Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha and 300 party workers and leaders were arrested today for allegedly assaulting a Jharkhand State Electricity Board official over a power crisis issue in the state.

Incidentally, Sinha admitted before the media of "instructing" the party's women activists to tie-up JSEB's Hazaribagh branch General Manager Dhanesh Jha using a rope. "Yes, I have asked them to tie hands of the GM as women are the worst sufferers for not getting power. Their children's education is also suffering," Sinha told media persons.

According to the police, Sinha and around 300 BJP activists including 50 women, locked office of JSEB, Hazaribagh unit, around 9 AM and staged a sit-in and did not let any employee enter the office.

More than 300 activists, including Sinha, were arrested and lodged at the Sadar police station for allegedly tying up Jha during the agitation, DSP (HQ) Arvind Kumar Singh told media persons.

An Indian aid worker was today abducted from Herat in Afghanistan by unidentified gunmen, days after the Indian consulate in the province was attacked.

The Indian, hailing from from Tamil Nadu, was working with an educational charity in Afghanistan and was abducted in the afternoon, according to top official sources. Confirming the abduction, a spokesperson in the external affairs ministry in New Delhi said, "An Indian national working with an NGO in Herat province of Afghanistan has been kidnapped.

Our mission is pursuing the matter with local authorities." Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj met Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with the foreign secretary. The meeting assumes significance in the backdrop of the abduction of the Indian national for which no group has claimed responsibility so far.

After brainstorming with his key ministers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will tomorrow meet top bureaucrats of economic ministries to chalkout action plan for his government for next 100 days. 

An organisation representing airlines worldwide will offer a list of recommendations in September to improve the tracking of aircraft after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, the group's director said today. 

The United States said today that Russia is continuing to support the pro-Russian insurgency in Ukraine, despite US sanctions aimed at punishing it for its alleged interference in its neighbour. 

Describing the newly sworn-in Palestinian unity government as "terrorists in suits", Israel today said time has come to go on the offensive rather than act defensively and to do what is good for the country. 

An Indian aid worker was today abducted from Herat in Afghanistan, days after the Indian consulate in the province was attacked by heavily-armed gunmen. The worker, who was working with a charity there, was abducted earlier in the day, according to top official sources.

The Uttar Pradesh government today sacked principal secretary home Anil Gupta in wake of the increasing number of rape cases in the state over the past week.

Th Akhilesh Yadav-led UP government has received severe criticism for the deteriorating law and order in the state. Six cases of rape have been reported in the past seven days.   

The price of non-subsidised LPG cylinder has been slashed by Rs 23.50. 

The price cut comes in the backdrop of declining global crude oil price. 

The National Commission for Woman today said it will summon the Uttar Pradesh police chief to ask what his force is doing to prevent increase in rape cases there and observed that fear of the police in the state has diminished and goons were ruling the roost.   

"So many gang rapes are happening. I am issuing a notice to the DGP. I will summon him and ask what police are doing," NCW chief Mamta Sharma told reporters.   

Asked whether the DGP would have to personally appear before the Commission, she said, "Yes, summon means he will be called to the office," adding he will be asked about action taken to check increasing incidents of rape in the state. She observed that fear of police has diminished in the state and goons were ruling the roost.

An Indian woman has been abducted in Afghanistan's Herat province. Unknown gunmen abducted the woman, who is an aid worker.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The Ministry of External Affairs is yet to confirm the abduction.

The Indian consulate in Herat was attacked last week.      

Why no Leader of Opposition? The Congress' strength of 44 members in the Lok Sabha does not entitle it for the post of the Leader of Opposition as a minimum number of 54 MPs -- which is 10 per cent of the House strength - is required for the largest opposition party to be entitled for the post. This rule was framed by the first Lok Sabha Speaker, GV Mavalankar, a report in The Economic Times says.  

Former railway minister Mallikarjun Kharge will be Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha. He has been chose my the Congress high command, said Congress General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi

More details are awaited.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mother and the rest of the family were not present at his swearing-in ceremony last Monday, but amends will be made this week, it is learnt.

