Iran, Qaeda told to pay $6 billon for 9/11

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Tue, 31 July 2012

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23:10 Iran, Qaeda told to pay $6 billon for 9/11

A US judge here has ordered terror group al Qaeda, Taliban and Iran to pay nearly USD six billion to relatives of the victims and survivors of the September 11 attacks.

The lawsuit was filed against the terror groups as well asagainst Iran for its complicity in the attacks.

23:09 Twitter clocks half-billion users: Monitor

AFP reports: Over 500 million people are on micro-blogging site Twitter and Americans and Brazilians are the most connected, according to a study by social media monitor Semiocast released on Monday.

Twitter surpassed the half-billion mark at the end of June, with the United States accounting for both the most users and largest number of 'tweets' or short messages of no more than 140 characters posted on the site.

22:09 Power outage: 70 pc of Northern Grid restored

Power Grid sources say the Northern Grid is likely to be restored soon; 70 per cent of the Northern grid was up 9 pm, said officials, who added that the country's southern and western grids are supplying power to help restore services.

Power supply has been partially restored in Delhi. Emergency power has been given to VIP areas and emergency services like hospitals.

21:40 Power supply restored in Himachal Pradesh

Power supply was restored after four hours in Himachal Pradesh following severe disruption due to the collapse of the Northern Grid, the second time in as many days. Electricity supply stopped around 1.00 pm and was restored after 5.00 pm, an Electricity Board spokesman said.

The breakdown was not due to local fault, but was triggered by the failure of Northern Grid and as soon as the fault was rectified, power supply was restored, he said.

"Now there is normal power supply in the entire state and power generation in all our hydropower projects have resumed," he said.

A massive power cut in the country led to 265 miners getting trapped in coal mines inWest Bengal and Jharkhand and were rescued after they spent agonising time for several hours.

When the three transmission grids serving Northern,Eastern and North-Eastern regions collapsed at 1 pm, 200miners were trapped in Eastern Coalfields' mines in Sodepurand Satgram in Burdwan district of West Bengal.

They were stuck as lifts stopped functioning, Eastern Coalfields General Manager, Technical, Niladri Roy told PTI.

In Jharkhand, 65 miners were stuck in BCCL's mines in Dhanbad district, Bharat Coking Coal CMD Tapas KumarLahiry said. After several hours of rescue operations all the minerswere evacuated in the evening.

"All the 200 miners stuckinside Sodepur and Satgram mines in Burdwan (West Bengal) havecome out. We arranged emergency power to rescue our trappedminers," Lahiry said all the 65 trapped in mines in Dhanbaddistrict of Jharkhand have been "successfully evacuated".

Miners had gone into the mines in the first shift and were struck there after the grid collapsed.

"Cannot start with blame game on states. We will have to keep in touch with the development of the country," said Veerappa Moily, who was given charge of the power ministry at the at a time when the sector is currently battling a major electricity crisis.

He said he will speak to his predecessor Sushilkumar Shinde and take stock of the current situation."It is a very difficult and challenging situation, will have to take stock of it, will always fulfill the responsibilities given to me and will give full attention to power portfolio," Moily said.

"Will speak to Shinde about the current situation and will also meet with the Prime Minister and concerned people on the matter," he said adding that he will have to be fully ceased of the matter before commenting on the current situation.

"Power is a very challenging sector and I always believe in reforms...will remove bottlenecks in implementing projects in sector," Moily said.

The government has extended the last date for e-filing of income tax returns to August 31 due to power disruptions.

20:15 200 miners rescued in West Bengal

The 200 miners, who were stuck in West Bengal coal mines in the wake of the power failure, have been rescued, said Niladri Roy, general manager of Eastern Coalfields.

Power supply has been restored fully in the North-East and it will take a few more hours to resume supplies in other parts of country hit by the outages, Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said today.

"Power supply has been fully restored in the North East," Shinde told reporters.

Grids in the Northern, Eastern and North-Eastern regions failed at 1 am today, causing power crisis for nearly half of the country's population, spread across 22 states and union territories.

