Afghan and Pakistani leaders met for critical talks last month as President Hamid Karzai traveled to Islamabad to sit down with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. 

A fire killed 37 people in a Russian psychiatric hospital on Friday, the second deadly blaze at such a facility this year, heightening concerns about Russia's treatment of the mentally ill and other vulnerable wards of the state.

More than 40 years after he was abducted from a fishing boat and taken to North Korea, a South Korean fisherman has returned to his home in Seoul, state-run Yonhap news agency reported Friday, citing a government official.

US and Afghan forces have fought off an attack by Taliban insurgents on the US consulate in the western city of Herat.

Some 100 kilos of TNT have been discovered in a lorry parked at a police station here, 17 years after the vehicle was seized during the Sri Lankan civil war involving the LTTE. 

Narendra Modi reaches LK Advani's residence to ostensibly seek his blessings. 

"This afternoon when you had come to my residence to inform me about the Parliamentary Board meeting, I had said something about my anguish as also my disappointment over your style of functioning," BJP veteran LK Advani said in the two-para letter.

"I had told you that I will think whether I should share my thoughts with other Board members or not. Now I have decided that it is better that I do not attend today's meeting," he wrote.

Narendra Modi will be meeting LK Advani at his residence. Top BJP leaders have refused to comment on Advani's letter to Rajnath Singh.

Sushma Swaraj who is in the pro-Advani camp was at the Parliamentary Board meet and said she was happy with Modi's candidature.

The announcement of Narendra Modi as Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2014 general election is a watershed moment in BJP's history. This signifies the victory for the BJP in the round two of the game, says the right-leaning Niticentral . Read

Sankarshan Thakur and Harinder Baweja unravel the enigma of LK Advani in this archival piece on Tehelka. Read

Advani writes to Rajnath Singh saying he has decided it would be appropriate not to attend the meeting after he expressed reservations about Modi's candidature. He also expressed displeasure over the party's style of functioning.

Venkaiah Naidu says Modi is the tallest leader of the party but says he would have been happier if Advani was present today because he has taken the party to where it is.

History, it seems repeats itself. This is the full transcript of LK Advani's letter in June when he had resigned from the party.

Dear Shri Rajnath Singhji,

All my life I have found working for the Jana Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party a matter of great pride and endless satisfaction to myself.

For some time I have been finding it difficult to reconcile either with the current functioning of the party, or the direction in which it is going. I no longer have the feeling that this is the same idealistic party created by Dr Mookerji, Deen Dayalji, Nanaji and Vajpayeeji whose sole concern wans the country, and its people. Most leaders of ours are now concerned just with their personal agendas.

I have decided, therefore, to resign from the three main fora of the party, namely, the National Executive, the Parliamentary Board, and the Election Committee. This may be regarded as my resignation letter.

Yours Sincerely

LK Advani

Modi says he will ensure the BJP's win in the 2014 polls. Rajnath Singh says the allies are with the endorsement of Modi as PM.

LK Advani, meanwhile, has written to Rajnath Singh, expressing his displeasure over the functioning of the party. Modi will meet Advani shortly at his residence. Sushma Swaraj leaves the BJP HQ, even as Modi readies to address the rank and file of the party.

BJP's PM candidate Narendra Modi speaks. He says he will use his experience to serve the party. "Today the party has chosen me to be its PM candidate. It's a huge responsibility. The party was created by Atal-ji and Advani-ji and we as minor workers have to live up to their ideals," he says. "I have always got the blessings of Advaniji and Atalji. The country is in crises and the BJP will see it through."

Senior BJP leaders congratulate Narendra Modi on his candidature. Photo-op moment for the party, but one key person missing, LK Advani. Modi to speak now. 

The Parliamentary Board meeting ends. BJP president Rajnath Singh and the Board hold a press meet. Singh says Narendra Modi is the BJP's PM's candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Modi is garlanded and almost as an afterthought, Rajnath Singh says Modi will be going to meet Advani at his residence. 

