Timeline Refresh
The alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi has challenged India's refusal to allow Pakistani lawyers to cross-examine Indian witnesses in a Pakistan court.
Lakhvi's lawyer argued that under international laws they have the right to question witnesses in the case, including Mumbai's Chief Investigation Officer Ramash Mahale; Magistrate Rama Vijay Sawanth, who recorded the confessional statement of Ajmal Kasab (the only attacker captured alive by the police); Dr Shaliesh Mohiti and Dr Ganash Dhondiraj, who conducted post-mortems of the 166 people killed in the attack.
He accused Indian Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam of preventing the defence lawyers from questioning these witnesses.
Four days after the release of Jhina Hikaka from Maoist captivity, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today questioned why the MLA, belonging to his
party the BJD, should resign and said he was looking forward to meeting him.
"Why should anyone who has been elected democratically resign under pressure? I do not believe in that at all," Patnaik told reporters replying to a question whether Hikaka should resign as demanded by the Maoists.
"I have spoken to Hikaka after his release. I am looking forward to see him," Patnaik said. He said that Hikaka along with his wife and two sons were on their way to the state capital. The Maoists, who had hauled up Hikaka before a 'praja' (people's) court before releasing him unharmed on April 26 after 33 days in captivity, had asked him to resign within 15 days and claimed that the legislator had given a written assurance to them as such and that he would also quit the BJD. Hikaka, on his part, had not cleared the air.
Yesterday he had said that the Maoists were likely to release a new audio tape which would make everything clear.
BJD's senior MP Pyari Mohan Mohapatra had stated that the Assembly speaker would not accept Hikaka's resignation.
The Bombay High Court today granted anticipatory bail to rape accused ACP Anil Mahabole, observing that prima facie no case was made out for even registration of an FIR against him.
Mahabole, accused of raping a middle-aged housewife, had moved the High Court after the sessions court rejected his anticipatory bail application.
"The victim has to come forward and say that she was raped. She has not said so in her statement to the investigating officer. There is no forcible sexual intercourse disclosed. Hence there is no case even for registration of FIR," Justice A M Thipsay said.
Also read: ACP Mahabole and the J Dey murder
The judicial remand of the two marines of Italian ship Enrica Lexie, charged with shooting dead two Indian fishermen off Kerala coast, was extended by 14
days by a court in Kollam, Kerala, today.
Latore Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone were arrested on February 19 and charged with murder of fishermen Valentine Jalastine and Ajesh Binki,
who took to sea from Neendakara in Kollam.
The accused were in police custody for the first 14 days and had been lodged in a special cell in the central prison since March 5 after the court remanded them in judicial custody. The ship is still anchored off Kochi Port as plea of the vessel owners for permission to sail out is before the Supreme Court, which is expected to give its order tomorrow.
Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd. will spin off its branded retail business and sell a stake in the new company to Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd., Pantaloon's parent said Monday.
The Future Group said in a statement that Aditya Birla Nuvo will subscribe to debentures amounting to 8 billion rupees ($152.3 million) issued by Pantaloon Retail in the new entity. These debentures will convert into equity on completion of the demerger process.
Read the report on the Wall Street Journal.
On a lighter note, a scorned dentist is facing jail time after surgically removing all of her ex-boyfriend's teeth after he dumped her, authorities in London said.
Read the Huffington Post story.
Update on the all-clear given to Omar and his parymen in the activist's death.
The ruling National Conference in J-K today said its stand has been vindicated by the magisterial inquiry report into the death of Syed Mohammad Yousuf while the opposition PDP dismissed the findings as a "cover-up" exercise.
"Our party's stand is vindicated. There was nothing as such (as was being alleged) and the inquiry has proved it," National Conference spokesman Tanvir Sadiq said. He said since Bedi commission is carrying out a separate inquiry "there is not much to say yet". "(But) we have complete faith in the justice and complete faith in the commission," the NC spokesman said.
