MNS activists on Tuesday evening vandalized a cinema hall at Boisar in Thane, TV reports stated. The theatre was screening a Bhojpuri film.

A Congress MP Vijay Darda has been named as an accused by the Central Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating firms that allegedly lied about their financial and technical background to corner coal fields.

Darda was closely linked to two of five private firms that were raided today for the coal blocks they landed in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. He has denied that he used his position to influence the allocation process followed by the government.

"My conscience is clear," he told NDTV hours before the CBI began its raids.

Read full report here

This part of the overhead Metro bridge is on the crowded Andheri-Kurla road that leads to the airport. The collapsed bridge is part of the much-delayed 12-km Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar corridor of the Mumbai Metro.

Mumbai's chief fire officer says the injured have been taken to the Seven Hills Hospital (where Aishwarya delivered her baby) and Cooper Hospital, but he fears that many would be trapped under the debris. He says the fire department does not have the requisite equipment to lift the debris. So far, one person is confirmed dead with 10 injured. Five fire engines and two rescue vans are at the spot.

An increase in petrol, diesel, domestic cooking gas (LPG) and kerosene prices looks "imminent" after the Finance Ministry said it has no money to provide for fuel subsidy. "This (hike) is imminent. There is no question of holding back now," a top oil ministry official said today. In all possibility, prices may be increased after the current monsoon session of Parliament ends on Friday.

In other news, the Delhi Government today announced Rs 20 lakh reward for teenaged cricketer Unmukt Chand, who successfully steered the Indian team to win the U-19 World Cup. This was announced by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in the Delhi Assembly. The House adopted a resolution congratulating the 19-year-old U-19 team captain, whose century in the finals helped India to defeat the Australians.

Unconfirmed reports says that one person may have been killed in the mishap, with three of the injured in a serious condition. Police and fire officials say the number of injured may go up. #metro

Two fire engines and an ambulance have been pressed into action and rescue operations are underway. No details yet on why the pillar collapsed, but heavy rains could be a reason. This metro station was to be called Airport Station. #metro

The number of injured has gone up to 15, indicate early reports. The number of people trapped under the debris is 13. Two people have been rescued from the debris. This section of the metro is near the Leela Hotel at Marol. If you're heading to the airport give this route a miss. #metro

Early reports indicate that the pillar was part of an escalator shaft, which collapsed. The stairwell to the escalator was being concretised, which is what collapsed.  

Aaj Tak puts the number of people trapped in the debris as seven, with two people being rescued from under the rubble. If you've just joined us, an under-construction pillar of the Mumbai Metro collapsed today at Andheri-Kurla road.

Two people have been injured when the pillar of an under-construction metro bridge collapsed. 

Four fire engines have been rushed to the spot. The incident happened near the Hotel Leela at Andheri (east). 

An under-construction bridge of the Mumbai Metro collapsed today at Andheri-Kurla road. People feared trapped, say early reports.

Teachers are hoping to harness the enthusiasm created by Mo Farah's Olympic gold to help Somali pupils with their attainment and self-confidence. Read

New research shows 350,000 Britons a year are being infected with pet-borne parasite linked with schizophrenia and increased suicide risk Read

The Trinamool Congress has been a millstone for India's coalition government.The party, which rules West Bengal, won't quit the ruling alliance led by the Congress party, nor will it allow through any economic reforms that economist say are sorely needed. Read

India has assured that it will take all measures to ensure the safety and security of Sri Lankans in the country, saying the Centre was in "close consultation" with the concerned state governments regarding this.

The assurance came in the wake of the travel advisory issued by Sri Lanka asking its citizen not to visit Tamil Nadu until further notice in the wake of "increasing number of instances of intimidation" of Sri Lankans there.

"I wish to convey here that the Government of India, in close consultation with the concerned state governments, has taken and will continue to take all measures to ensure the safety, security and well-being of Sri Lankan dignitaries and visitors to India, including to Tamil Nadu," an official spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs said. He was responding to a query about the advisory by Sri Lanka.

