France warned today that allegations of Washington spying on its European allies were threatening talks on a crucial free trade pact, as US President Barack Obama vowed to respond to Europe's concerns once he had all the facts. 

President Barack Obama says his appearance tomorrow in Africa with former President George W Bush will give him a chance to thank Bush for one of the "crowning achievements" of the Republican's administration, a US-funded programme to stop the spread of HIV and AIDS on the continent. 

The price of oil briefly rose above USD 98 a barrel today on concerns about protests in Egypt and their possible effect on Middle East oil supplies. Also, a report showing a pickup in US manufacturing offset data showing a slump in China's manufacturing sector. 

In an ominous warning suggesting it may return to power, the Egyptian military said Monday that it would intervene in the next two days if President Mohamed Morsiand the opposition do not resolve the political crisis threatening the country's stability and economy.

Three militants and a policeman were killed and three security force personnel wounded in a fierce gunbattle in Tral area in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district today. 

The head of the UN atomic agency warned today against complacency in preventing "nuclear terrorism", saying progress in recent years should not lull the world into a false sense of security. 

Fugitive American intelligence leaker Edward Snowden has damaged security of the country by his actions, former US President George W Bush said today. 

President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed Governors for Meghalaya, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Delhi and Puducherry   

The trial in the December 16 gang-rape case today resumed in a Delhi court after the summer vacation with the investigating officer (IO) rejecting the allegation that she had fabricated evidence.

"It is wrong to suggest that all the accused persons were falsely implicated in the present case," the lady IO, who had initially probed the case, told Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna.

The officer also refuted the allegation that accused Vinay Sharma was a juvenile at the time of the incident or that he had shown her the clippings of a musical function where he was allegedly present on December 16, 2012 night, when the 23-year-old girl was gang-raped by the six persons in a moving bus in Delhi.

The six accused have also brutally assaulted the victim's male friend, a software engineer, with a iron rod and later dumped both of them on the road side.

"It is wrong to suggest that accused Vinay was juvenile at the time of the incident or that his parents told me so. It is wrong to suggest that Vinay ever showed me the clippings of a musical show in which he was present on the day of the incident," the officer told the court. She also denied the allegation that accused Akshay Singh was falsely implicated in the case as he was not present in Delhi at the time of commission of the crime.

Ishrat Jahan encounter case: Questions the CBI needs to answer. Read

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will file a preliminary charge sheet in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case on July 4. CNN IBN, which has access to the details of the chargesheet in the case says Narendra Modi and Amit Shah not named in the charge sheet. The chargesheet says Ishrat was shot in the stomach in cold blood.

Mumbai college girl Ishrat Jahan, Pranesh Gopinath Pilai, Amjad Ali and Jishan Johar were killed by Gujarat Police in a shootout in Ahmedabad in 2004.

Ramesh Srivats tweets: It's a good name. After all, Ravana was killed by an arrow from Rambo.

Lt Gen Sanjiv Chachra assumed the appointment of Army Commander of the prestigious Dhruva Command in a simple and solemn ceremony at Udhampur today.

 Nearly three weeks after his break-up with the BJP, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is apparently not looking to bury the hatchet.In Patna today, he targeted Narendra Modi, whose recent promotion as BJP's poll campaign chief, prompted the end of a 17-year partnership.

"I am not Rambo - the person who will go to rescue Biharis from Uttarakhand," Mr Kumar said. Late last month, Mr Modi visited the flood-ravaged state of Uttarakhand, where a thousand people have died. A newspaper report said he rescued 15,000 Gujaratis in a "Rambo act."  Read the full report on the NDTV.

At least 19 students were injured when a low-intensity bomb exploded inside a classroom of a government-run school on the outskirts of Cuttack city today, police said. The blast took place when a teacher of Class IX was taking a roll call in Ayutpur High School.

Of the 58 students present in the class, 19 were taken to the SCB Medical College Hospital. While five students, three boys and two girls, were admitted to the hospital, others were released after first aid, Namita Mohanty, the headmistress of the school, said.

She said the students have sustained injuries in the lower parts of their bodies. "The bomb was suspected to be in the bag of a boy hailing from a nearby village," the headmistress said quoting the students.

The police, however, were not sure about it. "We have sealed the school and a forensic team is examining the spot to find out what kind of explosive was used," Deputy Commissioner of Police Pravin Kumar told PTI. Kumar said the police hoped to get some clue about the incident after injured students recovered.

