MNS chief Raj Thackeray hasinsulted Babasaheb Ambedkar by criticising Dalit leaders from the state for their obsession with Indu Mills land to build anAmbedkar memorial, RPI leader Ramdas Athawale alleged in Mumbai on Tuesday.

22 Tamil Nadu fishermen were injured in two separate attacks allegedly by Sri Lankan Navy which also briefly detained 16 of them while fishing near Katchatheevu in the Palk Straits, in the second such incident in as many days. 

Vayalar Ravi on Tuesday became the fifth person to assume charge as Minister for Science and Technology in three years since UPA returned to power in 2009.     

CNN reports: The Ebola virus has killed 10 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organisation said Tuesday.

The tabling of the CAG report on coal block allocations could result in further delays in getting mining approvals, a securities firm said in its research report on Tuesday.

Union Minister Rajiv Shukla was on Tuesday caught in a controversy as he was heard telling Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien to adjourn the House after the opposition created uproar over CAG report on coal blocks allotment to private firms.

India has sought help from the United States and Saudi Arabia to track down the Internet Protocol addresses of the webpages where morphed images and videos were uploaded to create social unrest in the country.    

Technical details and IP addresses are being sought fromthe two countries by sending Letters Rogatory as computer servers of Google, Facebook and Twitter are located in America while several inflammatory contents were uploaded in some of the webpages in Saudi Arabia.   

Union Home Secretary R K Singh spoke to Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai and apprised him on information about bulk of the morphed images being sourced to Pakistan. Home Ministry officials said information gathered through the LR is acceptable in a court of law as legal evidence and these will be shared with Pakistan.

Having enrolled a population of 20 crore for the unique identity Aadhaar cards across the country in the last couple of years, the Unique Identification Authority of India now targets to enrol another 40 crore in the next couple of years.

"We have enrolled 20 crore so far. We have been given a mandate to enrol another 40 crore, which we hope to do in the next couple of years. Along with that the National Population Registry (NPR) will also do the enrolment and cover the rest of the population," UIDAI Chairman Nandan Nilekani said here today.

He expressed hope that in a "reasonable amount of time" they should be able to cover the entire country.

While on Coalgate, the BJP Parliamentary party meeting will be held tomorrow at 9.30 am at the Parliamentary Annexe to decide the further course of action in their demands of for PM's resignation. Also on the agenda is the possible direct action the party will take to get Dr Manmohan Singh to resign. 

BJP today defended its decision to demand Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's resignation in the alleged irregularities in coal blocs allocation, saying it owes it to the people in the wake of "regular occurence" of scams and insisted it will continue to press for his removal.

"In both Houses of Parliament today, we demanded Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's resignation. We will continue to strongly press for it as the coal allocation issue is not an isolated incident. The 2G spectrum issue, Commonwealth Games scam, public-private partnership issue of airports and now the coal blocks," Deputy Leader of BJP in Rajya Sabha Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

He alleged these cases demonstrate that the Manmohan Singh government is one of "scam, shame, scandals, corruption and loot and that BJP is levelling these charges with all responsibility.

Another health story. E coli bacteria could be one of the reasons behind bowel cancer, scientists have revealed. The breakthrough has raised the prospect of a vaccine against the disease, which takes around 16,000 lives a year and is the second most common form of the disease in women after breast cancer, and the third most diagnosed in men, the Daily Mail reported. Tests on mice and people, carried out in the UK and US, have pointed to the bug being a strong suspect in bowel cancer.

As advice goes, it hardly sounds like the recipe for marital bliss.But one academic claims that a 'sour' view of cheating is weakening British family life by prompting couples to divorce. Read more 

Cat lover or have a pet cat? Exposure to a common parasite hosted by cats could make people more likely to attempt suicide, according to new research.Toxoplasma gondii - which can cause toxoplasmosis - is easily transmitted to humans and has already been linked to a series of personality and behavioural changes. Read more 

Two students from Manipur were allegedly asssulted by the caretaker of their rented accommodation, and two others after an altercation at a south Delhi locality, police said today.