The August 30 interview with Girisha Hosanagara Nagarajegowda before he won his silver at the Paralympics. Read

Sports minister Ajay Maken has confirmed a Rs 30 lakh reward for Paralympics silver medalist Girisha Hosanagara Nagarajegowda. He gave India gave its first medal at the London Paralympic Games after bagging a silver in the Men's High Jump F42 event.

The 24-year old from Karnataka, who has an impairment in his left leg, sailed over a height of 1.74m using scissors technique in the final of the event to finish second in the presence of an 80,000 capacity crowd last night. Iliesa Delana of Fiji won the gold, while Lukasz Mamczarz of Poland settled for bronze.

Maken has said that rewards would be the same for Olympians and Paralympians.

A grueling four-hour trek from the village of Ghangria in the Garhwal district of Uttaranchal brings visitors to one of India's most stunning national parks, the Valley of Flowers.

These grassy pastures, at an altitude of 13,000 feet in the western Himalayas, are covered in snow most of the year. During July and August, though, many of the valley's more than 600 varieties of flora are in stunning bloom.

See the slideshow.

In the backdrop of protests being faced by Sri Lankan pilgrims in Tamil Nadu, the island nation's government is arranging a special plane to take them back home today.

"We get reports that some people follow the pilgrims group, intimidate, abuse and even attack them with stones," Sri Lanka Deputy High Commissioner R K M A Rajakaruna said, adding, the group would be leaving today.

The Sri Lankan government evaluated the situation as the people "appealed to us to arrange to send them back to Sri Lanka," he said. "We thought it would be advisable to arrange their quick eviction from here," the envoy said.

A batch of 178 Sri Lankan nationals on a pilgrimage in Tamil Nadu faced protests for the second day today with a pro-Tamil outfit trying to block their vehicles when they were returning after offering worship at the famous Velankanni Christain shrine near here.Police, however, intervened and arrested nine activists of the Naam Tamizhar Iyakkam with pro-LTTE leanings, who tried to block the seven buses carrying the pilgrims.

The Lankan nationals were meted out similar treatment during their pilgrimage to the Poondi Madha Christian shrine near Thanjavur yesterday.

The pilgrims, including 75 women and 36 children, had arrived at Velankanni this morning to offer worship at the Shrine Basilica, police said. 

A 102-page book written by senior police official Nazrul Islam seems to have ruffled a few feathers in the state administration. The police, on Friday, allegedly raided the College Street shop of Mitra Ghosh, the publisher of the book -- Musalman der Koroniyo -- written by the senior IPS officer and additional director general of police (training).

The present owner of the publishing house Sabitendranath Roy alleged that a huge force of police reached the College Street premises of his shop, locked the sale counters and searched for the book. He also complained that police had asked him to discontinue its circulation a day before.

A press conference has been called by publishers  to  voice their grievances against police raid at the Kolkata Press Club on Wednesday, September 5,
Time- 5 pm.

A very young Rishi Kapoor once famously asked MP Shashi Tharoor, "What is your caste?"

Shah Rukh Khan, who is shooting in Kashmir, got to spend a night in the same room where the super hit song Hum tum ek kamre mein band ho from Bobby was shot. The 46-year-old is shooting for Yash Chopra's untitled film in Gulmarg along with Anushka Sharma.

"I am staying in the room where 'hum tum ek kamre mein bandh ho' was shot in Bobby. Feels sweet...now just to try and lose the keys," Shah Rukh posted on his Twitter page. Legendary Raj Kapoor filmed the romantic song for his 1973 superhit teenage romance "Bobby" starring his son Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia. Incidentally, Rishi Kapoor turns 60 today.

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj will speak on the coal block allocation 'scam' at 4.30 pm today. 

