Timeline Refresh
Islamist insurgents in Iraq have seized the city of Tikrit, their second major gain after capturing Mosul on Tuesday, security officials say. Tikrit, the hometown of former leader Saddam Hussein, lies just 150km north of the capital Baghdad.
Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki vowed to fight back against the jihadists and punish those in the security forces who fled, offering little or no resistance. The insurgents are from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. ISIS, which is also known as ISIL, is an offshoot of Al Qaeda.
Earlier in the day, another woman was found hanging from a tree in Bahraich in UP. Read the story here.
More details are awaited.
"Today, till 4.30 pm, metro has crossed the one million mark of ridership that it achieved within 59 hours of operation since inception of commercial operation," a release from Mumbai Metro One, an arm of Reliance Infrastructure, said.
This is the only Metro in the country that carries an average of 1,487 commuters per km per hour, it added. "Precisely, it carries almost double the number of commuters every day as compared to Delhi Metro.
This proves the overwhelming acceptance of Mumbai Metro by the people." The company has offered a promotional fare of Rs 10 for the first 30 days irrespective of the distance travelled.
Read the statement here
The exams are likely to commence from June 19. A vacation bench of Justice Gita Mittal issued a notice to the city police, seeking its response by June 16.
The court also said Sharma should have moved the court earlier. In response to this, Sharma's counsel submitted a representation was moved before Delhi government on May 14 but its rejection was communicated to him only on June 6 after which the high court was approached with the plea. Sharma, son of former Union Minister Venod Sharma, was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing ramp model Jessica Lall in 1999.
Reversing the trial court's acquittal order, the Delhi high court awarded life sentence to him in December, 2006 in the murder case and the Supreme Court had upheld the high court order against him in April, 2010.
During the just-concluded visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to New Delhi as Xi's Special Envoy, the top diplomat conveyed to the Indian leadership that the Chinese President will visit India later this year, Chinese Ambassador to India Wei Wei announced.
Addressing a reception here to mark the 60th anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence or Panchsheel, Wei said that during Wang's talks here, he "conveyed important messages from the Chinese leadership to the Indian leaders, invited the Indian leader to attend the commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of the Panchsheel and made it clear that President Xi will pay a state visit to India late this year."
Forty-seven-year-old Om Vir Singh 'Fauji', a retired army man who was the vice-president of BJP unit in Mirapur town, was out for a morning walk when two assailants fired multiple shots at him yesterday, according to police.
Singh, who had a licensed revolver with him, too fired at the attackers but they snatched it from him. In the preliminary inquiry, Monu has said that he along with his accomplice had gone to Mirapur with the aim of killing someone else, Sengar said.
The drill involved swift operational movement of commandos of the National Security Guard, CISF and other airport security officials in the wake of a probable attack or a hijack like situation at the highly sensitive facility, thronged by thousands passengers. The exercise went on for about an hour and it concluded swiftly and smoothly, sources involved in the drill said.
"The aim was to check the preparedness and coordination between all the security agencies deployed on the airport which includes the CISF, NSG, Delhi police and other civilian component of airport defence. The objective was to respond as one unit in the wake of a Karachi airport like attack," the sources said.
Irate protesters in Bhajanpura area of North East Delhi damaged a Delhi Transport Corporation bus while people in Khanpur in South Delhi and some other areas in East and North Delhi also resorted to violent protests against power cuts.
There has been loadshedding ranging from one to five hours in several areas of East, West and South Delhi as a number of major power transmission lines, damaged by the storm on May 10, are yet to be restored.
"I have no information. IB gives us daily briefings," Singh told reporters outside Parliament House while replying to queries on media reports in this regard. Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily said that government should "seriosuly look into" if any NGO utilises the funds they receive from foreign agencies for disrupting industrial growth and destabilising the nation.
The reports said that the allegations were part of the IB's report submitted to the Prime Minister's Office.
The Tamil Nadu government has in principle agreed to transfer the case in view of the fact that investigations need to be carried out in other countries including Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Maldives, official sources said.
A proposal for handing over the case to the NIA was sent to the state police.
An effective coordination of Intelligence Bureau with foreign countries had led to unraveling of the case where Malaysia tipped the central agency about an alleged conspiracy being hatched from Sri Lanka about carrying an attack on US and Israeli consulates in Chennai and Bangalore.
William Hague has said the government will investigate claims that Tamil asylum seekers are being deported from the UK to Sri Lanka despite evidence they have been subjected to rape and sexual abuse by the country's security forces.
Refugees, their lawyers and advocacy groups made the allegations on Tuesday on the opening day of the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, hosted by the UK, which has faced accusations of hypocrisy over the issue.
Lawyers even reported an acceleration of deportations of Tamils in recent weeks, which they believed has been triggered by anticipation of new Sri Lankan guidelines expected to bolster the cases of Tamil asylum seekers fleeing torture.
The foreign secretary pointed out that asylum decisions are handled by the home secretary, Theresa May, but that the Foreign Office contributes to country by country assessments of human rights.
He promised an investigation and training for immigration officers to make them more sensitive to the plight of rape victims. "We are a country that is open to asylum seekers. We uphold our standards very strictly, and whenever anyone thinks we are not doing that, we are always happy to investigate," Hague told the Guardian.