"The students are now in a state of shock," the DCP said. He did not rule out the possibility of a criminal angle behind the incident.

A special CBI court in Hyderabad today extended till July 15 the judicial remand of YSR Congress chief Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and others in a corruption case.

The Kadapa MP, lodged in Chanchalguda Central Prison here since May 27 last year after his arrest by CBI, appeared before the court through a video-link with his co-accused Vijay Sai Reddy, former minister Mopidevi Venkataramana Rao, industrialist Nimmagadda Prasad and others. Court extended their judicial custody by 14 days.

The case relates to alleged investments made by industrialists in Jagan's companies when his father, the late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, was the chief minister (2004-09), by way of a quid pro quo for government favours.

The Indian Embassy in the US is among the list of 38 diplomatic missions which were being spied upon by American intelligence agencies, as per the latest top secret US National Security Agency documents leaked by the whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The US was using a wide range of spying methods including bugging, the Guardian daily in London said quoting the leaked report. "One document lists 38 embassies and missions, describing them as 'targets'. "It details an extraordinary range of spying methods used against each target, from bugs implanted in electronic communications gear to taps into cables to the collection of transmissions with specialised antennae," the Guardian said.

'Why are the old even here? Who asked them to come to a place like this? If they have no regard for their own safety, why should we care?' The horror stories of Uttarakhand. Read

Andhra Pradesh police personnel today donated their one day's salary, amounting to total Rs two crore, towards relief operations in flood-hit Uttarakhand. AP Director General of Police V Dinesh Reddy handed over Rs two crore cheque to Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy towards the CM's Relief Fund for Uttarakhand victims at a function.

A suspected Pakistani intruder died near an Indian Army post in the Saujian sector of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir today, when an improvised explosive device or IED that he was carrying blew up, reports NDTV. 

The Indian Army has said that it spotted the man and shot at him. It is not clear yet if the man blew himself up or then a bullet hit the IED he was carrying and caused the explosion.  Details awaited.

Dubbing Narendra Modi as a "very divisive figure", Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said the BJP has "not changed its spots" and people will reject the party in the next Lok Sabha elections as it represents an idea which is against secularism and inclusiveness.

He accused the BJP of raking up divisive issues like Uniform Civil Code, Ayodhya and abrogation of Article 370 and people will reflect upon all these issues while voting.

Refusing to get into a discussion whether Modi as BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate would be good or bad for Congress, he said his party was not fighting any individual but an idea represented by BJP which was rejected in 2004 and 2009.

He mocked at the elevation of Modi as Election Campaign Committee chief, saying he was such a divisive person that there is a "lot of rebellion" within his party, starting from the top, apparently referring to the resignation by L K Advani. "We think Mr Modi is a very divisive figure, which is why there is a lot of rebellion within his party. For the first time I have seen there is a rebellion starting at the very top," Chidambaram told PTI.

Office bearers of the All India Congress Committee are believed to be losing faith in Rahul Gandhi after he failed to build confidence in the cadre. Four office bearers who had attended Rahul Gandhi's briefing at 24 Akbar Road recently, confided in Rediff.com that Rahul Gandhi does not seem confident of the Congress capturing power in Delhi.

And what gave this impression? Because, during his interaction, the Congress vice president kept repeating, "Let us work for 2019", because the party may or may not be in power in 2014.

Seemingly unfazed at being ousted from the Asian Athletics Association, scam-tainted Suresh Kalmadi today said losing the Presidential re-election bid to Qatar's Dahlan Jumaan Al-Hamad has actually given him a chance to work at the "grassroots" level.

"I have no issues today and I congratulate Mr Al-Hamad for being elected as President. I am rather relieved that I will be able to work at the grassroots level in athletics," Kalmadi said after losing the vote during the ongoing AAA Congress here. Kalmadi was presented a plaque by IAAF President Lamine Diack at the Congress in Pune. 

Senior Secretaries to the government of India are upset with the sudden rise of translators and librarians as Secretary General of Lok Sabha or Secretary General of Rajya Sabha. They hold the status that of a  union cabinet secretary.

These two posts are meant for superannuated bureaucrats. There are no real guidelines or a system in place for appointments. The Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha are appointing authorities and their choice is final. Even the files of appointments are not put up to the President of India.

Till such time, PA Sangma was Speaker of the Lok Sabha, he introduced the outsider as a Secretary General of Lok Sabha and librarians got promoted or translators got the highest position in the Lok Sabha.

