Two more youths have been detained in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar town in connection with the HuJI e-mail claiming responsibility for the blast outside the Delhi high court, the police said today.

Sadiq Ahmed and Abid Hussain were being questioned in connection with the HuJI e-mail, they said. The two are close relatives of surrendered militants Irshad Ahmed and Farooq Ahmed who have also been detained, the police said.

A blast has been reported at the French nuclear plant of Marcoule, and one person has been reported killed.

The blast is said to have followed a fire in the nuclear waste storage site, setting off fears of radioactive leak.

The nuclear plant operates a pressurised water reactor, which is used to produce tritium.

Further details are awaited.

An American national of Pakistani origin and a Pakistani man were kidnapped by armed men and released after being held briefly in the the country's southwestern Balochistan province today, the police said.

The two men were stopped after leaving a customs office in the provincial captial Quetta and taken away at gunpoint, the police said, and were released after a few hours.

It is not just Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee who has a problem with the Teesta water-sharing treaty Prime Minister Manmohan Singh almost signed with Bangladesh last week. Her Bihar counterpart has joined in, too.

Nitish Kumar today demanded that the Centre review the Ganga water-sharing treaty with Bangladesh as "gross injustice" has been meted to Bihar in the treaty. "Though it is an international issue, but gross injustice has been meted out to the interests of Bihar while signing the Ganga Water Sharing Treaty with Bangladesh in," Kumar told reporters on the sidelines of his favourite Janata Darbar Programme.

Let's see what the central government has to say to that.

Law Minister Salman Khurshid today said the decision of the Supreme Court not to further monitor the Gujarat riots case was in no way a clean chit to Chief Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP was reacting even before the issue has been settled by the judiciary.

He contended that the SIT report was still not in the public domain and "the Supreme Court has said the SIT must put its report before the magistrate (in Ahmedabad)...All this is still to happen and the BJP are claiming they are in the clean and are acquitted."

"I want to know whether they are privy to inside records of the Supreme Court, the high court or the trial court," Khurshid quipped.

Here's a graphic on India's dismal industrial output for July 2011, compared to July 2010.

In a setback to the Uttar Pradesh government which earlier ordered a CB-CID probe into the alleged rape of a Dalit girl by Banda BSP legislator Purushottam Naresh Dwivedi, the Supreme Court on Monday order a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the incident.

The 17-year-old was allegedly raped by Dwivedi in Banda on December 10 and 11. When the MLA allegedly attempted to rape her again on December 12, she escaped from his residence.  The 48-year-old Dwivedi was later arrested from Banda.

On January 17, the SC had agreed to consider a plea for a judicial enquiry into the alleged rape case.

The British police are questioning five people after they swooped on a travellers' site in north London and rescued 24 slaves living in squalid conditions in dog kennels and horse boxes, in one of the worst cases of modern-day slavery ever discovered in the UK.

The men, some English and some from eastern Europe, were found in "filthy and cramped" conditions. The police believe some may have been held for as long as 15 years, The Telegraph newspaper reported.

Terming the firing incident at Paramakudi as "unfortunate", Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalaithaa today said the government will form an inquiry commission under a retired High Court Judge to probe it.

Replying to special call attention motion moved by opposition parties in the state assembly, Jayalalithaa initially said the government would act on a DRO probe. But after opposition parties CPI-M, CPI and Puthiya Tamizhagam insisted for a probe under a retired high court judge, she said a commission would be formed in this regard under a former high court judge.

Following the Supreme Court breather for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi earlier in the day, the BJP's Bhishma Pitamah, LK Advani, stepped out to speak out in support of the man who many BJP supporters want to move to the Centre and ultimately, voters willing, to the top job in the country.

The Supreme Court verdict has come as a great relief to the BJP, Advani told a press conference, and never.in the history of India has there been such misinformation propaganda against any political leader as it has been against Modi.

Further details as they come out.

The BSE benchmark Sensex plunged by over 400 points at midsession today on heavy selling by funds triggered by a steep fall in industrial growth amid weak global trend.

The 30-share barometer dropped by 402.22, or 2.37 per cent to 16,464.75 at 1200 hrs with all sectoral indices trading in the negative zone.

The broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty tumbled by 128.20, or 2.47 per cent to trade below 5,000 level at 4,931.25 at the same time.

Industrial growth falls to a meagre 3.3 per cent in July as against 9.9 per cent in the same month last year, which affected negatively the trading sentiments.

The granddaughter of a BJP leader was shot dead allegedly by her in-laws for dowry in Aonla area of Bareilly.

