Timeline Refresh
India today said it was "little premature" to assume that the beheading of an Indian soldier by Pakistan Army was the end of the unfortunate incident, but asserted efforts were on ensure that bilateral ties are not affected due to such incidents.
"Difficult to say that. I think we have been working on it and I think many bilateral processes are in operation which is what we really wanted no matter how bad is an incident is, we should not give a go-by to the bilateral processes by which we try to handle every crisis.
"But to say that this is the end of the really unfortunate incident will be a little premature for me. Let's us wait for the outcomes that will come in the due course," he said. The minister was responding to a question on whether the beheading incident was "behind us".
The Rajasthan government has set up five special courts for speedy trial in cases related to sexual harassment and dowry. The courts have been set up in Ajmer, Bharatpur, Bikaner, Udaipur and Jodhpur, an official release said in Jaipur today.
Cases related with harassment, dowry and others will be heard in the courts, the release said.
A group of Class 12 examinees today clashed with police, pelted stones on an examination centre and torched several vehicles, injuring eight policemen in Bihar's Sheikhpura district.
The police fired several rounds in the air to restore order after the examinees at the Islamia College threw stones and engaged in a clash with the law-enforcers to protest against expulsion of some students for cheating.
Eight policemen, including Sheikhpura police station in-charge Rajendra Singh, were injured in the clash, Sub-Divisional Magistrate Manzoor Ali said. The injured cops have been admitted to a hospital for treatment, the SDM said.
Earlier in the day, the authorities had expelled 64 examinees appearing in the examination for cheating, he said.
Separatist outfits today gave a call for a shutdown in Kashmir Valley on Friday to protest hanging of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru. Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who is under house arrest in Delhi, issued a protest schedule for this week.
"There is no alternative for us but to come out on the streets in protest against the decision (to hang Guru)", said the chairman of the hardline faction of the Hurriyat.
In a statement issued by his amalgam in Srinagar, Geelani said civil curfew would be observed on Wednesday and Thursday. A shutdown would be observed after Friday prayers which would be followed by peaceful protests across the Valley, he said.
The future course of action would be announced on Friday, Geelani said. Moderate Hurriyat Conference, headed by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and JKLF had also given a call for a shutdown on Friday.
Maldivian President Mohamed Waheed has accused his predecessor Mohamed Nasheed of "instigating" street protests by taking refuge in the Indian High Commission here, as he promised "free, fair and inclusive" multi-party election in the country in September. Waheed said his government will do the utmost to promote democracy in the country.
"We have the biggest visa operations anywhere else in the world right here in India. I announce that we are going to introduce for businesses a same-day visa service to those who want to come to our country and invest...," Cameron told India Inc.
But this spells very good news for agriculture, with analysts saying India may see a bumper wheat crop as a result of this, even as the rest of the world is grappling with shortages. Read (And they they will be left to rot in the open)
Sticking to his remarks on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi which had drawn him Jaitley's ire, Katju, a former Supreme Court judge, said, "Mr Arun Jaitley has demanded my resignation, I demand Mr Arun Jaitley's resignation." "He has made reckless remarks against me, called me a megalomaniac and all kinds of most derogatory language he has used. It was most unbefitting of a person who claims to be of his stature.
So, in fact, he should resign and take 'sanyas' (retirement). He is not fit to be in politics," he told reporters here after the BJP demanded his sacking for his "political" remarks.
Italian police arrested the head of Italian state-controlled defence group Finmeccanica SpA on Tuesday in a corruption probe centred on the sale of helicopters to the Indian government, a judicial source said.
"It is indeed a matter of shame that, notwithstanding the gains we have made, incidents of violence and sexual offences against women are on the increase," Dr. Singh said at a function to confer the Indira Gandhi prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development 2011 on social worker Ela Bhatt.
Dr Singh said, the Justice J.S Verma committee have resulted in the promulgation an ordinance, amending and strengthening the criminal law to deal with sexual offences against women.
"It is our hope that Parliament will urgently pass the necessary legislation to enact a comprehensive law in this regard," he added.
The violin, if proven authentic, will have incredibly survived the tragedy in which more than 1500 people lost their lives in the Atlantic ocean on April 15, 1912. Extensive scientific tests are underway to prove the violin's authenticity, however, experts believe it to be genuine, the 'Daily Mail' reported.
The violin is expected to fetch hundreds of thousands of pounds on April 20 when it is up for the auction.
According to medical experts the phenomenon, named as 'Flu Monday', is down to us giving up on the annual January detoxification and celebrating Valentine's Day in style, the Sun reported.
The paper quoted Dr Rob Hicks, a GP in London, as asserting that many people start socialising more in February after January, when we socialise less and prefer eating healthy food, giving our bodies a chance to recuperate after the over-indulgence of Christmas.
Upon her arrival, Kumar drove straight to the confluence of three rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati, where the 12-yearly Maha Kumbh congregation is underway, and took a holy dip.
Later while speaking to reporters, Kumar said : "I have offered my prayers for our democracy which is the largest in the world. I have prayed that may democracy's roots in our country grow deeper and deeper".
