The Constitution amendment bill that seeks to lay down a legal framework to hold simultaneous polls does not require ratification by at least 50 per cent of the state legislatures to come into force, the Law Commission has told a joint committee of Parliament examining the draft legislation.

 Excise duty sought to be levied on tobacco and its products through a new Bill will ensure that tax incidence on demerit items does not fall after the recent GST overhaul, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, vowing to share revenues collected with states.

A fire broke out on the 28th floor of a 36-storey residential building in Mumbai suburb of Kandivali (East) on Wednesday, but there was no immediate report of any injuries in the blaze, civic officials said.

A stray dog died on Wednesday after biting a country-made bomb used for hunting wild animals, which exploded on the railway tracks, police said.

A case of cheating has been registered here against two persons including a traffic police constable for allegedly duping several people by offering to facilitate school or college admissions for their children.

To book Tatkal train tickets from railway reservation counters, passengers will now have to provide a one-time password received on their mobile phones, a move officials say is aimed at curbing misuse of the last-minute ticket booking facility.

The BJP won seven of the 12 wards, while the AAP won three and the Congress secured one ward in the MCD bypolls, the results of which were announced on Wednesday.

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday urged the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu to implement central schemes in letter and spirit and not put conditions on their implementation to help release funds to them.