Whether he is made to feel like an unwelcome guest or the Prodigal Son returning, Vladimir Putin is relishing the chance to show his defiance over Ukraine at his first meetings with Western leaders in months.

In a first, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today met the secretaries of all the government departments collectively and asked them to directly get in touch with him to resolve issues and expedite decision-making. 

DMK chief M Karunanidhi today urged the Centre to secure at the earliest the release of Indian aid worker Alexis Prem Kumar, a Jesuit priest from Tamil Nadu, who has been abducted from Herat in Afghanistan on June 2 by suspected Taliban militants. "I urge the Centre and the Prime Minister in particular, to intervene and secure the release of Fr Alexis Prem Kumar," he said in a statement.

The US today said it is looking forward to working with Egypt's president-elect Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and advance the bilateral strategic ties but raised concerns over the "restrictive political environment" in which he was elected. 

PM Modi is about to increase the number of working days for government offices.

Four residents, including two women, were feared trapped in an old four-storey buildingafter a portion of its roof collapsed, at Salkia in Howrah district of West Bengal today.        

 

Fire brigade sources, said the four were trapped after the debris from the collapsed roof blocked the stairs. The other residents of the building at 10 Sitanath Bose Lane were rescued, they said.        

 

There was no casualty or injury, the sources said. Firemen were trying to evacuate the four with the help of ladders of the two fire tenders, the sources said. Local people were helping in the rescue operation, they added.

In unusual comments, Congress spokesperson Shahshi Tharoor today said the opposition would be "churlish" in ignoring the voices of inclusive outreach of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.        

 

Tharoor, who was replying to questions on an article written by him in an American news website, insisted that the "accommodative and inclusive language should be welcomed and it would be churlish to ignore that".        

 

He said he has not heard intolerant language nor the language used in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections after Modi was sworn-in as the Prime Minister.         He described the Prime Minster as "Modi 2.0" which he said has replaced "Modi 1.0".       

 

In the article under the heading "How Narendra Modi may have evolved into Modi 2.0", Tharoor has emphasised that "to almost everyone's surprise... Modi and the BJP have eschewed the hubris and triumphalism they might have been assumed to have earned with their sweeping victory".        

 

Citing various instances, the Congress leader has wondered whether this all adds up to a "Modi 2.0, a very different figure in government from the ogre some of us had feared and demonised for years?"

Cash-strapped Pakistan has hiked its defence budget by 11 per cent from Rs 627 billion to Rs 700 billion with the finance minister saying the government cannot be oblivious to national security challenges amid a surge in Taliban insurgency.        

 

Ishaq Dar made this announcement as he presented Rs 3.9 trillion budget in the National Assembly yesterday.        

 

Dar said the government would provide "all necessary resources" to the armed forces, despite efforts to rein in government spending.   The hike in defence spending came amid reports that the army may launch a full-scale operation against Taliban insurgents hiding in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan as peace talks failed to make any headway.        

President Pranab Mukherjee, as advised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed that Nitin Gadkari, the Union minister of road transport, highways and shipping, shall be given additional charge of the ministries of rural development, panchayati raj and drinking water & sanitation, a Rashtrapati Bhavan press release has said.  

 

The ministries were under Gopinath Munde, who died in a car accident in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Tweeted by AAP: Ravi Reddy, AAP leader, was protesting dumping of garbage at Mandur by BBMP, got arrested by police at 12 pm. His whereabouts are unknown.

AIIMS spokesperson Amit Gupta says the autopsy report Gopinath Munde  have been sent to the police. He says Munde did not have a heart attack, but internal injuries caused his heart to stop.

The preliminary post-mortem report yesterday said: "His liver was ruptured which caused internal bleeding. Due to the sudden shock/impact, he then suffered cardiac arrest. None of the external wounds were fatal enough to cause death."

Details on the molestation of a bus conductor in Dombivili, Maharashtra.

