One more person was today picked up on suspicion of being involved in the alleged rape and killing of a woman in Lakhimpur in Assam even as Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said an SIT will enquire into the incident. 

Indian journalist Prem Shankar Jha has said that Ajmal Kasab and Afzal Guru should not have been given death sentences. 

In a unique move, Aam Aadmi Party today released the first 28 of its 70 constituency-level manifestos, which it claimed will act as a ready reference for party representatives to focus on problem areas.

Terming compilation of manifestos a "Herculean Task", Praveen Singh and Kishore Asthana -- who were instrumental in compilation, said, "We had to filter from over 3,000 suggestions that we received during our meetings with the people in a constituency."

"The AAP's idea of coming out with 70 constituency-wise manifestos was also adopted by its rival, the BJP, which came out a manifesto for Model Town assembly constituency. The party said people living in other cities might be thinking that Delhiites have access to all basic facilities but reality was different.

Amit Sengupta was one of the editors at Tehelka, when it was still called the 'People's Paper'.

In a heart-breaking account he narrates the fall of the magazine from the highest pedestals of soulful journalism into the shallow depths of corporate sponsored, self-glorifying and pompous reportage.

Read it here

The Election office in Delhi today issued notices to five candidates for suspected paid news and advertisement in print media and social media websites.

The District Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (Central) directed returning officers of the respective assembly constituencies to issue notices to BJP candidate from Sadar Bazar, Jai Parkash, and Congress candidate from Moti Nagar, Sushil Gupta, for suspected paid news and seek their response within 24 hours.

Besides, three candidates have been issued notice for advertisement on social media websites without certification.

The hearing in the 2008 Mumbai attacks case in Pakistan against seven accused, including LeT commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, was today postponed to December 4 after the prosecution team failed to turn up. A witness was scheduled to be cross-examined today.

"The hearing was postponed after the prosecution team moved an application citing inability to appear," Raja Rizwan Abbasi, the new lawyer of the accused told PTI. The earlier defence lawyers - Khawaja Haris and Riaz Akram Cheema '" had separated themselves from the case.

Cheema had been pursuing the case since the beginning while Haris replaced his father Khawaja Sultan Ahmed after his death over a year ago.

Cheema was also part of the Pakistani judicial commission that had visited India recently. India has been expressing disappointment with Pakistan over the slow pace of the progress in the trial.

The seven Pakistani suspects have been charged with planning, financing and executing the attacks in India's financial hub.

The trial of controversial self-styled godman Asaram and four other accused in the case of alleged sexual assault on a minor will begin at a court here on December 4.

The District and Sessions Court took cognisance of charges against Asaram and the four co-accused today and deferred the matter for trial till December 4.

Following directions of Rajasthan high court, the trial will take place on day-to-day basis and will be completed in a period of 60 days.

The woman whose eyes were gorged out and beaten, was not raped, says the postmortem report. Four men allegedly beat her before throwing her out of the vehicle leading to her death in upper Assam's Lakhimpur district, sparking outrage from locals.

The incident took place on Friday when the woman had boarded a shared tempo to pick up her six-year-old daughter from school at Boginadi area, about 14 km from the district headquarters town Lakhimpur, police sources said.

The locals saw the accused throwing the injured woman out of the tempo, about 50 metres away from the Boginadi police station on the National Highway following which they informed the police.

She was admitted to a local hospital. The woman was later taken to the Gauhati Medical College Hospital where she succumbed to her wounds on Sunday.

Women's organisations and locals blocked the National Highway 52 on Monday with her body and condemned the incident, demanding justice for the woman and arrest of the culprits.

On the district administration officials assuring them to nab the culprits, the protesters withdrew their blockade on the road, which had disrupted traffic movement to and from Arunachal Pradesh for about two hours.

Meanwhile, the police have picked up two persons for questioning in this connection.

BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi today sought answers from UPA citing an interview of former central Home Secretary Ram Pradhan which said he had told the then Home Minister about a local mole who allegedly helped carry out 26/11 attacks.

"Read former Union Home Secretary Ram Pradhanji's interview to Hindu. His revelations on 26/11 are shocking but not unexpected," Modi said in a series of tweets.

-- Told Home Minister (P Chidambaram) on local mole...suggested matter be pursued...don't know what happened to that'. Will UPA explain?" the Gujarat Chief Minister said in his tweet, seeking answers from the UPA government a day after the fifth anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on Mumbai, while quoting a sentence from the interview.

Pradhan, a former central Home Secretary, had led a two-member inquiry committee into the administration's response to 26/11 attacks.

Further quoting the interview, Modi tweeted, "...central agencies did not cooperate for their own reasons...no input from Central agencies despite repeated requests-Ram Pradhan Ji."

Read: 26/11 probe panel member says terrorists may have landed earlier

More changes in Pakistan: Tassadduq Hussain Jillani appointed new Chief Justice of Pakista.

Incidentally, KTS Tulsi, who is the Tarun Tejpal's counsel was the Gujarat government's counsel in the Sohrabuddin case, but had withdrawn from it in December 2007 after Chief Minister Narendra Modi justified Sohrabuddin's encounter in his speeches during campaign for Assembly polls. Tulsi had also sought Modi's apologies. 

Besides anticipatory bail, Tarun Tejpal had also sought interim protection against arrest for a period of four weeks. During the hearing, his counsel KTS Tulsi orally submitted that the plea for anticipatory bail be treated as a protection from arrest for four weeks.

He said he was seeking temporary protection from arrest till he reaches the competent court. He argued that the police in order to harass and humiliate Tejpal has neither filed a status report nor told him the status of CCTV footage.

Tavleen Singh tweets: Tarun's lawyers are doing him almost as much damage as he has already done himself.

In an unprecedented move, the Pakistani Taliban commander in a video statement has warned the Pakistani press to stop paying tribute to cricketer Sachin Tendulkar who was recently awarded the Bharat Ratna by the Government of India.  Read the full report here.

In other news: A Gap ad featuring a Sikh model went viral after being vandalized with racist comments. The company reacted admirably, but the incident proves our society is still divided. Read more

Goa DIG OP Mishra holds a press conference now over the Tehelka case. He said Tarun Tejpal will be summoned for questioning before 3 pm tomorrow. He refused to answer questions on whether Tejpal would be arrested if he failed to appear.

Alright, here it is. The Delhi High Court has reserved its order on Tarun Tejpal's interim transit bail application till November 29. Arguments went on for two hours.

Tejpal's counsel says FIR registration by the Goa police, suo motu, is an abuse of police power and is done at the behest of political masters.

Tulsi says his client is seeking temporary relief until a proper authority can be approached.

By filing an FIR under Sec 376 (rape), it smacks of an abuse of power. The case is of not of sexual assault.

He said even under the new anti-rape laws, there must be penetration for the act to be called rape.

The applicant is man enough to admit his mistake and it shows he has some morality. 

Yesterday, Tarun Tejpal's counsel -- KTS Tulsi and Geeta Luthra -- attacked the Goa Police for lodging an FIR suo motu. The bail plea is being heard in the Delhi high court.

Yesterday, Tulsi contended that section 376 in the FIR is a "figment of imagination" and said it had been included due to "undue interest" in the matter.

"At best it is a case related to outraging the modesty of a woman. They can't stretch it to 376 IPC ... This has become a political battle. I am entitled to interim protection," Tulsi argued.

Both the lawyers urged HC to restrain police from arresting their client till at least the Goa Police replies to his plea.

But the plea was rejected by the judge. "If you go by the sections mentioned in the FIR, as per the Goa Plice, then its entirely different matter," Justice Gupta remarked.

Today, Tulsi seeks anticipatory bail of four weeks.  The Goa police has opposed the anticipatory bail plea saying the Delhi HC has no jurisdiction to hear the plea.

