A district court in Beitiah, Bihar, today ordered registration of case against MNS chief Raj Thackeray for his comments blaming "Bihari" migrants for the recent case of gangrape of a girl in New Delhi.        

 

Chief Judicial Magistrate Manoj Kumar Singh of West Champaran district issued the order on a complaint filed by an advocate against the chief of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.        

 

The CJM ordered the town police station to register a case against Thackeray under CRPC 156 III (police officer's power to investigate cognisable case).

The BJP has taken strong offense to remarks made by a leader belonging to Nitish Kumar's party, the Janata Dal-United, reports NDTV. 

Shivanand Tiwari of the JD-U compared Mohan Bhagwat, the chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which is the BJP's ideological mentor, to Akbaruddin Owaisi, a politician in the news for delivering hate speeches in Andhra Pradesh.

"There is no difference between them (Bhagwat and Owaisi), both are two sides of the same coin...both create hatred in society in order to boost their vote banks," said Tiwari, a Rajya Sabha member from Bihar.

In efforts to bring the new liberalised visa agreement between India and Pakistan into effect, arrangements are being made to set up special counters at the Attari-Wagah border to grant visa to senior citizens from January 15, official sources said.

"All (setting up of counters) is being done to operationalise the announcement of new visa agreement," sources said here.

Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik had agreed last year to launch new visa regime to promote people-to-people contact between two countries. Under the new regime, those above 65 years of age are exempted from police reporting with multiple entries for them. This new regime will take effect from January 15, 2013.

Denying the controversial remarks of spiritual guru Asaram Bapu about the Delhi gang-rape victim, his spokesperson Nilam Dubey on Monday said that the media has created the whole issue by misquoting Bapu.

Reacting to the ongoing controversy and countrywide criticism over the statements, Dubey said, "Bapujee never made such statements. He just asked his women followers to avoid such situation anyhow."

"He was only suggesting that women should try their level best to come out from such situation by using diplomatic ways. We request the media not to distort the statement, this will dissolve such a sensitive issue," said Dubey. "Yes, he said that the girl had made a mistake by taking an empty bus in night.  If she had taken 'Matra-Diksha', the God has might save her anyhow," she added.

Asaram Bapu has landed himself in a controversy over his remark that the December 16 Delhi gang rape victim is as guilty as those responsible for the barbaric sexual assault on her.

With the Delhi police facing flak for using force against people protesting the gang-rape of a paramedic student, Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit today said there was a need to reshuffle the force for restoring people's confidence in police system.

With the Delhi police facing flak for using force against people protesting the gang-rape of a paramedic student, Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit today said there was a need to reshuffle the force for restoring people's confidence in police system.

AP reports: The police say a man pushed a woman onto subway tracks in Vienna, causing her to break her leg and lay immobile on the rails as workers scrambled to stop the train before it reached the station.

Activist Aruna Roy today demanded that Parliamentarians convicted of rape charges resign from their membership immediately and that it should be made mandatory.

According to reports, the police have reached the house of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Akbaruddin Owaisi for questioning.

The Delhi high court today extended by five more days its permission to a 25-year-old youth to hold peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar against the December 16 brutal gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old paramedic.

Taking a dig at Prithviraj Chavan for his remarks that there was no issue if NCP wishes to sit in opposition post 2014 polls, party chief Sharad Pawar today said the Chief Minister should restrict himself to affairs of Maharashtra rather than on political situation elsewhere.

Delhiites' battle against biting cold continued for another day as mercury today remained at below normal level and icy winds blew throughout the day. The minimum temperature was recorded at 2.4 deg C, slightly better than previous day's 1.9 deg C, the season's lowest so far, but still five notches below the normal. The maximum was, meanwhile, registered at 13.4 deg C, seven degrees below normal and up from yesterday's 11.8 deg C. Fog and icy winds made the morning chilly. Conditions improved as the day progressed with fog giving way to a clear sky, but icy winds blew throughout the day.

Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh, a known RSS baiter, has equated the saffron outfit with the Taliban. Singh alleged that there was not much difference between RSS and the Taliban as both are fundamentalist.

