The four states of Rajasthan, Tripura, Karnataka and Delhi have been selected by Election Commission for an award of excellence for having the best electoral practices and introducing innovative measures which saw them achieve high turnouts in assembly polls last year.

Noting their achievements in the area of poll management, EC has decided to confer upon these four states the 'Award of Excellence' as part of the National Awards, 2013.

The award will be presented by the President as part of a National Voters' Day function tomorrow.

The 2013 Assembly polls saw an increase of 14.54 per cent in the voter turnout in Delhi whereas other states which went to polls, such as Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan recorded an increase of 4.12, 9.54, 11.95 per cent, respectively.

Amid speculation that AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal could contest against him from his Chandni Chowk constituency, Union Minister Kapil Sibal today made it clear that he will contest from the constituency.

"I am going to contest Lok Sabha election from Chandni Chowk, let anybody be in the fray," he told reporters on the sidelines of an event. Sibal, a staunch critic of the Delhi chief minister, however, said he was not averse to subsidies like those effected in the national capital by the Aam Aadmi Party government with regard to power and water tariff.

"See the point is we are in the election mode... and naturally we all look at the aam aadmi." he said. "As a govt, we have been doing this all along for the last 10 years for the common man. I think that though any subsidy which has a very negative long term implication for the economy is not something which is welcome but, at the same time, we must realise that there are certain sections of our country who need subsidies and therefore those issues need to be addressed," Sibal said.

Delhi government today urged African nationals against moving out of the Khirki Extension locality following reports that some of them were leaving the area in the wake of the midnight raid which Law Minister Somnath Bharti allegedly led there last week.

"If they (Africans) are moving out of the locality, then it should not happen. I would request the residents of Khirki Extension to not leave the place," Education and Urban Development Minister Manish Sisodia told reporters.

Sisodia, however, claimed that the sex and drug racket did exist in the area with residents long having complained about the menace.

Bharti has been facing severe criticism after he allegedly led a group of AAP workers last week in a raid at the houses of some African nationals.

Police today arrested one person, who was among 22 people issued non-bailable warrant for their alleged involvement in five incidents of gang-rape during Muzaffarnagar riots.

After his arrest, Vedpal was produced before Chief Judicial Magistrate Narender Kumar, who sent him to 14 days judicial custody.

The accused was arrested from Phugana village of the district. Meanwhile, SIT, which is probing the riot cases, has approached the court seeking to declare the remaining 21 accused, who are on the run, as "absconders".

On January 21, a local court had issued non-bailable warrant against the 22 persons.

Cairo was rocked by a series of explosions on Friday, killing at least five people and leaving scores injured.

Yoga guru Ramdev today urged the government to withdraw all higher denomination currency notes issued till date and not just the ones printed before 2005, saying that such a move would help curb black money and corruption. 

China said today it has begun issuing warnings to foreign military planes entering its self-declared air defence zone over the East China Sea, an indication of its determination to follow through on a measure already blamed for raising tensions in the region.

North Korea today made a sudden proposal for the resumption of reunions for families separated since the Korean War, saying the programme could help improve cross-border ties. 

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde today advised India to improve its business climate and remove a host of bottlenecks hampering investment.

"I think there is one word that applies to Indian economy, the real economy, it is bottleneck...there are bottlenecks in many corners...I would say addressing bottlenecks of Indian economy should be priority," IMF Managing Director Lagarde told NDTV.

She also said fighting corruption is important in all the countries where the menace exists. Suggesting steps to boost the Indian economy, the IMF chief further said the government should focus on fiscal consolidation.

The Reserve Bank has advised the public to start exchanging pre-2005 notes at banks, saying the volume of such notes that are being withdrawn from circulation is 'not significant.'

"Members of public may initiate the process of exchanging notes at bank branches at their convenience," the RBI said in a statement today.

The removal of older currency notes from circulation is a standard international practice, the RBI said.

Stating that it was a "conscious" decision to quit electoral politics, Union Agriculture Minister and Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar today filed his nomination papers for the biennial Rajya Sabha polls scheduled to be held on February 7.

Apart from Pawar, NCP's second candidate advocate Majid Memon also filed his papers.

They were accompanied by Union Minister Praful Patel, senior NCP leader D P Tripathi and state NCP chief Bhaskar Jadhav on the occasion. Pawar and Memon replace retiring NCP members Y P Trivedi and Janardhan Waghmare.

On his way to the house of elders, 73-year-old Pawar said, "I accept that I have aged. It was a conscious decision."

More than a week after his daughter's body was found decomposed and burnt in a swamp near a major highway on the outskirts of Mumbai, S Jonathan Prasad met the Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde to plead for help.

Shinde has written to Maharashtra's Home Minister RR Patil, asking for "swift action" and the identification of the killers of Esther Anuhya, a 23-year-old working with software major TCS.

