February 13: Top news at 3 pm    

Developing news

*Supreme Court refuses to interfere with process of selection and appointment of Vice Chancellor for Aligarh Muslim University, dismisses plea.

*Centre opposes in Supreme Court Congress MP Jairam Ramesh's petition challenging Lok Sabha Speaker's decision to certify Bill on Aadhaar as money bill. Centre says Speaker's decision can't be challenged. SC asks Ramesh's counsel P Chidambaram to think over it and lists matter after four weeks.

Publication of exit polls violation of election laws: EC

The Election Commission today took cognisance of reports on conduct of exit polls by an organisation and its publication by a daily, saying it is in violation of poll laws as assembly polls are still on. As per the Commission's directions, exit polls cannot be conducted and publicised by means of print and electronic media or dissemination in any other manner starting from February 4, 2017 at 7 am to March 8, 2017 at 5.30 pm. A Commission spokesperson said Resource Development International had carried out the exit poll and the publication of its results by a Hindi daily is in "clear violation of Section 126 A and B of the Representation of the People Act and wilful disobedience of lawful directions of the EC under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code." He said report have been sought from the Chief Electoral Officer, Uttar Pradesh on the issue. Using powers under the Representation of the People Act, the poll panel bans exit polls to ensure that its results do not influence voters.

Nagaland bandh called by NTAC and JCC disrupts normal life

The bandh called by Nagaland Tribes Action Committee (NTAC) Kohima and Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) demanding Chief Minister T R Zeliang's resignation affected normal life in Nagaland today even as no untoward incident was reported. Volunteers of several Naga tribal organisations, supporting the NTAC Kohima and JCC, were deployed in important locations of the state. Vehicles were off the road, people preferred to stay indoors. Business establishments, educational institutions and government offices, including the State Civil Secretariat and Assembly Secretariat in Kohima were closed. The bandh has been called against the Chief Minister's refusal to step down, as demanded by both the organisations. The Nagaland government had fulfilled two demands of NTAC: declaring the entire process of Urban Local Bodies election with 33 per cent reservation for women null and void; and suspending the police personnel involved in January 31 police firing on protesters in which two youths died.

Coal scam: Court frames charges against firm, others

A special court today framed charges against a Ranchi-based company, its three directors and two others in a coal block allocation case for allegedly misrepresenting facts to bag a block in Jharkhand. Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar put the accused on trial after they pleaded not guilty and claimed trial. The court framed the charges against M/S Domco Pvt Ltd, its three directors Binay Prakash, Vasant Diwakar Manjrekar and Parmananda Mondal, chartered accountants Manoj Kumar Gupta and Sanjay Khandelwal for alleged offences of cheating and criminal conspiracy under the IPC.

Stop peeping into others’ bathrooms, focus on governance: Sena tells Modi
In a vitriolic attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his jibe at Manmohan Singh, bickering ally Shiv Sena today asked him to stop peeping in others' bathrooms, maintain the dignity of his office and concentrate on governance instead of threatening opposition parties by flagging their horoscopes. "Modi, while campaigning in UP, threatened that he has the horoscope of opposition parties while Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav retorted by saying horoscopes of all are freely available on internet. This is an example of how low the level of campaign has plummeted," the Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana. The Sena said the use of government machinery by those holding constitutional posts to threaten opposition parties amounts to "political corruption." On Modi's jibe at Akhilesh Yadav, the Sena said if law and order problems persist in UP and women are unsafe, what are the BJP MPs elected from the state doing about the issue.