New Delhi, Mar 27 : The nation is celebrating Ugadi, Chaitra and Navratra, the official beginning of summer according to the Hindu calendar on Friday.

President Pratibha Devisingh Patil has sent her best wishes to the people on the occasion.

In her message, she said that these festivals celebrated in a wide variety of ways in different parts of the country, reflect our diversity and yet underline the unity of the nation.

New Delhi, Mar 27: The Delhi High Court will today hear the anticipatory bail application of BJP leader Varun Gandhi in an alleged case of making inflammatory and communal speech while campaigning in Pilibhit constituency.

On March 20, the court had granted anticipatory bail to Varun. He has got bail on a personal bond of 50,000 rupees.

According to sources, Varun has decided not to approach the court to seek an

extension of his anticipatory bail, and instead court arrest in the district headquarters of his constituency.

New Delhi, March 26 : The Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday revealed that it was probing the origin of a "false, fabricated and forged" report which stated that the Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav had been "framed" in a disproportionate assets case.

CBI Director Ashwani Kumar said the agency would investigate the origin of the "report", which was claimed to be an internal report of the agency, and as to how it reached the media.

New Delhi - Indian share markets gained by over 3 per cent Thursday tailing a global rally.

The 30-share Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange crossed the psychological 10,000 level to close at 10003.10 points, about 3.47 per cent above Wednesday's close.

The broader S&P CNX Nifty closed at 3082.25, about 3.28 per cent above its previous close.

The markets gained for the fourth successive day as inflation figures of 0.27 per cent for the week ended March 14 raised expectations of rate cuts and further liquidity flow into the market.

New Delhi, Mar 26 : The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) have announced plans to contest the coming general elections in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar unitedly.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh said, "We three are together. We will not clash with each other in the two states (UP and Bihar) having 120 Lok Sabha seats (80 seats in UP, 40 seats in Bihar)."

New Delhi, Mar. 26 : The Editors Guild of India today expressed its shock over the brutal murder of Anil Mazumdar, Editor the Assamese daily Aji on Tuesday night by gunmen.

In a statement, the Guild said that it has regularly expressed its deep apprehensions about the safety of editors and journalists in Assam as many of them function under the shadow of threats.