Tarun Tejpal's anticipatory bail hearing which was to be heard at 3:30 pm, is being heard now. 

Union law minister Kapil Sibal reacts to Sushma Swaraj's tweet: "Union Cabinet Minister who is the founder and patron of Tehlaka is shielding Tarun Tejpal."

Sibal says he does not own a single share in Tehelka. "They (the BJP) are trying to politcise it. If they believe that a "person is trying to to shield Tejpal", they should have the courage to name the person.

The leader of Opposition should be more sensitive since this matter involves a young girl. This is not the kind of political discourse we want in a general election.

The law will take its own course, I have nothing to do with it.

The opposition has said that as per 2011 records, I own 80 per cent shares in Tehelka. The truth is that I don't own a single share, neither were shares allotted to me."

Sibal said he would hold a press conference on the matter at 12:15 pm tomorrow. 

Slain rationalist Narendra Dabholkar's son, Hamid has stressed on the need to pass the Anti-Superstition and Black Magic Bill in the winter session of the Maharashtra Legislature at Nagpur.

Hamid said after his father was killed, the state government had issued an ordinance in this regard to ban superstitious practices and black magic.

"Now it needs to be converted into a law. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan had assured to do so, but if he fails (to get the Bill passed), then it will be a moral defeat of the government," he said.

In remarks that could stoke a fresh controversy, Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agrawal today said that officers are "scared" to appoint women as their personal assistants after the passage of the bill to prevent sexual harassment of women at workplace.

Agrawal, whose remarks have led to controversies in the past, though refrained from commenting on the rape case against Tarun Tejpal till the probe is completed, he recalled that when the law in favour of women was being brought, he had expressed concern over it. "I had apprehended that this law may also be misused like the anti-dowry law and may result in a situation which the women themselves are deprived of justice.

"I have got this information from many people that a number of senior officers are not appointing women as their Personal Assistant. They are scared anyone may have to face any kind of allegation after this," Agrawal, who is a Rajya Sabha MP, said.

And a tweet on Pakistan's new army chief: Dr Majorly Sharif tweets: Wowza!! Just saw picture of Gen Raheel Sharif. He has a mustache!! Generals with Mustache always conduct coups in Pakistan!!

Goa chief minister Mohan Parrikar's press conference begins. Speaking on the Tehelka case, the CM said, "The state will not interfere in the probe but I want the law to take its own course." He says he wants no delays in conducting the probe as the matter is sensitive.

He said the media should maintain some restraint in reporting. He says Tejpal can do a sting and prove the Goa government is attempting to frame him.

"Nowhere has Tejpal admitted that he is a Congress stooge," says Parrikar reacting to the Tehelka chief's claim that the probe was a BJP campaign to defame him.

No monumental revelations, since Parrikar had said much of the same to a TV channel last night.

He also said he had told the Goa police not to succumb to pressure from any quarters.

Parrikar says he was a student of psychology (apart from being an IIT-ian) and Tejpal had apologised because he was 'guilt conscious', but later later realised that his statement would go against him, there was a flip-flop. "Sanyas should happen for life, not six months," says Parrikar.

Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, sentenced to a life term for the 2008 murder of their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemrah, have started working in jail and will earn Rs 40 a day, say officials at Ghaziabad's Dasna jail.

The couple will challenge their conviction in the sensational trial that some say left many questions unanswered.

An official at Ghaziabad's Dasna jail said Rajesh Talwar will work at the jail hospital and Nupur will teach women and children in the prison.

The dentist couple had read novels through the night despite being advised to sleep by the doctors.

"We are trying to give them psychological therapy," said jail superintendent Vireshraj Sharma.The Talwars' lawyer has said the couple will appeal against the verdict at the Allahabad High Court and will 'fight till their last drop of blood.' -- NDTV.

Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar to address a press conference shortly. 

