharashtra assembly ends on November 26, that of Jharkhand ends on January 5 next year.

India on Monday expelled six Canadian diplomats and announced withdrawing its high commissioner and other 'targeted' officials from Canada after strongly dismissing Ottawa's allegations linking the envoy to a probe into the killing of Sikh extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in a major downturn in already frosty ties between the two nations.

Scores of people, some armed with sticks, walked in the funeral cortege of a youth killed during a Durga idol immersion procession in Bahraich amid cries for justice from the family and others on Monday, as tension escalated with shops being burnt down and angry crowds out in the streets.

A Mumbai court on Monday remanded the third person arrested for the killing of Nationalist Congress Party leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique to police custody till October 21.

Police scoured places of worship in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain and Khandwa in their hunt for the third shooter wanted for Nationalist Congress Party leader Baba Siddique's killing.

Vice President Kamala Harris' White House bid gets a boost from legendary Indian music composer A R Rahman, who has come out in support of her 'vision for an equitable world', and recording some of his popular songs like 'Jai Ho' to inspire Indian American voters.

The conspiracy to kill Nationalist Congress Party leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique was hatched in Pune and shooters were provided with a photo and a flex banner for the target identification, police said on Monday.