LIVE
Fri, 06 December 2013
Delhi EC's show cause notice to Kejriwal

Timeline  Refresh

image
23:36   Delhi EC's show cause notice to Kejriwal
Delhi's Election Commission today issued a show cause notice to Aam Admi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal over a "discrepancy" in the amount shown as poll expenses by him and that recorded in a shadow register maintained by poll officials.

"The show cause notice was issued by the concerned returning officer to Kejriwal stating that expenses shown by him in connection with a musical event held at Jantar Mantar does not match with the expenses recorded by the Delhi EC in its shadow register," said a senior election official adding a reply has been sought from him in this regard.

Senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia said Kejriwal has been issued a show cause notice adding the allegations are not justified.
image
22:41   Bangladesh declares 3 days of mourning for Mandela
Bangladesh has declared a three-day national mourning period starting tomorrow to pay homage to South African leader Nelson Mandela.

"The government has declared a three-day national mourning showing respect to Mandela," Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan was quoted as saying by the Daily Star newspaper.

The country's national flag would be flown at half-mast during the period.
image
22:39   Obamas to travel to South Africa for Mandela's memorial events next week
Politico reports: President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will travel to South Africa next week for Nelson Mandela "memorial events," press secretary Jay Carney said in a statement.

The White House will offer more information as it's available, Carney added.A large memorial for Mandela is scheduled for December 10 in Johannesburg, while his state funeral will take place on Dec.ember 15 in his hometown of Qunu.
image
22:12   Mourning Mandela, Africa mulls own leaders' failings
Across Africa Nelson Mandela was hailed as a hero on Friday, but amid official speeches of praise, many Africans on the streets compared the example he set with the failings of their countries' leaders today.

"Mandela was a world leader from Africa, a great man we could all look up to," said Alfred Osuku in the rainy Kenyan capital of Nairobi, clutching the newspapers he was selling with their front pages dedicated to the late South African liberation leader."

Leaders in Africa today would benefit from his example if they followed his way and not only just speak about it," he added.
image
22:12   Mourning Mandela, Africa mulls own leaders' failings
Across Africa Nelson Mandela was hailed as a hero on Friday, but amid official speeches of praise, many Africans on the streets compared the example he set with the failings of their countries' leaders today.

"Mandela was a world leader from Africa, a great man we could all look up to," said Alfred Osuku in the rainy Kenyan capital of Nairobi, clutching the newspapers he was selling with their front pages dedicated to the late South African liberation leader."

Leaders in Africa today would benefit from his example if they followed his way and not only just speak about it," he added.
image
21:11   UK marine jailed for 10 years for killing injured Taliban
A British marine filmed executing a severely injured Taliban insurgent in Afghanistan was jailed for life with a minimum 10 years behind bars by a military court today. 

Sergeant Alexander Blackman, 39, was found guilty at a court martial last month of murdering the man while deployed in southern Helmand province in 2011.
image
20:42  
Andhra CM Kiran Reddy is expected to resign and seek dissolution of the AP assembly on December 12 to prevent the bill's passage in the Assembly. 

Reddy says he will float a new party, Kiran Congress, on December 12. He also says he will fast unto death in front of the AP assembly from the 12th.
image
20:41   AP bifurcation: MPs threaten to resign on Monday
Four union ministers from Andhra Pradesh and seven Congress MPs on Monday will meet President Pranab Mukherjee to hand over letters withdrawing support to the UPA. 

They will also request him to study the bill on bifurcation Andhra.  
image
20:23   Mandela's death takes heat off South Africa's Zuma
A week ago, South African President Jacob Zuma was a leader on the back foot, ridiculed in a front-page cartoon by a newspaper accusing him of blowing $20 million of public money on a security upgrade to his private home.

Seven days later, he has gained some political respite through the death of anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela, an event of such enormity in the "Rainbow Nation" that Zuma's troubles could be banished from headlines well into next year.

image
19:48   Nelson Mandela's funeral to be held on December 15
Nelson Mandela's funeral will be held on Sunday, December 15 in the Eastern Cape village of Qunu, South African President Jacob Zuma has announced.

Zuma made the announcement in a press conference Friday. He confirmed that Mandela will be accorded a state funeral.
image
19:36   Actor Sanjay Dutt gets leave from jail again
Actor Sanjay Dutt has been granted another month's leave from Pune's Yerawada Jail, after spending all of October at home in Mumbai.

Dutt's parole application was sanctioned by Pune's Divisional Commissioner.

