• Mumbai Court awards life term to four convicts in the telephone operator gang rape case. Sentence in Shakti mill rape case to be pronounced on 24th.

• Nominations for the 1st phase of polls in 6 Lok Sabha seats end today.
• Full Election Commission is reviewing poll preparedness in Uttar Pradesh with Senior Officials in Lucknow.
• Congress MP from Uttarakhand Sat Pal Maharaj joins BJP.; Buta Singh to contest as Samajwadi Party candidate from Jalore, Rajasthan.
• In Afghanistan Nine civilians including four foreigners killed in militant attack on a Kabul Hotel.
• AND In the T-20 World Cup India to take on arch rivals Pakistan in the opening match this evening.

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A Mumbai Sessions court today pronounced life imprisonment for all four convicts in the telephone operator gang-rape case. The court had yesterday convicted five persons for the gang-rape of the photojournalist on August 22nd and a telephone operator on July 31st last year that took place at the Shakti Mills located in central Mumbai. Our correspondent reports that Principal Sessions Judge Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi has pronounced the quantum of sentence in telephone operator gang-rape case only.

"Four convicts in the Shakti Mills telephone operator gang rape case were today sentenced to life imprisonment by a Mumbai Sessions court. The court, meanwhile, adjourned the hearing on the quantum of punishment to the convicts in the photojournalist gang rape case till March 24. While reading out the sentence of one of the convicts in the telephone operator case, the court said that the offence of rape is brutal and is a violation of the survivor's right to life. Over seven months after the gang rape of two women in the abandoned Shakti Mills compound in Mumbai, five persons were yesterday held guilty by the Sessions court. A total of seven persons including two minors, were arrested in connection with the two gang rapes involving a telephone operator and a photojournalist in July-August 2013. Three of the convicts are common to both the cases. Two minors, one in each case, are being tried by the Juvenile Justice Board separately."SWEETY KOTHARI/AIR NEWS/MUMBAI."

The crime branch that investigated both cases submitted a 362 page chargesheet in the telephone operator case on October 8 last year, while a 600 page chargesheet was filed in the photojournalist case on September 19.

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Today is the last day for filing of nomination papers for five Lok Sabha seats in Assam and one in Tripura. Polling in these constituencies will be held on the 7th of next month. In Assam, the constituencies going to the polls in the first phase are Tezpur, Kaliabor, Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur and Jorhat. Our Guwahati correspondent reports on the latest electioneering scenario.

"The filing of nomination process will come to end at 3 pm today. DoNER minister Pawan Singh Ghatowar, Union minister for State Rani Narah, state BJP President Sarbananda Sonowal and Asom Gana Parishad candidate Arun Sarma have submitted their nomination papers. Scrutiny of nominations will be done tomorrow. The last date of withdrawal of nomination papers is 24th of this month. 64 lakh voters can exercise their voting rights in the first phase. Meanwhile, campaigning gets momentum in the state. Political parties are holding rallies to attract voters. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is attending meeting in Barpeta district. Asom Gana Parishad, BJP, AIUDF are also trying to woo voters. Manas Pratim Sarma/AIR NEWS/Guwahati.

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With less than a day left for closing of nominations for 92 Lok Sabha constituencies spread over 18 states and union territories, political activity is gaining momentum with candidates rushing to file their papers. Nominations will close tomorrow for all ten seats in Haryana, 20 constituencies in Kerala and all seven seats in Delhi which go to the polls on the 10th of next month. Filing of nominations will also end tomorrow for ten seats each in Maharashtra, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh, nine in Madhya Pradesh, four in Jharkhand and one each in Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland and one each in the Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh and Lakshadweep. Filing of papers will also come to close tomorrow for two seats each in Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.

Tomorrow is the last date for filing of nominations for all the 60 seats of Arunachal Pradesh assembly and 70 Assembly Constituencies in Odisha.

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Congress MP from Uttarakhand Satpal Maharaj has joined the BJP. He joined the party in the presence of BJP President Rajnath Singh in New Delhi today.

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Former Union Minister and veteran leader Buta Singh is to contest as a Samajwadi Party candidate from Jalore Parliamentary constituency in Rajasthan. Eight times MP Buta Singh had won from this seat four times as a Congress candidate.

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Six candidates from Congress, BJP and Aam Aadmi Party contesting Lok Sabha elections from Delhi filed their nomination papers today. The candidates are Congress' Mahabal Mishra, BJP's Harsh Vardhan and Aam Aadmi Party, AAP's, Ashutosh, Rakhi Bidlan, Rajmohan Gandhi and Devendra Sehrawat.

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The Shiv Sena decides to field its candidates in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Delhi for the Lok Sabha elections. Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut told reporters in Mumbai that Shiv Sena will field 20 candidates in Uttar Pradesh, five in Bihar and will contest all seven seats in Delhi.

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The Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampat is holding a review meeting about election preparedness in Uttar Pradesh with all the District Magistrates and senior police officials in Lucknow today. Election Commissioners HS Bramha and Naseem Zaidi and other senior officers of the commission are present at the meeting. The Election Commission panel is on a two day visit of UP to review the Loksabha poll preparations in the state.

Our Lucknow correspondent reports that the full election commission will hold the review meeting this afternoon with Chief Secretary Jawed Usmani, and State Chief Electoral Officer Umesh Sinha and other senior officers. Yesterday, the poll panel met with the representatives of recognised political parties. The leaders of BJP, BSP and Congress had reportedly demanded the removal of certain officials who were alleged to be close with the leaders of the ruling party.

Meanwhile, the police have seized one crore twenty four lakh Rupees in Muzaffarnagar late last night. A statement from election office says that over one lakh twelve thousand litres of illicit liquor have been confiscated so far in the state which could have been used to lure the prospective voters. Besides, over one thousand two hundred illegal arms, around three thousand live cartridges and 190 Kilograms of explosives have also been seized in the state since the announcement of Lok Sabha elections.

