The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday regretted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's decision to meet his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in New York despite continuing terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.

"It's sad and most unfortunate that the PM has gone ahead with the meeting with his Pakistani counterpart despite continued cross-border terrorism emerging from PoK," BJP spokesperson and co-observer for West Bengal Siddharth Nath Singh told reporters on the sidelines of the BJP state executive committee meeting in Kolkata.

"Instead the PM should have given a strong message to the Pakistan premier by not participating in the meeting," Singh said. Singh's meeting with Sharif today was under the shadow of recent twin terror attacks in Jammu in which 10 people, including an army officer, were killed.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today invited his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif to visit India as the two leaders met here for the first time to discuss ways to normalise bilateral ties.

The two prime ministers met here at New York Palace Hotel in midtown Manhattan on the margins on UN General Assembly session, during which Sharif also renewed his invitation to Singh to visit Pakistan.

"Sharif invited Prime Minister Singh to visit Pakistan and Singh invited Sharif to visit India. Both accepted the invitations," National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon said during a media briefing after the meeting.

Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Nawaz Sharif tasked the DGMOs to come up with a clear plan to restore LOC ceasefire, said National Security Adviser Menon in a press briefing after the two prime ministers met.

India and Pakistan agreed that precondition for talks is really an improvement on the situation on the Line of Control. Singh raised the issue of action on perpetrators of 26/11, terror attack, to which Sharif assured that action will be taken.

More details are awaited.

Photograph: Paresh Gandhi/Rediff

Congress President Sonia Gandhi today said her party was committed to bringing social justice and progressive change in the country.

The main objective of the UPA policies is to have inclusive, just and responsible society that empowers everyone with equal rights, Gandhi said after unveiling a statue of R Sankar, former Chief Minister of Kerala.

Recalling the contribution of Sankar, Gandhi said he had fought for the rights of backward classes who faced deep prejudice and discrimination. Lauding the role of Sankar in developing modern education in Kerala, she said it helped the state to be in the forefront in the high human development index in the country.

Education enabled the people to have higher awareness and contribute for the development of the state, she said. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, KPCC Chief Ramesh Chennithala and Union Minister Shashi Tharoor were among those present on the occasion.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in New York, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

Before that he met President Barack Obama in Washington.

Photograph: Paresh gandhi/Rediff

More details are awaited.

As the BJP was all geared up for Narendra Modi's rally in the national capital this morning, a pre-emptive tirade against the Gujarat leader was launched with pamphlets, dubbing him as 'Feku', circulated through newspapers.

The pamphlets and hoardings, mocking Modi's visit to city as 'Aaya Aaya Feku Aaya', compared development parameters of Gujarat and Delhi and put the latter way ahead.

These posters did not mention name of any political party. The BJP outrightly put the blame on Congress and alleged that this "mischief" has a set a bad example for political culture.

Former BJP president Nitin Gadkari said Congress is afraid of Modi's leadership and this reflects their restlessness.

MDMK founder Vaiko today took a dig at Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi for denouncing the ordinance to protect convicted law makers, terming it as a "planned drama".

"The statement of Rahul Gandhi in Delhi that the ordinance should be torn and thrown out is a planned drama. It is a drama enacted by Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul to cheat the people of the nation," Vaiko told reporters.

Rahul's outbursts two days ago opposing the ordinance and describing it as "complete nonsense" has set off a major controversy with BJP labelling the remarks as "insult" to the prime minister and the Congress rejecting the allegations.

West Bengal government has withdrawn a bill aimed at protecting interests of depositors from chit funds that was awaiting Presidential assent following objections from the Centre and promised to get back with a new one.

The West Bengal Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishments Bill, 2013, which was passed by the state assembly following uproar over the Saradha chitfund scam, has been withdrawn after the Finance Ministry raised objections on a few points and sought clarification from the state government.

"The West Bengal government conveyed to us that it would get back with a new legislation allaying all apprehensions and clarifications," a senior official said.

The three points on which clarifications were sought include widening of powers of special designated courts and that no court could grant anticipatory bail as well as a suggestion by the Centre for adding a new provision for compounding offences.

The Taliban is afraid of women's power and the power of education, said Pakistani teenager activist Malala Yousafzai as she has been honoured by the prestigious Harvard University.

Yousafzai, 16, an outspoken proponent for girls' education who survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban, was at Harvard on Friday to accept the 2013 Peter J Gomes humanitarian award.

Harvard president Drew Gilpin Faust said she was pleased to welcome Malala because of their shared interest in education. Malala was shot in the head last October. Militants said she was attacked because she criticised the Taliban, not because of her views on education.

"The so-called Taliban were afraid of women's power and were afraid of the power of education," Malala told hundreds of students, faculty members and well-wishers who packed Harvard's ornate Sanders Theater for the award ceremony.

According to a report in the Guardian, the teenage activist said she hopes to become a politician because politicians can have influence on a broad scale.

Yoga guru Ramdev today said that the BJP led by Narendra Modi would return to power in the 2014 general elections.

"It is 100 per cent certain that Narendra Modi will win," Ramdev told reporters here after taking part in a rally marking September 28 as Swami Vivekananda Day in Illinois.

"I see that India is ready for a revolution and change. In the election Congress will get 100 seats, BJP and its alliance will get 250-300 seats. "I think a new history will be created in Indian politics in 2014," he said.

On his recent detention at Heathrow airport in London, Ramdev alleged that the government had conspired to frame him in a foreign country.

In a scathing attack on Rahul Gandhi, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi today accused him of undermining authority of the prime minister and asked people to decide if the nation will be run based on the Constitution or whims of the "prince".

Addressing a rally -- his first in the capital as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate -- he said the UPA was burdened by"governments within governments" which has been affecting the overall growth and development of the country.

"The pride of the prime minister has been brought down by his own party. Congress party Vice President has committed thesin of disrespecting the Prime Minister," he said.

Exhorting people to bring the 'dream team' of the BJP to power in 2014, he asked them to throw out UPA which is "deeply entrenched" in corruption."Today the issue is whether the country will run on the whims of the prince or on the basis of the Constitution,"  he said, alleging that Congress leaders were "disrespecting" the Indian Constitution, Parliament, democracy and the Cabinet.

Launching a frontal attack on the UPA, he said all political allies of UPA are running individual governments because ofwhich nation's growth and development have been severely affected.

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will meet President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday (October 1) after his confabulations with Sonia Gandhi and he Congress core committee on the ordinance to protect convicted neatas. The PM is likely to brief the President about his foreign visit and indicate the government's decision to withdraw the ordinance, reports our Delhi correspondent.  

NDTV reports: Union Minister Milind Deora, who created a furore with his tweet on the ordinance on convicted netas, today said Rahul Gandhi's criticism of the ordinance is "healthy for democracy" and said there was nothing wrong in accepting and rectifying an error.

"Manmohan Singh is a good man and I am looking forward to my first meeting with him," said Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told NDTV, expressing hope that Dr Singh would accept his invitation this time to visit Pakistan.

"I will renew my invite to him. His visit is long overdue and I hope he will come and see his native village," he said.

Read full story here

Philippines beauty Megan Young was today crowned Miss World 2013 after beating 130 contestants across the globe. This is the first time Miss Philippines has been awarded the title in the 63rd Miss World grand final pageant on the resort island of Bali.

Megan, 23, who is a student of filmmaking, is excited to have taken over the crown from 2012's Miss World winner Wenxia Yu of China. "I have no words to express my feelings. Thank you so much to everyone for choosing me to be the next Miss World. It means a lot to me and I promise to be the best person. I am very very excited," she said after the crowning.

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Yesterday's live commentary link