19:19 Power failure: 60 miners trapped in Jharkhand

Nearly 60 miners are feared trapped in coal mines in Jharkhand due to the power failure, according to Bharat Coking Coal.

As many states continued to struggle in darkness due to unprecedented grid collapse today, Odisha managed to restore electricity in 70 per cent area within three hours.

Here's why.

According to Odisha Energy Minister Atanu S Nayak: "We have been able to provide power to consumers in less then 3 hours of the eastern grid collapse by drawing electricity from different hydro-power generation stations, captive power plants and state's own thermal units. "We immediately supplied power to Railways on priority basis as passengers are standard at many stations," he said adding the state government had also supplied power to thermal electricity generation centres of NTPC at Kanhia and Talcher for it to 'start up'.

So P Chidambaram will be moving back to North Block. Remember he has been finance minister from May 2004 to November 2008. After the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, Shivraj Patil, was shunted out of the home minstry and Chidambaram was made the Home Affairs Minister, a portfolio he has held since then. Chidambaram is seen as an investor-friendly and a progressive reformist, so the markets should cheer.

In his place, comes, well, Sushil Kumar Shinde, who used to be Maharashtra chief minister. His stint as the power minister hasn't gone too well and the second outage across 19 states today, ensured he was moved. Ironically, instead of being reprimanded for his dismal performance, he has been gifted the home ministry. Expect the Opposition to scream blue murder.

And finally, Veerappa Moily, who is also the Corporate Affairs minister has been given additional charge of Power. For now he takes over a troubled portfolio.

It's official. P Chidambaram is the new finance minister, a portfolio, PM Manmohan Singh was handling ever since Pranab Mukherjee became President.
Sushil Kumar Shinde is the new home minister and Veerappa Moily is the power minister.

In fact, rediff.com was the first to report this story. Read Sheela Bhatt's report

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has extended the deadline for filing income tax returns for assessment year 2012-13 to August 31. 2012. The earlier deadline was July 31, 2012. CBDT said it was extending the deadline given the disturbance in routine life due to failure of power as well as the fact that e-filing has now been made mandatory for individuals and Hindu Undivided Family.

17:57 British royal wins silver

News from the Olympics. Prince William's cousin Zara Phillips has won a silver medal in the equestrian competition. Phillips clattered into a fence today as Team GB's quest for gold took a further blow. Zara spoke of her "disappointment' after sending the bar on the second fence flying in the team eventing. Germany won the gold. Read

17:45 Partial power restoration: North 45%, east 35%

Power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde says power has been restored in 45 per cent of the north zone, 35 per cent in the eastern zone and 100 per cent of the north-east zone The power blackout has affected 20 states. This could well be Shinde's last address to the media as power minister, but no official confirmation on whether Veerappa Moily is taking over the portfolio.

Forty-six of the 200 trapped coal miners in Sodepur and Satgram in Burdwan districts of West Bengal, have been rescued.

17:25

In pictures: India's power crisis deepens. Go here.

17:18

The NHRC has issued a notice to the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir govt over killing of a person in an encounter in Bandipora by Army.

17:16 Power outage: Miners still trapped in Bengal

As the grids collapsed around 1 pm, miners in Eastern Coalfields got trapped in Sodepur and Satgram in Burdwan districts of West Bengal, according to officials who said rescue efforts are on.

In Delhi, Metro commuters were trapped inside the tunnels for sometime as trains came to a halt as electricity supplies got snapped. The Centre blamed overdrawal by states in the Eastern region for today's grid collapse. Power Grid Corp promised normalcy would be restored by 7 pm.

17:11 PC: I'm content being home minister

Home Minister P Chidambaram today evaded a question on reports that he would soon be appointed as the next Finance Minister, saying he was "content" with his current job.

"I don't think so. I am very happy to meet you once in a month. I am content to do the job I am doing and we will meet next month," he told reporters when asked whether today's media interaction would be his last press conference as Home Minister.

About reports that a notification has gone to Rashtrapati Bhavan for the approval of President Pranab Mukherjee to appoint him as the new Finance Minister, Chidambaram said "I am too small a person for the President to tell me".