According to Senior Police Inspector Milind Patil of Manpada police station, the MSRTC bus was on its way to Dombivili railway station when the accused, identified as Arvind Singh, a resident of Kalamboli in Navi Mumbai, ran with the moving bus and tried to board it near Dombivili Sahakari Bank from the front exit.

The driver and the conductor objected to the passenger boarding the bus from the front door and instead asked him to take the rear entrance.

Annoyed, Singh allegedly began abusing both of them after entering the bus.

When the woman asked Singh to stop misbehaving, he allegedly pushed her and tore her clothes during the scuffle.

At this, angry fellow passengers roughed up the accused and subsequently handed him over to Manpada police. He was arrested and charged under sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the IPC, police said.

Just in: Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Kunal Ghosh named in one FIR filed in Saradha case. 

According to early reports, the accused got into an argument with the bus driver and then turned on the woman when she intervened. 

Just in: A woman conductor of a state transport bus has been stripped and beaten in Dombivali in suburban Mumbai. The accused had been arrested. Details awaited.

This comes in the wake of a horrific incident in which a 35-year-old tribal Garo woman's head was blown to pieces when she resisted rape in South Garo Hills district of Meghalaya by suspected GNLA militants. She was shot in the head at point blank range, sparking outrage in the state.

The woman was at home with her husband and five children when four to five armed militants of the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) entered their house at around 6 pm yesterday.

CBI files the first set of FIRs in the multi-crore Saradha scam. Three FIRs have been filed in West Bengal and 43 in Odisha. FIRs relate to conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust. The scale of the scam was much larger in Odisha. 163 chit fund firms have collected around Rs 4,600 crore by defrauding the people in Odisha, whereas the chit fund scam in West Bengal is estimated at Rs 2,460 crore.

Moreover, at least 10 lakh families, mostly belonging to the low-income group, have been affected by the scam in Orissa, reported the Indian Express.

In choppy trade, the Sensex today retreated from record levels to close down by 52 points as investors booked profits in IT, oil & gas and FMCG shares. The 30-share barometer had opened on a positive note and touched day's high of 24,925.90 points.

To improve nutrition among school-going children, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi plans to propose a ban on unhealthy or 'junk' food in school canteens across the country.

The objective is to "make available good quality, safe food to students in school canteens", said officials from the WCD Ministry.

"The idea is also to specify what constitutes 'junk' food and making children aware why they are harmful," said an official. Gandhi plans to discuss the matter with the Health and Human Resource Development (HRD) ministries.

The mid-day meal scheme comes under the HRD ministry. The health ministry's Food Safety and Security of India (FSSAI) is already working on guidelines proposing healthy food on school premises.

The Delhi High Court has also been studying into the regulation of sale of junk food and aerated drinks in and around school premises in the country.

The court is hearing the PIL filed by Uday Foundation seeking an immediate ban on junk food and carbonated drinks in all unaided and private schools.

How and why Pele's mystique and reputation as the world's greatest ever footballer has been overhyped. Read

On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met to Vice President Hamid Ansari and sought his guidance in governance and diplomacy.

Ansari, who began his career as an officer in the Indian Foreign Service in 1961 was Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, Indian High Commissioner to Australia and Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

The hour-long meeting between Modi and Ansari was termed as a courtesy visit, but BJP insiders say that it is Ansari's rich experience in diplomacy that will serve Modi well and Modi needs his guidance.

And there's this as well -- Dr Ansari is also chairman of the Rajya Sabha and Modi's task will be made easier if the Upper House functions smoothly. 

India likely to ease restrictions for foreign online retailers next month. Read

The victory of Mr. Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party is now more than a week old. The immediacy of victory often blinds us to bigger issues of policy and planning. Yes, history was created. What was historical was the end of the Congress as a major party. Read

TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien's brother Barry, joins the BJP. He ways there will not be any personal clash with Derek, since both respect each other.

