Amid the political crisis in Kerala over the solar panel scam, senior Congress leader A K Antony today met party chief Sonia Gandhi. The meeting assumes significance as CPI(M)-led LDF in Kerala has been pressing for resignation of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy who is in the eye of a storm over the scam.        

 

Despite the fact that state unit led by PCC chief RameshChennithala has backed the beleaguered chief minister, there has been unease in the state Congress with a section having reservations over Chandy's continuance.        

 

A defiant Chandy has rejected the Opposition demand, saying allegations against him was part of a political conspiracy by the CPI-M-led LDF.         Two days ago, Antony had come out in support of Chandy, ruling out any change in the state government on the solarpanel scam issue.

A senior US diplomat says President Barack Obama is still mulling a range of options for the size of the US military presence in Afghanistan after 2014. 

Ahmed Kathrada, a warhorse of the anti-apartheid struggle, was allowed just a few minutes at the hospital bedside of his critically ill comrade, Nelson Mandela. 

Pope Francis overhauled the laws that govern the Vatican City State on Thursday, criminalizing leaks of Vatican information and specifically listing sexual violence, prostitution and possession of child pornography as crimes against children that can be punished by up to 12 years in prison.

Social activist Anna Hazare today said that he will launch a fresh agitation for Jan Lokpal bill from Delhi's Ramlila ground in October-November. 

A motorcycle packed with explosives blew up outside a mosque frequented by both Sunni and Shi'ite worshipers in Pakistan's volatile northwest on Thursday, as the month-old government struggled to curb a rising tide of attacks.

Seeking to strengthen mutual trust between their armed forces, India and China are planning to hold exercises between their navies and air forces also in the near future. 

Clearing the decks for attaining criticality for unit-1 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP), Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) today gave clearance for 'First Approach to Criticality' (FAC). 

The SC order barring convicted politicians from contesting elections and the flak the UPA received in the coal-gate scam has the govt worried. 

The UPA govt wants an all-party meeting on the issue and is informally talking to all political parties in this regard.

The BJP has, however, refused to be part of it.

Our sources in Delhi tell us that the Congress remains confused over the Telangana statehood issue, and it is unlikely that the Core Committee will take a call on formation of the state tomorrow.

The Congress has other fish to fry and problems it has to resolve like Coalgate, the Bodh Gaya blasts and the upcoming Monsoon session of Parliament.

Sonia Gandhi has asked Renuka Choudhary to speak to the media to end the speculation generated by Digvijaya Singh on the Telangana issue. She is believed to have said that "no overnight solution for Telangana is avalable."

Highly-placed Congress sources told Rediff.com that Telangana is one of the four major subjects that the Core Committee will deliberate on. But there will be no conclusive decision.

This is what Digvijaya Singh said today: "There is no question of betrayal at any point...a decision cannot be postponed any more...the strategy is being
made by Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. I cannot say anything at this moment,"

Just in: Former Madhya Pradesh finance minister Raghavji's bail plea has been rejected. Raghavji, who was sent to the Bhopal Central Jail, faces charges of sodomising his domestic help. 

Twitter has suspended an account claiming to be that of the terror group Indian Mujahideen, suspected to have orchestrated the Bodh Gaya serial blasts.

Official sources said IP address of the tweet handle @IndianMujahidin was traced to Pakistan.

The account had claimed responsibility for the 10 synchronised blasts that took place in the Mahabodhi temple on July 7 morning, leaving two monks injured.

The sources said investigators are looking into the genuineness of the twitter handle but they are suspicious as it became active barely a day before the blasts shook Bodh Gaya. 

The BJP on Thursday hit back at Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh for his latest jibe against the saffron outfit in the Ishrat Jahan case, saying the latter is in the habit of making baseless allegations.

"I have seen his allegations; they are not even fit to be commented upon. Yes, he is the same person who went to Ajamgarh to publicly declare terrorist killed in Batla House in Delhi who had killed a brave police inspector are innocent. His party had to disown him. He is in the habit of making baseless allegations," said BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Digvijaya Singh's comments had sought to drag  the BJP top brass in the Ishrat Jahan case, including LK Advani, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

This is what Digvijaya had said.

In his first public appearance since he was captured hiding in a boat in a Boston suburb almost three months ago, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to 30 federal charges contained in a sweeping terrorism indictment. Read

Long serpentine queues in front of polling booths in the three districts of Jangalmahal, till recently a Maoist-stronghold, in today's panchayat elections signalled that peace was returning to the region.