17:07

Just in: The Delhi police has filed a charge sheet in the Israeli diplomat bombing case. Alleging that an Iranian state agency was involved in the February 13 bomb attack on an Israeli diplomat in the capital, the Delhi Police has concluded that the suspects were members of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of the nation's military.

16:43 Power outages hit 600 million in India

The New York Times on the power outage. Read

16:26 Power crisis caused by mismanagement: BJP

Much like Narendra Modi, his party too has hit out at the government. BJP spokesperson Prakash Javdekar said the crisis was caused due to mismanagement by the government. "The government machinery has failed to locate the exact fault since Sunday's outage, yet it has pushed the entire load onto it. This could happen again," said Javdekar. He added that the PM should be answerable for the crisis.

16:20

Narendra Modi takes a dig at the government: @narendramodi With poor economic management UPA has emptied pockets of common man; kept stomachs hungry with inflation & today pushed them into darkness!

16:18 McCartney joins battle to free baby elephant

Interesting read on the Daily Mail... Routinely beaten and kept so tightly manacled with medieval spiked chains, Sunder the baby elephant cannot take a single step in any direction. He is in desperate need of treatment for a serious eye injury after being cruelly jabbed with a metal poker by his boy handler. Read more

16:12

25% of Delhi Metro services have been restored. No consensus on the number of states affected -- numbers range from 19 to 12.

16:09 The man who dresses elephants

Before the notification for the Cabinet rejig is announced -- an interesting story on the Wall Street Journal. Read

15:53

Rashtrapati Bhavan to make the notification at approximately 4 pm.

15:52 Shinde to be given home, Moily to get power?

Rashtrapati Bhavan will issue notification on the Cabinet reshuffle shortly.

Here's what our sources say: Sushil Kumar Shinde likely to shunted out of the power ministry. He is likely to be home minister.

Home minister P Chidambaram likely to be finance minister. The PM had retained the finance ministry since Pranab Mukherjee became President.

Corporate Afffairs minister Veerappa Moily likely to be power.

15:42 Who will get what in the Cabinet reshuffle?

Congress president Sonia Gandhi has more or less finalised the plan to tweak the Union Cabinet before Parliament opens on August 8. Three ministers will be shifted to the new portfolios. Home Minister P Chidambaram, as expected, will become the finance minister. He succeeds Pranab Mukherjee who has become President of India. He is impatiently waiting for the announcement to be made within 'three to four days'. Read Sheela Bhatt's report.

@bhupendrachaube When half of your country plunges into darkness twice in 48 hours, what do you do? Make your power minister, country's home minister. Wow

15:37

Papers of the Union Cabinet reshuffle has reached President Pranab Mukherjee.

15:33 Mamata declares holiday so people can get home

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has declared a holiday so that people stuck in the power-less state can get home safely. The truly unique Ms Banerjee. Remember, there are 11 other states that have been affected by the power outage.
The West Bengal power secretary has already announced that power will be back only late tonight.

15:25 Moily given power ministry?

Just in: Veerappa Moily, who is the union minister for corporate affairs has been given additional charge of the power ministry, which is being handled by Sushil Kumar Shinde, reports CNN IBN. A major reshuffle is likely to take place in September.

15:13

Delhi Metro trains running at a frequency of 10 minutes now.

15:10

Power has been partially restored to the Delhi Metro, but entrances to all stations remain closed. Train movement has begins on the Delhi-Mathura route.

So, 14 states, 37 crore people affected in the second power blackout in less than two days.

15:01 NDTV sues Nielsen for 'taking bribes to fix ratings'

We'll keep you posted with updates on the situation, meanwhile in other news -- NDTV has sued a global marketing and advertising research company for allegedly manipulating viewership data in favour of channels that are willing to provide bribes to its officials, according to reports.

Read

Another bright spot in the growing darkness in north and east India -- Power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde says the situation will be restored to normal in one hour. Moments after the blackout, Shinde had said that it would take at least five to six hours for power to be restored. The Northern, North eastern, and eastern grids have collapsed together.