"I am saying this because both are fundamentalist in nature and they want to take us back to the 18th century," the Congress leader told reporters here last night after addressing a meeting for Raghogarh Municipal elections in Madhya Pradesh.

Singh said that "only fundamentalists want to prescribe a dress code for women and by doing this they want to hide their own misbehaviour". The Congress General Secretary said that the day was not far off when the RSS would want to ban jeans, computer and mobile phones for women.

Taking a dig at the Sangh, he said "if the RSS was so fond of Indian culture, then why do its swayamsevaks wear shorts which are of western origin. "It would be much better if they start wearing the Indian dhoti," Singh said.

He said that Indian culture teaches us that a household, where women are respected, remains happy and where the women are not respected, there can be no happiness.

The Congress General Secretary said that in contrast to this, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat had described marriage as a social agreement under which men work while women stay inside their homes.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has withdrawn support from the the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in Jharkhand. This has happened after the JMM wants Arjun Munda to step down from the post of Jharkhand Chief Minister. Sources say JMM chief Shibu Soren while asking for a change of leadership within the BJP told Arjun Munda to either step down and hand power to JMM or to make someone else from the BJP chief minister.

However, the BJP refused to give any commitment to the JMM on sharing power in the mineral-rich state, sources say. The BJP leadership is convinced that the JMM can't be in power in Jharkhand without its support. Details here.

BJP spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad said Asaram is a religious guru and that the country looks upto him. "His statement is regrettable, deeply disturbing and painful," he said. "For him to make the statement in relation to a crime which has shocked the conscience of the country is not only unfortunate but deeply regrettable," he added.

Asaram Bapu's aide defends his comments on the gang rape. Neelam Dubey said the remarks were made at a religious discourse in Delhi in the context of how one should invoke God's name to avoid incidents like crimes against women.

Some reports said the event was held in Rajasthan. Dubey said Asaram was trying ta drive home the point that incidents like the gangrape of the girl could have been avoided by reciting mantras, by reciting names of Gods.

"If she (the victim) would have taken God's name or recited a mantra God inside her might have suggested her to how to avoid such crimes," she said, seeking to explain Asaram's remarks.

"He was giving that idea to his devotees. He was citing the gang rape incident to say one should use commonsense to avoid such incidents," she added.

The official kilogram - a cylinder-shaped hunk of metal - that defines the fundamental unit of mass, has itself gained weight, scientists say.Scientists at Newscastle University have found that due to surface contamination the original kilogram is likely to be tens of micrograms heavier than it was when the first standard was set in 1875.

As a girl your memories are blotted by the insidious persistence of the first time you were violated. Read Barkha Dutt's column on the Hindustan Times. 

The Home Ministry has ordered a probe into the allegation of the friend of the Delhi gangrape victim that police response to their distress call after the incident was slow.

A joint-secretary level officer of the Ministry will investigate the veracity of the claim by the software engineer that even after reaching the spot here on the night of December 16, the police were arguing over jurisdiction of the case and were hesitant to lift the 23-year-old girl, losing crucial time, a senior Home Ministry official said today.

The probe will also look into the counter-claim by the Delhi Police and check the log books of the Police Control Room vans which came to the spot where the girl and her friend were dumped by the six men after the gang rape.

The intense cold wave conditions claimed 20 more lives in Uttar Pradesh with Muzaffarnagar recording the lowest temperature of minus 0.7 degree Celsius. Six people lost their lives in Ghazipur, three each in Azamgarh and Barabanki, two each in Fatehpur, Sultanpur and Chandauli and one each in Jaunpur and Siddhartnagar.

With this the death toll this winter has risen to 175. Met office officials here said Muzaffarnagar was the coldest place in the state with minus 0.7 degree celsius which was seven degrees below normal. Cold wave conditions prevailed over most parts of the state with maximum temperatures remaining below normal by seven to 15 notches. Night temperatures fell markedly in Lucknow and Allahabad divisions. Agra recorded .6 degree celsius, Najibabad (Bijnore) 1.s0, Lucknow and Aligarh 1.4 each and Kheri 1.6, the Met department said.

MIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi files writ petition in the Andhra High Court seeking a stay on arrest. The petition will come up for hearing on January 9.

