Details of what the family of Rajbala, who died after being injured in the midnight crack down on Ramdev and his supporters, said today in the aftermath of the SC verdict holding the yoga guru and the Delhi police responsible for the Ramlila crackdown.

Jagdir Malik, Rajbala's husband held the Delhi Police "more responsible"
than the state government for the incident.  "The government is also responsible but the police is even more responsible. Whatever crackdown took place, it could have happened during the day also." 

The court awarded a compensation of Rs five lakh to the family of Rajbala. Twenty five per cent of the amount would come from Ramdev's trust. "We don't want the money in the first place even if my kids ask me or Ramdev asks me," said Malik. 

Rajbala, 52, an activist of Ramdev's movement against black money, died in a Delhi hospital after battling for life for nearly 114 days. She had suffered severe injuries during the crackdown.

Asked if the yoga guru had tried contacting him after the Supreme Court's order, Malik replied in the negative.

The Indian government appears to be playing down evidence of Iranian involvement in last week's bomb attack on an Israeli diplomat here, perhaps out of concern that any such evidence might put it under more international pressure to isolate Tehran, experts say.

Read the report on the Washington Post.

As soon as Malhotra ended his submissions after nearly four-hour proceedings, another ASG Mohan Jain, told the court that he has been instructed to say that Centre is not taking any stand on the issue.

Taking strong exception to Jain's last-minute submission, the bench noted that the government has already advanced its arguments and the court cannot take cognizance of the instructions given to him.

The government today tied itself in knots in the Supreme Court by first disapproving the decriminalisation of gay sex terming it as "highly immoral" and later taking a different line, drawing sharp criticism from the bench.

Appearing for the Home Ministry, Addition Solicitor General P P Malhotra, argued that gay sex is against social order and the Indian society cannot imitate the practices prevailing in foreign countries. 

As media reported the government stand, the Home Ministry quickly distanced itself from the ASG's stand and came out with a statement even as the court proceedings were underway, saying it has not taken any stand on the Delhi high Court order decriminalising homosexuality.

"Ministry of Home Affairs has not taken any position on homosexuality... Ministry of Home Affairs has also not given any instruction apart from conveying the decision of the Cabinet," it said.

It said the Attorney General has been asked only to assist the apex court. The Home Ministry said the matter was considered by the Cabinet and the decision of the Cabinet was that Central Government may not file an appeal against the
judgement to the Supreme Court.

So we all know that things didn't go down quite as planned for either Saif Ali Khan and his dinner companions, or for South African businessman, Iqbal Sharma. Accusations and fists have flown in each and every direction, and as usual we've been privy to it thanks to the real-time coverage provided to us by the TV channels especially.

More on Firstpost.com

Clogged bandwidth resulting from too many users logging in at the same time is one of the biggest challenges faced by Rakesh Kumar Tandon , the man who helms Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation - India's largest e-commerce website which handles online ticketing operations.

Read the interview on the Economic Times

Physicists who shocked the scientific world by claiming to have shown particles could move faster than the speed of light have admitted it was a mistake due to a faulty wire connection.

Read

Citigroup Inc plans to raise up to $2.1 billion by selling its entire stake in Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC), three sources with direct knowledge of the deal told Reuters on Thursday. 

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Beijing forces mourning Tibetans to sing and dance for New Year's.

Bizarre story on the WSJ.

After rising to acclaim as a champion of democracy and action against climate change, Mohammad Nasheed is now back on the streets where he led a nearly two-decade campaign to bring full democracy to an archipelago ruled more like a sultanate.

Read the reuters report.

Back to Baba Ramdev and the SC verdict holding him guilty for the crackdown at the Ramlila grounds on June 5, 2011.

Ramdev says the court has proof that the police acted on the home minister's orders. He says the Delhi police edited the CCTV footage and showed it to the court.

Slamming the action by the Delhi police, Ramdev said no emergency justifies the crackdown at Ramlila and the government has in fact misued its powers and violated human rights.

Responding to the SC verdict that his negligence led to the crackdown, the yoga guru said he had told the crowd to maintain peace and he couldn't have done more.

Ram Jethmalani added that Chidambaram should step down.

From the Wall Street Journal: Legal troubles over the films political content in the loosest sense of the term gave Deshdrohi more publicity than it deserved, given its lack of artistic, social or dramatic merit. But, has it got the ingredients to become Bollywoods own delusional masterpiece worthy of wide-scale cult status?