On October 1, Sanjay Dutt was granted two weeks leave on medical grounds, which was later extended by another two weeks.
image
19:26   Car bomb explosion outside Somali prime minster's office
A car bomb exploded today killing its driver outside the office of Somalia's prime minister in the capital Mogadishu, an AFP reporter said. 

According to lawmaker Abdullahi Musa, a fellow MP was killed in the car blast, the latest in a string of attacks in Mogadishu, many of them claimed by Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents.
image
19:05   Indian Navy to take part in US wargame in Hawaii
Reflecting their close defence ties, the Indian Navy for the first time will take part in one of the world's biggest naval wargames hosted by the US in Hawaii in June next year. 

More than 20 countries, including China and Japan, are expected to take part in the international maritime war exercise Rim of the Pacific.
image
19:02   Some worry Mandela's death might stir racial tensions
South Africans united in mourning for Nelson Mandela on Friday, but some feared the anti-apartheid hero's death could leave their country vulnerable again to racial and social tensions that he did so much to pacify.

As dawn broke and commuters headed to work, many expressed shock at the passing of a man who was a global symbol of reconciliation and peaceful co-existence.  Read more
image
18:37   Kunal Ghosh sent to 14 days' judicial custody
A local court today remanded suspended Trinamool Congress MP Kunal Ghosh, who was arrested for alleged involvement in the multi-crore Saradha scam, to 14 days' judicial custody.

Howrah Chief Judicial Magistrate Arun Kumar Nandi sent Ghosh to judicial custody till December 20. On November 30, the Howrah CJM had taken Ghosh into seven days' police custody.
image
18:36   How one pop song helped to free Nelson Mandela
The anti-apartheid message was serious and heartfelt but the song that alerted many around the world to the injustices of the South African regime could not have been more upbeat.  More
image
18:21  
Stunning graphic on News Laundry on who owns the media. See
image
17:59   Centre grants Rs 7,000 crore as relief for flood-hit U'khand
The Centre has approved Rs 7,000 crore as relief for reconstruction of property damaged during the devastating floods in Uttarakhand in June this year.

Five PSU programme management units have been established for the reconstruction and development of the flood-hit state, Uttarakhand Chief secretary Subhash Kumar said during a meeting with senior state officials yesterday.

It was decided during the meeting that the first installment of the money for reconstruction would be issued by December 15.

Around 2,000 families have expressed their desire to construct their houses themselves and the state government would provide money for it while around 102 families want prefabricated houses from the state government. Work for the construction of prefabricated houses has begun.

The government has also given Rs 3,000 monthly rent till February 2014 to the displaced people.
image
17:58  
And here's Amul's tribute to Nelson Mandela.
image
17:28   LIVE! Does it take the death of a baby for government to act, asks family
For five months, Indian merchant ship captain Sunil James has been in a jail in Togo in Western Africa.

His family has been fighting to get him freed; now all they want is for him to return and see his 11-month-old son, Vivaan, for the last time.

Vivaan died on Monday of septicemia, a tragedy that seems to have jolted the government into action.

Milind Deora, the Minister of State for shipping, said on Friday that legal options are being worked out with the Togo government.

"The ministry will request Captain James' company to give a commercial undertaking to the Togo government," he told NDTV. Read more
image
17:09   Tendulkar on Mandela: A truly inspirational human being
Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar today paid heartfelt tribute to former South Africa president Nelson Mandela, saying the anti-apartheid icon was a "truly inspirational human being".

"When I met Mr Mandela it was one of the most memorable days of my life. A truly inspirational human being....," wrote Tendulkar on his twitter account. "He will live on in my heart forever. R.I.P." 
image
17:07   Court allows Tytler to go abroad
Congress leader Jagdish Tytler, chargesheeted along with businessman Abhishek Verma in a case of alleged forgery of the then minister of state Ajay Maken's letter head, was today allowed by a Delhi court to go abroad from December 11 till January 1 to attend sports events.

The court allowed Tytler's plea in which he had said he has to go to Turkey to attend a meeting of the International Kurash Association (IKA) and the ninth world Kurash senior championship.
image
17:06   Without Nelson Mandela, there might never have been a President Obama
Without Nelson Mandela, there might never have been a President Obama. That is the strong impression conveyed from Mr. Obama, whose political and personal bonds to Mr. Mandela, the former South African president, transcended their single face-to-face meeting, which took place at a hotel here in 2005.

Read the story on the NYT.

