The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved a Rs 20 per quintal increase in the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) for sugarcane to Rs 275 for the 2018-19 season starting October.

The right of a woman to pray is a constitutional right and does not depend on laws, the Supreme Court said today while hearing a bunch of petitions that challenge the traditional ban on the entry of women between 10 and 50 years of age in the famous Sabarimala temple. Women are of an age to menstruate are restricted from entering the temple as its presiding deity, Lord Ayyappa, is considered to be a celibate.

 A man allegedly shot dead his parents over a dispute on pension money in Patna district on Wednesday, the police said.

Accused Awadhesh Yadav was reportedly angry with his father who refused to give him more money from the amount that he had received post-retirement from the Railways, police officer Ranjit Kumar said.

Four persons were killed due to suspected gas poisoning at a biogas plant in Haryana's Kurukshetra district on Wednesday, police said.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday assured the Rajya Sabha that the government will not allow any dilution in any of the provisions of Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Caste Prevention of Atrocities Act.

"The protection available to SC/STs in the Constitution cannot be snatched away either by any organisation or by any individual," Singh assured the Upper House while replying to supplementaries during Question Hour.

 The Government on Wednesday ruled out disinvestment of Air India in the "immediate near future," though it said it remains committed to completing the process.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday filed a chargesheet in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal against 34 individuals and foreign and Indian companies including former IAF chief S.P. Tyagi, his two cousins, advocate Gautam Khaitan and Italians Carlo Gerosa and Guido Haschke.

 The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Centre to come out with proper guidelines within two weeks to blacklist builders, contractors and architects found to have constructed buildings against sanctioned plans.