Old-timers in all three districts of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia said they had not witnessed such enthusiasm among voters for many years.


The first phase of the elections are being held in West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia districts.

A national survey carried out by research firm TNS India and released by the NGO SaveLife Foundation, revealed that 96 per cent of Delhi residents would be reluctant to help road accident victims, even if they have serious injuries. Read more

A crucial meeting of the Congress Core Group tomorrow will discuss the Telangana issue with "both options open" as a decision "cannot be postponed anymore", senior party leader Digvijay Singh said today.

Singh, who is the general secretary in-charge for Andhra Pradesh, said the Centre has to consult UPA partners but will have to take Opposition parties on board too.

Signs that the government may be veering around to the creation of Telangana.

Has rape become an inspiring act? Protest, debate, anger, mutual blame, marches, mob violence are spilling out of streets and screens, yet the rape count continues to rise relentlessly, almost as if the outrage over one incident is inciting the next one. Read the opinion piece on the Telegraph. The Juvenile Board today postponed the verdict on the juvenile accused in the Delhi gang-rape case to July 25.

An award-winning innovation by two students in Burkina Faso could help reduce the devastating impact of the life-threatening disease, which is caused by parasites that are spread to humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes. Here's how

Alfred Hitchcock's nine surviving silent films will join artefacts such as the Domesday Book in representing the cultural heritage of the UK. 

Hitchcock's films - the British director's earliest works - premiered at the British Film Institute last summer following extensive restoration.They have now been added to the Unesco UK Memory of the World Register. More

Opera star Placido Domingo's next two performances have been canceled while the singer is treated for a serious blood clot in his lung.

Domingo, 72, entered a hospital in his hometown of Madrid, Spain, Monday "where he is being successfully treated for a pulmonary embolism resulting from a deep vein thrombosis," according to a statement released by publicist Nancy Seltzer." Maestro Domingo is expected to make a full recovery," Seltzer said. More

A bill to replace the DGCA by a new aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority, with full operational and financial autonomy is likely to be tabled in the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament.

The CAA will administer and regulate civil aviation safety, manage safety oversight over air transport operators, air service navigation operators and operators of other civil aviation facilities.

The monsoon session of Parliament has been postponed to the third week of August. The reason for the delay is ostensibly to allow the Congress-ruled states to implement food security measures for at least a month before the session starts. This means the Congress can then test the impact of the food security ordinance and turn around skeptics from the Opposition before it comes up to be made a law.  

The country's first only-women university is set to come up at Raebarelli in Uttar Pradesh. The university, which will focus on research and higher studies, would be named after late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who represented Raebarelli during a substantive part of her political career.

Scientists have created genetically-engineered mice with artificial human chromosomes in every cell of their bodies, as part of a series of studies showing that it may be possible to treat genetic diseases with a radically new form of gene therapy. Read

Former British tennis player Virginia Wade has congratulated Andy Murray on his 'well- deserved' win at Wimbledon. Murray has become the first British player in 77 years to win Wimbledon after his win in England on Sunday.

According to the New York Post, Wade, the only British woman to win titles at all four Grand Slam tournaments, said that Murray played fantastically well, and she saluted and congratulated him knowing how hard it is to win at Wimbledon for a Brit. 

Wade said she harbors no hard feelings over being British tennis' forgotten champion. Wade's victory in the women's singles in 1977, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Wimbledon tournament, was forgotten by the media and even Prime Minister David Cameron. Cameron was criticized for forgetting Wade during the prime minister's questions session earlier this week. 

It must have been a special cup of tea that Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav shared with Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh today, just ahead of the Cabinet meeting.

Sources say the menu was quite interesting, as it revolved around food. Or, specifically, the food security bill.

What the prime minister wanted was Yadav's support for the passage of the food security bill in the monsoon session of Parliament beginning in August; and, the latter's expectations were clear-cut too.

Yadav proposed a list of 10 amendments to UPA 2's most ambitious scheme, and that the Centre release special funds for Uttar Pradesh. The prime minister, our sources tell us, has been mulling over the suggestions since then.

If the government agrees to play ball - and, really, there is little option before the UPA but to do Yadav's bidding - then other things fall into place. Like heading into general elections this year itself on the back of a populist food bill.

When you think about it, it's quite remarkable how such momentous things actually revolve around a simple cup of tea!