14:48 Flights unaffected at Delhi airport

The good news is that flight operations at the Delhi airport remained unaffected despite the grid failure. Immediately after electricity supply stopped at 1:04 pm, all essential services were moved to diesel-run back-up power generation system.

Flight operations at IGIA are absolutely normal and there are no cancellations or delays. The entire power load of the airport was restored within 15 to 60 seconds.

The total installed back-up capacity at IGIA is 59.5 MW. This capacity is well in excess of actual loads.

14:44 Power being drawn from Bhakra Nangal project

Power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde says emergency power is being drawn from the Bhakra Nangal hydel power project.

NTPC Chairman Arup Roy Choudhury has said that 62 NTPC power plants with capacity of 14,000 mw tripped due to grid collapse.

14:40

@lindsaypereira Bruce Springsteen's 'Dancing In The Dark' banned across North India for its subversive lyrics.

@BDUTT Trains halt on tracks. Traffic lights go on the blink. And God only knows what's happening in smaller hospitals. Powerless. Literally.

14:33

Frightening to think about what's happening in small hospitals without power back-up, especially to patients in the ICU. Bigger hospitals like AIIMS, Safdarjung have power back-up for a few hours. They have asked the government to source power from Bhutan.

14:30

On Firstpost.com: Why you should prepare for more power collapses. Read

14:28

The blackout has affected a total of 12 states in north and east India. Indian railways say six zones have been affected with over 300 trains across India.
And a correction, not all seven north-eastern states have not been affected. Assam, Sikkim, and eastern states affected include West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha and Jharkhand.

14:05 Blackout in half of India, emergency power to VVIPs

Quick update...

In Delhi, all government hospitals have switched to a power back-up.
All metro services have come to a halt
Trains are being brought to the nearest station for evacuation.
The northern grid apparently fell below the critical level of 48 Mhz.
AIIMS and Safdarjung Hospitals have asked Bhutan for power back up.
West Bengal may get power back only late tonight, Delhi may get power back in six hours.
100 MW of emergency power being given to VVIP areas.

13:51

Northern states affected are Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and UP.

In the east, West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand have been affected apart from the seven north-eastern states.

West Bengal power secretary says the power is unlikely to return till late night.

13:48

Power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde says the situation is being evaluated and the government will be inquiring into the matter. He said the states are overdrawing which has led to the collapse. The Delhi BSES CEO says electricity will be restored to essential services first -- trains, metro, hospitals... 125 trains held up between Ghaziabad and Mughalsarai divisions. Traffic signals have also ceased to function.

13:39 Will India ask Bhutan for help again?

When northern India was hit by its worst power outage in a decade early Monday -- bringing trains to a standstill, creating massive road jams in the absence of traffic signals, and keeping thousands of offices and factories shut -- the country's leaders turned to its tiny neighbor Bhutan for help.

Read the report on the Wall Street Journal.

13:37 2nd massive power outage in two days

On Monday, entire north India was plunged into the worst power crisis in a decade throwing normal life out of gear for several hours in eight states with collapse of the Northern Grid early morning.

From Railways to Delhi Metro to water supplies, many of the services were severely hit since the grid failed at 2.35 am. Office-goers and students faced harrowing times in the national capital where the Metro train services were disrupted. Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir suffered the power outage. Besides, union territory of Chandigarh was also snapped from the grid.

Also read: Minister blames states for over-use

The blackout happened at around 1 pm. The north and east grid collapses have affected all the seven north-eastern states, West Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand and Bihar, apart from Delhi, Punjab and Haryana, Rajasthan and UP. All trains which are running through these states will be affected. Power ministry sources say it will take another five to six hours for repairs.

Just in: Another blackout in the north and east India as the northern AND eastern grid collapses. Early reports say all Delhi metro services have come to a halt and Kolkata has been severely affected, apart from north-eastern states. All long-distance trains are likely to be affected. This is the second big blackout in two days.

An update on Assam.
BJP leader L K Advani today blamed large scale immigration from Bangladesh for the clashes in lower Assam and said the government's "inaction" in dealing with the problem of infiltrators has resulted in indigenous communities feeling threatened.