What Tarun Tejpal and Tehelka probably don't know about sexual assault. See

More than 10,000 contractual school teachers in Bihar have failed a competency test held last month to review the teachers' ability to teach. "A total of 24 per cent teachers have failed the competency test. The teachers were tested for knowledge of English, Mathematics, Hindi and General Knowledge for up to Class 5.

Maruti Suzuki to recall 1,492 units of Ertiga, Swift, Dzire and A-Star models due to possible steering column problem.

This is the oath taken by Pakistan's all-powerful Army chiefs: "I will not engage myself in political activities whatsoever & that I'll honestly and faithfully serve Pakistan.."

The full text of the Aarushi-Hemraj judgment. Read

A portion of a flyover with vehicles passing through collapsed on a stationary goods train today in Bihar's Muzaffarpur town, injuring seven persons, railway and police sources said.

The 50-feet portion of the flyover caved in at Maripur area of the town, 90 km from state capital Patna, the sources said. Senior officers are at the accident site, and the injured have been admitted to the Sadar Hospital.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on the new Pakistan Army chief: Hearing good things abt new chiefs. Can someone tell me, did PM stick 2 his promise and appoint according 2 seniority?

Coming down heavily on pesky callers, telecom regulator Trai today said it has penalised some service providers, but has given banks time till mid-December to check unsolicited commercial calls and SMSes.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) Chairman Rahul Khullar said insurance companies have asked for 4-6 weeks to deal with unsolicited commercial calls or SMSes.

Tarun Tejpal: The friend I can no longer recognise. Read

Stepping up its attack on Tehelka magazine editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal, the BJP on Wednesday described rape of women as another form of terrorism.

"There is a term coined by Tarun Tejpal, that you can rape women in a BJP ruled state, and then in defence, claim to be a secular person,' said BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh, in response to Tejpal's contention that the recent sexual assault case filed against him was a conspiracy hatched by the BJP.

"We have seen various governments competing with each other, to claim the title of secularism. And, to show their secularism, they advocate the release of Muslim terrorists," Singh said.

Lt Gen Rashad Mahmood has been appointed as Pakistan's new Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee.

The post of army chief is arguably the most powerful in Pakistan and anxiety has remained on who would replace the taciturn, chain-smoking General Ashfaq Kayani, who steps down on Friday after six years at the helm.

Three senior generals, Lieutenant-General Haroon Aslam, Lieutenant-General Tariq Khan and Lieutenant-General Rashad Mahmood, were  seen as main contenders, though none made it to the top post.

Just in: Lt Gen Raheel Sharif appointed as Pakistan's new Army Chief. 

At a meeting with Tehelka's editorial team on Monday, Shoma Chaudhury offered to resign if the team wasn't comfortable with her. 

Protests continued today demanding the arrest and punishment of the culprits who allegedly raped a woman and threw her out of a vehicle leading to her death in Lakhimpur district.

Women's organisations, locals and the All Assam Students Union members staged a two-hour demonstration in front of the Boganadi police station from noon demanding the arrest and punishment of the anti-socials.

Asserting that the 24-hour deadline given on November 25 by the district administration to nab the assailants had elapsed, the protesters demanded that the police should unravel the clues if it was a case of murder or should make a detailed probe to know how such an incident occurred, if it was an accident case.

And if it was a case of rape, the protesters demanded that the culprits be nabbed and "hanged".

Former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa today alleged that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was governing the state like a "dictator" and it had isolated him within his own party and legislators.

Madhu Kishwar likely to trend over this tweet to Rana Ayyub? She tells the former Tehelka journalist, who quit in protest over the way the magazine is handling the sexual assault case, "Don't use feminism as cover. Straight question deserves straight answer. Did Tejpal harass u? Stories galore of his many victims."

Tehelka managing editor Shoma Chaudhury rejects allegations of slander and character assassination by the complainant. She said it was a malicious campaign and has no basis. 

