The Government is hopeful that a consensus will emerge among political parties on the contentious Women Reservation Bill, seeking 33 per cent reservation for them in Parliament and state legislatures. 

A Pakistani election tribunal today declared former premier Raja Pervez Ashraf ineligible for contesting the upcoming general election. 

A fresh chorus of "L K Advani for Prime Minister" has begun in BJP even as a tussle is on between the party and JD(U) over Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi being declared the NDA candidate for the top post. 

The British government said today it was launching a wide-ranging review into the horsemeat scandal in a bid to restore consumer confidence. Food Minister David Heath said the review would look for any weaknesses in the food chain that could be exploited by unscrupulous traders. 

Four more persons, including three co-owners of the construction firm, were today arrested in connection with the building collapse in Thane district, taking the total number of arrests in the case to 21, the police said.

Describing Nitish Kumar as "parrot of RSS", RJD President Lalu Prasad Yadav today said Bihar Chief Minister was opposing Narendra Modi while praising L K Advani, though both are "communalists of the highest order".

After the wife-swapping allegations, the Navy has been hit by another embarrassment as one of its Commanders has been found guilty of sending lewd messages to several women and subsequently dismissed.

The BJP today asked the Centre under what "deal" it had provided an assurance to Italy that no death sentence will be given to the two marines, facing trial for killing two Indian fishermen, and said they should be tried as per maritime laws which envisage stricter punishment.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has ruled out the possibility of early polls, saying the UPA government led by him will complete five years.

The CBI today told the Delhi high court that the conspiracy in the teachers' recruitment scam, in which former Haryana chief minister O P Chautala was jailed for 10 years, had begun in September 1999 when the recruitment was taken out of the purview of the Haryana Staff Selection Commission.

The drop in headline inflation to a 40-month low of 5.96 per cent for March has increased the possibility of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank at its May 3 annual policy, analysts and rating agencies said today.        

British Airways today resumed flights to Sri Lanka, nearly 15 years after the service was suspended due to the country's three-decade-long civil war.        

With one of the judges recusing himself, the Supreme Court today deferred the hearing till Thursday on the pleas of Bharti Cellular Ltd CMD Sunil BhartiMittal and Essar Group promoter Ravi Ruia, challenging the summons issued to them as accused in a graft case related to the allocation of additional 2G spectrum in 2002.        

A fast-track court today sought Delhi Police's reply -- on the plea of one of the accused in the December 16 gang rape case -- for 15-day interim bail to see his ailing mother in a hospital.       

The video conferencing session of Perarivalan, a death row convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, with the Chief Information Commissioner over his RTI query has been postponed, a top police official said.   

Controversial Congress leader Sadhu Yadav today surrendered before a district court and was granted bail in a case related to the violation of election code during the 2009 general elections.        

Mirza Himayat Baig, who was convicted by a sessions court in the 2010 German Bakery blast case today, did not react when the court sought his reaction on the guilty verdict.       

Just in: Oil companies slash petrol price by Re 1 per litre. Details awaited. 

A fast-track court today sought the Delhi Police's reply on the plea of one of the accused in the December 16 gang-rape case for 15 days interim bail on the ground he has to see his ailing mother in a hospital.

Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna asked the police to file its reply by tomorrow on accused Akshay Singh's plea to visit his mother, who he says is in a critical stage in a hospital in Aurangabad.

He said he was the only bread earner and there is no one else to even look after his wife and minor child.

Akshay has said that he will abide by the court's order and will not run away or jump the bail conditions imposed upon him. The court said it will decide on the application only after police files its reply.

Sanjay Dutt has asked the Supreme Court to give him six more months before he is imprisoned to allow him to complete his film commitments.

The top court will now decide on whether it will hear his appeal. Mr Dutt's lawyers will press for a hearing of the case tomorrow.

The 53-year-old was sentenced in March to serve five years in jail for illegally owning weapons including an AK-56 in a case linked to the 1993 bomb blasts. He will have to serve a little over three years of that as he has already spent 18 months in prison.The Supreme Court had ruled that he should be jailed by April 18. At an emotional press conference last month, Sanjay Dutt had said would not appeal against his sentence. -- NDTV

A designated TADA court today rejected the plea of Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, convicted in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case, to surrender before jail authorities instead of the court.

Dutt has to surrender by April 18 before the TADA court in keeping with the directive of the Supreme Court, which recently upheld his conviction in the bombings while reducing his imprisonment from six years to five.

The actor has already served 18 months in jail and has to spend three years and six months more to complete the sentence.

Dutt's lawyer made an oral plea before the court to give him the liberty to surrender before the jail authorities.

