Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot today said it was "unfortunate" to do politics over conferring of Bharat Ratna on cricketing great Sachin Tendulkar.

"What I can say in my personal capacity is that it is unfortunate to do politics over Sachin being chosen for the highest civilian honour. Sachin has been doing the country proud by his humility. In fact, Sachin's name has added to the glory of the award," Pilot told reporters at Press Club.

Taking a dig at BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, Pilot said, "Modi distorts facts about history and geography during his speeches. Though BJP is boasting about higher turnout at his rallies, it will not reflect in election results".

Pilot expressed hope that the Indian economy will benefit once the global economic scene takes a turn for good in next six-eight months.

Residents of the illegally- constructed floors in the Campa Cola residential compound have begun to examine their options after the Supreme Court ordered today that they would be evicted by the end of May next year.

"The occupants are waiting to see the copy of the order passed by the apex court. We are not giving up hopes. There has to be some way out. Let our legal team come back and we will sit together to decide our future course of action," a resident of the compound Nandini Mehta said.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Commissioner Sitaram Kunte said the civic administration would follow the Supreme Court order. "We have learnt about the order. We will abide by it," he said.

The Siege: 68 Hours Inside the Taj Hotel, a book on the terror strike in Mumbai, is among the fascinating stories of survival picked by Daily Beast editor Tina Brown.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and his wife Melinda have topped Forbes' list of America's top 50 philanthropists who have given away the most money in 2012, with the billionaire couple donating about $2 billion towards charitable causes.       

After senior scientist and Bharat Ratna awardee CNR Rao's outburst against the lack of adequate funding for scientific research in India, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram said today that competing demands from various departments result in some sectors getting shortchanged.       

Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi has accused Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of ordering the tapping of phones of party leaders and carrying out sting operations to settle political scores.        

Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan today slammed Pakistan Cricket Board interim chief Najam Sethi for his reported claim that there was a dearth of talent in national cricket.     

Bangladesh's main opposition BNP today sought presidential intervention to end the political deadlock over the electoral system, a day after an all-party government was installed to oversee the forthcoming general elections.        

An aide of Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh has been arrested under provisions of the stringent National Security Act, police said.        

YSR Congress chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will meet West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav over the next few days, with a view to garnering support for the demand for united Andhra Pradesh.        

Seeking to hit at the Aam Aadmi Party's probity plank, Congress today alleged that its founder Arvind Kejriwal had attempted to keep with himself government funds to the tune of Rs nine lakh.      

Congratulating Nepal on the successful conduct of free and fair elections, India today said the early promulgation of a new Constitution reflecting the aspirations of the people there would contribute to peace and stability in the turmoil-hit country.        

In an apparent reference to Narendra Modi's 'toilets first, temples later' remark, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today said the Bihar government had pioneered the slogan in 2007.        

The Indian government has dispatched relief material to Philippines, which was severely hit by Typhoon Haiyan over a week ago.        

Russia's aviation safety watchdog says the pilots of a Boeing 737 jet somehow lost their plane's speed at a low altitude, resulting in a diving crash that killed all 50 people on board. 

The Gujarat snooping controversy today reached the Supreme Court with a suspended IAS officer Pradeep Sharma urging it to take cognisance of audio tapes aired by news portals saying it contains proof of how the state government had tried to frame him in "frivolous" cases. 

The seventh Penguin Annual Lecture will be delivered by veteran actor, Amitabh Bachchan on the November 29 in New Delhi.   

Pakistan's Federal Investigation has formed a committee to probe the distribution of Rs 140 million among politicians by the ISI for rigging the 1990 general election. 

China today asked Japan to acknowledge "historical crimes" committed by its military during the World War II. 

The Oxford Dictionaries' word of the year, 'selfie' seems to be all about me, me, me. But its social nature reveals a desperate search for an us. Read

Seventy-five per cent polling in Phase II of Chhattisgarh assembly election, the highest ever in the state: Election Commission.

Bollywood actors Aamir Khan and Katrina Kaif today unveiled dolls based on the characters of their upcoming film 'Dhoom 3'.

Katrina's Barbie collector doll is based on her character Aaliya from 'Dhoom 3', who is an acrobat dancer. Aamir's collector doll is based on his character Sahir, a performer in contemporary circus and is secretly a cool and clever thief.

"I love this idea of dolls. I would like to give one to Azad. I am excited as this is my first ever collector doll based on my movie character. I have worked closely on developing my look in 'Dhoom 3'," Aamir said.

