US President Barack Obama today asked the Republican-majority House of Representatives to pass by the year end a stalled immigration bill over which India has expressed deep concern. "Let's see if we can get it done this year. 

Describing as "totally baseless" the CBI theory that Rajesh and Nupur Talwar killed Aarushi and Hemraj after a "sudden provocation", defence lawyer today told a CBI court that there was no evidence to prove that the domestic help was murdered in the teenager's room.  

Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel has said it is "really not on" for friends to spy on each other, referring to alleged US snooping on her phone calls.

The United States is investigating reports that pirates kidnapped two Americans from a U.S.-flagged ship off the coast of Nigeria in West Africa, where security has been a growing concern.The incident involves a U.S.-flagged vessel, the 222-foot C-Retriever, in the Gulf of Guinea.

Former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani today denied a report that his government had approved US drone strikes Pakistan's tribal areas. 

akhnoor ams kanachak secotrs of jaam

Two trains collided on a famed railway line to Tibet, killing one person and injuring 52 others, state media reported today. Separately, another passenger train collided with a coal truck, killing the train driver and injuring 10.

A Libyan court indicted today around 30 Moamer Kadhafi aides, including the slain dictator's son Seif al-Islam, for a raft of alleged offences during the 2011 revolt, prosecutors said. 

Saudi Arabia today warned it will take measures against activists who go ahead with a planned weekend campaign to defy a ban on women drivers in the conservative Muslim kingdom. 

Sheela Bhatt on board prime minister's special flight:   

K Anurag reports from Guwahati: 

A brown Kashmiri fur cap which became singer Manna Dey's trademark was given by a fan when he was shivering in snow during a concert in the Kashmir Valley.

"It was the month of December and I had gone to Kashmir to take part in a concert. Apart from the fact that it was bitterly cold, it was snowing," Dey said in his autobiography.

"As I shivered onstage, I wondered how I would manage to get through the recital. I realised in dismay, when I launched into a number, that I was too numb with cold to sing the notes accurately," he said.

India is just four months away from being declared polio free by the World Health Organization.

This was once described by experts as impossible and would mark one of the greatest global public health achievements of all time. It also provides a national roadmap for reaching children with other interventions. Read

Pawar also says that exports have been at their three-year low this year. He also categorically denied allegations that the NCP had links with the onion cartel.

He said that prices would come down in the second week of November.

Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar deftly passes the buck on the spiraling prices of onions and the acute shortage. Speaking to CNN IBN, Pawar says that excess rainfall is responsible for the shortage of onions and that the agriculture ministry is not responsible for the sky-high prices.

"It is the responsibility of the consumer affairs ministry and it should answer the people for the crisis and should crack down on hoarders," says Pawar.

Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan has big plans to reform India's financial sector during his term as the central bank chief.His strategy takes a cue from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who this summerunveiled a plan for boosting Japan's growth based on three elements, which Mr. Abe calls arrows. Read

Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Speaker Mubarak Gul today issued a notice to former Army Chief Gen V K Singh to explain his position on his allegation of pay-off to a minister in the state.

"...He (Singh) has been asked to explain his position regarding certain revelations made by him during the course of an interview to a Delhi-based news channel on September 23," an Assembly spokesperson said.

He said the notice has been issued in response to a privilege motion moved against him by 15 ministers and MLAs.

Gen Singh has been given 20 days to explain his position in the matter so that further course of action could be decided under the rules of procedure and conduct of business in the J&K Assembly, the spokesperson said.

Calling himself jobless, Ranbir Kapoor has rubbished reports of having raised his acting fee to Rs 20 crore. There were reports that Ranbir apparently charged a huge sum for Abhinav Kashyap's 'Besharam', which failed at the box office.

"I am jobless now... have no new films... hence this look. I don't know if you have seen my last film ('Besharam' - hinting at the failure of the film). It is embarrassing to talk about the economics of business (fee hike). Actors share profit and loss of a film. It is not true (Rs 20 crore hike)," Ranbir said.

Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan is listening carefully to Rahul Gandhi's speech in Indore. On Twitter: "Congress VP says that Indore is deprived of development and businesses, he needs to do his homework better."
This is the link he posted. Read

Recalling his visit to Pakistan during college days in 1980s, Barack Obama on Wednesday told Nawaz Sharif that he knows how to cook dal and keema, taught by the mother of his Pakistani roommates. Read

The Rahul Gandhi script is straight from a Bollywood potboiler. Read more here.

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan reacts to Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's claim that the UPA regime had constructed three times more roads than those laid down during the BJP-led NDA rule, which keeps speaking about development and roads.

Rahul said the government supported the region and had sent a package of Rs 3,000 crore for its development. He said the UPA government will keep sending money to the region so that Bundelkhand emerges as the pride of the country.

Chouhan tweeted: When Congress says 'they' sent Rs 3000 crore to Bundelkhand, isn't it strange that they believe tax payers' money is their own?  Congress VP says, "BJP's politics is of air conditioning ... and royal ways". How ill informed one can be?

Superfatman: The 25000 mosquitoes bit Rahul Gandhi under a state sponsored pogrom. How did BJP achieved this feat..

Mihir Bijur‏: I hope Rahul Gandhi has lots and lots of children. What this nation needs the most, is laughter. *Thoko taali*

Gaurav: ‏Better than Comedy Nights with Kapil Sharma RT @firstpostin Rahul Gandhi addresses rally at Indore.

A decades-long dispute between members of one of India's former royal families over palaces, diamonds and other items worth 20,000 crores has been settled.

Members of the Gaekwad family signed a memorandum of understanding of Wednesday before a judge in the city of Vadodara over property that includes a palace reportedly four times the size of Buckingham Palace. Read the full report here.

As the world observed Polio Day today, three new cases were confirmed in Pakistan, one of the few countries where the crippling disease continues to be endemic.

Love bites for Rahul's mosquitoes' speech on Twitter:

Faking News‏: Rahul Gandhi joins Twitter. First 25000 followers were mosquitoes.

Kanchan Gupta : Is Rahul Gandhi dumb or is he dumb? Repeat the fiction that Congress has built thrice the total length of roads than NDA. Who briefs him?

Ramesh Srivats: ‏It's a refreshing change to hear Rahul Gandhi talk so much about feeding the poor. After all, we've heard so much about the poor feeding him.

In a strong message to the GJM, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said that West Bengal and Darjeeling were inseparable.

"Darjeeling is the heart of Bengal. I am not against anyone. I am with the people of the hills. It is the motherland. Bengal cannot stay without you, nor can you stay without us," Banerjee told the first rally in the hills of the ruling Trinamool Congress at the Mall in Darjeeling.

Without naming the GJM which has recently backtracked from its politics of shutdowns and violence to demand Gorkhaland, Banerjee said her government would not allow disruption of normal life in the name of bandhs which, hindered peace and development.

Raju Bharatan on the The Classic Dilemma of Being Manna Dey. Read

Rahul Gandhi will soon address a rally in Indore after the one at Sagar in Madhya Pradesh. Rahul today recounted how he was bitten by 25,000 mosquitoes and had a stomach flu from drinking water in villages when he was touring the Bundelkhand area while campaigning for the general elections of 2009. He also said that the makings of a good leader could be found in those who spend time in villages knowing what reality was.

Lyricist and Rajya Sabha MP Javed Akhtar today said Narendra Modi can never be a good prime minister, alleging that the BJP's PM aspirant was not only tainted of communal riots but was also "undemocratic".

"Besides, all talks of involvement in Gujarat riots of 2002 which are before the courts, this man (Modi) is not democratic," Akhtar told reporters on the sidelines of a school function in Patna.

