Describing dissent as a safety valve, the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed that the five human rights activists arrested by Maharashtra Police should be kept under house arrest until the next date of hearing on September 6.

The Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) on Wednesday commenced normal operations after a two-week closure due to floods in Kerala.

Taking suo moto cognizance, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Wednesday served a notice on the Maharashtra government demanding a report on the arrests of five civil rights activists in a nationwide swoop by the Pune police on Tuesday.

BSP chief Mayawati on Wednesday slammed the Modi government for the arrest of Maoist ideology Varavara Rao, lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj and human rights activists Arun Ferreira, Gautam Navlakha and Vernon Gonsalves and said this was yet another attempt of the BJP government to "terrorize the civil society".

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the release of an additional 2% of dearness allowance for central government employees.

 Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday termed the Congress allegations on the Rafale deal as "complete falsehood" and said the basic aircraft price at which the fighter jets had been bought was 9 per cent cheaper than that negotiated by the UPA government.

A man and his son were killed in a dynamite blast set off by unidentified assailants in a Varanasi village in Uttar Pradesh early on Wednesday, police said.

The Indian rupee plunged to a fresh record low of 70.55 to a US dollar during the noon-trade session on Wednesday. Around 12.30 p.m. the Indian rupee plunged to a fresh record low of 70.55 to a US dollar.