"Today's situation has arisen firstly because of criminal delay in dealing with the situation when symptoms were already there. But introspection must lead to the identification of the root cause which is the issue of illegal migration from Bangladesh of which serious note has been taken even by the Supreme Court," Advani said in Guwahati today.

The BJP leader, who visited trouble-torn Kokrajhar district yesterday, said the recent events in Assam were a 'blot' on the entire country. "I visited Kokrajhar yesterday. I can say it is very distressing when such a large number of people are rendered homeless," he said.

Making a comparison with the situation in Jammu & Kashmir, Advani hoped that no other community is made a refugee in their own country like Kashmiri Pandits, who were victims of terrorism.

13:13

The army truck was going from Kokrajhar to Agia in Goalpara in lower Assam. Toll as of now is one dead, seven injured.

13:07 Bomb blast in Assam: 1 jawan dead, 7 injured

Early reports suggest that two jawans may have been killed in IED attack on an Army convoy. As of now, the figures are one jawan dead and seven injured. The soldiers belong to the Dogra regiment.

13:04 Bomb blast in Assam: 1 jawan dead, 7 injured

Update on the Assam blast. An Army truck was attacked in Golpara in lowere Assam. One army man has been killed and seven others injured in the IED blast.

12:58 Arvind Kejriwal: I'm here to sacrifice myself

Back to Anna's fast. To remind you, doctors have advised Arvind Kejriwal to be hospitalised, but the key Team Anna member says he will not be forced to go to hospital and that he's come to Janatar Mantar to sacrifice himself not to get hospitalised.

12:53 P Harish consul general in Houston

Another bit of news is that P Harish has assumed office as Consul General of India in Houston. He was Officer on Special Duty to Vice President of India, Dr Hamid Ansari. Harish was coordinating with the Foreign Office and handled media relations for Dr Ansari.

Our Delhi sources tell us that Shamsher K Sheriff is likely to be appointed as the Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha immediately after Hamid Ansari gets his second term as Chairman of the Rajya Sabha in mid August. Presently, Sheriff is Secretary to Chairman Rajya Sabha.

A new look Secretariat for Vice President Hamid Ansari is expected from September as he will select a Secretary and also a Joint Secretary from the foreign services to assist him in international affairs and also to coordinate the national and international media.

12:37 Docs advise Arvind Kejriwal to be hospitalised

At Team Anna's anti-graft protest at Jantar Mantar, doctors have advised Arvind Kejriwal to be hospitalised, but he has refused. Reasons are yet to be ascertained.

12:30 One dead, seven injured in Assam blast

There's just been a blast in Goalpara in Assam. One person has been confirmed dead, while seven have been injured. Details awaited.

12:26 Heard Indias (Unofficial) Olympic theme tune

Musicians Shantanu Moitra and Swanand Kirkire are asking Indians to cheer the 81 athletes who are competing for their country at the 2012 London Olympics. They put together a track with an accompanying music video for this purpose. Uploaded on YouTube last week, it is rapidly gaining popularity, with already more than half-a-million views. Read

12:21 Chidambaram may be headed to finance ministry

India's home minister, P Chidambaram, may be heading for a hat-trick -- a third stint as finance minister -- at a time when the job is possibly the toughest and most scrutinized in the nation (except for the captain of India's cricket team.).

More on the Wall Street Journal.

The Olympics ceremony celebrated the best of Britain. But in the past three decades so much of that has gone into reverse, says the Guardian. Read

The Delhi Police's investigation into the attack on Israel diplomat's car in February, 2012, points to a clear Iranian state hand, reports CNN IBN. The channel has accessed the police's letter of rogatory that confirms that the attack was part of a larger conspiracy that included a failed attempt in Georgia and twin terror attacks in Bangkok.

The police has written to the Malaysian authorities to allow them to question a suspect who was arrested in connection with the attack. The suspect Masoud's call details reveal that he was in touch with Houshang Afsar Irani, the main suspect who carried out the blast.