Pic: The Eiffel Tower lit up in the colours of the South African national flag.
image
16:47  
On Twitter: If I knew Lodha builders had sponsored the Times of India lit fest, I would not have come: Charles Correa.
image
16:44   4 let off in gang-rape case; 'victim', witnesses untraceable
Four men accused of kidnapping and gangraping a girl 11 years ago in a moving car here were acquitted by a Delhi court on the grounds that she and other key witnesses "did not bother" to take part in the proceedings and remained untraceable.
image
16:43   GoM okays Rs 7200cr interest-free loan to bail out sugar mills
An informal group of ministers, headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, today recommended a slew of incentives to the sugar industry, including 12 per cent interest subsidy on Rs 7,200 crore loan that mills can avail of from banks for paying cane farmers.

The PM-constituted panel also recommended loan recasting for mills as per the Reserve Bank norms, incentives for production for raw sugar of up to 4 million tonnes and setting up of buffer stock besides doubling ethanol-blending in petrol to 10 per cent.

The panel, however, ruled out an immediate hike in sugar import duty.
image
16:04   Why is rape in Goa different from rape in Muzaffarnagar?
State election results have taken Tarun Tejpal off prime time shows and the front pages. This is something of a relief. But why is rape in Goa different from rape in Muzaffarnagar, asks Saeed Naqvi. Read
image
15:54   Spending by EC on foreign travel of staff rose by 900 per cent
Spending on foreign visits by Election Commission officials grew by nearly 900 per cent from Rs 8.33 lakh in 2008-09 to Rs 74.86 lakh in 2011-12 even as it came down slightly to Rs 62.98 lakh in 2012-13.
image
15:48   Mandela to be buried in Qunu in private ceremony
After an official state funeral in Pretoria, his body will be flown to the Eastern Cape province, the hilly rural area where he was born and grew up.

He will be buried in a private ceremony in Qunu, next to the remains of his family, including three deceased children.

The children's graves were the subject of a bitter court feud between Mandela's grandson Mandla and other relatives, including his current wife Graca Machel and ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

Mandla had moved the remains without his relatives' consent in 2011, in what they called an effort to force his grandfather's last resting place from his childhood village Qunu to his birthplace Mvezo around 30 kilometres away.

The court ordered the remains to be returned to Qunu. In recent years authorities rushed to renovate the nearby Mthatha airport and roads leading to Qunu as Mandela's health deteriorated and the prospect of large funeral proceedings loomed. -- AFP

Pic: A woman places a candle at the base of a statue of Nelson Mandela. Reuters/Toby Melville
image
15:35   LIVE! Mandela funeral may be on Dec 14, preparations begin
Preparations began today for the state funeral of South Africa's liberation hero Nelson Mandela, as the world mourned the peace icon's passing, reports the AFP.

Heads of state from around the world, including US President Barack Obama, and well-known personalities who were close to the statesman like Oprah Winfrey and Bill and Hillary Clinton are expected to attend.

Unofficial government sources have said he could be laid to rest on December 14, though some are calling for his burial to take place on the 16th, a public holiday named Reconciliation Day.

More details on the funeral are due to be released later on Friday.

The gathering of world leaders will be one of the largest in South Africa since Mandela was inaugurated as its first black president in 1994.

Mandela, who died late Thursday after a long battle against lung infection, will lie in state at the seat of government the Union Buildings in the capital Pretoria.

A period of mourning will precede the 95-year-old's burial, during which the country's flags will fly at half-mast.

South Africans are also expected to mark his death at official memorial services across the country, including at Johannesburg's Soccer City, the host stadium of the 2010 World Cup final where Mandela made his last major public appearance.

Both houses of parliament will be recalled from recess for a special joint sitting in honour of Mandela's legacy.
image
15:27   SA rugby fraternity pays tribute to Mandela's extraordinary life
The South African Rugby Union (Saru) today paid tribute to the extraordinary life and unselfish contribution to the establishment of a united South Africa, of former President, Nelson Mandela.Mandela passed away peacefully at his home on Thursday night.

"All of our lives are poorer today at the extinguishing of the great beacon of light and hope that led the way for our country through the transition to democracy," said Oregan Hoskins, president of Saru.  Read more

And if you haven't watched the stellar Invictus, do so now.
image
15:23  
Nkosinathi Biko, the son of South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko, tells the BBC World Service that Nelson Mandela was "the embodiment of hope for the world".
image
15:21  
The memorial outside Nelson Mandela's home in Johannesburg, South Africa. Growing by the minute...
image
15:05   Maid murder case: BSP MP moves court to attend Par session
BSP MP Dhananjay Singh, arrested along with his wife Jagriti Singh in connection with the murder of their maid, has moved a Delhi court seeking interim bail for attending the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament. Additional Sessions Judge Dharmesh Sharma today fixed the plea for hearing before the court of Additional Sessions Judge Daya Prakash on December 10.