The Juvenile Court will begin the trial of the juvenile accused from January 15. The sixth accused, who claims that he is less than 18 years of age, will be presented before a Juvenile Justice Board which has already summoned his school principal to determine his exact age. If the controversy over his age is not resolved then he could be directed to undergo a bone ossification test, which can provide the approximate age of the accused. If the board take the view that the accused is above the age of 18, he could be tried as an adult in the fast-track court.

Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir has asked all high courts to set up fast track courts to deal exclusively with offences against women.

The delay in disposing such cases might be one of the factors for rise in crimes against women, said CJI Kabir in a letter to all the chief justices of high courts, and added that the time has come to deal expeditiously with such cases. The CJI said the high court chief justices should get in touch with the state governments for appointment of judicial officers but in the meantime some court should be designated as fast-track courts to exclusively deal with offences against women. 

In trying to understand the horror in India, we would do well to define the beliefs that excuse or condone sexual violence. Read the column on the Guardian.

Just as Pamela Anderson was about to thrill her fans with her skating skills on this season's 'Dancing On Ice,' she's already been kicked off the show.   Nonetheless, the first episode of the show contained a whole host of fun surprises, mainly the former 'Baywatch' star's decorated nipple, the Mirror reported.  

Anderson put in an amazing performance to the sound of Emilie Sande's 'Read All About It' and landed a respectable score of 18.5 out of 40.  

Looking all relaxed and graceful in black, she was a natural on the ice and appeared to really enjoy herself.  

She was so disappointed to land in the bottom two -- and even more shocked when she left the show after wobbling her way through the skate off.  

Stepping off the ice in white, she said that she wobbled because her dress fell off.   Insisting that it really was her nipple's fault, she said afterwards that she felt sad to leave the show, as it was really fun. She felt sad that she just stumbled in her dress, and her boobs fell out.

The Church of Scientology is a cult whose core aim is to fight a space alien Satan that's brainwashed the rest of us. The Church fights the world's insanity, its celebrity followers argue, and people who tell you differently are bigots. So who's right? Read

As protests over inadequate responses to sexual abuse erupt across the world, from India to Ohio, Daily Beast readers share their personal tales of sexual assault and rape. More

Moment of truth: Women wake up grumpier in the morning than men, according to a survey.

More women than men said they had been accused by work colleagues of "being in a strop" first thing in the morning, the survey found. The poll also said that men get up earlier, hit the ground running and are more on the ball when they arrive at work.

More than half of the 2,000 adults quizzed said they cannot bear to talk to anyone until at least 8am '" over an hour after the average wake-up time of 6.49am, the Daily Express reported.

The survey by the makers of the Zombie Underground game app also found that almost a third dodge conversation with their colleagues first thing in their morning, while a fifth even ignore their children.

"Waking up knowing you have a long and stressful day ahead of you can put you in a bad mood before you have even stepped out of bed," spokesman Jon Lucas said. "And it seems many people are dealing with their bad moods by ignoring those around them and avoiding all conversation. But you never know, having a chat with someone could help pull you out of your dark mood," Lucas said.

The interrogation of the six accused in the Delhi gang rape case has revealed that they tried to abduct another girl before they abducted the victim and her friend.

This information has been included in the charge-sheet, which was filed by the police on Thursday in a Delhi court. According to highly placed sources, the six men, after throwing carpenter Ramadhar Singh out of the bus, drove around with the intention to abduct and rape a woman. They spotted a girl in a black dress waiting at a bus stop near the IIT flyover. Read more

Hitting out at the Andhra Pradesh government for allegedly failing to take prompt action over the "hate speech" of MIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi, the BJP today accused the Congress of going soft on him as both are still alliance partners in Hyderabad.

"Why this delay in taking action. Why this lenient attitude when there is a universal condemnation of his (MIM MLA's) highly objectionable comments. It is the Congress which helped MIM to grow. They still share power in Hyderabad Corporation. Is this the reason why they are soft?," senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu asked while talking to reporters here.

Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) had recently withdrawn its support to Congress both at the Centre and Andhra Pradesh but both parties continue to share power in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.