Rupee falls 73 paise or 1.18 per cent to 62.66 against the US dollar; lowest closing level in over two months.

Three policemen from the Civil Lines police station suspended for beating up a civilian near Red Fort. The action was taken after AAP uploaded a video which showed the cops' brutality.

Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi said that any such incident will not be tolerated.

India is back at the top spot in the 50-over format as Australia loses to England in the fourth ODI held today at Perth.

The Janata Dal-United has dropped all old faces in the Rajya Sabha. Shivanand Tiwari, Shabir Ali and N K Singh have been asked to contest the Lok Sabha polls.

Sri Lanka today announced it will release 61 Indian fishermen held in the country for alleged poaching, days after the two sides agreed to resolve the issue that has become an irritant in bilateral ties.

"As per the arrangements, India is to release 59 Sri Lankans and three trawlers. Sri Lanka would release 61 Indian fishermen and 15 boats," Fisheries Ministry spokesman Narendra Sri Rajapaksa said.

The development came following direct talks between Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Sri Lankan Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Rajitha Senaratne in New Delhi last week.

Senaratne was in India for talks on the recurring problem of arrests of each other's fishermen.

Rafael Nadal entered the final of the men's singles at the Australian Open after demolishing Roger Federer 7-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the second semi-final at Melbourne Park on Friday.

Presidents of nations writing their memoirs is not uncommon, what is is one of them subscribing to witchcraft.

The Congress was left red-faced today after it was pointed out that the party's new new ad campaign pitching Rahul Gandhi ahead of the Lok Sabha polls lifted a tagline used by Narendra Modi three years ago, reports NDTV.

The ad featuring the Congress vice president starred in today's newspapers with the phrase 'Main Nahin, Hum' (Not I, we), which, the BJP immediately pointed out, had been coined and used by Modi in 2011.

Read the full report here

The Aam Aadmi Party has uploaded a video of alleged police brutality near Red Fort. However, the Delhi police has said that they are not sure if the men in video are actually cops, reports NDTV.

Rafael Nadal has taken a 2-0 lead against Roger Federer in the second men's singles semi-final at the Australian Open after winning the second set 6-3 in 47 minutes.  

 

The Spaniard effected the all-important break in the sixth game to go up 4-2. He then held serve and served out the set after trailing 0-30.   The first set, which lasted 59 minutes, went the distance, with the Nadal winning the tie-break 7-4.

Terming the Aam Aadmi Party's upsurge in Delhi a "localised storm", Union Minister Anand Sharma has said it was following a populist agenda that was pushing the society towards anarchy.        

 

Speaking here on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meet, Sharma said the AAP's success in Delhi does not mean it would be replicated elsewhere in India.        

 

Asked whether AAP was adding to uncertainties, Sharma said there may not be a need to worry as this was like a "localised storm" and Delhi is a city state.         "It is true that they did well...that does not mean that it would be replicated elsewhere in the country. Also, what they are doing is populism of absurd extremes which is pushing the society towards anarchy," he added.        

 

On investor sentiment, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said India's economic potential and policies continue to attract businesses.

After India scrapped a contract for procuring VVIP choppers from AgustaWestland, American firm Textron today said it is ready to offer its unique V-22 Osprey helicopter to India for ferrying its dignitaries.        

 

"We are ready to offer to India the V-22 Osprey in the VIP configuration through the Foreign Military Sales route. It is a unique and competitive product," Textron India President and Managing Director Inderjit Sial told PTI.        

 

He was asked about the possibility of offering any chopper of Bell Helicopters, an arm of Textron, for meeting the VVIP chopper requirements of the IAF.        

 

The government scrapped the contract with AgustaWestland, accusing it of breaching a pre-contract integrity pact and other contractual obligations in the Rs 3,600 crore contract.

Spain's Rafael Nadal leads Switzerland's Roger Federer by one set to love in the second men's singles semi-final at the Australian Open.

 

Federer saved two break-points in the seventh game before holding serve and was 30-40 in ninth game, but held. After games went with serve, Nadal took the tie-breaker 7-4 to win the first set in 59 minutes.

One foreign tourist has dead, 2 others have been injured in an avalanche in Jammu and Kashmir's ski resort of Gulmarg, police sources say.

A high-level committee headed by technocrat Sam Pitroda that was set up last January to look into the role of the public broadcaster Prasar Bharati, today submitted its report to Information and Broadcasting minister Manish Tewari.

Dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar on Wednesday moved the Allahabad High Court against a CBI court order awarding them life sentence for the murder of their 14-year-old daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj.

 

The petition filed by the couple is likely to come up before a bench for hearing on Thursday. The couple had been sentenced to life imprisonment by a special CBI court at Ghaziabad on November 26, 2013.