Dhananjay, in his plea, has said that he is a Member of Parliament (MP) from Jaunpur constituency in Uttar Pradesh and wanted to attend the Winter Session of Parliament.

The session is scheduled to conclude on December 20. Dhananjay and his wife Jagriti, a dental surgeon at R M L Hospital, are currently lodged in Tihar Jail under judicial custody.
image
15:04   Understanding Article 370
Article 370 was and is about providing space, in matters of governance, to the people of a State who felt deeply vulnerable about their identity and insecure about the future, writes Amitabh Mattoo. Read
image
14:58  
Shaheryar Mirza: The only thing Pakistani leaders have in common with Nelson Mandela is that they all spent time in prison.
image
14:50  
Nelson Mandela death: Amid flurry of tributes, fake quotes creep in. Read
image
14:45   Madiba on The New Yorker's cover next week
The New Yorker's cover next week, "Madiba,' was drawn by the artist Kadir Nelson. "I've recently made a children's book about Nelson Mandela, but for a New Yorker cover, I settled on a younger image of him during the time that he was on trial with over a hundred of his comrades,' says Nelson about "Madiba,' his oil painting of Nelson Mandela, who died on Thursday, at the age of ninety-five. 
image
14:34   Sonia mourns Mandela's death as the loss of 'a beloved father'
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi today paid tributes to Nelson Mandela saying the anti-apartheid icon redefined the meaning of courage, sacrifice and forgiveness and his death is like losing "a beloved father."

"Today, I join millions of Indians in mourning his loss. We feel bereft, as though we have lost a beloved father. We will be forever grateful that such a one as he walked this Earth of ours," she said. 
image
14:31   Nelson's friends
Saeed Naqvi writes: It was a world-historical moment. The only way to breach the iron curtain back in 1990, during Mandela's release, was to go through his old network of comrades. Read
image
14:27  
During the period of state mourning beginning today, the national flag will be flown at half mast all over the country and there will be no official entertainment. (No entertainment programmes on DD). The state mourning will be observed till December 10, a government notification said.
image
14:25   I can't believe it but, yes, it's true. Madiba is no more: Tutu's tribute
Former president Nelson Mandela's presence has left the world and South Africa a little better, writes Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu.   Read

Early on Friday morning, South African time, Archbishop Desmond Tutu will lead a memorial service in Capetown where he called for South Africa to become as a nation what Mandela had been as a man.
image
14:10  
Omar Abdullah @abdullah_omar: Just had a SMS from a journo in Jammu asking me for my reaction to MY tweet. Seriously? You want me to react to my tweet?

The only CM with a sense of humour, we say.
image
14:07   Nelson Mandela biography: A long walk to immortality - the life and times of Madiba
Nelson Mandela was the most respected, and probably the most loved of all world leaders in the late 20th century, and the most enduring of the heroes who emerged from the political convulsions of the 1980s.

He personified the peaceful and rapid transition of power in South Africa that many had thought impossible, while his commitment to reconciliation was underlined by his own experience of personal sacrifice and forgiveness.
Read more
image
14:00   When Mandela hugged a Delhi cop
Kolkata police sergeant Guruprasad Banerjee, who acted as an escort to Nelson Mandela's convoy during his visit to Kolkata in October 1990, on Friday recalled the legendary anti-apartheid activist as one of the most down to earth international dignitaries. Read more
image
13:47   LIVE! Sibal on AK Ganguly: SC must not be seen as washing its hands off the matter
Union Law Minister Kapil Sibal takes on retired Supreme Court judge Justice AK Ganguly. Sibal said the Supreme Court must not be seen as washing its hands off the matter.

The Delhi Police has written to the Supreme Court law intern who had accused the retired Supreme Court judge of sexual harassment. The police have sought an appointment with her to speak to her on this issue.

This comes a day after the Supreme Court panel found prima facie evidence of sexual harassment against Justice AK Ganguly. The three-judge committee of the Supreme Court has indicted Ganguly of committing an "act of unwelcome behaviour" and "conduct of sexual nature" towards the woman law intern.

However, the panel has closed further proceedings saying it can do little against a retired judge.

