Celebrity comedians were among hundreds who on Friday welcomed a United Kingdom court ruling that cleared a man of sending a tweet joking about blowing up an airport.

Expanding reach on internet, the Rashtrapati Bhavan has put programmes attended by President Pranab Mukherjee on video-sharing site YouTube.

With each news cycle, North Korea's young dictator appears a bit more huggable. In late July, we learned that Kim Jong Un had married Comrade Ri Sol Ju, playing a poised Kate Middleton to his porcine Prince William. Together on television, we can watch the chosen couple smile, interact with happy children, and perform a lengthy inspection of an Oz-like kindergarten.

More on Foreign Policy.

Update on Assam. Two teams of doctors and nurses have been airlifted to Assam.: Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today announced the state had four lakh refugees in 203 camps; the death toll stood at 45 and at least 200 people had been arrested. 

The Rashtrapati Bhavan has put programmes attended by President Pranab Mukherjee on video-sharing site Youtube. Officials said the decision to upload ceremonies on the website was aimed at reaching out to younger generation and people working in cyber space. The move came two days after Mukherjee was sworn-in as the 13th President of the country.

Also from Foreign Policy: From raised fists to fistfights, the eight most politically charged moments in Olympic history. Read

The Olympic motto, "Citius, Altius, Fortius" (faster, higher, stronger) might be good inspiration for an athlete training for the games, but for a nation looking for Olympic glory, a more useful dictum might be "maior, ditiores, communistarum" -- bigger, richer, communist.

The full story on Foreign Policy. Read

The mounting violence in Assam has highlighted yet again the serious conflict between tribal and nontribal communities in India. India Ink spoke to Virginius Xaxa, the deputy director at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Guwahati, Assam, to learn more about the most pressing issues affecting the tribal communities in India and to assess how the Indian state has dealt with their concerns.

Read

Apparently embarrassed by the Delhi High Court's paternity verdict against him, former Uttarakhand Chief Minister N D Tiwari today refused to face the media saying it should not be made an issue but asserted that he has no grudge against Rohit Shekhar.

"Yeh mera niji mamla hai, ise tul na dein. (This is my personal matter. Don't make it an issue)," he said in a statement here hours after the Delhi High Court said the DNA report confirmed Tiwari as the biological father of 32-year- old Delhi-based youth Rohit Shekhar.

Tiwari, however, refused to face the media with his OSD Bhavani Dutt Bhatt only distributing copies of his statement to journalists outside his residence. The 87-year-old veteran Congress leader said he never wanted to create any controversy from the bottom his heart and soul.

"Due to my simplicity, at this point of my age, my trusted people hatched a conspiracy against me in a planned way. I have no remorse against them. My sympathy is with Mr Rohit Shekhar. I also have no grudge against Mr Rohit Shekhar," he said.

Excerpts: "The Hotel is the finest hotel I have reviewed, and my tormentors there (two women, one in guest relations and one in PR) were the most sadistic creatures I have ever known. Five hours of touring and talk, man. Then a visit to every grade of room (there are eight). And the whole time I am nodding in Lanvin flats, taking notes in a red Moleskine notebook, and generally pretending to be a person who was not raised by a wolf and would like to run her hand down the fabric of a curtain."

The full story here

Before we move on from ND Tiwari, an interesting read on Tehelka -- why this paternity case matters and why you need to read Rohit Shekhar's story: O Father, Where Art Thou?

An interesting read on the J Dey murder and the consequent arrest of Jigna Vora on Tehelka: The manufacturing of dangerous lies.

Vora is charged under various sections of IPC including murder, criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence, besides stringent provisions of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and the Arms Act. She was arrested on November 25.

Jigna has been shown as the 11th accused in the case. The Crime Branch, which is investigating the murder of MiD Day journalist Jyotirmoy Dey, had on December 3 filed its first chargesheet in the case against against 12 accused including fugitive underworld don Chhota Rajan which did not name Vora.

Vora, Deputy Chief of Bureau of Asian Age was arrested under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) on charges of supplying licence plate number of the motorcycle and address of the slain journalist to Rajan.

Just in: Journalist Jigna Vora has been granted bail in the murder of Mid Day senior reporter J Dey. 