 

Aarushi was found dead, with her throat slit, inside the Talwars' Noida residence in May, 2008. Hemraj, who had gone missing, was initially suspected of being involved in the crime until his body was recovered from the terrace a day later.

Just In: CBI carries out searches at Mumbai, Pune and Ghaziabad targeting hackers, based on inputs from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The director of Miss Lovely, the unusual Bollywood film on the soft porn industry, was actually gearing up for backlash from the public and was more than pleasantly surprised at the positive response the film has garnered.

Just In! The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Centre and Delhi government on a PIL filed on the recent agitation by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and AAP supporters. 

Just In: Posco not to cut trees for its Rs 51,000 crore project in Odisha till final forest clearance is granted by the state, says the National Green Tribunal.

Cumberbatch fans can rejoice!   

'What is never asked is why the very government that was presiding over a growth rate that was apparently propelling India to the status of an economic superpower should suddenly get afflicted by non-governance and indecisiveness; and whether it is at all possible to dissociate corruption from neo-liberal capitalism, under the aegis of a corporate-financial elite that is enriching itself through the expropriation of public property (via privatization and disinvestment), and of common property, tribal property and peasant property (via land acquisition),' writes Prabhat Patnaik, in an incisive commentary in The Telegraph, Kolkata, here.

DMK chief and former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi's son M K Alagiri, a former Union minister, has been suspended from all party posts, reports suggest.   A DMK statement notes that Alagiri has been suspended due to 'anti-party activites'  

 

Karunanidhi had earlier issued a veiled warning to his son and rebel leader Alagiri for his interview to a Tamil channel against his younger brother MK Stalin, reports CNN IBN    

Karunanidhi had also recently suspending five supporters of Alagiri's Madurai unit for putting up posters supporting him. Thereafter, in a statement had said that anyone flouting party discipline will face an expulsion from primary membership adding that this had been the "rule in DMK yesterday, today and tomorrow".

This is the story of Thunuki, the elephant, who is being carted from Assam to Kerala, with a little bit of a helping from minister Shashi Tharoor, as reporter in The Telegraph, Kolkata. 

Mitchell Johnson, who this week won Australian cricket's highest honour, the Allan Border medal for his 37 wickets in the recent Ashes whitewash, tells Nick Hoult his favourite four balls from that series:   

Eight people, including six women, were killed and four others injured when their SUV fell into a rivulet in Chhattisgarh's Korba district, police said today. The mishap took place near Korkoma village under Balco Nagar police station limits when the victims were returning after attending the last rites of a relative in Narayanpur area of neighbouring Jashpur district late last night, Korba Superintendent of Police Ratanlal Dangi said.        

 

While their car was crossing Bulsihdih nullah bridge, the driver, who was reportedly in an inebriated state, lost control over the vehicle following which the SUV plunged into the rivulet after breaking the railings, he said.        

 

A police team along with medical aid rushed to the spot on getting news of the accident. Those killed were identified as -- Bhagat, Sagar, Amrautin Bai, Shabina Markam, Sukwara Bai, Ramayan Bai, Laxmin and Sonkunwar -- who hailed from Pathharripara, Naktikhar and Kudri villages of Korba.        

 

The four others injured, including the driver, were admitted to the district hospital in Korba, the SP said.

Actor Salman Khan, who recently met Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi during the kite flying festival in Ahmadabad, has been criticised by Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi. Unhappy with Salman meeting Modi where he referred to Modi as a good man, Owaisi has now urged his supporters to not watch his film 'Jai Ho'.

 

Reacting to this, Salman said that he did nothing wrong by going to Gujarat. "What can I say to that, if as a Muslim I have gone there to see that my Muslims brothers are doing well, I don't think there is anything wrong. I am half Hindu and half Muslim. So, I have closeness to both the communities. My mother is Hindu, my father is Muslim and there is nothing else, I would want to have them together," Salman said.

 

Read more on CNN IBN

Sania Mirza and her Romanian partner Horia Tecau waltzed into the mixed doubles final after beating Australian duo Jarmila Gajdosova and Matthew Ebden 2-6 6-3 at Melbourne Park on Friday.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a curative petition on Khalistani terrorist Devender Pal Singh Bhullar seeking commutation of death sentence to life imprisonment.

Just In: The Supreme Court takes suo motu cognisance of the gang rape case in West Bengal, and issues notice to the state government over the incident. The Supreme Court also directs the district judge of Birbhum, where the gang rape took place, to visit the spot and file a report before it within a week.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has expressed disappointment over army's decision to give clean chit to six of its personnel in the 200o Pathribal fake encounter case. "Will ask law department and advocate general to examine options," Omar said.  

 

"Pathribal case is a serious case.  It can't be closed or washed away," the chief minister said.

The benchmark BSE Sensex slipped from its record closing high by losing over 82 points in early trade today as funds and retail investors booked profits after recent gains amid a weak trend in the Asian region.        