On October 21, The Hindu's admired 48-year-old editor Siddharth Varadarajan dramatically announced his resignation on Twitter after the newspaper's board decided to move him from the editor's chair to the less central role of contributing editor and senior columnist.

Varadarajan, the first editor in The Hindu's 135-year history to be appointed from outside the family, took the hint and quit. Read his interview to Tehelka. 

BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate Dr Harsh Vardhan today promised to bring "radical reforms" in governance if his party comes to power and accused the Congress government of "piling up miseries" on the people and putting Delhi in intensive care unit by its "misrule".

A day after being named as the party's CM candidate following a bitter race for the position within Delhi BJP, Vardhan said a "clean, transparent and people's government" will be in place if voted to power and ruled out any infighting in the party fold.

Melody queen Lata Mangeshkar fondly remembered her association with singer Manna Dey saying she salutes his dedication and spirit.

The two have collaborated on innumerable hits like 'Pyaar Huaa Ikraar Huaa', 'Chunari Sambhal Gori Udhi Chali', 'Yeh Raat Bheegi-Bheegi', 'Aaja Sanam Madhur Chandni Men' among others.

"Today, great classical singer Manna Dey sahab, who we fondly called Manna da, is not among us anymore. He had a very pleasant and easy personality. He was very dedicated to his work. I salute him and pray that his soul rests in peace," Mangeshkar reminisced on Twitter after Dey's death.

Bangladesh today condoled the death of legendary singer Manna Dey, whose versatile voice charmed generations of listeners across boundaries in the Indian subcontinent. Dey, 94, died early this morning in a Bangalore hospital after a prolonged illness. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in a message, said Dey would remain alive forever among music-loving people of the subcontinent.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi is campaigning in Madhya Pradesh today. Unlike his emotional requiem to his grandmother and father and his forecast that he too may be killed like they were, in Sagar, MP, today, he went for the jugular -- biting into the BJP's development platform.

He said the BJP's politics were focused on air-conditioned environs and corporate houses. He said roads and airports don't feed the poor.

Taking on the BJP for criticising him for spending nights in villages, he said the mark of a good leader is that he know what reality is.

Rahul said the Congress would form the government in MP. He said the Congress govt will be that of the aam aadmi of the poor and of the women. 

Shammy Baweja tweets: All 5 greats gone:Rafi, Kishore, Hemant, Mukesh n Manna Dey. None of today's male singers come close. Silver lining: the songs live forever

Legendary singer Manna Dey was cremated at Bangalore today, writes Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa.

The renowned singer died after a prolonged illness at a hospital in Bangalore early this morning. The body which was kept at the Ravindra Kalakshethra till 12.30 pm and was taken to a crematorium in Hebbal.

However, the turnout at the funeral was just 70 people, with a many stars choosing to pay tributes on the social media.

Manna Dey's daughter refused to comment on the low turnout and denied telling the media that the government ought to have done more for her father.

A Pakistani anti-terrorism court conducting the Mumbai attacks trial today issued summons to four witnesses including the seller of a boat that was used by 10 LeT terrorists to reach India, even as it postponed the hearing of the case by two weeks.

Records of the cross-examination of Indian witnesses by a Pakistani judicial commission in connection with the attacks case had not reached the court in Islamabad when it convened this morning.

At least 30 Union Ministers and Congress leaders have got in touch with an industrialist who has been named in the coal scam.

They have expressed their shock at the functioning of the CBI and fundraisers of the Congress have also assured the industrialist that they stand by him during his hour of crisis.

The industrialist recounted his meetings with Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi, a day before the CBI filed the FIR and fumed asking if this was the manner in which the government reposed its faith in industry.

Also read: Indian Billionaires Get a Pass

Vice President Hamid Ansari accompanied by MPs Renuka Chowdhury, TK Rangarajan and Supriya Sule will undertake a three-nation state visit to Peru, Cuba and London tomorrow.