So, Narendra Modi reaches the BJP HQ just after the Board decides on his candidature as PM. The formal announcement is to be made any time now. Modi is inside the HQ now. The only members who are absent in the 11 member Parliamentary Board is LK Advani and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who keeps away from public meetings.  

Inside the BJP's Parliamentary Board meet, Rajnath Singh has already proposed Narendra Modi's name and is unanimously agreed upon. Modi is yet to arrive at the HQ from Rajnath Singh's house.  

Narendra Modi is likely to skip the BJP Parliamentary Board meeting, say our sources in Delhi. BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi will be late for the BJP Parliamentary Party meeting as he is stuck in a traffic jam.

Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt reporting from Delhi says LK Advani will stay away from the BJP Parliamentary meeting expected to begin shortly. None of the senior leaders who met Advani were able to convince him to attend. 

Narendra Modi reaches BJP president Rajnath Singh's residence. His close aide and former Gujarat home minister Amit Shah, who  reached ahead of him, welcomes him with a bouquet. 

BJP workers dancing outside the party headquarters with placards that say, "PM kaisa, Modi jaisa'. Other workers hold lotuses, party flags to the cacophony of drums and cymbals.  

Sushma Swaraj and MM Joshi will be attending the BJP Parliamentary meet. Joshi says there will be consensus for Modi as PM.

Celebratory scenes outside the BJP HQ even before the formal announcement is made. Remember, it was the Shiv Sena who announced that the Modi is the BJP's PM candidate.

All the BJP senior leaders are at the party HQ at Ashoka Road, except Narendra Modi and Murli Manohar Joshi. Amit Shah, a close aide of Modi, reaches Rajnath Singh's residence. Modi may make a stopover at the BJP president's residence, which is also at Ashoka Road.

LK Advani likely to attend BJP Parliamentary meet, but just as likely to register his protest, says CNN IBN. 

However, Times Now says Advani likely to be skipping the Parl meet. Remember, he skipped the National Executive meet at Goa in June. Which means Modi's coronation is likely to be unanimous.

The BJP Parliamentary Board meeting is set to begin at 5.30 pm. Senior leaders of the party have already arrived at the headquarters in Delhi. Whether or not LK Advani attends the meeting, Narendra Modi will be crowned the BJP's prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Conspicuous by his absence will be Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan who chose to stay away, despite Rajnath Singh requesting him to attend.

Our sources in Delhi tell us that the BJP headquarters at 11 Ashoka Road are all set to celebrate. Huge posters of Narendra Modi everywhere. Modi is likely to meet former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee at 7 pm. Rajnath Singh leaves his residence for the BJP Parl meet. 

Modi is likely to meet LK Advani at his residence before he heads for the meet.

Narendra Modi arrives in Delhi ahead of the BJP Parliamentary Board meeting, scheduled for 5.30 pm. BJP sources have told us that he will not resign as Gujarat CM and his anointment as the party's PM candidate will be unconditional. 

A Congress Member of Parliament and chief of the National Commission of Scheduled Castes PL Punia claimed last week that the crime rate against scheduled castes is the highest in Haryana. His statement followed a reported case of a gang rape of a Dalit girl in the state. Read

An American reporter in Syria sits down to talk to four Western-educated, radical jihadists about the war and what they think Washington should do. Read

Far-reaching procedural and institutional reform, and not the death penalty, is needed to tackle the endemic problem of violence against women in India, stated human rights organisation Amnesty International India, after a New Delhi court sentenced to death four men in the December 16 gang-rape case. Read

Board of Control for Cricket in India has banned Shantakumaran for life for spot-fixing during IPL 2013. The other cricketers Ajit Chandila, Ankeet Chavan, and Amit Singh have been found  guilty on multiple counts. Ankeet Chavan has also been given a life ban, while Amit Singh has been given a five-year ban.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has left Ahmedabad for Delhi in a chartered flight.