Anuj Bidve's, father, Subhash, says he is satisfied with the court verdict. In January, Anuj's parents had visited Manchester, and were taken to the spot where their son had been shot dead on December 26, 2011. Speaking to the media, his composed and dignified father had said, "There are no words, the world is finished for us, this is what I can say," Subhash said, as his wife stood with him, silently wiping off her tears.

Meanwhile, Kiaran Stapleton, who was found guilty of murdering Indian student Anuj Bidve last year was today sentenced for life, with a minimum term of 30 years before he can be considered for parole.

The Manchester Crown Court yesterday found the 21-year-old guilty of killing Bidve. 23-year-old Bidve, who was studying Micro-electronics at Lancaster University, was walking to the Boxing Day sales with eight friends when he was shot dead on December 26 without warning at Ordsall Lane, Salford.

Back to news of the ND Tiwari story... Rohit Shekhar in a statement to the press just after the court announced that the DNA results had confirmed that ND Tiwari was his father, said, "I am not an illegitimate child, I have a right to take his surname."

Not the end of the story...

Olympics news: Indian archers came up disappointed displays in the men's individual 70m ranking round with Tarundeep Rai 664 (31), Rahul Banerjee (46) coming up with 655 points and Jayanta Talukdar (53) managing 650 points. In the men's team ranking round the Indian trio of Talukdar, Rai and Banerjee aggregated a score of 1969 to finish last out of 12 teams.

South Korea set the first world records of the London Olympics, in the men's archery competition, with legally blind Im Dong-hyun breaking the 72-arrow mark with 699 points. Im, 26, also took part in the team shoot on Friday which also broke the world record, scoring 2,087 points in the 216 arrows alongside Kim Bub-min and Oh Jin-hyek.

ND Tiwari's lawyer said that this was a personal matter and the media should not publicise it. He said, nobody has the right to look into my private life and he as the right to live his life the way he wants to.

Ujjwala Sharma, who is the mother of petioner Rohit Shekhar, says they do not want anything from ND Tiwari, not even an apology.

However, when asked if he would now change his name to Tiwari, ND Tiwari's son, Rohit Shekhar says, yes, it was a possibility and he would do everything that was within his legal right. He said he was neither happy nor sad. 

The Delhi High Court today rejected ND Tiwari's plea not to open his DNA report before a single judge bench, adjudicating the paternity suit of a city youth, who claims to be his son.

The court allowed Justice Reva Khetrapal, who has decided to open Tiwari's DNA report along with those of paternity suit petitioner Rohit Shekhar and his mother Ujjwala Sharma at 2.30 pm today, to declare the DNA test result in open court, but asked her not to give its copies to any party to the case.

On Rediff.com: Rohit Shekhar says: 'Had a bizarre childhood, would meet Tiwari in disguise' Read

The DNA report which has been made public, says that the 87-year-old ND Tiwari is Rohit Shekhar's father, while Ujjwala Sharma is the mother.

Rohit had filed the paternity suit against Tiwari in 2008. The Congressman has tried different legal routes to avoid submitting a blood sample and finally did furnish a sample on May 29 this year at his Dehradun residence, following a court order. The High Court had directed Mr Tiwari to undergo the DNA test on April 27.

Tiwari has filed more than 7 appeals before the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court in the case. Both the courts have come down heavily on Tiwari. He was also fined Rs. 25,000 delaying the legal process.

Law and Justice Minister Salman Khurshid reacting to Anna Hazare's interview to CNN IBN said the social activist is welcome to join politics, and added that he had predicted this development much earlier.

"Let him come. We are saying that he should come. If he wants to come he can enter politics," Khurshid said reacting to Hazare's statement that he is willing to join politics if people asked him to.

"When we used to say it, you (media) didn't believe us. He asked a lot of questions, but now, he is doing the same. He always said that we will not contest elections and asked that how do these people get funds and other things to contest elections," he added.

Hazare said he was willing to enter politics if people demanded and they could put up candidates to contest in elections.

The Samajwadi Party today authorised party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and its three other top leaders to issue official statements. Besides, Mulayam Singh Yadav, the other three leaders are party national spokesman Ram Gopal Yadav, state president Akhilesh Yadav and state spokesman Rajendra Chowdhury, a party statement said.

"It has been seen that those who are not even members of the SP are participating in debates in electronic media channels on behalf of the party. Their views can be personal, but not of the party," Ram Gopal Yadav said in the statement.