In a statement, a PDP spokesman said that the projection of this report by the government as a "clean chit to the high and mighty is like adding insult to injury..... "It is a shameless attempt to cover up something that increasingly looks fishy and suspicious...," he said.
Nupur Talwar spends the night at Dasna jail, Ghaziabad. The bail hearing continues at the Sessions court tomorrow.
In other news, the BJP has rejected Pranab Mukherjee's candidature for President of India, saying he is a Congressman. The BJP also turned down vice president Hamid Ansari's name saying "he is not of that stature".
The BJP said they were fine with former president APJ Kalam, provided the SP supported it and if he agreed to contest.
Nupur Talwar being taken to Dasna jail, show TV images.
Smita Prakash: Nupur Talwar's lawyer seems a bit too exuberant about his client going to jail, even if for one night.
Rishiraj Hebbar: I think Nupur Talwar should turn approver against her husband and seek immunity in Aarushi murder case.
mohan amin: Nupur Talwar's Jaisi Karni Waisi Bharni
Rajesh Talwar's bail ends on May 11. When his bail comes up for hearing again, the CBI is likely to oppose the bail. The Dasna jail, meanwhile, is all set to receive Nupur Talwar. She will be lodged at the women's cell and given basic facilities.
According to a Zeenews report: "Aarushi's mother will stay in the cell no 13 of the district jail which is reserved for women prisoners," said the Dasna jail superintendent, while refusing to divulge further details.
"All preparations have been made ahead of Nupur Talwar's arrival this evening. She will be given basic facilities including clean drinking water, proper meals, access to library etc which are given to all jail inmates as per prison manual," said the superintendent.
The Dasna prison official also said that the security inside the jail and the barrack where Nupur Talwar would be lodged has been tightened and nobody will be allowed to enter that premises without prior permission.
Just in: The Sessions Court has turned down Nupur Talwar's plea for interim bail in the Aarushi-Hemraj murders. This means Nupur is headed to jail today. This is the first time Nupur Talwar will be jailed in the case, unlike her husband Rajesh, who was jailed immediately after the murder in 2006.
The Sessions court reserves the final order tomorrow.
In other news: Ground-to-air missiles are to be sited on the roof of a block of flats near the Olympic site as part of a huge security operation to protect the Games. The Army will station soldiers and high-velocity surface-to-air missiles on the residential block in East London to ward off airborne terror threats.
Read more on the Daily Mail
India and Pakistan have agreed to hold meaningful and result-oriented discussion to demilitarise Siachen glacier region where 26 soldiers died during deployment last year, government told the Lok Sabha today. In a written reply, Defence Minister A K Antony said, "The number of casualties in Siachen in last one year is 26."
On diplomatic measures for demilitarisation of Siachen glacier region, he said, "12th round of Defence Secretary-level talks were held between India and Pakistan on May 30-31,2011... It was agreed to continue the discussions in a meaningful and result-oriented manner." Both sides welcomed the ongoing dialogue process which is contributing to an enhanced understanding of each other's position, Antony said.
Back at the sessions court, Nupur Talwar's lawyers argue that the CBI had conceded that there was insufficient evidence against the couple, which is why they had filed a closure report in the double murder case.
The lawyers also said that since her husband Rajesh had got bail, Nupur should also get bail citing the parity clause. Arguments for and against still being heard.
Achala Sachdev broke her leg around three-and-a-half months ago at her home. Since then, she had been undergoing treatment at the Poona Hospital and Research Centre. The MRI scan indicated that a clot that had formed in the artery close to the heart had moved away and fragmented into smaller clots and entered the brain vessels.
She is survived by her son, Jyotin and her daughter, who stays in Mumbai.
Yesteryear actor Achala Sachdev passed away at a hospital in Pune. She was 88 and had worked in more than 250 movies.
If her name doesn't strike a chord, she was Kajol's grandmother in Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge and Balraj Sahni's wife in BR Chopra's Waqt (of Ae Meri Zohra Jabeen Meri fame).