The visit is spread over eight days. BJP MPs were heard joking that for one week at least Renuka Chowdhury will be off TV news debates which may come as a relief of sorts for target #1 Narendra Modi. 

A triumph of hope over expectation, the border defence pact reached between India and China today proposes to increase transparency between their militaries but is barely a guarantee against the kind of tent-war in which the two armies came eyeball to eyeball in eastern Ladakh's Depsang plains in April this year. Read

Narendra Modi has sent a special invitation to one of his most ardent critics, Union Minister Jairam Ramesh. 

In his letter, Mr Modi writes, "It is our belief that the monument will become an important cornerstone in the cultural and social life of our great nation."

The four-time chief minister of Gujarat says that the statue will be 182 metres high and will be twice as tall as the Statue of Liberty in the US.

It will be located in the middle of the Narmada river, near the Saradar Sarovar dam at Kevadia, more than 200 kilometres south of Ahmedabad.

Modi's letter to the minister opens with "My dear Jairam Ji" and ends with "warm personal regards."

Our sources in Delhi tell us that a certain governor had called on the Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde to present the latest political report on the law and order situation in the state.

Before taking his seat Shinde thanked the governor for meeting 'madam' first and briefing her and said the governor had made his job easier. Senior officials of the Union Home Ministry laughed boisterously.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's emotional speech in Rajasthan yesterday saying he may also be killed like his father and grandmother before him, has not gone down well with the party, say sources in Delhi.

A Union Minister spoke to a few general secretaries of the AICC and realised that Rahul had rehearsed his speech before Priyanka and Sonia Gandhi before it had been okayed. No inputs were given by any senior Congress leaders.

Congressmen cracked jokes that the mother-son-daughter triumvirate were in fact the real core committee members of the Congress 

The 'family draft' will not work, believe Congress party seniors and they want him to share his speech ideas with friends of the late Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi who are still around at 24 Akbar Road.

What Rahul said in Churu yesterday

More on the medical negligence case against AMRI.

The National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission (NCDRC) in 2011 had awarded Rs 1.73 crore to Dr Kunal Saha whose wife Anuradha Saha died in 1998 following faulty treatment administered at the hospital.

Raising the amount of compensation, the apex court also asked the hospital to pay an interest at the rate of six per cent to Saha.

The court said out of the total compensation amount, Dr Balram Prasad and Dr Sukumar Mukherjee will pay Rs 10 lakh each and Dr Baidyanath Halder will have to pay Rs five lakh to Saha within eight weeks.

The rest of the amount, along with the interest, will be paid by the hospital, the apex court said, adding that a compliance report be filed before it after payment of the compensation amount.

NCDRC had fixed the compensation on a direction by the apex court, which had referred Saha's appeal to it while holding the three doctors and the hospital culpable to civil liability for medical negligence which had led to the death of Anuradha.

Anuradha, herself a child psychologist, had come to her home town Kolkata in March 1998 on a summer vacation. She complained of skin rashes on April 25 and consulted Dr Sukumar Mukherjee, who, without prescribing any medicine, simply asked her to take rest.

As rashes reappeared more aggressively on May 7, 1998, Dr Mukherjee prescribed Depomedrol injection 80 mg twice daily, a step which was later faulted by experts at the apex court.

After administration of the injection, Anuradha's condition deteriorated rapidly following which she had to be admitted at AMRI on May 11 under Dr Mukherjee's supervision.

Government today gave green signal to Singapore Airlines' proposal to start an aviation venture with Tata Sons entailing an initial foreign investment of USD 49 million.

Dr Kunal Saha reacts to the Rs 6 crore compensation that Amri Hospital, Kolkata has to pay for the medical negligence that resulted in his wife Anuradha's death. He tells CNN IBN that the fight was never for money, it was just to send a signal that better healthcare is necessary in India.