What does it take to drive around India in a Tata Nano? A bit of gumption among other things, is what Vanessa Able would say.In 2010, the young lady took a trip around the country in the newly launched Tata Nano.

About 10,000 km later, she completed the journey and returned home in one piece. She has documented the fascinating account of her journey her book, The Nanologues. Read

Upping the ante against Congress, Narendra Modi today accused it of pursuing a "divide and rule" policy by fanning tensions between Hindus and Muslims.  

"Congress has a divisive mentality. It only works on a rule to divide a brother from brother, raise a wall of divide", Modi said at a public meeting in Sawai Madhopur in support of four BJP candidates including erstwhile Jaipur royal family scion Diya Kumari.

"There is a need to identify the character, culture, traditions, and thoughts of Congress now....it works on divisive mentality...they never think of uniting people...they only know how to break... this is there style," he said. 

"Congress creates differences between north and south, tensions between Hindu and Muslims...it all proves that it has all along been indulging in vote bank politics," he said.

Modi, who also addressed rallies in Alwar and Bandikui, poked fun at Rahul Gandhi, saying poor attendance at the Congress leader's rally in Delhi on Sunday had forced an embarrassed Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit to plead with people not to leave the venue.

"There are rallies where people are told 'stop, don't go; stop, don't go'. And there are rallies where I have to apologise to people because they could not see me" because of huge turnouts, he said in Alwar in the run-up to the December one Assembly elections in Rajasthan.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said it is a "sad reality" that women in India face discrimination at home and workplace and their empowerment remains a distant goal.

"We had a woman President and now have a woman Speaker of Lok Sabha, a woman leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha and two women chief ministers.

"The President of the largest and oldest political party in India is also a distinguished woman leader who we are privileged to have in our midst. A recent global top 50 businesswomen survey included four Indian women.

"However, all this does not reflect the average reality of women in our country. The sad reality is that women in India face discrimination and hardship at home, school, at their places of work and in public places," he said, speaking at the inaugural function of India's first all-women bank -- Bharatiya Mahila Bank, in Mumbai.

"Women's social, economic and political empowerment remains a distant goal," he said. "We have gathered here to witness the beginning of a unique new institution," Singh said, adding, "the bank will provide financial services predominantly to women and women self-help groups."

India has decided to cancel a scandal-tainted helicopter deal with Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland, prejudging the outcome of a meeting on Wednesday between company executives and Defence Ministry officials to discuss the contract, three sources said.

The decision draws a line under a dispute that has embarrassed a government heading into elections under a cloud of corruption scandals, and could re-open the contract to rivals, including United Technologies Corp's Sikorsky Aircraft, EADS' Eurocopter and Lockheed Martin.

Scrapping the 560 million euro ($757.40 million) deal to buy 12 helicopters for top politicians will not necessarily lead to New Delhi blacklisting the firm, sources have said, a move some officials fear would set back efforts to modernise India's military. -- Reuters.

All that you want to know ahead of the winter session of Parliament -- right here on this website http://mpa.gov.in. The Secretary Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Afzal Amanullah launched the new website of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs in New Delhi today. 

Nearly 55 per cent voters in 72 constituencies across 19 districts of Chhattisgarh exercised their franchise till 3 pm today in the second and last phase of Assembly polls even as a man was killed in alleged accidental firing by a CRPF personnel at a polling booth.

"Around 55 per cent polling was recorded in 72 constituencies of 19 districts till 3 pm," Joint Chief Electoral Officer DD Singh said.

A man was killed and another injured in an alleged accidental firing by a CRPF personnel at Bhindarwani polling booth of Saja constituency in Bemetara district this afternoon, he said. Polling was withheld for about half-an-hour after the incident and later it resumed, he said.

The Bombay Arts Society building is finally open for public. The newly constructed building is located in Bandra. Established in 1800s, the Bombay Art Society was based in JehangirArtGallery and has been serving art and artists ever since. Read

Was 26/11 conspirator David Headley working for the CIA, the ISI or the LeT? Did he know more about the Ishrat Jahan module? Five years since the terror attacks and we are yet to find clear answers on the many mysteries regarding this man. Vicky Nanjappa reports

For all the world's focus on China's ascendancy, the developing strategic and economic entente between Japan and India may be just as important in shaping Asia's future as the rise of their giant neighbor. Read

At least 22 people are reported to have been killed in two explosions which hit the Iranian embassy in the Lebanese capital Beirut in quick succession. The Iranian cultural attache Ebrahim Ansari was among the dead. Officials said the death toll could rise. Read

Some people, sometimes, have little to do.

