Punjab Congress today alleged that a group of BJP youth wing workers tried to vandalise the private residence of Union minister Manish Tewari in Ludhiana, a charge refuted by the outfit.        

The allegations have come a day after two bottles of acid were found outside his house and the police are investigating all angles including foul play into the matter.        

"Today, activists of Bhartiya Yuva Janata Morcha carrying utensils, spoons, Rs 5 coins and placards gathered outside the Tewari's house," said district Congress president Pawan Dewan.        

They shouted slogans against the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister and started throwing stones and bottles inside the house, alleged Dewan.         The activists were led by district Yuva Morcha president Harsh Sharma. Later they were chased by Congress workers and CISF personnel, deployed at the house, official sources said.        

Tewari was touring the constituency at the time of the attack, said Dewan, adding that police arrived much after the activists had been chased away.

Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy today urged Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to reconsider his decision to snap ties with the BJP-led NDA over the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's elevation as his party's poll campaign panel chief two months ago.     

"Nitish has been a respected political colleague of ours since the JP movement days in 1970s....his decision to part ways with the BJP-led NDA has come as a surprise to me," Swamy said during a function in Muzaffarpur town.     

Recalling his anti-Congress political ideology, Swamy urged Kumar, a senior JD(U) leader, to reconsider his decision to snap ties with the NDA and return to main opposition alliance to ensure defeat of the Congress in the next general elections.        

"The people want Modi to become the next prime minister to provide strong leadership and good government in the country," Swamy said and assailed the Congress-led UPA government for presiding over "corruption and scams" during its nearly two-term rule at the Centre.

At least six persons including two police personnel were tonight injured in a grenade blast carried out by suspected ULFA militants at the busy Paltan Bazar area near the railway station in Guwahati, police said.        

"The blast took place at around 7:55 pm near the Paltan Bazar police station, which is next to the railway station. Six persons have been injured, two of whom are police home guards," Kamrup (Metro) Deputy Commissioner Ashutosh Agnihotri told reporters.        

The grenade was hurled when police personnel were checking vehicles at GS Road. Of the six injured, the condition of two are stated to be serious, he said.        

The injured have been admitted to GMC Hospital in Guwahati. "We have to investigate who did this, but the inputs say that the suspect is ULFA," Agnihotri added.     

ULFA militants normally try to create trouble during the run-up to the Independence Day.

Six people are reportedly injured following a grenade blast in Guwahati's Paltan Bazaar area, TV channels report.

Among the injured are two police personnel, PTI reports. The area is near to the Guwahati railway station.

The blast happened at 7:55 pm, reports suggest.

Amar Singh, once a prominent face in Samajwadi Party, today claimed he was receiving text messages warning him not to come to meet slain former MLA Sarvesh Kumar Singh Seepu's family, as "he could also meet the same fate".        

Amar, who along with MP Jaya Prada, had come to Amuwari Narainpur village to meet Seepu's family members, however ruled out it being a threat, and said "nobody can dare to threaten me and it must be an advise."        

He alleged that the law and order situation is so worse in UP that leave alone common man, even public representatives are not safe. Former MLA and BSP leader Seepu and Bharat Rai were shot dead by unidentified persons on July 19. The UP government has ordered a CBI probe into the killings.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi today said it was opposed to the reported proposal to form 'Rayala Telangana' state (by including two districts of Rayalaseema in the proposed Telangana state).    

"TRS wants Telangana with ten districts and Hyderabad as its capital. We are not ready to accept other proposals. Who asked for this Rayala-Telangana?" TRS leader Jagadish Reddy told reporters in Hyderabad.     

Meanwhile, a scheduled press conference of party president K Chandrasekhar Rao was cancelled today. However, Reddy said it was a routine matter.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today termed the Centre's Food Security Ordinance as a "copied act".

Speaking at Kharat after attending a function to mark the death anniversary of BSP leader Maan Singh Manhera, the Chief Minister said the SAD-BJP government in Punjab has been providing food security to the poor through its Atta-Dal scheme for long and termed the Ordinance as a "copied act", according to an official release.

However, Badal categorically said the state government would not hesitate to implement any scheme which was in the larger interest of the poor.

Blaming the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre for the country's "pity condition," he said writing was on the wall that after the next general elections, BJP-led NDA alliance would come to power.