Tehelka managing editor Shoma Chaudhury has also accused a "lawyer friend' of "backstabbing' her by first advising her to get an unconditional apology from the magazine's founder editor Tarun Tejpal, accused of sexually assaulting a junior colleague, and then switching sides.

A year on: The Delhi HC rejects a PIL challenging the imposition of prohibitory orders in and around India Gate during anti-rape protests last year.

"During the course of our inquiry, we heard a rumour that the 10 terrorists had reached Mumbai days before 26/11. That the terrorists had landed at Machhimarnagar in Colaba and were staying in a hut which was being used by the underworld.

''We heard that the kingpin of a diesel pilferage scam had provided shelter to the 10 terrorists. After taking shelter at a shanty in Machhimarnagar, the terrorists supposedly conducted reconnaissance of various targets in Mumbai before launching the attack."

V Balachandran, the other member of the Ram Pradhan committee that probed the 26/11 terror attacks, speaks to Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa in a startling interview. Read

Also see the Hindu report: 'A mole in Mumbai helped 26/11 attackers'

Five years after national outrage led governments to make big promises, the police and intelligence services are still battling chronic deficits of capacity. Read

Cyclonic storm "Lehar", which is likely to hit the Andhra coast tomorrow afternoon, is 650 km east-southeast of Machillipatnam and 600 km east-southeast of Kakinada, the MeT department said.

According to M Mohapatra, scientist (cyclone warning), the "very severe cyclonic storm", currently with winds flowing up to 140-150 kmph, would itensify further and is likely to have strong winds with 150-160 kmph when it hits the Andhra Pradesh coast near Machillipatnam tomorrow.

Squally winds with speed reaching 45-55 kmph gusting to 65 kmph would commence along and off Andhra Pradesh from this evening.

Vigilia De Sa, 55, a local activist in North Goa's Moira village has heard of the charges of sexual assault that Tarun Tejpal faces. She is, however, more concerned with the rules the Tehelka editor-in-chief and his wife Geetan Batra bent while renovating their sprawling six-bedroom mansion 'Birdsong', two years ago.

"I'm baffled how the house got an occupancy certificate," she says. The 200-year-old mansion is located in the idyllic north Goa village which has a population of around 5,000 people.
Read more

The much-debated golf club theory introduced by the CBI a year after the murder was upheld by special CBI judge Shyam Lal.

Moreover, Dr Rajesh Talwar's ill-fated attempt to hide one of the golf clubs used in the murder irrevocably linked him to the crime and also resulted in him earning additional punishment for destruction of evidence.  Read more

The story of Rajesh Talwar and his wife Nupur Talwar is a modern-day tragedy: from a successful professional couple who doted on their teenage daughter, they have now come to be described as filicidal freaks who "extirpated' their own progeny. Read more 

Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj today lashed out at Congress, saying a Union Cabinet Minister is "shielding" Tehelka Editor Tarun Tejpal, who is accused of sexually assaulting his junior colleague.

Without naming anyone, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha today tweeted, "Union Cabinet Minister who is the founder and patron of Tehelka is shielding Tarun Tejpal."

Congress and BJP have been involved in a slugfest over the issue. Rejecting Tejpal's demand that the sexual assault case against him be handed over to CBI, BJP had said he may use this as an "escape route" as he is close to the ruling Congress.

Yesterday, BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu had said, "This (plea to give case to CBI) can be an excuse. It may be an escape route to get away... Congress likes Tejpal and he likes Congress."

In what could spell trouble for Mamata Banerjee, a CD has emerged in which suspended TMC MP Kunal Ghosh is seen claiming that West Bengal Chief Minister knew about the Saradha chit-fund scam but she chose to keep quiet.  Read the full report here.

Does the sexual assault controversy surrounding its founder Tarun Tejpal spell the beginning of the end for Tehelka?