With 47 MPs, the AIADMK's contingent in Parliament was a sea of veshtis. All the MPs carried a small photograph of party chief Jayalalithaa in their shirt pocket, something which became the talking point among many BJP and north Indian MPs in Central Hall. The remarks were not snide, mind you, the loyalty to their leader was appreciated by many.

Here are a few first day, first show vignettes from the Parliament Complex, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his maiden appearance..

For the first time Modi addressed the media outside the Parliament House Gate Number 4, in what is a customary interaction with the media.

For the first time Modi presided over a Union Cabinet meeting inside Parliament Houseat 11.30 am to approve the President's address to the joint session of Parliament on Monday, June 9, 2014.

For the first time Modi said Namaste to Sonia Gandhi inside Lok Sabha just before the session began.

For the first time Modi went to room number 9 inside Parliament House, which is the Prime Minister's Chambers. He met Union ministers and officials there.

For the first time Modi entered the Lok Sabha. He was accompanied by Venkaiah Naidu. Modi went to the benches of all political leaders to greet them at 10.55 am, just a few minutes before Pro-tem Speaker Kamal Nath occupied the Speaker's chair.

For the first time Modi was in Central Hall. There he shook hands with many MPs, including from the Congress.

For the first time, well, the number of first-time MPs, 315 according to PRS Legislative Research, was huge in Central Hall of Parliament. Needless to say, the representation of Congress MPs was not much.

After the cabinet met in Parliament today, finance minister Arun Jaitley briefed senior union ministers about his political interactions with Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa. Jaitley  is believed to have summarised three major points:
1. There should be a frequent dialogues with Jayalalitha.
2. No discrimination against the AIADMK
3. BJP should reopen communication channels and and continue to engage Jay on all developmental issues.
The UPA government kept her at arm's length and ensured there was no direct communication with her.

Jaitley, is believed to be the person who, thanks to his frequent telephone conversations with Jaya, ensured a level of comfort before she met Narendra Modi in Delhi. 

Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also kept in touch with Jaya on various issues. Prasad will now have a major role to play in bringing AIADMK and Jayalalithaa to the discussion table. Commerce and industry minister  Nirmala Sitharaman and MoS Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises -- Pon Radhakrishnan --  two Tamil ministers -- also paid a courtesy call at the Tamil Nadu Bhavan in Delhi on Tuesday.

Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan's car has been pelted with stones at Gopinath Munde's funeral in Parli.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has asked Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to send her Finance Minister O Panneerselvam to New Delhi on June 9 along with senior officials, so that the Centre can release the pending payments to the state government. This so impressed Jaya. "That is nice of you, Mr Jaitley, I appreciate your readiness," she responded.

Just in: Supporters, who are in their thousands, turn violent at Gopinath Munde's funeral. They allege that Munde's death was a conspiracy and demand a CBI probe. Vehicles have been damaged and torched, say early reports.    

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Jayalalithaa had a one-on-one meeting for 10 minutes on Tuesday, when she called on him at his South Block office. The two are believed to have discussed political strategies between the Centre and state and also the AIADMK and the BJP. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Chennai in July when the two leaders will take the discussion forward.

President Pranab Mukherjee has suggested to Jayalalithaa that her speeches as chief minister in the National Development Council and other national fora be printed as a book. Jaya replied that the Tamil Nadu government's publication division has already done so and that she would arrange copies to be sent to the President's Secretariat.

Coming soon: a Compendium of Speeches by Jayalalithaa in the Rajya Sabha from March 1984 to January 1989. In 1985, Jayalalithaa spoke of national and international issues in the Rajya Sabha which are still relevant. The compendium will feature a foreword by President Pranab Mukherjee.

"You have a superb computer memory, how do you remember dates, months and historical perspective! You are wonderful, dadaji."

This is how Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa described President Pranab Mukherjee when she paid a courtesy call on him on Tuesday in Rashtrapati Bhavan."

