Indian women are undergoing hysterectomy, a surgical procedure to remove uterus to prevent pregnancy, at a much younger age than the women in developed countries.

Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha has stoked a controversy with his comments that Mahatma Gandhi did not have a single university degree, let alone a law degree, and only had a high school diploma. His remarks drew flak from several quarters, including Gandhis great grandson Tushar Gandhi, who tweeted on his educational qualifications to educate the LG.

The Cabinet on Friday approved a 4% hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) for nearly 1.2 crore serving central government employees and pensioners. It also approved extending the Rs 200 subsidy per cylinder under the Ujjwala scheme for one more year, which will bring relief to nearly 9.6 crore beneficiaries.

Covid-19 claimed three lives in neighbouring Thane even as 343 people tested positive for the viral infection across Maharashtra, said the state Covid update on Friday. While zero Covid deaths were reported in February, the number of Covid-19 deaths in the state in March has now risen to 13.

With the party reiterating that the defamation case and disqualification from Lok Sabha are part of BJPs plot against Rahul Gandhi, the former Congress president said he was ready to pay any price in his struggle for the common man and democracy.

With the Lok Sabha secretariat notifying the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the membership of the House, the ball is now in the Election Commissions court. The EC may announce a bypoll to the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency anytime within the next six months.

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a PIL seeking a direction to the Union government to adopt the UK model of peoples petition, which forces UK parliament to discuss and debate an issue raised by citizens once the petition receives signatures of one lakh British nationals and UK residents.

The Sanatan Sanstha has not been declared a banned or a terrorist organisation, said the Bombay high court on Friday while granting bail to two of its members who are accused in the 2018 Nalasopara arms haul case. Justices Sunil Shukre and Kamal Khata on Thursday allowed appeals by Liladhar alias Vijay Lodhi and Pratap Hajra who were refused bail by a special court trying them for offences, including under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The special cell of Delhi Police has filed an FIR and begun investigation into the March 19 attack on the Indian high commission in London. The case was registered on the orders of the Union home ministry, which acted on a report from the ministry of external affairs.

Reversing its 12-year-old ruling that mere membership of proscribed organisations, without inciting or indulging in violence, is not an offence under UAPA, the Supreme Court on Friday said a person continuing to be a member of an outfit, despite knowing it is banned, would risk prosecution and a jail term of two years.

Congress and 13 other parties jointly filed a petition in the Supreme Court on Friday accusing the NDA government of misusing CBI and ED to raid, harass and arrest political opponents to stifle dissent, and requested the court to lay down pre- and post-arrest guidelines for the probe agencies.

Rahul Gandhi was on Friday disqualified as an MP from the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in compliance with the Surat trial court order, which had on Thursday convicted him in a criminal defamation case and sentenced him to two years, in a development which escalated BJP's confronation with Congress and widened its arc with many others in the opposition rallying for the Congress leader.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said that it is the duty of the host country to provide security to high commissions and as a foreign minister he cannot accept the vandalisation at the Indian high commission in London by pro-Khalistani elements.

The Congress on Friday accused the government of acting with lightning speed in disqualifying Rahul Gandhi, saying it amounts to strangulation of democracy and alleging that the ruling dispensation is coming out with new techniques to gag him.The party leadership got into a huddle soon after the disqualification was announced by the Lok Sabha Secretariat and decided to fight it legally and politically and launch a countrywide Jan Andolan starting Monday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday added a new chapter in the history of public transport in India by laying the foundation of Rs 644-crore ropeway project for his parliamentary constituency. The ropeway will not only add facility and attraction by bringing some towers, cables and gondolas to the city, but will further increase the economic opportunities as well as the stay of visitors and their spending here, said Modi.

Sri Lanka has settled part of India's credit line from the first tranche of the IMF bailout programme it received a couple of days ago, state minister of finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said on Friday.Sri Lanka on Wednesday received $330 million as the first tranche of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme, which will pave the way for the debt-ridden country to achieve better fiscal discipline and improved governance, according to President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) said on Friday that is has signed a contract worth Rs 3,000 crore for supply of integrated electronic warfare systems (IEWS) for the Indian Army, while it has also received several contracts adding up to an approximate Rs 1,300 crore during the last fortnight from the Indian Navy for supply of indigenously developed fire control, gun fire control, surveillance, tracking, etc.

The Covid vaccines in use in India are providing cover for the original Wuhan strain but if the need for another booster dose is felt as new variants emerge, it should be able to provide protection against all circulating as well as future strains, according to former Aiims director Randeep Guleria.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said he is fighting for the voice of India and is ready to pay any price, hours after he was disqualified from Lok Sabha. In a tweet in Hindi, the 52-year-old former Congress president said, I am fighting for the voice of India. I am ready to pay any price. Announcing his disqualification, the Lok Sabha Secretariat in a notification said it was effective from March 23, the day of his conviction.

Being vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus halves people's risk of developing long Covid, according to the largest study of its kind. The research, published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, reveals the risk factors associated with developing the long-term symptoms of Covid-19.

Pointing out how the Centre, led by PM Modi has taken the fight to the next level Shah said: Data for 2006-2013 shows that there were 1,260 drug cases registered and between 2014-2022 there has been a 181% increase with 3,544 cases, a scale never achieved since Independence. In terms of arrests, there has been a 300% increase with 5,408 arrests between 2014 and 2022 compared with 1,363 between 2006 and 2013.