A Delhi court on Saturday imposed a cost of Rs 5,000 on Congress leader Shashi Tharoor for not appearing in hearing on a criminal defamation complaint filed against him for his alleged "scorpion" remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the government is monitoring farm credit given by banks in rural areas, adding that she expects to meet the increased target of Rs 15 lakh crore for the next fiscal.

Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Saturday said transmission of rate cuts is expected to improve further in the coming days and that momentum is gathering pace on credit growth.

Two men fleeing with a truck laden with biscuits worth around Rs 15 lakh were held after a gunfight with the police in Greater Noida early on Saturday, officials said.

Shah Faesal, the 2010 Indian Administrative Service topper from Jammu and Kashmir whose detention after scrapping of special status to Jammu and Kashmir triggered outrage, has been detained under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) that allows detention without trial for up to three months and multiple extensions.

Persons holding peaceful protests against a particular law cannot be termed as traitors or anti-nationals, the Bombay High Court said while granting permission to a few people to sit on an indefinite protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Beed district.

 India on Saturday criticised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's comments on Kashmir and asked him not to interfere in India's internal affairs.

The Gujarat Congress on Friday hit out at the BJP and announced it would hold protests on February 17 over a recent Supreme Court order on reservations.