Stepping up his attack on UPA government ahead of Lok Sabha elections, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today accused the Centre of cheating Bihar and its people by putting the demand of special status in cold storage.

"We have been cheated by the Centre as it put the process for grant of special status to Bihar or an equivalent situation in the cold stage due to political reasons," he said at the JD-U's ninth Sankalp rally here. Kumar lamented that the Centre deferred at the very last minute the meeting of a committee headed by the Union Finance Ministry on November 26 last when it was slated to take a decision on granting special status or something equivalent to it on basis of Raghuram Rajan committee report.

"It was done so due to political reasons," he said, adding the Centre's retrograde step was nothing but cheating with Bihar and its people.

DMK Rajya Sabha MP and daughter of party chief M Karunanidhi, Kanimozhi was today admitted to a private hospital here, sources close to her said. "She has giddiness and uneasiness since she did not sleep well last night," they said.

A medical bulletin released by Kauvery Hospital said, "She is undergoing treatment for tiredness and exhaustion, with intravenous fluid therapy. She has been advised complete rest for the next few days."

Kanimozhi, who was admitted this morning, was recovering well and would be discharged soon, it added. DMK chief Karunanidhi visited Kanimozhi, 46, in the evening.

The BJP today staged a protest at Rajghat against the AAP-led state government, and questioned its "silence" over the death of an Arunachal Pradesh MLA's son after being allegedly beaten up by some shopkeepers in Lajpat Nagar.

"In wake of the murder of a 19-year-old student, Nido Tania, from Arunachal Pradesh, nearly three lakh people from the North-East are now living in fear in Delhi. Neither the state government nor the Centre has any explanation for this," BJP's Delhi unit president Vijay Goel said.

"There are no facilities for them in Delhi. Recently, two Manipuri women were also ill-treated and beaten up in public. The Delhi government must give an answer to this. It is shifting the responsibility to the Delhi police and the Centre," Goel said.

Author J K Rowling has admitted for the first time that she made a mistake by pairing off Hermione Granger with Ron Weasley rather than with Harry Potter in her best-selling books, confirming what most fans have always believed.

In the book and film version, Hermoine gets romantically entangled with Harry's best friend Ron Weasley instead, a chemistry that most Potter fans have failed to agree with. "I wrote the Hermione/Ron relationship as a form of wish fulfillment. That's how it was conceived, really. For reasons that have very little to do with literature and far more to do with me clinging to the plot as I first imagined it, Hermione ended up with Ron," Rowling told 'Wonderland' magazine in a rare interview.

An epilogue to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final book in the best-selling series, reveals that Ron and Hermione marry and have two children, while Harry weds Ron's younger sister Ginny.

Oscar-winning filmmaker Woody Allen's adopted daughter Dylan Farrow has accused her father for sexually abusing her when she was seven, reopening an episode after 21 years. Farrow, 28, wrote an open letter in the New York Times, accusing Allen of "sexually assaulting" her back in 1993.

Allegations of abuse began in 1993, but Allen, 77, has consistently denied any wrongdoing, and has maintained his innocence. "What's your favorite Woody Allen movie? Before you answer, you should know: when I was seven years old, Woody Allen took me by the hand and led me into a dim, closet-like attic on the second floor of our house. He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother's electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me.

Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde today credited the UPA government for the decline in infiltration at the country's borders. "The infiltration at borders adjoining Pakistan and China has come down by 70 per cent," Shinde said at a Congress party function at Mandrup, located in south Solapur.

Shinde also said that during the UPA government rule, incidents of rioting have come down in the country. "Communal forces were coming forward in the society through political parties. This should be stopped," the senior Congress leader said.

The Union minister claimed that some landmark decisions and schemes were taken up during his tenure as chief minister of Maharashtra and those were still remembered by the people. Shinde said he proved his mettle as the chief minister, and showed that a Dalit can weigh the responsibility of the post, if provided the opportunity.

