New Delhi, Mar 23 : Election authorities on Monday issued a notification to conduct polls in 154 Assembly constituencies in the North Coastal Andhra and Telangana regions during the first phase of the election.

The authorities have made elaborate arrangements for the filing of nominations by the candidates in these constituencies.

The first phase of the election will be held on April 16.

Over three crore electors will utilize their franchise in the first phase.

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.

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.

New Delhi, Mar 23 : Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Monday dismissed criticism made by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials against the Central Government for moving the Indian Premier League (IPL) out of the country.

"I have read a number of statements of the IPL decision which obliquely criticise the Central Government. These statements require an answer. Some unwarranted comments also deserve a rejoinder," Chidambaram told a press conference here.

New Delhi - The lone gunman captured during the Mumbai terrorist attacks told an Indian court Monday that he was from Pakistan and sought legal assistance from state authorities, news reports said.

In February, police formally filed charges against Ajmal Amir Kasab under sections of the Indian Penal Code including "murder and waging war" against India.

New Delhi, Mar 23 : A large number of well-wishers turned up at the Beijing Zoo to say good-bye to eight panda cubs who wrapped up their Olympic mission and returned home.

The pandas had been sent to Beijing Zoo from Sichuan province, southwest China, to bring extra cheer to visitors during the Beijing 2008 Olympics. The adorable cubs remained playful and naughty despite it being their last day in the capital.