1. Defence ministry hit by Rs 1500 cr land scam
2. Gandhi loyalist is PM's principal secretary
3. Cash-votes: Supplementary charge sheet names BJP MP Argal
4. LeT 'commander' among 2 militants killed in J-K
5. Omar: Wild, unsubstantiated comments unfortunate
6. Omar on custodial death: I choose to remain silent
7. Montek, Jairam: Don't want to understate poverty
8. Court notice to Guj govt on Bhatt's bail plea
9. Magsaysay awardee Neelima's US visa cleared
10. Montek-Ramesh resolve Rs 32/day controversy
11. Ramesh ashamed of India lead in open defecation
12. For first time in 15 years, Woods not among 1st 50
13. 2G: Now Swamy sets his sights on Sonia's son-in-law
14. Bail plea of 2G accused deferred to Oct 17
15. Haqqanis deny killing Rabbani, ISI ties

J&K custody death: Jammu and Kashmir home secretary says a post-mortem has revealed that Syed Mohammed Yousuf died because of a heart attack. No external injuries were found on his body. Yousuf, a NC worker from south Kashmir's Anantnag district, died on September 29 allegedly in police custody after two fellow party workers had accused him of taking a Rs 1.18 crore from them for getting them berths in the Legislative Council.

The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly was adjourned for the day over the issue. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said he had "no hesitation" in presenting himself before a judicial inquiry that is to go into the death of Yousuf.

While on Jammu and Kashmir, the state government today said that 1,378 persons have been reported missing in the state during the last 20 years. 

"Missing reports have been in respect of 1,378 persons on account of militancy during the last 20 years," state Home Ministry, headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, said in a written reply in the Legislative Council. However, local human rights activists have been claiming that the number of missing persons in the state is around 10,000.

The Defence Ministry has been hit by a fresh land scam with an in-house inquiry finding that about 70 "adhoc NoCs" were issued to private realtors flouting
norms for defence land which included the Srinagar air base. A CBI inquiry has been recommended by the Defence Ministry after it received the inquiry report submitted by its high-powered committee.

"There was some Defence Estates Organisation (DEO) gentlemen before who had issued some adhoc NOCs. The matter is for investigation... a high-powered Defence Ministry team had gone there to look into the matter," IAF chief Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne told reporters here today.

The DEO there had issued around 70 NOCs to private realtors and the last four were given for the IAF land over which the Srinagar airfield is built and a CBI probe has been recommended by the Defence Ministry, sources said here.
Sources said the probe had found that in collusion with State government officials, the DEO officials had issued NoCs to sell land in and around the air force station and the 15 Corps headquarters. The size of the scam is around Rs 1500 crore.

Meanwhile, after his joint statement with P Chidambaram on Friday over th 2G note, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee headed straight to West Bengal to his ancestral village.

There, the finance minister stepped into the role of a priest to conduct the traditional rituals of 'Mahasaptami', the second day of Durga puja, at his ancestral house in Miriti village of Birbhum district.

"This is a much-awaited occasion in my life and I eagerly wait throughout the year to be at our ancestral house these four days," the 77-year-old Congress leader said at the end of the day's puja, which entered its 117th year, at the Miriti house.

Senior IAS officer Pulok Chatterjee, considered close to the Gandhi family, today joined as the Prime Minister's Principal Secretary, at a time when the government is going through tough times. 

A 1974-batch officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, Chatterjee returned to PMO after a stint with the World Bank. He was in the PMO earlier as a Joint Secretary from 2004 to 2009. He replaced T K A Nair, who has been made Advisor to the Prime Minister.

Delhi police files supplementary charge sheet in 2008 cash-for-vote case, naming BJP MP Ashok Argal as an accused. The Delhi police also submits to the court the Lok Sabha Speaker's sanction to prosecute Argal in the case.

BJP MPs Faggan Singh Kulaste, Mahavir Singh Bhagora along with Ashok Argal had brandished wads of notes in the well of the Lok Sabha during the trust vote in July 2008.

More on Omar's ire in the Assembly today...

The chief minister said, "It has somewhow been suggested that I or colleagues of mine are involved in criminal activity to the extent that certain supposedly responsible political leaders have gone so far as to suggest that I could be possibly involved in a case of murder." 

"Fact of the matter is I acted responsibly as I was expected to. While it is very easy to make assumptions and level allegations, the facts must be allowed to speak for themselves," he said.

The Chief Minister said it was beyond his comprehension as to how the political leadership and certain sections of media were levelling allegations that the deceased had been tortured in the absence of a postmortem report.

"Without recourse to the postmortem report how it is possible for either political leadership of the state or sections of media to determine that the deceased was tortured. This is beyond my comprehension," he said.

A scribe at the press conference has her elbow, inches away from Jairam Ramesh's ear. Complete chaos as neither the panel, nor the journalists can hear each other.

As of now, here's the new cap: Rs 4800 for urban families per month, 3900 for rural families per month. 

Amid the strident campaign by the People's Democratic Party over the alleged custodial death of National Conference worker, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today refuted all the charges levelled against him, accused the Opposition of twisting all the facts, and said that he had nothing to hide, and had initiated a probe into the incident.  

