Pakistani Taliban today suffered a major split as leading commanders of the banned outfit formed a splinter group, accusing its leadership of promoting personal and narrow objectives.

Leaders of the new faction 'TTP Jamatul Ahrar' said that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan leadership was promoting personal and narrow objectives, resulting in lack of coordination and the outfit's defeat. The new faction's chief Maulana Qasim Khurasani, in a video conference from undisclosed location, said that their organisation would work on the pattern of Islamic State of Afghanistan and will not take sides in the current political tussle as they only want the Shariah system to prevail in the country.

He said that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan and Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief Tahirul Qadri are no different from the current political rulers and both of them are inclined towards the "western style of democracy.

The Delhi High Court today reserved its verdict on a plea filed by former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan against an Election Commission order finding him guilty of not giving correct account of money spent in his Assembly election in 2009.

"The judgement is reserved. Parties should file their written arguments and the case laws, relied upon by them, in the court by 4 pm tomorrow," Justice Suresh Kait said after the lawyers for Chavan and others concluded the arguments.

Senior advocate Rajiv Nayar, who appeared for Chavan, submitted the Election Commission did not follow the procedures in arriving at the findings in the case.

Even the publishers of the advertisements had stated on affidavit before EC that Chavan had no knowledge about it, he said, adding, "Despite all this, EC issued the show cause notice and also gave its findings."

Just in: CBI files closure report in Tatra all-terrain vehicle scam case allegedly involving Ravinder Rishi and then BEML chief V R S Natarajan. The Central Bureau of Investigation has conducted a probe into the irregularities, if any, in the purchase of the all-terrain Tatra vehicles by the Indian Army from the Bharat Earth Movers Limited. The serious charge of corruption in purchase of Tatra vehicles was made by the then Army Chief General V K Singh in 2012.

The FAQ on Tatra trucks. Read

Fire breaks out in a blanket factory at Kohara (Ludhiana).

Maheen Taseer @MaheenTaseer:  Pls say a special prayer for my brave hero @ShahbazTaseer & his safe return home. Exactly 3 yrs since his abduction-May God show us mercy.

Shahbaz Taseer, is the son of Salman Taseer, the slain governor of the Punjab province of Pakistan, and the step brother of author Aatish
Taseer.  He has been missing for almost three years now and while his exact whereabouts remain unknown, more recent reports say that Taliban militants are keeping him in the tribal areas of Pakistan.

Satyan Gajwani, CEO of Times Internet, tweets to say that the story on the Times Group asking employees to hand over their Twitter and Facebook passwords, so that the company may post on their behalf, is inaccurate.

He doesn't says it's entirely wrong, either.

An unidentified militant was killed in an encounter with security forces near the Line of Control in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir as the operation against the ultras entered the third day today.

The three Scindia school students arrested over the alleged ragging of a classmate have been granted bail.

Police on Tuesday registered FIRs against the three students and two staffers of the prestigious Scindia School in connection with the suicide attempt made by Adarsh Singh, son of Bihar cooperatives minister Jai Kumar Singh after alleged ragging.

The FIRs were registered against the minor boys, resident tutor, Arpan Soni and housemaster Parampreet Grewal.

Amid cross-border firing incidents and India's efforts to stop the ceasefire violations, Director General of BSF D K Pathak today said the Pakistani side was not cooperating to defuse the situation on the international border (IB).

"We have made all possible efforts to stop it (ceasefire violations and firing). We tried four to five times to hold flag meetings. But they (the Pakistani side) did not respond to it... They never turned up," Pathak told reporters after a whirlwind visit to the forward areas along the IB.

The BSF chief visited several forward areas and met the jawans in a bid to boost their morale.

He asked the jawans to give strong and befitting reply to the ceasefire violations.

"We have lodged with them protest notes 16 to 17 times after firing incidents and ceasefire violations," Pathak said.

Asked about the decision to hold flag meetings at field levels by both Army and BSF to defuse the situation, Pathak said, "I hope peace prevails. We have made so many efforts..."

"In fact, ever since this problem started as many as 16 attempts of contacting them over telephone through established channel of communication have been made. They only responded to the initial calls and thereafter they have not responded and there have been no initiation from their end," he added.

India on Tuesday officially notified a partial ban on Italian conglomerate Finmeccanica, whose UK-based subsidiary AgustaWestland is enmeshed in the infamous VVIP helicopter kickbacks case, under which ongoing arms contracts will continue but fresh contracts will not be allowed till further orders, reports the TOI.

As per the defence ministry order on Tuesday, contracts underway with Finmeccanica will not be stopped. Neither will those procurement cases where the contracts have already been executed but spares and upgrades are still required.

Read: The Planning Commission needs to be replaced by institutions prescribed under the Constitution for the functions it usurped, feels Indira Rajaraman.