Sangma brought S Gopalan as Secretary General and PDT Acharya was a translator from Malayalam to English when he joined the service.

When Everest climbers became rescue men. Read

Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami's first experience of deposing before the Public Accounts Committee turned out to be stormy. The chairman of the PAC, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, has taken the new Home Secretary to task for saying that there is no definition of national calamity in the 2005 Parliament act. The CPI, ADMK and SP MPs said that the earlier Home Secretary GK Pillai used to be in total command over his subject. 

No docs for rural hospitals in Maharashtra. Read

More on Ambika Soni. The general secretary in-charge of the Congress President's Office meets leaders at 24 Akbar Road from 3 pm to 5 pm every day. She sorts out internal issues like groupism in the state units, If this is interpreted politically -- Rahul Gandhi's whip is now enforced in the AICC.

So, does this this mean that Man Friday Ahmed Patel will gradually be shown the door? Watch this space.

Meanwhile, bad weather continues to hamper rescue operations in Badrinath in Uttarakhand. 500 people remain to be rescued. 

Will the Congress replace Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bhahuguna? The party is concerned that the devastation in Uttarakhand may have an impact on the 2014 polls. Senior leaders in private admit that the chances of the Congress winning the five Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand are bleak.

If the present analysis is to be taken seriously, the Congress will lose all five seats and even retaining the security deposit my be tough.

Today, Congress leaders Ambika Soni, the newly appointed coordinator in the Congress President's office flew into Dehradun with Jairam Ramesh, even as the All India Congress Committee leaders remain deeply embarrassed over the public outcry against Bahuguna.

The Uttarakhand CM adds that no construction activity will be allowed on river banks. Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh who is also addressing the meet with Bahuguna says the Asian Development Bank will also be giving a grant for the state. Aid will also be received from the World Bank.

Bahuguna added that interest on loans given by the state government will be waived for a year.

Uttarakhand CM Vijay Bahuguna addressing a press meet now, says, if the missing are not found in a month, they will be declared dead. He puts the number of missing as 3000, but says, the death toll can never be confirmed.
"Choppers are continuing to drop off essential material to villages devastated in the floods. Children who have been orphaned in the disaster will be looked after by state. There will be a compensation for all commercial establishments. More than 1300 villages are cut off totally. Power bills will be waived off affected families and all villagers will be given free rations.

"Uttarakhand is being rebuilt and it will be rebuilt and redevloped keepin the next 100 years in mind," he said.

The Caravan's Ananth Nath on the future of long-form journalism in India. Read.
And may his tribe increase.

TMC MP Somen Mitra is all set to join Congress, say sources. In fact, Mitra was originally from the Congress. Seven months ago, Mitra spoke to Rediff.com, on his party and famously said: Are we living in India or are we the residents of a country ruled by the Taliban? Read

Just in: Actor Suraj Pancholi has been granted bail on a surety of Rs 50,000 in the Jiah Khan suicide case. Pancholi will have to surrender his passport.

Jiah Khan had committed suicide on June 3, while Suraj, son Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab, was arrested after Khan's family found her letter four days later. Suraj was arrested on the basis of the letter allegedly written by Jiah. The sessions court on June 21 had rejected his bail application after the police told the court that they intent to add some more sections in the case. 

In sharp contrast to the their laudatory presence in Uttarakhand, in Jammu and Kashmir, an army goodwill school was attacked by protestors. The miscreants were protesting the death of two men who were allegedly killed by army personnel in Bandipora yesterday.

Irfan Ahmad Gania, 18, and Irshad Ahmad Dar, 25, were, according to their parents, attending a wedding at Markundal village in Sumbal, at 4am when they were killed by the security forces.

However, Rashtriya Rifles said its jawans acting on specific intelligence inputs about presence of terrorists, had cordoned off the area, when there was a burst of gunfire from a house beyond the sanitised area. The army also said one of the two men were shot when he fled when stopped for a security check.


