Making his first official visit to Israel, U.S. President Barack Obama pledged on Wednesday enduring support for the Jewish State, where concern over a nuclear-armed Iran has clouded U.S.-Israeli relations.

After withdrawing support to the UPA government over the Sri Lankan Tamil issue, DMK's five representatives resigned from the Union Council of Ministers which were accepted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh late tonight. 

Cyprus's finance minister was holding talks in Moscow on Wednesday to secure economic assistance from the Kremlin after his country's parliament rejected a 10bn EU-led bailout.

The Sri Lankan government has advised its citizens to refrain from visiting Tamil Nadu when travelling to India and requested them to travel with caution.

A special CBI court today extended till April 1 the judicial remand of YSR Congress president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy in the disproportionate assets case. 

The US-sponsored draft resolution before the ongoing session of the UN Human Rights Council in 'calls' the Sri Lankan government to conduct an "independent and credible" investigation into allegations of human rights violations.

Showing its support to the government on the Lanka resoution, the Trinamool Congress wrote on Twitter: Trinamool is deeply concerned for the Tamil people from the beginning. On matters of external affairs our policy has been to stand by the central government."

The questions is why did the TMC not support the United Progressive Alliance on the Teesta agreement?       

Reports our correspondent from New Delhi: Congress President Sonia Gandhi told M K Alagiri, who resigned from his post as Union fertiliser minister, that she was taken by surprise when the DMK withdrew support. "We expected your father to have a word with the PM or me," she told Alagiri.

Alagiri refused to speak to the media. But sources say that at the meeting with Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh he put the onus of the pullout on parliamentary party leader T R Baalu and DMK's heir-apparent M K Stalin.

The PM refused to accept Alagiri's resignation. Dr Singh asked Sonia to me present when he met the Alagiri.

The all- party meeting to discuss a resolution it plans to move in Parliament on violation of human rights of Tamilians in Sri Lanka, a demand that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam had placed as a condition to stay within the United Progressive Alliance has started at Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde's office.

Sources told CNN-IBN that the government's draft resolution calls for an "independent and credible investigation" into the Sri Lanka war crimes.

Pakistan's next general election will be held on May 11, marking the first ever transfer of power from an elected government to another in the country's chequered democratic history.

After receiving a formal proposal from Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf for setting a date for the general election, President Asif Ali Zardari announced this afternoon that the polls would be held on May 11.

Sheela Bhatt reports from New Delhi: Following the withdrawal of the DMK from the United Progressive Alliance, Congress party trouble-shooters have contacted estranged ally and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

According to reliable sources in the government, Banerjee seems to have stepped down from her earlier antagonistic attitude towards the UPA and agreed in principle to give issue based support to the government especially on the Sri Lankan issue.

Sources told rediff.com that Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath has been given the task of wooing the Trinamool Congress chief and try to smoothen differences.Banerjee u-turn may have been prompted by a tepid response to her public meeting in Jungle Mahal in West Midnapore district where only a few hundreds of people tuned up. Read

CNN IBN: The term 'genocide' has not been included in the draft resolution on Sri Lanka, which will shortly be shared by all parties. 

Trinamool Congress tells UPA that it will stand by it on foreign policy issue concerning Sri Lanka. The resolution against Sri Lanka is up for discussion at an all-party meet at 7.30 pm today. 

Bangladesh President Mohammad Zillur Rahman, a close aide of the country's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, died today at a Singapore hospital where he was being treated for kidney and respiratory problems, officials said. He was 85. "He breathed his last at the Mount Elisabeth Hospital," a Presidential spokesman said.

Bangladesh ambassador to Singapore said doctors proclaimed him dead at 6.47 pm (local time) when his only son, daughters and close relatives were present. Rahman was admitted to the facility on March 10 as he was flown to Singapore by an air ambulance for critical lung infection, a day after he was rushed to Combined Military Hospital (CMH) at Dhaka cantonment.

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar calls an all-party meet to discuss the Sri Lanka resolution at 7.30 pm today. The draft resolution will be shared with all parties.  

Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav today met NCP chief Sharad Pawar, amid speculation about possible political realignment following the DMK pulling out from the ruling UPA.