11:55 Colosseum in Rome is leaning

Experts say the ancient building has started to tilt, with south side 40cm lower than north, and may need urgent repairs. Read

Meanwhile, in Mumbai, a 24-year-old MBA student was arrested for allegedly mowing down two pedestrians in suburban Andheri under the influence of alcohol, police said today.

According to the MIDC police, the accused, Lalit Madhuprakash Sharma, was driving to his residence after attending a party at a friend's place yesterday.

When he reached close to the Vijay Nagar bridge at Marol, he suddenly lost control of the vehicle which ran over two pedestrians - Meen Bahadur Chatri (50) and Himlal Khanal (45).

"Chatri and Khanal were walking towards Sainath Nagar in the vicinity when they were suddenly hit by the vehicle driven by Sharma from the rear," MIDC senior police inspector Suresh Hujband said. The duo was rushed to Seven Hills hospital nearby where they were declared dead on arrival, having suffered grievous head injuries, police said.

More news from the Olympics.

His arm raised in an apparent Nazi salute, a Lithuanian basketball fan goads two black Olympic stewards.The sight was also witnessed by two policemen at a game on Sunday night, but astonishingly they appeared to do nothing about it.

Read more

A diplomatic storm was brewing last night over Olympic swimming sensation Ye Shiwen.The Chinese 16-year-old was forced to deny using drugs after a respected US coach called her gold medal-winning performance 'unbelievable'

Read more

11:37

@ShivAroor The *only* thing Team Anna has proved from all this tamasha is just how much they actually depend on the media. What a joke.

11:35 Indian education in a state of emergency: Amartya Sen

Commenting on the state of education and other human development indices in India, Prof Amartya Sen on Monday likened it to a state of 'emergency'. The Nobel laureate pointed out that not only Japan and Korea but also other South Asian countries like Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand have taken a lead in providing quality education to their people. More on the Indian Express.

Also read Prof Sen's 2007 interview with rediff.com: What ails India's education system

11:27 Saina, Jwala-Ponappa keep India's hopes alive

India's top shuttler Saina Nehwal romped into the knockout stage of women's singles competition, while Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa also kept their hopes alive in the women's doubles event after recording contrasting victories in their respective groups.

Saina, ranked fifth in the world, was in no difficulty at all as she brushed aside the challenge of Belgium's Lianne Tan with a straight 21-4, 21-14 scoreline in a group E match, which lasted just 27 minutes, here yesterday.

Commonwealth Games gold medallist pair of Jwala and Ashwini also set the Wembly arena ablaze when they stunned world number 10 Yu Chin Chien and Wen Hsing Cheng of Chinese Taipei 25-23 16-21 21-18 in a Group B round robin match here.

In the women's singles, 22-year-old Saina went into an attacking mode straightaway with court movements and put her opponent under tremendous pressure. She took just nine minutes to wrap up the first game and had to work just a little harder to take the second game in 15 minutes to keep herself in the reckoning for an Olympic medal.

Just in: RBI cuts Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) by 1 per cent to 23 per cent. RBI governor Dr D Subbarao has also announced that short term lending (repo) rate at 8 per cent will be retained and has kept other rates unchanged. RBI has lowered growth projection to 6.5 per cent, from 7.3 per cent earlier, for the current fiscal. March-end inflation projection has been raised to 7 per cent from 6.5 per cent earlier.

Anna added that he would stop the agitation if protestors misbehave with media. He said reporters have become part of the campaign.

11:02 Media not to be blamed, I apologise: Kejriwal

Anna Hazare blinks. In the face of demands by the Broadcast Editors' Association which has sought an apology from Team Anna, Arvind Kejriwal says it is wrong to blame the media and he regrets the misbehaviour with the media. Hazare also appealed to supporters to protest in a peaceful way.

At 10 pm yesterday, Team Anna got into an argument with the media saying they were unhappy with the way the media was projecting the protest. The argument turned into a scuffle. Later team Anna member Kumar Vishwas condemned the incident and said that the incident should not have taken place.

And another update on Team Anna on Day 3 of his indefinite fast....

Congress warned that police may intervene if protests by Team Anna breached the law, indicating ruling camp's unwillingness to engage with the anti-graft campaigner. Team Anna raised the government's hackles by sending members to the PM's residence to write graffiti on walls and then on Monday demonstrating at the residence of Union minister Sharad Pawar. Read more on the TOI.

