New Delhi - The trial against Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving gunmen of the November Mumbai terror attack suffered a setback Wednesday when a special court dismissed the state-appointed lawyer for professional misconduct, news reports said. Anjali Waghmare failed to disclose that she also represented a witness in the same case when she was appointed to defend Kasab, NDTV news quoted judge ML Tahiliyani of the special court as saying.

"It will not be appropriate for Waghmare to continue. I revoke the appointment," Tahiliyani said, citing a conflict of interest.

New Delhi, Apr 15 : With the Election Commission identifying the twenty-three thousand villages that would go to polls for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on Thursday as "vulnerable", the onus is now on the central and state governments to ensure peaceful elections.

A total of 1,715 candidates, including 122 women, are contesting for the 124 seats, where over nine lakh officials have been deployed across 1.85 lakh polling stations.

Deputy Election Commissioner R. Balakrishnan has assured to deploy Central paramilitary forces along with state security forces at the polling booths.

New Delhi, Apr. 15 : Leader of Opposition L K Advani skipped a farewell dinner for former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee hosted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here on Tuesday evening.

Advani's skipping of the dinner comes amid a bitter war of words between him and Dr. Singh.

Advani has described Singh as the weakest Prime Minister the country has seen, while Singh has countered by saying he would not like to give Advani the privilege of being an alternative Prime Minister by joining a debate with him.

New Delhi - The lone gunman captured during the November Mumbai terrorist attacks is scheduled to appear in person for the first time before a special court in India Wednesday. Police in financial hub Mumbai have increased security, regulated traffic and restricted movement of people in the vicinity of Arthur Road Jail where Ajmal Amir Kasab is lodged and where he will appear before the court, Times of India newspaper reported Tuesday.

Kasab has been earlier produced before the court through video conferencing.

New Delhi, Apr 14 : Renowned pop star Lionel Ritchie has revealed that he has a huge collection of leather pants, as he totally dotes on them.

Though the ‘I Call It Love’ hitmaker has a huge collection of his favourite leather pants, he can hardly wear them because he has grown very fat, reports the China Daily.

"I was a leather trousers collector for years. If I was 25 again, I''d be wearing them, but I''d probably get arrested right outside my hotel,” Lionel said.

“Anyway, I would probably only be able to get one leg into them now!" he added.

New Delhi, Apr 14 : A day after Pakistan demanded more proof on the Mumbai terror attacks, India responded by saying Pakistan must demonstrate sincerity by taking tangible action in the case.

Speaking to the media here on Tuesday, Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma said India had supplied enough evidence to Pakistan regarding the investigations of the 26/11 terror attacks.