Read: Bollywood shuns bedridden Achala Sachdev
Prof Albert Einstein, who laid down major fundamentals in physics, may have starved his wife of sex by demanding her to obey a cruel list of rules, a new
book has claimed.
According to the book, titled 'Einstein: His Life and Universe', the scientist barred his wife Mileva Maric from sitting with him or going out together -- and even ordered -- "Stop talking to me if I request it."
And, Einstein, famous for his theory of general relativity, made clear that sex was a no-no: "You will not expect intimacy from me," 'The Sun' reported.
The cruel list of rules, revealed in the book, insisted his wife tidied his study, did his laundry regularly and gave him "three meals regularly".
For all of us who think the Talwars killed their daughter, here is an insightful piece on Tehelka, which says why the couple has been wronged. Read
The SC order on the release of the Italian ship Enrica Lexie has been postponed to tomorrow.
Also read: The disastrous presidency of Pratibha Devisingh Patil.
In other news, the Congress today sought to distance itself from the speculation over the names of possible Presidential candidates, saying the formal process to choose the next President is yet to take off.
"The President of India is an extremely august office. This is not an office which should be brought into the realm of unnecessary speculation. While it is true that the term of the current President will be ending in July it is also a fact that formally the process to choose the next President has not kicked off," Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said outside Parliament.
President Pratibha Patil's term is going to end in July this year.
Congress leader and Defence Minister A K Antony had yesterday met DMK chief M Karunanidhi as part of the consultation process among UPA allies on the Presidential election.
Karunanidhi today said in Chennai, "We expect a good President. Antony proposed (some names) and so did I. But wecannot tell you the details."
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence tables its report saying there is a huge gap between sanctioned and existing machinery and ammunition in the Army, thereby substantially endorsing Army chief General V K Singh's concern about critical shortages.
The committee has found significant gaps between the number of sanctioned and existing helicopters. It has found that not one of the sanctioned 60 weaponized advance light helicopters has been inducted and there is a shortage of another 76 advance light helicopters, and about 20 Cheetah and Chetak helicopters.
Gun shortage is also at a critical level, while the upgradation of the Bofors gun was taking a long time. The report said it was alarmed at the way the deficiency has been allowed to persist.
Meanwhile, the sessions court has begun hearing Nupur Talwar's bail plea. This afternoon, the special CBI court remanded her to judicial custody, refusing to grant her bail, saying it had no jurisdiction to do so.
Nupur Talwar's lawyers filed the bail application with the sessions court thereafter. However, it seems more than likely that Nupur, who is accused in the double murders of her daugher Aarushi and servant Hemraj, will spend the night in jail.
As we await the order on the Enrica Lexie, read this on the Wall Street Journal.
Why Katherine Boo's new work, Behind the Beautiful Forevers, is just good, not great. Read
At 2:45 pm, the Supreme Court will giver its order on the release of the Italian cargo ship Enrica Lexie. The SC has objected to the compromise reached between the families of the two victims killed by the Italian marines and the Italian government.
Italy has reportedly offered Rs 1 crore each as compensation to the families of the two fishermen who were killed in February this year when two marines on board an Italian ship, Enrica Lexie, fired at them, 'mistaking' them to be pirates.
The DMK today conveyed its acceptance of the Congress' presidential candidate -- Vice President Hamid Ansari or Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. When asked, Mukherjee expressed surprise, "Oh my goodness! Don't indulge in speculation," he said smiling.
This latest development comes a day after the UPA's trusted Lieutenant, Defence Minister AK Antony, met DMK Chief M Karunanidhi at his CIT Colony residence in Chennai. DMK leader TR Baalu, Karunanidhi's daughter and Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi, her mother Rajathiammal and TKS Elangovan were present with Karunanidhi for the meeting.
More on NDTV.com
If you've missed this, here's a must read: The American Ambassador to Pakistan, Cameron Munter, said yesterday that the US government did not announce any bounty for Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, a suspect in the Mumbai terror attacks case.