Read

Take a break from Baba Ramdev and Ram Jethmalani and head to Goa with Nilanjana S Roy's piece on a funky house set into a cliffside in Anjuna in Goa!The directions: Go through the Anjuna flea market, you'll come to a hill on the beach, and it's right there, inside the cliff.' Short of "follow the yellow brick road', it would be hard to find a more charming, fairytale set of directions. St Michael's vaddo is snoozing in the afternoon heat, and it's with a faint sense of unreality that I walk the 200-odd metres through a winding, red sand road, to knock on a door set into the cliffside.

Read more

Baba Ramdev briefs the media in the aftermath of the Supreme Court verdict holding him guilty for the Ramlila crackdown on June 5, 2011. Sitting next to him is his counsel Ram Jethmalani.

Jethmalani says he has strong views against the conduct of the Delhi police and added that the SC order had exposed its role. He says he is not sure whether the court had taken into account the conduct of home minister P Chidambaram and would wait for the judgment to be given to him first.

He says in his opinion Baba Ramdev had won the case.

Remember Bradley Manning, the US soldier suspected of leaking a trove of secret military and diplomatic documents to the WikiLeaks website?

Well, he is to be formally charged in a military court today. The 24-year-old will be charged with 22 counts, the most serious being aiding the enemy, in a military hearing at a base north of Washington, DC. The judge will also set a date for the trial, expected in May.

Read

Christiane Amanpour, a veteran CNN foreign correspondent now working for ABC in the United States, who has conflicts including Rwanda, Iraq, the Balkans and the Palestinian territories talks about Marie Colvin's death and legacy.

Read

Two more journalists have just died in Syria. They gave their lives for one simple reason: to bring the world the news; to find out the truth about what is happening in Syria, so the rest of us can sit in the safety of our living rooms, reading about it in the paper, watching it on television or perusing it on our digital devices.

Read more

The Kerala High Court today admitted a petition filed by the Italian Government seeking to quash the FIR against two of its naval personnel, arrested in connection with the recent shooting to death of two Indian fishermen off
the state coast. 

The petition filed by Italian Consul General in Mumbai Gian Paolo Cutillo and the two accused -- Latore Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone -- also sought a stay on all further proceedings in the case against the two marines, arrested in connection with the February 15 incident.

They submitted that Kerala Police has no authority to conduct investigation in the case and courts in India have no jurisdiction as the incident occurred beyond the Indian territorial waters.

Justice P S Gopinathan, before whom the petition came up, asked the Consul General's counsel why they were not cooperating with the investigation.  "Why don't you cooperate with the investigation?," court asked the counsel. The counsel responded, saying the Kerala police had no jurisdiction to investigate the case.

Kids cry, and parents take their kids to restaurants, so kids sometimes cry in restaurants. Annoying? Sure. But worthy of an official ban? The owners of Grant Central Pizza, a casual restaurant in Atlanta, USA, seem to think so.

Read

This is the breakthrough that the Jayalalithaa government and an under-pressure police has been looking for: five suspects involved in two major bank robberies in Chennai within a single month located and killed.

Read the Firstpost.com story.

The BJP reacts to the Supreme Court verdict on the crackdown on Baba Ramdev, holding both him and the Delhi police guilty for the incident.

The BJP today held Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and union ministers P Chidambaram and Kapil Sibal "accountable" for the incident. 

"Such an attack on peaceful supporters of Ramdev would not have been possible without political clearance at a very high level. The policemen have suffered, but what about political accountability?" BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad asked. 

He said the BJP holds "not only" Home Minister Chidambaram and HRD Minister Sibal "accountable and responsible" for the incident but also Gandhi and the Prime Minister "accountable" for it. "(That is)...because her party and the government have sustained a campaign against Ramdev, Anna Hazare and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar," he alleged.

On Forbes India: Meet Anjali Gopalan, who won the battle against India's homophobes in 2009.

Read

After a sabbatical of sorts, Anna Hazare is back in the news.

In a bid to raise the pitch for electoral reforms and demanded that 'right to reject' option be included in electronic voting machines (EVMs) and candidates against whom a court has framed charges be barred. 

Hazare, along with his close associates Santosh Hegde, Prashant Bhushan, Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi, discussed the matter for about an hour with Chief Election Commissioner S Y Qureshi. According to Team Anna, the meeting was "very useful" and the Election Commission was "very receptive" to their ideas and demands.

IF there is any doubt that we're living in the age of the individual, a look at the housing data confirms it. For millenniums, people have huddled together, in caves, in mud huts, in split-levels and Cape Cods. But these days, 1 in every 4 American households is occupied by someone living alone; in Manhattan, mythic land of the singleton, the number is nearly 1 in 2.