Former ministers, members of the Planning Commission and experts today met in the Yojana Bhawan to discuss the framework of the new body which will replace the 64-year old plan panel.

"We had all met in the context of the statement made by the Prime Minister from Red Fort (on August 15). We have discussed what could be the new avatar of the Planning Commission," said former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, who chaired the meeting.

Sinha further said that all the suggestions made by the different experts have been noted and would be forwarded to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"They have all given some brilliant suggestions. All these (ideas) would be compiled and would be sent to the Prime Minister," Sinha said.

Sinha said the decision about the new body will be taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"This is a work in progress, it's not important to discuss upon the deliberations of today's meeting, the outcome is important. And that decision will be taken by the Prime Minister. We also discussed upon how should the plan be allocated to states as well as upon the autonomy status to be granted to the new body," Sinha said.

Sinha said it was a long standing need to reinvent the Planning Commission and the Prime Minister has taken a bold step.

Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal today said global food and beverages major PepsiCo is looking to bring down sugar contents in its soft drinks. Badal met PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi in New Delhi.

"In soft drinks they (PepsiCo) are looking at how to bring down the sugar content (but) that same cold drink has the taste but healthy contents in it," the Minister said after the meeting. Nooyi, however, did not comment and only said her visit to India was "wonderful".

The Minister also added that the PepsiCo Chairman was open to the idea of playing a role in enhancing the nutritional value of meals provided under the government's midday scheme.

BJP would have fetched a thumping 314 seats on its own, 32 seats more than the number it won in the last General elections, if the polls were held at present, Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu said today.

"A latest opinion survey indicated that 57 per cent people voted Narendra Modi as the best Prime Minister. As per the survey, if elections were held now, BJP would have won 314 seats on its own, 32 seats more than the present number," a BJP statement quoted Naidu.

The Union Parliamentary Affairs minister was speaking at a meeting of state BJP media cell this afternoon.

The Jammu and Kashmir government today said that it would soon announce an amnesty for persons involved in stone-pelting incidents and withdraw cases registered against them.

"The state government has decided to grant amnesty to the youths involved in such cases (stone pelting) and withdraw the FIRs registered against them,"Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar said in the Assembly.

He said Chief Minister Omar Abdullah would soon announce the scheme. The minister, however, did not give any more details about the scheme. Sagar was replying on a discussion on the issue of amnesty for the stone pelters raised by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

And while on the President, a picture of some flowers from the Rashtrapati Bhavan gardens he tweeted today.

Sheila Dikshit: "I don't want to comment on anything. I haven't resigned under pressure. I will speak once my resignation is accepted."

Dikshit's meetings with the President and the Home minister yesterday came a day after her Maharashtra counterpart K Sankaranarayanan quit, protesting his transfer to Mizoram.

Five United Progressive Alliance-appointed governors have already resigned after being nudged by the National Democratic Alliance government.

Sources close to 76-year-old Dikshit, who took charge of Kerala Raj Bhawan only five months back, indicated that the former Delhi chief minister may put in her papers as she was under pressure to do so.

Sheila Dikshit quits as Kerala governor after meeting home minister Rajnath Singh and President Pranab Mukherjee yesterday. The announcement was however made today. 

"I resigned as Kerala governor yesterday. The resignation has not yet been accepted," she says. "I went by my conscience and decided to resign," she said. Dikshit is the seventh UPA appointed governor to put in her papers.

The President's office announced the names of four new governors today.
Senior BJP leader and Uttar Pradesh heavyweight Kalyan Singh has been appointed governor of Rajasthan. He will replace the UPA appointee Margaret Alva, whose tenure ended earlier this month.

Chennamaneni Vidyasagar Rao, former Union minister from Andhra Pradesh, will be Maharashtra's new governor after K. Sankaranarayanan resigned on Sunday.

Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala, current Speaker of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly will be the next Governor of Karnataka.

BJP Mahila Morcha leader Mridula Sinha will be governor of Goa. 

First reactions from the Congress on the BJP restructure: Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi says, "This BJP's internal matter, but we could see it coming. They will be sidelined. Marg Darshak Mandal is an old-age home." 

It is the low cost of iron ore extracted from their adivasi homeland mines that enables steelmakers like Tata Steel and Essar, and miners like NMDC, not only to be among the most profitable companies in India, but also gives it the financial muscle to make huge overseas acquisitions.

Ultimately, it is the poor adivasi who pays for it with his home and hearth and gets no credit for it! Either from the State, which connives in their exploitation, or the industry that lords over their resources, says Mohan Guruswamy.  Read

BJP chief Amit Shah has constituted Central Parliamentary Board of BJP. Members of the baord are following: Amit Shah (Chairman), Narendra Modi, Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, Ananth Kumar, Thavarchand Gehlot, Shivrajsinh Chouhan, Jagat Prakash Nadda and Ramlal.