A case was today filed in a local court here challenging the selection of Sachin Tendulkar for Bharat Ratna and charging the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister with hurting peoples' sentiments.

The iconic cricketer too has been named as an accused in the case filed under Indian Penal Code Sections 420 (offences relating to cheating and dishonesty) 419 (punishment for cheating by personation), 417 (punishment for cheating), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 120(B) (punishment of criminal conspiracy).

Express Towers, an iconic commercial building in South Mumbai's Nariman Point, is all set to get a new owner.

Ending months of negotiations, bulge-bracket American PE fund Blackstone together with one of its portfolio companies, Pune-based developer Panchshil Realty, is buying out the current owners.

The Indian Express Group and ICICI Venture, the PE arm of India's largest private sector lender has sold the property for Rs 900 crore.

Read more

 Keeping track of your diet and exercise habits through text-messaging can help you lose more weight, a new study has claimed. 

A Pakistani court today imposed restrictions on the screening of Indian films across the country and laid down certain conditions for their release. Justice Khalid Mahmood of the Lahore High Court issued the interim order in response to a petition filed by controversial TV talk show host Mubshir Lucman, a former film producer known for his anti-India stance.

Lucman claimed that under Pakistani rules, Indian movies that are shot completely in India and are sponsored by an Indian cannot be screened in the country.

Why women go to the toilet in groups. Read

A lawyer says imprisoned Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo will make a formal complaint seeking a retrial to overturn his guilty verdict. Liu is five years into an 11-year prison term for his conviction on a charge of subversion, after he authored and disseminated a document calling for democracy. Liu has insisted he is innocent.

Attorney General G E Vahanvati tells SC that no specific proposal could be worked out for enabling new construction in the Campa cola compound.

Just in: The Supreme Court has asked the residents of Campa Cola society in Mumbai to provide an undertaking that they will vacate the premises by 31 May, 2014. The BMC is free to take action against residents who don't sign the undertaking within six weeks. 

Yesterday, a day before the Supreme Court was to take up the case, attorney general Goolam Vahanvati had no instructions from the BMC or the state government and municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte was non-committal.

Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said he sympathised with the illegal flat owners, but their rehabilitation on the same premises appeared difficult owing to legal complications.

On November 12, the SC had suo motu stayed the razing of the unauthorised apartments till May 31, 2014.

Senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu today ridiculed ruling Congress for seeking probe by a sitting Supreme Court judge into the Gujarat snooping row and said it has lost the moral authority to speak on women safety after it came under scanner for commuting death penalties in child rape and murder cases.

"They are pressing their dirty tricks department and misusing investigating agencies also to defame political opponents. There is no complaint from the woman. Father said he has made a request to the Chief Minister. They are trying to make it a national issue..its laughable," he said.

Two investigative portals, Cobrapost and Gulail, had claimed on November 15 that Amit Shah, the former home minister of Gujarat and Chief Minister Narendra Modi's close aide, had ordered illegal surveillance of a woman at the behest of one "saheb".

Caroline Kennedy met Japan's Emperor Akihito today in a ceremonial formality as thousands of well-wishers lined the streets of Tokyo to catch a glimpse of the incoming US ambassador.

Kennedy, 55, the lone surviving child of the assassinated John F Kennedy, travelled to the downtown Imperial Palace by horse-drawn carriage in an elaborate procession, accompanied by palace officials clad in European-style ceremonial attire.

In a rare public display of affection for a foreign dignitary, throngs of cheering spectators with cameras lined the wide boulevards leading to the heart of the Japanese capital.

The Middle East might account for less than one tenth of global private jet sales, but the passengers flying on the region's luxury planes can be the most demanding in the world. Read

While the team, the country and the sport changed around him, Tendulkar remained constant, writes senior sports journalist Sharda Ugra. Read

Top Indian industrialist Ratan Tata has returned as a board member of East West Centre, a prominent American think tank.

Tata, 75, is returning to the board and has worked with the organisation several times between 1993 and 2004.

East West Centre also elected Takeshi Niinami, the CEO of Japan's Lawson Inc.

The Honolulu-based think tank's board consists of 18 members, including five appointed by the US secretary of State, five appointed by the Governor of Hawaii, five from Asia or the Pacific Islands and three ex-officio members, including the Governor of Hawaii, the Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, and the President of the University of Hawaii.