And the story of an army office from Kashmir, who is a hero in Uttarakhand. Read

Today, the country takes the first step to launching its own navigation satellite set-up to tap civilian and military applications that the system can offer. Read

The government has used fallacious arguments to double the price of gas and hand over windfall profits to India's richest company. Read

The unbridled approach to exploitation of mountain resources has contributed to the Uttarakhand disaster, say experts. Chandra Bhushan, Deputy Director-General, Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi: "There is a connection between deforestation, construction, and the property of soil to retain water. Dams and other constructions reduce the absorbing capacity of soil."  Read

The recent flash floods, cloudbursts, and landslips in Uttarakhand displaced many residents, stranded pilgrims, left people without food, many of them unemployed, and presented a grim picture of a mindless development model. Read

Just in: CWG scam accused Suresh Kalmadi has lost the contest for the post of President of the Asian Athletics Association (AAA) today. He lost 20 votes to 18, with 7 votes declared invalid. Kalmadi lost to Qatar federation president Brig. Dalham al-Hamad.

The 69-year-old is re-contesting the elections to retain the post for the fourth consecutive term. He was first elected to the position in 2000 and was re-elected for a third time in 2009. The elections will be held on his home turf - Pune.

Athletics associations from 45 countries will decide the fate of Mr. Kalmadi who is pitted against the Senior Vice-President of the body and also President of the oil-rich Qatar Athletic Association, Brig. Dalham al-Hamad.  Read the full story here.

Lt General Philip Campose is the new Western Army Commander, Anil Chait is CISC, Shakti Gurung is new MS, tweets Nitin Gokhale. 

The petitions of RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav to transfer one of his fodder scam cases to another special CBI court from the present court of Pravas Kumar Singh and examining one more witness were dismissed by Jharkhand High Court today.

The court of R R Prasad, who had on June 28 reserved the order on the pleas after Ram Jethmalani argued for Yadav, dismissed the petitions.

Prasad, who faces a judgement in a fodder scam case on July 15, filed the petition requesting transfer of RC20A case to another special CBI court as he did not "expect justice" from the present special CBI judge Pravas Kumar Singh following his alleged relationship with two Bihar-based JDU leaders, who are political opponents.

There was still no clarity over the number of deaths in the flood-ravaged Uttarakhand, with a state minister on Sunday not ruling out an "estimate" of 10,000-plus and chief minister Vijay Bahuguna putting the number of missing people at 3,000. Here's the full report.

-- 100,000 people have been evacuated from flood-hit Uttarakhand.

-- The Indian Air Force said it has airlifted over 18,000 people and dropped more than 3 lakh kilo of relief material since the rescue operations began.

-- 1335 villages are, however, still cut-off and authorities are dropping rations there.

-- 1 month free ration for these villages.

Last ditch efforts were being made today on to evacuate about 900 people from Badrinath amid overcast conditions at some places in Uttarakhand where authorities were grappling with the task of extricating bodies from under tonnes of debris lying in Kedarghati and their cremation.

Despite bad weather at places including Dehradun, chopper operations began this morning in Chamoli district to evacuate about 300 pilgrims and 600 locals from Badrinath shrine to Joshimath from where they will be brought further down by road.

According to latest official figures, approximately 3000 persons have been reported missing after the tragedy. The Chief Secretaries of the states concerned have been asked to verify the list and if the lost people are not traced in a month they will be declared dead.

On the 16th day of the calamity today, only 36 bodies have been disposed of amid necessary rituals so far in the worst-hit Kedarnath shrine area with no cremation having taken place there over the past two days, officials said.

The state government has sent a 200-member team of medical experts, trained police personnel and support staff from the municipal corporation to the Valley to perform the onerous task of extricating the bodies and their ritual cremation.

With human bodies lying all over the area, the air is thick with a foul smell making it difficult for those sent to clear the debris stay there for long. "The frequently changing weather with intermittent rains is another hurdle.We are going about the cremation process slowly," DIG Sanjay Gunjyal, who is supervising the exercise, said.

When floods and mudslides swept through Uttarakhand, they removed in one fell swoop the effects of many years of neglect and corruption. It will take political will to leave the hills undisturbed, and avoid a repeat of the death and destruction. Read

There are 147 urban settlements in this country with over three lakh people in each. Together, they account for 168 parliamentary constituencies. In short, this is the urban battleground where Congress performance was quite commendable in the 2009 general election. Read

Former chief secretary of Uttarakhand, has written a series of articles in the Garhwal Post on what went so horribly wrong in the state. Read

A Bangladesh factory worker who was rescued after 17 days trapped beneath the collapsed factory's debris is now being declared a hoax by a former colleague and survivor.

Reshma Begum, 19, escaped on foot from under the nine-story building and was hospitalized the very same day in April, according to claims made to a British newspaper.

