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Wed, 30 October 2013
Live! Russia warns of 'huge threat' if Syria talks fail

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23:21   Personal experience of interaction with Modi
I'm a 72 year old South Indian Brahmin lady '" not belonging to Narendra Modi's caste, I must mention in these days of caste-ridden mindsets '" just survived the attack of the Emperor of Maladies, cancer that I have been suffering from for the past two years.  

I have no expectation from life for myself, even if Modi were to become the Prime Minister of the country.  But I want the teeming millions of my compatriots, especially the younger generation, to learn that there is another side of the Modi story than the one they get bombarded with from anti-Modi industry.

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23:19   Russia warns of 'huge threat' if Syria talks fail
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today blasted critics of a US-Russia initiative for a peace conference on Syria, warning that toppling the Assad regime militarily posed a "huge threat" to the area. 

"Open objections have surfaced against holding this Russia-US meeting (dubbed Geneva II), not only among Syrian sides but also among capitals, both in neighbouring and non-neighbouring states," Lavrov said during a visit to Athens, according to the official translation.
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23:17   Norwegian village uses giant mirrors to capture the sun
Sun-starved residents of a remote Norwegian village unveiled an ingenious mirror system today to bring natural light to their mountain valley home and liberate them from darkness that envelops them six months a year. 

Hundreds of villagers sporting sunglasses stared at three giant mirrors which were perched on a 400-metre mountain peak, eagerly waiting for sunlight to be deflected onto their little square.
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22:17   Russia test-fires range of nuclear-capable missiles
Russia today test-fired a series of short and long-range nuclear-capable missiles as part of an unannounced check of the readiness of its massive Soviet-era force. 

The defence ministry said several ballistic missiles were successfully launched from the Bryansk and Svyatoy Georgy Pobedonosets submarines stationed in the Barents and Okhotsk Seas.
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22:16   Tiananmen 'attack' embarrasses China's security regime
A "terrorist attack" in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, the symbolic heart of the Chinese state, represents an embarrassing failure for the nation's vast police and intelligence apparatus and shows it cannot plug all security vulnerabilities, analysts say. Communist China spends vast sums on ensuring order among a population of 1.35 billion people, more even than on its military, the world's largest.
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21:52   EU looking into Russia G20 spying report
The European Union is investigating gifts that visiting delegations received at last month's summit in St. Petersburg of leaders from the world's 20 top economies after newspaper reports alleged Russia was trying to install spyware on computers to snoop on participants.

European Commission spokesman Frederic Vincent said Wednesday that experts were looking into the handouts, which included USB sticks and were given out at the Group of 20 summit, but said "analysis of hardware and software have not amounted to any serious security concerns." He added the investigation had not yet been fully completed.
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21:38   Communal riot breaks out in Muzaffarnagar, 3 killed
Sharat Pradhan reports from Lucknow:

Another communal riot has broken out in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district this evening. Three people have been killed.

More details awaited.   
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21:14   Assad says foreign support for Syrian rebels must end
President Bashar al-Assad of Syria told the United Nations special envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, on Wednesday that no political solution can be reached in Syria without an end to international support for the fighters battling his government, underscoring how far apart the sides remain as global powers attempt to arrange peace talks next month.

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20:45   Health secy apologises for poor 'Obamacare' web rollout
President Barack Obama's health secretary publicly apologised today for the rocky rollout of the US health care law's new website, stressing that citizens "deserve better" from the system. 

But while Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius regretted that navigating HealthCare.gov has been a "miserably frustrating experience" for many, she insisted that so-called "Obamacare" has been working well for millions of Americans.
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20:01   Modi to lay foundation stone of Sardar Patel statue tomorrow
After the public spat over the legacy of Sardar Patel between Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Modi will lay the foundation stone for the statue tomorrow.

Modi wrote on his blog today that "Sardar Patel's birth anniversary would be even more special because we (the Gujarat government) are going to lay the foundation stone of the Statue of Unity".