An Army jawan allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree in the Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said today.

Campaigners reacted angrily last night after Scotland Yard suggested protesters should consider avoiding Baroness Thatcher's cortge -- because they face arrest under a controversial public order law. Read

State-of-the-art technology transforms illustrations from 2,000-year-old Sanskrit sex manual Kamasutra is now available as pop-up holograms. Read

The BJP on Monday downplayed party leader Yashwant Sinha's remark backing veteran LK Advani to be the NDA's choice for the Prime Minister's post if the alliance comes to power after the next Lok Sabha polls, saying the party's parliamentary board would take a final call on the candidate for the coveted post.
 
BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi said Yashwant Sinha is a leader in his own right, but does not represent the parliamentary board.
 
"The announcement of the name of the Prime Minister lies with the parliamentary board and we all are waiting when the parliamentary board meeting will happen and they will announce the name of the Prime Minister," she added.

Preparations for Wednesday's ceremonial funeral for former PM Margaret Thatcher run smoothly on capital's empty streets. Read

In a virulent attack on the CPI(M), Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Bandopadhyay today threatened to 'break the hands' of CPI(M) cadre if the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was attacked again.

"We will break your hands if you dare to attack Mamata Banerjee again," Bandopadhyay told a rally in Hooghly district speaking about the chief minister being heckled and finance minister Amit Mitra being manhandled in Delhi on April 9.

He warned that Left Front chairman Biman Bose and Leader of the Opposition Suryakanta Mishra would be tonsured and thrown out of the state. "Biman Bose and Suryakanta Mishra should not talk much otherwise we will shave their heads and throw them out of Bengal," Bandopadhay said.

He also asked former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to discard his 'mask' if he personally did not hand over SFI General Secretary Ritabrata Bhattacharya.

"Buddhababu should stop pretending to be a gentleman and discard his mask. He is a hypocrite. If he is not a hypocrite then he should have himself handed over the culprit Ritabrata to the police," he said.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today refused to speak more than what he had said yesterday on the NDA's prime ministerial candidate even as some state BJP leaders conveyed to the party high command their strong resentment against his comments on Narendra Modi.

Emerging out of "Janata ke darbar mein mukhyamantri" programme at his residence, the Bihar CM told reporters he had talked enough yesterday and had nothing more to add today. Saying this, he left without entertaining any question. But some JD(U) leaders carried the baton, saying the party cannot compromise on its secular principle for keeping the NDA coalition intact.

Barbie's doll-size shape -- long been considered the universal ideal for a woman's figure - is anatomically impossible and a lady would be reduced to walking on all fours and incapable of lifting anything, a study has claimed. The shocking experiment by Rehabs.com is aimed at those, who are suffering with eating disorders and are "dying to be Barbie.'

The website reports, Barbie, a world-renowned little girls' toy, is supposed to be 5 feet, 9 inches tall and 110 pounds, so underweight that she will be unable to menstruate.

One of the first editions of the doll, Slumber Party Barbie, even came with a doll-size 'How to lose weight' book with only "Don't eat!' written inside and a scale that is permanently stuck at 110 pounds.

The average woman in the US is 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighs about 166 pounds. The chart shows that Barbie's head is going to be 2 inches larger than the average US women and 6 inches larger than her own waist. With a 16-inch waist, she only has room for half a liver and a few inches of intestine.

Big-headed, busty Barbie would have only size three feet and tiny ankles, which means that she will have to walk on all fours and her arms, too, would be practically useless, with 3.5-inch wrists, the New York Daily News reported. Her long, skinny neck won't be able to hold her head either.

The Governor/President can grant pardon or reduce the sentence of the Court, even if a minimum is prescribed. Hence there is no doubt that the Governor can grant pardon/reduce the sentence. For example in the case of Commander Nanavati who was held guilty of murder, the Governor gave him pardon although the minimum sentence for murder is life sentence.

-- Excerpt from Justice Markandey Katju's letter to Maharashtra governor Shankarnarayan.

This is Markandey Katju's letter to Maharashtra Governor K Sankarnarayanan seeking a pardon for Sanjay Dutt. Read

Sanjay Dutt says punishment be kept in abeyance till a decision on his pardon plea is taken by the Maharashtra governor or the President of India. The actor has been on bail since 2007 when he appealed against an original sentence of six years for the illegal possession of weapons in a case linked to the attacks that killed 257 people. The petition will be heard in the SC tomorrow.