Maharashtra government employees have threatened to go on indefinite strike from February 13 if their long-pending demand for five-day week work schedule and grant of other facilities on par with central government staff were not met.

"We have been demanding a five-day week for quite sometime. Also, we have been demanding various facilities which are there for the central government employees. We also want the retirement age of the state government employees to be increased from current 58 to 60," G D Kulthe, chief advisor of Maharashtra State Gazetted Officer Federation told PTI.

At a time when a controversial festival organised by PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has drawn the attention of people to Sindh's ancient culture, Pakistani authorities are planning to ask India to return the famous 'Dancing Girl' statue from Mohenjodaro.

"We are writing to the federal government to help us repatriate our exiled heroine back to us from India," an unnamed member of the cabinet of southern Sindh province was quoted as saying by Dawn daily today.

The 10.8-cm bronze statue, made in 2500 BC, is on display at the National Museum in New Delhi. Along with the Priest King, it is considered one of the two most famous artifacts from Mohenjodaro, one of the oldest planned cities.

A man with a loaded rifle, a machete and gasoline has been arrested here after he threatened to kill former US President George W Bush so that he could get into "a relationship" with his daughter Barbara.

Benjamin Smith, 44, a resident of upstate New York, threatened to "kill, kidnap and inflict bodily harm" on Bush, according to a federal court complaint.

Smith also professed a love interest in 32-year-old Barbara Pierce Bush, one of the former president's twin daughters, according to the complaint filed on Friday in US District Court in Manhattan. "Bush will get his," Smith allegedly screamed as he was being arrested, said the complaint.

Three armed thieves stormed into a watch shop on Oxford Street, one of the busiest streets here at rush hour, taking with them designer watches worth an estimated 500,000 pounds.

Three men '" one with a handgun and the other two with hammers '" threatened staff at the Watches of Switzerland store on Oxford Street on Thursday evening, police said last night.

The looters destroyed a glass cabinet and grabbed a number watches worth an estimated half a million pounds before running away. No shots were fired and nobody was injured, with officers now appealing for the public's help in tracing the whereabouts of the assailants.

The BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has started his address at the rally in Meerut shortly amid high security.

Lakhs of people are attending the rally and arrangements have been made to ensure that people travelling from far-off areas reach the venue

The rally comes a day after Congress President Sonia Gandhi accused the BJP of indulging in divisive politics by "sowing seeds of poison" (zeher ki kheti) and instigating violence.

Jayalalithaa, A B Bardhan have announced AIADMK-CPI alliance for coming Lok Sabha polls on Sunday.

More details are awaited.

The SIT, probing the Muzaffarnagar riots, has filed affidavits in the Allahabad High Court in support of petitions by district authorities seeking cancellation of bail granted to accused in last year's violence by lower court.

District authorities have filed more than 45 petitions seeking cancellation of bail granted to riots accused, including three BJP MLAs Sangeet Som, Suresh Rana, Bhartendu Singh and other activists and community leaders, district government counsel Dushyant Tyagi said. According to SIT sources, its officials are filing affidavits in support of the petitions by the district administration for cancellations of bails.

BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is about to address a rally in Meerut shortly amid high security.

Commuters enjoyed their ride on India's first monorail in Mumbai on Sunday. This is another addition to the public transport system in the city.

The monorail was inaugurated by Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Saturday. Excited after his first ride, a passenger, Prakash Dave, said it was a great experience but there was scope of improvement too.

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Akshita Nagpal for Kafila: A tree with deep roots, if uprooted and planted in alien soil, might live but often sans its vigour. The same can be said for refugees. A couple of weeks ago, along with a bunch of my classmates, I visited the refugee camp of Burmese Rohingya Muslims at Kalindi Kunj in the vicinity of our university campus.

The visit was part of an initiative to help them with old winter clothing after hearing about the unliveable conditions of the camp.