A former intelligence officer writes a gripping and thinly disguised fictional account of the case of Rabinder Singh, an Indian spy who went rogue and escaped to the US. Read the story on Open magazine. 

Your child's first day at school is an emotional experience for any parent.But for some mums and dads it is especially poignant as they arrive with the miracle children who no one expected to survive beyond infancy. Read on

It looked as if it was waiting to happen. A rare sight which is fast becoming a common one - stumps all over the place and Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar walking back amid the ruins. Read more 

India's government is making little progress in implementing some major tax reforms aimed at boosting revenue. So, now it's going after companies that are failing to follow existing tax laws. Finance Minister P Chidambaram has directed tax authorities to focus on sectors paying below-average corporate taxes. Read

Tech Mahindra acquires Hutchison Global Services for USD 87.1 million. Tech Mahindra Limited, a leading provider of solutions and services to the telecommunications industry, today announced the acquisition of 100% stake in Hutchison Global Services Private Limited for USD 87.1 mn, payable upfront.

Hutchison Global Services provides customer lifecycle operations to clients in UK, Ireland and Australia and has an associate base of over 11,500 employees. HGS operates out of Mumbai and Pune and is among the largest captives in the Telecom Domain, reports Moneycontrol.com

A sampling of slogans in Parliament today, which incidentally, has been adjourned for the day. Here you go...

Prime Minister Istifa do (Prime Minister should quit)

Koyle ki dalali hai, Congress sarkar kali hai (brokerage of coal has turned Congress government black)

Beimano ki sarkar nahi chalegi (the government of the corrupt would not be allowed).

Great read to perk you up from your post-lunch slumber. Nikhil Lakshman on the mysteries of Iran and bandaged noses. Read

He gallantly fought Pakistani armymen and intruders in the heights of Kargil. For his heroic exploits in the 1999 war, he was even awarded the Vir Chakra. Now this chest out, chin up retired soldier is preparing for a different battle. Read more 

CBI's registering cases against five companies in the coal block allocation scam leaves no room for further questioning on the impartiality of the investigative agency, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said today.

"Those who allege CBI works on government instructions, they should answer now, how they feel about the CBI action?" Jaiswal said, commenting on the development.

Jaiswal's comments come following CBI registered cases against five companies and unknown government officials as part of its probe into alleged irregularities in allocation of coal blocks.

Five FIRs have been filed against five companies and unknown government officials for alleged cheating. The agency sleuths were also conducting searches at 30 places in ten cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Patna, Hyderabad, Dhanbad and Nagpur.

India and China today decided to resume bilateral military exercises stalled in 2010 as part of efforts to boost defence ties and build confidence between the two neighbours.

Defence Minister A K Antony who joined his Chinese counterpart Gen Liang Guanglie at the delegation-level talks, accepted the invitation to visit Beijing next year. During the 90-minute talks, the two sides also agreed upon high-level official exchanges, training of armed forces personnel at each other's facilities and maritime security cooperation between the two Navies.

Gen Liang is the first Chinese Defence Minister to visit India in eight years. The last visit by an Indian Defence Minister to China was in 2006. Terming the delegation-level talks as "very fruitful", Antony said, "We have decided that (to resume Army-to-Army exercises) and I have also accepted the invitation by him to visit China sometime next year as per mutual convenience. He said that during the talks, the two sides held discussions about "improving relations at the border areas and the situation in the South Asia and Asia Pacific region". 

The BJP today hit out at Shiv Sena leader and NDA ally Uddhav Thackeray for his comments that Biharis living in Maharashtra should carry a permit, saying the party has fought since its inception for allowing all Indians to visit and live in any part of the country.

BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said Jan Sangh, the predecessor of the party, fought against the permit system in Jammu and Kashmir. "The party's founder Shyama Prasad Mookherjee sacrificed his life fighting against the permit system for Indians entering the state of Jammu and Kashmir. We don't need a permit to go to Maharashtra," he said.