Sanjay Dutt moves the Supreme Court seeking more time to surrender. The actor who is set to go back to prison on Thursday to serve his sentence for illegal possession of arms in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, is looking at an actual imprisonment of up to two years and nine months, by conservative estimates. That means a possible release date of January 5, 2016. Read more

Ramesh Srivats: The deer in MP must be hoping these Gujarati lions are vegetarian.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who fell ill after she was heckled by SFI members in New Delhi, will join office later in the week, sources close to her said today.

"She will take rest for the next few days, but will join office later in the week as she can't sit at home for long," the sources said.

"Her BP is low while the pain persists for which she is taking physiotherapy," sources said. As advised by the doctors, Banerjee is currently resting at her Kalighat residence.

Banerjee spent a quiet 'Poila Baisakh', Bengali New Year's Day, and met only family members and those close to her. "She didn't meet other people today," Trinamool MP Derek O'Brien said.

The Supreme Court also says that the introduction of African cheetahs cannot be allowed in India.

The Supreme Court allows the translocation of Asiatic lions from Gujarat to Madhya Pradesh. The SC gives six months for the translocation of lions, and says the species which is on the verge of extinction needs a second home.

The Madhya Pradesh government wants Gujarat to send a few lions from Gir forest to its Kuno Palpur sanctuary. But, the Narendra Modi government has opposed the translocation, saying Madhya Pradesh failed to protect its tigers in Panna sanctuary and the lions from its Gir forest may meet the same fate.The Gujarat government has also said that the court should not interfere in the matter, and leave the decision to environmental experts. 

Thomas Hircock first visited India when he was 12 years old. The US schoolboy, who had joined his father on a business trip, was shocked by the poverty he saw.When they visited a school in Rajasthan some of the pupils told them they needed bikes to get to classes from homes up to 20 miles away. Read the full story here.

He was the most iconic pop star of the late 20th century. Now Michael Jackson's daughter, who was just 11 when he died, gives an unprecedented insight into her extraordinary life. Read more

When I was young, I thought my country was the best on the planet. I grew up singing a song called "Nothing to Envy." I felt very proud. I thought my life in North Korea was normal, even though when I was 7 years old, I saw my first public execution. A defector from North Korea speaks. Read

Cash-rich IT giant Infosys slashed its exposure to liquid mutual funds by a whopping Rs 5,600 crore (over USD one billion) during the first quarter of 2013, as yields on such investments are expected to flatten. Country's second largest IT services exporter, which had ramped up its investments in debt mutual funds to an all-time high of Rs 7,365 crore at the end of 2012, reduced exposure to Rs 1,739 crore during January-March quarter of 2013.

Justin Bieber has caused outrage with his message in a guestbook at the Anne Frank Museum, saying he hoped the Holocaust victim would have been a fan. Read

The White House is standing up (or stretching out) for yoga, encouraging Americans to take up the activity as a part of a program to make the U.S. healthier. Read

With inflation declining to below 6 per cent in March after over three years, Planning Commission today exuded confidence that the price situation would improve further in the coming months. "The fact that this is the first time (in over 3 years) it is below 6 per cent, is very important and I hope that we will continue to see that often", Commission's Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia told reporters here. Declining price of vegetables pulled down inflation to 5.96 per cent in March.

From confidently predicting that India would not incorporate Sikkim to reporting on its merger in 1975, the U.S. watched events closely but adopted a hands-off approach. Read

The Supreme Court judgment on Glivec is a blow for a patent regime with a higher threshold of inventiveness. Read

The Opposition members in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly today staged a walkout during the Question hour as they were not allowed to raise the issue of Ajit Pawar's controversial remarks and his sitting on a fast to repent his comments.

As soon as the House assembled after a recess, Opposition legislators Girish Bapat, Sudhir Mungantiwar and Leader of Opposition Eknath Khadse demanded that they be allowed to speak on the matter.

However, Speaker Dilip Walse Patil said he would allow the issue to be raised only after the Question hour. Protesting the Chair's ruling, the Opposition members walked out of the House.

The Question hour proceedings took place in the absence of the Opposition benches. Under fire for his controversial comments on loadshedding and drought, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar yesterday sat on a token fast at the memorial of the state's first Chief Minister Yeshwantrao Chavan at Karad in Satara district as "penance."

On the Guardian: In a village in India's poorest state, Bihar, farmers are growing world record amounts of rice -- with no GM, and no herbicide. Is this one solution to world food shortages? Read

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his deputy Sukhbir Singh Badal met Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in New Delhi today in connection with the case of death row convict Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar. 

Both leaders met Dr. Singh at his official 7 Race Course Road residence here. "We met the Prime Minister. We had to give a memorandum... we are seeking clemency for Bhullar. We want communal harmony. People will get emotional with this verdict... we have worked very hard for peace," Badal later said. Delivering the verdict, the Supreme Court on Friday said there was no merit in Bhullar's mercy plea.