"At a height of 182 metres, 'the State of Unity' would be among the tallest statues in the world, celebrating and paying tributes to the Iron Man of India. It would be situated at Sadhu Bet, which is close to the Sardar Sarovar Dam," he wrote.

"The statue is being built through the PPP model, using the latest technology. A few months ago, I had appealed to my farmer sisters and brothers from all over India to contribute their iron tools they used in farming to build the statue. After all, Sardar Patel was not only a Loh Purush (Iron Man) but also a Kisan Putra (son of a farmer). I once again appeal to everyone to support us in this endeavour," Modi wrote in his blog.
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19:50   Police clear Musharraf in death of Lal Masjid cleric
Pakistani police have cleared former military ruler Pervez Musharraf of any direct involvement in the death of a cleric of the radical Lal Masjid during a 2007 military operation, according to a media report today.

Musharraf was not named as one of the main accused in a police report after a joint investigation team completed its probe into the killing of cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi and his mother, Express News channel reported.

The former President was named only in Section II of the report, which pertains to those accused of assisting in a crime as opposed to having directly perpetrated it.

The case against Musharraf over the killing of Ghazi was registered after the cleric's son petitioned the courts.

Musharraf was recently arrested on charges of involvement in the killing of Ghazi during the operation, which was launched to flush our extremists holed up in the mosque in the heart of Islamabad.
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19:41   Speculation on government's stance over Telangana decision
Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde meeting President Pranab Mukherjee has fueled speculation of the government's move on the Telangana issue.

New Delhi is agog with speculation about the government wanting to refer 371 D of Constitution relating to Andhra Pradesh to seek the Supreme Court's opinion on bifurcation of the state.

A source said the reason could be that Shinde has announced an all-party meet on Telangana in early November.

Shinde meeting the President directly after the Congress Core Committee meeting is considered politically significant.  
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19:15   Modi will have no impact on Delhi polls: Dikshit
Dismissing the hype surrounding BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today said he will not have any impact on the upcoming assembly polls in the city.

The 75-year-old Chief Minister said people of Delhi are aware about BJP's credentials and they are not going to be misled by the party. She, however, said it would be premature to comment whether Modi will be able to impact voters in the Lok Sabha polls next year.

"I don't think Modi will have any impact in the Assembly polls. But as a Prime Ministerial candidate when the Lok Sabha elections take place, that is when his real impact will be seen, not just now," Dikshit told PTI.

The BJP has been trying to bank on Modi's 'popularity' to recapture power in Delhi after a gap of 15 years. The party has put up hoardings across the city featuring Modi along with its Chief Ministerial candidate Harsh Vardhan.
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18:53   Govt convenes all-party meeting on Telangana
An all-party meeting will be held next week to discuss various issues concerning the creation of separate Telangana, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said today.

The meeting is likely to be held before the November 7 meeting of the Group of Ministers, constituted to look into the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, he said.
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18:38   Maha says no to chhath puja at Juhu beach; HC to decide
Maharashtra government has informed the Bombay High Court that it had refused permission to a cultural organisation to use Juhu beach here for organising "chhath" celebrations on November 8 on the ground of serious violations committed earlier.

A statement to this effect was made by G W Mattos, Additional Government Pleader, in the high court yesterday.

However, Anjani Kumar Singh, the counsel for the organisation "Mann Ranglo", denied that the cultural body had flouted any norms earlier.

A bench of Justices S F Vajifdar and K R Sriram then asked the state government to file an affidavit in this regard.

The bench ordered that the affidavit shall be served on the petitioner latest by November 4, and gave liberty to the petitioner to apply for ad-interim reliefs before the vacation judge on November 5.
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18:22   Live! TMC sneers at Left's attempt to form Third Front
The electoral success of the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal has put a question mark on the very existence of the CPI(M), a key party leader said today and scoffed at the Left party's strategy to cobble together a Third Front before the Lok Sabha elections next year.

"Wherever there is CPI(M) they will spoil everything. They should first try to manage their own party before trying to organise a front," TMC secretary-general Partha Chatterjee said.

