Seven others get life imprisonment A special court in Mumbai on Wednesday sentenced to death five of 12 people convicted for the 2006 Mumbai serial train blasts that killed 188 people and injured 829 commuters. Seven convicts were sentenced to life in jail. The sentences come two weeks after the 12 were found guilty. The families of the convicts say they will appeal the decision.

PM’s foreign trips need to be backed with action, says RBI governor Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan on Wednesday described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as being “ahead of us” but said his visits abroad need to be backed up with “action on the ground”. He is a “very articulate spokesman for India”, Rajan told a television channel. “What we need to do is back up his visits with action on the ground which reinforces the good impression that is created."

NGT issues notice on banning ban desi cow slaughter Amidst rising communal tensions over beef bans, the National Green Tribunal, the apex environmental court of the country, on Wednesday issued notice to the Government of India on a plea seeking ban on slaughtering cows of indigenous breeds. The petition was filed by Ashwini Kumar, advocate and environmental activist, based on government data showing a steep decline in the population of cows of local breeds. Kumar claimed that that Indian farmers have been led to believe that foreign breeds of cows are capable of producing more milk than indigenous cows even though countries like Brazil and Argentina have been importing Indian cows because these breeds consistently produce more milk than others.

VHP rakes up demand for Ram temple The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy on Wednesday made a renewed pitch for a Ram temple to be constructed in Ayodhya on the site of the demolished Babri Masjid and announced a seminar, to be held in January, to discuss a legal solution to the issue. VHP leader Ashok Singhal said he did not blame the Narendra Modi government for not making any move to construct the temple, despite a BJP majority government at the Centre. “The Supreme Court has to pronounce its judgment on the matter, and the government too has to wait,” he said.

Largest Indian-made warship commissioned Warship INS Kochi, the largest-ever warship to be built in India, was commissioned by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai on Wednesday. The finish of the INS Kochi is as good as any foreign ship, Parrikar said. The first ship of this class, INS Kolkata, was commissioned in August last year. The third, INS Chennai, will be inducted into the navy towards the end of 2016.