Over three decades after the mass murder of Sikhs in 1984 following the assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, the Delhi High Court on Monday sentenced senior Congress leader Sajjan Kumar to imprisonment for the rest of his life.

A bench of justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel said that the riots were a crime against humanity perpetrated by those who enjoyed political patronage and were aided by an indifferent law enforcement agency.

Citing a pattern of mass killings in India since Partition, like in Mumbai in 1993, Gujarat in 2002 and Muzaffarnagar in UP in 2013, the court said the common thread was the targeting of minorities by the dominant political actors, facilitated by the law enforcement agencies.

“This loophole needs to be addressed urgently,” the court said adding that Delhi Police had turned a blind eye and blatantly abetted the crimes committed by the rioting mob.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is reaching here Tuesday on a day’s visit to Maharashtra in which he will launch infrastructure and housing projects worth about Rs 41,000 crore in the state, officials said. Soon after landing at Mumbai, Modi will attend an event organised by a TV channel and later release the book ‘Timeless Laxman’ at Raj Bhavan.

The PM will then lay the foundation stone for the Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan metro 5 and Dahisar-Mira Bhayander metro-9 at Kalyan in adjoining Thane district.

The Kalyan event will also see the launch of Navi Mumbai town planning authority City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra’s (Cidco) mass housing scheme worth Rs 18,000 crore, which offers around 89,771 affordable homes under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

Modi will later proceed to Pune, where he will lay the foundation stone for the third metro line between Hinjewadi and Shivajinagar, being implemented by the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority on a public-private partnership basis.

Uday Shankar has been named vice president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) for the year 2018-19, a statement from the apex body said.

Shankar is currently president, 21st Century Fox, Asia, and chairman and chief executive officer of Star India. Last week, he was appointed chairman, Star and Disney India, and president, The Walt Disney Co. Asia Pacific as part of a leadership reorganization strategy by the company.

Shankar is the first Indian media and entertainment industry executive to assume a leadership position in a national industry chamber like FICCI.

Previously a political journalist with The Times of India, Shankar has served as chief executive officer and editor of Star News, besides spearheading the launch of Hindi news channel Aaj Tak in 2000, and English news channel Headlines Today in 2003. He was also editor and news director of the TV Today Group.

In the past, he has served as chairman of the FICCI media and entertainment committee and president of the Indian Broadcasting Federation, playing a key role in pushing for changes in self-regulation in the media and access for consumers to the digitized distribution.

The government Monday cleared the name of advocate Madhavi Goradia Divan as an Additional Solicitor General for India.

“The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Ms. Madhavi Goradia Divan, Advocate, as Additional Solicitor General of India (ASGI) in the Supreme Court of India with effect from the date of assumption of charge of the post till 30.06.2020 or until further orders,” an official communication said. She will be the third woman law officer to be appointed by the NDA government. Divan will be representing the government in the Supreme Court.

Prior to her, the NDA government had appointed senior woman advocates Pinky Anand and Maninder Acharya as ASGs.

And the first set of awards of 2018 was declared last night by the Star Screen Awards! Goes without saying, the show was a rather glamourous affair with who's who of Bollywood in attendance right from newlyweds Ranveer Singh-Deepika Padukone to Salman Khan, Alia Bhatt, Katrina Kaif, Shraddha Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Rajkummar Rao among others. The red carpet was dazzled by some stunning looks and so was the stage lit up with some amazing performances. But of course, the highlight of the night was when the winners were declared...

Considering it was such a productive year in terms of content, it obviously must have been a tough task to pick one best actor, actress, film etc. So who has been awarded with which title and are they deserving enough? Let's find out by scrolling down through this winners list of Star Screen Awards 2018.

