India's Home secretary confirms that a foreign substance in was stuck on the to the Israeli embassy car causing the explosion.

Updates on that story as it happens on rediff.com. Stay with us.

This is what the Israeli media says on the foreign substance which was stuck to the bonnet of the car: Delhi blast might be sticky bomb planted by assassin on motorcycle which are the same tactics used to kill Iranian scientist last year.

Also read: Hizballah/Iranian bombing injures Israeli official's wife in New Delhi

The Israeli embassy in New Delhi is guarded by several layers of security and is in a well-defended area of central Delhi close to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's official residence.

David Goldfarb, the spokesman for Israel's Delhi embassy, said the diplomat's car was close to the building on Aurangzeb Road when the explosion went off, reports bbc.co.uk.

Primus Hospital, New Delhi says the victim, who is in the ICU has shrapnel injury.

And a close-up of that picture by Joji Philip

Israeli diplomats around the world have been instructed not to use their cars until it has been cleared by security officials.

Israel foreign minister Avigdor Liberman said today that Israel would not allow terrorism to affect its agenda.

The MHA is now saying that it may seek the help of the NSG in probing the Israeli car explosion.

Primus Hospital, New Delhi says that name of the wife of the diplomat injured in the explosion is Til Yehoshua. She has been admitted to the ICU.

Here's another picture of the Israeli embassy car on fire, also taken by Joji Philip Thomas, who incidentally, is an editor with the Economic Times.

MHA says that only the CFSL is conducting the probe and no other agency is involved.

On Twitter:

Yaakov Katz: Israeli security agencies holding assessments. Boosting embassy security with local police and military. Might send reinforcements.

Recap of what we have so far on the Israeli embassy car explosion in Delhi.

A car belonging to the Israeli embassy in Delhi exploded at 3.15 pm today at Tughlaq Road, New Delhi. The wife of the Israeli defence attache who was in the car and the driver, were injured in the explosion, but both are believed to be out of danger. The cause of the explosion is not known as yet, though the police are exploring whether it was in fact a bomb blast.

Israeli missions worldwide have been put on high alert as the blast comes just one day after the fourth anniversary marking the assassination of Hezbollah arch-terrorist Imad Mugniyah. Diplomats around the world have been instructed to report their whereabouts.

Israel has called the car explosion a terror attack and said bombers had its embassies Georgia as well today, but the bomb had been defused.

MHA sources said the police are probing reports that two motorcyclists were spotted throwing something at the window, which got stuck to it. The Innova car exploded shortly after.

The explosion, says the MHA is very minor, but it is being treated very seriously.

Pictured: The Innova car on fire. The picture was taken by Joji Philip Thomas and posted on Twitter  

Here's what Reuters says on the car explosion, even as Israeli missions around the world were put on high alert.

Bombers targeted staff at Israel's embassies in India and Georgia on Monday, the foreign ministry said, with a bomb going off in New Delhi but a second device in Tbilisi defused.  

Read

A blast in Georgia was averted today, but no official confirmation yet of whether the blast in Delhi's Tughlaq Road was caused by a bomb.   

The explosion occured at 3.15 pm.

Israeli missions worldwide have been put on high alert. The blast comes just one day after the fourth anniversary marking the assassination of Hezbollah arch-terrorist Imad Mugniyah, says this website.

The wife of Israeli defence attache was injured in the attack.

This is what an Israeli website says: An explosion tore through an Israeli diplomat's car in the vicinity of the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi, India, Monday. One person was injured. The blast came just one day after the fourth anniversary marking the assassination of Hezbollah arch-terrorist Imad Mugniyah.

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Foreign office spokesman confirms that one woman has been wounded in the blast near the Israeli embassy in New Delhi.

The home ministry says that blast may have caused the fire, but the reason for the fire has not been determined. MHA sources police probing reports that two motorcyclists were spotted throwing something at the window, which got stuck to it. The Innova car exploded shortly after.

The explosion, says the MHA is very minor, but it is being treated very seriously.

A bomb disposal squad is on the site. The car has been very badly charred. It is still not known whether the two people injured were in fact embassy officials.

The police are looking for witnesses and exploring the blast angle. A report to the home minister and Israeli embassy is expected later this evening.

Update on the Israeli embassy car fire.