My first official visit was to Chennai on September 8, 2012," When Mukherjee recollected the exact date and year Jayalalithaa was totally taken aback, and said, "Well, you have a sharp memory, dadaji."

Mukherjee even recollected Jayalalithaa's exact stint in the Rajya Sabha (1984-89). "Oh, you remember year also," she exclaimed.

And the President further foxed her with his question: "Do you remember I was the Leader of the House then?"

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked Union Ministers to meet Tamil  Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha during their official visits to Chennai. to sort out the pending issues between Centre and her government. While this gesture may be a pleasant change to Jaya after an UPA government at the centre, Modi had always emphasised during his poll campaigns that he would take all Chief Ministers on board to sort out developmetal projects and issues.

Heard in the corridors of power following her visit to the national capital yesterday: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa is 'thrilled with the computer-like memory of President Pranab Mukherjee'.

The Tiananmen Massacre: 25 Years later, three students tell what they saw. Read

China on Wednesday imposed smothering security in central Beijing on the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, a bloody watershed in history that remains a taboo topic in the communist nation.

The United States demanded the release of scores of people detained in the run-up to the anniversary, as the semi-autonomous city of Hong Kong prepared for an annual candlelit vigil that this year is expected to draw as many as 200,000. Read

Also see our slideshow on the historic event. Tiananmen Square: When China's history changed FOREVER

That's the car from RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's convoy that was hit by another car in Delhi earlier this afternoon. Bhagwat still uses an Ambassador, it seems.

As Uttar Pradesh is grappling with incidents of rape and murder, BJP MP and former Home Secretary R K Singh today said it was a fit case for the President's rule as the state has "completely failed" to control law and order. "It is a failed state. There is no law and order. Rape and murder are very common. There is no control. The state has completely failed. It is a fit case for the President's rule," Singh said.

The Western Railway has agreed to reduce the speed of trains passing through tracks near Gir forest in Gujarat's Amreli district to prevent accidents of Asiatic lions moving in the area.

The railway authorities have also agreed to impart training to more train drivers to sensitise them about lions, on why big cats need to be protected and what can the drivers do to ensure the safety of animals if found on tracks. The training will be imparted by forest officials, he said.

The forest department will bear the expenditure of barbed wire fencing in 30 km area on railway track in Amreli frequented by lions, while the railway will construct an under passage (running under the rail track) for enabling movement of lions and other wild animals, the official said.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court dismisses the plea of Sahara Chief Subrata Roy that he be put under house arrest. Which means Mr Roy remains in jail.

The court had allowed the Sahara Group to approach its creditor Bank of China for selling equities in three offshore hotels to raise the money.

Sahara, in its fresh proposal, has said it would like to deposit Rs. 3,000 crore cash in five days and another Rs. 2,000 crore in cash in the next 30 days thereafter.

The group would be furnishing a bank guarantee for the rest of Rs. 5,000 crore in 60 days after selling its equities in hotels, one in London and two in New York, the group said.

After his reluctance to head Congress in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi was today seen sitting in one of the rear benches of the Opposition. He was  seated in the ninth row along with party colleagues Asrar-ul Haq and Shashi Tharoor.

Those occupying the front benches on the opposition side included Leader of Congress in the House Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, M Veerappa Moily and K H Muniyappa.

Incidentally, BJP leader Varun Gandhi was also occupying one of the rear benches on the Treasury side.

In other news, former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today declined to accept a posse of personal staff alloted to him by the state government, a facility not available to other former Chief Ministers.

"I will accept only things to which I am entitled to as a former Chief Minister and nothing beyond that," Kumar said. "I came to know from newspapers today about the allotment only for me and excluding other ex-CMs...mujhe yah suvidha nahi chahiye (I do not need the facilities)," he said. "I thank Jitan Ram Manjhi cabinet for showing concern for me but I do not need these facilities, not permitted in rule for former chief ministers," Nitish Kumar said.

The Manjhi cabinet had yesterday approved a proposal of the Cabinet Secretariat providing necessary personal staff to the former Chief Minister for five years.