Security has been stepped up in the Naxal-affected Bastar region of Chhattisgarh as the ultras are observing "martyrs" week starting today.         "Security has been beefed up in the forest interiors of all seven districts of Bastar division -- Dantewada, Bijapur, Bastar, Narayanpur, Kondagaon, Sukma and Kanker -- as the Maoists are observing martyrs' week from July 28 to August 3," a senior police official told PTI on the conditions of anonymity.    

"Combing operations have been intensified in the border areas, though security has always been maintained at top level in the entire Bastar, which is considered as a stronghold of ultras," the official added.    

According to police, cultural programs, meetings and recruitment drives are undertaken by the Maoists during the week, meant to commemorate the cadres killed by security forces.     

So far, no untoward incident has been reported. However, Naxal pamphlets and posters were seen at some places in Bijapur district, appealing the cadres and the people to observe the martyrs' week, the official said.    

BCCI working committee has decided to reinstate N Srininivasan as its chief. The decision has come following iots probe report which gave a clean chit to Raj Kundra, Gurunath Meiyyapan in the IPL fixing scandal.  

BCCI interim chief Jagmohan Dalmiya said that nothing would be pushed under the carpet.

The BCCI has cleared IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals and co-owner Raj Kundra of betting charges. The board has also found no evidence against India Cements, the company that owns the Chennai Super Kings.

"No evidence has been found against Raj Kundra, Rajasthan Royals and India Cements," said BCCI vice-president Niranjan Shah to PTI.The report will now be forwarded to IPL governing council which will take a final decision on August 2.

The UPA government is trying to divert people's attention away from its failures by claiming that poverty levels had come down, senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu has alleged. 

"The Planning Commission statement that poverty (levels) have been reduced during the UPA regime from 37.2 to 21.9 per cent is a ploy by the ruling party to divert people's attention away from the massive failures, particularly on the economic and social front," Naidu told reporters in Hyderabad on Sunday.         "All reports, including World Bank studies, reveal that India is far behind in human development indices vis--vis Bangladesh, even sometimes Nepal, Sri Lanka and China," Naidu said.        

"If that is the case, how can the government claim that poverty levels have come down and the people live on Rs 33 per day?" he asked.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has warned that the democratic process in the country might be stalled for the next 10 years if an "unconstitutional government" comes to power due to the current political crisis over the electoral system.       

"The country will not see any election in the coming ten years if any unconstitutional body comes to power this time," Hasina said while speaking at an Iftar gathering yesterday.       

In an apparent reference to past interventions by the army, she said, "If such a government comes (into power), democracy will be no longer in the country."        

Her comments come in the light of widespread concern about the fate of next general elections scheduled for early 2014 due to sharp differences between the main ruling and opposition party over restoration of the non-party caretaker government system for election oversight.

Security has been beefed up across Gadchiroli district in east Maharashtra in the light of 'martyrs' week being observed by Naxals. Police have stepped up vigil and patrolling in sensitive areas in the wake of encounter of six suspected Maoists earlier this month, according to officials.        

Meanwhile, Naxals have put up banners and posters in remote areas asking people to join the martyrs week which began yesterday. Naxal observe the event annually to remember their comrades who have fallen to police bullets by terming them as "martyrs".        

Observation of such weeks is often fraught with violence as the rebels in the past had triggered landmines and attacked security forces, police said.

North Korea has staged a huge parade to mark the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended the Korean War. State TV showed soldiers and military hardware parading through Pyongyang in a carefully choreographed display.

The 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, although the North and South remain technically at war. US President Barack Obama has marked the anniversary at a commemorative ceremony at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington DC.

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About 1,200 inmates have escaped from a jail in the restive Libyan city of Benghazi. A security official told the AP news agency that most of the escapees were facing serious charges. Another report said a riot had taken place inside the al-Kwafiya prison.

The jailbreak comes a day after the assassination of a prominent political activist triggered protests in the city, although it is not clear whether the two are connected. Benghazi is one of the most unstable parts of post-revolution Libya. Last year the US ambassador and three other Americans were killed there.

On Saturday protesters attacked offices linked to the Muslim Brotherhood following the assassination of the prominent political activist Abdelsalam al-Mismari. Hundreds of mourners attended his funeral.

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