A team from the Central Forensic Sciences Lab is conducting the investigation. Early reports say two people wer injured, one of who is the driver. Both are out of danger. The cause of the explosion is not known as yet, though the police are exploring whether there has been bomb blast.

The incident happened where close to the PM's residence at 7, Racecourse Road.

Here's a picture of the incident, unverified for authenticity.   

On the WSJ: A 38-year-old designer, of Bengali and Dutch descent, joins the ranks of heavy-hitters like Vera Wang and Diane von Furstenberg. She has dressed US First lady Michelle Obama nearly 20 times.

Read

Lovely read on the Daily Mail.

Last night Colin Firth played the real life Prince Charming as he came to Meryl Streep's rescue at the Bafta awards. The actor, who was presenting Meryl with the Best Actress award for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, leaped into action as Meryl's shoe flew off as she made her way to the podium to pick up her prize.

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As Maldives tries to get its bearings right, a report says that the destruction of several historical priceless Buddhist artifacts exhibited at the Maldives National Museum has alarmed Maldivians, provoking warnings of a possible rise of Islamic extremism and Taliban-style intolerance in the holiday paradise.

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If you've just joined us, here's why the Special Investigations Team (SIT) conducting the probe on the Gulbarg Society massacare refused to handover the report to Teesta Setalvad-led Citizens for Justice and Peace and senior lawyer Mukul Sinha saying they had "no locus in the case".

The SIT opposed not only the duo in the court of Metropolitan Magistrate's court which is hearing the closure report on the massacre, but also said that only Zakia Jafri, widow of slain Congress MP Ehsaan Jafri, could be given the report as 'Teesta is not the original complainant'. 

On February 15, the Ahmedabad court will pass its order on the SIT report on the Gulbarg Society massacre during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

In other news, a PTI report says that Indians are the largest depositors in banks abroad with an estimated 500 billion US dollars (nearly Rs 24.5 lakh crore) of illegal money stashed by them in tax havens, the CBI director said on today. India, in particular, has suffered from the flow of illegal funds to tax havens such as Mauritius, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, British Virgin islands etc. 

News that should make a certain yogi do an exuberant headstand

Update:

The decision on the plea by Zakia Jafri to seek the SIT report on the Godhra riots will be given on February 15. The SIT today opposed the sharing of the report with activists Teesta Setalvad and Mukul Sinha, saying they had no locus standi in the case. SIT also told the court that it needed more time to share the report.

Teesta Setalvad's lawyer said today that it would be contempt of court if the report was not shared.

Both the Army Chief and the Government appear to have put the controversy over his age behind them with Defence Minister A K Antony today stating
that he has full confidence in Gen V K Singh, says a PTI report. 

The Army Chief's comments and remarks by the Defence Minister indicate that Gen Singh is unlikely to step down as was widely speculated.

"The government has confidence in the present chief and that was conveyed in the Supreme Court also. Everything is clear and we have confidence in him," Antony said when asked if Gen Singh has offered to resign after the apex court verdict.

Sahara now says it will NOT accept the BCCI offer since the body flouted the agreement and breached their trust.

It is learnt that a major bone of contention was Sahara's fresh demand that they should be allowed to field six foreignplayers during the IPL, something that was outrightly rejected by the BCCI.

The other demand was a reduction in the bank guarantee considering the fact that the number of IPL matcheshad been reduced from 94 to 74.

The BCCI stands to lose close to Rs 2000 crore if no solution is found. However, the Board can find another sponsor to neutralise the losses.
BCCI President N Srinivasan said finding sponsors is not a problem for the
cash-rich Board.

"Sponsors are not going away. In any contractual arrangement you will have to provide the scope for change. BCCI has not lost money. For the properties we have, we have adequate sponsors. We have problems with a sponsor, we have
shown we will walk that extra mile to address them," he said.

Sahara's other demand was a reduction in the bank guarantee considering the fact that the number of IPL matches had been reduced from 94 to 74.

Sahara, sponsor of the Indian team for over 11 years,decided to part ways with the BCCI on February 4, complainingthat the Board did not give due consideration to its genuinegrievances with regards to players and number of matches inthe IPL.

The decision to severe all ties with BCCI was takenjust hours before the IPL auction got underway in Bangalore.    

Srinivasan refused to go into the specifics of Sahara'sdemands but made it clear that exceptions won't be made.