Our sources in Delhi tell us that Arun Jaitley, the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, today made a courtesy call on the Chairman of Rajya Sabha Hamid Ansari. Jaitley introduced the new Deputy Leader of BJP Ravi Shankar Prasad to the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, a protocol requirement as the monsoon session of Parliament has been convened from August 8.

Baba Ramdev has reached Jantar Mantar where Team Anna is fasting. The crowds have swelled considerably with Ramdev's supporters carrying flags joining Anna's men. Hardly any standing space left as opposed to the morning when it was just Anna and his men and a few hundred supporters.

At the London, Olympics, another country sees red over their flag.

Taiwan today expressed anger after Olympics organisers said the island's national flag had been taken down from a London display at the request of the Chinese embassy.

The flag was removed from a row hanging over Regent Street, one of London's busiest shopping areas, and replaced on Wednesday with that of Taiwan's Olympic committee.

Titles and flags are sensitive issues between Taiwan and China, as Beijing still claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory despite their split in 1949 after a civil war. Taiwan cannot display its national flag at international sporting events and other events as most countries formally recognise Beijing over Taipei.

Baba Ramdev who is protesting against black money and corruption will now head to Jantar Mantar to join Anna Hazare's fast. 

There was no evidence that Indian student Anuj Bidve was shot dead by a Briton because of his race, Greater Manchester Police has said after one of the most meticulous and fast-paced investigations in recent times.

The GMP has been lauded for its investigation into the unprovoked and motiveless killing of Bidve by Kiaran 'Psycho' Stapleton, who was yesterday held guilty of murder by a jury after a five-week trial at the Manchester Crown Court. Stapleton is due to be sentenced later today.

Read more

In other news: ICICI Bank, country's top private lender, posted on Friday a 36.3 per cent jump in quarterly profit, its strongest growth in more than a year, helped by robust loan growth, high fee income and better asset quality.

ICICI said it made a net profit of Rs 1815 crore ($325.5 million) in the fiscal first quarter ended June compared with Rs 1332 crore a year earlier. Analysts, on average, had expected profit of Rs 174 crore.

Another take on the same story: Michael Johnson links African-American sprinters to slavery, and revisits a particularly ugly pseudo-science. On Salon.com. Read

Moving on to news of the Olympics. Michael Johnson says a 'superior athletic gene' in the descendants of West African slaves means black American and Caribbean sprinters will command the sport at the London Games.

The Olympic gold medallist and BBC commentator said: 'Over the last few years, athletes of Afro- Caribbean and Afro-American descent have dominated athletics finals.

Read more

Six children have died after the roof of their school collapsed. The incident happened at 12:30 pm today and the school is located in the Jaleelpur area of Bijnor district, reports NDTV.

The incident took place some 45 km from the district headquarters.Classes were underway in the 5th standard when the roof collapsed at in the Mansa Devi private school.

District Magistrate Sarika Mohan said 25 children were in the classroom. Rescuers were able to pull out 10 children from under the debris; out of those only four survived.

The authorities believe 15-20 children are still trapped. The district administration said 13 students are seriously injured and have been rushed to district hospital. The parents have reached the hospital.

For good measure, Ramdev now asks anti-graft supporters to come to Ramlila and join him in their 'fight to have a better country'. Remember, Team Anna is fasting at Jantar Mantar. Between the two, they seem to have carved up Delhi's biggest protest grounds.

Just in: Four children have died and 30 have been injured when the roof of a school collapsed in Bijnore, UP. Details awaited.  

Just in: Baba Ramdev who began a parallel fast at the Ramlila Ground today says it's wrong of Anna Hazare to speak against President Pranab Mukherjee.

On Wednesday, Anna had said that he congratulated Pranab Mukherjee for becoming the President. "He has my best wishes. I would not like to talk about corruption charges against him. His goodwill was a far cry from his aides," said Anna.

Be that as it may, the backdrop of the stage at Jantar Mantar, has photographs of the Prime Minister and 14 other senior ministers who Team Anna wants investigated for alleged graft.  Team Anna covered Pranab's photograph with a cloth as Kejriwal alleged that the Congress has "put a chadar (veil)" to protect the former finance minister.

Kejriwal said Mukherjee could  not have become President if the Lokpal bill had been passed.

This is the situation in Assam today.

The Army staged flag marches in worst-hit Kokrajhar and curfew was relaxed in some of the affected districts. A body was found floating in river Gouranga in Dhubri district while 11 people were reported missing on the eighth day of the strife, official sources said.