The national flag at the Rashtrapati Bhavan being flown at half mast. The government declared national mourning yesterday which mandates that the tricolour is flown at half-mast at all government buildings throughout the country. 

Union minister Gopinath Pandurang Munde laid to rest at his village, Parli, in Maharashtra. RIP. 

Gopinath Munde's sudden death has dealt a harsh blow to the fledgling Narendra Modi government and BJP's plans for Maharashtra assembly polls that are barely four months away.

The early morning crash that killed Munde came at a time when the politician was enjoying renewed relevance in BJP affairs after a lean patch that had seen him even contemplate leaving the party. Munde's selection for the politically important portfolio of rural development was a careful choice as Modi wanted to give charge of the ministry to a leader with sound grasp of ground realities.

Munde's daughters pass logs for the pyre to the priests. 

Final rites begin sharp at 2 pm. Gopinath Munde's daughter Pankaja lights the pyre. Munde is being cremated will full state honours. 

And now, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's convoy hit by a car in Delhi, but he is safe. RSS leader Ram Madhav tweets: "Bhagwatji's vehicle has NOT met with any accident. Security vehicle behind him was hit by a car. Bhagwat-ji is perfectly OK and left on his tour. Due to the impact of the crash the security vehicle was pushed forward and slowly pushed Bhagwat-ji's vehicle. Nothing happened to Mohanji."

SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav on the unabated rapes in UP. "Rapes are happening in other states as well, UP is being deliberately targeted. The vulgarity and violence which is normally shown on TV channels is affecting mentality of people," he says.

Today, Mulayam Singh Yadav blamed the media for portraying his state in a negative light.

The Samajwadi Party chief made a scathing remark on the national media and cautioned it to focus on other issues. When quizzed by reporters on rising lawlessness in UP, the SP chief said, "You do your job, I'll do mine."

Congress President Sonia Gandhi's dinner meet with Congress MPs scheduled for tomorrow has now been postponed to June 10th. Probably in deference to Gopinath Munde's death.

And more and more supporters gather at the Vaidyanath sugar factory premises near Parli where Gopinath Munde's body is being be kept for "antim darshan" (last respects). Calm has been restored after tense moments earlier when supporters unable to get a glimpse of the body, kept in a glass-encased coffin on a raised platform, clashed with the police. The  funeral will take place after 2 pm.

The Prime Minister to meet all Secretaries to the Government of India, at 6 pm today at 7, Race Course Road.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today assured the nation that all efforts would be made in Parliament for fulfilling the hopes and aspirations of ordinary citizens.

"People of the country have elected the 16th Lok Sabha by blessing the public representatives and casting their votes in unprecedented numbers," the prime minister told reporters at Parliament House before the commencement of the first session of the 16th Lok Sabha.

That Pankaja will perform the last rites of her father sends out a very important message not just to rural Maharashtra, but most of India, whee only sons are allowed to perform the last rites. 

TV reports suggest that the numbers at Gopinath Munde's funeral are over 10 lakh. 

Political differences blurred yesterday in the aftermath of Gopinath Munde's death. Congress President Sonia Gandhi wrote a letter to Union Minister Gopinath Munde's family condoling his death, while Rahul Gandhi along with Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat visited the BJP office ij Delhi to pay homage. Sonia wrote, "There are some events in life on which one has no control and one has to bear with them." Sonia lost her husband Rajiv Gandhi in a terrorist attack in 1991.

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and BJP spokesperson Prakash Javdekar pay their last respects. BJP MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy tries to control the crowds from the dais.

Gopinath Munde's family and friends at his coffin. To the extreme right is his daughter Pankaja and next to her is another daughter. With folded hands Pankaja accepts the wishes of the people streaming past and then waves them on.

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray is at the funeral. Consoling Pankaja, Uddhav lays a wreath at Munde's glass-encased coffin. 