Read the NYT piece

President Obama had his butt groped by a woman in San Francisco. See stars who like to cop a feel, including Brad Pitt, Penelope Cruz, and Justin Bieber.

On the Daily Beast.

"People assume that just because you are a film star, you are a spoilt brat'I feel like I have been aggressed upon (sic),' said Saif Ali Khan, complaining about unfair presumption of guilt in the media. And he probably has a point.

The Saif Ali Khan assault story ad nauseum.

Read

A Fast Track court in Kandmal has acquitted 31 persons who had been accused of being involved in communal violence in Odisha's Kandhamal district
in August 2008. 

Additional Sessions Judge of Fast Track court-2, B N Mishra while pronouncing judgement in an arson and rioting case, acquitted the 31 accused yesterday due to lack of proper evidence. 

It had been alleged by the  prosecution that the accused persons had set fire to houses of people belonging to minority community in August 2008 during Kandhamal riots.

A couple creates a portrait of the Rick Santorum using images likely to make him see red.

See

They're killing with impunity here. I need to be at the epicentre of the storm, said the legendary war reporter.

Read

Syrian gunners have pounded the opposition stronghold where veteran American-born war correspondent Marie Colvin chronicled her last dispatch, just hours before an intense morning barrage killed her and a French photojournalist.

Read the Telegraph story

Also read (and watch the video): Marie Colvin's mother says daughter died doing what she loved

Somy Ali: From Bollywood starlet to Florida womens rights champion

Fast growth for Indias outsourcing industry, despite weak global economy

India in a race against time to meet millenium goals

The Indo-US extradition treaty may pose a major hindrance to India's efforts to produce David Headley and Tahawwur Rana before a Delhi court over the Mumbai attacks, as it does not allow handover of a person already convicted or acquitted for the offence he has been sought for. 

"The (1997 extradition) treaty between India and the United States precludes the extradition of Rana. The court here would not allow it. Rana was acquitted to the charges related to Mumbai in the United States," Patrick Blegan, the attorney for Rana said.

Sidin Vadukut @sidin: Ministry of Home-ophobe Affairs

Prabhu Chawla @PrabhuChawla  Should Home Ministry be bold enough to defend Indian values and oppose Unnatural and alien sexual practices

Ramesh Srivats @rameshsrivats  Ah, I get it. So the Home Ministry is here to control what people do in their homes.

SonaliRanade @sonaliranade  So PC and the Home Ministry think homosexuals are "unnatural" Somebody makes them in factories is it?

I AM Onir @IamOnir  Its a #Shame that the Home ministry is headed by uneducated regressive people. This country is a prey to intolerant ignorant idiots!!!

Madhu 'MadMan' Menon @madmanweb  Reply  Retweet  Favorite Open
The Home Ministry says homosexuality is unnatural. Somebody should tell them so is a Prime Minister with a missing spine.

In other news:

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar surprised many when he said he was fascinated by the hit song "Munni badnam Hui" of Salman Khan starrer 'Dabbang' and keen to know the meaning of "Kolaveri Di".

Nitish revealed his lighter side when a group of journalists called on him at his chamber during the lunch recess yesterday and found him in a very jovial mood. 

Nitish said he had heard about the Kolaveri Di rage and Munni badnaam hui, but he was not aware of  another chart duster "Sheila ki jawani". "What does this Kolaveri Di actually mean?"

Nitish asked an aide, who explained, "It is Tamil for murderous rage." A journalist then further enlightened him: "The singer, a heart-broken lover, wants to know why he was dumped so cruelly." 

Rajbala's family has told CNN IBN that they will not accept the Rs 5 lakh compensation as they do not consider Baba Ramdev guilty. Ramdev's Trust has been told to pay 25 per cent of the compensation to Rajbala and the injured. The SC also said the police had assaulted sleeping victims.

The SC also ordered a compensation of the Rs 50,000 to the injured and Rs 25,000 to those with minor injuries. Remember, 25 per cent of this figure has to be paid by Baba Ramdev's Trust. In addition, the kin of Rajbala, a follower of Baba Ramdev, who died after being lathicharged by the police, is to be compensated by Rs 5 lakh.

The court also said it was Ramdev's legal and moral duty to leave the venue when asked to do so.

In effect, the Supreme Court blamed both Baba Ramdev and the Delhi Police for the midnight crackdown. The SC also said:

-- The police and the state could have avoided the violent incident.