In Baksa district, where clashes between minority immigrants and Bodos were reported only yesterday, unidentified persons torched three houses at Simla in Daodhar village, they said. There was no casualty or injury.

In the other three riot-torn BTAD districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri, stray attacks and counter-attacks by the two communities continued. Curfew was relaxed today in Kokrajhar district from 6 am to 6 pm, while it was relaxed from 8 am to 10 pm in the minority-dominated Dhubri district.

Night curfew will continue in Chirang, the sources said. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is scheduled to visit Kokrajhar district, which has seen the maximum number of casualties, tomorrow to review the situation.

Within minutes of Tarun Gogoi's press conference, spent mostly at hitting out at the Centre, the MHA says it's wrong to say Central forces were sent late.

Gogoi said it took four days for Central forces to reach and despite his objections reduced the presence of security forces in the state.

Gogoi also hit out at the BJP, asking, if Advani had bothered to visit the state when 100 people had died. He also admonished the Centre telling it to stop calling the unrest a communal riot.

The Congress had set up a 10-member coordination committee to look into the violence in Assam. Gogoi is also under attack from all quarters for what is being called an inept handling of a sensitive situation.

Assam remains the most crucial state from the point of view of defence of the entire Northeast. All communications to the smaller states of the Northeast pass through Assam, but instead of nurturing the state we have frittered away the goodwill of its people and are more concerned with the migrants who are not even citizens of our country. Read more

Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi's press conference is just over.
First, the figures: 4 lakh refugees in 203 camps; 45 dead; 200 arrested.

Gogoi said there is fear and terror among both communities -- Bodos and Muslims, but the fact remains that the state was not given any intelligence inputs. He said if the Centre knew about what was happening, why didn't they send the Army in earlier.

He reiterated that there are no refugees from Bangladesh, nor is there any foreign hand.  He said Assam had a history of ethnic clashes, and he does not need a report card on what is happening in his state.

Gogoi said he kept asking the Centre to send Central forces.

In Amarnath, 16 pilgrims were killed and as many injured when a truck carrying them plunged into a deep gorge in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir late last night.

The truck carrying 34 pilgrims, who were engaged in setting a community kitchen at Amarnath, was returning back when it skidded off the road and rolled down deep into the gorge near Zamoorha Morh in Mansar belt of Samba district, about 50 kilometres from Jammu city at 2330 hours last night, police said. After getting information, Police, Army and BSF rushed to the spot.

Just in: External Affairs Minister S M Krishna says 23 fishermen from Tamil Nadu arrested by the Sri Lankan navy have been released. The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka is making all arrangements for the return of the fishermen.

It's Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray's birthday today. He turns 52. But before you drop everything and head to Matoshree to wish him, Uddhav has said he will not be celebrating his birthday.

"People from the state are facing drought, therefore it is not appropriate to celebrate birthday," Uddhav was quoted as saying in his party mouthpiece Saamana today.

The Sena leader recently underwent an angioplasty to remove three blockages in his arteries at the Lilavati hospital while his father Bal Thackeray is also recuperating currently in the same hospital.

"He (Uddhav) is well, but won't be celebrating the birthday because of drought in the state and also because of his health issues," party spokesman Sanjay Raut said today. "He will not be meeting anybody today," he added.

Back to ND Tiwari for this story on rediff.com: Had a bizarre childhood, would meet Tiwari in disguise: Rohit Shekhar. Read

Japan upset Spain 1-0 on the first day of the men's Olympic football tournament, while Brazil held on for a 3-2 victory over Egypt and host Britain had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Senegal.

Uruguay and Belarus also won as the tournament got under way with eight matches the day before today's opening ceremony. Japan pulled off the surprising win after outplaying gold-medal favorite Spain, which went a man down in the first half and couldn't fight back.

Brazil got three first-half goals but nearly squandered the lead in the second, escaping with the victory to begin its quest for its first gold in Olympic football.
Britain's debut was spoiled by a late goal conceded in the draw with Senegal.

Japan got the winner in Glasgow when forward Yui Otsu broke away from his marker during a corner in the 34th minute and the ball landed right at his feet for a simple tap-in past Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea.

Spain was reduced to 10 men just a few minutes after the goal when center back Inigo Martinez was sent off for a foul while trying to stop a Japanese player from scoring.