He was commenting on a mega rally in New Delhi where Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav and Left leaders including CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat shared a stage fuelling speculation of a Third Front. "They have lost credibility in West Bengal. They have lost relevance," he said.
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18:01   AAP has no standing, Sheila rubbishes opinion polls
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today debunked results of various opinion polls giving some weightage to Aam Admi Party and edge to BJP in the December 4 assembly election, saying their projections do not reflect the ground realities as people are likely to go for Congress which fulfilled their aspirations.

"I do not think the opinion polls reflected the ground reality. How can you say Aam Admi Party will get so many seats when they have not yet come out with their agenda. I do not know on what basis they arrive at conclusion and how credible their figures can be," Dikshit said.
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17:47   Live! Fourth arrest in Patna serial blasts, search for bombs still on
One person suspected to be involved in the Patna serial blasts was today arrested from Doranda locality in Ranchi by sleuths of National Investigation Agency (NIA), taking the total number of arrests to four in the Sunday blasts.

Assisted by Ranchi police, the NIA arrested one Ujjair Ahmad this afternoon, police sources said.

Three other suspects, identified as Tehsim, Imtiaz Ansari and Tabish, were arrested soon after the bomb blasts in the Bihar capital.

Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar yesterday said in Hazaribagh that six persons were detained for interrogation in connection with the serial blasts set off at and near the Gandhi Maidan ahead of the rally addressed later by BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
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17:38   Drinking water scarcity in disaster-hit Ganjam district
People in Odisha's cyclone and flood ravaged Ganjam district are reeling under severe water scarcity due to disruption of water supply in both rural and urban areas, including Berhampur.

"We had only a few litres of filtered water stored when our area got inundated last Saturday... We did not preserve more water and are paying the price now," B P Choudhury, a resident of Aska town, about 40kms from Ganjam said. 
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17:09   In India, Teenage Pregnancy Extremely Likely
India and Bangladesh remain among the countries where a girl is extremely likely to be married before she is 18, and have a child while still a teenager a result, the United Nations said in a report released Wednesday. Read
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17:02   Live! Patna serial blasts' probe handed over to NIA: Shinde
Patna serial blasts case handed over to NIA, says Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde. The Nitish Kumar government had asked for the blasts' probe to handed over to the National Investigation Agency.

The police continue to find live bombs in Patna even after 48 hours since serial blasts rocked the state's capital. "We had given input about Patna rally to state government," said Shinde. However, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar maintains that he received no specific warning.
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16:31   Three days on sanitization of Gandhi Maidan still on
Three days after serial blasts rocked the Gandhi Maidan here claiming six lives during Narendra Modi's rally, Patna Police was still engaged in sanitizing the sprawling ground of bombs and related explosive material, police said today.

The Patna Police had recovered five bombs yesterday from the ground which were defused by the NSG bomb disposal squad.

The sanitization drive was underway for the third successive day today to clear the Gandhi Maidan of bombs and explosive material, Superintendent of Police (SP), City, Jayant Kant told PTI.
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16:29   Live! Hike diesel price by Rs 5/ltr, slash LPG subsidy: Panel
More on that recommended fuel price hike.

Diesel prices should be immediately hiked by Rs 5 per litre, the Kirit Parikh Committee has recommended while favouring reduction of the quota of subsidised LPG to 6 cylinders per household in a year from 9 at present.

The panel has recommended Rs 4 per litre increase in kerosene and Rs 250 per cylinder hike in LPG rates, Parikh told reporters after presenting the report to Oil Minister Veerappa Moily.

Read the full report here
The panel also recommended fixed subsidy of Rs 6 per litre on diesel while favouring deregulation of diesel price in a year's time. The expert group was tasked to suggest a methodology for pricing of diesel and cooking fuel.
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16:14   No bail for Asaram in sexual assault case
Asaram's bail pleas had been rejected by the Gandhinagar district court. A local court in Jodhpur on Saturday extended the judicial custody of self-styled godman Asaram Bapu and four co-accused for 12 days in the case of sexually assaulting a minor after the police sought time until November 6 to file the chargesheet.
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16:02   Azam Khan's staffers accuse him of using 'abusive' language
Accusing Uttar Pradesh Urban Development Minister Mohammad Azam Khan of using "abusive and undignified" language against them, seven personal staff of the minister have approached the state government for being transferred elsewhere.

