DH Evening Brief: Wickremesinghe, more cunning than the 'old fox', is Lanka's new President; SC relief to Zubair

Here are the top stories this evening.

More cunning than the 'old fox': Sri Lanka's new president

New Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe's election on Wednesday is the fulfilment of a lifetime's ambition for a veteran political operator who is the nephew of one of his predecessors. Read more

SC relief to Mohammed Zubair, granted bail in all 6 FIRs filed in Uttar Pradesh

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the release of Alt News co-founder Muhammad Zubair on interim bail in all six cases registered by the Uttar Pradesh police for his tweets, saying the power of arrest must be used sparingly. Read more

Two gangsters involved in Moosewala murder killed in encounter

Two gangsters involved in the killing of singer Sidhu Moosewala were eliminated in an encounter by thePunjabPolice in Amritsar on Wednesday, an officer said. Read more

Windshield of Go First's Delhi-Guwahati flight cracks mid-air, plane diverted to Jaipur

A Go First flight heading from Delhi to Guwahati was diverted to Jaipur after the A320neo aircraft's windshield cracked mid-air, aviation regulator DGCA officials said. Read more

Rupee closes below 80 mark for first time against dollar, drops by 13 paise

The rupee declined 13 paise to close below the 80 mark for the first time against the US currency on Wednesday due to strong dollar demand from importers amid high crude oil prices. Read more

In Pics | Unusual Indian practices to appease the rain god

From frog weddings to naked ploughing, here we take a look at some of the unusual rituals practised across the country to appease the rain god. See pics

NCLT orders insolvency proceeding against Future Retail, rejects Amazon's objection

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Wednesday admitted Bank of India's plea to initiate insolvency resolution proceedings against debt-ridden Future Retail Ltd (FRL). Read more

HC puts interim stay on guidelines prohibiting service charge in hotels, restaurants

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday stayed the recent guidelines prohibiting hotels and restaurants from levying service charge automatically on food bills. Read more

India's abortion law: Why it fails many women

Last Friday, the Delhi High Court said that it would not permit a 25-year-old woman to undergo medical termination of her pregnancy as the foetus was at 24 weeks of gestation. Terming it as tantamount to "killing the child", the division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad went on to say that the woman should go somewhere and deliver the child and then give it up for adoption. Read more