The Supreme Court has said that the Constitution has vested enormous powers on the "fragile shoulder" of the chief election commissioner and the two election commissioners and it wants a CEC of strong character like late T N Seshan who was EC from 1990 to 1996.
A five-judge Constitution bench, headed by Justice K M Joseph, said on Tuesday that its endeavour is to put a system in place so that the "best man" is selected as the CEC.
The SC asked the Centre to produce before it the file related to the appointment of Election Commissioner Arun Goel, who was appointed on November 19. The bench said it wants to know whether there was any "hanky panky" in Goel's appointment as election commissioner as he was only recently given voluntary retirement from service.
Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo is leaving the team with immediate effect, the club said on Tuesday.
The Portuguese player rose to fame at the north English club, where he won his first Champions League and Ballon D'Or before moving to Real Madrid and then Juventus. He then returned to Manchester United last year.
"I love Manchester United and I love the fans, that will never ever change. However, it feels like the right time for me to seek a new challenge," he said.
Seven people were killed and several wounded in a shooting at a Walmart in Chesapeake, Virginia, on Tuesday night, authorities said, just days after a gunman killed five and injured 17 at a Colorado LGBTQ nightclub.
The city of Chesapeake confirmed the deaths in a tweet early on Wednesday, citing the city police. Police have so far not provided any details about the suspected shooter, but several media outlets have identified him as a manager at the store.
An explosion in the Kiryat Moshe area of Jerusalem left at least one person dead and 12 more injured, including at least two in critical condition, on Wednesday, according to Israel's emergency rescue service.
The blast reportedly occurred near a bus stop at the entrance to Jerusalem. The cause of the explosion was not immediately known. Another explosion went off near a bus stop in the Ramot neighborhood, north of Jerusalem, shortly afterward, injuring at least two more people.
CV Ananda Bose on Wednesday took oath as the new governor of West Bengal.
He was administered the oath of office by Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court Prakash Shrivastava in the presence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Speaker Biman Banerjee at a programme in Raj Bhavan.
A group of villagers from Meghalaya vandalised and burnt down a forest office in Assam's West Karbi Anglong district, soon after six people were killed in violence that occurred in a disputed area along the border between the two states, officials claimed on Wednesday.
Armed with machetes, rods and sticks, residents of Mukroh village in Meghalaya's West Jaintia Hills district gathered in front of a beat office under the Kheroni Forest Range in Assam along the inter-state border on Tuesday night and set the structure on fire.
The mob vandalised the forest office and torched properties such as furniture, documents and motorcycles parked in the complex, the officials said.
PTI
Call centre employee Shraddha Walkar had two years ago complained to police in Maharashtra that her live-in partner Aaftab Poonawala, who is accused of brutally murdering her, tried to kill her and she feared he would cut her into pieces and throw her away, an official said here on Wednesday.
In the complaint letter dated November 23, 2020, Walkar also alleged that Poonawala used to beat her up and his parents were aware of it. In her complaint to Tulinj police in Palghar in November 2020, Walkar alleged that, "Poonawala has been abusing me and beating me up."
The Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi entered Bodarli village in Madhya Pradesh's Burhanpur district from neighbouring Maharashtra on Wednesday morning.
On the occasion, Gandhi said their campaign was against hatred, violence and fear being spread in society. A large number of Congressmen carrying the tricolour in their hands reached Bodarli to join the foot march.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the "Congress model" meant casteism, division, and vote bank politics which has "ruined" Gujarat and the entire country.
Canvassing for BJP candidates at Mehsana in poll-bound Gujarat, Modi said the Bharatiya Janata Party never endorsed the policy of "favouritism and discrimination" which is evident in youths reposing faith in the ruling party.
A section of West Bengal government employees Wednesday clashed with the police when they tried to enter the assembly venue over payment of DA instalments by the state.
The employees, who had gathered near the downtown Esplanade area of the city, were prevented by the police from proceeding to the Assembly building, officials said.The Kolkata Police set up barricades on the road leading to the assembly house and the employees broke them and marched towards the assembly area, where Section 144 Cr PC is in force.