Khan's seven staff--private secretaries Jeevan Singh Negi and Vijay Bahadur Singh and additional private secretaries Awadesh Kumar Tiwari, MN Jha, Sarvesh Kumar Mishra, Mohammand Naeem Siddiqui and S Prajapati -- yesterday wrote a letter to Chief Secretary, demanding that they be relieved from their duty and transferred elsewhere.
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16:00   No more tourist visa for commissioning surrogacy in India
Foreign nationals intending to visit India for commissioning surrogacy will not be allowed to come on a tourist visa from Friday with the home ministry ordering strict adherence of surrogacy laws. 
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15:57  
Kirit Parikh panel recommends Rs 5/litre hike in diesel price, Rs 4/litre increase in kerosene and Rs 250/cylinder raise in LPG rates, reports PTI.
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15:37   Live! Prepared to face consequences of sticking to principles: Nitish on split with BJP
Nitish Kumar, the first to speak at a convention against communalism organised by the Left in Delhi today, said his party had played a calculated political gamble to split from the BJP this year, to uphold its principles against divisive forces.

"We have stuck to our principles. This isn't a risk, it's a gamble. We will face the consequences," the Bihar Chief Minster said to much applause and added, "They say I am in the firing line...but we are like a rock. Any bullet will bounce off us." Read more
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15:23   BJP takes on Nitish
BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad says the Third Front is history. Hitting out at former ally Nitish Kumar of the JD-U, Prasad says it is obvious that Nitish is sweet on the Congress and is seeking an alliance with the Congress. He says that Nitish's Hitler comment against Modi is unacceptable. 
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15:08  
At the Third Front rally are the Samajwadi Party, the JD-U, the AIADMK, the NCP, the BJD and the JD-S.

Conspicuous by their absence are the TMC, YSR Cong and the BSP.
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14:56   Nitish at 3rd Front rally: We need communal harmony
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is addressing the Third Front rally in Delhi. He shares the stage with SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party and others at a convention against communalism. Nitish Kumar says that the Muzaffarnagar incident shows that there's a need to build communal harmony. He says attempts are being made to incite communal violence by holding religious preocessions.
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14:34   SC refuses to allow Sahara Subrata Roy to go abroad
The Supreme Court asks the Sahara Group to file a review plea if it wants modification of an order restraining Subrata Roy from going abroad. The SC refuses to pass any interim order for allowing Roy to go abroad, saying it cannot do so until application is filed.
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14:21  
Dreary and a trifle repetitive, this speech may be, but at least it won't embarrass the party. And of course, Congress President Sonia Gandhi are not on the same page with regard to the tone and tenor to be adopted for the ongoing election campaign. Read 
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14:12  
Rahul's remark that the riot-affected Muslims of Muzaffarnagar have been approached by the ISI evoked outrage from the community and the Opposition.

Rahul made the statement at his rally in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, last week. The BJP has a filed a notice with the Election Commission over the remark which they said incited communal violence.
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14:01   Live! Rahul in UP: State not passing on central govt schemes to people
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi addressing a rally in Uttar Pradesh. He says the state government not passing on the benefits of the Central government's schemes to the people. Unless state government starts working for the benefit of the people, no change is possible.

The power of the youth in UP is the largest in the country, says Rahul Gandhi, in a speech that steers clear of controversy.  "We will empower the youth," he promises.

The Opposition makes tall claims but it is the Congress that has built the maximum number of roads, railway lines.
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13:34   Live! AP bus tragedy: Passengers asleep when bus caught fire
A bus passenger, who survived the accident, and is undergoing treatment at a hospital, said, "All passengers were sleeping when the bus caught fire. Some of us tried to break open the window glass, however, we were unable to do so. I immediately moved towards the emergency (exit) window and broke it and managed to jump out of the bus."

