Facing accusation of playing the "Brahmin card", the Congress on Wednesday defended party leader Randeep Singh Surjewala addressing a Brahmin seminar wherein he claimed his party has "Brahmin Samaj's DNA in its blood".

Facing relentless allegations of corruption in the Rafale fighter jet deal, the Modi government is bracing to counter the Opposition onslaught more effectively. On Wednesday, the Union Council of Ministers was briefed about the deal by the National Security Advisor (NSA) besides a top defence official.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said that there was no need for a "knee jerk" reaction due to high prices of global crude oil.

Army chief General Bipin Rawat said on Wednesday that if Pakistan stops cross border terrorism, India will have no hesitation in extending its hand of friendship to it.

The Maharashtra Police on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that five rights activists, who have been kept under house arrest, belong to banned terrorist outfit Communist Party of India (Maoist) and are engaged in planning and execution of large-scale violence, having the potential of destabilizing the society.

The Delhi Waqf Board on Wednesday suspended its section officer K. Alam Farooqi over the 2016 alleged sale of a portion of Chirag Delhi dargah to a private dealer in connivance with Board officials.

Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has promised to provide a smartphone and a Wi-Fi connection each to the beneficiaries of Bhamashah Scheme in Rajasthan.

The Congress on Wednesday demanded that the Narendra Modi-led government clear its "doublespeak" on its defence deals and asked why it did not apply the same principle in the Rafale deal with France as it did with the AK-103 assault rifles deal with Russia.