Condemning the scuffle that broke out between Anna supporters and mediapersons on Monday evening at Jantar Mantar, the Broadcast Editors' Association (BEA) has sought an apology from Team Anna.

The incident took place at around 10 pm on Monday night when some Hazare supporters entered into an argument with the mediapersons. They were unhappy that media was not projecting the protest in right light. The argument turned into a scuffle. Later team Anna member Kumar Vishwas condemned the incident and said that the incident should not have taken place.

10:44 Yet again, leopard attack in Thane

A teenager was injured in an attack by a leopard in Bhiwandi town of Thane district, police said today. 14-year-old shepherd, Akshay Rose, was attacked by a leopard at Umarkhand in Bhiwandi near the Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary yesterday when he had gone to the forest with his herd, Shahapur police said.

Hearing the screams, his cousins, who were plucking vegetables in a nearby farm, ran to his rescue. The victim, who suffered multiple injuries on his face and neck, was admitted to JJ Hospital in Mumbai, police said.

This is the third case of leopard attack in 15 days. Five days back, a 40-year-old woman was killed by a leopard in the same area. On July 16, Sanjana Thorat (7) was killed by a leopard when she stepped out of her Mulund home, police said.

10:40

On the upside, 2008 Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh (75kg) and Jai Bhagwan (60kg) have progressed to the round of 16 and Vikas Krishan (69kg) has got a bye into the pre-quarter finals. Today, L Devendro Singh (49kg) and Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Manoj Kumar (64kg) will open their campaigns in the mega-event.

10:39 India's protest against boxer Sumit's loss rejected (as expected)

India's protest against the controversial opening-round loss of boxer Sumit Sangwan (81kg) yesterday in the Olympic Games has been rejected by the jury that reviewed his bout against Brazilian Yamaguchi Falcao Florentino in London.

"The protest has been rejected. The reasons were not given to us but in cases like these, it is extremely rare that a protest is accepted and the decision overturned," national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu said.

Sumit lost 14-15 to Florentino in a closely-contested bout which left the Indian team and Sports Minister Ajay Maken enraged, prompting a quick protest. Sangwan found himself on the wrong side of the judges' scoring pattern as the boxer, despite dominating the second and third rounds, did not get enough points for his efforts.

"Sumit is fine now. Obviously, he was very upset with the result. But there is no other option but to accept things and move on. He will have his chances in future," said Sandhu about the 19-year-old from Haryana

The BSE benchmark Sensex rose by over 55 points in early trade on Tuesday on sustained buying by funds and retail investors ahead of RBI's first quarter policy review amid firm Asian cues.

The 30-share barometer, which had climbed almost 505 points in the previous two sessions, rose by another 55.26 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 17,198.94.

All the sectoral indices led by heathcare, banking and consumer durables were trading in the positive zone with gains of up to 0.85 per cent.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty also moved up by 15.05 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 5,214.85.

Brokers said optimistic buying by funds as well as retail investors ahead of RBI's first quarter policy review later in the day buoyed the trading sentiment.

James Holmes, who was arrested behind a suburban Denver multiplex minutes after the July 20 shooting at a packed showing of The Dark Knight Rises, killing 12 people, was charged on Monday with 24 counts of first-degree murder, making him eligible for the death penalty if convicted.

The former graduate student also faces 116 counts of attempted murder in one of the worst outbursts of US gun violence in recent years.

Fifty-eight people were wounded in the attack, some of whom remain in critical condition.

Prosecutors have said a decision could be months away on whether to seek the death penalty against Holmes, 24, who made his second court appearance on Monday.

Colorado has three men on its death row and but has not executed a condemned inmate since 1997.

Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers' office charged Holmes with two counts for each victim -- one for carrying out the crime "after deliberation" and the second for "malice manifesting extreme indifference to human life."

09:44 Media wants Team Anna to apologise

As the latest round of anti-corruption activist Anna Hazares indefinite fast entered into its third day on Tuesday, the Broadcast Editors' Association has demanded an apology from Team Anna after the latters supporters heckled media persons on Monday evening at Jantar Mantar.

