The Maratha-sponsored shutdown demanding employment and education quotas started on a peaceful note in most parts of Maharashtra, barring Mumbai Metropolitan Region, officials said on Thursday.

The organisers - Sakal Maratha Samaj and Maratha Kranti Morcha besides other affiliated groups - have appealed to all supporters to ensure a violence-free shutdown and cooperate with the police among others things.

British Airways is not having a good time. A quick look at their Twitter mentions will explain that they are pretty much in the soup all the time-- for losing someone's baggage, for not refunding the money for canceled tickets and for being racist.

A family in Madhya Pradesh’s Damoh district has claimed that they found rat-bite marks on the body of their 70-year-old relative which was returned following his death in the hospital’s ICU, prompting an inquiry into the matter.

A youth abducted by militants from Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district succumbed to torture injuries on Thursday while the other civilian was released alive, police said.

Terrorists had on Wednesday abducted two youths, identified as Mehraj Ahmad of Kulgam and Arif Ahmad of Khudwani, a police officer said.

Janata Dal-United's Harivansh Narayan Singh was elected the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson on Thursday. The National Democratic Alliance candidate got 125 votes as against 105 of Opposition candidate B.K. Hariprasad.

The toll in rain-related deaths in Kerala touched 20 on Thursday as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan postponed Saturday's annual Nehru boat race in Alappuzha in view of heavy showers forecast.

The Supreme Court on Thursday approved the draft Constitution of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and granted full permanent membership to the Railways, the Tri-Services, and Association of Indian Universities among others.

Taking a cue from global markets, the key Indian equity market indices on Thursday opened higher.

The Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which had closed at 37,887.56 points on Wednesday, opened higher at 37,994.51 points. Minutes into trading, it was quoting at 38,005.35 points, up by 117.79 points, or 0.31 per cent.