At 11 am on June 4, when Kamal Nath as Protem Speaker of the Lok Sabha swears in the Leader of the House and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as member of Parliament, his mother and other family members are likely to be witnessing the event from the Speaker's Chamber.

Apart from them, many Rajya Sabha MPs and Gujarat legislators, including Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, are expected to be present in the Distinguished Persons Gallery of the Lok Sabha.

Just in: The centre will not scale down Priyanka and her husband Robert Vadra's security just yet. Mos Home Kiren Rijju slams Priyanka asking why she is raising the issue now. "It is for concerned agencies to decide who gets security cover. Matters of security should not be politicised.

Vadra currently is in the VIP list and enjoys the privilege of going unchecked at airports.

Reacting to reports that Vadra may no longer get an exemption from being frisked at airports, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra shot off a letter to the Special Protection Group chief, Durga Prasad, on Friday demanding that the withdrawal of privileges be implemented immediately for her entire family. 

The reason for the extension to Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth is slowly trickling down. It is said that the slot being is kept warm for a senior official, Rajiv Mehrishi, currently chief secretary of Rajasthan who is known to be close to the BJP leadership. But Mehrishi has competition. The other name making the rounds for the top bureaucratic post is an IAS officer of 1978 batch from the Gujarat cadre.

Later today the Union Cabinet will approve President Pranab Mukherjee's address to the joint session of Parliament on June 9. The Head of State's address to Parliament is most looked forward to as it contains many political messages.

Why did Ajit Seth get a six-month extension as Cabinet Secretary? At a quiet meeting among Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Home Minister Rajnath Singh to discuss the list of eight IAS officers for the post, each one, it is said had a comment against the name.

So finally, in order to avoid embarrassment it was decided to let Ajit Seth stay on for six months more.

But the decision has also caused ripples within the bureaucracy. It is learnt that the decision has led to disappointment among many top-ranking secretaries in the Government of India.

Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose will soon will be conferred the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keen to announce this soon. By the end of the year, the BJP's first prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, will also be given the Bharat Ratna. Modi may announce this in Parliament.

Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya (18611946) was an educationist and politician notable for his role in the independence movement and his espousal of Hindu nationalism. He was the President of the Indian National Congress on four occasions and is remembered as the founder of the Benaras Hindu University.

Subhash Chandra Bose, or Netaji, as he was called, was a nationalist whose defiant patriotism made him a hero in India, but whose attempt during World War II to rid India of British rule with the help of Nazi Germany and Japan left a troubled legacy.

Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said today that if there were no Badaun, her first priority was to establish functioning rape crises centers. She said the union government would set up special centres for rape victims in every district of the country to provide medical as well as legal help to them. 

Read Shekhar Gupta's 2009 interview with Rediff.com: 'I am among the HMTs: Hindi Medium Types'.

Editor-in-chief of the Indian Express, Shekhar Gupta, is leaving the paper after two stints in the paper. Read his farewell letter to his staff.

In his farewell letter to his staff at the Indian Express, Shekhar Gupta says, "When life becomes cosy for too long, you need to disrupt it. Smugness is the beginning of old age, even if you are in your teens, which I, regrettably, am not." Shekhar Gupta will be with the group till June 15.

A packed schedule in notwithstanding, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will attend the grand felicitation of IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens tomorrow.

Banerjee, who has left for Jalpaiguri for review of welfare projects, will return tonight for the KKR programme being jointly organised by the state government and the Cricket Association of Bengal.

The state government will also invite Bengal wicketkeeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha whose 115 not out from 55 deliveries for Kings XI Punjab went in vain after KKR held their nerves to win by three wickets in a pulsating IPL-VII final in Bangalore last night.

"Heartiest congratulations to KKR, everybody played well... I also congratulate Wriddhiman Saha for his brilliant innings. I had already told (team co-owner) Shah Rukh (Khan) to organise a reception for the team after they emerge champions. I also had a word with (CAB chief) Jagmohan Dalmiya regarding tomorrow's reception," she said.

