Geo News television said it was a "major blast" near a market.

Police have arrived at the scene and the injured are being taken to hospital.Karachi has long suffered outbreaks of violence, caused by Taliban militants or by rival political groups fighting turf wars.

The killing of senior cleric Maulana Mohammad Ismail at a prominent Islamic seminary in December sparked angry protests - amid growing sectarian violence in the port city.

Several Shias have been recently killed in drive-by shootings blamed on Sunni militant groups.

The minister posted a tweet on Tuesday saying the law should be named in honour of the Delhi braveheart, who was gangraped and assaulted in a moving bus in the national capital on December 16, if her parents do not have any objection to revealing her identity.

Tharoor posted a tweet: "Wondering what interest is served by continuing anonymity of #DelhGangRape victim. Why not name&honour her as a real person w/own identity?"

According to sources, the team headed by Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath and two Election Commissioners H S Brahma and Syed Nasim Ahmad Zaidi will review the arrangements in the three states relating to elections before announcing the poll dates. 

 During the visit, the full Commission would interact with representatives of political parties and discuss poll arrangements including that related to security with the district and state officials.

 Sharma, the Minister for Labour and Employment who also said that the case in which Kanda has been booked is not "such a big" one, came under fire today from BJP and women's bodies who described the remark as insensitive, insulting and shameful. 

TB is an infection caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and is one of the world's deadliest diseases. It is spread from person to person through the air and usually affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body such as the brain and kidneys. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 9 million people around the world and 10,528 people in the United States became sick with TB in 2011.

It will also continuously review action taken by the police and the Delhi government regarding safety issues of women, a Home Ministry statement said today. The task force will also take into consideration the suggestions made by the Members of Parliament during the debates on the matter.

A notification in this regard will be issued in a day or two, he added.Noting that Odisha was not the only state where government imposed such a ban, Rout said the Supreme Court and different high courts had earlier directed the states to slap such a ban as the nicotine-contained chewing masalas triggered diseases like cancer.

45-year-old Chris Buckley, an Australian who has worked as a correspondent in China since 2000 and joined The Times recently, left for Hong Kong with his family yesterday.        

Buckley was to be accredited to replace a correspondent who was reassigned, but the Chinese authorities did not act before December 31, despite numerous requests forcing Buckleyto leave with his family to Hong Kong, the Times reported.

"As the Public Prosecutor, it is my duty to ensure strict adherence to due process in accordance with the highest standards of rule of law to ensure justice," he said in a statement.

"I am grateful to all of you for your continuing support," he said, adding on his appointment as Special Public Prosecutor, he has received various requests from media, both print and electronic, for clarifications and comments.

Gaps in infrastructure, like bank accounts and beneficiary lists, has forced the government to pare down the project, which it has pitched as a 'game-changer'. 

"This is a game-changer for governance... this is a game-changer in how we account for money, it is game-changer in how the benefits reach the individual," Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on Monday.

Daily shipments of 20 truckloads of gravel for private construction began Sunday, the first such shipments since Hamas, the militant Islamist group that rules the Gaza Strip, seized control of the enclave in 2007.

A few of them, such as Alvin Toffler and Nicholas Negroponte became cult figures. But they soon faded out of our excitement, probably because the real future turned out to be far more exciting than what they predicted.

Since 26/11 in Mumbai, we too have been witnessing some sort of futurism in India too '" mostly predicting the transformation of the country from a chaotic mess into an accountable modern nation state '" all betting on the uprising of our citizenry.

The All India Congress Committee has approved Rajni Patil -- an official announcement will be made shortly in New Delhi.    

This puts rest to the speculation that an outsider is likely to be accommodated from Maharashtra.   

The buzz in the AICC is that Punjab governor Shivraj Patil wanted Rajni Patil and his recommendation was accepted by Congress president Sonia Gandhi 

Kim's first New Year's speech, delivered on state TV, was peppered with rhetoric, with calls for boosting the military capabilities and making the science and technology sector world class. But other passages in the speech were also an acknowledgement of the poor state of the country's economy that has long lagged behind the rest of the region. 

North Korea has little arable land, is prone to natural disasters and struggles to grow enough food for its 24 million people.

Born of immigrants from Punjab, California-based physician Bera is only the third Indian American to be a member of the US House of Representatives, while Iraq war veteran Tulsi Gabbard is the first Hindu ever to win Congressional election.

Nirbhaya,

Poet, lyricist and director Gulzar wishing for a better tomorrow and a happier world for everyone.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said rape is a "national problem' in India, affecting women of all classesand castes and requires national solutions. Pillay expressed deep sadness over the death of Delhi rape victim and said she joined Indians in "all walks of life in condemning' the attack on the student, expressing confidence that India could emerge reformed in the wake of this "terrible crime.'

