West Bengal: RSS membership increasing
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Joint General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale said the organisation's membership is rising in West Bengal and predicted the number of its branches in the state would increase from 650 in 2013 to 1,200 next year. The Indian Express quoted an official saying that an influx of Bangladeshi immigrants has boosted the number of Muslims, who now make up 27% of the population in West Bengal. While Hindus remain a majority, their share of the population declined by 2.2 percentage points between the 2001 and 2011 censuses.

New Delhi: Modi to meet Netaji’s family today
Family members of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday and are expected to seek the declassification of all files related to the freedom fighter, whose mysterious disappearance 70 years ago continues to be a matter of debate. One of Bose's grand nephews, Chandra Bose, has said that his family will appeal to Modi to write to countries such as Russia, Japan, China, USA, UK, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia to declassify all Netaji files in their possession.

Gujarat: VHP bars non-Hindus from garbas
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Tuesday has put up banners at the entrances of select garba venues across the state, asking non-Hindus not to participate in the dance programmes as it is restricted "only for Hindus". "[The] VHP will put up such banners at around 100 such commercial venues across the state," state VHP media coordinator Jay Shah said. The right-wing Hindu outfit justified the banners, saying such steps are necessary to stop incidents of "love jihad".

Jammu & Kashmir: Gunfight leaves two civilians injured
Two civilians were injured in a major exchange of fire between militants and security agencies on Tuesday afternoon during a search-and-cordon operation in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. Preliminary reports suggest two militants opened fire at security forces at Dogripora village in Awantipora, more than 30 km south of Srinagar.

Gujarat: HC orders investigation into minister’s fake MBA
The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday asked Minister of State Shankar Chaudhari to explain a Public Interest Litigation filed by Patan-based Congress worker Farsu Goklani, alleging that he obtained a fake MBA degree. A division bench of acting Chief Justice Jayant Patel and Justice NV Anjaria sought replies from Chaudhari, the Gujarat government, the Election Commission, Patan district's Superintendent of Police and two educational institutes in question. Goklani demanded that Chaudhari be prosecuted for submitting false details in the poll affidavit.

The right-wing Hindu organization justified the ban claiming that such steps are necessary to stop incidents of "love jihad, in which a Muslim boys lures and marry Hindu girls".