• National Investigation Agency to probe yesterday's Maoist attack in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh that claimed 16 lives.

• Election Commission meeting reviews poll preparedness in Guwahati.
• Supreme Court asks Law Commission to look into the issue of hate speeches.
• Sahara India Chief Subrata Roy moves Supreme Court against his judicial custody.
• Former RJD leader Ram Kriapl Yadav inducted into BJP.
• Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal begins 3-day election campaign in Maharashtra.
• And, In the Swiss Open Badminton tournament: Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu and Saili Rane to play their first round matches in Women's Singles at Basel today.

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National Investigation Agency, NIA will probe yesterday's Maoist attack in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh that claimed 16 lives. This was disclosed by Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde in Jagdalpur today. He was talking to reporters after paying homage to the slain para-military and state police personnel. Mr Shinde said Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh has agreed to hand over the probe to NIA.

I have discussed with the Chief Minister. The previous ambush in which senior political leaders were killed, was given to the National Investigation Agency to probe. This case will also be given to the NIA.

Mr Shinde said, the martyrdom of these security personnel will not go waste and security forces will fight back. Our correspondent has filed this report:

A pall of gloom descended at the venue in Jagdalpur where homage was paid to security personnel killed in Tuesday Maoist attack. There were tears in eyes of everybody. With two major attacks on security forces in Bastar during the last fortnight, Maoists have indicated that they would try to disrupt elections. Conduct of peaceful elections in Bastar Lok Sabha constituency will itself be a tribute to those sacrificed their lives. With Vikalp Shukla in Raipur, Pradeep Kumar AIR News.

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In Madhya Pradesh, police has sounded an alert in Naxal affected Balaghat and Singrauli districts after the yesterday' Naxal attack on security forces in Chattisgarh. These districts border Chattisgarh. DGP Nandan Dubey has directed SPs of all the districts bordering Chattisgarh to take all precautionary measures.

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A meeting of Full Election Commission is underway in Guwahati to review preparations for Lok Sabha polls in Assam. Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath and Election Commissioners HS Brahma and Nasim Ahmed Zaidi already met representatives of national and state political parties. The full Election Commission will also hold discussions with all Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police and other top officials separately. Issues like deployment of security forces, co-ordination with neighboring states and voters’ awareness are likely to figure in the meetings. Polling for 14 Lok Sabha seats will be held in three phases in Assam. First phase will take place on 7th of April.

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The Supreme Court has asked the Law Commission to look into the issue of hate speeches being made by leaders of political, social and religious outfits and consider framing guidelines to regulate such provocative statements. A bench headed by justice BS Chauhan refused to frame the guidelines. The bench asked the commission to look into it and give its recommendation to the Centre. The court passed the order on a PIL by an NGO alleging that there is a need for guidelines as hate speeches destroy the fabric of democracy and violate the provisions of the Constitution.

The PIL had named Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh as respondents as the two states witnessed incidents of alleged hate speeches. It had referred to the alleged hate speeches made by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Chief Raj Thackeray and claimed that no FIR was registered against him in the state.

The PIL had said that in Andhra Pradesh, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Akbaruddin Owaisi had allegedly made hate speeches and was arrested. It alleged that after being released on bail, he had again made similar speeches in Nanded, Maharashtra.

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Sahara Chief Subrata Roy today moved the Supreme Court against his judicial custody. He has been lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail for not depositing 20,000 crore rupees of investors' money with the market regulator SEBI. In a new petition filed before the apex court, Sahara Chief pleaded that the court should give an urgent hearing in the case as it pertains to Habeas Corpus. A writ of Habeas Corpus is used to bring a prisoner or other detainee before the court to determine if the person's imprisonment or detention is lawful. Appearing for Roy, senior advocate Ram Jethmalani submitted that there is some defect which needs to be cured urgently and pleaded the court to hear him at 2 PM. A bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam said it will hear the case after lunch if the application filed by him gets numbered by the Registry.

The Sahara chief and his two directors Ravi Shankar Dubey and Ashok Roy Choudhary were sent to judicial custody on March 4 by a special bench for not depositing 20,000 crore rupees with SEBI.

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Former RJD leader Ram Kripal Yadav was inducted into the BJP at a function in New Delhi today. Party President Rajnath Singh was also present there. Yadav resigned from all posts in the RJD after denied a ticket to contest from Patliputra seat in Bihar.

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In West Bengal, the fire which broke out at a paint factory at Nazirgunj in Howrah district this morning has been doused. Official sources said, 31 fire tenders battled for nearly 6 hours to bring the blaze under control. The extent of damage and cause of fire are yet to be ascertained.

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Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal today began his 3-day election campaign in Maharashtra. After his arrival in Mumbai today, Kejriwal took an auto-rickshaw from the domestic terminal of the Mumbai airport to travel to Andheri station. He then boarded the local train from Andheri to travel to Churchgate station in South Mumbai.

Mr Kejriwal’s program also includes a private fund-raising meeting and a road show traversing the Mumbai South and Mumbai North East constituencies. Aam Aadmi Party is expecting a good show in Maharashtra in Lok Sabha polls after its success in Delhi Assembly elections.