India on Monday announced a $1.4 billion financial assistance package for the Maldives, a move seen as aimed at drawing the atoll nation closer into New Delhi’s sphere of influence after a period of estrangement that saw the former leadership of the Maldives leaning closer to China.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the package after talks with visiting Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in New Delhi. Solih who arrived on Sunday, is on his first three-day visit to India, which comes a month after he was sworn into office. Solih, who was backed by the combined Maldivian opposition, defeated the former China-leaning President, Abdulla Yameen, in the 23 September elections and was sworn in on 17 November. According to news reports, the Maldives is weighed down by $3 billion in debt to China and is looking to India and Saudi Arabia, besides others, for help. Maldives owes the money to China for infrastructure projects undertaken by Chinese companies during Yameen’s tenure in office.

New Delhi, which had tense relations with Yameen over the way he dealt with his political opponents as well as the close ties he nurtured with China, is rolling out the red carpet for Solih in its bid to re-embrace Maldives.

In a first for Royal Air Force(RAF) and the British Military, a Sikh and a Muslim padre graduated as RAF Chaplains. Flight Lieutenant Mandeep Kaur and Flight Lieutenant Ali Omar completed their reservist officer training to become a part of the British forces. RAF’s official Twitter account shared a picture of the new officers at the RAF College Cranwell, England.

According to the official RAF website, Kaur and Omar were two out of the total five Chaplains who graduated along with one hundred and forty other Officer Cadets, who will be commissioning into various branches after the Regular and Reserve Officer training after the Regular and Reserve Officer training.

Kaur, who grew up in Punjab, was chosen to be a Chaplain when she was studying for her engineering doctorate in the UK. Whereas Omar, who was born in Mombasa, Kenya, completed a masters degree in translation studies at Portsmouth University. The two will be tasked with providing spiritual and welfare support to soldiers, airmen and women, and their families, according to a report. The news has created quite a buzz on social media, with many cheering the move.

Rajasthan, MP, Chhattisgarh CM oath ceremony LIVE Updates: Congress veteran Kamal Nath Monday was sworn in as Madhya Pradesh chief minister. The nine-time Chhindwara Lok Sabha MP was administered oath of office by Governor Anandiben Patel at the Jamboree Maidan in Bhopal. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, former PM Manmohan Singh were present during the ceremony. In Chhattisgarh, Bhupesh Baghel will be administered the oath at 5 pm.

Earlier this morning, Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot were sworn in as Rajasthan Chief Minister and Deputy CM in Jaipur’s Albert Hall. The swearing-in ceremonies in Jaipur, Raipur and Bhopal are being seen as a platform to showcase the Opposition unity ahead of the Lok Sabha polls 2019. Among those present in Bhopal are former prime minister H D Devegowda, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, LJD leader Sharad Yadav, Sharad Pawar and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has said he re-appointed Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister out of respect for democracy and parliamentary tradition though he is personally opposed to him. 

Continuing his tirade against Mr Wickremsinghe after swearing in him yesterday, Mr. Sirisena said his statement on refusing to give premiership to Mr Wickremesinghe even if all 225 in Parliament request him to do so, is his personal political opinion and persists to date. 

President Sirisena stated that he took decisions to prorogue and dissolve parliament based on legal advice and wanted a clean parliament after elections. He reiterated his criticism against Mr Wickremsinghe on several counts including the bond scam and economic policies. His office said in a statement later that Mr Wickremsinghe side assured they would not bring an impeachment motion against President and pledged to cooperate with him.

Belgium became the world champions for the first time when they edged past Netherlands in an high-octane final of the Hockey World Cup 2018 on Sunday.

Belgium won a tense penalty shootout 3-2 against three-time champions Netherlands in the title showdown at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.

It was a great day for Belgium hockey as the country registered its second biggest international title after the Olympics silver in Rio in 2016.

In the last edition of the World Cup at The Hague in Netherlands, Belgium had finished fifth.

The Netherlands, on the other hand, failed to match Pakistan's record of a fourth world title for the second consecutive edition. The Dutch had finished runners-up to Australia four years ago in front of their home crowd. They last won a World Cup title way back in 1998 in Utrecht.

Incidentally, it was the Netherlands' second consecutive match that went to shootout in the tournament after their victory over Australia in the semi-finals on Saturday.