Worried about its brand, the majority stakeholder - Trinamool Congress MP and industrialist KD Singh - may decide to 'exit the venture.'  Read more

The woman journalist, who was allegedly sexually assaulted by Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal, arrived in Goa today to give her statement in the case, police sources said.

The victim will give her statement before the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Panaji.

Investigating officer Sunita Sawant accompanied the victim from Mumbai, they said.

The victim had been allegedly sexually assaulted by Tejpal in an elevator at a five star resort in Goa.

The Goa police had on November 22 lodged an FIR against Tejpal under IPC sections 376 (rape), 376 (2)(k) (rape by a person of a woman in his custody taking advantage of his official position) and 354 (outraging modesty) in connection with the incident.

Following the incident, the journalist had resigned from Tehelka, accusing Tejpal and Managing Editor Shoma Chaudhary of a "cover-up" and resorting to "tactics of intimidation, character assassination and slander"

And just as it happened in the aftermath of the December 16 Delhi rape when women wrote about their own battles, the Tehelka case too seems to have broken the floodgates. Read: Five women talk about sexual harassment in the workplace. 

Just in: Four CRPF jawans feared dead in an landmine blast in Bijapur at 9.30 am. Two CRPF battalions were on a routine search operation when the blast occurred. Details awaited.  

Tehelka Managing Editor Shoma Chaudhury's name could be added to the FIR against Tehelka Founder-Editor Tarun Tejpal for trying to suppress the sexual harassment complaint, reports Times Now.

Goa Police say that Tejpal has been asked to present himself for questioning at the earliest.

The complainant's statement was by the Goa police last night. 

Shiv Sena MLC Anil Parab has asked Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan to dismiss Home Minister R R Patil from the state cabinet for "leaking details" about 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab's time in prison and his cremation inside the Yerwada jail.

Parab said he has based his demand for Patil's dismissal on a four-page article written by the Home Minister in a Marathi Diwali magazine published by a media house.

The four-page article titled 'Operation X' divulges details about Kasab's violent behaviour inside the barracks, how the state went about his cremation inside the Yerwada Jail in Pune and who performed the last rites on the terrorist.

Parab asked the Governor to take strict cognisance of the details shared by Patil in the magazine as it has "compromised on the national security".

The legislator also pointed out that the minister has failed to live by the oath of secrecy taken at the time of appointment as minister in the state cabinet.

The Tarun Tejpal case brought back memories tucked deep inside for this mother. Here's what she shared with her children. Read

Update on the Tehelka case: The Goa police has recorded the complainant's statement for over nine hours yesterday. The woman journalist has accused the former editor-in-chief of Tehelka of sexually assaulting her in an elevator in a five-star hotel in Goa.

Soon after the formal complaint by the woman, the  Goa Police issued a call letter to Tejpal, asking him to present himself at the crime branch police station in Dona Paula, Panaji, at the earliest. If he failed to show up, a non-bailable arrest warrant would be issued. Tejpal's anticipatory bail plea will be heard today.

The Shankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham,Jayendra Saraswati, who finds himself embroiled in a case of murder of Mutt loyalist Sankararaman, is an atypical Hindu pontiff.  Read more

And right here, all that you wanted to know about the Sankararaman case. Read

This is what the chargesheet on the Sankararaman murder says: "The pontiffs bore an animosity towards Sankararaman, as his letters had attacked their character and conduct, to such an extent that they annihilated him, the charge sheet said." Read more 

Sankararaman Anantakrishnasharma worked with the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham -- arguably, South India's most respected Hindu Math -- for 60 years.

He was among the four men who walked with the late Kanchi Shankaracharya Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati to Kashi from Kanchipuram.

Anantakrishnasharma served Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati all his life. The Shankaracharya provided Anantakrishnasharma a one room tenement in the temple town.

Anantakrishnasharma built into a three room house, of which one is a prayer room.

When Anantakrishnasharma died, his only child Sankararaman took his place to serve the Kanchi Shankaracharya. Read more

The court also said that Sankararaman's wife and daughter had failed to recognise the accused and thereby failed to support the prosecution. 