This is a crucial week for the BJP when it will decide whether it will extend Nitin Gadkari's term as party president for the next three, or whether it should seek the candidature of Major General BC Khanduri or Ram Nayak as stop-gap arrangements. The election for state presidents are now getting over, but when it comes to the national president, the decision rests with the party seniors and the RSS top brass.

Insiders say that there will be no tremors if Gadkari's name is indeed announced for another term.

It is believed that Sushma Swaraj does not want to head the BJP as she does
not want to relinquish her position of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. As for Arun Jaitley -- the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha has  reservations if the BJP lost Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal in 2012, it could well lose Karnataka.and Jharkhand in 2013.

The responsibility for losing state elections normally comes to rest with the party president and Jaitley does not want to put himself up for criticism

And then, there's Rajnath Singh. Top BJP leaders speculate that he will be useful for the UP election campaign and he too does not want to put himself up for criticism. The choice therefore remains Nitin Gadkari.

The involvement of a 17-year-old in the gang rape of a student who died last month has led to calls for the reduction of what constitutes a juvenile in India's legal system.While five adult suspects in the rape and murder face life imprisonment or the death penalty, the juvenile can only be jailed for a maximum three-year term under laws Indian pushed through in 2000. More

Describing the gruesome Delhi gang rape as an incident that makes us  "hang our heads in shame", Vice President Hamid Ansari today sought immediate steps for comprehensive corrective measures in laws and social behaviour.

He said one must remember that full respect for human rights of all and on all occasions, inclusive of gender equality and gender justice, are prerequisites of a modern, progressive, society.

"A recent event on the eve of the New Year gave all of us occasion for remorse and sorrow. It made us, as a people, hang our heads in shame. "The expressions of anguish and anger, fully justified, must now be speedily translated into comprehensive correctives in laws, procedures, societal norms and values, and social behaviour," Ansari said, addressing NCC Republic Day Camp 2013 in Delhi.

The Metropolitan magistrate has passed the order for an in-camera trial. The court has also ordered that all those who are not concerned with the case should leave the court room. Since the case will be conducted in camera from now on, the proceedings will not be accessible to everyone. The proceedings are likely to begin from 2.45 pm.

A Delhi court hearing the December 16 gangrape-cum-murder case today witnessed heated arguments between a lawyer, who sought to defend the accused, and other advocates, who vehemently objected to it even as the accused could not be produced in the overcrowded courtroom.

It is for the first time that a lawyer came forward to defend the five accused amid resolutions of various advocate bodies in the city not to represent them. Advocate Mohan Lal Sharma appeared in the court and told Metropolitan Magistrate Namrita Aggarwal that he had received calls from relatives of some of the accused to defend them.

He told the court that he was unable to take signatures of the accused in 'vakalatnama' (a person's authority letter to an advocate to represent him in court) as he could not go to Tihar Jail and sought the magistrate's permission to take the the same in the court itself.

The metropolitan magistrate, however, refused him the permission and asked him to go to Tihar Jail for the purpose. Even as the court rejected Sharma's plea, two more lawyers offered their services as amicus curiae to the court.

 Later the five accused - Ram Singh, Mukesh, Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta and Akshay Thakur, could not be produced in the overcrowded courtroom, jam-packed with media persons, lawyers and police personnel, due to paucity of space.

The magistrate thereafter asked the people present in the court to make space for the accused to enter it, but despite some space having been made for them, the police refused to bring in the five saying they would bring them only after the court is completely cleared.

The accused are likely to be produced in-chamber now. The accused were to be produced in court in response to the production warrants issued against them for today. The court had issued the production warrants after taking cognisance of the charge sheet filed against them by the police.

BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad slams Asaram Bapu for his statement saying the Delhi gang rape victim is as a guilty as the six accused.

Buzz at the BJP headquarters at 11, Ashok Road is that the party's top leaders are to meet quietly to strategise a political approach for the budget session of Parliament to be held next month. The focus will be on the price rise of LPG cylinders and scams.