It is a sweltering 45 C in Beed now, but Gopinath Munde's supporters multiplying by the minute.

Now, Goa CM Manohar Parrikar pays his respects. Rajiv Pratap Rudy, who has been in Pali since early this morning, points him to Pankaja.

Police desperately trying to control the crowds at the funeral as they go past Munde's coffin trying to get a last glimpse of the grassroots leader. Munde's daughter, Pankaja, who the represents the Parli Assembly seat in Beed district, take the mic and asks people to calm down.  

Gopinath Munde, the former deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra (1995-1999) is not the first in the family to die on the third day of a month. His illustrious brother-in-law and BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, who brought Munde into politics, had died on May 3, 2006. The former Parliamentary Affairs minister was shot at and fatally injured by his brother Pravin Mahajan over a family dispute on April 22, 2006. Pravin died at a Thane hospital on March 3, 2010, three years after he was jailed for the murder.

Poonam Mahajan, the Mumbai North Central MP, who defeated Priya Dutt, consoles her aunt, Gopinath Munde's wife, as she hugs the coffin. Gopinath Munde's wife is Pramod Mahajan's sister. 

Rajnath Singh tweets: Going to Parli in Beed (Maharashtra) to attend the funeral of Late Gopinath Munde-ji and pay my last respects to the departed leader.

Thousands upon thousands of supporters at the grounds in Parli. The emotional crowds climb on to barricades, pelt stones in frustration as they cannot get a glimpse of Gopinath Munde's body. BJP spokesperson Prakash Javdekar asks people to calm down. While there seem to be a huge deployment of police personnel, the thousands gathered at the grounds is difficult to control.  

Back in Parli village, a near stampede as the cortege carrying Gopinath Munde's body reaches the grounds where he will be cremated. 

Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has demanded action against sexual violence and appealed to the society to reject the destructive attitude of "boys will be boys".

"In just the last two weeks, we have seen despicable attacks against women and girls around the world -- from Nigeria to Pakistan and from California to India. I was especially appalled by the brutal rape and gruesome murder of two teenaged women in India who had ventured out because they did not have access to a toilet," Ban said here yesterday.

Decrying the recent attacks against women and girls around the world, Ban stressed that "violence against women is a peace and security issue. It is a human rights issue. It is a development issue." He said nations must respond on all fronts and achieve full equality for all women.

"We say no to the dismissive, destructive attitude of 'Boys will be boys'. Together, we can empower more people to understand that violence against women degrades us all," Ban said at the launch of a video campaign on ending sexual violence through gender equality.

Nitin Gadkari, Sushma Swaraj, Piyush Goyal and Venkaiah Naidu will also attend Gopinath Munde's funeral. Several thousands have already gathered in the sweltering heat in Parli, Beed, to pay their final respects to their leader. 

In a shocking incident in Meghalaya's South Garo Hills district, alleged militants shot a woman through her head at point blank range with an  automatic assault rifle for resisting their attempt to molest her outside her home on Tuesday evening. Read more

Doctors at AIIMS, who requested not to be named, told The Telegraph that an ultrasound scan performed on the minister when he was brought to the AIIMS did not show any internal bleeding.

However, the post-mortem analysis has revealed injuries to his chest and liver. The doctors said it is possible these injuries might have been caused during the attempts to revive Munde.

The standard procedure for cardiopulmonary resuscitation -- intended to get a silent heart to spontaneously start beating again -- involves compressing the chest 100 times per minute. The trauma centre protocols call on doctors to try to resuscitate for at least 30 minutes. The doctors continued to try to resuscitate Munde for an additional 20 minutes.

The 50-minute resuscitation attempt could have exposed Munde's body to nearly 5,000 chest compressions which could have led to the injuries to the chest and liver observed in the post-mortem analysis, doctors engaged in the resuscitation attempts said.

But these likely post-mortem injuries in the chest and liver were not serious and could have been easily managed if cardiac activity had been revived, a senior doctor said.

