Two persons have died and three others have been buried in rubble on a hillside after a cloud burst triggered heavy rains in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, an official said on Friday.

Ahead of the no-confidence motion against his government moved by the opposition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday hoped that MPs will rise to the occasion and ensure a constructive debate.

A 17-year-old student of a government school here died after he was allegedly beaten up by a group of students in the school compound, police said on Thursday.

Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore on Thursday said that the rate of pension for sportspersons who have won medals in international competitions and have retired from active sports, has been doubled from April 1.

The BJP and opposition Congress sharpened their attacks on each other on Thursday, a day before the Lok Sabha takes up the no-confidence motion for debate and voting in an increasingly polarised environment with each side trying to maximise its chances of victory in the 2019 general elections.

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Speaker of Puducherry Assembly to allow the three nominated Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs to participate in the Assembly proceedings, and sought the Centre's response to pleas challenging their nomination.

After CBI filed a chargesheet against former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and his son Karti in the Aircel-Maxis deal, Chidambaram said: "CBI has been pressured to file a chargesheet to support a preposterous allegation," adding that he will contest it vigorously.

Broadband India Forum (BIF), which works closely with the government's 5G high-level forum, on Thursday said it formed a "5G Committee" to champion the roll-out of 5G trials in the country.