The two Kanchi seers had been charged under Indian Penal Code sections 120-B (Criminal Conspiracy) and 302 (murder). A total of 189 witnesses including Padma, wife of Sankararaman, her son and daughter were examined during the trial between 2010 and 2011.

 Eighty-three of the witnesses turned hostile during the trial, shifted to Puducherry by the Supreme Court on a petition by Jayendra Saraswathi.

The court today said that some witnesses had confessed under duress and no incriminating evidence was found against the accused and the 83 witnesses failed to support the prosecution.

Just in: All 23 accused including Kanchi Mutt seers Jayendra Saraswathi and Vijayendra -- the prime accused in the high profile 2004 Sankararaman murder case -- have been acquitted.

A Puducherry court delivered its verdict today after a trial which ran for over nine years. A Sankararaman, manager of the Varadarajaperumal temple at Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu, was allegedly murdered on September 3, 2004, in the temple premises.

The Delhi high court has deferred till 3.30 pm the hearing on Tarun Tejpal's anticipatory bail plea in the sexual assault case. 

The Pradhan Committee, which had looked into the administration's response to the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai, had informed then home minister P Chidambaram about the possibility of a mole in Mumbai who had helped carry out the terror attack.

A case has been filed against anti-nuclear activist S P Udaykumar and others in connection with the explosion at Idinthakarai in Tamil Nadu, said police.

Pakistan has quietly released three senior Afghan Taliban leaders, including a close aide of Mullah Omar, as part of efforts to facilitate the reconciliation process in Afghanistan.       

Suffering in India has more than doubled in recent years with one in every four Indian reported to be bearing the brunt of the nation's poor economic performance in recent years, a Gallup poll has said. 

Iran will face tougher sanctions if the recent agreement on its nuclear programme falls apart, United States Secretary of State John Kerry has said. 

US President Barack Obama has asked Hollywood not to promote violence and glorify the usage of guns in its movies as they may negatively influence minds of children. 

Goa police have reportedly summoned Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal for questioning.

Israeli security forces killed three Palestinian militants after attempting to arrest them near the West Bank city of Hebron, the Shin Bet internal security service and army said. 

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange runs little risk of being charged in the United States for having published hundreds of thousands of classified documents, The Washington Post reported, citing unnamed US officials. 

America's stand on the multibillion Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline has not changed despite the recent relaxation of sanctions on the Islamic republic after an agreement between Tehran and P5+1 countries. 

Pope Francis has called for reform to take powers from the Vatican and said Catholics should be more engaged in helping the needy, but ruled out allowing women priests in a key document released by the Vatican.

Sikh activists, fed up with being singled out at US airports, today launched an updated smartphone application to make it easier for passengers to file complaints. 

A UN rights committee today passed a "right to privacy" resolution pressed by Germany and Brazil which have led international outrage over reports of US spying on their leaders. 

A spate of suicide bombings against security forces were the deadliest in attacks that killed 16 people today as Iraq announced more executions amid a protracted pre-election surge in violence. 

The former neighbourhood watchman involved in a high-profile shooting of an unarmed black teen had five guns and more than 100 rounds of ammunition with him when deputies arrested him earlier this month on domestic violence charges, according to court documents released today. 

Two US B-52 bombers flew over a disputed area of the East China Sea without notifying Beijing, despite China's bid to create an expanded "air defence zone," US officials said today. 

Iran, the main regional ally of the government in Damascus, said today it is ready to take part in a peace conference on Syria but will not accept any preconditions. 

In the early years after the September 11, 2001 attacks against the US, the CIA turned some Guantanamo Bay prisoners into double agents then sent them home to help the US kill terrorists, current and former US officials said.

Iran's foreign minister said today that bilateral discussions with the United States before a historic nuclear agreement were limited to the atomic issue and not rapprochement with Washington.