Telugu Desam Party general secretary Nara Lokesh tweeted, "Deeply saddened by the news of Quarry Blast in Hathi Belgal, Alur in Kurnool district which has claimed many lives. We're monitoring the situation."

Lauding India's effort towards safe sanitation services, World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday said that Swachh Bharat Mission can avert up to 3 lakh deaths due to diarrhea and protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) by October 2019.

The Congress on Friday said that "complicity and connivance" of the government in the escape of jeweller Mehul Choksi, an accused in the PNB fraud, has been "exposed" after the Antigua government came clear on granting citizenship to Choksi.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday said the police clearance certificate (PCC) issued to Mehul Choksi -- wanted in the Rs 13,500-crore Punjab and Sind Bank fraud and who has now taken citizenship in Antigua -- by the Regional Passport Office, Mumbai, "was as per extant instructions".

The Supreme Court on Friday said that the proposed live- streaming of its proceedings will include, besides important matters before constitution bench, socially important issues requiring interpretation of legal provisions.

There is a feeling among the opposition parties that the primary task is to defeat the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and that the issue of prime ministership will be decided after the results based on the performance of each party, top Congress sources said here, asserting that a "strategic understanding" had been reached with the SP and BSP and the Congress on fighting the polls together in Uttar Pradesh.

Congress, TMC cobble together group of parties that will ask for paper ballots for 2019 polls.

Mamata Banerjee has on Wednesday urged Opposition leaders to send a joint delegation to the Election Commission over reports of electronic voting machines being tampered with.

Kamal Haasan is in a spot yet again, years after his Vishwaroopam-1 gave him a tough time. The sequel Vishwaroopam-2 is due to release on August 10, but Haasan faces trouble from a productuon company: it has taken Haasan to court over unpaid dues of Rs 7.75 crore.