 

The 30-share barometer, which had gained over 310 points in the previous four sessions, lost 82.20 points, or 0.38 per cent, to 21,291.46, with banking, metal, healthcare and realty sector stocks leading the fall.        

 

Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty declined 27.15 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 6,318.50. Brokers said besides profit-booking by funds and retail investors at record level, a weak trend on other Asian bourses tracking overnight falls on Wall Street mainly influenced the sentiment here.        

 

In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell by 0.93 per cent while Japan's Nikkei by 1.54 per cent in early trade today.        

 

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended lower by 1.07 per cent in yesterday's trade.  

Has the new year been too cold for comfort? Yes, so say the records '" this January is turning out to be one of the coldest since 1947, according to the meteorological department.

"Going by our records, January 2014 is the third coldest ever since 1947, with 2003 being the coldest,' said RK Jenamani, chief of the met unit at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. The sun virtually disappeared for days, particularly between January 16 and January 23, following two consecutive spells of dense fog and low clouds. Hide and seek continued, with city getting good amount of rain on January 18, January 21 and 22, Jenamani said.

 

January has been consistently getting colder since late 1990s due to prolonged dense-fog hours, smog or low-cloud cover during the day blocking out the sun. "Increased pollution and many other meteorological reasons are responsible for this. The trends have been emerging from 1990s and require further studies,' he said.

 

Read more on The Hindustan Times

With another homeless person found dead in Kashmere Gate area on Wednesday, the toll of destitutes shivering to death across the city has reached 174 since January 1.

 

The government is yet to come up with a policy to protect them.Earlier this month, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had promised to set up porta cabins at 45 locations. But the ground reality is that plastic shelters have been put up and they are in bad shape.NGOs working for the homeless said the city government opted e-tendering for making the process transparent.

 

"But it's a lengthy procedure," said a social worker. "It has delayed the whole process of setting up porta cabins."Since December 1, 2013 a total of 395 unidentified bodies have been found across the city. Some 1,127 homeless people were found dead from November 1, 2012 to March 31, 2013.The most number of deaths have been reported from Kashmere Gate area.

 

Read more on Deccan Herald

 The Aam Aadmi Party has backed its Law Minister Somnath Bharti, saying there was no evidence to suggest that he made racist comments or misbehaved with African women during a controversial midnight raid that he led at a south Delhi locality last week. The party, while ruling out his resignation, said that Mr Bharti should in fact be "lauded for his efforts to address people's grievances." The Law Minister has been asked to depose before the Delhi Women's Commission today.

 

Read more on NDTV

A severely disillusioned S J S Prasad, father of 23-year-old Esther Anuhya, whose burnt body was found off the Eastern Express Highway on the outskirts of Mumbai, said on Thursday that he did not expect police to ever catch his daughter's killers.

 

"I hope no parent has to cry in the wilderness the way I did,' Prasad said, as he recounted the ordeal of running from pillar to post from the time his daughter went missing to when her body was found in Bhandup. Esther, who worked for an IT firm in Mumbai, arrived at Lokmanya Tilak Terminus from her native Hyderabad at 5 am on January 5, and was last seen leaving the station to take an autorickshaw to her hostel in Andheri.

 

She never reached the hostel, and her mutilated, burnt and decomposed body was found off the Mumbai-Thane highway on January 16. Police have no clues or suspects so far, only several questions and a few theories of the murder. 

 

When Esther's relatives in Mumbai approached them on January 6, the MIDC police in Andheri told them to go to the Kurla railway police, who told them to go to the Vijayawada railway police because there was no evidence until then to show that she had actually reached Mumbai.

 

Read more on Indian Express

NDTV: The Taj Mahal will be thrown open for public on Fridays, but the visitors will have to shell out a hefty Rs. 5,000 for a special ticket, which will cost 100 USD for a foreign tourist.

 

This was decided at a meeting chaired by Divisional Commissioner of Agra Pradeep Bhatnagar.Visitors will be allowed in the world-famous monument of love from 7 am to 12 noon on Fridays, Bhatnagar said, adding the decision will be implemented soon.Earlier, the 17th century wonder of the world used to remain closed for public on Fridays.

BJP launched its 'Modi for PM' campaign in Madhya Pradesh today, on the occasion of the 118th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched the campaign from Khargone.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and BJP Vice President Prabhat Jha started the campaign in the state capital. As part of the campaign, BJP leaders took an urn in their hands and appealed to the people aaking them to give "Ek Note aur Ek Vote" (a currency note and a vote) to the BJP.

The campaign will be go upto the village level until February 11. Swaraj and Jha told reporters here that the aim of the campaign is to establish contact with the people on a door-to-door basis so that they can donate, from Re 1 to Rs 1000.

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