The meeting of the two leaders also comes against the backdrop SP demanding resignation of Union Minister Beni Prasad Verma for his remarks against Yadav that he takes commission to support UPA government. SP has said it is not satisfied with Verma's "regret" and would prefer an apology from the minister, who was once close to Yadav.

However, both Yadav and Pawar, whose NCP is a UPA constituent, played down the meeting, saying they had met to discuss modalities of a programme they have to attend together on March 24.

If you're a Twitter or Facebook user, you're possibly weary of hearing aboutthe Steubenville footballers' rape trial. As weary as hearing of, say, Justin Bieber's tantrums, or horse-meat jokes, or the bleak details of the Delhi gang rape in which a 23-year-old died from internal injuries caused by six men with an iron bar. "Weary' may be the wrong word here. "Inured' or "bombarded', perhaps. Read

Ever since the DMK party joined the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government in 2004, it has often threatened to quit the coalition to get its way.On Tuesday, the DMK, or Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, said it would leave the government to protest the government's handling of the issue of atrocities on Tamils in Sri Lanka. Read more

Now that his best is likely behind him, here's a look back at some Sehwag classics. Read

Fertilizers Minister MK Alagiri  is reportedly upset that he was not consulted about his father, M Karunanidhi's decision to split with the UPA. Read

Author Sue Townsend has said the diaries of her fictional character Adrian Mole will finish shortly, owing to concerns about her health. Read

With assembly elections in Karnataka on May 5, a bevy of actors and film personalities are queuing up at the offices of the political parties not just to contest the polls but also to lend glamour to their campaigns.

Leading ladies from the Kannada film industry including Divya Spandana (Ramya), Pooja Gandhi and Shruthi as well as actors BC Patil, Doddanna and Madan Patel have already aligned with one or the other party. Read more

A flaring furnace blasts another wave of searing heat on the faces of workers hauling bricks under a southern Indian sun.They work up to 22 hours a day propping heavy stacks of bricks on their heads. None expects to be paid for this labor. None knows how long they'll be kept here. Some are as young as three years old. Read the report on CNN.

Al-Qaeda's North Africa branch says it has killed a French businessman captured in Mali in 2011, Mauritania's ANI news agency reports. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb told ANI that it killed Philippe Verdon on 10 March, in retaliation for France's intervention in Mali. Verdon and another Frenchman were seized in the town of Hombori. Read more

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi today, spoke to party MPs and local leaders in Uttar Pradesh to pull up their socks and get ready for the 2014 polls.

Meanwhile, Mulayam Singh Yadav held court at his bungalow to take stock of the controversy over Beni Prasad Verma's remarks against him. 

The single-phase Karnataka polls will be on May 5, counting will be on May 8.  The model code of conduct comes into force immediately.

The tenure of the current 224-member Karnataka Assembly will expire on June 3.

Announcing the dates, CEC Sampath said election officials have already held consultations with state authorities and met various political parties in the state during their visit to Karnataka.

Karnataka is currently ruled by the BJP, struggling ever since former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa left the party and formed his own outfit.

Election Commission of India announcing the dates of the Karanataka Assembly polls. The term of the Karnataka Assembly ends on June 3. Over 4.18 crore voters eligible to vote for 224-member Assembly.

The five MLAs who beat up a cop in the Maharashtra Assembly have been suspended till December 31. A Mumbai traffic police officer was beaten up by a group of MLAs right outside the Maharashtra assembly yesterday, a day after he fined a legislator's driver Rs 700 for speeding.

The MLAs assaulted sub-inspector Sachin Suryavanshi for allegedly using foul language when they asked him why he had misbehaved with fellow legislator Kshitij Thakur on Monday.

Thakur, a Bahujan Vikas Aghadi MLA, was in his car when it was stopped for speeding at 101 kmph on the Bandra Worli Sealink where the permissible limit is 50 kmph.

Thakur moved a breach of privilege notice against Suryavanshi in the assembly.