The panel does not even recommend action against Justice Ganguly because it believes that the intern in question who has complained against Justice Ganguly was not on the rolls of the SC and even Justice Ganguly on the date of the incident was not a judge of the SC. 

image
13:34   Mandela is our greatest hero: Mahatma's granddaughter
Ela Gandhi, the granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi and a member of Nelson Mandela's party, recalls some fond memories of the South African legend in a conversation with Sheela Bhatt.    Read more
image
13:30   Malcolm Fraser remembers Don Bradman
The former Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser, on Nelson Mandela:
I had known Nelson Mandela before he was a president, when he was still a prisoner. Apparently, one of the first questions Mandela asked the PM was whether Don Bradman was still playing.  Read more

Also see: Nelson Mandela, Indira Gandhi, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Manmohan Singh, Mother Teresa,  Omar Torrijos,  and Rajiv Gandhi if you had them all in the same room, it would be a major summit! India's former high commissioner to Kenya Placido P. DSouza pulls off this coup, if not in the flesh, at least on paper. 

Pic: Placido D'Souza's sketch of Mandela
image
13:24   Nelson Mandela on Mahatma Gandhi
India is Gandhi's country of birth; South Africa his country of adoption.

He was both an Indian and a South African citizen.

Both countries contributed to his intellectual and moral genius, and he shaped the liberatory movements in both colonial theaters.

He is the archetypal anticolonial revolutionary.

His strategy of noncooperation, his assertion that we can be dominated only if we cooperate with our dominators, and his nonviolent resistance inspired anticolonial and antiracist movements internationally in our century.

Both Gandhi and I suffered colonial oppression, and both of us mobilized our respective peoples against governments that violated our freedoms.


-- Nelson Mandela on Mahatma Gandhi.
image
13:21   Did you know Mandela fought poverty, AIDS, supported 50 charities!
Advocates are remembering Nelson Mandela who died on Thursday as one of the greatest philanthropists to ever have lived.South Africa's first black president, an icon of peace and justice, died on Thursday after months of battling a lung infection.

But the spark he ignited in fighting AIDS, poverty, hunger and supporting more than 50 charities in his lifetime will continue to live on, advocates say. Read
image
13:17   Mandela remembered in Parliament
In Parliament today, Speaker Meira Kumar and Chairman Hamid Ansari made obituary references as soon as the two Houses met for the day.

Describing Mandela as South Africa's Father of the Nation, Ansari said, "Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi in his long walk and struggle against apartheid, he along with other leaders organised mass boycotts, especially against the laws supporting racial discrimination and oppression." Kumar said Mandela was conferred Bharat Ratna in 1990 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

She said her visit to Robben Island where Mandela was jailed for 27 years was like a pilgrimage and one of the most inspiring moments of her life.

UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi lauded the courage, sacrifice and forgiveness of "Madiba", whom she described as South Africa's Mahatma Gandhi.
image
13:10   Mohammed Hanif is not in Mumbai, folks
mohammedhanif '@mohammedhani Dear ppl attending TOI Lit Carnival, Mumbai. Am in Karachi, didn't get visa. Thx for your lovely tweets abt the stuff I didn't say...

Mohammed Hanif is the author of A Case of Exploding Mangoes and Our Lady of Alice Bhatti.

Read our 2012 interview with the author.
image
13:02   A poem for Mr Mandela
India has declared a five-day national mourning for Nelson Mandela.

Meanwhile, read, a poem for Mandela.

On a rooftop of a prison
in South Africa Nelson Mandela
tends garden and has a birthday,
as my Jamaican grandfather in Harlem, New York
raises tomatoes and turns ninety-one.
I have taken touch for granted:
my grandfather's hands,
his shoulders, his pajamas which smell of vitamin pills.


More
image
12:57   So what exactly is 'outraging a woman's modesty'?
It's nearly a year since the gang-rape of a 23-year-old student on a Delhi bus brought thousands on to the streets, demanding better protection for women. The law was updated, new police procedures and fast-track courts were introduced -- but in some ways India's approach to sex crimes is still stuck in the past. Read
image
12:55   Farooq apologises for his comments on women
Clearly, Omar Abdullah is the boss in the house. Farooq Abdullah apologises for his remark on women. He had said that talking to women may make you land in jail. He said he was sorry if he had said anything wrong. Omar had called it a misplaced attempt at humour
image
12:31   Omar wants dad to apologise for 'misplaced attempt at humour'
Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah has asked his father Farooq Abdullah to apologise for his comments that men are now scared to talk to women.