The Central Election Committee, members comprise:
Amit Shah (Chairman), Narendra Modi, Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, Ananth Kumar, Thavarchand Gehlot, Shivrajsingh Chouhan, Jagat Prakash Nadda, Juel Oram, Shahnawaz Hussain and Vijaya Rahatkar. 

Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Narendra Modi, LK Advani, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi and Rajnath Singh are part of the Marg Darshak Mandal, to guide the party's activities. 

The BJP's Parliamentary Board is the highest decision-making body of the party. The party's parliamentary board consists of the BJP president and 10 other members, one of whom shall be the leader of the party in Parliament. On August 16, party chief Amit Shah named a new team of party's national office-bearers, but held back announcement about the new parliamentary board.

Old-timers like Advani, Vajpayee, MM Joshi, have been given another platform called the Marg Darshak Mandal, but in effect, they have been dropped from the major decision-making body in the party.

LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee dropped from the BJP's parliamentary board. Shivraj Singh Chouhan, JP Nadda included.

Amit Shah creates separate body for party veterans called Marg Darshak Mandal.  Details to follow.

Just In: India, Pak DGMOs hold talks; agree to hold flag meetings at the Army and BSF levels to defuse situation at the LoC and International Border, says Army.

A Nepali girl, hailing from Kathmandu, was gang-raped by six people in Mehrauli area in south Delhi recently. The incident happened when the girl was taken by one of the accused to Mehrauli on the pretext of getting her a job.

However, when she reached the place, five more men were already waiting at the house in south Delhi.

They were said to be in an inebriated state.

The girl told the Delhi Police that all the six were drunk and sexually assaulted her.

They even forced her to drink alcohol. Medical examination has conformed that the girl was forced to consume liquor and gang-raped. 

Kingfisher Airlines moves Delhi HC against PNB's notice threatening to declare it as wilful defaulter in repaying outstanding dues of over Rs 770 crore.

It's three months of the Narendra Modi government and the report card is ready. "The media shall be informed of it," announces I&B minister Prakash Javadekar. 

 The names of new governors for four states - Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Goa -- has been finalised.

Senior BJP leader and Uttar Pradesh heavyweight Kalyan Singh has been appointed governor of Rajasthan. He will replace the UPA appointee Margaret Alva, whose tenure ended earlier this month.

Chennamaneni Vidyasagar Rao, former Union minister from Andhra Pradesh, will be Maharashtra's new governor after K. Sankaranarayanan resigned on Sunday.

Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala, current Speaker of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly will be the next Governor of Karnataka.

BJP Mahila Morcha leader Mridula Sinha will be governor of Goa.

Pic: Incumbent Rajasthan governor Kalyan Singh

The Supreme Court has issued a notice to former Uttar Pradesh CM Mayawati in connection with the disproportionate assets case against her and given her three weeks to respond to it.

The Supreme Court had on July 6, 2012 quashed the nine-year-long disproportionate assets case against the BSP leader and had pulled up CBI for exceeding its jurisdiction by lodging an FIR against her without any direction from it.

The final season of the hit drama Breaking Bad has taken the top honors at the 66th annual prime time Emmy awards, with five wins including best drama series, while Modern Family won best comedy series for the fifth consecutive time. Here's the complete list of winners of the 2014 Emmys. Read

Even as defence minister Arun Jaitley is set to meet all three chief of staffs, here's a statement from the BSF on ceasefire violations. DK Pathak (DG, BSF), says India never initiates fire and never targets civilian areas.

In what could spell trouble for DIG Sunil Paraskar accused of raping a model, the Maharashtra Home Department has proposed his suspension. According to reports, the proposal to suspend the deputy inspector general (DIG-protection of civil rights units) has been sent to Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, reports Zee News.

A court had recently granted him pre-arrest bail, observing the complainant's behaviour and her e-mail exchange with him suggested consent.

The complainant, a 25-year-old model, alleged that Paraskar (57) molested and sexually assaulted her on two occasions in December 2013. According to her, she had met Paraskar first in 2012 when he was Additional Commissioner of Police with regard to a case.

In her complaint, the woman said he raped her several times when she visited him with regard to some work, and submitted evidence of the sexual assault on her at a hotel in the suburbs.

Paraskar's lawyer argued that the allegations were false and pointed to the delay in registration of FIR.

Defence Minister Arun Jaitley will hold a meeting today with the three service chiefs to discuss the security environment in and around the country against the backdrop of continuing ceasefire violations by Pakistan.

The Minister is expected to discuss the steps required to be taken by the forces to tackle the situation along the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border, Defence Ministry officials said.