Many seniors feel that the BJP has lost the momentum to make any impact in the 2014 polls thanks to its internal squabbles. Obviously, this has affected the morale of party men, who are trying to remain hopeful that the BJP will emerge victorious if the peoples' movement against the UPA2 gets stronger. 

Steubenville Ohoio, where furore over the alleged high-school football rape has finally forced town authorities and police set up a website to counter criticism over events surrounding Big Red football team. Read

Gwen Stefani introduced them in the '90s, and now they're becoming the rage in the Big Apple.The growing popularity of the bindi and the trend's link to interest in India. Read

A Thane-based social organisation has offered to adopt the teenaged girl from Dombivili town here who was allegedly sexually abused by her father and brother for the last two years.

Social organisation 'Parivartan' wants to adopt and take care of the girl, who faced torture at the hands of her own father and brother, who allegedly raped her for the last two years, organisation's members said today.

The 19-year-old girl was last month found crying at Dombivili station in Thane district by her friends. She told them that her father had repeatedly raped her for the last two years and since the last two months her brother was also sexually abusing her, but she could not muster courage to complain against them. Her mother was already living separately after divorcing her father.

A 40-year-old woman was allegedly raped by a man in her fields at Pichhor in Shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh, police said today. The incident took place yesterday when the accused Ram Kishan Lodhi caught hold of the victim after finding her alone and sexually assaulted her, they said. A case has been registered against Lodhi after the woman lodged a complaint and a search is on to trace the accused, police said. The woman has been staying alone since the death of her husband two years back, they said.

Obviously, rapes happen in Bharat and not just India.

Update on the Delhi gang rape case which  is being heard at the Saket court in the capital now. Two lawyers say they are willing to represent the accused. There is heavy security inside and outside the court even as all the five accused are yet to be presented in court. The Saket Bar Association had decided not to defend the accused. 

India Inc. will likely go slow on hiring over the next few months, at least until the Indian economy picks up, say recruiters. So, this is not the best time to be out looking for a new job. But if you are looking, recruiters suggest being ready to make some compromises for your new job.Here are five things to keep in mind. Read

The second round of spectrum auction will begin in March after the Cabinet decides on reducing reserve price of 800 MHz band, used for offering CDMA-based mobile services.

"All auction will be held in March," Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said after the EGoM meet here. On CDMA auction, he said the bidding for the 800 MHz band will take place in all the circles. Meanwhile, sources said the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) has proposed 30-50 per cent price cut in CDMA spectrum price and the Cabinet will take a final decision on the issue. "Cabinet will decide on CDMA spectrum price cut. The auctions will begin on March 11," said a source.

The Delhi High Court has ordered a day-to-day trial of a paternity suit by a youth against veteran Congress leader N D Tiwari. The DNA test on Tiwari conducted in July has revealed that he is the biological father of a 32-year-old youth who today won a five-year-long legal battle on a paternity suit which the veteran Congress leader tried to scuttle from the beginning.

In a first of its kind case involving a politician in India, the Delhi High Court made public the result of the DNA test report, rejecting 87-year-old Tiwari's last ditch attempts to keep it a secret. Read more

I heard you fought to protect yourself. I heard that your fight back caused them to get more violent and brutalise you further. I heard you never gave up. I heard you said you wanted to live.As I write this I clench my thighs together because the torture you were subjected to could have happened to any woman. I am so sorry that our worst fear became your reality...
Read more

Sometimes, long-standing family disputes are best resolved only when the sticking points are thrashed out in public. In announcing that he would nominate his son M.K. Stalin as his political heir if given an opportunity to name the next leader of the DMK the party president M Karunanidhi was merely stating publicly an opinion he was known to hold in private. Read

Execution of rapists in full public glare, abolition of co-education and "sober and dignified' dress for girls are among the 11 suggestions made by Jamaat-e-Islami Hind to Justice (retd) J S Verma Committee on ensuring safety and security to women.

In a statement, JIH said it welcomed the government's decision to set up committees to review the present anti-rape law and find out measures to make the society safe for the women against the backdrop of the gangrape of a 23-year-old in Delhi.