Omar Abdullah said: "As a chief minister I took appropriate action in the case. I ordered a judicial probe immediately. If I had to hide anything then I would not have ordered for a probe. The opposition has been twisting the facts and they considered my silence as my inaction."

"It is important to know that if we had anything to hide we would not have ordered a judicial inquiry,' he added.  

Omar further hitting out at the PDP said that the accusation levelled by the Opposition, that the deceased was tortured is wrong, as it is not based on any facts.

A Lokyukta court today adjourned to October 15 the bail applications of former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa in two private complaints relating to alleged corruption in denotification of government land.

The high court had on September 30 stayed the proceedings in the Lokayukta court until further orders on petitions by Yeddyurappa challenging summons issued by it.

R Rajagopalan on Twitter: Kalanidhi Maran to land in Delhi with his wife. They are travelling in their special aircraft. Speculation is that CBI wants him for further investigation.

Former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran was questioned by the CBI for over five hours on alleged irregularities in 2G spectrum allocation during his tenure last month. The agency had questioned his brother Kalanidhi Maran in connection with the preliminary enquiry in spectrum allocation during 2001-07 and allegations of pushing for Aircel takeover by Malaysia-based Maxis group, CBI sources said here.

During the questioning, Maran is understood to have denied all the allegations against him including his role in the Aircel takeover by Maxis.

A local court in Ahmedabad today issued a notice to the Gujarat government on the bail plea of suspended IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatt, who was arrested on Friday on the basis of an FIR lodged against him on charges of threatening
and fabricating evidence.

Sessions Court Judge V K Vyas, while issuing the notice to the state  government, fixed the hearing on Bhatt's bail plea for tomorrow. Bhatt was arrested on the basis of the FIR filed against him by police constable K D Pant for allegedly threatening him and forcing to sign a false affidavit with regard to a meeting called by Chief Minister Narendra Modi on February 27, 2002,
hours after the Godhra train carnage.

BJP patriarch Lal Krishna Advani on Monday said the UPA Government is in an unenviable mess "of the Congress' own making" and that is why he dubbed it as "being in a suicidal mode" in his valedictory address to the BJP national executive in Delhi last Saturday. In his latest blog, he said the UPA is behaving like lemmings, reports our Delhi correspondent.

Full story on rediff.com shortly.

Apparently Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi is believed to have intervened in the matter and has reportedly asked the Plan panel to do a rethink on its definition of poverty.    

Even Ramesh had earlier expressed disagreement over theCommission's formula for arriving at the poverty line of Rs 32a day and Rs 26 a day in urban and rural areas respectively.

Details of that Rs 32 per day poverty line controversy.

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh today claimed that they have resolved the issue. "Jairam and I had a very good meeting. I think we have resolved a number of important issues... actually all the important issues. I think we are in complete agreement," Ahluwalia said today. 

Ahluwalia and Ramesh will also be addressing a joint press conference later in the day to outline the strategy to counter widespread criticism of Rs 32 per capita per day urban poverty line definition. "There is broad consensus on the linkage between poverty line and rural development," Ramesh said after the meeting, which among others was attended by Plan panel members Abhijit Sen, Mihir Shah, Syeda Hameed and Narendra Jadhav. 

Ahluwalia had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue yesterday. He had discussed with Singh the fallout of the controversy relating to the affidavit in the Supreme Court, which said that persons consuming items worth more than Rs 32 per day in urban areas (Rs 26 in rural areas) are not poor.

On NDTV.com: Montek says Rs 32 controversy has been sorted out. Read

More Bollywood news...

Ahead of the release of his next mega productuion Ra.One, Shah Rukh Khan was visited by superstar, Rajinikanth on the sets of the film. The 45-year-old actor, who is busy with the promotions of the film, took to Twitter to thank Rajinikanth for visiting him and making his dream come true.
"Misconcepts, misunderstood. Stressed and then Rajini sir walks on sets & u know why God made films. Thanx Soundarya for making our dream come true," Shahrukh tweeted.

So season 5 of Bigg Boss kicked off last night with hosts Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt's snide, but witty remarks. The only man in the house is actor Shakti Kapoor and the hosts made sure they let the audience know "how much Kapoor was waiting for this moment" (remember the sting operation).

If you haven't caught the show last night, meet the contestants for now on rediff.com. Read Rajul Hegde's story. And for what the house looks like with its magenta and green hues, watch.

Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh, an accused in the 2008 cash-for-vote case, today moved the Delhi High Court seeking bail.

Singh moved the high court after his interim and regular bail pleas were rejected on September 28 by a Delhi court which had said his role was "major" in the entire episode aimed at "disgracing" parliamentary democracy.'

In its order, the lower court had said the incident showed that Singh and other political functionaries, including arrested BJP leaders in the case, "stooped to a level beyond imagination" aimed at "subverting" the functioning of Parliament.

In the backdrop of Shiv Sena taking a dig at BJP over Advani-Narendra Modi 'cold war', the Maharashtra state BJP unit chief has observed that Bal Thackeray and party executive president Uddhav Thackeray should restrict themselves to giving suggestions and not criticise others.