US Secretary of State John Kerry has proposed a 16 per cent cut in the American aid to India, reflecting the transition from a traditional "donor-recipient" relationship to a "strategic partnership" between the two countries. "With respect to India, for the fiscal year 2014, the State Department request is USD 91 million.

This represents a 16 per cent decrease from the fiscal levels 2012 (the previous actual spending)," a senior State Department official said.

This is in continuation of the trend that has emerged over the past few years. In 2010, the United States aid to India was USD 126.7 million, which drooped to USD 121.6 million in 2011 and USD 108 million in 2012 and was proposed to USD 98.3 million in the current fiscal of 2013, which ends on September 30.

Issuing a veiled threat to the BJP over Narendra Modi's much-speculated projection as its prime ministerial candidate, Janata Dal-United on Sunday said attempts to bring 'genetic modification' will bring about negative results and it will take a decision if its voice is not heard. Senior JD-U leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also ruled himself out of the prime ministerial race, saying he does not nurse any such "illusion" with such "little" strength of his party, but made it clear that he would prefer for the top job a leader who carries all sections of society together. Read

The secret to the longevity of the Bengali mithai shop lies not just in their dedication to tradition but their willingness over the years to adapt to modern times, by borrowing from flavors and cooking techniques outside of India. Read

The quantum of punishment for Himayat Baig, convicted in Pune's German Bakery Blast, is to be pronounced on April 18. His lawyer, of course, says they will appeal the conviction.

Tired of the traipsing around Hauz Khas? Try Mehar Chand, Delhi's hip new hot spot. Read

The truth behind Gujarat shining: In it's village, wake up at 3am or go thirsty. Read

Not too long ago, Ganesh Hazarika grew rice, vegetables and peas near the edge of the Brahmaputra River on a small plot that provided him a livelihood and a safety net. Then one day the river took it away.  Read

A sessions court has delivered its verdict on Pune's German Bakery bomb blast in February 2010, in which 17 people were killed and 64 others were injured.

Mirza Himayat Baig, from Udgir in Maharashtra, the only suspect in the case, has been convicted as a co-conspirator in the case. He was arrested after the investigators found 1,200 kg of explosives from his home in Udgir in Latur district. Five others are still wanted in the case.

Others who have been named in the case are Mohsin Choudhary, Yasin Bhatkal, Riyaz Bhatkal, Iqbal Bhatkal and Faiyaz Kagzi.

The Pune blast was seen as the first major attack on India since the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

The London School of Economics on Sunday accused the BBC of endangering its students by using a student society trip to North Korea in end-March as "cover" to shoot a documentary on the secretive country. Had the three journalists, who posed as scholars, been found out, the entire team could have been arrested and punished, the university said.  Read

NDA on Sunday looked set to split in a few months after BJP virtually rejected Nitish Kumar's demand to rule out Narendra Modi as the party's prime ministerial candidate by the year-end and ignored the Bihar CM's warning that he would walk out of the opposition grouping if his wishes were not complied with. Read

Investigators were working to determine what caused a new Lion Air passenger jet to miss the runway and crash into the sea off the Indonesian resort island of Bali, in the expanding budget airline's seventh accident in 11 years.

All 108 people on board survived Saturday's crash, which has renewed questions about how safe it is to fly in Indonesia.

The country has struggled to clean up its poor air safety record while improving oversight. The US National Transportation Safety Board said yesterday it was sending a team to assist Indonesia's investigation because the Boeing 737-800 that crashed was designed and made in the US.

The team will include advisers from the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing.

Two more employees of Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) were arrested in connection with the building collapse which claimed 74 lives, police said. With these arrests, the number of those taken into custody rose to 17, they said.

TMC's suspended clerk Subhash Waghmare and Ramdas Burud (the driver of arrested deputy municipal commissioner Deepak Chavan) were arrested by the Crime Branch yesterday.

According to police, the duo had direct contacts with the builders who allegedly distributed cash to officials to "safeguard" the illegal seven-storey building at Lucky Compound in Shilphata area in Thane and other structures from being razed by civic authorities.

A court in Pune will give its verdict today on a man who allegedly plotted the bomb blast at the city''s German Bakery in February 2010, in which 17 people were killed and 64 others were injured.

The investigators later arrested Mirza Himayat Baig, from Udgir in Maharashtra. Baig, the only suspect in the case, was arrested in Pune on September 7, 2010. He was arrested after the investigators found 1,200 kg of explosives from his home in Udgir in Latur district.