Just In: Two death row convicts move the Supreme Court against the Delhi high court verdict in the December 16 gangrape case.

After the Delhi mistake and the Lok Sabha setback, the Aam Aadmi Party looks to reinvent itself. Here's how.

The formation of Telangana will see a couple of changes. Here's what people in Telangana will have to do following the creation of the new state.

But first, here's what remains the same in Telangana:

The postal codes will not change.
There will be no change in the passport or Adhaar card.
The calls between Telangana and Seemandhra will be local and not STD. The STD codes will remain the same.

And these are the changes...

The Registration of vehicles will change. All vehicles in Telangana bearing the AP resigtration will be TG. New vehicles will be registered under the TG number plate whereas old vehicles have been given up to 3 years to effect a change. However this process needs an approval by the Centre. There are some who feel that the boards should read TS instead of TG. This confusion has led to a complete stop in registration of numbers in Telangana over the past 10 days.

Liquor in Telangana will be sold with a pink label.

All sign boards with Andhra Pradesh will now be changed to Telangana.

The TIN (Taxpayer identification number) in Telangana will use the prefix 36 and those in Seemandhra will have to use 37.

From one CM to another: Gujarat CM ‏@anandibenpatel Anandiben Patel tweets her wishes: My greetings and well wishes to Shri Chandrasekhar Rao for becoming the first CM of the newly created Telangana state.

Read: What Anandiben Patel is really like

The TRS government in Telangana would be "employee-friendly" and treat them as partners in progress, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said here today.

The employees of the Telangana government will get a 'special Telangana increment' soon as promised earlier and they would get salaries at par with Central government employees, he said.

As Telangana came into existence as the 29th state of India, Congress today extended best wishes to the people of the state, reminding them that it was not possible without Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh's support.

Former Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, in whose tenure the Bill for creation of the new state was passed, credited the Congress President for formation of a separate Telangana.

"It was the desire of Sonia Gandhi. She had promised the people of Telangana that she will give them a separate state. She has fulfilled her commitment and the whole credit goes to her," Shinde said.

Read: Nine things you must know about Telangana

How the Prime Minister chose his ministers. The inside story. Read

The BBC reports: King Juan Carlos, who is 76, has ruled since 1975. His son Prince Felipe, 45, will take over the throne. For much of his reign, Juan Carlos was seen as one of the world's most popular monarchs. But recently many Spaniards have lost confidence in him, mainly because of a long-running corruption investigation into his daughter and her husband.

Just in: King Juan Carlos of Spain abdicates, says the country's prime minister.

Home Ministry has asked UP govt why SC/ST Act was not slapped against culprits in the Badaun gang rape-cum-murder case. Kiren Rijiju, MoS Home, says, "There are laws against any crime against SC/ST & backward classes, our letter (to UP govt) is in tune with those laws."

The Badaun gang rape and murder case has not just jolted the Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh but has also come as a big challenge for the Narendra Modi government at the Centre. Considering Modi's stand of "toilet first, temple later", the Centre's sanitation department is preparing a proposal involving over Rs 1.5 lakh crore to tackle open defecation, which was the factor behind the abduction, gang rape and murder of two teenage girls in Katra Sadatganj village.

The girls, who were abducted as they went to relieve themselves last Tuesday, are Dalits. 

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today met heads of various paramilitary forces and chiefs of central security agencies and asked them to prepare a road map for strengthening the country's internal security.

During the meeting, which lasted for 30 minutes, the Minister made it clear that while developing the road map, the security agencies should keep in mind the development aspect as well.

Besides head of paramilitary forces, the meeting was attended by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Intelligence Bureau Chief Asif Ibrahim and Chief of Research and Analysis Wing Alok Joshi.

While taking over as the Home Minister, Rajnath had asked his officials to come up with out of the box ideas for internal security and better coordination between the Centre and states.