Hussain, who is MP from Bhagalpur in Bihar, said Maharashtra is part of India and every citizen of the country has a right to visit it and earn his livelihood. "We will not accept this. Every Bihari has a right to go to any part of the country," Hussain said.

Uddhav Thackeray had echoed the views of his cousin and MNS Chief Raj to demand that a permit system for Biharis in Maharashtra should be implemented in the state.

The outsider issue has gained prominence since the ethnic violence in Assam took place. Recently, a crowd protesting against these attacks indulged in violence and vandalised the Amar Jawan Jyoti memorial in Mumbai.

They clink glass bottles on the streets and beaches of Mumbai to attract customers. They are ashamed of what they do but are driven by poverty and no other means of earning a living. These are the city's male masseurs, many of whom are pushed into prostitution. Read

A pregnant rape victim in Turkey shot and decapitated her attacker then left his severed head in the square of her local village.The woman, five months pregnant, is demanding authorities let her have an abortion even though she is way beyond the ten week limit allowed for terminations in Turkey.  Read more on the Daily Mail. 

Why America will continue to accommodate a rising China. Brahma Chellaney, Professor of Strategic Studies at the New Delhi-based Center for Policy Research, explains. Read

Also on the Hindu... Fears and vulnerabilities run deep in Assam's refugee camps. Read

Nothing could be more myopic than Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's outburst against the visit of a Sri Lankan school football team to Tamil Nadu and her decision to suspend an official for allowing a match to be played in the government-owned Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai. Her action has harmed the image of the State and tarnished the reputation of India as an open and tolerant society.
Read the editorial in the Hindu.

Pakistan's Interior Ministry has warned authorities that a group of Taliban militants plans to carry out attacks on targets in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, including the prison where Lashkar-e-Taiba members charged with involvement in the Mumbai attacks are being held.

A secret report circulated by the National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC) of the Interior Ministry contains "specific warnings of terror attacks" by around 16 members of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan over the next two weeks, The Express Tribune quoted its sources as saying. Read the Tribune report.

An Indian takeaway restaurant with in Sydney has been slapped with a fine of over 97000 Australian dollar after health authorities found cockroaches, accumulated grime and dead rats in its kitchen area.

The former owners of the King Cross-based restaurant, RR Associates, pleaded guilty to 13 counts of failing to comply with the Food Standards Code between December 7 and December 21 in 2011. They were fined a total of 97,500 Australian dollar, according to ABC news report.

The report said that when health inspectors went to the restaurant after a customer complaint they found rat droppings in the service area and cupboards, a dead rat behind a bin and evidence of rat nests. Council officers said that some of the rat faeces was on the floor of the kitchen, in the service area and storage cupboards.

The court heard the walls, floors and food contact surfaces were crawling with cockroaches. Council officers said samosas waiting to be cooked were stored directly below shelving encrusted with dirt and the kitchen was infested with cockroaches. 

BSP chief Mayawati has welcomed the move and said that the party has always campaigned for it. Point to be noted is that the Bill has been cleared despite opposition by the Samajwadi Party. 

The proposed bill seeks to amend at least four articles of the constitution to enable the government to provide quota in promotions to SC/STs. It seeks to remove the term "inadequate representation", mentioned in Article 16 (4) to justify reservation in promotion and appointments, and also delink the term "efficiency of administration" from the claims of SCs/STs for jobs and promotions, mentioned in Article 335. Changes will also be made in articles 341 and 342 of the constitution, following the advice of the government's top law officer, Attorney General GE Vahanvati, on the issue.

The Cabinet has cleared the SC/ST quota Bill, likely to be introduced in Parliament either today or tomorrow. The Cabinet has cleared the reservation for promotion of SC/STs in government jobs. 