"It was an important win for us," Japan captain Maya Yoshida said. "Spain are a very strong team in the group and we played well against them. We worked really hard and we will enjoy our victory. We can get a lot of confidence from this." The loss comes as a blow for Spain's under-23 team, which wants to win Olympic gold to add to the World Cup and European Championship titles held by the country's full national team.

Just in: The Supreme Court has rejected the Centre's plea on the Haj discretionary quota. 

ND Tiwari's DNA test results are expected to be opened in the Delhi High Court today AND made public. The High Court has turned down the former Governor of Andhra Pradesh and veteran Congress leader's plea to keep the results secret. 

Tiwari has been hauled to court by Rohit Shekhar (32), who claims that Tiwari is his biological father. Since Tiwari has claimed he is not Shekhar's father the court ordered a DNA test to settle the matter. 

Tiwari had moved both the High Court and the Supreme Court to keep his DNA test report confidential till the conclusion of hearing in the paternity suit against him.

He was appealing against a July 20 High Court order which said the DNA test results would be made public today. 

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's meeting with President Pranab Mukherjee, their first since the former finance minister took office on Wednesday, has just ended. Singh drove down to Rashtrapati Bhawan for a noon meeting with Mukherjee. Officials described the meeting as a courtesy call.

Vice President Hamid Ansari, Defence Minister A K Antony, Governors of several states, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj were among those who had called on Mukherjee yesterday.

More on Anna's interview with CNN IBN. Speaking to Rajdeep Sardesai, the anti-graft activist said that, "People are coming to me and saying that only fasting or protest will not help and that I should give an alternative. But I do not think so right now," he said.

"The government too has been laggard in bringing in the Lokpal Bill. It has been two years since our protest for a strong Lokpal Bill began. May be the time has come to look at an alternative. But I still hope that the government will introduce it."

He further said that the Lokpal Bill was, is and will always be the primary demand of India Against Corruption. "First Lokpal and then inquiry against the 15 corrupt ministers... The main issue is the Lokpal Bill."

A 35-year-old woman was mauled by a leopard in the Tansa sanctuary of Thane district, police said today.

The woman, Durga, succumbed to her wounds on way to the civil hospital. At around 3 pm yesterday, when Durga, along with her son and husband, was resting in a hut in Tansa sanctuary, the big cat entered the premises and dragged her out.

Hearing her screams, the locals rushed to the spot and chased the animal, but by then the leopard had severely wounded the woman, police said.

The victim was taken to the local government hospital from where she was being shifted to the district civil hospital when she died, they added.

This is the second incident of a leopard attack in the last 10 days. On July 16, seven-year-old Sanjana Thorat was eaten up by a leopard.

Team Anna's indefinite fast against the UPA government entered the third day today with crowds still keeping away from the protest site where some people misbehaved with women media persons.

The crowd count was around 300 at 11 am when Anna Hazare took the dais along with his close aides at Jantar Mantar. The protest site wore a deserted look with people seen only near the stage.

Fasting Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal, a diabetic whose health condition worsened a bit, made a brief appearance at the dais while others like Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai sat with Hazare.

Another Team Anna member Kiran Bedi was not present. She tweeted, "today in Pune for two prior committed speaking engagements. Perhaps a bit of a break of a different kind".

As Hazare took to the stage, some people misbehaved with media persons and even pushed them. After journalists complained to police, organisers announced that those indulging in such acts were not with the movement and police should take action against them.

Organisers blamed the incident on miscreants who are out to disrupt the fast. Later, journalists identified a person who misbehaved with a woman media person and handed him over to volunteers.

Two women journalists said that they were pushed by some men who misbehaved with them. Crowds have been keeping away from the indefinite fast raising questions as to whether the movement has lost its steam. 

In Assam, no fresh reports of violence, but the Assam Communal violence has surely made an impact on India Social Media, be it twitter or facebook. Mainstream media had to take notice as social media had kept the tag #AssamRiot alive in twitter with keeping it trending on and off for last few days.

Read more on the North East (India) blog

Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of attempting to communalise the issue.

"The BJP has been trying to communalise the situation in Assam from the very beginning, by raising the issue of illegal migrants. In fact, there are Muslim illegal migrants, and there are Hindu illegal migrants also," he said.

"Unfortunately, the BJP only talks of Muslim illegal migrants, and the perception that has come to people's minds in the country is, that there are only Muslim illegal migrants," he added.