He had said that the blueprint should also contain ideas to resolve border disputes with neighbouring countries without compromising national interests.

Crucial divisions dealing with internal security, Naxal management, Centre-State, North-East and Jammu and Kashmir have also been directed to prepare a road map to improve internal security architecture in the next few days.

DMK president M Karunanidhi today greeted K Chandrasekhar Rao, the Chief Minister of newly created Telangana state.

"I, very heartily, congratulate you on your winning majority in the Telangana Assembly elections and assuming office as the Chief Minister. Your wise moves and hard and sincere work have always kept you very near to the hearts of the people," Karunanidhi tweeted.

The DMK chief also recalled Rao's visits to Chennai and the discussions they had over the formation of Telangana.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh asks security heads to keep in mind development aspect while preparing road map for strengthening internal security. Rajnath Singh meets heads of para-military and security agencies. Seeks road map on internal security.

Ajit Seth has been given a six-month extension as Cabinet Secretary, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi signing the file today. Ajit Seth is a 1974 IAS officer from the Uttar Pradesh cadre, and served the Dr Manmohan Singh regime for four years. By giving this extension, Modi is believed to have upset many senior Secretaries to the Government of India who were hoping to get a leg up in the new dispensation.

Just in: Former foreign minister Salman Khurshid starts practicing law again, appears for rape accused Tarun Tejpal.

The Supreme Court has granted an interim bail for three weeks to the senior, who was in jail on charges of rape and sexual harassment, to attend his mother's funeral and perform her last rites. Tejpal's lawyer had moved the Apex Court earlier to seek an interim bail of a few days.

JUST IN: Water canons being used to disperse BJP protestors outside UP CM Akhilesh Yadav's office in Lucknow. Massive protests by the BJP Mahila Morcha against the Badaun gang rape. A woman protestor says that if law and order doesn't improve, they will protest at various places. "We aren't scared," she says.

A special court has allowed former Telecom Minister A Raja's plea seeking to depose as a witness to defend himself in the ongoing trial in the 2G spectrum scam case. Special CBI Judge O P Saini allowed Raja's plea after the CBI did not oppose it and fixed the matter for July 1 for commencement of recording of defence evidence in the case.

First Chief Minister of Telangana state, K Chandrasekhar Rao, was presented a guard of honour by the police at a glittering ceremonial parade here today. KCR hoisted the national flag and inspected the ceremonial parade to celebrate the Telangana formation day.

It's the turn of LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan and his son Chirag to visit Badaun as international focus remains on the horrific gang-rapes. Paswan says he has informed Narendra Modi that he and his son were making this visit, and will be giving him a report in the cabinet meeting this evening.

Was Mulayam Singh's statement on rape an encouragement for such an incident to happen?: Chirag Paswan on Badaun gang rape.

Latest in the case: Two of the men arrested for allegedly raping and murdering the two cousins whose bodies were found hanging from a tree have confessed to the crime, the Uttar Pradesh police on Sunday said and asserted it was in the process of collecting "concrete" evidence to nail the culprits in court.

Actor-turned-politician Chirag Paswan, the son of  LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan defeated Rashtriya Janata Dal candidate Sudhansu Shekhar Bhaskar by over 85,000 votes in Jamui.

Mulayam Singh Yadav has sparked outrage with his comments questioning the death sentence to three men who were convicted of two gang-rapes in the Mumbai Shakti Mills case in April. "Should rape cases be punished with hanging? They are boys, they make mistakes," he had said while campaigning for the national election.

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray has asked his party workers to unfurl the saffron flag atop Maharashtra Secretariat to fulfil the dream of late Bal Thackeray.

However, Uddhav refrained from mentioning Narendra Modi even once in his 12-minute long speech.

Uddhav, who addressed a "jallosh" (victory celebration) rally of party workers and 18-newly elected Sena Lok Sabha members in suburban Andheri last night, said the next target would be state Assembly polls due in four months.