Hopefully, a sense of closure for the victim's family. In the other big developing story, our sources tell us that the BJP Parliamentary Board meeting is at 5.30 pm at the party office at 11 Ashok Road. Party president Rajnath Singh is likely to anoint Narendra Modi as the PM candidate.

Barkha Dutt: There have to be stringent rules against questioning a girl's character & talking crap in court during sexual violence trials.

Kiran Bedi: She left us awakened! Her, her friend's statement,youth protests, media pressure, police work, prosecution, fast track justice! 

Hearing that he will face the gallows, Vinay Gupta started crying in court while the other three convicts -- Mukesh, Pawan, Akshay-started shouting for pardon, with one of the defence lawyers A P Singh also joining them in seeking mercy.

Advocate VK Anand, who appeared for Mukesh, said he has regard for the verdict and he will file an appeal in the Delhi High Court.

Immediately after pronouncement of sentence, the victim's mother expressed satisfaction over the verdict.

"Halak mein saans atki thi, jo ab bahar nikli hai. Mein dhanywaad karti hu desh ke logon ka aur media ka' (We were waiting with bated breath, now we are relieved. I thank the people of my country and the media)," she said.

Besides her, the victim's father and two brothers were also present in the jam-packed court room when the sentence was pronounced.

Special public prosecutor Dayan Krishnan said, "I have done my job and we (prosecution) are happy with the verdict." Soon after the verdict was delivered, people waiting outside the courtroom started clapping.

Shiv Aroor: Those decrying death sentence to the rapists, you have good reason. But please don't pretend to know what her parents have been through.

Congress MP Milind Deora: While welcoming the Delhi gangrape judgement, also remember that unless the average Indian's mindset towards women changes, little else will

Kiran Bedi: Clear message to parents and teachers and community at large. Be responsible! Or be hung! And lose your life. Thanku for Justice Done!

Sonia Faleiro: Death penalty to the drivers who passed the young woman and her friend naked and bleeding on the road and didn't stop?

Sushma Swaraj: I welcome the judgement in Delhi gang rape case. This will serve as a deterrent for such offences.

Kiran Bedi: Justice Done! Thanku Judiciary! You keep the faith in rule of law alive! Jai hind.

Stephanie Nolen: Seems a widely-held sentiment rt @ikaveri: I don't just want them to die. I want them to die slowly and painfully.

faridahtakia: When the accused have not behaved like human beings where is the question of human rights for them

Namita Bhandare: Justice would have been if the city had been safe for her to return home. This is retribution.

Shivam Vij: Rape+murder happens all the time in this country. Sick as it may be, how is it "rarest of the rare"?

Home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde says he welcomes the death sentence. "Justice has been given to the girl and her family. Sentence sets an example that such crimes will not be tolerated. A tough message has been conveyed," he says.

He says as per the new anti-rape law convicts will get the death penalty in such cases, but he said he was happy that the case which was judged as per old laws, still got the death sentence.

"The court cannot turn a blind eye to such a gruesome act," Judge Yogesh Khanna said, while handing down the maximum punishment.

He said, "When crime against women is rising on day-to-day basis, so, at this point in time court cannot keep its eye shut."

"There should be exemplary punishment in view of the unparallelled brutality with which the victim was gang-raped and murdered, as the case falls under the rarest of rare category. All be given death," the court said while reading out a portion of the order.

"This is a time when serious crimes against a woman have come to the fore and now its the judiciary's responsibility to instill confidence among the women," it said.

Besides murder, the four have been also convicted for offences including gang rape, unnatural offences, attempt to murder, dacoity, destruction of evidence, conspiracy, kidnapping or abducting in order to murder, while acquitting them of the charge of murder in dacoity.

A 2008 Supreme Court ruling reiterated precedents set in 1980 and in a number of other decisions on the death penalty.