According to the police, Anupam, granddaughter of BJP leader Mithilesh Chauhan, was killed yesterday allegedly by her in-laws who were "demanding Rs 5 lakh and a car in dowry".

Five persons -- father-in-law Prempal Singh, who is also district president of the RLD, mother-in-law Akhileshwari and brothers-in-law Pushpenadra, Ankit and Mudit -- have been booked on murder charges while the husband Jitendra has been charged with dowry harassment, they said.

Presenting a counterview to Max Fisher's article, The Atlantic also carries this thoughtful piece by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, author of Bin Laden's Legacy, and a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where he argues that while the Al Qaeda's capacity to attack us hasn't increased significantly, the United States has far weaker capabilities than it did 10 years ago: even if the Al Qaeda has experienced a decline in the past decade, the US has declined more steeply. Read it here

Expressing disappointment over the Supreme Court order in the 2002 Gulbarg Society riots case, Zakia Jafri, wife of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was killed in the disturbance, said the real culprits are still roaming free.

"I still have faith in the Supreme Court, but some things have been missed out," Zakia, whose husband was killed in Gulburg Housing Society massacre, told reporters at her residence in Surat.

A Delhi court reserves order for tomorrow on interim bail plea of Amar Singh, accused in the cash-for-vote scam. Details soon.

The Atlantic's associate editor, Max Fisher, wonders why one is so apt to the Al Qaeda and its offshoots everywhere, even where they don't really exist. Read it here

After getting assurances from top state health as well as civic officials over security arrangements in hospitals, more than 1,700 resident doctors in Maharashtra called off their four-day strike late last night and resumed work.

The resident doctors were on an indefinite strike since Thursday after few doctors were physically assaulted by the patients' relatives at Sion Hospital in Mumbai and CGHS in Aurangabad.

The condition of Ayazuddin, son of former Indian cricket captain and Moradabad MP Mohammad Azharuddin, who was grievously injured in a mishap in Hyderabad, continues to be "very critical" for the second day today.

According to a medical bulletin issued by the Apollo Hospital in Jubilee Hills, where he is undergoing treatment, "The patient (Ayazuddin) continues to be in a very critical condition and is currently on a ventilator. He has multi-organ failure and is being supported with medication and other treatment to maintain his vital functions."

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was today asked by the Supreme Court to appear personally on October 20 before a Karnataka trial court, adjudicating a disproportionate assets case against her.

A bench of justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma, however, left it to the trial court judge to decide her plea for being examined at a separate building, other than the regular court, in view of security considerations.

Saadi Gaddafi, third son of the deposed Libyan leader, has fled the country into neighbouring Niger, leaving his two other brothers to stick by Muammar Gaddafi in his 'self-proclaimed battle to death'.

Saadi crossed over from Libya's Saharan desert border in a convoy of vehicles and has been intercepted by local troops, the Daily Telegraph quoted Niger's Justice Minister as saying last night.

According to previously secret US documents posted by the National Security Archive, the United States government warned Taliban leader Mullah Omar in a private message that 'every pillar of the Taliban regime will be destroyed'.

The formerly secret documents detail how the day after 9/11, Deputy Secretary Armitage presents a "stark choice" to Pakistani Intelligence (ISI) Chief Mahmoud Ahmed, "Pakistan must either stand with the United States in its fight against terrorism or stand against us. There was no maneuvering room."

A memo on US strategy from Donald Rumsfeld to President Bush dated September 30, 2001, says, "If the war does not significantly change the world's political map, the U.S. will not achieve its aim/ There is value in being clear on the order of magnitude of the necessary change. The USG [U.S. Government] should envision a goal along these lines: New regimes in Afghanistan and another key State (or two) that supports terrorism."

The National Security Council's October 16, 2001, strategic outline of White House objectives to destroy the Taliban and al-Qaeda while avoiding excessive nation-building or reconstruction efforts. "The U.S. should not commit to any post-Taliban military involvement since the US will be heavily engaged in the anti-terrorism effort worldwide." The document also notes the importance of "CIA teams and special forces in country operational detachments (A teams)" for anti-Taliban operations.

You can read the documents on the NSA's web site here

Not sure if the couple heard bells, thunderbolts or whatever one is supposed to hear in the throes of passion, but it's a safe bet that neither did they hear the fighter jets tracking their airliner from Denver after their prolonged togetherness in the plane's toilet raised passenger suspicions.

ABC News later reported that the couple was only 'making out', but in these troubled times, when the United States of America was in a state of high alert for the 9/11 anniversary, anything out of the ordinary could land one in trouble.

After being shadowed by fighter planes, the airplane landed in Detroit where the police detained three passengers for interrogation.