Sudesh, Shakeel Khan and Sushil were arrested recently for the attack on Yurngam and Wungshungmi at their rented premises in Kotla Mubarakpur in south Delhi. The duo filed a complaint alleging that Shakeel, care taker of their rented accomodation, and two others attacked them on the intervening night of August 18 and 19.

Just in:15 people have been injured at Nicco Park, an amusement park in Salt Lake, Kolkata.  Details awaited. 

Fareed Zakaria, the journalist recently accused of plagiarism has resigned from his position on Yale University's governing board to better focus on his work. Read more

Moving on from Raj and Rajniti, the National Commission for Women today questioned how Geetika Sharma's postmortem report was leaked to media, and said it proved that she was exploited and demanded speedy justice for her family.

"I had visited Geetika's family. It is clear that she was exploited and was forced to commit suicide. And there was delayed action in the case which shows that she was exploited," NCW Chairperson Mamata Sharma said while replying to queries on police failure to arrest former Haryana minister Gopal Kanda for nearly 10 days, till he surrendered over the weekend. Kanda is charged with abetting Geetika's suicide.

She questioned how the media got access to the postmortem report "when we or the Ministry didn't receive it". "The most unfortunate thing in this case is the postmortem report, which we had asked for and was not given to us by the police," Sharma said.

Tawde has managed two things -- his 15 minutes of fame, and stealing the thunder from Raj Thackeray.

Police have detained constable Shantaram Tawde, the man who gave Raj Thackeray a rose and have stopped him from speaking to the media. 

Prasanna Zore reports that Tawde, who was on bandobast duty, is from the Wireless unit at Byculla. Speaking to the media before he was detained, the constable says his grievances against home minister RR Patil goes back to 2010 when he was beaten up by CISF guards when he tried to stop them from entering the protected dock area at Sewri.

"I asked RR Patil for justice but instead of supporting me, the state government has harassed me since then and asked him to withdraw his complaint. My boss Arup Patnaik used to mock him saying just because I look like Subhas Chandra Bose, I'm beginning to behave like a netaji.

"As soon as Raj Thackeray ended his speech I went up to him give him this rose. He will fight for the rights of the Marathi manoos as well as those who face injustice. I'm not worried, I know I may lose my job," Tawde said flashing his resignation letter.

He also claimed the state govt has tried to declare him mentally unfit and sent him to JJ Hospital for a checkup twice. 

Raj Thackeray is now at the Amar Jawan Jyoti memorial where he has offered a wreath, much like his cousin did yesterday. The memorial was desecrated by rioteeers on August 11. 

At Azad Maidan, Pramod Shantaram Tawde, the constable who gave a rose to Raj Thackeray is speaking to the media. He says he will be beaten up for his action, but he does not care. "Main ek zinda laash hoon. Police commissioner Arup Patnaik keeps telling me that just because I look like Subhash Chandra Bose, I needn't behave like him. Why did the government release the rioteers when they attacked so many of my colleagues?" 

His speech was entirely directed at the home minister RR Patil and the police commissioner Arup Patnaik and attempted to "boost the morale of the police force" saying "if anyone attacks the police, they will have to face action from me." And of course, he demanded the resignations of RR Patil and Arup Patnaik. #MNS


Ramesh Gopalkrishnan ‏@EkChutkiSindhur Anna: Raj can you please send me your copy of 'How to attract crowds in Mumbai without fasting' #MNS #Rally

Winding out his speech (not his ire), Raj says the only religion he understands is the religion of Maharasthra. "Mujhe sift Maharashtra dharam samajh mein aata hai," he says. Raj ends his speech with a Jai Maharashtra and gives a yellow rose to a cop.
 

"The Home minister compells our policemen to be beaten up," says Raj Thackeray.

Attacking the home minister, he says our police force is compelled to harass youngsters having a good time at a party. "They reach there with hockey sticks. When asked why they were carrying hockey sticks, they say we were playing a match (mimes a hockey stick being used)," says Raj. This is obviously playing to the galleries -- an anti- Vasant Dhoble rant.