It said the rarest cases were those in which the "collective conscience of the community is so shocked that it will expect the holders of the judicial power to inflict death penalty."

These, the court said, were cases in which a murder is committed in "an extremely brutal, grotesque, diabolical, revolting or dastardly manner so as to arouse intense and extreme indignation of the community."  -- WSJ. 

The young woman's parents say while they are happy with the death sentence being handed out to the four convicts, they will not rest till the death penalty is actually granted. Which means, they will fight the case till the four men are actually hanged, since the defence lawyers will now approach the higher courts and when that fails, will seek a presidential pardon.

In court, the Judge Yogesh Khanna said, "We need to send a message that such crimes will not be tolerated. Gruesome crimes agaisnt women have become rampant. This crime in every way falls in rarest of rare category, warranting the death sentence."

Defence lawyer AP Singh says, "If there are no rapes in the next few months, I will not appeal the order."

In court, the judge Yogesh Khanna ruled that the death penalty has been given because of  the inhuman torture meted out to the victim. He said it was the rarest of the rare case.

Convict Vinay Sharma breaks down in court.

The victim's parents thanks the police and media for the death sentence and said they were happy. The father believes that justice was done to his daughter.

The victim's family had said they were expecting the death penalty for the adult accused on the day the juvenile was convicted.

Reactions already coming in: Former Delhi police commissioner Neeraj Kumar says he is happy with the order.

Defence lawyer AP Singh, the most vocal of the three lawyers, speaking now.

The lawyers for all the four convicts will now be approaching the High Court and finally will appeal for a Presidential pardon. 

The Saket fast-track court in Delhi has given the death penalty to all four convicts in the December 16 gang rape and murder case. The court pronounced the much-awaited order on the basis that the offence falls in the "rarest of rare" category warranting the death sentence.

The victim's family has demanded nothing less than capital punishment for the four convicts Mukesh Singh, 26, Akshay Thakur, 28, Pawan Gupta, 19 and Vinay Sharma, 20.

Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna had held them guilty of gang rape and "cold blooded" murder of a "defenceless" 23-year-old girl in a premeditated manner, on Tuesday.

Supreme Court lawyer and expelled BJP leader Ram Jethmalani says LK Advani should accept Modi's candidature gracefully. "He is only making himself more unpopular if he holds out. He should concede whole-heartedly. There is no leader more fit than Mr Modi to be the PM candidate," he tells CNN IBN.

The Akali Dal, which is the other key ally of the BJP, apart from the Shiv Sena, says they were supporting Narendra Modi for PM from Day 1. The party, in a statement to CNN IBN says that the BJP can now get its act together and sort out its differences.

Strangely enough, the BJP did not make the announcement on its PM candidate, it was the Shiv Sena.

Meanwhile, Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh has said that the country will never accept Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP's possible prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi as he can not keep the nation united. "A person, who, because of his personal ambitions, broke his own alliance and created a controversy in his own party can neither keep the nation united, nor the people will ever accept him," Singh said last night. 

The 12 members of the BJP parliamentary board are: Rajnath Singh, former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, M Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Narendra Modi, Ananth Kumar, Thawarchand Gehlot and Ram Lal.

Apart from Modi himself and Vajpayee, who is unwell, other members who are expected to vote for the Gujarat chief minister are Arun Jaitley, Thawarchand Gehlot, M Venkaiah Naidu, Ram Lal, Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari.

Karnataka leader Ananth Kumar is aligned with Advani but is not opposing Modi.

If Swaraj and Joshi too do not vote against Modi the lone dissenter will be Advani.

Among the BJP chief ministers, Goa CM Manohar Parrikar is said to be in the pro-Modi camp. Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, though not vocal in public, has not shown much enthusiasm in favour of Modi.

Going by his campaign posters and public speeches, Chouhan still seems to have a preference for Advani over Modi.Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh has adopted an ambivalent attitude.