According to the cleaner of the bus, most of the passengers were sleeping when the accident took place.

The cleaner, who has been admitted to a hospital in Hyderabad, said he was pulled out of the burning bus by the driver of a car passing through the area.

An eyewitness said he saw the bus going in flames at around 5.15 am and within 30 minutes it was reduced to ashes.

Meanwhile, worried relatives rushed to the office of the bus operator in Lakdi-Ka-Pul area in Hyderabad to collect information.

"When we enquired no details are being given. We are worried. There is no clarity here. They are still collecting the list from their Bangalore office," some of the relatives said.
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13:24   45 passengers burnt alive as bus catches fire in AP
Forty-five passengers were charred to death as a private luxury bus burst into flames after its fuel tank caught fire in Mahbubnagar district of Andhra Pradesh early today.

"Charred bodies of 45 persons have been retrieved from the bus," Deputy Inspector General (Hyderabad Range) V Naveen Chand said.

The accident occurred at 5.10 am when the diesel tank of the Hyderabad-bound bus from Bangalore hit against a culvert near Palem in Mahabubnagar, around 140 kms from Hyderabad on NH-44 (Bangalore-Hyderabad), police said, adding the entire bus was engulfed in flames in a matter of minutes.

Fifty-two persons, including 50 passengers, were travelling in the Volvo bus when the mishap occurred. Initial reports had said that some software engineers were among the victims. 

The bodies have been burnt beyond recognition and it is difficult to ascertain how many of the dead are men or women, Chand said.

Five passengers, the driver Feroze Khan and cleaner Ayyaz, managed to escape with burn injuries and were undergoing treatment at different hospitals, another police officer said.
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13:20   AgustaWestland has violated the VVIP chopper contract: Antony
Moving ahead towards scrapping the Rs 3,600 crore controversial chopper deal, Defence Minister AK Antony today said AgustaWestland has "violated the contract" for supplying 12 VVIP choppers for the Air Force.

"They (AgustaWestland) have violated the contract. We have taken steps to protect our interests," he said when asked about the final show cause notice issued to the firm by the Defence Ministry. He said the Government has to move as per the law and "now, the final show cause notice has been served. We have given them 21 days to reply to it."
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13:08   Rajendra Yadav: The critic who spared not even himself
Mrinal Pande remembers Rajendra Yadav, one of the most prolific fiction writers and thinkers of Hindi literature in the recent times, who passed away on Monday. Read
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13:02   Ad on popular portal: Woman on sale for Rs 2,000
Sub kuch bikta hai (Everything Sells). When OLX India, which claims to be the next generation of free online classifieds, adopted this slogan, those in charge of the portal may not have thought it would come to this.

On October 26, somebody uploaded the photograph of a young woman in an advertisement and offered her for Rs 2,000. The name and telephone number of a contact person was also given. Read
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12:58  
The NCP is set to attend the Third Front anti-communalism rally in Delhi today.
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12:54  
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar to address the press shortly. 
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12:46   Cong joins chorus calling Modi Hitler
A day after Nitish Kumar compared Narendra Modi to Hitler, Union Minister Manish Tewari joined the attack on BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate, saying "fascists" usurp power through democracy only to subvert it.

"30th Jan 1933 Hitler becomes German Chancellor, 27th Feb 1933 he burns the Reichstag, language of fascism is a prelude to its actions, Nitishji," the Information and Broadcasting Minister said in a post on Twitter.

"Irony of History is fascists and totalitarianism invariably usurp power through democracy only to subvert it totally. A great evil stalks our land," he said.

Tewari's comments on twitter come after Nitish Kumar had in a speech in Rajgir said that Modi is like Hitler and added that he will never become Prime Minister.

"He (Modi) is behaving like Hitler by propagating fascism," Kumar had said, adding the people of the country will never make him the PM.
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12:35   Bail hearing for Lalu tomorrow
The Jharkhand High Court today reserved its order on the bail petition moved by RJD supremo and ex-Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, who is serving a five-year sentence after being convicted in a fodder scam case.

