PTI: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said he suspected from the very beginning that foreign forces were behind the rumours which forced thousands of people of northeast to flee Karnataka and some other cities.        

"I was saying from the very beginning that foreign forces were behind this," he said shortly after Union Home Secretary said in Delhi that bulk of the rumours were sourced from Pakistan.

NDTV reports: Home Secretary RK Singh has made a startling revelation. The bulk of the North-East rumours, in the form of doctored MMSes and text messages that warned that students and professions from the North-East will be attacked, originated from Pakistan, said Singh.  

The home secretary also said that New Delhi will raise this issue with Pakistan.

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PTI reports: Three more persons were on Saturday arrested for spreading rumours about attacks on people of North-Eastern states residing here which triggered their exodus, taking the total number of those detained in this connection so far to 16.   

Anees Pasha, Tseen Nawaz and Shahid Salman Khan were arrested under IPC section 153 (A) (spreading enmity among various communities) by spreading rumours through email and SMS, Police Commissioner Jyotiprakash Mirji told reporters in Bangalore.  

Police seized four mobile phones, two computers and a laptop from their possession, Mirji said.   

So far 15 cases had been registered in connection with the rumour mongering, which led to around 28,000 people from the North East region leaving the city in the past three days, he said adding some more arrests would be made in coming days.  

PTI reports: Terming Nehru-Gandhi family scion Rahul Gandhi as future hope of the country, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Saturday said everybody was waiting for him to play a vital role in the country.  

"It was for him (Rahul Gandhi) to make up his mind for assuming such a role as everybody was waiting for it," she told reporters in Phagwara in response to a question.

 In a rant against Britain and the United States, the Taliban's reclusive leader Mullah Omar has said "the invading enemy will flee Afghanistan".        

Omar, one of the world's most wanted terrorists, has been on the run for more than a decade and has even been reported dead.        

But he broke his silence on Friday to taunt the UK and the US and brag "the invading enemy will flee Afghanistan", the Sun reported.

AFP reports: A 6.6-magnitude earthquake hit Indonesia's central Sulawesi province today, the US Geological Survey said, sending terrified residents fleeing from homes and buildings.          

The quake struck 56 kilometres (35 miles) southeast of the city of Palu at around 5:40 pm (0940 GMT) at a depth of 20 kilometres.           

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties but panicked residents in Palu ran from their homes as the ground shook violently for a few seconds, an reporter said.

Asserting that allocation of coal blocks was done by the UPA government in accordance with law, Union Corporate Affairs and Power Minister M Veerappa Moily today said it was not "fair" to question the integrity of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh based on the CAG report.  

The Comptroller and Auditor-General holding the UPA government responsible for the loss of revenue to the tune of Rs 1.86 lakh crore was not right as the Coal Ministry took the decision (allocation) in accordance with the law, he told reporters in Bangalore.        

"It is unfortunate that we are not matured enough to judge the circumstances that prevailed at the time of taking the decision," he said.  

PTI reports: The Telugu Desam Party today demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh step down from his post owning moral responsibility for the Rs 1.86 lakh crore coal scam unearthed by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.     

Addressing a press conference in Hyderabad, Telugu Desam Parliamentary Party leader Nama Nageswara Rao also sought an explanation from the prime minister as to whether the scandal took place with or without his knowledge.      "The indiscriminate allocation of coal blocks happened when the Prime Minister himself was holding the coal portfolio. Even the then Union Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayana Rao claims that Prime Minister himself oversaw the allocation process. Hence the Prime Minister should own moral responsibility for the unprecedented loss to the exchequer and step down," Nageswara Rao said.     

The CAG had unearthed massive corruption to the tune of Rs 3.8 lakh crore, including in the coal blocks, development of new Delhi International Airport and concessions for major power projects, the TDPP leader pointed out.

Indian batsman V V S Laxman announced his retirement from Test cricket on Saturday with immediate effect.

The iconic middle order right-hander, known for his classic drives and cuts, has scored 8,781 runs in 134 Tests, and 2,338 runs in 86 One Day Internationals.

Laxman, who addressed a press conference in his home town Hyderabad, stated that he won't be playing in the two-match Test series against New Zealand, which begins on August 23.