Defence Minister A K Antony has announced that India and China will resume military exercises. Antony is scheduled to visit China next year. The announcements came in the wake of State Councillor and Minister of National Defence of China Liang Guanglie's meeting with Antony in Delhi today.  Guanglie is the most senior Chinese military official to visit India since the visit of his predecessor, Cao Gangchuan, in 2004.


Also read: An exclusive interview with Chinese Defence Minister General Liang Guanglie on the Hindu

Every time there's a hullabaloo over what Balasaheb Thackeray or his feisty (and politically estranged) nephew Raj Thackeray has said or, to be more precise, alleged to have said, I cannot help but wonder what media would have done on a dull day had the Thackeray clan not existed. The kerfuffle over what media claims Raj Thackeray has said about Biharis during a closed-door meeting with MNS members is a case in point.

That's Kanchan Gupta's column for you. More

Guess which member of the family has the most 'likes' on Facebook? Chances are it is the youngest member of the family, recently brought home by the stork.

Facebook only allows individuals above the age of 13 to open an account but does not enforce the rule and, in the anonymity of the internet, faking a person's age is a cinch. The latest online fad is for parents to open Facebook accounts for their newborn babies.

Read the TOI report

A first-person account of a Pakistani journalist's visit to Mumbai in May. Certainly worth a read

One of those surveys that make interesting reading, but can be of little consequence. 

Apparently, purple rules when it comes to bedroom colour for sex, a survey claims.

It found that couples with purple-themed bedrooms have sex on average more than three times a week, slightly ahead of those who prefer red, the Mirror reported.

For those inspired by EL Jamess Fifty Shades of Grey, they would hardly make love twice a week.

The survey of 2,000 adults by online retailer Littlewoods.com also found that lovers who sleep on silk are active between the sheets 4.25 times a week more than anyone else.

Those who prefer cotton average 2.72 sex sessions, nylon 2.35 and polyester 2.33.

Kingfisher Airlines Chairman Vijay Mallya gave guarantees worth Rs 5,904 crore for the carrier's loans and other liabilities in 2011-12, but did not get any commission for the same because of lenders' opposition.

While guarantees given by Mallya fell from Rs 6,156 crore in the previous year 2010-11, the guarantees provided by Kingfisher's holding and associate companies rose from Rs 8,863 crore to Rs 8,926 crore in this period.

Mallya had got a commission of Rs 51 crore for these guarantees in 2010-11, but the airline has said that payment of such commissions has been withdrawn after directions from the consortium of its lenders.

Frayed tempers on Twitter between senior journalist and columnist Kanchan Gupta and India's ambassador to the US, Nirupama Rao. Gupta, whose Twitter account was blocked by the government during the exodus of north-eastern people from Bangalore, announces that he has unfollowed Rao...  Read the conversation trail. 

@KanchanGupta I unfollowed @NMenonRao who brazenly justified Congress's unabashed attempt to censor free speech. That's not her tax-funded job.

Ambassador Rao @NMenonRao @KanchanGupta That's quite a shellacking. Not sure if I deserve it. As Ambassador of India I project government policy. Allow me to speak.

Kanchan Gupta @KanchanGupta @NMenonRao Ambassador that wasn't policy you were projecting. It was unjustifiable censorship. Please recall my tweet in response that day.

Ambassador Rao @NMenonRao @KanchanGupta You are entitled to your view as I to mine. I will leave it at that.

Kanchan Gupta @KanchanGupta @NMenonRao Sure. I too would leave it at that.

Smoke emanating out of sundry ears, we hear.

It's taken just four minutes for Parliament to be adjourned till noon, obviously over coal-gate. At noon, it is likely to be adjourned till 2 pm, followed by an adjournment for the day, unless the BJP allows a debate over the coal block allocations.   

Delhi, meanwhile, makes it to the top three most hated cities in the world. Read why

Life in Mumbai was thrown out of gear yesterday as the city received the heaviest rainfall of the season and the third heaviest one-day rainfall in September in a decade.

Local trains were cancelled or delayed, major roads got submerged and citizens returning home got stranded either at work or on roads and in trains.