As far as the allies are concerned, Shiromani Akali Dal has already spoken in favour of Narendra Modi. Shiva Sena MP MP Sanjay Raut has also said his party will support any PM candidate chosen by BJP, indicating the Sena's support for Modi. -- TOI

LK Advani is believed to have told the BJP that he would not like to work for the party if the decision is being taken on Modi for PM (party mein kaam karne ki zyada dilchaspi nahin rahegi.)

The BJP has also informed its other ally -- the Shiromani Akali Dal -- of its decision on Modi. Advani feels that Modi in Delhi will be harmful to the party and he has stood by this conviction.

As we said earlier, the formal announcement is expected at 5 pm.  

The formal announcement of Narendra Modi's candidature for the PM's post is expected at 5 pm.  This, while LK Advani is still being convinced to come on board to attend the Parliamentary Board meeting this evening and give his blessings to the Gujarat CM. So far, Advani has steadfastly refused to attend the meeting, despite Sushma Swaraj and Nitin Gadkari trying to convince him. 

BJP President Rajnath Singh calls Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray to inform him that Narendra Modi is the party's prime ministerial candidate. Thackeray had called Modi last night to congratulate him. The Shiv Sena is the BJP's key ally. -- CNN IBN

The four men convicted in the December 16 gang rape and murder in Delhi have reached the Saket court. The court is expected to pronounce its sentence at 2.30 pm.

Curfew remained in force for the second day today in major towns of South Kashmir after five persons were killed in firing by security forces in Shopian.

Curfew was reimposed yesterday in Shopian and later in evening in Kulgam and Kakpora town in Pulwama as a preventive measure to maintain law and order following widespread clashes on Wednesday in which a youth was killed, taking the death toll in the area to five since Saturday.

Police and CRPF personnel have been deployed in these areas as well as other major towns in Kashmir valley as a precautionary measure, the officials said.

So here it is. More likely than not, the BJP Parliamentary Board meeting will crown Narendra Modi as the party's PM candidate today. Modi will leave for Delhi at 3 pm. The meeting is at 5 pm. 

Defence lawyer AP Singh says he will approach the high court today, irrespective of the order, because he believes home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde used his clout to swing the order towards a death sentence.

In the run-up to the conviction on Tuesday, Shinde had reportedly said, "We have brought a new anti-rape law. The men will get the death penalty." The comment, said the lawyer, amounted to influencing the judiciary before the sentence is pronounced.

The judge had however thrown out the contempt plea.

At the fast-track court in Saket, Delhi, where the sentencing in the Delhi gang-rape-murder will take place this afternoon, the Delhi Police has set up barricades to enhance security. On Tuesday, when the men were convicted, protesters had already begun camping outside the court.  

BJP President Rajnath Singh is expected to call a meeting of the party's Parliamentary Board today to take a decision on declaring Narendra Modi as the Prime Ministerial candidate even as LK Advani and other senior leaders continue to have reservations over the issue.

Though no intimation has been sent to the 10 Parliamentary Board members by Singh as yet, sources said the meeting is likely to take place at 5 pm in Delhi.

Singh has decided to go ahead after holding consultations with the RSS top leadership, including General Secretary Suresh 'Bhaiyyaji' Joshi and Joint General Secretary Suresh Soni.

Joshi had met Advani yesterday to persuade him on declaring Modi as the PM candidate, sources said. A host of senior leaders, including Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Ananth Kumar and M Venkaiah Naidu have also met Advani to convince him on Modi's name.

However, Advani is said to be adamant in his stand against Modi and has conveyed to the party that making him the PM candidate will divert attention from BJP's core issues against the Congress like price rise and corruption.

Modi, he feels, will become the issue if he is made the PM candidate.

The anti-Modi camp maintains that if Modi is PM candidate he has to relinquish his post as Gujarat CM and head of the party's poll committee. 