Suryavanshi, who went to the assembly -- to apologise -- was cornered by Thakur and legislators Ram Kadam (MNS), Pradeep Jaiswal (independent), Jaikumar Rawal (BJP), Rajan Salvi (Shiv Sena) and others when he came out. Thakur and Kadam denied beating up Suryavanshi.

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde today termed as "new" and "progressive" the Criminal Law Amendment Bill which was passed in the Lok Sabha despite several amendments being moved by members and emphasised that it will empower women.

Samajwadi Party is holding a Parliamentary meeting at 9.30 am tomorrow. Sources say that Mulayam Singh Yadav is not satisfied with Beni Prasad Verma's 'regret' over saying Yadav had terrorist links. Mulayam wants him to apologise in Parliament. 

What's brewing? Buzz in Parliament over JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav having a one-on-one with Sonia Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel and ADMK leader S Thambidurai and DMK leader T R Baalu meeting in the Central hall 

With SP staying firm on its stand for removal of Beni Prasad Verma from the government, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi today reached out to Mulayam Singh Yadav in Lok Sabha and asked him with folded hands to give up his demand for his resignation.

Samajwadi Party got support from unexpected quarters when Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj backed Yadav and said in the Lower House that Verma's charge against the SP chief of taking commissions was a breach of privilege.

She said the matter should be referred to the Privileges Committee. Gandhi, who was present in the House and was watching the new bonhomie between SP, an outside supporter of the government, and BJP, walked up to Yadav's seat soon after Lok Sabha was adjourned around noon.

Though she was not audible to reporters in the press gallery, Gandhi was seen talking to Yadav with folded hands. During the conversation, Yadav complained about Verma to Gandhi, who requested him to give up his demand for the Minister's resignation, according to SP sources.

Heads up if you live in Mumbai. Traffic on LJ Road, Mahim, going towards SV Road, Bandra is clogged because of the novina at Mahim church. Use alternate roads like Tulsi Pipe Road or Bandra Worli Sea Link to avoid getting stuck. For more traffic-related enquiries, call 9223111000 or log on to traffline.com

More on that fainting spell in Parliament today.

DMK member Vasanthi Stanley today fainted in the Rajya Sabha while strongly raising the Sri Lankan Tamil issue, leading to a chaotic situation in the House. Stanley was shouting full-throated slogans in the Well during Zero Hour seeking justice to Tamils in Sri Lanka as her colleagues as well members from arch rival AIADMK waved photographs of slain LTTE chief Prabhakaran's son killed by Sri Lankan forces.

Renuka Chowdhary, who was in the Chair, immediately adjourned the House till 2 pm and called in doctors to attend to Stanley, who lay unconscious on the floor.

The DMK member was immediately rushed to Safdarjung Hospital after two doctors attended to her in the House. A stretcher as well as a wheel chair was also brought in but Stanley preferred to walk with support of members including party leader in the House Tiruchi Siva.

Members from the ruling party including Ambika Soni, D Purandeshwari, Rajeev Shukla as well as those from AIADMK and other parties rushed to help the sick member.

Earlier, the House was adjourned till noon over the issue of Sri Lankan Tamils and Union Minister Beni Prasad Verma's remarks against SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

As the House re-assembled, members from DMK and AIADMK trooped into the Well shouting slogans protesting atrocities on Tamils in Sri Lanka and the killing of Prabhakaran's son. All the while, SP members led by Naresh Agarwal sought Verma's dismissal. After adjourning the House, Chowdhary left her seat and went to the Well to ask Stanley as to how she was feeling.

"Did you have your breakfast, madam?" she asked. Chowdhary then asked members to leave and make way for Stanley while asking for doctors to attend to her. Stanley rested in a seat for a while before being taken to hospital

Beni Prasad Verma expresses regret over his remarks against Mulayam Singh Yadav. After meeting with the Prime Minister this afternoon, the Union Steel Minister said he regrets his remarks on Mulayam Singh Yadav, who is the chief ally of the government and head of the Samajwadi Party.  Verma said over the weekend that Yadav has "links to terrorists" and "takes a commission" for supporting the Congress-led UPA. 

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today lashed out at netizens who maintained silence over the killing of a teenaged boy by militants in Sopore town yesterday but had showed outrage against killing of a youth in security forces firing last week.