After conclusion of the hearing by the CBI counsel against Lalu's bail plea, the bench of Justice R R Prasad reserved the order for tomorrow.

The court had on October 25 granted provisional bail to another former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra.
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12:25   Narendra Modi to visit Bihar on Nov 2... again
BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will visit Bihar again on November 2 to meet the families of six victims of the Patna serial blasts, former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi today said.

Modi will arrive in Patna by a special helicopter and visit families of serial blast victims in different districts and express his condolence to the affected families, the state BJP leader said. 
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12:10   Sanjay Dutt back behind bars after furlough ends
Convicted Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt today returned behind bars at Yerawada Jail here after his four-weeks leave of furlough, which he spent with his family in Mumbai, ended.

Dutt, 53, is serving the remaining 42-month term of his five-year jail sentence for possessing illegal firearms, part of the cache of weapons which were meant to be used during the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai.

Dutt was released from jail on furlough for 14 days on October 1. Later, he sought an extension of additional 14 days on medical grounds which was granted to him by the jail authorities.
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12:09   Live! Stanford prof in need of stem cells dies. RIP Nalini Ambady
Yesterday, the field of Social Psychology lost a true pioneer. Nalini Ambady, professor of psychology at Stanford, passed away at the far-too-young age of 54 after a long battle with leukemia.

She was the first Indian-American woman to teach psychology at Harvard, Tufts, and Stanford, and she is best known for her groundbreaking work on person perception. Read
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11:51   I am Indian and always have been: Raghuram Rajan
RBI governor Raghuram Rajan on Tuesday broke his silence on the controversy surrounding his nationality, saying he has always been an Indian citizen and still holds an Indian passport. Read
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11:48   ASI to change course of River Mandakini to protect Kedarnath
The Archaeological Survey of India has suggested a change in the course of River Mandakini to protect the Kedarnath Temple as the river bed has become higher than the village area.

The ASI has been given the responsibility of restoring the Kedarnath Temple post the devastation caused by the June floods in Uttarakhand but the adverse climatic condition is delaying their job.

Remember the devastating floods of Kedarnath? See
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11:44  
A teenage girl dug herself out of shallow grave after she was raped by two men and buried alive. Read more
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11:40   Drone-hit family: What did my grandma do?
A father and two of his young children have come to Capitol Hill to give the US Congress an unprecedented first hand testimony of the death, injury and fear visited upon innocent civilians by secret CIA drone attacks in remote northern Pakistan.

Rafiq-ur-Rehman, a primary school teacher in North Waziristan, lost his 67-year old mother, the local midwife, when a drone struck a field near his village on the sunny morning of 24 October 2012.

Two of his children -- Zubair, now 13, and nine-year old Nabila -- were wounded in the strike. On Tuesday, the three recounted their story. Read
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11:33   Moderate quake shakes Chinese city, no casualty reported
A 5.3-magnitude earthquake struck Hunchun city in north-east China's Jilin Province in the early hours today. No casualties or damage was reported so far, local officials said. The quake hit the city at 4:17 am local time with its epicentre at a depth of 539 km, the China Earthquake Networks Centre said. Most people in the city slept through the quake.
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11:22   Live! Antony on ceasefire violations: Pak knows, supports infiltrations
Defence Minister AK Antony says the increasing incidents of ceasefire violations and infiltration attempts are a matter of concern for India. "I am sure nothing has happened without knowledge and tacit support of Pakistan Army," he says. On the AugustaWestland deal, the defence minister says the company has violated the contract. Details awaited. 
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11:10   Five techies among 40 killed as bus catches fire in Andhra
At least 40 passengers have been killed after the fuel tank of their Volvo bus caught fire in a road mishap near Palem village in Mehbubnagar district in the early hours of Wednesday.

