The West Bengal government today said that the Singur Land Development and Rehabilitation Act 2011 by which the land was vested by the state was not
violative of Article 14 of the Constitution. 

It was stated that the land at Singur had been given to Tata Motors Ltd for generating jobs and socio-economic development of the area. But as it failed to commission the plant and then relocated the Nano car plant to Gujarat, the West Bengal government decided to enact the Singur Act to vest the land,
he stated.  The matter was adjourned for the day and would be taken up for hearing again tomorrow 

NDTV reports that a Chinese spy ship disguised as a fishing trawler was intercepted by the Indian navy, which discovered it had been collecting key data around the time of the missile tests a few months ago. The ship had 22 labs on board. Details awaited.

His worshippers number in the hundreds of millions, the most devoted of whom will queue for days outside his 'temples' to wait for his latest gift to mankind. 

Steve Jobs, 56, founder and visionary leader of Apple, is for many the god of our consumer age. But he's not immortal. Having battled cancer since 2004, the chief executive of one of the world's most prized and influential companies is stepping down.

All that you wanted to know about Jobs in the Daily Mail. Read

A top human rights watchdog today slammed the Pakistan government for its failure to resolve hundreds of cases of alleged disappearance in the country.

"The Pakistan government has made little progress in resolving hundreds of cases of alleged disappearance, while new incidents are being reported around the country," said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific director.

The London-based Amnesty called for immediate ending of the widespread practice of enforced disappearance in Pakistan and appealed to authorities in Islamabad to ensure, those detained have full access to lawyers and the courts.

The Delhi High Court today dismissed the plea of sacked CWG Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi, a Lok Sabha MP, seeking permission to attend the ongoing Parliament session.
"In view of the gravity of the offence and the allegation of huge magnitude, it would be totally inappropriate to grant him permission solely on the ground of
freedom of speech inside the Parliament House, on the foundation that he has to meet the Constitutional obligation.
The writ petition is dismissed," the bench, comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna, said.  The Congress Lok Sabha member from Pune had moved the division bench of the High Court challenging the order of its
single-judge bench of Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw, who had rejected his plea for the permission dubbing it as "an attempt to get fresh air outside the prison".

Steve Jobs's biological father, Abdulfattah John Jandali, told theNew York Post last week that he's never met his son. "I'd be lying if I said it doesn't sadden me to have not been part of my son's incredible journey," Jandali said.

Now the vice president of a casino in Reno, Jandali said his ex-wife moved away and put their son up for adoption after her father did not approve of her marrying a Syrian. Read the incredible story in the Daily Mail.

The Enforcement Directorate is looking into complaints of criminal activities like money laundering against Indian Premier League, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said today. 

"There are certain irregularities which are being looked into, particularly, relating to some complaints received that there are investments, so far as IPL is concerned, from outside.

"Those are being looked into by the Enforcement Directorate because those are the criminal activities like money laundering," Mukherjee said in the Rajya Sabha during Question Hour.

Australia's second-largest city Melbourne has been rated the world's best city to live in, and Mumbai one of the worst at 116th, according to a new survey.
In the survey of 140 cities around the globe, Melbourne secured the top slot with a score of 97.5 per cent, followed by Austrian capital Vienna (97.4 per cent), and Vancouver in Canada (97.3 per cent) which was rated the best last year. The survey was carried out by  Economist Intelligence Unit's Global Liveability Survey.

Even as BJP MPs today said they would meet President Pratibha Patil on September 2 to demand the recall of the Gujarat governor over the Lokayukta appointment.

Meanwhile, dismissing the BJP's opposition to the appointment of the Lokayukta by Gujarat Governor bypassing the Chief Minister, the Centre today said as per the law, the governor is supposed to consult only the Chief Justice of the High Court and it should be left to the court to decide the issue.

"The act, as I understand, says the governor will consult the chief justice. You can't read things into it," Law Minister Salman Khurshid said.

Senior leader L K Advani today led party MPs from Gujarat protesting outside Parliament House against the appointment of Lokayukta in the state by the
Governor without consulting the Narendra Modi government and demanded her removal for "bypassing" established norms. Advani, Haren Pathak and around 15 other BJP MPs from Gujarat protested at the Gandhi statue in Parliament complex against the appointment of R A Mehta as the Lokayukta by
Governor Kamla Beniwal.

"We are going to meet the President on September 1 or 2 when she returns to the capital. All norms were ignored by the Governor like consultation with the chief minister before the appointment or taking the advice of his Cabinet on the issue. The Lokayukta was appointed by the Governor bypassing all established norms," Advani said.