Omar tweeted: I'm sure the attempt wasn't to trivialise important issue of women's security so I hope dad apologises for the misplaced attempt at humour.
image
12:20   LIVE! Mandela's body moved to hospital, Desmond Tutu to lead memorial service
The South African news agency News 24 is reporting that Mandela's body has been moved to One Military hospital in Pretoria. South African president Jacob Zuma said that Mandela will be accorded a state funeral and ordered that all flags be flown at half-mast until the funeral is over.

Early on Friday morning, South African time, Archbishop Desmond Tutu led a memorial service in Capetown where he called for South Africa to become as a nation what Mandela had been as a man. -- Guardian
image
12:08   The Voice of Mandela
The Voice of Mandela: A selection of his best speeches. Read
image
12:01   Mandela, my countryman
To have lived one's life at the same time, and in the same natal country, as Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a guidance and a privilege we South Africans shared. I also knew the privilege of becoming one of his friends. I met him in 1964, during the Rivonia Trial, when he was being tried for acts of sabotage against the government, and I was present in court when he was sentenced to life imprisonment.

-- Nadine Gordimer, Nobel Prize for literature winner, pays tribute to Nelson Mandela. Read
image
11:58   Tajmahal Foxtrot
"All these decades later, the most vivid image of the anti-apartheid I carry in my head is the TV clips of protestors doing the toyi toyi in a mist of tear-gas, singing defiantly to phalanxes of riot policemen. As the true successors to Gandhi, South Africans proved that it was possible to shame their oppressors by holding steadfastly to truth -- and music."

Naresh Fernandes on Mandela's music. Read
image
11:55   Reactions to Farooq Abdullah's comments
First reactions from the BJP on Farooq Abdullah's comments: Smriti Irani says the comments were demeaning especially coming from such a senior leader.

Congress reacts as well. Ambika Soni says Farooq Abdullah is such a broad-minded person. I don't think he meant it seriously.

The NC is an ally of the Congress in the UPA government.
image
11:53  
Both houses of Parliament have adjourned for the day after condoling the death of anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela.
image
11:52   More tributes to Nelson Mandela
Nandan Nilekani: Mandela's given name, Rolihlahla means 'Troublemaker.' And he was exactly that, for those anti-freedom. A hero, a legend.

Ratan N Tata: The world has lost a great leader. Nelson Mandela was the father of a free South Africa where all people had equal rights. He will be missed.
image
11:50   LIVE! Farooq Abdullah: Men are scared to talk to women for fear of being jailed
Union minister and National Conference chief has earned himself a spot on Twitter trend with this comment. 

Speaking outside Parliament today, Farooq said that that rapes are increasing, and while he was not blaming women, it had become increasingly difficult to talk to women for fear of being jailed. "We would  hesitate to keep secretaries who are women,"  he said.

Last week, Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agrawal had said that officers are "scared" to appoint women as their personal assistants after the passage of the bill to prevent sexual harassment of women at workplace.
image
11:42   World pays tribute to Mandela
With moist eyes and tributes on their lips, people across the world today mourned the death of global anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, hailed as a "true Gandhian" and an inspiration for millions like US President Barack Obama.

The Elders, a group of global leaders set up by Mandela to pursue peace and human rights, said they "join millions of people around the world who were inspired by his courage and touched by his compassion".

The group's chair, Kofi Annan, said the world had lost "a clear moral compass".

British Prime Minister David Cameron paid a rich tribute to Mandela, saying, "the brightest light of our world has gone out".

Chinese President Xi Jinping praised Nelson Mandela's "historic contribution" to South Africa and the world.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott offered condolences to the Mandela family on behalf of the Australian government and community.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde hailed Mandela as a "courageous and visionary leader".

France's president, Franois Hollande, said: "Nelson Mandela made history, that of South Africa and that of the whole world. A tireless fighter against apartheid, he defeated it with his courage, his obstinacy and his perseverance."

Israeli President Shimon Peres, praised Mandela's contribution to peace, saying, "He was a passionate advocate for democracy, a respected mediator, a Nobel peace prize laureate and above all a builder of bridges of peace and dialogue who paid a heavy personal price for his struggle in
the years he spent in prison and fighting for his people."

Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, described Mandela as a "great leader" who "fought with a strong will to eliminate apartheid and achieved a great deal by putting national reconciliation at the centre of his nation-building".

Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi paid tribute to Mandela as a "great human being" who inspired others to change the world.
image
11:35  
Pooja Bhatt: Privileged to have as part of my inheritance Nelson Mandela's 'autograph' to my father.