"The Broadcast Editors' Association strongly condemns attack on media by Anna supporters. The BEA believes that this is an interference in the functioning of media. The media is discharging its legitimate duty of covering the agitation in a fair manner. The BEA seeks an immediate apology from Team Anna for the misbehaviour by its supporters," the BEA said in a press release.

The scuffle took place at around 10 pm on Monday night, after a Team Anna member claimed on stage that the media was not fairly covering the movement.

While Team Anna member Kumar Vishwas condemned the incident saying the scuffle was unwarranted, the BEA has stressed on an immediate apology.

09:43 RBI may keep policy rates unchanged

The Reserve Bank has hinted at holding on to its elevated rates in the quarterly monetary policy review on Tuesday, saying there are increased risks on inflation scenario and lack of action on the fiscal front.

"Monetary policy space needs to be created through fiscal adjustment and structural measures to improve supply conditions," the Reserve Bank said in its report on Macroeconomic and Monetary Developments, released Monday on the eve of the policy announcement.

The near-term outlook on inflation is marked by a slew of upside risks despite significant slowdown in growth, the RBI said, adding that suppressed inflation, poor supply responses and a weaker monsoon are risks to price-situation.

"Persistence of inflation, even as growth is slowing has emerged as major challenge for monetary policy," it said.

For the month of June, the headline or WPI inflation stood at 7.25 percent while the consumer price index was at double-digit level of 10.02 percent.

The pro-growth lobby, which is alarmed over quarterly growth slipping to a nine-year low of 5.3 percent for the March quarter, wants the RBI to slash interest rate to prop-up growth.

Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed has called on the Pakistan government to hold 'serious talks' with India over the issue of sharing of river water.

He made the remarks while addressing a meeting of JuD activists in the border city of Sialkot, 70 km from Lahore, on Monday.

"Islamabad should hold a serious dialogue with New Delhi on this crucial issue, which will damage the agriculture-based economy of Pakistan," he claimed.

"India is trying to render our country barren by stopping water coming here," he further claimed

An Empowered Group of Ministers on drought, headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, is scheduled to meet on Tuesday for deciding on relief measures to tackle drought-like situation in some states that has led to fodder and water scarcity.

As of now, monsoon rains are deficient by 21 percent across India, affecting sowing of kharif crops. Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab and West Rajasthan have been the worst-hit regions this year.

02:33 Twitter clocks half-billion users: Monitor

AFP reports: Government forces on Monday strafed rebel-held districts in Aleppo with helicopter gunships and pounded them with shelling on the third day of a pitched battle for Syria's commercial capital.

The fighting has sent some 200,000 civilians fleeing the northern city, according to the United Nations, which warned of a looming humanitarian catastrophe, while France said it would call an urgent UN Security Council meeting on Syria.

01:34 Conrad Black looking to rebuild media empire?

Deposed media mogul Conrad Black, who spearheaded a transformation of Canadian media in the late 1990s and once led a global media empire, hinted at a comeback in interview published on Monday.

"There is a great premium to be placed on the editorial function and on the goodwill of a famous trademark like a respected newspaper," he told The Huffington Post.

Read the full story here

01:15 Singer-actor Tony Martin dies at 98

AP reports: Tony Martin, the romantic singerwho appeared in movie musicals from the 1930s to the 1950s andsustained a career in records, television and nightclubs fromthe Depression era into the 21st century, has died.

He was 98. Martin died of natural causes Friday evening at his WestLos Angeles home, his friend and accountant Beverly Scott said on Monday.

Read the full story here

00:49 Putin signs US-Russia visa pact

AP reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed the ratification of an agreement with the United States that substantially eases the visa regime for both countries' citizens.

The agreement allows Russians and Americans to get three-year multi-entry visas under which they can stay for up to six consecutive months.

It also eliminates Russia's requirement that visitors get a letter of invitation, although tourists will still need to show advance accommodation bookings.

00:32 Top headlines of the last 24 hours

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