In reply to another question, the senior BJP leader said, "It is a very serious matter and we condemn it. It is an attack on the federal structure of the country. It has never happened before."

Anna Hazare health update.

Doctors treating Anna Hazare, who has been undergoing treatment at the Medanta Mediciti hospital in Gurgaon after ending his 12-day fast say it will take another four to five days before he can be discharged. "He is doing well and is stable. He has also started taking soft diet and today he ate poha," Dr Yatin Mehta, who is monitoring 74-year-old Hazare's health, said.

"He walked for sometime in his room. His blood pressure is 124/84 and pulse rate is 78 beats per minute," the doctor said. Mehta said ketones in his urine have reduced which is a "good sign".

The doctor added, "He has not read newspapers but has seen some news bulletins on TV. His spirits are high." The doctor said his weight stood at 66.6 kg and it has not reduced since yesterday. "This means his condition is absolutely satisfactory," he said. Hazare, who was admitted in the hospital on Sunday, had weighed 72 kg before he went on his fast.

The Defence Minister AK Antony has told all stakeholders of Coastal Security that unless they worked with a unified purpose, there would be no real progress.

Chairing a meeting on Coastal Security last evening, he directed that all the remaining gaps in the Coastal Security Framework be bridged in minimum time possible. He also asked the senior officials to work towards operationalzing Phase-II of Coastal Security.

Just in: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee says he is disappointed with the GDP figures and added that there was a need for hard work to ensure growth.

A Wall Street Journal report says that the Indian economy grew at a steady pace in the April-June quarter due to strong expansion in services output, raising expectations that the Reserve Bank of India will continue tightening monetary policy to restrain inflation.

Gross domestic product grew 7.7% from a year earlier, the government said Tuesday. The reading was in line with the consensus expectation of a 7.6% increase in a poll of 17 economists.

Congress today termed as "very unfortunate" the BJP's protest over the appointment of Lokayukta in Gujarat. "What they (BJP) are demanding in Delhi, they are opposing in Gujarat. It is very unfortunate," Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said outside Parliament. 

The Lok Sabha was today adjourned till 3pm after BJP MPs created uproar over the "undemocratic" appointment of Lokayukta in Gujarat by Governor Kamla Beniwal. 

The BJP has maintained that the Lokayukta was appointed by the Governor without consulting Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Congress MP JP Aggarwal said, "First they (BJP) said Lokayukta should be appointed.  When Lokayukta was appointed, they are opposing and saying it is an attack on the federal structure. They should not have disrupted the House." 

Just in: Law Minister Salman Kurshid today said that the resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly on amnesty for Rajiv Gandhi killers is not binding on anyone.

Earlier in the day, the Tamil Nadu Assembly adopted an unanimous resolution asking the President to reconsider mercy petitions of the three death row convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. 

The resolution moved by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa appealed to the President to commute the death sentences of Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan into life sentences.

Moving the resolution, Jayalalithaa said the people ofthe state were "saddened" by the fact that the death sentence to the three was to be executed soon.

The Delhi police has filed a closure report in the Shanti Bhushan CD case. The  Delhi Police is understood to have concluded that the controversial CD purportedly having lawyer Shanti Bhushan's conversations with political leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh is genuine.

Read the background 

In the Rajya Sabha, BJP's Arun Jaitley wants to know why the Gujarat governor did not consult CM Narendra Modi while appointing the Lokayukta. Jaitley says the governor has no right to continue and should resign.

Lok Sabha adjourns till 2 pm over the issue.

In the Lok Sabha, LK Advani on the Gujarat Lokayukta issue says never has a Lokayukta been appointed without the chief minister's opinion.

RS has been adjourned.for 10 minutes over the Lokayukta battle.

Rajiv Gandhi's killers Murugan and Nalini's daughter Harithra tells CNN IBN: I am thankful to all for supporting us, but I don't think he was involved in the crime. There's no point punishing people not involved in the crime.

However, she said though her father was innocent, he does feel remorse. 

Nalini has been pardoned, but Murugan's death sentence was stayed till September 9 today.

Meanwhile, in Libya, more than 50 bodies have been found at a warehouse in Tripoli, behind the headquarters of a feared army unit, the Khamis Brigade, led by one of Colonel Gaddafi's sons.

Survivors say they were civilians, massacred by Gaddafi's forces earlier this week. It is the smell that forewarns you of the horrors to come. The nauseating stench of death reached out from the warehouse, curling around us, like a physical presence. Read the report in the BBC.

Reactions to the stay on the death sentence of Rajiv Gandhi's killers...