Here's the genesis of the SC order. In September, negating a Supreme Court order, the Parliament passed a bill that maintains the right of those in jail to contest polls, with the government saying the court verdict was wrong and the Legislature has Constitutional duty to correct it.

The Representation of the People (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2013 was rushed through in the Lok Sabha and passed within about 15 minutes after a brief discussion.

Some members wanted an elaborate debate on the bill but the overwhelming majority of the House, including Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj, pushed for its passage even without discussion.

The Bill negates the July 10 order of the Supreme Court which held that those in jail cannot vote as per RP Act and hence cannot qualify for contesting elections to Parliament or state legislatures.

The Supreme Court has approved the amendment in the People's Representation ACt which means that a person in jail can contest elections. The SC says that people in custody don't cease to be an elector and can contest Assembly and Parliament elections.

The Supreme Court will hear suspended IAS officer Pradeep Sharma's petition against Gujarat government in the first week of December. A bench led by Chief Justice P Sathasivam fixed the matter for detailed hearing after Sharma's counsel Prashant Bhushan said that very serious revelations have recently come to fore. Read the full story here.

"Selfie" has been named as word of the year by Oxford Dictionaries. The word has evolved from a niche social media tag into a mainstream term for a self-portrait photograph, the editors said. Read

Also read: Remembering Charudatta Deshpande: The best tribute journalists can pay to Charu is by starting to ask questions on what happened to their former colleague

An FIR has been registered against a top Tata Steel official for allegedly abetting the suicide of Charudatta Deshpande, former chief of Corporate Communications, who was found hanging at his Vasai home in Thane district on June 28, police said today.

Prabhat Sharma, Head, Corporate Affairs of Tata Steel, Jamshedpur was booked by Vasai police under section 306 (Abetment of suicide) of the IPC, last night at about 8 pm, following a complaint by former Forbes India Editor Indrajit Gupta, they said.

According to the complaint filed by Gupta, the 57-year-old Charudatta, a Tata Steel official, was constantly humiliated and harrassed between May 2012 and May 2013 following which he took the drastic decision to end his life, police said. Deputy Superintendent of Police, Vasai division Prashant Deshpande, is investigating the case.

According to police, Charudatta had committed suicide in June, sometime after a critical story on the company had appeared in the leading business magazine, which sparked off the alleged harassment that became more focused and sharp after the publication of the article.

Read more on the case: Why Tatas need to take Charudatta's suicide more seriously

Five persons, including two juveniles, have been arrested for allegedly stealing 50 kg of silver ornaments from the house of a woman after strangulating her to death in east Delhi, police said on Monday.

Mahesh Gupta alias Sunny (24), Ajay Rai (35) and Narsing Kumar Verma (35), along with two juveniles, who had recently escaped from a correction home, were arrested on Sunday by the Crime Branch of Delhi Police.

According to police, Gupta was the mastermind behind the crime while Narsing was the jeweller who had provided information about the victim.

Two motorcycles, along with two country-made pistols, four live cartridges, one dagger used in commission of the crime as well as the robbed silver ornaments worth Rs. 25 lakh have been recovered from them, police said, adding that efforts were on to trace three more juveniles, who were also allegedly involved in the crime.

The daylight murder-cum-robbery took place on November 7 when one of the juveniles managed to enter into the house of the victim, Ajay Gupta, who deals in silver ornaments, on the pretext of delivering a package from a courier company.

As soon as the door was opened by Ajay's son, the five attackers barged inside. They overpowered Gupta's wife Madhubala and kept her two children in captivity, while robbing cash and jewellery.

They then killed the woman in the presence of her minor children as she tried to raise an alarm, police said.

With over 600 million people in India or 53 per cent of Indian households defecating in the open, absence of toilet or latrine is one of the important contributors to malnutrition, a World Bank report has said.

The report that released yesterday on the eve of the first ever UN World Toilet Day, the World Bank said, access to improved sanitation can increase cognition among children.

Currently, more than 2.5 billion people worldwide lack access to toilets, one billion people practice open defecation and 600 million in India openly defecate.

"Our research showed that six-year-olds who had been exposed to India's sanitation programme during their first year of life were more likely to recognise letters and simple numbers on learning tests than those who were not," said Dean Spears, lead author of the paper 'Effects of Early-Life Exposure to Sanitation on Childhood Cognitive Skills'.

The paper studies the effects on childhood cognitive achievement of early life exposure to India's Total Sanitation Campaign, a national scale government programme that encouraged local governments to build and promote use of inexpensive pit latrines.