The family of Ishrat Jahan, who was killed by the Gujarat Police in 2004, today alleged a threat to their lives and asked for security, reports NDTV.

"Today at 2:30 am, four to five men came and banged on the door of our flat. They said they were from the police. We did not open the door. We are being threatened," they said while addressing a press conference in Mumbai today.

The family's lawyer, Vrinda Grover, has written to the Home Secretary about the threat.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today greeted the Muslims at the beginning of the holy month of Ramzan, a move that invited criticism from the Congress, which said," they will do anything to get votes".

"Happy Ramzan. May this holy month bring joy, peace and prosperity in our lives," Modi wrote on his twitter account, extending warm greetings to the Muslims.

Modi, who has been fighting hard to erase the taint of the 2002 communal riots, was recently elevated as chief of the BJP's Election Campaign Committee and his greetings to the Muslims is being seen as part of his image makeover ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Reacting to Modi's tweet, Gujarat Congress president Arjun Modhwadia, without naming any party or individual, said, "They will do anything to get votes. They will rake up the Ram temple issue and then drop it. They will say that Mohammed Ali Jinnah was secular. They will burn Sachar committee report and they will extend greetings on Ramzan.

"Yeh janata hai, yeh sab jaanti hai (the public knows everything)," he added. Modhwadia also took to Twitter to extended Ramzan greetings, saying "Ramzan Mubarak to everyone. May this holy month bring peace and prosperity to all."

Private-equity investments in India are likely to fall this year due to a lack of investment opportunities, said Nikhil Raghavan, a principal at private-equity firm Bain Capital LLC in Mumbai. Here's what you should know. Read

World Population Day is being marked today. This year, the United Nations is using the day to highlight the issue of adolescent pregnancy. Read the piece on the Wall Street Journal.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved disinvestment of government stake in State Trading Corporation (STC) and ITDC, which would fetch around Rs 30 crore to the exchequer.


The cabinet also approved setting up of a new regulatory body for the aviation sector to replace the current regulator, information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari said. 

Pratap Bhanu Mehta's scathing piece on the UPA's destruction. Mehta is president, Centre for Policy Research and a columnist. Read

Narendra Modi plays the secular card and tweets: "Happy Ramzan. May this holy month bring joy, peace & prosperity in our lives.

Today is the first day of the month-long Ramzan.

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has reportedly told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that his party will not support the Food Security Bill unless 10 amendments are incorporated.

A report on NDTV says that Yadav, whose Samajwadi Party extends external support to the UPA government, went alone and met the Prime Minister for 30 minutes, just before a Cabinet meeting.

Emerging from the meeting, the Samajwadi chief just said he had just gone for a cup of tea.

The government will try to push the Food Security ordinance and other measures crucial to the UPA ahead of the 2014 polls. The SP has threatened to withdraw support to the UPA on the Food Bill which it says is anti farmer. 

In other news: Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan was today discharged from Hinduja hospital in suburban Mumbai where he underwent a brain surgery to remove a two-month-old clot.

"I am fantastic," Hrithik said while posing for the shutterbugs after being discharged this afternoon. The actor was operated upon last Sunday for subdural hematoma (collection of blood in the space between the outer layer and middle layers of the covering of the brain) as a result of head injury he had suffered two months back while performing stunts for his upcoming film "Bang Bang".

Meanwhile, Rediff.com's Ganesh Nadar reporting from Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu says, the two doctors designated by the Madras High Court to examine Ilavarasan's body, did so this morning. X-rays were also taken.

The doctors then went to the spot where the body was found beside the railway tracks and examined the area. They are expected to report their findings to the court at 10.30 am tomorrow. Joseph who was Ilavarasan's uncle told Rediff.com that after such close examination the chances of a sencond postmortem are nil.

The Madras High Court on Thursday asked two forensic medicine experts to examine the body of Ilavarasan again to decide whether a fresh autopsy was required.

The demand for lowering the juvenile accused's age gathered traction after it was observed especially after the Juvenile Board's ruling made it look certain that taking advantage of the prevailing law he would get just three years in a correctional facility.

There were six people in the bus, including the driver, Ram Singh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta, Mukesh and the juvenile. All six had raped the girl. he victim died of her injuries on December 29 last year while undergoing treatment at a Singapore Hospital.

During the trial, Ram Singh was found dead in Tihar jail on March 11 and court proceedings against him stand abated.