Kiran Bedi: The world leadership is poorer without Nelson Mandela. He was an epitome of patriotic world citizen! Also a shining African success!
image
11:33   LIVE! PM on Modi: I take our opponent very seriously, no room for complacency
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday listed out the challenges before the country and warned against "despairing" for democracy. At the Hindustan Times summit, the PM said, that revolution of rising expectations is underway and I welcome it.

Speaking on terror and terrorism, the PM said that, creating communal division is the ultimate objective of terrorism. Terror ideologues have been defeated in generating communal strife.

The PM said the Congress was going to the elections with a spirit of self confidence. That should not be mistaken whatever is the outcome of Assembly polls.

As a political party we can't underestimate the power of the opposition to unsettle the ship of the state, the PM said on the challenge posed by Narendra Modi.

"I am one of those who takes very seriously our opponent. There is no room for complacency," he said.

The Communal Violence Bill is not a vote-catching gimmick. The Bill, if passed by Parliament, will help control aberrations created by communal strife, he said.
image
11:14   RS adjourned for the day over Mandela's death
Rajya Sabha adjourned for the day after condoling death of anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela.
image
11:13   Malala awarded 2013 United Nations Human Rights Prize
Pakistani teenage activist Malala Yousafzai, who survived a Taliban assassination attempt last year, has been awarded the 2013 UN Human Rights Prize, an honour previously given to icons like late Nelson Mandela in recognition of outstanding achievement in human rights.

The prize is awarded every five years and has previously been bestowed on Amnesty International and former US president Jimmy Carter.
image
11:09  
Nelson Mandela in conversation with Ahmed Kathrada who remained a life-time friend. Kathrada was also the political prisoner and an anti-apartheid activist with Mandela. Watch
image
11:07   Prez in Kolkata today
In other news, President Pranab Mukherjee is in Kolkata from Saturday on a three-day visit. During his stay in the city, the President will address the 160th Annual General Meeting of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Kolkata today.

President Mukherjee will attend the 125th year celebrations of Ghatal Vidyasagar High School and will also deliver Vidyasagar Memorial lecture at Vidyasagar University in West Midnapur District on Sunday.
image
11:06  
A special cabinet meeting has been called at noon in Parliament over Nelson Mandela's death.  
image
11:00   India pays tribute to Mandela
Akshay Kumar‏: "A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination." Couldn't be more true...

Gul Panag: ‏RIP Nelson Mandela. A life so well lived.

Ramesh Srivats:
‏Mahatma Gandhi.
Some people borrowed his name.
While others adopted his principles.
RIP, a shining example of the latter - Nelson Mandela

Sadanand Dhume: ‏[If you can't spell conscience.] PM pays homage to Nelson Mandela at HTSummit : "He represented the conscious of the World".

Nirmala Sitharaman: ‏Shri Nelson Mandela -a life enduring suffering-gracefully. Not a moment of vitriol,victim hood or grief! Personal commitment to non violence

Shobhaa De: ‏The Dark Continent just  got darker. The long road to freedom just got longer. India needs a Mandela.

Azmi Shabana: ‏What an outpouring of love n respect for Nelson Mandela- a deep reverence cutting across all divides on what he stood for at all times RIP.

Amitabh Bachchan: ‏Nelson Mandela - a giant of a man ; of will, belief and perseverance, passes away. But leaves behind a legacy of fight for right !!
I had the greatest honor to meet and spend time with him on two occasions ! His humility his greatest asset, among countless other !

Pic: Nelson Mandela's note to filmmaker Kabir Khan
image
10:51   LIVE! Bollywood tweets moments with Mandela
Amitabh Bachchan: What a moment !! Nelson Mandela's personalised autograph and picture of our meeting !
image
10:46   The Contradictions of Mandela
"I remember Nelson Mandela. No, not the universally adored elder statesman who successfully resisted the megalomania that comes with deification, and who died Thursday at age 95, but the young lawyer who used to sit in my parents' living room until the early hours of the morning, debating African nationalism with my father, Ashby Peter Mda."

Read more
image
10:41  
The world is unlikely to see a leader like him again: Obama. Read
image
10:39   PHOTO ALBUM: The life and times of Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela, the prisoner-turned-president who reconciled South Africa after the end of apartheid, died on Thursday, December 5. Looking back at the legend.  Read
image
10:23   Mandela a true Gandhian, it's as much India's loss: PM
Nelson Mandela, South Africa's anti-apartheid hero, died on Thursday at his Johannesburg home at 95. "A giant among men has passed away. This is as much India's loss as South Africa's. He was a true Gandhian," said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Mandela was only the second non-Indian to be given the Bharat Ratna or "jewel of India", the country's highest civilian award. His connection with India was deep.
image
09:55   Justice Ganguly case: Delhi police seek appointment with law intern
CNN-IBN reports: The Delhi Police has written to the Supreme Court law intern who had accused retired Supreme Court judge Justice AK Ganguly of sexual harassment. The police have sought an appointment with her to speak to her on this issue.