The annual United Nations climate change conference, which runs from Nov. 11 to 22, started with an emotional appeal from the Philippine negotiator Yeb Sano, who declared that he would be fasting "until a meaningful outcome is in sight' in the wake of the  "staggering" devastation from Typhoon Haiyan in his country.

Ravi Shankar Prasad, India's chief negotiator, on the old and new stumbling blocks as delegations from 189 countries attempt to draft a new climate change treaty by 2015 in the National Stadium in Warsaw.  Read

Is 'colorization' a trashy fad or a brilliant way to breathe new life into fading historic images? Read

An ode to Sachin Tendulkar... He is not the first of India's sporting heroes: there were several before him, and even some after 1989, the year he made his international debut. Read

This date in 1863, Abraham Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg address. Read the 270 words that still reverberates. 

A controversy has been sparked with BJP deciding to felicitate its MLAs Sangeet Som and Suresh Rana, accused of inciting communal violence in Muzaffarnagar, at Narendra Modi's rally in Agra on Thursday.

"These two MLAs were lodged in jail and NSA was slapped on them by the Samajwadi Party government. The party will be felicitating them at Modi's rally in Agra and tell the people the truth about Muzaffarnagar riots", BJP state spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said.

A seasoned envoy, she has been around the world, sat on high table with global leaders and achievers. Yet, the soccer senoritas of village Hutup in dusty Ormanjhi block of Ranchi today managed to surprise Nancy Powell, US ambassador to India with their sheer talent. Read the full story here.

An agreement that includes CBMs similar to those in the 1996 India-China pact, with the January 2004 India-Pakistan joint statement additionally written into it, could have an impact beyond the LoC. Read more

And an interesting read on Sardar Patel, the man who is being claimed by the Congress and the BJP.

Sardar Patel persuaded the Constituent Assembly to guarantee payment of Privy Purses and preserve the rights of the erstwhile rulers. But the Congress betrayed him. Read

At Alwar, Modi takes on the Congress government in the state, saying law and order has collapsed in Rajashtan. The government has failed to work for the people. Both the Supreme Court and the High Court have criticised the government. Rajasthan does not want a government that has been sleeping for 55 months, says Modi. 

Jailed billionaire hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam's petition seeking reconsideration of his conviction for running one of the biggest insider trading schemes in US history has been rejected by a court in New York.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said in a ruling yesterday that the petition by Rajaratnam for panel rehearing or "for rehearing en banc" is denied.

An en banc hearing would have meant that Rajaratnam's case is heard before a full federal appeals court, instead by a small panel.

The Sri Lanka-born Galleon Group co-founder is currently serving an 11-year prison term after being convicted in 2011 for running one of the biggest insider trading schemes in US history and making over 63 million dollars in illicit profit from 2003 to 2009.

Another spate of rallies by Narendra Modi. The BJP's PM candidate is addressing five rallies in Rajasthan today. His first rally is at Alwar, followed by meets at Deeg, Sawai Madhopur, Bandikui and finally, Dudu. 

An 18-year-old in Uttar Pradesh was raped after she left a government function where free laptops were being distributed to students, a scheme championed by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

The teen and her friends showed up at the venue in Faizabad in eastern Uttar Pradesh at 2 pm. But the minister assigned to give away the computers, Awadesh Prasad, arrived only after 7 pm.

It was 10 pm when the group of girls hired a jeep to return to their village in Amethi, an hour's drive away.  Neither the government nor their colleges had organized transport for the students to reach or leave the venue. Read more

The BJP today hit back at Arvind Kejriwal, who has accused the party of staging an attack on him at a press meet on Monday, and told him that the incident was a fallout of his fight with 'guru' Anna Hazare.

"Don't blame the BJP. It is your fight, a fight between guru and shishya (protege)," said BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar today. "Anna is charging you for misusing his name and funds."

Kejriwal had called the press conference to clarify allegations that he was misusing funds raised for the Lokpal movement for his election campaign, after receiving a sharp letter from Anna Hazare, a man he once called his guru.

Mangal Mangal ho! What Indians will do on MARS. Read our awesome satire on Mars.  

The Supreme Court issues a notice to the Centre, RBI and SEBI on a plea seeking its directions to them for a mechanism to regulate chit funds. 

A Motion was laid in the House of Commons in the UK congratulating batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar on his "magnificent" career and for being an able ambassador of the game. The Early Day Motion, moved by Indian-origin MP Keith Vaz, said Tendulkar served as an inspiration for millions around the world and recognised his "selfless dedication" to the sport.