Read his column on Rediff.com: Bengal hospitals are time-bombs waiting to explode

With uncharacteristic flourish, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today declared that "when India and China shake hands, the world takes notice", minutes after the once hostile neighbours went beyond flowery rhetoric to reach substantive agreements on a range of issues of which the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement was the most significant. Read

Dr Manmohan Singh tweets at 12:30 pm: I have had a very successful visit to China and fruitful deliberations with Chinese leadership for our better future.

The PM has left Beijing for Delhi.

There are lessons for the media and the Army in the reporting and dispensing of information on the Keran operations. Read the editorial on the Hindu. 

Sorry, onion prices will hover around Rs 100 a kilo for at least a week more. Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar says no drop in onion prices is expected due to crop damage because of rains, but prices are likely to fall in the next two to three weeks. The  Centre will release Rs 921.98 crore to Maharashtra for damages to onion crop due to excess rains.

Commerce Minister Anand Sharma says there is no real scarcity of onions; prices are expected to stabilise in the coming few weeks.

The Supreme Court has ordered a Bengal hospital to pay nearly six crores damages, the highest ever in India, in a case of medical negligence that caused the death of a woman in 1998.

The court today enhanced the compensation recommended by a consumer court, and ordered the payment of Rs. 5.96 crore to the family of Anuradha Saha, who died at the AMRI hospital in Kolkata. Read

More reactions on Manna De's death:

Vocalist Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty told Rediff.com: Manna Dey was the jewel of India.

Rabindra Sangeet singer Banasree Sengupta singer: Manna De cannot die, his songs will immortalise him.

Actor, director, producer Aparna Sen: It's an irreparable loss for the world of music. I did not get to spend much time with him, I regret that.

Also read: Amitabh tweets: Flooded with memories of Manna Dey's renditionof Madhushala

Bengali writer Samaresh Majumdar on Manna Dey's death: I learnt the song of life and love from Manna De. In our times, it was not easy to speak our minds, especially if there were women around. Hence we often sang his songs to draw attention of our 'love interests'. I met him about 10 years ago at Kolkata's International Club.

I had asked him how long he planned to continue singing and he said, 'the day I lose my voice, I will die'.

It pained me to know that he was ailing. He should not have suffered so much. With his demise, a part of my past is gone. His songs alone can pay him the best tribute. 

Twitter tributes to Manna Dey:

soumik sen: Wrestler, foodie, blessed with incredible wit. And the rare "Jinhe Naaz Hai" Pyaasa 

bhalomanush: "Coffee House-er shei adda". Arguably, the first true jibonmukhi song in Bangla

kunal kohli‏: last of the greats, along with Kishore, Rafi & Mukesh,passes away. RIP.'ek chattur naar' to 'ae mere pyaare watan' what a range

Harsha Bhogle: ‏my all time favourite though has to be laaga chunari me daag.....among many unforgettables of course #mannadey

Harini Calamur: ‏Pucho na kaise. alok_bhatt rightly said, everytime you say that is my favourite, another song pops up

Actor Imran Khan's wife Avantika Malik, who was struck by dengue recently, is on the path of recovery.

"She (Avantika) is a bit fine now. Her platelet count is up now. She has to take bed rest for eight to ten days. Her blood tests are happening regularly... Don't know how everyone is getting dengue," Imran said at a film promotion event.

Despite repeatedly denouncing the CIA's drone campaign, top officials in Pakistan's government have for years secretly endorsed the program and routinely received classified briefings on strikes and casualty counts, according to top-secret CIA documents and Pakistani diplomatic memos obtained by The Washington Post. Read more

Susan Rice tweeted at 6:37 am on Thursda, Oct 24, 2013: President Obama welcomed PM Sharif of Pakistan to the WH today.  Excellent meeting, and relationship continues on positive trajectory.  

Rice is the White House National Security Advisor

Backing India's concerns over the slow pace of progress in the 26/11 case in Pakistan, US President Barack Obama today asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif why the trial of Mumbai attackers has not started.