He blamed the Pakistani media for "misreporting" the issue."Pakistani media is very active and responsible but it misreported the issue of Hafiz Saeed. Though Hafiz Saeed is a suspected accused of the Mumbai terror attacks, the US government didn't place any bounty/head money for him," Munter was quoted by the Dawn newspaper as saying.
He said this while replying to various queries during a media talk after addressing the annual dinner of the American Business Forum (ABF) on Sunday.
Commerce Minister Anand Sharma today said that the government will allow more cotton exports. The cotton export issue was raised in Parliament today with JDU leader and NDA convener Sharad Yadav demanding that the government open a war room to deal with the crisis faced by cotton farmers. He pointed out that although there had been record production of cotton over the past one year, there was no proper storage space and the procurement process was poor.
"The grains are rotting and farmers are suffering. The government is not taking any steps to sort this issue. What is the government doing on this? There is no coordination between the states and the Centre on the issue," said Yadav.
Moving on from the Nupur Talwar story to the Osama bin Laden death anniversary reports, the US today said it does not plan to release images related to the covert raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan fearing that this might incite emotions.
"There's no need to release the photos and video because there's no doubt whatsoever that Bin Laden is dead," Deputy National Security Adviser to US President Barack Obama, John Brennan said.
"What we don't want to do is put out anything that is going to unnecessarily incite emotions on this issue. We believe that it's unnecessary to put something like that out," Brennan said, ruling out any possibility to release these pictures.
barkha dutt @BDUTT Nupur Talwar, mother of Arushi surrenders in court, applies for bail. One of those episodes where I wonder if the truth will ever be known
The CBI court delivering its verdict summarily rejected Nupur Talwar's bail plea. Her plea that she be given bail because she is a woman whose daughter has been murdered, did not hold water. Nupur said she was traumatised enough after the murder of her daughter and sending her to jail would serve no purpose.
This, apparently, had the opposite effect on the court, which rebuked her for trying to "emotionally blackmail" it.
Even as her lawyers move the sessions court, Nupur will spend at least two days in prison before the court can take up her plea.
It's been a year since that day, so here's a meticulously reported account from Showdown -- veteran journalist David Corn details the tense deliberations leading up to the decision to raid the Abbottabad compound on May 1, 2011.
In other news, it's a year since that historic morning when Osama bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A slew of stories around that incident.
On the Foreign Policy: It was just one year ago that the world first heard of Cairo, the dog who joined the mission that took down the world's most hunted terrorist, Osama bin Laden. The news sparked something of a sensation, and while Cairo might be the world's best-known war dog, he's far from a lone fighting force. The world of combat canines is vast, with a long and rich history, and these dogs have footholds on war fronts where you'd least expect to find them. Read
was seen reciting the Hanuman Chalisa. Nobody was allowed in the court room except the CBI officials and lawyers for the dentist couple.
Former BJP president Bangaru Laxman who sentenced to four years in jail last week has resigned from the BJP National Executive.
Read: BJP distances itself from Bangaru
Meanwhile, relief for J&K CM Omar Abdullah.
A magisterial probe today said that the National Conference activist Haji Yusuf died a natural death, thereby exonerating Omar Abdullah and his close aides in the case.
The contents of the report were made public today. In his final report submitted to the state government, the additional district magistrate has concluded that Haji died Sep 30 last year due to "cardiovascular arrest without any external physical assault or injury".
Haji had died in mysterious circumstances after he was summoned to the chief minister's residence, triggering a political furore. The government had ordered a magisterial probe into Haji's death.
Opposing the Nupur Talwar's bail plea, the CBI files its reply in the special Court. It says the bail should be rejected since the crime is a double murder and no bail is granted in such cases.
Nupur's plea says she be granted bail on the grounds that she is a woman, but the CBI says given that she has evaded trial and not appeared in court on several occasions earlier, her bail plea be rejected.