"Militants chase an 18-year-old boy in to a mosque and shoot him. Imagine the outrage if this had been done by security forces," Abdullah wrote on micro-blogging site Twitter.

Suhail Ahmad Sofi was shot dead by militants in Sopore town last night as he was coming out of a mosque after offering night prayers. Sofi was believed to have been killed for helping security forces in organising sports events, which had helped in keeping youth away from disruptive activities after 2010 summer agitation in the Valley.

Abdullah said he was willing to accept the anger directed against the government for excesses by the security forces only from those who are willing to condemn the killings by militants as well.

MK Alagiri is upset with TR Balu for going directly to President Pranab Mukherjee today. Without telling other MPs, Alagiri will meet PM separately with D Napolean to hand over their resignations.

Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav on Wednesday pointed out that the Congress is suffering today because of it's own wrongdoings and misconduct.

He also said, "If the Congress doesn''t rectify its mistakes, it will lose out on its old allies. They have to introspect as to where they are missing the plot." When asked about Samajwadi Party's future with the UPA, he said: "We are still with them, but one can never predict anything in politics."

What the UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka says.

DMK member Vasanthi Stanley faints in Rajya Sabha while exercising her vocal chords over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue.

Of the five ministers, three have submitted their resignations to the PM. D Napoleon and MK Alagiri have yet to submit their resignations.

The BJP today said that passing a country specific resolution on Sri Lanka is not a desirable action, saying that unlike Pakistan, India was a functional democracy.

 

We are not like the Pakistan Parliament. India is a functional democracy. We cannot have resolutions in parliament specific to a country," BJP spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy. 

 

"And, at the same time, we will know what is in the mind of this government, and what does it want in the resolution, and whether such a resolution is required at all. As far as the DMK is concerned, the DMK action has just been born out of a desire to look for an excuse to quit the UPA Government, and was not fuelled by any real concern for Sri Lankan Tamils," he added.

 

The DMK had pulled out of the UPA Government over the issue of alleged human rights violations of Sri Lankan Tamils.

And it comes to pass. The Anti-rape Bill aka the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2013 was passed this evening in Parliament by a voice vote. A total of 168 Members of Parliament (out of house strength of 545 MPs), who bothered to be present, voted to give India a law that is tough on rape and sexual assault.  Read

It was a poignant occasion and the entire Indian cricket team, along with a sizeable gathering of well-wishers and the media, was at hand to be with Yuvraj Singh at the release of his memoir, The Test Of My Life.The book talks about Yuvraj's successful battle with a rare germ cell cancer. The dashing batsman has shared his experiences "so that someone else can feel they are not alone when the chips are down." Read more

The picture Yuvraj had tweeted when he was undergoing treatment for cancer

DMK ministers meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to submit their resignation.

The defence ministry under A.K. Antony is walking a tightrope on cancelling the Rs 3,550-crore contract for VVIP helicopters after the company that sold them replied for the second time today that it had not bribed officials, violated law or an integrity pact.

The Indian Air Force had contracted 12AW101 VVIP "Skyfall' helicopters on the advice of the Special Protection Group (SPG) under the Prime Minister's Office. A decision on the fate of the contract will be shaped by Antony after discussions with the PMO and the Union home ministry. Read more

MoS HRD is miffed. Shashi Tharoor tweets: Hours of preparation go down the tube as Question Hour is disrupted again in the Lok Sabha. 1st question,on Right2Education, was assigned2me.

A day after formally withdrawing support to the Congress-led UPA government, the DMK ministers will submit their resignations to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh today.

A five-member DMK delegation headed by T R Baalu handed over a letter by party supremo M Karunanidhi to President Pranab Mukherjee last night at 10.30 p.m at Rashtrapati Bhavan withdrawing support of its 18 Lok Sabha MPs to the UPA government.

Baalu told media that DMK ministers will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday to submit their resignations. On replying to a question about DMK's support to UPA government from outside, Baalu said the decision lies with party Supremo Karunanidhi.

The DMK had pulled out of the UPA Government over the issue of alleged human rights violations of Sri Lankan Tamils. 

Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till noon after uproar over Sri Lankan Tamil issue and other matters. Ditto Lok Sabha.

The anti-rape law promulgated by the government in the wake of the recent brutal Delhi gang rape has yielded one quite extraordinary by-product -- the proposal to reduce the age of consent for sex from 18 to 16. Read

In his opinion piece in The Hindu (Op-Ed, "Questions for Mr. Nilekani,' February 6, 2013) Major General S.G. Vombatkere criticises various facets of the Aadhaar project.

The essay's central precept seems to be the alleged coercion by way of which governments are said to be enrolling residents for Aadhaar. Maj. Gen. Vombatkere also questions the worthiness and security of the project albeit on shaky grounds.

As I have argued in these pages previously, peddling half-truths does not foment a constructive conversation. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) believes in addressing concerns via facts and will continue to do so.
Read

The privilege Daniele Mancini enjoys under the Vienna Convention, personally and as an Ambassador, is absolute. The marines issue should be resolved politically. Read

The less there is to lose, the more there is to gain. In quitting the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre with only a year to go before the general election, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is not exactly taking a huge political gamble. Read

Sri Lankan Tamils are not convinced that Tamil Nadu's Dravidian parties take up their cause for anything other than their own competitive political gains. Read

Chidambaram says that the DMK quit when the talks were still on. "DMK was aware of government's position on the UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka, but changed its mind between the night of March 18 and morning of March 19," says Chidambaram.

Chidambaram insists that the government's image has not suffered because of the DMK pullout. "We have been successfully running a coalition government  and we are unaware why the DMK changed its stance between March 18 and March 19. But our doors are still open," he said. 

P Chidambaram, Kamal Nath and Manish Tiwari addressing the press conference in the capital in the aftermath of the DMK pullout from the UPA yesterday. Finance Minister P Chidamabaram says that the government intends to move amendments to the draft resolution on Sri Lanka in the UNHRC. Urban development minister Kamal Nath reacting to the BJP's comments yesterday that the government was in the ICU, said, "the government is absolutely stable, it is not a lameduck one."

"India's position is that the UNHRC should adopt a strong resolution on Sri Lanka. Tamil sentiments can be represented only through an
appropriate resolution in Parliament. The government confident of "enough support" in Parliament to pass economic reforms bills," says Chidambaram.

"Tamil sentiments can be represented only through an appropriate resolution in Parliament," said Chidambaram. 

Chidambaram said the government was discussing the issue of moving a resolution on the Lanka issue in Parliament and "consultations are going on".

India wants a strong and credible probe into human rights violations against Tamils in Lanka, said Chidambaram.

DMK ministers will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at 10.15 am to hand over their resignations, according to media reports.

The 5 DMK ministers in the Union Cabinet will submit their resignations today.

Congress Party has ruled out the possibility of holding early national elections in the wake of the DMK's pullout from the ruling UPA coalition.

Egyptian police have arrested a close aide and cousin of the late Libyan leader, Col Muammar Gaddafi.

One week into his tenure as China's president, Xi Jinping is already stressing his country's ties to the African continent and the interconnected future of the world's developing economies, in what may be an effort to highlight China's growing economic clout. 

Egyptian police arrested a cousin of late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, a former Libyan ambassador to Egypt and another ex-Libyan official on Tuesday, a security source told Reuters.

At least 44 people have been killed in a series of car bomb explosions targeting a bus station in northern Nigeria. 

An Iranian, a Lebanese and 16 Saudis have been arrested on spying charges in Saudi Arabia, officials say.

Hisham Shouar was 200 metres from his shop when the car bomb detonated, killing six people and injuring three others a short distance from the fortified Green Zone.

A British woman has been injured after jumping from a hotel balcony to escape from alleged harassment in Agra, India, local police say.

A 13-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by four persons, including three juveniles, in a village of the district, police said today. 

From the moment he walked out onto the balcony on St Peter's Basilica and stood calmly surveying the crowd, Pope Francis' body language has suggested a change of style.

NASA's Curiosity rover has suffered a second on-board computer problem on Mars, causing the vehicle to go into safe mode for the second time in three weeks.