From a correspondent in Delhi: BJP chief Rajnath Singh has invited Narendra Modi to be present at the party headquarters in Delhi this evening, when the top brass of the saffron party will officially nominate the Gujarat CM as the prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Modi is expected to take a final decision on the issue within an hour.

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, who is in the anti Modi-for-PM camp has refused to accept Rajnath Singh's request to be present in Delhi for a show of strength today. 

Five Reasons Why "Death for Rape" Won't Work. Read

The trial court's description of the crime as "brutal", "premeditated" and "cold blooded" in its judgment in Nirbhaya case strengthens the prosecution's demand for the death penalty. Read

Congress today accused RSS of forcing a decision on BJP over declaring Narendra Modi as its Prime Ministerial candidate.

After a go-ahead from RSS, BJP has decided to hold a meeting of its Parliamentary Board today on the issue of declaring Modi as the Prime Ministerial candidate for 2014 Lok Sabha polls despite opposition from L K Advani and some other senior leaders.

Narendra Modi went about business as usual on Thursday, seemingly impervious to the deep tumult his likely nomination as the BJP's candidate for prime minister has caused in far-off Delhi. Friday is expected to be much the same. Read

A 2008 Supreme Court ruling reiterated precedents set in 1980 and in a number of other decisions on the death penalty.

It said the rarest cases were those in which the "collective conscience of the community is so shocked that it will expect the holders of the judicial power to inflict death penalty."

These, the court said, were cases in which a murder is committed in "an extremely brutal, grotesque, diabolical, revolting or dastardly manner so as to arouse intense and extreme indignation of the community."  Read

When discussions of the death penalty come up in India, as they often have since a young woman was gang-raped and killed in Delhi in December, they tend to feature the words 'rarest of rare.' Read

As the world waits for the sentencing of the four men convicted of raping and murdering the Delhi Braveheart, the National Crime Records Bureau, India's official source of crime data, is systematically under-counting virtually every crime in India on account of a statistical shortcoming. Read the report on the Hindu.

Right now BJP leaders Balbir Punj and Nitin Gadkari are meeting LK Advani at his residence.

It may be recalled that in June, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat prevailed upon Advani and successfully convinced him to withdraw his resignation from three party panels. In turn, Advani wrested some of his authority, with the RSS leadership promising to respect his primacy in the BJP's decision-making process.

Seems to be a repeat telecast.

ANI reports that the BJP Parliamentary Board meeting seems unlikely since Sushma Swaraj and LK Advani say they have not received any intimation so far. Another senior leader, who is sitting on the fence -- Murli Manohar Joshi -- has left Delhi for Madhya Pradesh.

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray spoke to Narendra Modi last night and wished him luck. He said he was with Modi and believed if NDA's strength has to be increased, Modi has to be supported.

NDTV reports: BJP president Rajnath Singh has done all he can to ensure that the BJP parliamentary committee meeting called at 5 pm today goes on without any showdowns.

But L K Advani remains defiant and he has said he will vote against Modi. He could be joined by Sushma Swaraj, sources to NDTV.

Murli Manohar Joshi, another dissenter, has reportedly told Rajnath Singh that he will back a majority decision.

The deadlock over the anointment of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate continues.

In a last attempt to resolve the issue with party veteran L K Advani, RSS ideologue Gurumurthi and Murlidhar Roa emerge as the key negotiators, reports CNN-IBN. The RSS insists that Modi must be made the PM candidate, but efforts must be made to placate Advani as well.

Former BJP chief Nitin Gadkari to meet Advani once again to try to resolve the matter. Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj are also likely to meet Modi. 

An Indian freedom fighter was posthumously conferred a 'Lifetime Achievement Award' at UK's House of Commons for his contribution during India's independence movement and its journey afterwards.

Britain's Minister for Business Engagement with India Gregory Barker and Virendra Sharma, Chair of the Indo-British All Party Parliamentary Group jointly presented the award to late Jawaharlal Darda's son, Vijay Jawaharlal Darda, MP and chairman and editor-in-chief of Lokmat, the most widely circulated Marathi language newspaper.