This comes a day after the Supreme Court panel found prima facie evidence of sexual harassment against Justice AK Ganguly. The three-judge committee of the Supreme Court has indicted Justice AK Ganguly of committing an "act of unwelcome behaviour" and "conduct of sexual nature" towards the woman law intern.

Read the full report here

image
08:56   Mandela, an icon of inspiration for humanity: President Pranab
President Pranab Mukherjee today expressed profound grief over the death of global anti- apartheid hero, Nelson Mandela saying, he was an "icon of inspiration for humanity".          

In his message, he said, he conveyed his profound grief and condolences over the loss of a statesman, world leader and icon of inspiration for humanity.
image
08:54   Memorial service at Johannesburg soccer stadium for Mandela
CNN reports: There will be both public and private farewells for former South African President Nelson Mandela, who died Thursday at the age of 95.

In the next three or four days, his body is expected to be taken to a military hospital and embalmed, according to government sources.

There will be a memorial service in the Johannesburg soccer stadium where the World Cup final was played in 2010. Heads of state may attend this public farewell.

Afterward, the government sources say, Mandela will lie in state for several days at the government's seat in Pretoria.

Next week, probably on Friday or Saturday, Mandela will be taken by military aircraft to his ancestral hometown of Qunu, which he had asked to be his final resting place.

Read the full report here


 
image
08:13   We will not see the likes of Mandela again: Barack Obama
Describing himself as one of the countless millions who drew inspiration from Nelson Mandela, United States President Barack Obama mourned the death today of the South African anti-apartheid icon and said that the world was unlikely to see a leader like him again.

"I am one of the countless millions who drew inspiration from Nelson Mandela's life. My very first political action -- the first thing I ever did that involved an issue or a policy or politics was a protest against apartheid," Obama told White House reporters soon after he was informed about the death of the former South African President who died aged 95.

"I would study his words and his writings. The day he was released from prison it gave me a sense of what human beings can do when they're guided by their hopes and not by their fears. Like so many around the globe, I cannot fully imagine my own life without the example that Nelson Mandela set. And so long as I live, I will do what I can to learn from him," Obama said.

Image: US First Lady Michelle Obama meets Mandela at his house in Johannesburg in June 2011 
image
02:27   US does not recognise China air defence zone: White House
The United States does not recognise the recently declared air defence identification zone by China in the East China Sea, the White House said today adding that such a Chinese move is provocative and dangerous in such a sensitive region.

The strong White House statement came even as Vice President Joe Biden concluded his trip to China, indicating that the latter's effort to convince the Chinese leadership on this issue did not yield much result.

As such, the United States would continue to defy the Chinese move and fly its military planes in ADIZ as usual, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters.

"We, the United States, do not recognise it, and we do not accept it, and it will not change how the US conducts military operations in the region," Carney said in response to a question.
image
01:02   US evangelicals, Indian expats teamed up to push through Modi visa ban
NYT reports:  In March 2005, the United States denied a visa to Gujarat's chief minister, Narendra Modi, now the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate in next year's Indian elections.

The visa was denied because of Mr Modi's alleged role in the 2002 riots in Gujarat that left more than 1,000 dead, most of them Muslims. But it came about from a highly unusual coalition made up of Indian-born activists, evangelical Christians, Jewish leaders and Republican members of Congress concerned about religious freedom around the globe.

Read the full article here
image
00:56   Narayan Sai sent to police remand till December 11
Self-styled godman Asaram's son Narayan Sai, accused of sexually assaulting a city-based woman at his ashram here, was remanded in police custody till December 11 by a local court tonight.

Chief Judicial Magistrate J N Thakkar sent Narayan Sai to six days police custody while the police had demanded his remand for 14 days. His aide Kaushal Thakur alias Hanuman was also sent to police custody till December 11 while his another aide Ramesh Malhotra was remanded in police custody till December 7.

District government pleader had sought Sai's custodial remand for various reasons, including to find out the truth behind complaint of sexual assault against him.

Police also wanted his remand regarding a CD that has been obtained during the course of the investigation.

Sai had allegedly faked notary signature to get a court document issued against his name for which his custodial remand is necessary, the police had said.

TOP STORIES