Nearly a year after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had described Left-wing extremism as a "virus", a special anti-Naxal force - COBRA - has finally seen light of the day after remaining in bureaucratic wrangling for months.

Raj Thackeray backed off from his threat to shopowners over the Marathi signboards issue after the Bombay High Court stepped in to restrain the MNS chief and his supporters from indulging in violence, observing that nobody can "hold the people to ransom".

India on Thursday reacted strongly to the comments by UN High Commission for Human Rights on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, terming these as "unwarranted" and "irresponsible" and bluntly told that New Delhi does not need "any advice".

With Rahul Gandhi in attendance, a crucial meeting of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday favoured an electoral tie-up with its new-found ally Samajwadi Party in the next Lok Sabha elections.