He says the morale of the Mumbai police have reached the bottom.  "I will not allow this to happen to Maharashtra," he says. "If Patil (RR) and Patnaik (Arup) have any shame, they will resign. I have come here to increase the morale of our cops," he says. Loud cheers all around.  

Yes, the speech is fiery, as expected. Targetting State Home Minister RR Patil and Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik, he says Maharashtra has become a den of foreigners. Holding up a passport from Bangladesh, he says these people come here with a passport, but never leave. "I found this passport at Azad Maidan on August 11. It is a Bangladeshi passport. Mumbai has become a den of Bangladeshis. When other leaders give incendiary speeches, no action is taken. Action is only reserved for Raj Thackeray. Why!"

Speaking in Marathi, Raj Thackeray, wearing a white shirt, says that when he reached Girgaum and got off his car, he realised it would be impossible to reach Azad Maidan had he walked the whole stretch given the huge numbers.

He said the cops had tried to stop him when he was on his way to Azad Maidan. "I called the CM and asked him 'can't I even talk to the people? It's OK when other organisations hold rallies, but we are blocked each time. I have never crossed limits and I never will," he says to applause. 

And there he is. The crowd hoots in delight as Raj begins speech at Azad Maidan. A big stage draped in the MNS' purple, orange and green has been erected. He was in his vanity van for the last 30 minutes. Raj speaks in Marathi. 

Nightmare for those who find themselves in a medical emergency in south Mumbai and need to get to hospital, though Marine Drive has emptied out by now. Raj as we told you earlier reached Azad Maidan around 3.15 pm and is probably waiting for the rest of his supporters to reach the place.

Raj Thackeray is known to be a fiery speaker, unlike his cousin. Read the 2008 report on rediff.com, on how the media was equally responsible for Raj's success. 

The MNS puts the figure of the number of people at Azad Maidan at 1 lakh, cops says the numbers shouldn't be more than 30,000.

MNS stands by its 1 lakh figure and says:

MNS Pune @MNSPune This is the largest Rally organized in Mumbai in the recent past...#MNSMorcha #MNS

Prasanna Zore walking with the rally to Azad Maidan says Metro junction has been closed to traffic. MNS supporters have spread across almost the entire stretch of the road. You can't see the ground at Azad Maidan, just thousands of MNS supporters. Raj Thackeray is set to speak shortly. Despite MNS claims that there are women supporters as well, but where are they?

So far, the rally has been peaceful. No untoward incident, except for traffic snarls. There are a group of men in black T-shirts with MNS flag who are specifically protesting against the molestation of women cops, attacks against policemen and the media on August 11.

Just yesterday, Raj's now-estranged-now-pals, cousin Uddhav Thackeray (the Shiv Sena executive president) demanded resignations of Maharashtra Home Minister RR Patil and Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik over the August 11 violence that left two persons dead and many injured.

"Patil and Patnaik should quit for their mishandling of the situation," Uddhav said during a visit to Amar Jawan memorial near BMC office in South Mumbai, which was damaged by vandals during the protest.

However, compared to today's massive rally, Uddhav's was a blink-and-miss one.

It seems that Raj Thackeray as reached Azad Maidan. Confirmations in a bit. But if that's true, he will begin addressing the rally any time now.  Vishwas Nangre Patil, Addl. Commissioner. of Police, West Region, had told us earlier that Raj has been given permission to hold a rally at Azad Maidan. If the name Vishwas Nangre Patil seems vaguely familiar it's probably because he was the cop who headed the police charge into the Taj Mahal hotel during the Mumbai terror attacks of November 26, 2008.

And yes, it is confirmed. Raj has indeed reached Azad Maidan.

Raj Thackeray is almost near Metro cinema, which means he should reach Azad Maidan in the next 15 minutes at the outset. 

Raj Thackeray is expected at Azad Maidan in another 20 minutes at the outset.  The MNS chief began the march from Girgaum by walking, but then he got into his car, got off after a bit and is now walking with the crowds again. Crowd strength is estimated to be between 25,000 and 30,000, though the #MNS puts the figure at 50,000 plus. 