Among those who died in the Volvo bus accident in Mahbubnagar, five were engineers working for IBM and other software companies in Bangalore. The police have confirmed 36 deaths. Read
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11:01   Shashi Tharoor's video address cut off for criticising Pakistan
Union Minister Shashi Tharoor's video address to an India-Pakistan entrepreneurs' event in Islamabad today was abruptly cut off after he slammed the Pakistani government for ceasefire violations and suggested that the government has no control over its military. Read
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10:58   His actions have made me ashamed: Father of Patba blasts' accused
Septuagenarian Md Kamaluddin knows marbles are playthings, not tools of terror to be put inside a pressure cooker in crowded locations and burst as splinters.

"Agar pata chalta to pahle hi saja de deta, uske karname se mera sar sharm se jhuk gaya (if I knew anything, I would have punished him. His actions have made my head hang in shame),' said the father of Patna blasts' accused Imtiyaz Ansari at his home in Sithio, some 20km off Ranchi. Read
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10:49   Rally venue shift in eleventh hour
The Khabardar Rally of Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation has been shifted to Miller High School grounds as three live bombs were recovered from Gandhi Maidan on Tuesday. The Wednesday meet was scheduled at Gandhi Maidan, Patna, where a series of blasts had rocked the BJP's Hunkar Rally on Sunday. Read
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10:47   Patna serial blasts: Third suspect is a psychology graduate
The third suspect, Tabish alias Ansari, is believed to be a graduate in psychology. Tabish (25), who graduated from Ranchi University, was picked up from his village Alaula in East Champaran district, around 150km northwest of Patna. He is the third person to be arrested after Jharkhand residents Imtiyaz Ansari and Enul. East Champaran superintendent of police Vinay Kumar confirmed Tabish's arrest. Read more
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10:03   3rd arrest in Patna blasts case, cops still searching for bombs
Vicky Nanjappa reports: The police have arrested a third suspect in connection with the Patna blasts. 

The suspect, Tabish was picked up from Ranchi late last night following a series of raids.

His name cropped up following the interrogation of Imtiaz Ansari, who was picked up on Sunday. 

According to Bihar police, Tabish was in touch with Ansari on the day of the blasts. 

His exact role will, however, be ascertained during his questioning, Bihar police officials tell rediff.com.

Meanwhile, the police continue to look for unexploded bombs in Patna. 

Ansari had told them during questioning that there were more unexploded bombs at Gandhi Maidan. The police had recovered five such bombs on Tuesday.
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09:51   Sanjay Dutt heads back to jail as parole ends
Actor Sanjay Dutt, who was on a leave of furlough, left his home for Pune this morning to serve his remaining jail term in connection with the 1993 Mumbai blasts.

Dutt, imprisoned at Yerawada prison in Pune, was released from jail on furlough for 14 days on October 1. 

Later, he sought an extension which was granted to him for another fortnight.

It is learnt that the 53-year-old actor had to undergo treatment of blood clots formed in his legs due to some ailment.

He left his house in suburban Bandra early morning at around 6.30 am with wife Maanyata for Pune.
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09:48  
Just In: Sensex regains psychological 21,000 level; surges over 100 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 21,029.26 in early trade.
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09:29  
Just In: Bharti Airtel net profit down 29 pc to Rs 512 cr for the quarter ended September 30, against Rs 721.2 cr in the year-ago period.
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09:29   2 killed, 7 hurt in blast near Manipur CMs residence
Two persons were killed and seven others got seriously injured when a powerful bomb, allegedly planted by militants, exploded at Yaiskul area in Imphal West district of Manipur on Wednesday morning, police said.

The bomb (improvised explosive device), planted near the roadside at Yaiskul bus stand here to attack the security personnel, went off at 6.20 am killing one person on the spot and injuring eight others, they said.

While one of the injured died in a hospital, the condition of seven others who are now in the emergency department of the Regional Institute of Medical Science and Hospital was reported to be 'serious', sources said.

The spot is about one kilometre south of the official residence of Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh and Manipur police headquarters which is adjacent to Singh's office-cum-residence, sources said.
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08:45   Shinde will finally meet Nitish today
In the wake of multiple blasts in Patna on Sunday that claimed six lives, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde will meet Bihar Chief Nitish Kumar on Wednesday. 

