South

The CBI has carried out searches at the Chennai residence of Additional Commissioner, GST, Senthil Valavaen in connection with the Gutkha scam, officials said Thursday.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu said on Thursday an opposition alternative to the BJP-led NDA will emerge "automatically" even without its prime ministerial face being declared for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday alleged that TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, actor-politician Pawan Kalyan and YSR Congress leader Jaganmohan Reddy have colluded with the BJP to target him.

A case was registered against a Telangana Rashtra Samiti MLA in the dissolved Telangana assembly Thursday in connection with his alleged offer of cash to vote for him and the party in the coming elections, police said.

Lone Bahujan Samaj Party minister in Karnataka N Mahesh on Thursday, hit out at ruling coalition partners Congress and JD(S), alleging that their existence is based on caste system and inequality.

Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac on Thursday refused to cut Value Added Tax (VAT) by Rs 2.50 on petrol and diesel, after the Centre's announcement. He added that there would be tax cuts in Kerala, only if fuel prices are brought down to the level when the Narendra Modi government assumed office in May 2014.

Rains are likely in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in the next three days, with the possibility of heavy rainfall in one or two places, the regional weather office said on Thursday. A low pressure area is likely form over the Southeast Arabian sea on Friday and could intensify into a cyclonic storm, it said. Union Minister Kiren Rijiju tweeted that a red alert has been issued for Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry for heavy to very heavy rain in next 72 hours specially on October 7 due to a severe storm in the Arabian Sea. Fishermen in deep sea are advised to return to the coast by October 5, Deputy Director General of Meteorology, Chennai, S Balachandran said.

Heavy rain has been forecast for Karnataka over the weekend due to a low pressure trough that is expected to form over Arabian Sea, an official from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Thursday.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao has lashed out at his counterpart in Andhra Pradesh, N Chandrababu Naidu, calling him a "thief and a traitor". "People should not support the traitor of Telangana," he said, addressing a public meeting in Nizamabad on Wednesday evening.

The Kerala government has told fishermen not to venture into the sea after October 5 following warning of a cyclone by India Meterological Department, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Wednesday.

AIADMK lawmaker S Karunaas has sent a notice seeking removal Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal for allegedly acting in a biased and partisan manner.

Lt Governor Kiran Bedi said on Wednesday that the organisers of official functions should ensure that the events were held in an organised way following a respectful decorum.

The RSS on Wednesday called the Kerala government's move to not file a review petition on the Supreme Court order allowing women of all ages to enter the Sabarimala temple as "unfortunate" and called upon all the stakeholders to come together to address the issue.

The Madras High Court on Wednesday declined interim relief to former Union telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran and his elder brother Kalanithi Maran in trial proceedings against them in a CBI court in the "illegal" telephone exchange case.

The Karnataka police today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Infosys Foundation, the philanthropy wing of IT giant Infosys, to set up a state-of-the-art unit to tackle cybercrime. The anti-cybercrime hub will be called the Centre for Cybercrime Investigation Training and Research (CCITR).