The horrific gang rape incident in Delhi has led to demands for amending the law to provide for more stringent punishment for rape, including introducing the death penalty. Over the last few days, there have been various debates about the advisability of making such changes to the law. Read more

Minister of State for Home Affairs R P N Singh travelled incognito on a bus from Dhaula Kuan to Chhattarpur. He tells Rediff.com that he now agrees with the people that they feel unsafe on Delhi roads. Read

The five gang rape accused have reached the Saket court in Delhi. 

India's ears turn red every time the three-letter word is mentioned - even as its population and sexual violence balloon - and that has to change. Read

Just in: All the five gang rape accused will be presented in court shortly. 

Yesterday, MNS chief Raj Thackeray blamed Bihari migrants for the Delhi rape. "All are talking about the Delhi gang rape, but nobody is asking from where these men came. No one is asking who did this. So many cases are slapped against me (for speaking against Biharis) but no one is talking about the fact that all these rapists are from Bihar," he said, addressing a public function in suburban Goregaon Saturday night. "The system has collapsed," Raj said. More on rediff.com.

If you sniff at Raj's tirade, remember the sombre P Chidambaram also made a similar statement in 2010. Read

In an exclusive interview to Zee, a Hindi news channel, the male companion of the young woman who was gang raped then succumbed to her injuries detailed what happened on that fateful night.He himself was badly beaten up during the attack, allegedly by the men charged in court Thursday. But the man, who has been previously identified as a 28-year-old software engineer, came out alive. I watched the interview in Hindi. Read more

The father of an Indian woman who died after being gang raped on a Delhi bus has denied a British newspaper report that he wanted his daughter named.The man was quoted by India's Hindustan Times as saying her identity should only be revealed if her name was attached to a new law.The 23-year-old victim died from injuries sustained on 16 December. Read

As Delhi shivers at 2.4 degrees and 140 dead in north India as a cold wave sweeps over the country, a story of callousness and deep-rooted corruption.

For over 20 years almost Rs 20 crore earmarked for building night shelters and to provide other welfare assistance to the national Capital's poor and homeless was siphoned off with impunity. And when the scam was busted, there seems to have been an organized bid to shelter the guilty. Read more

Self-proclaimed godman Asaram Bapu is in the center of a major controversy after he held the Delhi victim responsible for the barbaric sexual assault on her by a group of six men.  

"Only 5-6 people are not the culprits. The victim daughter is as guilty as her rapists... She should have called the culprits brothers and begged before them to stop... This could have saved her dignity and life,"  Asaram said.  

"Can one hand clap? I don't think so," he quipped. Read more

Even as five accused in the Delhi gang rape will be presented in court today, the sixth accused, who is a juvenile, may get off lightly, if you go by this case. A woman prosecutor in the Delhi high court has written to the government urging it to approach the Supreme Court against a youth, convicted of raping and killing a six-year-old girl, who escaped the death penalty by using the Juvenile Justice Act.
Read

Dense fog today disrupted the schedule of over 30 domestic and international flights at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here.Ten flights were cancelled due to operational reasons. Air India flight AI 996 from Dubai was diverted to Mumbai at around 4.45 am due to operational reasons.

Fog started to descend at the airport around midnight and general visibility dropped to below 50 metres and runway visibility to 50 metres at the third runway around 3 am, while visibility was around 1000 metres on main runway (28/10), airport officials said. But the situation changed within 40 minutes and visibility at main runway dropped to 125 metres at one end forcing the authorities to implement low visibility procedures.

Here is the latest piece of wisdom from RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.

The BBC has gone bananas -- and banned the humble fruit at its new 1 billion pound headquarters after a staffer warned that the fruit could kill her.     

The five accused in the Delhi gangrape case will be produced at a court in Saket, Delhi on Monday afternoon.

Hailing Indian spirituality for having solution to problems such as global warming and terrorism, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has said that the world was yet to realise its full potential.       

Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi,who has been booked for allegedly delivering a hate speech against a particular community, is likely to appear before the police on Monday, even as fresh complaints against him poured in for the same.

The United States has rejected Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's fresh proposal to end the civil war in his country, asserting that his new road map is "detached from reality."        

Temperatures in Delhi plummeted further on Monday as the city shivered at its lowest temperature of one degree Celsius.