Thanking Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for "bringing attention back to Rafale robbery", Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday asked him as to what he thought of a JPC probe in the deal.

The Pune police claims that the activists were linked to a bigger conspiracy and planning to recruit members from 35 colleges and launch attacks.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi will undertake Kailash Mansarovar Yatra from August 31 for four-five days, party sources said here on Wednesday.

Describing dissent as a safety valve, the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed that the five human rights activists arrested by Maharashtra Police should be kept under house arrest until the next date of hearing on September 6.

The Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) on Wednesday commenced normal operations after a two-week closure due to floods in Kerala.

Taking suo moto cognizance, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Wednesday served a notice on the Maharashtra government demanding a report on the arrests of five civil rights activists in a nationwide swoop by the Pune police on Tuesday.

BSP chief Mayawati on Wednesday slammed the Modi government for the arrest of Maoist ideology Varavara Rao, lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj and human rights activists Arun Ferreira, Gautam Navlakha and Vernon Gonsalves and said this was yet another attempt of the BJP government to "terrorize the civil society".

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the release of an additional 2% of dearness allowance for central government employees.