"Those who cannot do anything only resort to criticism," state unit BJP president Sudhir Mungattiwar said. 

The remarks came in the background of Bal Thackeray's comments that appeared in the editorial in party mouthpiece Saamna amid reports of the recently concluded BJP national executive meet being overshadowed by a cold war between the party's two big guns - L K Advani and Narendra Modi- with the latter conspicuous by his absence.

Tiger Woods has failed to find a place among the golf''s top 50 players' list for the first time in 15 years.             

According to the official World Golf Ranking, the 35-year-old Woods entered the weekend as the sport''s 50th best player, but he lost that standing when Louis Oosthuizen tied for fifth place at this weekend's Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland.

Bizarre! A thief stole the bathroom fittings of a Congress MP from Maharashtra . It is still not known what kind of fittings were stolen, but they were probably fit for a king...

The incident took place in the 38-GRG Road residence of Manikrao Gavit in Lutyen's Delhi locality on the morning of  October 1 when the MP from Nandurbar Lok Sabha constituency was out of station.

Tabloid tales...How passionate Pippa Middleton gave her chap a smacker at 4.30am after boxing match. Read it on the Daily Mail.  

Incidentally, Pippa shot to stardom when she carried the train of her sister Catherine's dress at her wedding to Prince William. But she's better known for her pert bottom than her royal connections. Read

Adm. Mike Mullen retired last week after spending four years as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff trying to improve relations between the US and Pakistan.

In his parting remarks, he had some advice for his successor, Gen. Martin Dempsey. "I urge Marty to remember the importance of Pakistan to all this. To try to do a better job than I did with that vexing and yet vital relationship," he said. "I continue to believe there is no solution without Pakistan and no stable future in the region without a partnership.

Read more on npr.org

On Rediff.com, the first pictures of Sonia Gandhi, post surgery...

Sonia Gandhi on Sunday, made her first public appearance when she attended a prayer meeting at Raj Ghat on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi's 142nd birth anniversary. Gandhi, 64, was there for about 15-20 minutes at the memorial along with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and senior BJP leader L K Advani.

See

Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that his government is ready to start parleys with Taliban, but evaded questions whether the
reconciliation would include the Haqqani faction. 

For the first time, Gilani dropped his earlier pre-condition of militants giving up arms before any talks, but warned that if the parleys fail to work, the military will launch operations in the tribal areas.

News flash: Janardhana Reddy's judicial custody has been extended till October 17. Former Karnataka minister and mining baron Gali Janardhana Reddy and managing director of Obulapuram Mining Company Srinivasa Reddy are judicial cusoty since September 5.

A 11-member CBI team arrested Reddy in Bellary, 300 km from Bangalore, on charges of illegal mining operations in the Reddys' Obulapuram Mining Company in Andhra Pradesh.

The decision comes in the wake of the recent tension in Pak-US ties due to the US accusing Pakistan of having links with Afghanistans Haqqani network.

On the Dawn.com: The Haqqani network has categorically denied its involvement in the assassination of the former Afghanistan president Burhannudin Rabbani, said today.

Sirajuddin Haqqani, the son of Jalaluddin Haqqani, in his audio message told the BBC that his organisation had no links with Pakistan's Inter-Services  Intelligence. Read more

Quick takes:

Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrasekhar Rao staged a sit-in at the Rajghat on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanthi, yesterday, urging a quick decision on statehood. He said there was no need for "further consultations.'  He is expected to meet PM Manmohan Singh at 7 pm today.

The AIADMK and DMK will clash for electoral supremacy for the second time this year, six months after the Assembly elections, in the two phased local body elections on October 17 and 19.

Sensex tanks by 262 points on weak Asian cues (The Times of India)

The BSE benchmark sensex tumbled by over 262 points today amid sustained selling pressure influenced by a weakening trend in Asian markets. Read

We want Telangana, not comforting words: TRS (The Hindu)

Telangana Rashtra Samiti cadre began their protest a few hours after Gandhi Jayanthi celebrations, attended by top leaders, ended. The Centre maintains that more consultations are necessary before taking the statehood issue further. Read

Montek meets Manmohan over poverty line controversy (The Hindu)

The government is set to convey its stand on the poverty line issue tomorrow. To mitigate the controversy over the poverty line definition, Union Minister Ambika Soni had said on Saturday that the Planning Commission's affidavit was an "initial document and not the final document. Read

New recruits guard IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatts family (Indian Express)

Two days after the arrest of suspended DIG Sanjiv Bhatt, his family continued to get two armed guards for security, notwithstanding the fact that the officer had been seeking more security in view of the threat he and his family faced after he gave evidence against Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Read

J&K Assembly adjourned for 30 minutes following uproar (DNA)
PDP members demanded suspension of the Question Hour to discuss the matter which agitated the treasury benches who also took to their feet. Read

Pak, US back on the same side? (DNA)
Washington and Islamabad appear to have pulled back from the brink after behind-the-scenes dialogue. Read