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The Supreme Court today refused to interfere with the order of telecom tribunal dismissing the pleas of Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Loop and Idea for a stay on spectrum auction which is starting tomorrow and extension of their licenses by another 10 years.

However, in an extraordinary urgent hearing on Sunday, a bench comprising justices A R Dave and S A Bobde admitted the appeals filed by Airtel and Vodafone challenging the January 31 order of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal.

"The appeal is admitted and hearing is expedited," the bench said after the Centre opposed the appeals saying "any observation from you (apex court) can scare away other bidders and can take away the vibrancy of the spectrum auction".

Senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Abhishekh Singhvi, appearing for Airtel and Vodafone respectively, contended that the existing licences for the spectrum to them should be extended instead of putting them on auction.

Describing the emergence of AAP as a "warning and a challenge", a senior Congress leader said it reflected the anger of the people towards the system and major parties.

Congress General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi, at the same time, said "this kind of anarchy" cannot create an "ideal system". In an apparent attack on BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, he said it was a "pity" that through "arm-twisting", a leader of a state had forced his leadership in BJP on others. Cautioning that one who strays in politics is negated by people, he said the victory of Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi is not the victory of any party, leave aside ideology.

"Those who have won here have no ideology. They have won because of the discontent among people. This is the victory of the anger of the people towards the major parties.

The Guardian reports: Human rights groups call for protection as 'human safari' tribe face new incursions by other islanders and poacher.
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Eight fishermen in two mechanised boats were detained by Sri Lankan Navy personnel while fishing near Katchateevu islet, 'Q' branch officials said today.

They were part of a group of about 4,000 fishermen who had put out to sea from this coastal town and Jegathapattinam and Kottaipattinam hamlets last night, they said.

The officials said the Sri Lankan naval personnel came in three boats to the spot and detained the fishermen and their boats. The naval personnel also cut the fishing nets of 20 boats and took them away, they said.

Two Manipuri women were allegedly assaulted by a some men who hurled racist abuses at them in South Delhi's Kotla Mubarakpur area. The victims have accused the police of being reluctant to register an FIR.

The incident, which occurred on January 25 evening, came to light following uproar over the death of a student from northeast, Nido Tania, who was allegedly assaulted by shopkeepers on January 29.

The police today said a case has been registered in connection with the alleged assault on the two women from the northeast but no arrest has been made so far.

According to police, the women, identified as Tharmila Jajo and Chonmila, were beaten up by a group of men, who were in their late 20s.

The women in their complaint said that one of the assaulters had tied the leash of his dog to Chonmila's boots. She panicked and in a bid to get rid of the dog she started kicking the animal.

Seeing this, the men started beating her up. When her friend Jajo tried to intervene, she too was allegedly thrashed by the men who made racists comments against them, the police said.

To some Americans, especially those in her hometown of Seattle, Amanda Knox seems a victim, unfairly hounded by a capricious legal system in Italy that convicted her this week in the death of a 21-year-old British woman. 

The Jammu and Kashmir government today approved release of 10 per cent Dearness Allowance (DA) instalment which will be effective from July 2013. 

Syria's foreign minister said Saturday his delegation had rejected a US request for direct talks unless Secretary of State John Kerry apologized for his remarks at the Geneva II talks. 

The judge who presided over Amanda Knox's second murder conviction says he suffered over the verdict, but that he and the jury reached agreement that she was guilty in the death of British student Meredith Kercher. 

Samajwadi Party today hit out at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for issuing the list of corrupt politicians and termed his view on the subject as immature.

A day after his name figured on Arvind Kejriwal's list of "corrupt" politicians, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde hit back, saying the Delhi Chief Minister himself was facing charges of misappropriation of funds received for his NGO. 

It is not easy to feel sympathy for protesters who are often clearly well-off, show surprising ignorance - and at times contempt - for the political preferences of poorer Thais, and who are waging a campaign against electoral democracy.