The BCCI-Sahara standoff remained unresolved with the Indian Cricket Board's Working Committee rejecting some demands of the long-time sponsor, refusing to make "exceptions" for the company which will now have to
decide its future in the IPL.

After over three hours of deliberation at its Working Committee meeting, the BCCI said it has communicated its decisions with regards to Sahara's demands to the company and was hoping for a "favourable response".

The BCCI also made it clear that while it could show some flexibility but it should not be expected to make exceptions for the corporate giant, which owns the costliest IPL team (Pune Warriors bought at Rs 1700 crore).

The BCCI's stand, which is being interpreted as tough, will mean that the week-long stalemate will persist for some more time till Sahara decides its future course of action.

Here's the report on three-year-old girl who was killed in a freak accident today. (See our 13:26 pm post)

The girl was crushed to death under a school bus in suburban Chembur,
police said. Tulja Kapure was attending a nature's call on the road near Ambedkar Nagar 2 of Tilak Nagar where she resided when the incident took place, they said.

"At about 7.30 am, the driver of the bus was taking a turn and did not see the girl, who was crushed under rear wheels of the vehicle," said R M Gavit, senior inspector at Tilak Nagar police station. 

The victim, who sustained severe injuries, died on the spot, police said, adding the body was taken to nearby Rajawadi hospital for postmortem.

Update on that BCCI, Sahara story.

The BCCI's working committee meeting is over. BCCI President N Srinivasan says the committee's decision has been conveyed to Sahara and BCCI has responded positively within the framework of its rules but not possible to create an exception.

Srinivasan says BCCI has no issues if Sahara wants to bring in a partner and hopes Sahara's responsible is positive.

SIT says that Teesta and another activist Mukul Sinha have no locus in the case.

The court of Metropolitan Magistrate MS Bhatt will also hear the petitions filed by social activists Teesta Setalvad and Mukul Sinha seeking copies of the report filed in a sealed cover before it on Wednesday. The SIT has reportedly observed that it did not have "prosecutable evidence" against Modi and 57 others.  

Earlier, the apex court had asked the SIT to investigate whether there was a larger conspiracy behind the 2002 riots in which more than 1,200 people were killed.

A complaint in this regard was filed by Setalvad and Zakia Jaffery, widow of former Congress MP Ehsaan Jaffrey, in the infamous Gulburg Society case where 69 people were killed during the communal frenzy in 2002.

SIT after questioning many people, including Modi, had filed a report in the Supreme Court in which it had reportedly said that there was no prosecutable evidence against the chief minister.

Congress star campaigner Priyanka Gandhi today sought to play down the raging controversy over senior party leader and union law minister Salman Khurshid's comments saying such "things do happen in elections".

Priyanka, who is currently campaigning in the twin constituencies represented by her mother and brother in Parliament, Rae Bareli and Amethi respectively said that "these are the things which do happen in elections". 

Questioned on the issue in an informal chat at Hallaur here on the issue, she replied, people are free to air opinions on the issue and hoped that the matter would be sorted out by the two institutions. 

The Congress campaigner is scheduled to address about 15 meetings in Bachchrawan area throughout the day and hold roadshows. Khurshid had landed himself in deep trouble with the Election Commission over his comments on quota for minorities.

Like any Opposition leader would, Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Imran Khan calls for PM Yousaf Raza Gilani's resignation immediately. Says the PM and President Gilani are corrupt and don't deserve to stay in office. He says there is no real democracy in Pakistan.

Also read: Imran's 'tsunami' sweeps Lahore

An 18-year-old Tibetan nun has set herself on fire in western China in the latest such protest against Beijing's rule over vast ethnic Tibetan regions, an overseas activist group said.

Also read: Tibetan acts of self-immolation rise amid the battle for hearts and minds.

Warning/hope for those romantically involved with their colleagues...

More than a third of office romances end in a walk down the aisle, a new study has claimed. According to the finding of a new study based on surveys of 7,780 U.S. full-time employees by CareerBuilder, more than 30 percent of those who had a relationship with a co-worker ended up getting married to them.

Overall, 38 percent of workers said they dated a co-worker at least once over the course of their career, with 17 percent having done it twice.

In Aba, a remote town on the Tibetan plateau, the Guardian witnesses how Chinese authorities are trying to quell dissent through security, propaganda and 're-education'.

Read the story on the Guardian.

More stories on the late Whitney Houston.