The name is Bond, Bond Gunning. Pippa Middleton, she of the most attractive derriere in modern times (a position that keeps changing), has been found deserving of a new bodyguard.

The Salman Khanesque character (minus the beefy arms and plus some inches over his head), Heyrick Bond Gunning, is the director of Semantaca, which has been addressing the Middletons on security issues since the royal wedding, reports Daily Mail, UK.

Gunning, a former captain in the Grenadier Guards, is assisted by his team who are also ex-soldiers. Many of their clients are FTSE-100 companies, and is reputed to charge thousands a day for their services.

So how much is Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh really worth? Recently the prime minister put up the list of assets owned by him and his council of ministers, in which he had mentioned the value of the property owned by him in posh Vasant Kunj area as Rs 88.67 lakhs.

Blogging on Wall Street Journal's India Real Time, Shefali Anand, says that real estate brokers however rate the value of such a flat to be in the region of Rs 2 crores. A broker, Ravi Shukla, has been quoted as saying that if the prime minister wants to sell the property for twice the value mentioned in his affidavit, he would find buyers "in two days".

Not only does the property not reflect current market trends, it has also not taken into consideration the growth in the real estate values in the national capital, since the previous declared value for the property was not very different either.

A spokerperson in the prime minister's office refused to comment on this, she writes.

Ten years after the Taliban's worst terror attack on its soil, America has tacitly agreed for it to take baby steps towards redemption, The Times has reported.  

The London-based newspaper has reported that Washington, DC, has okayed plans for the Islamist group to open its political headquarters in the gulf state of Qatar by the end of 2012. This move has apparently been approved for the West to begin peace talks with the Taliban. 

Qatar was chosen as the likely site for the office following Washington's insistence that it be located in a country that is outside Pakistan's sphere of influence, the newspaper further said.

The opening of the office, the West hopes, would ultimately lead to some kind of rapprochement between the militant group and the West, and pave the way for lasting peace in Afghanistan.

Industrial growth fell to a meagre 3.3 per cent in July this year on account of poor performance mainly by capital goods, manufacturing and mining sectors, reflecting sluggishness in the economy.

Growth in the factory output, as measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production , had stood at 9.9 per cent in July last year.

During the April-July period of this fiscal, IIP growth stood at 5.8 per cent, as against 9.7 per cent in the corresponding four-month period last year.

London yesterday paid homage to the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks, but the solemn event was marred by a small but vocal protest by Islamic extremists, reports The Independent, London.

A group of about 100 persons from Muslims Against Crusades gathered near Grosvenor Square near the United States embassy to burn the American flag. Declaring that 9/11 was a "great victory", they later clashed with members of the English Defence League.

However, regardless of this, the tribute to the 9/11 victims went off undisturbed.

According to the Norton Cybercrime report 2011, 29.9 million Indians were made suckers online in 2010. Four out of five adult Indians who are online have been victims of online crime, the report says.

The monies involved? Direct financial losses of $4 billion, and an addition $3.6 billion in terms of time spent on resolving the crimes, the report states.

So, if you have not been made a sucker out of online so far, count yourself among the lucky few!

With two more persons succumbing to injuries at a hospital, the death toll in the police firing on a stone-pelting mob of Dalits, who indulged in violence following detention of their leader John Pandian, has risen to seven, the police said on Monday.

Two persons identified as Teerpukani and Vellaichamy succumbed to injuries late on Sunday night.Officials have suspended bus services to rural areas in sensitive districts including Ramanathapuram, Madurai, Sivaganga and Virudhunagar as a precautionary step.

Additional police reinforcements have been brought from Tiruchirappalli, said the police.

The much awaited verdict on Chief Minister Narendra Modi's alleged involvement in the 2002 Gujarat riots has been deferred.The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Special Investigation Team probing Modi's role in the riots to submit its final report before a trial court.

The apex court was acting on the plea of petitioner Zakia Jafri, whose husband and former member of Parliament Ehsan Jafri was brutally killed during the riots in Gulburg society, Ahmedabad.

The court had appointed a Special Investigation Team to probe Modi's role in the riots. The SC was expected to decide on Monday if any further probe against Modi is required.

The trial court will now decide on Jafri's plea in accordance with the law.

Good morning.

Today will be a day of judgment for two of India's top politicians: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister P Chidambaram.

The Supreme Court will announce its verdict on Narendra Modi's alleged role in the Gulbarg Society massacre case during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

The Madras high court will announce its verdict on the election petition filed by Chidambaram's immediate AIADMK rival R S Raja Kannappan, challenging his election to the Lok Sabha from Sivaganga constituency in the 2009 general elections