The Juvenile Board was to announce the verdict on the juvenile accused today. The Juvenile Court will now give its verdict on July 25 on two charges -- rape and murder. 

The parents of the Delhi gang-rape victim and the juvenile accused, who has since turned 18, was also in court. The accused faces charges of murder, apart from rape. If convicted, the accused faces a maximum of three years in a remand home or a juvenile observation home. He has been staying at a remand home ever since his arrest in December 2012. 

Since he committed the crime when he was a minor, he will be tried as a minor even though he turned 18 while in custody.

The Juvenile Court has reserved its verdict on the Delhi gang-rape case till July 25. Details awaited. 

The family of the Delhi gang-rape victim has reached the Juvenile Court.

This is what the Justice Verma Commission ruled on juveniles: "We did consider, however, a general lowering of the juvenile age. The research and the statistics in this area, as well as our own experience shows that it was not viable. Even the women's organisations, most of them were of the view that it was not desirable. And you see you can't make a generalisation."

The former Chief Justice of India added, "The law is for general application and not for a particular case. And at any rate criminal law can't be retrospective. Even if a law were to be made today it will only be applicable to future cases."

Incidentally, the three-member panel also had Justice Leila Seth, who is author, poet Vikram Seth's mother and the first woman judge of the Delhi High court.

Horrific news on the rape survivor who was mutilated in UP. The girl's tongue has been cut off so that she can't give her statement in court on July 24. Of the three accused, one is in jail, two are absconding.

The place where the incident occurred is Pratapgarh, is the fiefdom of Uttar Pradesh Minister former minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya accused of killing a DSP in Pratapgarh district.

And the horrors go on. Even as we await the verdict on juvenile accused, a rape survivor, a minor, was mutilated in Pratapgarh in UP. The girl was supposed to give her statement to the court on July 24. There is believe to have been pressure on the girl's family to withdraw the FIR.


And yet another statistic: A 23-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly raping a school girl in Salem, Tamil Nadu, two days ago. 

The father of the December 16 gang-rape victim tells NDTV that justice will be served to his daughter only if all the accused are hanged. "This won't bring back their daughter, but a strict judgement is the only way for us to find closure.

The juvenile was actually the one who was standing at the footboard of the bus and falsely told the girl and her male friend that they could take a ride.

In the aftermath of the brutal gang rape, the government commissioned the Justice Verma panel to frame and amend the criminal justice system for sexual crimes. This is what the panel said.


Incidentally, Justice Verma, passed away a few days after the report was out

Just in: The Allahabad High Court has banned caste-based rallies in Uttar Pradesh and has issued notices to all parties to that effect. The HC says such rallies divide society. Details awaited. 

There have been calls to declare the juvenile accused as adult and hold trial of him alongside the other adult accused for the savage crime on December 16.

If found guilty, the juvenile can be sent to a correctional facility for a maximum three-year term. The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of Children Act of 2000 is administered by the Ministry of Women and Child Development and not by jail or home ministries. 

As we wait for the verdict on the juvenile accused in the December 26 rape case, this is what her mother said at the time.

"That boy everyone calls 'juvenile'; he beat her with an iron rod. He inserted it into her body till it went all the way up and yanked it out, and with it, her intestines. As she shouted for him to stop, he screamed at her, 'Saali, mar! (Die, bitch)' Yet the law calls him a juvenile."
Read that story

Ireland is all set to vote on the abortion bill today. The vote which was earlier scheduled for Wednesday night, will now be held today after Irish lawmakers demanded prolonged debate over 195 amendments of the bill which is called "Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill'.  The bill would legalise abortion in cases where a mother's life is at risk.

But it has taken Savita Halappanavar's death for the bill to come about. Readthe extract of the interview with the lawyer who has played a key role in mobilizing public action on the abortion debate.  

Allwyn D'cunha, a victim of the Mumbai train blasts, is still waiting for the compensation promised by the government. "Nobody has been able to change our lives. Once every year we remember this day and soon forget. The government has still not reimbursed our medical treatment expenses," he said.


"We are not demanding extra money from the government but only what we spent from our own pocket. We are not seeking special help. We had produced all the medical bills, but then too the government has not reimbursed the money," he said.


D'cunha, who was severely injured in at Borivali station, said he had moved the Human Rights Commission and had won the case there.


"The commission directed the government to compensate me immediately. But nothing has happened," the 46-year-old said. "Once every year they (media) remember us, but after that they forget," he lamented.