A former Rana Plaza worker, who allegedly worked with Begum, said that the two escaped together and walked away from the rubble. According to the New York Daily News, the worker said that they spent two days in hospital but then she vanished. The next time she saw Begum was on TV 17 days later. They said it was a miracle. But it was all fake.

The worker, who wished to remain anonymous, has since gone into hiding for her own protection from government ramifications. Begum was found in remarkable condition and was not immediately seen suffering from dehydration, despite claiming to have only little water and four packets of biscuits while trapped, the report said. According to the report, more than 1,200 people were killed when the nine-story factory collapsed in April.

Two people, including a policeman and a militant, were killed and three security men injured in a fierce gunfight with militants in south Kashmir Tral in Pulwama district Monday.

Rediff.com's Mukhtar Ahmad reporting from Srinagar said that troops of the counter insurgency Rashtriya Rifles (RR), paramilitary central reserve police force (CRPF) and police jointly surrounded a house in village Medoora on specific information about presence of militants inside it. The injured have been hospitalised.  

Delhi has witnessed 806 rape cases this year until June 20, a sharp increase from 330 for the same period last year. Read

The flashfloods of June 16 have eroded the faith of the devout. At Badrinath, believed to be the most popular of the Char Dham going by the sheer number of people who would stop over, shaken pilgrims are saying they doubt if they would return even after its restoration. Read the report on the TOI.

The war of words between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party over the Uttarakhand floods continue, even as thousands continue to be stranded in the state.

Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj slammed both the state and the central government in a series of early morning tweets. The Congress government in the state is "inept and incompetent", she said.

These tweets come after Congres's Manish Tewari tweeted, "Did anyone see LOPs in both Houses express sympathy/visit disaster hit U'khand?" and followed that up with, "This from a party that criticizes visits of Congress leadership."

"I am sorry to say that the government in Uttarakhand has not been able to rise to the occasion," and "Unfortunately, the government in Delhi has also failed to provide the requisite leadership," she tweeted this morning.

CNN IBN reports: The Central Bureau of Investigation has asked for high-level security for its officers investigating the 2004 Ishrat Jahan encounter case. CBI sources say investigating officer Sandeep Tamgadge has received death threats in the past few days.

There has been a tussle between IB and CBI over action against Intelligence Bureau's special director Rajendra Kumar in the Ishrat Jahan case

Read the full story here

PTI reports: Two security personnel have been injured in an encounter with militants in the Pulwama district of south Kashmir early today, police said.

The encounter took place at Tral during a counter-insurgency operation launched by security forces following information about the presence of militants in the area, they said.

A jawan of the Central Reserve Police Force and a J&K policeman sustained injuries in the exchange of fire in which a militant is also believed to have been killed, police said.

Scotching speculation of a tie-up,the DMK ruled out possibility of an alliance with the Congress in the coming Lok Sabha elections and made it clear it only sought the support of that party in the Rajya Sabha polls.   

"Seeking the support of the party for a Rajya Sabha MP post did not mean we have aligned with it again. We will nothave any alliance with Congress for the forthcoming Lok Sabhapolls," senior DMK leader and party Treasurer M K Stalin said.   

"We came out of the UPA due to differences on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue and the differences persisted," he said and ruled out the possibility of aligning with the Congress for the Lok Sabha or even assembly elections. He reiterated the party had sought support of the Congress in the RS polls to elect Kanimozhi as MP "which  is a common practice followed by any political party."

A key woman member of Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party, who is also a contestant for upcoming Delhi assembly elections, was critically injured yesterday in a road accident.   

Santosh Koli was going to party office along with a party colleague Kuldeep when their motorbike was hit from behind by a car in the Kaushambi area of Indirapuram locality.   

Santosh is a core committee member of the Aam Aadmi Party. Police have registered a case in this regard at Link Road police station.

Kejriwal is claiming that this was not an accident but a deliberate attempt to kill her

NDTV reports: At least 1,500 people, including locals, are still stranded at Badrinath and Harsil and rescue operations are on to bring them to safety. 3,000 people remain missing, almost a fortnight after floods wreaked havoc in Uttarakhand. 

200 pilgrims rescued, 500 still stuck in Badrinath

Massive protests in Kashmir after 2 youths killed in firing

We will never know the exact number of dead: Uttarakhand CM

Dead bodies pile up, epidemic fears rise, but govt not leery

Indians in Saudi Arabia asked to get final exit visa

Yesterday's live commentary