On to other news for a bit. An insurgent rocket attack on a US air base in Afghanistan has damaged the plane of America's top military officer while he was on a visit there.Gen Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, was not near the plane at the time but two US maintenance crew were slightly injured.

The attack happened late on Monday night at the US air base in Bagram.He was in Afghanistan to discuss a growing number of attacks against Nato soldiers by Afghan security personnel.

More on the bbc.

Raj Thackeray seems to have nixed the idea of walking to Azad Maidan. He will take drive down the 3 km distance instead. Makes sense because crowds would go berserk. 

@MNSPune All #MNS volunteers are patient. There is no mob frenzy. Women participants in large numbers.

Prasanna Zore tells us that the mood is electric, but peaceful, at Girgaum. Supporters shouting anti RR Patil (home minister) and Arup Patnaik (police commissioner) slogans. The anger against the two is palpable. Very young crowd of supporters at Girgaum.

The road, however, looks like a scene from a riot, with hundreds of footwear littered around. There was a bit of a scuffle earlier, when Raj Thackeray had reached Girgaum as his supporters jostled to get near him. 

Rediff.com's Prasanna Zore says the din at Girgaum is unbelievably high as Raj Thackeray arrives. He is accompanied by his wife Sharmila.


@MNSPune More than 50000 supporters present at Girgaum beach right now... number growing steadily.

Cops put the figure at a more conservative 20,000.

Raj Thackeray reaches Girgaum Chowpatty. He has got off his car and is surrounded by his supporters. It's going to be crawl to from now on. There is an approximately a 2 km traffic jam at Girgaum Chowpatty heading towards Bandra.  

Raj Thackeray should reach Girgaum which is roughly 1.5 km from where he is now, in another 10 minutes given the traffic snarl. It should then take at least 2 hours for Raj's rally to reach Azad Maidan from Girgaum given the huge number of people. So Raj Thackeray's speech at Azad Maidan should not be before 4 pm. Remember, he cannot address the crowd at Girguam since he has not been given permission to use loudspeakers or hold a meeting here, according to High Court orders. You can, however, assemble here.  

@MNSPune Rajsaheb stuck in traffic because of throngs of MNS supporters are there... Will reach shortly at Girgaum beach.

Just in: The plane of US joint chiefs of staff attacked in Afghanistan; no one injured, says NATO. Details awaited. 

PIB India @PIB_India Mumbai Police denies rumors that its personnel injured in Aug 11 riots have succumbed to injuries. TV reports on this are false.

Precisely things like this that can change a peaceful rally into a violent mob.

Raj Thackeray has left the Siddhivinayak temple where he offered prayers presumably for the success of the rally. He will now head to Girgaum.
Prasanna Zore who is at Girgaum says protestors are spilling on to the streets as they wait for Raj to arrive. School buses of JB Petit school inch their way through the crowds. Police seem to be mute spectators. 

Prasanna Zore reporting from Girgaum says there is complete chaos where the MNS supporters have assembled. Almost impossible for traffic heading towards Azad Maidan to move an inch. There is no permission for loudspeakers at Girgaum, which is the assembly point for the rally to begin.

From here Azad Maidan is around 4 km. Raj Thackeray can address the crowds only at the Maidan. Massive show of strength at Girgaum so far, and is expected to increase.

If you're headed to south Mumbai, use the train and move now. Raj will go to Azad Maidan via Marine Drive and Metro cinema. 

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-2) Nisar Tamboli giving the numbers of cops on bandobast, says local police number  2,000, there is one company of RAF with 90 jawans with AK47 and tear gas shells and one company of SRPF also of 90 men.  

Meanwhile, MNS chief Raj Thackeray leaves his Dadar home for Girgaum to flag off the march to Azad Maidan.