Janata Party president, Subramaniam Swamy says: There cannot be pardon for anti-nationals. The stay is inconsistent with the 1990 judgement.

Thughlak editor, Cho Ramaswamy: Stay should not affect decision

The TN Assembly has adopted a resolution seeking the President's intervention for clemency.

Lawyer Ram Jethamalani speaking outside the HC just now to cheers, says thanks should be given to MDMK leader Vaiko and the court, and not him, because he had agreed to fight the case on Vaiko's request.

Vaiko had requested Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to take efforts for cancelling the death sentence awarded to three convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. President Prathibha Patil had rejected the clemency petitions of Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan, recently. The sentence of another convict Nalini, was being commuted to life. 

Remember DMK chief M Karunanidhi had made a political statement yesterday appealing to Congress President Sonia Gandhi to save the lives of three convicts facing death row in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. He had said that the 'young noble man' (Rajiv Gandhi) would have saved them if he was alive.

"Had young leader Rajiv Gandhi been alive today, that noble man would have definitely come forward to save the lives of Santhan, Perarivalan and Murugan, responding to the voice of true Tamils and in accordance with the golden saying of Anna, 'forget and forgive", he said in a statement.

The DMK patriarch had urged Gandhi last week to intervene on the issue, saying appeals by Tamils across the world needed to be considered in the spirit of "forget and forgive".

Ram Jethmalani argued today that making the three killers wait for 11 years for the mercy petition to be heard was cruel enough.

The Madras High Court stays the hanging of the three men scheduled to be hanged on September 9 because Ram Jethmalani and Mohit Chaodhary who appear for Rajiv's killers say mercy pleas were delayed by 11 years and four months and therefore the death penalty becomes illegal and immoral. On August 11, the president had rejected the mercy petition, a delay of 11 years.

The court has now given an interim stay for eight weeks for Rajiv's killers.

BJP MPs protest outside Parliament over the Gujarat Lokayukta issue. LK Advani says the party plans to approach the president over the issue.

Read the rediff.com reportby Sheela Bhatt for a complete background on the issue.

In Parliament today, the BJP gave notices in both Houses of Parliament for suspension of Question Hour to discuss the appointment of Lokayukta in Gujarat by the Governor without the consent of the state government.
The notice for suspension of Question Hour in Lok Sabha was given to Speaker Meira Kumar by BJP member Haren Pathak while in the Rajya Sabha, Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley has submitted this notice to the vice-president. 

Gujarat Governor Kamla Beniwal had appointed R A Mehta as the Lokayukta without consulting the Narendra Modi government. BJP claims this is violation of Article 163 of the Constitution which states that the Governor should act on the advice of the Council of Ministers.

Ram Jethmalani and Mohit Chaodhary who appears for Rajiv Gandhi's killers say mercy pleas were delayed by 11 years and four months and therefore the death penalty becomes illegal and immoral.

The three convicts on Monday moved the Madras high court to stay their September 9 hanging.

MDMK general secretary Vaiko and advocate N Chandrasekaran filed the petition on behalf of the condemned prisoners - Murugan, Perarivalan and Santhan.

Madras high court to hear Rajiv killers' mercy petition (Hindustan Times)

The Madras high court today will hear petitions filed the three convicts facing the gallows for their involvement in the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. Read

I can't change ruling after rejection of mercy petitions: Jayalalithaa (The Hindu)
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister said in a statement under rule 110 of Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday. Read

Rajiv Gandhi killers cant slip noose: Experts (DNA)
The assassins Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan are scheduled to be hanged on September 9. Legal luminaries, however, ruled out any possibility of them getting a reprieve from the noose. Read

Your right to be heard: First draft of grievance redressal Bill ready (Indian Express)
Urgent complaints would have to be disposed of within five days. Read

Ex-SEBI member to PM: ID leaked, family at grave risk (Indian Express)
Abraham's letter referred to enforcement cases against groups including Sahara, RIL and ADAG. Read

Gamechanger: Government move to control BCCI (Hindustan Times)

In a move that would empower the government to set the ground rules for the BCCI, a draft bill is expected to be considered by the cabinet on Tuesday. Read

Ramlila remarks: Kiran Bedi, Om Puri could face 15 days in jail (The Times of India)
Team Hazare member Kiran Bedi said she is not going to apologize to politicians. Actor Om Puri apologized for his speech at Ramlila Maidan. Read

Service tax coming on healthcare, rail tickets? (The Times of India) 
A concept note floated by the finance ministry has proposed to exclude only a handful of services -- education, funeral & farming activities from the tax net. Read