Indian Express reports: The probe by the BCCI's anti-corruption unit chief Ravi Sawani into the Indian Premier League spot-fixing scandal has found cricketers Ajit Chandila, Ankit Chavan, S Sreesanth and Amit Singh guilty on multiple counts. 

The disgraced Rajasthan Royals players face bans ranging from five years to life.

The BCCI disciplinary committee is expected to meet in Delhi today to decide the fate of the players.  

Read the full report on Indian Express

Ahead of the Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentary meet, Nitin Gadkari meets party chief Rajnath Singh.

Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan have attacked the US consulate in the western city of Herat, reports BBC. An Afghan translator was killed, while several other people, including police, were wounded.

Image: Representation picture

The principal of a Kolkata school was arrested after a student died yesterday allegedly because of trauma after being locked up in a school bathroom by senior students who had demanded Rs 100 from her which she failed to produce, reports NDTV.

Parents, who went on a rampage at the Christ Church School in north Kolkata, blamed the principal for innumerable irregularities at the school, including failure to act against habitual bullies.

Read the full story here

Business Insider: Here's everything we know about Twitter's IPO

Twitter pn Thursday disclosed on its microblogging site it's in the process of filing for an initial public offering.

On its official Twitter page, Twitter wrote, "We've confidentially submitted an S-1 to the SEC for a planned IPO. This Tweet does not constitute an offer of any securities for sale."

 

Read more here

Peru declared a state of emergency Thursday in nine districts threatened by the Ubinas volcano, which has erupted seven times since September 1, spewing harmful gas and ash. Authorities are distributing masks and have given themselves a 60-day period to relocate villagers from areas where ash is damaging crops and polluting water sources.

 

The explosions have sent a plume of smoke rising to 2500 meters above the crater, according to volcanologists at the Geophysical Institute of Peru. The first explosion on the night of September 1 was strong and followed by a series of lesser blasts, seismologist Victor Aguilar of the Geophysical Institute of the University of San Agustin de Arequipa told AFP.

 

Read more here

Union Minister Jairam Ramesh on Thursday said Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren must not have read Land Acquisition Bill in its totality, which led to Soren's observation that the bill was not in favour of the people in Jharkhand.        

 

"I think due to busy schedule, he did not get time to read the bill fully, leading to his doubts over the bill," he said, adding that that the bill addressed the interests of land owners and that the state could also add better benefits to the land donors.        

 

The rural development minister was replying to Soren expressing dissatisfaction with the Land Acquisition Bill passed by Parliament saying it was not in favour of the people in Jharkhand, particularly the dwellers in the mining areas. To a query, Ramesh denied there was lack of coordination among the Congress and the JMM in the state.

Syria has decided to cede control of its chemical weapons because of a Russian proposal and not the threat of US military intervention, Interfax news agency quotes President Bashar al-Assad as saying in a Russian television interview.

 

Assad made the statement in an interview with Russian state TV which was televised on Thursday, as John Kerry, US secretary of state, landed in the Swiss city of Geneva to meet his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov and discuss how UN can secure and destroy Assad's chemical weapons.

 

"Syria is placing its chemical weapons under international control because of Russia. The US threats did not influence the decision," Interfax quoted Assad as telling Russia's state-run Rossiya-24 channel.

 

Read the full report on Al Jazeera

BJP picks Friday 'mahurat' to name Narendra Modi for PM
Advani aide targets Modi, asks how polarising leader can be PM
Exclusive! Warned home ministry about tensions in UP: Rahman Khan
Bring riots affected areas under control: SC to UP govt
Mulayam and Azam Khan headed for splitsville?
Why 'all Hindu terrorists' had RSS links: Digvijay
Juvenile accused of second Shakti Mills gang rape identified
'BJP a secular party with no religious bias'
Student's death: Mamata assures mother to look into the matter

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