The authorities blamed at least two fatalities and six casualties on the unremitting showers.Between 8.30am and 8.30pm on Monday, the meteorological department said, Colaba got 79.2mm of rain and Santa Cruz 148.9mm.

The earlier record of this monsoon was recorded at Colaba on August 29 --  91mm. In September 2005, Mumbai had received 223.3mm of rain in a 24-hour period and in the same month in 2009 a little more than 160mm.

The department has predicted "heavy to very heavy" rainfall on Tuesday. Levels in the six major lakes that supply water to the city rose appreciably.

Read more
In pictures: Rains hit road, rail traffic

Meanwhile, the bail plea of Dayanidhi Alagiri, Union minister M K Alagiri' son, will come up for hearing before the Madurai bench of the Madras high court today in connection with the multi-crore high-voltage illegal granite mining case. Dayanidhi Alagiri is one among a dozen people named by the Madurai district police and is wanted in connection with a quarrying case for his admitted association with a suspect mining firm.

A day after two batches of Sri Lankan students who were here on invitation to play football matches left India in three different flights on Sunday, tension prevailed in Thanjavur district where 200 Sri Lankans arrived to participate in a religious event. The Hindu reports that members of the Naam Tamizhar Iyakkam raised slogans protesting the visit of the Sri Lankan nationals and demanded that they be sent back immediately, police sources said. More

After Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray supported MNS chief and nephew Raj Thackeray on his stand against migrants, Sena chief's son Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday spoke in support of their stand against the Biharis.

Uddhav said that a permit system should be implemented for Biharis who want to live in Mumbai. He said that if the Mumbai police need Bihar govt's permission to act then we should implement the permit system, according to reports.

Uddhav Thackeray made this statement in party mouth piece Saamna. Uddhav slammed Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar for interfering in the matter of a person from Bihar arrested in the Azad Maidan violence case.

Read more

Michael Clarke Duncan, the hulking, prolific character actor whose dozens of films included an Oscar-nominated performance as a death row inmate in 'The Green Mile' and such other box office hits as 'Armageddon', 'Planet of the Apes' and 'Kung Fu Panda', has died at age 54.

Cheer for India at the London Paralympic Games.
Girisha Hosanagara Nagarajegowda gave India its first medal at the Paralympic Games after bagging a silver in the Men's High Jump F42 event here. The 24-year old from Karnataka, who has an impairment in his left leg, sailed over a height of 1.74m using scissors technique in the final of the event to finish second in the presence of an 80,000 capacity crowd last night. Iliesa Delana of Fiji won the gold, while Lukasz Mamczarz of Poland settled for bronze.

The CBI has filed cases of cheating and criminal conspiracy against these firms. The firms in the dock are Vimmi Iron and Steel, Nav Bharat Steel, JLD Yavatmal, Jus Infrastructure, Amr Iron and Steel.

The CBI on Tuesday filed FIRs against five companies in connection with the coal block allocation scam that has brought Parliament to a standstill during the ongoing Monsoon Session.

About 50 miners held over the Marikana killings are released by a South African court after murder charges against them are provisionally dropped.

Read the full story on BBC

The Syrian regime said Monday there will be no dialogue with the opposition before the army crushes the rebels, the latest sign that President Bashar Assad is determined to solve the crisis on the battlefield even if many more of his people have to pay with their lives.

Read the full story on Houston Chronicle

A powerful 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia off the island of Bali in the wee hours this morning, but no destruction, injuries, or tsunami warning have been reported so far.  

 

Read the full story on Newser

Rains hit road, rail traffic in Mumbai, Thane

Govt in combative mode over 'coalgate' defence

Asaram Bapu booked for slapping cameraman

Kohli, Dhoni set up another comfortable win over Kiwis 

Chidambaram assures investors of stable tax regime

Rupee reverses early gains, down one paisa at 55.53