He further said that Assam is a 'sensitive' state, and that the state government had initially tried to quell the rioting with just the local administration's help.

From the Kashmir Monitor: The statement made by the General Officer Commanding of the 15th Corps, Lt Gen Om Prakash, about the tragic death of a youth from Aloosa village of Bandipora, giving a clean chit to his soldiers, speaks volumes about the arrogance and insensitivity of the army in Kashmir, where human life has lost all the value and worth that it otherwise deserved.

A must-read

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will be meeting President Pranab Mukherjee at 1 pm today. 

Rajamony worked in the Indian Mission to the UN in Geneva as officer responsible for human rights and humanitarian matters. In 1996, he was elected Rapporteur of the UN Commission on Human Rights representing India.

He has also served in the Indian Embassy in Washington DC as the official spokesperson and in the External Publicity Division of the Ministry of External Affairs headed by the Official Spokesperson of the Ministry.

Rajamony is fluent in Chinese (remember, he served nine years in China (Beijing) and Hong Kong). During this stint, he authored a monograph titled "The India-China-US Triangle: A Soft Balance of Power in the Making" which has been translated into Chinese and cited in various books and publications. 

Our Delhi correspondent tells us that Venu Rajamony, a career diplomat, has been appointed as press secretary to President Pranab Mukherjee.

Rajamony is Joint Secretary in the Union Ministry of Finance dealing with International Cooperation.

Rajamony is in-charge of multilateral Institutions (IMF, World Bank, ADB) in the Ministry of Finance. He was also Consul General in Dubai and has served nine years in China (Beijing) and Hong Kong. Rajamony was also Director in the External Affairs Minister's office Interestingly, before he joined the IFS, he was a reporter at a national daily in Kerala.

Rajamony was private secretary to then foreign minister Yashwant Sinha in the NDA government and also briefly with K Natwar Singh.

Here's more

Also joining the President will be Omita Paul, a long time aide of Pranab Mukherjee, who was appointed Secretary to the President on Wednesday. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet approved the appointment of sixty-three-year-old Paul on a contract basis in the rank and pay of Secretary. 

And in another first, Anna said he was willing to join politics if people asked him to. His detractors have often said that it was easy to sit on the sidelines and ask for the government to get moving. The challenge was to enter politics and make a difference. 

Meanwhile, the statue of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati has been restored overnight at the Ambedkar Park in Gomtinagar, Lucknow.

This was done following orders of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. A marble statute of Mayawati was vandalised yesterday. A little known political outfit UP Navnirman Sena has taken responsibility of the incident. Tension prevailed in several areas of the state after the statue was broken.

This is the first time that Anna Hazare has admitted that interest in the anti-graft movement may be waning. However, he was quick to add that people should have patience and faith for things to work out. He also blamed the 15 cabinet ministers for delaying the Lokpal Bill. 

Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare said in an interview to CNN-IBN that he had begun to feel that the enthusiasm amongst the people for fight against corruption was beginning to wane.

"People are coming to me and saying that only fasting or protest will not help and that I should give an alternative. But I do not think so right now," he said.

Read full story here

"I am willing to consider if people ask me to join politics,' said Anna Hazare in an interview to CNN-IBN today. 

When asked about the poor turnout at the ongoing fast at Jantar Mantar he said, "Our movement is very much on track. The agitation must go on. Do not lose patience with agitation. It will yield results." 

On the Lokpal Bill he said, "Fifteen corrupt ministers are blocking a strong Lokpal. The government has kept us waiting on the Bill for two years.'        

The Congress has announced a 10-member coordination committee to look into the Assam violence issue. 

In New Delhi, Muslim MPs across party lines and including some from the Congress, met Home Minister P Chidambaram to say they have lost confidence in the Tarun Gogoi government.

The ethnic clashes between Bodos and Muslims over the past six days have killed 44 people so far.

16 Amarnath Yatra pilgrims killed when their vehicle fell into a gorge in Samba district near Jammu. They were returning from the pilgrimage when the incident happened early this morning. Some survivors allege the driver was drunk and the passengers were giving him directions, reports NDTV.   

More details are awaited.

Hang me if I am guilty: Modi on Gujarat riots

Akhilesh bows before Azam Khan's resignation threat

10 people killed in Pakistan blast

Investors snap up SBI's biggest overseas bond sale

Click here to read yesterday's updates