-- There was abuse of power by the Delhi Police and there was violation of fundamental rights of people.

-- The incident shows might of the state which strikes at the foundation of democracy.

--It is a glaring example of trust deficit between people governing and people being governed.

Delivering the verdict, the Supreme Court today said that criminal cases should be filed against the Delhi police and officers responsible for ordering the crackdown on June 5 last year.

The SC told the police that using force was unnecessary and asked why was it key to remove Baba Ramdev and his followers from the ground. The SC also wanted to know why tear gas was used and whether there were enough exits.

The court held Ramdev negligent, which lead to the crackdown and said he should not have continued with the dharna and ordered his trust to pay 25% of all compensation.

Just in: The Supreme Court has pulled up both Baba Ramdev and the Delhi police in the midnight crackdown at the Ramlila grounds on June 5, 2011. It's verdict in the case is as follows...

Ramdev has been held guilty of negligence, while the Delhi police has been told that the crackdown was unnecessary. The incident had left one follower, a lady called Rajbala, dead and many injured. The SC has also ordered the police to pay a Rs 5 lakh compensation to Rajbala.

Abortion investigation: UK doctors filmed agreeing to illegal abortions 'no questions asked'. Women are being granted illegal abortions by doctors based on the sex of their unborn baby.

The Daily Telegraph story.

More health news... A new study reveals that people suffering from depression are characterized by an extreme synchronicity of brain regions that could indicate stymied, inflexible brain.

Read

At least eight people have been killed and 30 injured after a bomb hit a bus stop in the city of Peshawar in north-west Pakistan, police officials say. Several vehicles are reported to have been damaged in the powerful blast.

Read the bbc report.

In world news: At least 33 people have been killed and dozens injured in a wave of bombings and shootings across Baghdad. Officials said the attacks appeared to be targeting police officers.

Read the bbc report.

barkha dutt @BDUTT  What business does any government have to legislate consensual sex between adults. Get out of peoples bedrooms please and run the country.

Scroll down for the context.

Voting picked up in the fifth phase of UP assembly elections covering 49 seats with nearly 24 per cent of the over 1.56 crore electorate casting their vote in
the first four hours amidst reports of poll boycott in some areas.

Polling started at 7 am amidst tight security arrangements and 23.75 per cent votes were cast in the first four hours of voting, Chief Electoral Officer of UP Umesh Sinha said here. Maximum 28 per cent votes were polled in Lalitpur,
followed by 25 per cent in Jalaun district.

Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal today said he was misquoted and his statement distorted by the media. He said he had suggested president's rule for UP only if parties don't get a majority and was in fact explaining the constitutonal and legal reality.

His U-turn comes after the Congress Party reportedly pulled him up for suggesting president's rule in Uttar Pradesh if the party failed to get a majority in the state assembly polls.

Jaiswal yesterday said, "If Congress gets majority, then it will form the government...if some seats are short, then there is no option other than President's rule."

He also said that he expected poll results to be "shocking" and predicted that the Congress would get a majority.

His statement has evoked a sharp response from the Bharatiya Janata Party, which said that it was indicative of the "feudal mindset" of the Congress.

Update on the ongoing India vs Italy row over the fishermen deaths.

Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Stefan de Mistura today met the two arrested naval guards, charged with the killing of two Indian fishermen off Kerala
coast, at Wellington Island. He was accompanied by Italian Ambassador Giacomo Sanfelice, Consul General in Mumbai, Giampaolo Cuttillo and the ship's captain.

Mistura's meeting last night with Chief Minister Oommen Chandy at Kottayam had failed to end the standoff over the issue, with both parties sticking to their stands. 

Chandy told reporters after the meeting that the Italian minister maintained the incident took place in international waters and sought to raise the issue of compensation for the families of the victims. 

He said the fishermen were killed in a "brutal manner" and that the compensation issue did not figure in the talks. The Chief Minister also said there was no point in discussing the matter as "it is a murder case" and that the case would proceed by its legal process.

Right now, Chennai police commissioner JK Tripathi addresses the media in the sensational gunbattle that killed five alleged robbers. Tripathi says a judicial probe has been ordered.

See our 11:05 am post.

All the action at the Colaba police station last evening when Saif Ali Khan was arrested and then given bail in the assault case.

Watch

Tacit support for Saif Ali Khan from the film fraternity.

Vishal Dadlani @V1SH4L Not condoning or defending violence, but everyone's allowed to be human once in a while, no?