The Defence Minister is also likely to be briefed by the three services on the various infrastructure development projects along the border with China. There have been 95 ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the Line of Control and it has also breached the ceasefire pact 25 times on the International Border.

Mukesh Ambani, whose Reliance Petrochemicals confronts the Narendra Modi government's refusal to hike gas prices explored in the Krishna-Godavari basin, met the prime minister last week. While Gautam Adani and the Tata's Cyrus Mistry have met the PM, Modi avoided meeting Ambani till last week when India's best-known Gujaratis met for about 40 minutes.

British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg today said he was hugely impressed with the standard of medical services and research provided to the people irrespective of their social condition at the super-speciality Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai.

Clegg, who visited the over 60-year-old tertiary care hospital, which offers one of the best facilities in international healthcare in the country, was shown around the premises.

Recalling his family's association with the medical profession, Clegg later said he was happy with the 21st century medical research and services available at the hospital.

"It is like an interaction between two medical families as my grandfather too was in the medical profession," he said. "I am hugely impressed with the hospital's commitment to making medical services available to the people irrespective of their social conditions," he said.

The British Deputy Prime Minister said Hinduja Hospital was already in collaboration with several institutes in his country and hoped the exchange would be extended to a variety of other fields.

Fresh from a successful India A tour of Australia, paceman Umesh Yadav has revealed that his Kolkata Knight Riders bowling coach Wasim Akram helped him get his yorkers right and he is now keen to use the toe-crushers against England batsmen in the one-dayers. 

The Times of India has made news yet again. This time, for enforcing a social media policy that has left its journalists feeling queasy.

Mozilla, known for its Firefox browser, today unveiled the Cloud FX, billed at India's cheapest smartphone, which it may well be considering it's being sold for just Rs 1999 (roughly US $ 33).

The Mumbai police has provided protection to actor Shah Rukh Khan after his business partner Ali Morani faced extortion threats from fugitive gangster Ravi Pujari. Five rounds were fired outside Morani's Juhu residence on Saturday evening. Cops suspect that the actor might be Pujari's next target. An officer of Mumbai crime branch said, "Morani and Khan are close friends and we suspect that Ravi Pujari may attack Khan also. So we are providing two officers for his protection."

A Gwalior judge who had alleged sexual harassment against a high court judge, has moved the Supreme Court expressing dissatisfaction over the setting up of a committee to look into her complaint. 

Just In: Ranjan Ben Bhatta is the BJP's candidate for the Vadodara Lok Sabha seat vacated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A Gwalior judge, who had alleged sexual harassment against high court judge, moves the Supreme Court expressing dissatisfaction over setting up of a committee to look into her complaint. Earlier in the month, the additional district and sessions judge quit her job after she accused a judge of the Madhya Pradesh high court of sexual harassment. In her letter to Chief Justice of India, she alleged that the high court judge had sought sexual favours from her. 

Three people who arrived at Delhi airport this morning from Ebola-hit Liberia, have been isolated and taken for further tests. Health authorities stressed that these are only precautionary measures being undertaken and that they are still investigating. Around 112 people are arriving at Mumbai and Delhi airports on seven flights through the day.

Three army jawans, five terrorists were killed in two separate encounters in Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir. The encounters have been on since Saturday. Two of the jawans who were killed in encounters with militants were laid to rest on Monday.

A day after it was confirmed that a Bihar minister's son was ragged, authorities have registered an FIR against three students and two staff members of the school. A probe also revealed that the management had failed to take any step despite the student complaining to them about the ragging that he had been facing for ten days before he allegedly took the extreme step.

Modern Family takes home the Emmys for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series. This is the second award for the serial, with actor Ty Burrell winning Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his potrayal of Phil Dunphy. 

Precautionary arrangements have been put in place at Delhi and Mumbai airports to screen 112 stranded Indians who will arrive today by various flights from and around Ebola-hit Liberia, authorities have said. While the passengers without any symptoms will be cleared and shifted to the terminal for immigration and customs clearance, those with symptoms suggestive of Ebola Virus Disease or EVD will be directly shifted to the designated hospital in ambulances from the remote bay, which is being used for screening purposes. 

An original copy of "Action Comics' No. 1, which introduces the world to iconic hero Superman, fetched $3.2 million (Rs 19.3 crore) on EBay, making it the most expensive comic book ever sold. The comic, published on April 18, 1938, was sold was in excellent condition, which merited the high price. The previous record holder was Nick Cage's copy of the same book which sold for $2.1 million in 2011. 

The curtain is up and the 66th annual Emmy Awards are underway, as Seth Meyers emcees the festivities honoring the best on TV. The big winners so far are Aaron Paul for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama series for Breaking Bad, The Big Bang's Jim Parsons for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy series and Kevin Spacey for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his brilliant performance as Frank Underwood in the political drama House of Cards.