The now-forgotten presidential candidate PA Sangma has moved the Supreme Court against the election of Pranab Mukherjee as President. Sangma had sought the cancellation of nomination of the UPA candidate under the Office of Profit rules on the ground that he is Chairman of the Indian Statistical Institute. Indian Statistical Institute, however, stated that Pranab Mukherjee resigned from his post on June 20, before the nomination papers were filed.

There's something to be said for accepting defeat gracefully as against going kicking and screaming. 

The police have given a nod for the meeting, but not for the rally. Around 15,000 cops have been deployed. The government is obviously not going to take chances again after it was caught unprepared for the August 11th violence in which two persons were killed and over 50 injured.

The MNS wants state home minister RR Patil and police commissioner Arup Patnaik to resign over the August 11 violence.

Unconfirmed reports say that roads from Mahim to south Mumbai have been blocked to all traffic except BEST buses. 

Anticipating trouble most shops around Girgaum have downed shutters voluntarily.
Prasanna Zore reports that MNS supporters have assembled at Girgaum but the rally is yet to begin. No traffic congestion as yet.

Stay with us for live updates.

Back to the MNS rally. Rediff.com's Prasanna Zore speaking to Vishwas Nangre Patil, Addl. Commissioner. of Police, West Region, says gathering of a huge mob is a registered offense. "We will take action after the rally, not now."  

Nangre Patil, who is charge of the rally bandobast, said that the offense is said to be registered when police permission has not been given. He said there were between 8,000 to 10,000 people at Girgaum. Police on bandobast duty said the numbers could easily rise to 35,000.

Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha has been adjourned for the day after uproar over opposition demand for Prime Minister's resignation on CAG report on coal block allocation.

TMC's Derek O' Brien wishes Prof Kurien "luck, health and happiness" and uses physics (Kurien was a professor of physics) as a metaphor for Kurien's performance in Parliament. Earlier when the PM had proposed P J Kurien for the post of Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman and the House unanimously elected him, Arun Jaitley had said this was an occasion to cheer since unanimous elections rarely occur.  

Right now in the Rajya Sabha, the PM is addressing the House congratulating Prof PJ Kurien as the deputy chairman of the House. Leader of the Opposition in the RS Arun Jaitley joins the PM in congratulating the House. CPI(M) Sitram Yechury does likewise and says in jest that bell should be kept away from Dr Kurien as he has the habit of going for it at the most inopportune times. The house erupts in laughter.

MNS chief Raj Thackeray is likely to lead the rally from Girgaum Chowpatty to Azad Maidan. 

Parliament is back in session and the ruckus over the CAG report continues. According to the CAG report on coal, the loss to the exchequer is pegged at Rs 1.86 lakh crore.  

Rediff.com's Prasanna Zore reporting from Azad Maidan spoke to senior MNS leader Bala Nandgaonkar just now. Nandgaonkar told rediff.com that the rally will tentatively start at 12.45 pm from Girgaum Chowpatty and end at Azad Maidan -- with or without police permission. He said he was not aware if the Mumbai poplice has cleared the rally. The meeting at Azad Maidan will begin at 2 pm. The party is holding the rally to protest the August 11 violence.

Decision takes the country's leaders one step closer to resolving the biggest political upheaval in decades. Read more on the Guardian.

Also read the Independent report: Chinese leader's killer wife could be free in nine years

Delhi was drenched today after it received the season's highest rainfall which brought along with it woes of waterlogging and traffic jams affecting the movement of thousands of office-goers.

Rain gauges recorded 54.5 mm of rainfall for the past 24 hours ending 8.30 am, which is the highest for the city since the monsoon began in June-end. Rains that began last night continued till this morning in several parts of the capital, resulting in waterlogging in several areas and traffic jams during the peak hours. 

The government has rejected the Opposition's demands for the PM's resignation in the coal allocation scam and asked the BJP to "look at its own role in the coal issue."

As soon as the Lok Sabha met for the day, opposition members trooped into the well raising slogans to pin down the government on the basis of the CAG reports.

The CAG reports have estimated "undue benefits" of over Rs 3.06 lakh crore to private parties in coal block allocation without bidding, Delhi Airport development and diversion of coal to a power project.