About 15 per cent of the electorate cast their votes in the first hours of polling for the second and final phase of Chhattisgarh Assembly elections in 72 constituencies spread across 19 districts of the state today.

No untoward incident has been reported so far from any part of the state. "The polling in 72 constituencies of 19 districts began from 8 am and so far 15 per cent turnout has been recorded," an official at the Chief Electoral Office said. 

Anna Hazare says he is ready to talk to Arvind Kejriwal but wasn't aware the AAP chief wanted to speak to him. Distancing himself from AAP, he said the party should not associate his name with their campaigh. He added that the party should not use the Lokpal platform since the Bill is for the Centre and not the state polls. He also stated that Kejriwal was not his enemy.

This is the letter Anna wrote Kejriwal on Sunday. Read

The man who threw black ink at Kejriwal was arrested yesterday and released on bail. AAP says the man was a BJP member which Sushma Swaraj has denied.

Activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal said today that he has tried several times to speak to the man he calls his "guru," Gandhian Anna Hazare, but that "intermediaries...people in the middle" don't allow him to.

Kejriwal was once Anna's closest associate, but in an indication that their relationship has hit a new low, the 76-year-old Gandhian has written to Kejriwal asking him to clarify whether the funds they raised during their campaign for a law that creates a Lokpal or national ombudsman have been diverted. Read more

A woman lawyer has alleged that she was sexually harassed by a senior advocate. The woman said that the advances from the man who is old enough to be her father were obsessive and sexual. She alleged that the senior advocate would call her at inappropriate times and sent her sexually explicit emails and messages.

 

She said, "I was divided against taking action when I was harassed. A lot of people would not have considered this as harassment."

 

Read more on CNN IBN

Activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal says he has forgiven the heckler who disrupted his press conference and threw ink at him and his associates in Delhi today."I forgive Nachiketa. I have no ill will against him. He seems to have some misconceptions about us..." the Aam Aadmi Party chief tweeted.

 

The heckler, Nachiketa Walnekar, claimed to be a Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP activist from Ahmednagar in Maharashtra. The BJP, though, denied that he was from its ranks.

 

Read the full report on NDTV

Voters in Nepal are going to the polls to elect members of a new assembly tasked with writing a constitution, after years of delay. The vote is the second since a 10-year Maoist insurgency ended in 2006.

 

No clear winner is expected this time. A previous assembly elected in 2008 was supposed to draft a constitution, following the overthrow of the centuries-old monarchy.

 

But it was bitterly divided and never accomplished its task. An interim government formed earlier this year by Nepal's major parties has overseen the elections and is led by the Supreme Court's chief judge, Khilraj Regmi. On the eve of the vote, he condemned sporadic violence in different parts of the country and said the security forces would ensure a free and fair election.

 

Read more on BBC

Voters in Nepal are going to the polls to elect members of a new assembly tasked with writing a constitution, after years of delay. The vote is the second since a 10-year Maoist insurgency ended in 2006.

 

No clear winner is expected this time. A previous assembly elected in 2008 was supposed to draft a constitution, following the overthrow of the centuries-old monarchy.

 

But it was bitterly divided and never accomplished its task. An interim government formed earlier this year by Nepal's major parties has overseen the elections and is led by the Supreme Court's chief judge, Khilraj Regmi. On the eve of the vote, he condemned sporadic violence in different parts of the country and said the security forces would ensure a free and fair election.

 

Read more on BBC

CBI today filed a charge sheet in a Special Court here against four government officials and a managing director of a Bangalore firm for committing alleged illegalities in the export of iron ore from Belekeri port in Karwar in Karnataka.

All the officials arrested, including the then Port Officer, Karwar Port, then Assistant Conservator of Forests, Ankola Sub-Division, Karwar, and then Range Forest Officer, Ankola, are in judicial custody.

The charge sheet was filed in a CBI special court, the central agency said in a statement.

It was alleged that the accused had conspired for exporting 34,555.06 MT of iron ore from Belekeri port, which was seized by the forest department and handed over to the port authorities for safe custody, by violating the orders of Karnataka High Court.

30pc candidates of major parties in MP have criminal cases against them
Gen V K Singh tenders unconditional apology to SC
Why Sonia and Co. are ignoring Kiran Reddy's defiance
ASI hits dead end, stops excavation for gold in Unnao
B'desh installs all party interim govt to oversee elections
Kejriwal replies to Anna on Aam Aadmi Party funding
BJP, Congress spar over illegal snooping row