The Tourism Authority of Thailand chief has apologised to the families of the couple killed in Chachoengsao province. The pickup driver told police that his vehicle hit the British cyclists while he was reaching down to pick up a cap on the floor.
He was reportedly released on bail, and will face charges. The couple had started cycling around the world two years ago, and had travelled through Europe, the Middle East, China and 23 other countries without incident before coming to Thailand.
Afzal Guru's family had turned down the Centre's offer to let his wife, son and a few other close relatives offer prayers at his grave inside the Tihar Jail complex in Delhi.
"We have only one demand that the government of India should return us the body," Guru's cousin Mohammad Yaseen had said. He was reacting to the Centre's offer to allow Guru's wife Tabassum, son Galib and a couple of other close family members offer "fathiah namaz"( prayer at the grave) inside Tihar Jail.
"No, No," was he refrain when asked if the government will consider rolling back last week's increase. "Our country imports 73-75 per cent of oil. We need to pay Rs 7 lakh crore for the imports. Where do we find that kind of money," he said. The first hike in petrol price in over three-and-a-half months and the second rise in diesel rates in one month exclude local sales tax or VAT, making the cost for consumers even higher. Petrol price in Delhi went by Rs 1.80 to Rs 69.06 per litre from February 16. Diesel rates went up by 51 paise to Rs 48.16 a litre.
The award was handed out at the Durbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, but despite a makeover as recent as December last year, the sound system was defective.
President Pranab Mukherjee, the PM Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi were among those present.
Bhatt's acceptance speech was unclear as the sound echoed across the Hall. And of course, pigeons cooing in the ledges only made it worse.
That's something the President needs to look into since he engineered renovations and refurbishments in the Durbar Hall and the spectacular library as well.
Here's a blog stating why Press Council of India chief Justice Katju is unfit to hold any office. Some of his 'best' statements... Read.
Last week, the government scrapped the Rs 3,546-crore deal for 12 VVIP helicopters from Finmeccanica. The government set the "termination process" in motion on Friday by issuing a formal show-cause notice to AgustaWestland to explain within a week why the contract should not be cancelled and penal action initiated against it.
"Mr Katju as Chairperson of the Press Council of India, holds a statutory position, yet he is seemingly floating around the country like a vagabond and giving unsolicited bizarre opinions," BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy told reporters.
He alleged that Katju is biased and demanded his resignation. "Katju prefers slurring opposition ruled governments whether it is Mamata Banerjee ruled West Bengal, the JDU-BJP ruled government in Bihar or Narendra Modi government in Gujarat," Rudy said.
The opinion piece on the Hindu by Markandey Katju
Khambalkar and his friends, who had to give up their plans for a Sunday outing, were among the thousands of Mumbaikars trying frantically to secure new mobile connections from other operators. Read
"I appeal to the central trade unions to withdraw their call for countrywide general strike on February 20 and 21. Such a strike would lead to avoidable loss to our economy and inconvenience to the public through disruption of services," Dr. Singh said in his message.
Dr. Singh also pointed out that some of the issues raised by the trade unions are already being acted upon and others are at various stages of consideration.
Worse, Bal and the inter-agency team accompanying him to ferret out information from the Italians on allegations that have created waves in the global armaments market cannot expect any wisdom from the most obvious fountainhead in their task: the Indian ambassador in Rome.
India has no ambassador in Rome. Read
Read the blog on the visit: David Cameron taking India for a 'free ride'
Sudhakaran's comments have raised protest from the Congress and the CPM, while Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and party state president Ramesh Chennithala have refused to comment. Read
According to reports, Guru had told jail officials in Tihar that he was not in favour of Kashmir's secession from India and actually wanted to rid the country of corruption. However, interrogation of an Indian Mujahideen accused lodged in Tihar has revealed that with him, Guru argued exactly the opposite.
More on the Times of India.
Also read: Afzal Gurus last letter to his family was less than 80 words long.
Cameron landed in Mumbai around 8.30 am and was received at the airport by Minister of Protocol Suresh Shetty and senior Maharashtra government officials. He is accompanied by a large delegation which includes CEO of top British corporates, Vice-Chancellors of reputed universities and senior government officials, among others.
The team will be led by a senior defence ministry official and will also comprise of a DIG of the CBI besides a law officer.
Official sources told NDTV that d the departure of the team was delayed by a day due to some last-minute formalities which required to be fulfilled before traveling abroad for the purpose of investigation.
More details are awaited.
The four convicts -- Gnanaprakash, Simon, Meesekar Madaiah and Bilavendran -- have been on death row since 2004, when the Supreme Court sentenced them to death for killing 22 policemen and forest personnel from Tamil Nadu in a landmine blast at Palar, Karnataka.
Their mercy petitions were rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday.
Most of the 12 deaths were reported from Prakasam, Nellore, Krishna and Chittoor districts either due to lightning or electrical short-circuit. Three persons were injured in house-collapses, two of them in Adilabad and one in Nizamabad.
Read the full report here