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.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that any unconditional financial support from anywhere should be accepted, as it will bring solace to flood-hit Kerala.

Incidents of lynching have hurt India's image, Tourism Minister K.J. Alphons, who is in China to draw in more tourists, has admitted.

The Supreme Court will hear later on Wednesday a plea by well-known historian Romila Thapar and activist Maja Daruwala on the arrest of five left-wing activists and a lawyer on Tuesday for their alleged naxal links.