The issue was raised vociferously by BJP members, who were supported by their colleagues from other opposition parties including AIADMK, Left and TDP. Amid uproar, Speaker Meira Kumar adjourned the House till noon barely a few minutes after it met for the first time since the latest controversy hit the government.

In the Rajya Sabha, almost the entire Opposition led by BJP Deputy Leader Ravi Shankar Prasad and M Venkaiah Naidu, and Shivanand Tiwari (JD-U) were on their feet and raised slogans as soon as the House assembled. The BJP-led NDA demanded Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's resignation, while Left parties wanted the government to spell out its stand on the three CAG reports. 

Raj Thackeray said Monday the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) would go ahead with its proposed rally from Girgaum Chowpatty to Azad Maidan on Tuesday to protest the August 11 violence.

Thackeray said the rally would be peaceful, but warned that MNS would not be responsible for the consequences if the police tried to obstruct rallyists or prevent vehicles of MNS workers from entering Mumbai.Till late on Monday evening, the MNS had received permission only for a gathering at Azad Maidan, not for the march from Girgaum Chowpatty to the Maidan.

More on the Indian Express.

Update on the exodus to the northeast. The Central government yesterday said it would share with Pakistan evidence of its people and organisations having uploaded inflammatory and objectionable content on the Internet to incite religious sentiments in India, which led to the exodus of northeast people from various States. Read more on the Hindu.

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, will chair an all-party meeting in New Delhi today to discuss reservation in job promotions for those belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

The UPA government is also expected to table a bill in this regard tomorrow. After repeated adjournments in Rajya Sabha and turmoil in Lok Sabha, the government had earlier this month agreed to the members demand for bringing a Constitution Amendment Bill for reservation in promotion of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in state jobs.

Minister of State in the Prime Minister''s Office V. Narayanasamy had then informed the Rajya Sabha that the government would bring a bill in this regard on August 22.

"The Prime Minister will call a meeting of all party leaders on 21st of this month as has been demanded by the whole house. We will try to bring a bill on 22nd," he said. The Supreme Court had earlier in April overruled the Uttar Pradesh Government's decision to provide reservations in government job promotions. 

The verdict had come as a blow to the then Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Government in Uttar Pradesh, which had implemented the policy. The BSP had raised this issue in the Budget Session of Parliament demanding a constitutional amendment to provide for such quotas.

Both Houses of Parliament have been adjourned within minutes of the session opening. There was an uproar in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha over the CAG report on coal allocation with the Opposition asking for the Prime Minister's resignation.

In the second such incident in two days, six Tamil Nadu fishermen were injured when they were allegedly attacked today by the Sri Lankan navy which also detained 13 others near Katchatheevu in the Palk Straits.

The Lankan Navymen attacked the fishermen with stones, nylon ropes and rods and took away their three boats. Gnanasekaran, who suffered a head injury, has been admitted to a hospital here while five others suffered minor injuries, they said, adding, the fishermen were near Katchatheevu, an islet ceded to Sri Lanka by India under an agreement in 1974.

The detained fishermen had been taken to Mannar district in Sri Lanka for being remanded there, the sources said. On Sunday, the Lankan Navy allegedly took away at gun point the catch netted by fishermen who put to sea from here, when they were near Katchatheevu after surrounding 10 boats.

Up ahead at 6 pm today is an all-party meet on the SC/ST Quota Bill. Finance minister P Chidambaram is set to brief UPA.allies on the bill.

As it continued to block web pages and social media accounts used to spread hate messages, the government Monday said it would confront Islamabad with evidence that much of this online content was being uploaded from Pakistan.

Read the full story on The Indian Express

Coal-gate: BJP to AGGRESSIVELY demand PM's resignation

Inflammatory content uploaded from Pak: Networking sites

It'll be Rahul vs Modi in 2014 LS polls: Beni Prasad

MNS to go ahead with anti-Mumbai violence protest march

IN PHOTOS: World immersed in the joy of Eid-ul-Fitr

No more special trains from south, pleads Gogoi

Click here for yesterday's news updates!