This day, in 2006, at least 200 people were killed and 700 injured, in the Mumbai serial train blasts. The trial in the case is still on with the special MCOCA court recording statements of the accused.

Special MCOCA judge YD Shinde has till now recorded the statement of about 180 prosecution witnesses covering 2,400 pages. The prosecution and defence have also submitted over 700 exhibits to the court to substantiate their claim.

While about 40 defence witnesses have deposed in the court including four accused, the court is now recording the statement of fifth accused.

In other news: A Juvenile Justice Board is likely to pronounce its verdict today against the juvenile accused for his alleged involvement in the December 16 gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old paramedic student.

The Board reserved its order after concluding its inquiry against the accused almost seven months after the incident took place.

The order against the accused of robbing Ramadhar, a carpenter who had boarded the bus on that night and was thrown out before the girl and her friend were assaulted, is also likely today.

The girl had died in a Singapore hospital on December 29 as a result of her grievous injuries. 

Update on the fire in the annexe of the Jammu and Kashmir secretariat. TV reports say several huts behind the building, especially some where records are stored, are on fire. At least 15 to 20 fire tenders are at the spot, which are trying to contain the blaze. No reports of casualties yet, thankfully. Eyewitnesses say the fire began at around 9 am.

J-K chief minister Omar Abdullah tweets: "The cause of the fire and the extent of the damage, particularly of records stored in these offices will take some time to assess. The annexe houses the offices of technical education, higher education, forest, accounts and treasuries."

Eleven persons were injured in a clash between Trinamool Congress and Congress workers at Sabong in West Midnapore district as the first phase of panchayat polls began today in West Bengal. 

A major fire has broken out at the Jammu and Kashmir secretariat in Srinagar. 

Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram has defended Indian policies as growth-oriented as he invited American companies to establish manufacturing plants in India during his meetings with industry leaders and lawmakers of the US. 

A former Indian-American official of the Obama administration, Ro Khanna, has raised nearly $2 million for his campaign to enter the US Congress from the Silicon Valley. 

Two top Democrat lawmakers have asked US President Barack Obama to end force feeding of the Guantanamo prisoners who are on a hunger strike and outline a formal process to permanently close this terrorist detention facility. 

As speculation grows over Edward Snowden's path to freedom, WikiLeaks teased that his "flight of liberty" campaign starts Wednesday, promising further details. But so far, WikiLeaks has not lived up to the Twitter promise to provide more details. And the questions are piling up.

 

Is the future of the U.S. intelligence leaker, grounded at Moscow's airport for more than two weeks, no longer up in the air? Not so fast. It's unclear whether Snowden has accepted anyone's offer of asylum. And if he has, how does he intend to get there? Speculation centers on Venezuela, which was the first to offer asylum. With both sides expressing interest, it only appeared to be a matter of time before it is confirmed.

 

Read the full report on CNN

Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev pleaded not guilty Wednesday to 30 federal counts related to the April 15 attacks. Tsarnaev appeared in a federal courtroom in Boston on Wednesday for an arraignment in the April 15 bombings, which killed three spectators and wounded about 260, and the slaying of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer three days later.

He faces a total of 30 counts in connection with bombings and a police chase that left his brother, Tamerlan, dead.

 

Read the full report on CNN

A train operator's chief executive has blamed a local engineer for a runaway train that derailed and exploded in a Quebec town, killing at least 15. Rail World boss Edward Burkhardt said he did not believe the last engineer had set a series of hand brakes, despite the engineer's protestations. Residents heckled him as he visited Lac-Megantic.

 

Sixty people are now known to be dead or missing after Saturday morning's disaster. At least 30 buildings were razed by the fireball from the explosion.

 

Read the full report on BBC

As planemakers build ever-safer jets, it's often the split-second decisions by humans at the controls that can make the biggest difference between a smooth landing and a flight that ends in disaster.

Advance planning, long-standing relationships with area police departments and an "unprecedented level of coordination" were keys to the capture of suspected terrorist Dzhokhar Tsarnaev within days of the Boston Marathon bombings, Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis told a Senate panel Wednesday.

After decades of delay and months of argument, Ireland's lawmakers agonized Wednesday over government plans to pass an abortion bill for the first time in this predominantly Catholic country.

Nelson Mandela was responding to treatment but still in a critical condition, South African President Jacob Zuma said today after visiting the global peace icon in hospital.