In other news: MoS Home Kiran Rijiju says the situation in Uttar Pradesh is a matter of concern for all of us. UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav yesterday accused the media of highlighting rape cases only in Uttar Pradesh and ignoring those happening in other states.

Akhilesh said, "These incidents are not happening only in Uttar Pradesh. If you go online, you will find that such cases are reported elsewhere too. Did the national media highlight those incidents?"

The United Nations on Monday condemned the gang rape and murder of the two girls in Uttar Pradesh's Badaun district and called for immediate action against the perpetrators and to address violence against women across India.

And that's Gopinath Munde's body arriving in Parli village in Beed in Maharashtra. The final rites will be performed at 2 pm. 

After the Parliament was adjourned for the day, pro-tem Speaker Kamal Nath said the role of the Opposition would be to attract government's attention towards the needs of the people and to help "clear pending legislations."

He said the Speaker of the Lok Sabha will decide the Leader of the Opposition and this would happen day after tomorrow.

"It is a important decision to have a Leader of Opposition," he added. The Pro-tem Speaker performs the duties of the office of the Speaker from the commencement of the sitting of the Lok Sabha till the election of the Speaker.

Gopinath Munde's body has reached Parli village in Beed. The final rites will begin only at 2 pm. Munde is survived by his wife and three daughters - Pankaja, Pritam and Yashashri. Pankaja Palave represents the Parli Assembly seat in Beed district.

The House has been adjourned for the day. The Lok Sabha will meet tomorrow at 11 am. Kamal Nath said that the country deeply mourn the loss of Gopinath Munde. Munde was sworn-in as the Pro-tem Speaker today.

He said that the Congress will be a constructive opposition to the government. He said he has served Parliament for three decades and is an MP from Chindwara in Madhya Pradesh. 

For the first time in the history of Indian Parliament, Kamal Nath, who has been sworn in as pro-tem Speaker will be the only member of the Lok Sabha for the next 24 hours. Under normal circumstances, a pro tem Speaker is sworn in by the President and an hour later, the Lok Sabha is convened and the newly-elected 545 members are sworn in. But today, because of Union minister Gopinath Munde's death, the Parliament was adjourned. The new members are likely to be sworn in on June 5.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today assured the nation that all efforts will be made in Parliament for fulfilling the hopes and aspirations of ordinary citizens.

"People of the country have elected the 16th Lok Sabha by blessing the public representatives and casting their votes in unprecedented numbers," the prime minister told reporters at Parliament House before the commencement of the first session of the 16th Lok Sabha.

"I assure the people of the country that all efforts will be made in this temple of democracy to fulfil the hopes and aspirations of ordinary citizens of India," he said. 

And in Beed, crowds wait to pay homage to Gopinath Munde. His coffin draped in the national flag is soon to be brought to his village in Beed. Munde's eldest daughter Pankaja will perform the last rites. He will be cremated at 2 pm.

On the first day of the 16th Lok Sabha, the house paid homage to the late Gopinath Munde. Two minutes of silence for Munde, announces Kamal Nath. This is the first time that Narendra Modi has entered the Parliament House. New members will take oath tomorrow. President to addresses a joint session of Parliament on June 9.

Pro-tem speaker reads out a tribute to Gopinath Munde.

Meanwhile, former Parliamentary Affairs minister Kamal Nath is sworn in as pro-tem speaker by President Pranab Mukherjee.

LK Advani, HRD minister Smriti Irani and home minister Rajnath Singh to attend the funeral. Gopinath Munde's body will be taken to Parli by a chopper, shortly. 

Maharashtra leaders pay tribute to Gopinath Munde
16th Lok Sabha to open on a sombre note on Wednesday
Munde's body reaches Mumbai; funeral on Wednesday
'No lessons have been learnt from election results'
Munde case: 'Accused driver had jumped red light, was speeding'
Jaya meets PM; doesn't rule out support to govt in RS