NOIDA (UP), Mar. 23 : Ramon Magsaysay Awardee and former Indian Police Service officer Dr. Kiran Bedi has expressed her concern over the status quo being perpetuated in the legal and judiciary systems of the country, and called on students pursuing law to be agents of change.

"We are still resisting change in the judicial and legal framework of the country. We can achieve meaningful democracy only when we keep on evolving and stop being stagnant," she said.

Dumariya (Bihar), Mar 23 : Maoists conducted a public court here to punish four thieves caught in connection with automobile thefts in the state.

The thieves were accused of stealing one car and two two-wheelers.

The court, which was held in the forest area of Dumariya region in Bihar, saw the thieves being subjected to judgement by villagers.

The villagers beat the thieves up with sticks publicly as a punishment for their crime.

"The Maoists caught us and then handed over to the public," said Dhruv Sagar, a thief.

New Delhi, Mar 23 : UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi or her son and Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi must be projected as Prime Minister to ensure a victory for the Indian National Congress (INC) in the 2009 general elections, a website has said.

According to the Politicsparty. com, the Congress Party is losing ground just ahead of the general elections, and the recent spate of differences emerging between the Congress and its allies in the UPA has made matters worse.

Vrindavan, Mar 23 : Hundreds of devotees, including foreigners, converged on the banks of Yamuna River here to do their bit to save the river from pollution.

Organised by an The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKON) Temple here, the programme saw devotees singing devotional songs of their lord as they took out a procession of the Radha and Krishna on a decorated boat on the holy river.

Rae Bareli (Uttar Pradesh), Mar 23 : Priyanka Gandhi on Monday slammed her estranged cousin and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Varun Gandhi for his communal speech, saying his remarks were against the traditions and principles of the Gandhi family.

“Varun’s comments are against the traditions and principles of the Gandhi family, and he has gone against what the Gandhis have lived and died for. It made me very sad to see him saying those things,” Priyanka told reporters here.

New Delhi, Mar 23 : Congress leader and Union Defence Minister A. K. Antony on Monday announced that his party and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) would contest the general elections together in Maharashtra.

In a seat-sharing arrangement, the Congress will contest 26 seats while the NCP will try its luck in 22 parliamentary constituencies.

Antony, who is also the Congress in-charge in the state, said both the parties would also explore the possibility of exchange of seats between them in the state.