"He (Obama) asked, why the trial of the (Mumbai) terrorist attack in India has not started yet," Sharif told reporters immediately after his over two-hour meeting with Obama at the Oval Office of the White House.

During the meeting, the US President also raised the issue of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), cross border terrorism and Dr Shakil Afridi, the Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA track down al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and has been imprisoned, Sharif said.

"He (Obama) has raised the issue of (Dr Shakil) Afridi. He spoke about cross-border movement. He also talked about Jamaat-ud-Dawa," the Pakistan Prime Minister said, without giving details.

A class IX student of a public school in south Delhi was allegedly gang-raped by three men inside a car parked at a ground near Safdarjung Enclave on Tuesday night, police said. Read

The Supreme Court has asked Kolkata-based AMRI Hospital to pay Rs 5.96 crore compensation in a case of medical negligence in 1998.  Details awaited.

More on Manna Dey: Credited with pioneering a new genre by infusing Indian classical music in a pop framework, Manna Dey epitomised the golden period of Hindi cinema with his inimitable style and memorable songs like 'Puchho na kaise', 'Aye meri zoharajabi' and 'Laga chunri mein daag'.

Along with Rafi, Mukesh, and Kishore Kumar, Dey was the last member of the famous quartet of singers who dominated the Hindi music industry from 1950s to 1970s.

In a career spanning over five decades, Dey, who died today in Bangalore at the age of 94, went on to sing over 3,500 songs in Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada and Assamese films before quitting movies in the '90s.

His last song was 'Hamari hi mutthi mein' for 1991 film 'Prahaar'. While Rafi, Mukesh and Kishore were the favoured voices when it came to the lead actors, Dey stood out for his unique voice.

Adept also at singing Rabindra Sangeet, the multi-talented legendary singer's experimentation with western music and qawwali produced many unforgettable melodies.

Dey will be cremated at 12.30 pm today. His body will be placed at the Ravindra Kalakshethra at Bangalore between 10.30 am and 12.30 pm for fans, well wishers and family members to pay their last respects.

Sensex regains psychological 21,000 level after a gap of almost three years on capital inflows.

Activist-turned-politician and Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal has written a letter to Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit challenging her for an open debate.

Read the letter here

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's address at the Central Party School of the all-powerful Chinese Communist Party is considered a rare honour.

He said in his address, "Relations between India and China are unique in the world. We are two continuous ancient civilizations. We are neighbours with a long history of cultural, spiritual and economic ties.

"We both embarked on a new phase of our political histories around the same time," he said.

"Today, we are the world's two most populous nations, engaged in a process of socio-economic transformation of our people on a scale and at a pace unprecedented in human history," he added.

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in his address at the Central Party School in Beijing spoke about Sino-Indian relations.

He said that after China, India has been the fastest growing major economy in the world, averaging a growth rate of 7 per cent per year over the past two decades and around 8 per cent per year during the past 10 years

NYT reports: Russian investigators on Wednesday dropped piracy charges against the crew members of a Greenpeace International ship who staged a protest against oil exploration in the Arctic Ocean last month, but said they would still face lesser charges of hooliganism.

Read the full story here

The 94 year-old-legendary singer began his playback career in 1943 with the film Tamanna.

He has sung over 3,500 songs.He is survived by his daughters Shuroma and Sumita.

His wife, Sulochana, died of cancer last year.

Legendary singer Manna Dey who was suffering from a lung infection passed away in Bengaluru this morning at 3:33 am. He was 94. He was being treated from respiratory and renal problems.

More details are awaited.

Born Prabodh Chandra Dey in 1919 in Kolkata, he was better known as his nickname, he sang in many languages including Bhojpui, Malayalam, Punjabi, Marathi, Bengali and of course, Hindi.

He also received the Dadasaheb Phalke, Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan Awards.

US must end drone strikes on Pakistan, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif tells President Barack Obama at White House.