Initially, Shinde was scheduled to visit Patna yesterday, but due to non-availability of the Bihar Chief Minister, the Union Minister had to cancel his plans. 

Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami yesterday visited Patna's Gandhi Maidan. After visiting the blasts site, Goswami said, We are investigating all angles, hopeful that we will soon be successful in getting to the bottom of this. 

Nitish and the Home Minister will meet and review the law and order situation in Bihar in the wake of multiple low intensity blasts in Patna. 
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08:30   20 feared dead as Volvo bus catches fire in AP
CNN-IBN reports: More than 20 people are feared to be dead after a volvo bus on Wednesday caught fire in the Mahabubnagar district in Andhra Pradesh. 

There are only seven survivors out of the 30 passengers -- 5 passengers, the driver and the cleaner. 

The incident occurred when the bus was trying to overtake a car and damaged its diesel tank in the process leading to the explosion. 

Officials are trying to bring flames under control.
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01:37   Judges in Egypt Brotherhood's trial quit

The judges presiding over the trial of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood leaders have stepped down from the proceedings, citing "uneasiness" over the trial as the defence lawyers said the panel had come under pressure to hold the trial inside a prison. Judge Mohammed el-Qarmouti from the three-judge panel at the Cairo Criminal Court announced the decision to step down on Tuesday, just before the second session in the trial was to convene.

 

"We step down in both cases and we are sending the cases back to the head of the appeal court. The head of the appeal court will assign these cases to another court. Meanwhile, the defendants remain imprisoned," el-Qarmouti said. The move forces the trial of 35 Brotherhood figures, including the group's top leader Mohammed Badie, to start all over again, though Tuesday was only its second session.

 

Read more on Al Jazeera

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01:36   Four French hostages freed in Niger: President Hollande

Four French hostages kidnapped in Niger in 2010 have been released, France's President Hollande has announced. He said the country's foreign and defence ministers "have left for Niamey" and the hostages would return home as soon as possible.

 

The four men were seized on 16 September 2010 in raids targeting two French firms operating a uranium mine near Arlit, northern Niger. The al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) group said it was responsible.

 

Read more on BBC

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01:27   Live! Starved Syria civilians flee besieged Damascus suburb

Thousands of Syrian civilians have finally been allowed to leave the besieged Damascus suburb of Moadamiya. The BBC's Lyse Doucet, who was at the scene, describes a tide of desperate people leaving the area, which has been closed off since March. Supplies in Moadamiya had been running desperately short, and residents had pleaded to be saved from starvation.

 

The exodus of civilians has been made possible by an apparent relaxation of a blockade by government forces. The Syrian army had previously said that rebel-held areas of Damascus such as Moadamiya could surrender or starve.

 

At least three of Damascus's suburbs - Yarmouk, Eastern Ghouta and Moadamiya - have been besieged by government forces for several months.

 

Read the full report on BBC

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00:38   Two servants of actors Ajay Devgan, Kajol held for theft

Two servants of Bollywood star couple Ajay Devgan and Kajol have been arrested in connection with the theft of 17 gold bangles, valued at Rs 5.10 lakh, from their residence at suburban Juhu, the police said in Mumbai.        


"Two accused Gayatri Devendra (22) and Santosh Pandey (43) were arrested yesterday in connection with the theft at actor Ajay Devgan's residence. The two were produced before Andheri's magistrate's court today and were remanded to judicial custody," an officer at Juhu police station told PTI.        

 

The two servants allegedly stole the gold bangles on October 15 and the matter had come to light a week later during a function when Kajol could not find them when she wanted to wear them.        

 

On October 23, an FIR was registered for theft against unidentified persons at Juhu police station. Kajol's family had also informed the police that an insider could have been behind the theft.        

 

Based on their suspicion, the Juhu police zeroed in on the two servants, after questioning 10 odd servants working at their residence. The two servants have confessed to the crime and the valuables have been recovered, the police said.

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