On February 7, the Supreme Court heard the issue of the legalisation and decriminalisation of gay sex among consenting adults in private. A bench headed by Justice G S Singhvi dismissed the plea made by one Suresh Kumar Kaushal, who submitted that the defence forces should be made a party to the matter in view of the fact that the Defence Forces Act renders homosexual behaviour as illegal.

More

The remakable debate by the SC on homosexuality.

Last week, anti-gay rights groups, challenging legalisation of gay sex, were asked by the Supreme Court to explain how such acts are against the order of nature as submitted by them. 

A bench of justices GS Singhvi and SJ Mukhopadhaya said that the interpretation of Constitution has changed over the last sixty years and the issue has to be seen in that light. 

"What is homosexuality? Who is the expert to explain order of nature," the bench observed when the senior advocate Amrendra Saran submitted that nature does not recognise homosexuality and lesbianism which are against its order. 

"Are surrogate mothers and test tube baby also against the order of the nature," the bench observed while asking Saran, appearing for Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Right, to explain it. 

The apex court was hearing petitions filed by anti-gay rights activists and also by political, social and religious organisations which have opposed the Delhi High Court verdict decriminalising homosexual behaviour. 

Senior BJP leader B P Singhal, who had opposed in the High Court legalisation of gay sex, has challenged the verdict in the Supreme Court saying such acts are illegal, immoral and against ethos of Indian culture. 

The Union Home Ministry opposes before the Supreme Court the decriminalisation of gay sex in the country. "This is highly immoral and against the social order," the ministry tells the SC. "Our moral and social values are different from other countries and we cannot be guided by them," the ministry tells the SC.

Details in a bit.

New research is shedding light on the question: Why do some people make so much noise during sex?

A Salon read

Omar Abdullah @abdullah_omar Heart felt condolences to the families of those soldiers who lost their loved ones in the avalanches today.

Toll so far is 17.

If you've been lighting candles and praying for his wellbeing, news is that Amitabh Bachchan, who is recuperating at Seven Hills hospital in Mumbai, post his abdominal surgery, is likely to be discharged in the next two days. "He is doing much better and is likely to get discharged today or day after tomorrow," hospital sources told PTI.
The 69-year-old actor too is eagerly awaiting his "moment of freedom".
"Freedom !!! free from central line, free from all kites, free to sleep without precaution....Now await to be free from hospital !! (sic)," Bachchan wrote on twitter.

A hilarious take on the Saif Ali Khan assault episode. (And note what his T-shirt says).

On the Wall Street Journal.

And the latest on what happened on rediff.com: I was hit, I defended myself: Saif

This is what senior BJP leader Uma Bharati said in Charkhari, from where she is contesting on the Cong's prez rule dictat. "On the threat that they would impose President's rule, I appeal to the electorate not to poll in favour of Congress as the party is not understanding the  importance of their votes."

She said such a statement was "undemocratic and was not an announcement, but a threat. "It is indicative of feudal mindset. Congress does not believe in democracy that is why they are saying this," she alleged.

Congress leader Sriprakash Jaiswal today said if his party fails to get a majority in the UP Assembly polls, it will seek imposition of President's rule in the state, a remark that drew a sharp response from the BJP. 

"Those who lack confidence are looking for alliance ....Congress will not forge any alliance," the Union Coal Minister told reporters after exercise his franchise in Kanpur. 

"If Congress gets majority then it will form the government...if some seats are short then there is no option other than President's rule," he said. 

Jaiswal said that results of UP polls would be "shocking" and Congress would get majority. His statement evoked sharp response from the BJP which termed it as an indicator of the "feudal mindset" of the Congress. 

On Twitter:

Yuvraj Singh @yuvsingh09  Got bleyomycin today ! I tell you tht gives me the chills ! Don't no how to spell tht nasty drug !

Update: Police custody of the two Italian navy personnel who shot dead two fishermen last week ends today. The Italian ship will be searched today.

In international news, Cherie Blair, barrister and wife of former prime minister Tony Blair, has sued the now-defunct News of the World over hacking of her phone, joining a host of celebrities and others who have initiated legal proceedings against media baron Rupert Murdoch's company. 

Cherie's solicitor Graham Atkins confirmed that a claim had been made "in relation to the unlawful interception of her voicemails" against News International and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who was allegedly hired by the closed tabloid to hack into phones of celebrities and others for information to be used in sensational stories.

A 'warm moment' between WB CM Mamata Banerjee and PM Manmohan Singh. The West Bengal CM met the PM at 7RCR last evening to discuss the National Counter Terrorism Centre row among other things.   

