Delhi: Kejriwal said that water is a 'lifeline necessity'
Privatising the water supply will lead to corruption, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday. “We are opposed to the privatisation of water supply, which leads to cronyism and corruption,” he said at a water policy workshop.  He said that water, like education and health, was "a lifeline necessity". “The government has responsibilities like education, water and health which it cannot run away from," he said. "The government will continue giving some works on contractual basis, but the government should have ownership of water and its distribution.”

Kerala: Vadakkunathan temple Gets UNESCO award
The famous Vadakkunathan temple in Kerala has won UNESCO's 2015 Asia-Pacific award for conservation efforts on Thursday. The temple in Thrissur is more than 1,200 years old. Lakhs of devotees and tourists gather every year to witness the famous Thrissur Pooram at the temple premises, where ceremoniously decorated elephants are paraded.

Bihar: BJP to fight 170 seats, offer 73 to allies
The Bharatiya Janata party on Thursday decided to contest 170 seats in the Bihar assembly polls and left 73 seats for its three allies. Forty seats will go to Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party, followed by 20 seats to Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Samta Party, and 13 seats to former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha. The BJP has decided a broad formula in which each party will have six or seven assembly seats in its share for every parliamentary constituency it already represents.

Kashmir: Encounter in Rajwar kills 2 militants, 2 jawans
Two militants and two army men were killed in an operation in North Kashmir’s Rajwar area on Friday. Officials said that the army launched an operation in Rajwar forest late last night on an information that four militants are hiding in the area. Two militants and two army jawans were killed in the initial gun battle.