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In Punjab, district authorities have initiated a number of steps to encourage young voters to exercise their franchise during the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. District Electoral Officers are making all out efforts for the success of Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation, SVEEP plan by asking college principals to educate youngsters to participate in the electoral process. More from our correspondent;

Jalandhar and Moga District Electoral Officers have offered to honour the young first time voters with appreciation certificates. Amritsar District Electoral Officer has gone a step ahead and had offered to 30 per cent discount to such voters in various restaurants of this Holy city. Amritsar hotel industry association has joined hands with the district administration for this democratic cause. The only thing the voter has to do is to show the finger with indelible ink mark. Some of the students having leadership qualities will also be made Campus Ambassadors in colleges. With the report of Rajesh Bali from Jalandhar, this is Vasundhra for AIR News.

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Heavy snowfall across Kashmir paralysed normal life in the Valley today, snapping its links with the outside world. Authorities have issued a high danger avalanche warning for higher reaches of the Valley. They have asked people not to venture on steep slopes till this evening. Power and water supply is causing damage to more than 150 structures. The arterial Srinagar-Jammu National Highway remained closed for the second day due to snowfall. Flights to and fro Srinagar international airport also remained suspended for the second day but efforts are on to clear the runway for enabling landing of flights. Officials said, authorities managed to restore electricity supply to hospitals only this morning.

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Civil Aviation Minister Ajith Singh has stressed the need for continuing reforms and strengthening regional cooperation for the robust growth of the aviation sector in the country. Speaking after opening the 4th edition of India Aviation today, he said focus will remain on enhancing regional and remote area connectivity. Stating that the Airports Authority of India has already identified 50 places to develop low-cost airports, the minister has asked the industry to play key role in developing aviation infrastructure in those areas. He also asked the state governments to adopt innovative practices to infuse investments into the aviation infrastructure. The Government of India jointly with the FICCI has organised the 5-day Aviation show. A report:

With the main theme of Enhancing Air Connectivity, the Hyderabad International Air Show has been kicked off today at the Begumpet airport. The five day show is expected to witness major deals signing among the aviation majors. Several aviation issues will be deliberated upon for the next five days amongst the stakeholders with respect to services, manufacturing, passenger carriers, safety and technical innovations. A video conference with American companies would be held, while a special session on helicopters would focus on promoting heli-tourism and emergency medical services. Also, a job fair will be conducted for the benefit of aeronautical engineering students for career prospects. With Lakshmi from Hyderabad, this is Mercy , AIR NEWS.

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Recovering from initial losses, the Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange stood 32 points, or 0.2 percent in positive territory, at 21,859 in afternoon trade, amid volatility, a short while ago. Earlier in the morning, the Sensex had fallen 21 points, on mild selling by funds, ahead of the industrial output data for January, and amid weak global Bourses.

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The rupee dropped 12 paise to 61.06 against the American currency on sustained dollar demand from banks and importers amid firm dollar overseas. The rupee had lost 21 paise to 61.15 against the dollar in opening trade.

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The Vietnam's Frontline Command announced today that it has suspended its air search for missing Malaysian airliner's flight MH370 and scaled back a sea search as it waited for Malaysia to clarify the potential new direction of the multi-national hunt. Malaysia has expanded the hunt for the missing plane into the Andaman Sea, hundreds of kilometres to the northwest of the original search radius. But it has denied a report that the plane with 239 people on board had been detected very far from its planned flight path.

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India's Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu and Saili Rane will play their first round matches in the Women's Singles at the Swiss Open Badminton tournament in Basel today. Sixth seed Saina will take on Chisato Hoshi of Japan, Sindhu will clash with Sannatasah Saniru of Malaysia, and Saili will face third seeded Chinese Shixian Wang. Indian shuttlers will also be seen in action in the Women's Doubles and Mixed Doubles opening round today. In Men's category, Parupalli Kashyap and Anand Pawar will play their second round matches today.

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World Number One Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova have crashed out of the Indian Wells Open Tennis tournament in California. In the pre-quarterfinals, while Nadal was stunned by Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine, 3-6, 6-3, 6-7, fourth seed Sharapova lost to Camila Giorgi of Italy, 3-6, 6-4, 5-7. However, top seed Li Na, Agnieszka Radwanska, Petra Kvitova, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Roger Federer have advanced to the Singles quarterfinals.

In the Men's Doubles quarterfinals today, the fourth seeded Indo-Czech pair of Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek will take on the Swiss team of Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka. In the Women's Doubles quarterfinals, Sania Mirza and her Zimbabwean team-mate Cara Black will clash with the second seeded Russian pair of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina today.

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India's Ambassador to Kathmandu Ranjit Rae has emphasized the importance of educational and health infrastructure at the grass root level for Nepal's overall development. He was speaking at the inaugural function of the new college block at the BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Dharan yesterday. The new college block has been constructed with Indian assistance under the Nepal-India Economic Cooperation programme.

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