This is from the Daily Mail:

By the end, Whitney Houston had thrown away every last scrap of the poise and beauty that had made her the ultimate diva of her generation. Leaving a Hollywood nightclub two days before her death, she was drenched in sweat and disoriented, a wad of mint chewing gum visible in her gaping mouth. Blood from a cut trickled down her leg.

But the lady herself, surrounded by party-loving hangers-on, didn't seem to notice.

Read

On rediff.com:  Former Supreme Court judge Justice Santhosh Hegde outlines the options before the Election Commission, the Congress party, the government, and Salman Khurshid in an exclusive conversation with Vicky Nanjappa.

Read

China's leader-in-waiting, Xi Jinping, is due to arrive in the U.S. shortly, providing the first glimpse of the next generation to lead the world's second-largest economy. This once-in-a-decade transition of power, which begins this fall, is rife with unpredictability, particularly as an unfolding political scandal grips China.

Read

Bhim can't understand what he's done wrong.

Before dawn every day he joins hundreds of wholesale traders at Delhi's Azadpur Mandi, a sprawling, chaotic market where trucks blare Bollywood music, porters haul huge brown sacks of fruit and vegetables and hawkers ply tea and cigarettes.

His own trade is in rosy red apples, laced with calcium carbide.

A delectable post-lunch read on reuters.

On the New York Times: It will be weeks before investigators determine an official cause of death. The 48-year-old singer was found unresponsive in her suite at the Beverly Hilton Hotel shortly before she was to attend a pre-Grammy Awards gala.

Read the report

Big day for Gujarat CM Narendra Modi today...

A local court will today hear the closure report filed by the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team, which has reportedly given a clean chit to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi among others for their role in 2002 post-Godhra riots.

Read

The Supreme Court today sought dismissed IPS officer R K Sharma's response on a Delhi police plea challenging his acquittal in the Shivani Bhatnagar murder
case. 

A bench of justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai issued notices also to Sri Bhagwan and Satya Prakash, who too were acquitted by the Delhi High Court in the sensational 1999 murder of the Indian Express scribe in her East Delhi flat. 

The city police has challenged the October 12, 2011 verdict of the high court, which had acquitted Sharma and two others, giving them the benefit of doubt.

Read: The sensational Shivani Bhatnagar murder

TV reports say that a three-year-old girl has been run over by a school bus. Details awaited.

Newsflash on CNN IBN says that BCCI is likely to offer Sahara a replacement for Yuvraj shortly. The BCCI bosses are expected to speak to the Sahara management shortly.  

If you've been holidaying in another solar system, here's why: Yuvraj has cancer, undergoing chemotherapy in US

Whitney Houston, the pop star, who died Saturday at age 48, was born into a musical dynasty. An interview with Cissy Houston in which she describes her daughter's early signs of greatness.

Read the story here

Update on the situation in Maldives.

Tension gripped the Maldives today with lawmakers of Mohamed Nasheed's party alleging they were being threatened with terrorism charges by the new regime, after hundreds of supporters of the ousted president laid siege to the parliament.

The MPs of the Maldivian Democratic Party said the new regime was threatening them in an effort to pressurise them. "They have threatened that they will charge us all with terrorism charges," Maria Didi, MDP MP and former Chairperson of the Party told reporters outside the People's Majlis (Maldivian Parliament) late last night.

Also read: Maldives mess puts hasty Delhi in bind  

Also on Pakistan:  Insisting that the US administration's stance remains unchanged vis--vis Balochistan, US Ambassador Cameron Munter asserted on Sunday that "there is no doubt that people in Balochistan are facing human rights abuses".

Read the report.

On the Tribune, Pakistan: Religious and political leaders, under the banner of the Difa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC), on Sunday pledged that they would offer every sacrifice to preserve and uphold the sovereignty, territorial integrity and ideological boundaries of the country and strongly oppose the restoration of Nato supply lines in Pakistan. 

Read

Big boo boo on FB.

Facebook users mistook Oprah Winfrey for Whitney Houston, leading many to question if the US chat show host had passed away. The 48-year-old Houston was found dead in her hotel room at the Beverly Hilton on Saturday.

According to BuzzFeed, several profile pages carried emotional messages such as 'RIP Whitney Houston', only to have an image of Winfrey underneath, news.com.au reported.

