New Delhi, Mar 25 : The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday dismissed the petition by jailed Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) candidate Mukhtar Ansari for contesting in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

A division bench comprising justices Ashok Bhusan and Arun Tandon held that Ansari cannot contest elections as he does not have voting rights.

Ansari won in Uttar Pradesh''s Mau constituency in the 2007 assembly elections as an Independent MLA and is now a BSP candidate from Varanasi.

Patna, Mar 25 : Former Agriculture Minister Nagmani, who had resigned from the cabinet on Sunday following denial of Janata Dal (United) ticket to contest Lok Sabha polls in Bihar, resigned from the party as well as membership of State Legislative Council today.

He has now joined the Rastriya Janata Dal (RJD).

Nagmani took this step following denial of ticket from Ujiarpur Parliamentary Constituency. JD (U) has fielded Ashwamedh Devi, an MLA who also belongs to the same caste, from Ujiarpur.

Puducherry, Mar 25 : Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday that the country has progressed a great deal under the leadership of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Addressing a press conference here today, he said, "Manmohan Singh is not a weak prime minister. He has achieved a lot for the country and not buckled under terrorism."

New Delhi, Mar 25 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Centre and the State Government on a petition filed by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader P. Sangma challenging imposition of President''s rule in the state.

New Delhi, Mar 25 : Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPA) between India and Libya has become effective with the exchange of Instruments of Ratification (IsR) between them, here today.

Dr. Anup K. Pujari, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Government of India and Mohammed Saleh Ei-Saghier Milad, Director, International Legal and Treaties Department, Government of Libya exchanged the IsR at a ceremony presided over by L. M. Vas, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Finance.

With the exchange of IsR today, Libya becomes the 66th country with which our BIPA has become effective.

Panaji, Mar