And on rediff.com, read: Why India needs the National Counter Terrorism Centre

Five persons were today shot dead in an encounter for their alleged involvement in a bank robbery case in Chennai, police said. "Five persons were shot dead around 1 am in connection with the bank robbery case," said Commissioner of Police J K Tripathy .

Acting on a tip-off, a police team surrounded a house in Vandikaran Street in Velachery around 1 am and asked the suspects to come out, another police officer said. The accused opened fire at the police injuring two inspectors.

Two daring daylight bank robberies were reported in Chennai this year.

On February 20, four armed men looted Rs 14 lakh from a branch of public sector Indian Overseas Bank at Keelkattalai on city outskirts. In a similar incident on January 23, four armed men stormed the Bank of Baroda branch near Perungudi and escaped with Rs 19 lakh.

Also from the courts:

A Bangalore court today will resume hearing of the disproportionate assets case filed against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa and her former close aide Sasikala. The latter will appear for the hearing today. Sasikala had at the last hearing given a clean chit to Jayalalithaa. Sasikala is also one of the main accused in a case that alleges that Jayalalithaa misused her office from 1991-1996 to collect unaccounted assets worth Rs 66 crore.

Jayalalithaa had earlier objected to being summoned by the court, but the Supreme Court ordered her to appear in person to answer questions.

A PTI report on the avalanche puts it a little differently. It says that all the 11 people killed in the avalanche were Army jawans, while some others were feared trapped. The avalanches struck two army camps in Ganderbal and Bandipora districts of the Kashmir Valley.

 The first avalanche struck the workshop of 109 infantry brigade of Army posted at Dawar in Gurez area of Bandipora district during the intervening night, a defence spokesman said.

 The rear end of the brigade which houses the workshop was buried under the thick snow. The spokesman said over 20 jawans were buried under the
avalanche. "We have so far rescued 15 soldiers and recovered bodies
of eight others," he added. Some jawans were feared trapped. 

Another avalanche struck Sonamarg area of Ganderbal district killing three Army jawans in their camp, the spokesman said.Authorities had issued medium avalanche warning for both Sonamarg and Gurez areas following fresh snowfall in the higher reaches of the Valley.

The toll in the avalanches in J&K has gone up to 11, with authorities indicating that it could rise. So far, eight people have died Dawar, Guarez, while three army men were killed in Sonmarg, Ganderbal.

Yesterday, Sunday Times war correspondent Marie Colvin and photojournalist Remi Ochlik were killed in a rocket attack in Homs, Syria.

The Daily Beast pays tribute with the story she paid with her life to tell.

Read

Good morning.

Polling for the fifth phase of UP assembly elections covering 49 seats spread over 13 district, including Bundelkhand region, started on a dull note with only
9.88 per cent votes being cast in the first two hours. 

Polling started at 7 am amidst tight security arrangements and 9.88 per cent votes were cast in the first two hours of voting, Chief Electoral Officer of UP Umesh Sinha said here. Maximum 13.5 per cent votes were polled in Mainpuri, followed by 13.33 per cent in Etah district. 

Minimum 8 per cent polling was registered in Hamirpur and Etawah districts. Fate of 829 candidates, including that of Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Shivpal Singh Yadav, BJP leader Uma Bharati and former UP chief minister Kalyan Singh would be decided by more than 1.56 crore electorate.

CCTV tape on Saif scuffle to give clear picture: Cops (The Times of India)
"We will check footage from entry and exit points to verify if the time references given by the complainant are accurate," a Mumbai police official said. Read

As Italy pushes for midway formula, India swears by courts (The Hindu)
Italys Deputy Foreign Minister Staffan de Mistura was told that South Block would not be able to intervene. Read

Polling begins for fifth phase of UP assembly elections (Hindustan Times)
Polling for the fifth phase of Uttar Pradesh assembly elections covering 49 seats spread over 13 district, including Bundelkhand region, begins. Read.

Two avalanches kill nine army troopers in Kashmir (Hindustan Times)
Nine army troopers were killed in two avalanche tragedies in north Kashmir's Bandipora and Ganderbal districts. The toll is feared to rise as more troopers are believed to be under the avalanche. Read

Communal riots not new to Gujarat, Modi told SIT (Hindustan Times)
Gujarat CM Narendra Modi not only refused to take the blame for the 2002 anti-Muslim riots but also claimed that communal violence was not new to the state it went as far back as 1714. Read