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Still in Uttar Pradesh a case of violation of the Model Code of Conduct has been registered against the Rashtriya Lok Dal candidate for Kairana constituency, Kartar Singh Bhadana and two others. Bhadana was booked over allegations of holding a dance party at Jamalpur village during election campaigning. Police said cases of alleged violation of Model Code of Conduct were also registered against BSP candidate Kawar Hasan and SP contestant Nahid Hasan in Shamli district.

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In Madhya Pradesh, a case of violation of the model code of conduct has been registered against state Congress president and party candidate from Khandwa Lok Sabha constituency Arun Yadav. He had allegedly distributed two hundred rupees to a drummer during a local festival in Jhirnia of Khargone district on 12th of this month .

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In Meghalaya, four persons died and 41 injured when a severe cyclonic storm hit West Khasi Hills District late last night. 193 houses in ten villages were completely destroyed leaving several people homeless. The injured persons were admitted to Nongstoin and Shillong Civil Hospitals. More from our correspondent:

"Relief operations in the cyclone hit areas of the West Khasi Hills District of Meghalaya are in full swing. The Deputy Commissioner S. Kharlyngdoh has informed that more Relief Camps will be set up today in addition to the four that were constructed last night. The Government of Meghalaya today, sanctioned an amount of Rupees 50 lakh for the affected families. This amount is in addition to Rupees 1.5 lakh which will be given to the next of kin of the deceased. The Deputy Commissioner of districts, has also sanctioned Rupees 10 lakh. The district official are at the site to access the extent of damage and preparing a report for the Government. Prashant Sharma, AIR News, shillong."

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In Rajasthan, 8 persons died and 3 are missing in a boat mishap in Bisal-pur Dam in Tonk district today. 4 persons were injured when their boat capsized in the dam. 15 persons were travelling in the ill-fated boat.

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A three member BJP delegation today met Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde demanding proper security to its leaders in view of Lok Sabha elections. Talking to reporters later Ravi Shankar Prasad who led the delegation said, the party gave a memorandum to the Home Minister expressing apprehensions over the media reports of security threats. Mr Shinde had categorically said yesterday that the government has no information regarding terror threat to BJP leaders.

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Suspended IAS officer Pradeep Sharma has moved Gujarat High Court seeking registration of an FIR and a probe into the snooping on a woman architect by state anti-terrorist squad. Pradeep Sharma had earlier approached Gandhinagar police and requested to lodge an FIR in connection with the incident against those involved in snooping on him as well as the architect, but the police did not register the complaint. According to Sharma's lawyer, the petition was filed in the high court yesterday and is likely to come up for hearing next week.

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In Afghanistan, 9 civilians including 4 foreigners were killed in an attack on a hotel in the capital Kabul last night. Police said, four youths sneaked into the high security 5-star hotel in the evening hiding pistols inside their socks and feigning as hotel guests. Being Nowroz eve, a number of guests including foreigners were present at the hotel to celebrate Afghan New Year. The assailants attacked the guests in the restaurant, before all the four were gunned down by the Afghan security forces. The casualties include children and women guests present in the hotel at the time of shoot out. At least two security guards have also been wounded in the incident. Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack. More from our correspondent:-

The two deadly attacks in Afghanistan yesterday indicate the security challenges before Afghan government ahead of the April 5 Presidential and Provincial Council elections. The Presidential election in Afghanistan this time assumes special significance, as it is for the first time in the history of the country that a democratically elected President will transfer the reigns of power to another elected leader. In view of the threats from the insurgents to disrupt the electoral process, it is time for Afghan security forces to prove themselves, as they have taken over the responsibility of defending almost the entire nation on their shoulders.-With Rajendra Upadhyay, this is Arti Rana AIR News, Kabul.

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Aircraft and ships from several countries have resumed their search for debris that may have come from the missing Malaysian Airliner. Five military and civilian aircraft are taking part in the search for debris from flight MH370, which disappeared on the 8th of March with 239 people on board. Satellite images released yesterday showed objects possibly related to the plane in waters far south-west of the Australian city of Perth. Bad weather hampered yesterday's search.

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The European Union has stepped up sanctions against Russia following the annexation of Crimea. EU leaders meetings in Brussels added 12 more names to an existing list of 21 Russian and Crimean officials, subjected to visa bans and asset freezes. Earlier, the United States announced sanctions against 20 Russians, all close to President Putin.

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The United Nations says the number of people seeking asylum in industrialised countries rose by 28 percent last year. Figures released by the UN's Refugee Agency show there were more than 6 lakh applicants, the highest total for ten years. The largest number were from Syria.

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The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange gave almost all its initial gains in afternoon trade, to stand just 3 points in positive territory, at 21,743 a short while ago. Earlier in the morning, the Sensex had jumped 130 points, on fresh buying by funds and retail investors, amid a firm global bourses.

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Moving in line with equity market, the rupee today recovered by 28 paise to 61.06 against American currency in morning trade on fresh selling of dollars by banks and exporters due to weakness of the US unit in the overseas market. A forex dealer said, Persistent capital inflows from foreign funds into equity market also boosted the rupee value against the dollar.

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In the ICC Twenty-20 Cricket World Cup Opener, India will take on arch rivals Pakistan today at Sher-E-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. All India Radio will broadcast the live commentary of the match, alternately in Hindi and English on the Rajdhani and FM Gold Channels from 6:30 PM. India is placed in Group-2 with Pakistan, defending champions West Indies, in form Australia and hosts Bangladesh. Group-1 comprises Sri Lanka, England, South Africa, New Zealand and a qualifier spot yet to be filled.

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