Today, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ordered his interior minister to fight sexual harassment after several women were attacked during his inauguration celebrations. But will el-Sisi's sentiment make a difference?
"Definitely", says Hania Moheeb a prominent activist for Women's rights in Egypt and who is herself a victim of sexual harassment. "President Sisi owes a lot to Egyptian women who lined up to vote for him."
"I was happy that he spoke about the issue...I think that if he has the will and declared that he has the will then something will happen." According to the U.N. Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women, over 99% of women in Egypt will suffer some form of sexual harassment at some point and it's an experience Hania Moheeb knows all too well. She was just one of the thousands of Egyptians who took to Tahrir Square in Cairo last year, to commemorate the second anniversary of the January 25th revolution. But something happened that catapulted her into activism; she was sexually assaulted.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today held a review meeting with senior state officials and asked them to "learn" from the Beas tragedy even as he directed power department staff to strictly adhere to "safety norms" at dam sites.
Singh directed multi-purpose projects and the power department to take extra precautions to avert any mishap in the future while discharging water from dams.
He ordered that announcements should be made before releasing the water downstream through loudspeakers fitted on vehicles along with warning by hooters.
"We should learn a lesson from the Larji dam mishap and every precaution should be taken in future by all departments concerned," he said. Required fencing would be done at all dams and other dangerous zones and proper signboards would be installed in such areas.
Singh said that a high-level inquiry has been ordered and stern action will be taken against those found to have been negligent.
Congress today reacted strongly to a jibe by BJP that it had been reduced to the status of a "regional party" and asked the ruling party to wear victory with humility while warning that "pride comes before the fall".
"The biggest thing which political history teaches us is that pride comes before the fall. The notion of the infallibility of the victorious party has to be tempered by humility," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi told reporters here.
Earlier, in an attack on Congress, BJP MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy had said, "We never imagined that we will have to welcome a national party as a regional party in this House... What prompted this to happen? Why this mandate? People have punished you (Congress) for your misrule of 65 years."
Rudy's remarks in Lok Sabha triggered protests as he also said that since there was no Leader of Opposition, Congress would not be able to participate in the decision-making process on major matters like appointment of Chief Vigilance Commissioner, CBI Director and the Lokpal.
Hitting back at Rudy, Singhvi reminded the BJP leader that Congress had won 414 seats in 1984, much more than the 282 seats which BJP has secured this time. BJP had got only two seats in 1984 and there was also a time when it had not won even a single seat, Singhvi said.
Time magazine's Bobby Ghosh is joining Atlantic Media's Quartz site as managing editor, editor-in-chief Kevin Delaney announced to staff on Tuesday. Ghosh spent the past year as international editor of Time, overseeing all of its editions and correspondents outside the U.S.
He has lived and reported from all over the world, including five years as Time's Baghdad bureau chief. "Bobby's mandate is to engage deeply with Quartz's journalism and increase the breadth, creativity, and impact of our coverage, guiding our reporters to their greatest work,' Delaney wrote in a memo to staff.
"His arrival comes as we're expanding the editorial team to produce even more high-quality journalism that finds a broad readership online. And it will allow us to further our ambitions outside the US, as marked by this week's launch of Quartz India.'
"Bobby brings a sophisticated curiosity about the world, an obsessive news focus, and a strong identification with Quartz's mission to cover the new global economy's most important and interesting facets,' Delaney wrote.
Iraq's prime minister has asked parliament to declare a state of emergency after Islamist militants effectively took control of Mosul and much of its province of Nineveh.
Nouri Maliki said "vital areas" of the city had been seized; some 150,000 people are believed to have fled. Troops fled Mosul as hundreds of jihadists from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) overran it. The US has said ISIS threatens not just Iraq, but the entire region.
With Pakistan under attack by the Pakistani Taliban, Islamabad needs to look at mending relations with Kabul and viewing terrorism as a shared problem, writes Raza Rumi.
Gathering courage, a 20-year-old girl overpowered a man who allegedly tried to molest her in a park in high-security Chanakyapuri area Monday evening and handed him over to police.
The incident took place at around 7 pm when the girl, a class 12 student, was taking a walk with her mother in Nehru Park in Chanakyapuri when the accused, 22-year-old Manjeet, who is known to her and is a neighbour, reached the spot and began passing lewd comments at her, said a senior police official.
"The girl at first ignored him but when he continued to misbehave, she called up the police and her relatives," said a police official.
]On learning that police were on their way, Manjeet tried to flee but the girl chased him and caught him. By that time, her cousin and maternal uncle, who live nearby, also reached the spot, the official said.
When the police reached the spot, they handed over Manjeet to them. He was taken to Chankyapuri police station and based on the victim's complaint booked on the charge of molestation.
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Akhilesh govt transfers another 36 IAS officers
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Kerala: 7 booked for placing Modi's photo in same list as Hitler, Osama
LK Advani gets back room in Parliament
Prime Minister Modi scraps 4 Cabinet Committees
Raj Thackeray comes out in support of Campa Cola residents
UP govt hands over Badaun rape case to CBI
Uttarakhand: Two Russians dead, 1 missing as car plunges into river
All ministers to submit property details to Modi by July end
Sonia cheers as Kharge compares Congress to Pandavas
PHOTOS: India becomes too hot to handle!