Others thought the showbiz world suffered a double loss with both Winfrey and Houston passing on the same day. "I can't believe both Oprah and Whitney have died. RIP, fly with the angels,' said Facebook user Jeff Mather.  

A notice has been issued to Congress MP and former cricketer Azharuddin for allegedly violating the model code of conduct by distributing shawls in an election meeting in UP. The notice was issued by a Kayamganj election officer to Azharuddin, who allegedly distributed shawls at an election meeting in Shamshabad on February 11.

Here's why Azharuddin was in the news last year.

Paying tribute to the late Whitney Houston: Her 10 best songs

Umar Patek, an alleged mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombing that killed 202 people, was put on trial in Indonesia. The charges against him, some carrying the death penalty, were read out in a Jakarta court on Monday.

Read the report here

Husain Haqqani on Twitter: Another court hearing, another day of predictions about elected government's imminent demise being proved wrong.  

Haqqani is Pakistan's former ambassador to Washington, embroiled in the memogate scandal.

The op-ed piece on the Hindu.

The speed with which India abandoned Mohammed Nasheed and declared support for the successor government is bewildering. Read

With the Army chief's age row controversy settled and behind him, Defence Minister AK Antony left on a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia today. This is the first ever visit by an Indian Defence Minister to Riyadh.

Antony will be accompanied by a high level delegation including the Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma, Vice-Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen SK Singh, Deputy Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Satish Soni and Air Vice Marshal MR Pawar.

Antony will hold discussions with Saudi Defence Minister Prince Salman-bin-Abdul Aziz Al-Saud in Riyadh, besides meeting other senior leaders.

The visit is anticipated to further expand bilateral cooperation in defence, trade and regional affairs.

And results of the other big, big awards... the Grammys...

Read the report on rediff.com: Adele sweeps Grammys 2012 with six wins

French black and white drama The Artist won gold at the 65th British Film Academy Awards Sunday winning seven prizes including Best Picture, while
Meryl Streep continued with her winning streak grabbing the best leading actress title.

The awards, which are Britain's equivalent of the Oscars, gave the Best Film trophy to The Artist, a French homage to told silent film era Hollywood, over other critically acclaimed films like The Help and The Descendants.

French black and white drama The Artist won gold at the 65th British Film Academy Awards Sunday winning seven prizes including Best Picture, while
Meryl Streep continued with her winning streak grabbing the best leading actress gong. 

The awards, which are Britain's equivalent of the Oscars, gave the Best Film trophy to The Artist, a French homage to old silent film era Hollywood, over other critically acclaimed films like The Help and The Descendants.

On Saturday, the world lost a great performer, Whitney Houston. While the cause of her death is yet to be ascertained, the Grammy   

Yet, one more time, Whitney Houston brought a crowd to its feet. "I Will Always Love You" had earned record of the year at the 1994 Grammy festivities, with the accompanying The Bodyguard soundtrack taking home best album. But for all the awards that Houston earned that night, it was her voice that resonated most -- as it did throughout her career.

Read the report on cnn.com

Just in: The Supreme Court of India has asked the government to explain what action has been taken in the disproportion assets case of former CJI KG Balakrishanan.

The Home Ministry ha received a petition last year alleging that Balakrishnan, who was also the chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission, had acquired assets disproportionate to his known sources of income and some of these properties were purchased in the name of his close relatives.

This is what the Dawn, Pakistan says on the Gilani indictment.

Helicopters buzzed over the capital and roads were blocked to traffic Monday as Yousuf Raza Gilani drove himself and his lawyer to the court.

President Asif Ali Zardari can however pardon Gilani.

More of that here

Defence Minister A K Antony today said the "unfortunate controversy" over Army Chief General V K Singh's age had come to an end with the Supreme Court judgement and asked his colleagues to close the chapter. 

"I am very happy that this very unfortunate controversy is over. The judgement of the Supreme Court has come. I request my colleagues to please close this chapter and lets all work together to strengthen national security. National interest is supreme. Let us all work together," Antony said today.

The Supreme Court had ruled that the government decision  on Singh's date of birth will apply to his service matters, forcing him to withdraw his petition. The apex court had,however, clarified that the judgement does not reflect on the competence and capability of the army chief.

Also read B Raman's analysis of the singular case of the Union of India vs VK Singh.

Seven Pakistan judges have signed the chargesheet.

Even as the PM resigns, the PPP has announced a new prime minister.