He attributed poll success to the vision of late Thackeray but did not mention Modi even once in the speech. He also refrained from commenting on his cousin, MNS chief Raj Thackeray's decision to contest the assembly elections and was silent on the chief ministerial candidate issue too.

N Chandrababu Naidu tweets: Congratulations to the people of Telangana, KCR & his colleagues. Wishing them success & we will partner with them in development.

The swearing-in ceremony was not without controversies, as Chief Minister-designate of successor State of Andhra Pradesh N Chandrababu Naidu skipped it, in what is seen as first signs of discord between the two "regional satraps".

Sources said the Telugu Desam Party President was peeved that there was neither a personal invitation nor a telephone call; it was said to be a routine invitation from the administration.

It is no secret that there is no love lost between Rao and Naidu, who fought a fierce electoral battle marked by personal attacks.

SC refers to the Constitution bench a plea that review petitions in death penalty cases should not be heard and decided in chamber proceedings.

'It is all in the family for KCR. K Chandrasekara Rao is the Chief Minister, his son K T Rama Rao is a cabinet minister and daughter Kavitha is an MP. As KCR rode the open jeep at the parade grounds, siblings KTR and Kavitha were seen cheering their father. From the look of it, it didn't seem there was once a rift between the two as had been reported in the media before the elections commenced.

Update on the Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekara Rao. Vicky Nanjappa reports that KCR is now at the Parade Grounds in Hyderabad in an open jeep. He had hoisted the national flag and also the Telangana flag earlier. Scores of people are present at the ground and waving at their new Chief Minister.

Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, brother of absconding accused Tiger Memon, is the sole convict who was awarded death sentence by the Supreme Court in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case that had claimed 257 lives and left 713 injured.

The capital punishment of the other 10 death row convicts was commuted to life sentence by a bench of justices P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan which also upheld the life term awarded to 16 out of 18 convicts. The bench also allowed the appeal of Central Bureau of Investigation against the acquittal of four persons -- Sharif Abdul Gafoor Parker, Manoj Kumar Gupta, Farooq Motorwala and Mohd Rafique Usman Shaikh.

The apex court upheld the death penalty awarded to Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, a chartered accountant by profession and brother of absconding accused Tiger Memon, by the designated TADA court. The bench said Yakub Memon was the "driving force" and had played a key role in the conspiracy which "warranted death penalty".

While commuting the death sentence of 10 others to life, the bench said they were people of low strata in the society and were without any regular job and had fallen prey to the main conspirators for their "hidden motives".

The 10 convicts whose death sentence was commuted to life term were -- Abdul Gani Ismail Turk, Parvez Nazir Ahmed Shaikh, Mushtaq Tarani, Asghar Mukadam, Shahnawaz Qureshi, Shoaib Ghansar, Firoze Amani Malki, Zakir Hussain, Abdul Akhtar Khan and Farooq Pawale. The court noted they were the planters of the explosives and they could not be exonerated for the offence.

The Supreme Court stays the execution of death row convict Yakub Abdul Razak Memon in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case. The Home ministry in the UPA government had recommended to President Pranab Mukherjee that the mercy petition of Yakub Memon, sentenced to death for the 1993 Mumbai blasts, be rejected. The recommendation President Pranab Mukherjee in March was based on the Maharashtra government's suggestion that the petition be rejected.

Vicky Nanjappa reports: Having been sworn in as chief minister of the new Telangana state, K Chadrashekhar Rao will take part in a parade at 10.45 am. 

'K Chandrasekara Rao has been sworn in as the chief minister of Telangana.

He was administered the oath of office by Governor E L Narasimhan at the Raj Bhavan.

He took the oath in Telugu. 

Dressed in his traditional white pair of pants and shirt, KCR was sworn in with 11 of his cabinet colleagues.

He will add 6 more ministers in the days to come.

Vicky Nanjappa reports: As festivities continued all through the night, the formalities have just begun. 

At the stroke of midnight, Telangana came into existence as the 29th state of India.