Felt good walking into the New Year with my daughter a step ahead of me in a march of solidarity with young women demanding a more secure world! Experiencing the social awakening of a new generation of young women is a great way to begin the New Year..... No time for negativism, pessimism, cynicism, criticising others. March on ....... Happy New Year!

The history of humankind is filled with desperately sad setbacks, but also interspersed with hope and new beginnings. Let us pray that today is one such (of the latter). Wish you all a happy new year, may 2013 bring your families and you much success and happiness. Let us also work towards ushering in big improvements in the life and safety of women, in particular, and all of us in general . . . . .

One of the attackers planted an explosive near his house, which was later defused by a Bomb Disposal Squad. One policeman suffered minor injuries during the operation. Local residents caught one of the assailants and handed him over to police.  He is being questioned. 

A local resident Ravi Kumar said: 'There were three persons, of whom one had an explosive with him. The man was saying that he was going to blow up the locality.  Why are we being victimized for what Ram Singh did? The people living here are afraid even to go out."

Apparently unnerved by the eye-for-an-eye sentiments some of the protesters expressed, Chandrakant, 19, hanged himself at his home after receiving bail while fellow accused Sonu, 18, drank poison and is critical, police said.

An officer at Mehrauli police station said Chandrakant and Sonu had pleaded with the cops not to inform the media about their arrest.

"They were very scared that they would be beaten to death by the people protesting against the gang rape. They told us they would never again indulge in such acts,' he said.

He added that "soon after the protests, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit wanted the victim to be transferred to a better hospital than Safdarjung" (most likely Medanta in Gurgaon). According to him, this request by the CM was rejected as "those in the decision-making loop (presumably the prime minister and the home minister) were worried that secrecy would no longer be maintained were the victim to be transferred from the government-run Safdarjung Hospital to Medanta". 

Fog started to descend around 10.30 pm last night. Around 2.30 am, the general visibility and runway visibility dropped to less than 50 metres on the third runway while it was around 200 metres on the main runway.

Sunando Sen's cremation was held yesterday and was attended by his friends, business partners and a representative of the Indian Consulate in New York, a senior Consulate official told PTI. 

Sen, who owned a printing and copying business near Columbia University, died after being pushed by 31-year old Erika Menendez in front of an oncoming train at a Queens subway station on December 27.

The raid is the latest in a string of religious crackdowns against residents perceived to threaten the country's strict religious code.

The host of the alleged Christmas gathering is reported to be an Asian diplomat whose guests included 41 Christians, as well as two Saudi Arabian and Egyptian Muslims. The host and the two Muslims were said to be "severely intoxicated.'

Erika Menendez was being held without bail in the death of Sunando Sen, who died Thursday night in Queens. The police say Menendez's family members called authorities several times in the past five years because they were having difficulty dealing with her.

Police did not say what the medication was. Menendez had been arrested several times. She pleaded guilty to assaulting a man in 2003, and drug possession.

Menendez was in custody and unavailable for comment. It was unclear what lawyer was representing her.

The protesters holding tricolours and candles, met at Hounslow's Shree Jalaram Seva Trust temple. Hounslow is a London borough close to Heathrow Airport with a sizeable Indian population.

Many people spoke about their grief at the passing away of the victim. Many held up posters that read 'We demand stricter laws' and 'RIP India's daughter'.

The prayer meeting started with local politicians voicing their concerns about what happened to the girl and how it has touched them personally. "My sister and I talk on the phone regularly and all we have been talking about last few days is this case," said Seema Malhotra, Labour MP from Feltham and Heston. 

There was considerable anger against the Indian government at the meeting.

Eight Taliban detainees were released today to "further facilitate the Afghan reconciliation process", said a statement issued by the Foreign Office tonight. 

Eighteen Taliban prisoners were freed last month on the request of the Afghan High Peace Council, it said. Former justice minister Nooruddin Turabi, former communications minister Maulvi Allah Dad, former Helmand province governor Abdul Bari, former Kabul governor Mullah Daud Jan and former governor Mir Ahmed Gul were among those released today, the statement said.

Diplomatic sources told PTI that Mohammad Azim, a former security guard of Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Omar, too was freed today.

The year had 'been marked by an appalling and disturbing truth: an unprecedented 132 journalists were killed in the line of duty or as a consequence of their reporting in 2012', the IPI said in a statement posted to its website.

The previous highest figure had been 110 deaths in 2009. Last year, 102 journalists were killed.

"It is almost unbelievable that so many journalists have died this year," IPI executive director Alison Bethel McKenzie said. At least 31 journalists and eight citizen reporters died in Syria alone in 2012, while 16 others died in Somalia.

The Vienna-based watchdog began tracking deaths in 1997.