Back to Nupur Talwar's bail hearing: The CBI tells the court that Nupur Talwar has been evading court and had been delaying the probe into the double murder right from the start. The CBI says the crime is too heinous for bail to be given to Nupur. The CBI says that both the SC and the HC are hearing the plea so the CBI court cannot give her bail.
Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha has been adjourned till noon after uproar over the demand for a separate Telangana, precisely what happened last week.
Jason Burke on the Guardian: Documents found in the house where Osama bin Laden was killed a year ago show a close working relationship between top al-Qaida leaders and Mullah Omar, the overall commander of the Taliban, including frequent discussions of joint operations against Nato forces in Afghanistan, the Afghan government and targets in Pakistan. Read
India and Afghanistan are looking to revamp their intelligence sharing system after the recent multiple strikes byTaliban in Kabul and other parts of Afghanistan.
Ahead of foreign minister S M Krishna's meeting with his Afghan counterpart Zalmai Rassoul this week, government officials said the two countries have decided to shun the practice of sharing intelligence through "routine" letters and will instead focus on transferring intelligence inputs immediately.
Read the full report on the Times of India.
Clive Palmer, one of Australia's richest men, has commissioned a Chinese state-owned company to build a 21st Century version of the Titanic.
The mining billionaire told Australian media that construction will start at the end of next year. It would be ready to set sail in 2016. The plan, he added, is for the vessel to be as similar as possible to the original Titanic in design and specifications, but with modern technology.
More on the bbc.
In UP, Rahul Gandhi arrived on a three-day visit of his Parliamentary constituency Amethi, the first after his party's dismal show in the Uttar
Pradesh assembly election.
The Congress General Secretary will meet party workers and review the party's performance during his visit. "During the visit Rahul will be meeting party workers and review the party's performance. Why the party lost and the reasons behind it will be reviewed," Congress state president Rita Bahuguna Joshi said.
She said victory and defeat are part of the election process but the focus of the party was to strengthen the organisation and as of now it was focusing on local bodies polls, likely to be held later this year. Asked about the preparations for the 2014 general elections, Joshi said there was a lot of time for that but the present focus was on local bodies polls.
"With BSP not contesting local bodies polls and SP having little presence, Congress will try to perform well", she said.
CBI to respond to Nupur Talwar's bail application by 11.30 am. If the court rejects the plea, Nupur will be sent to jail. The court could also issue a notice to the CBI on Nupur's bail plea. If that happens, Nupur can seek interim relief.
Nupur Talwar, mother of murdered teenager Aarushi, reaches Ghaziabad special court. In what could be turn out a cruicial day in the Aarushi Talwar murder case, Nupur Talwar is likely to surrender before a special CBI court in Ghaziabad.
On Friday, the Supreme Court directed her to surrender before the CBI court in Ghaziabad. A special bench of justice AK Patnaik and justice KS Khehar asked Nupur -- accused of dodging several summons -- to appear before the trial court on April 30.
Cong sounds out Karuna on Ansari, Pranab for President (The Times of India)
Congress has begun wooing allies for a consensus on its choice for President. Besides Ansari and Pranab, Meira Kumar is its third probable. Read
Nominating Sachin to Rajya Sabha is Cong's 'Dirty Picture': Bal Thackeray (The Times of India)
Shiv Sena chief's tirade against Tendulkar is in sharp contrast with his estranged nephew Raj Thackerays support for his best friends new assignment. Read
MEA said no to 39 trips by 25 Union ministers (Indian Express)
In foreign visits, ministers, former PMs spent Rs 499.89 cr in 2011-12 against budgeted Rs 46.95 cr. Read
Aarushi case: Nupur Talwar may surrender, apply for bail (Hindustan Times)
Nupur Talwar, facing an arrest warrant in the double murder of her daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj, is likely to surrender before a special CBI court in Ghaziabad today. Read
To woo CMs, Centre will clip NCTC wings (Hindustan Times)
In an effort to break the stalemate over setting up of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), the government has offered to make a climbdown on the proposed outfits controversial search and arrest powers. Read