A car carrying AAP leader Manish Sisodia was attacked by unidentified men on Himmatnagar highway in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat today, the party alleged and claimed that the attackers were BJP workers.     

The AAP today accused the BJP of trying to intimidate its workers and requested the Election Commission to initiate a probe into the violent clashes which took place between its members and supporters of the saffron outfit.

Former BJP national president Nitin Gadkari today defended his meeting with MNS chief Raj Thackeray in Mumbai, saying it was aimed at preventing the splitting of anti-Congress-NCP votes in the state.        

Former MP Jagdish Tytler, who on March 4 filed his nomination for the candidature for the Northeast Lok Sabha seat in Delhi under the primaries project, today withdrew his nomination.        

Uttar Pradesh police have dropped charges of sedition against the Kashmiri students who had cheered for the Pakistan cricket team during a match against India on Sunday, according to media reports.

AAP leader Parveen Amanullah and six party workers were arrested today for allegedly violating the poll code of conduct, police said.        

Rebel Trinamool Congress MP Kabir Suman, who was denied a ticket for the Lok Sabha polls by the party, today said he was open to contesting the election from his Jadavpur seat as an independent.        

The final countdown to the Lok Sabha polls has thrown up some interesting permutations and combinations.

US President Barack Obama today imposed sanctions and placed restrictions on individuals supporting the Russian incursion and activities undermining democratic processes in crisis-hit Ukraine.       

Goa's Congress legislator Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco praised Aam Aadmi party leader Arvind Kejriwal for daring to take on the high and mighty head on.       

The in-camera trial in the sexual assault case against controversial self-styled godman Asaram Bapu will begin at the District and Sessions Court in Jaipur on March 19, with the victim deposing on March 25.        

Congress Vice-president Rahul Gandhi today took on the RSS, blaming the right-wing outfit for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.                 

For the first time in Pakistan's history, widows hailing from the minority Hindu community will get financial assistance from a provincial government.

Special Advisor to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister for Minority Affairs, Sardar Sooran Singh said the initiative would provide relief to the deserving women of the minority community.

He made these comments while addressing a cheque distribution ceremony at the Kala Bari Hindu temple, state-run APP news agency reported. Singh said that the government was fully cognisant of the problems faced by the minorities and was taking result-oriented measures to address them.

He said that the government was mulling over initiating several welfare projects for the minorities that would redress their grievances.

According to reports just coming in, the CPI-M and the CPI have called off their alliance with the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu for the Lok Sabha polls. Sources said that the Left parties will contest the elections on their own

More details are awaited.

An American anchor for the Moscow-funded Russia Today television network resigned live on air in protest at the deployment of Russia-backed forces in Ukraine.

Liz Wahl said during a broadcast on Wednesday that she could no longer work for the network, which she accused of 'whitewashing' moves by Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

"My grandparents came here as refugees during the Hungarian revolution, ironically to escape the Soviet forces,' she said.

"Personally, I cannot be part of a network funded by the Russian government that whitewashes the actions of Putin.

"I'm proud to be an American and believe in disseminating the truth, and that is why, after this newscast, I am resigning."

Just in: Our sources tell us that DMDK is in talks with the BJP. The two parties are set to meet at 8 pm today. DMDK chief, actor-politician Vijayakanth may come to Delhi on March 8 to meet Narendra Modi, LK Advani and Rajnath Singh.

Last month, the BJP had refused Vijaykant an appointment with Rajnath Singh.

Against the backdrop of recent submarine mishap, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today suggested that the Defence Ministry is not spending the funds "wisely" enough and contended the maintenance of the military assets was being neglected.

He insisted that the Finance Ministry provides "a lot of money" to the Defence Ministry and "I sincerely hope that the defence forces will learn a lesson and make sure that the money allotted to them is spent more wisely and more efficiently on essential matters."

Pakistan today termed the slapping of sedition charges on nearly 60 Kashmiri students in Uttar Pradesh for cheering the Pakistani cricket team as "very unfortunate" and said its "heart" and educational institutions are always open if they wanted to pursue their studies here.

Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said she knows that Kashmiris celebrated Pakistan's victory against India in the Asia Cup.

"We saw Indian media reports that there were all night celebrations and there were also reports that 67 Kashmiri students were expelled," she said at her weekly press briefing at the Foreign Office.

Stating that she does not have any way of corroborating that information, Aslam said, "If these Kashmiri students want to come and pursue their studies in Pakistan, our hearts and academic institutions are open to them".

It's confirmed. Filmmaker Prakash Jha will contest the Lok Sabha polls from Bettiah, Bihar on a JD-U ticket.

Jha addressed a public meeting at Bettiah today along with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar during the Sankalp Yatra.

A JD-U leader close to Nitish Kumar said that Jha's name had been finalised from the Bettiah seat and a formal announcement would be made.

Jha had taken part in a protest against the denial of special category status to Bihar on March 2 in Patna along with Nitish Kumar. He has also a film on the subject.

According to JD-U leaders, Jha has been visiting Bettiah regularly for over a month. He has made films set in Bihar like Gangaajal, Apaharan, Rajniti and Arakhshan. In last Lok Sabha polls, Jha had contested on a Lok Janshakti Party ticket, but was defeated.

Madhuri Dixit-Nene tweets: Show us the power of the people: come dressed in pink!

Union Minister Jairam Ramesh has six days of intense touring of Seemandhra ahead of him. That's on the back of a six day tour.

Ramesh feels it's necessary to visit Seemandhra again because the bifurcation issue is still very hot and many activists and cadres have been leaving the Congress. Ramesh feels another visit will allow him to understand the real issues at hand. 

Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy, the former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh has chosen the slippers (chappals) as the election symbol of his new political party, which he has christened Jai Samakyandhra Praja Samiti (JSPS).

The Convenor of the party is Undavalli Aruna Kumar, a former Congress MP.

The party symbol signifies Lord Rama's paduka, a symbol of respect.

Reddy holds the distinction of being the last chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh.

Just in: The Delhi HC lifts stay order, allows nationwide release of Madhuri Dixit-starrer 'Gulaab Gang' tomorrow.

A day after issuing a stay order on the release of the Juhi Chawla and Madhuri Dixit starrer Gulab Gang, the Delhi High Court agreed to hear the appeal of the film's producers, who have challenged the order.

The film is claimed to be based on the life of activist Sampat Pal, and her organisation Gulabi Gang.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice B D Ahmed and Justice S Mridul agreed to hear the plea during the day after it was mentioned before it by senior advocate Rajiv Nayar, appearing for the producers, Sahara One Media and Entertainment Ltd.

The court said it will hear the plea after the producers file a compact disc of the lawsuit and other related documents before it. The court asked for the compact disc as it is a paperless electronic court (e-court).

AAP leaders Shazia Ilmi and Ashutosh have been taken to the Mandir Marg police station for questioning.


Also read: Kejriwal's mismatched socks and the 2014 general elections

Congress leader Purandeswari, the daughter of famous actor-politician NTR, says she wants to join the BJP, and will formally approach the party tomorrow.

The decline of Bronze-Age civilizations in Egypt, Greece and Mesopotamia has been attributed to a long-term drought that began around 2000 BC.

Now, paleoclimatologists propose that a similar fate was followed by the enigmatic Indus Valley Civilization, at about the same time.

Based on isotope data from the sediment of an ancient lake, the researchers suggest that the monsoon cycle, which is vital to the livelihood of all of South Asia, essentially stopped there for as long as two centuries. Read

When the Supreme Court castigated Sahara Parivar chief Subarata Roy, and sent him to judicial custody on Tuesday, one man must have finally permitted himself a smile K. M. Abraham, former board member of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the man who investigated the Sahara scam. Read

Oscar Pistorius on trial: Explore each side's case in this 3D rendition. Watch

AAP's s tactics harm the very people it represents. Read

The 'slow-motion decision' by Jayalaiithaa to dump her alliance with the Left parties has been utterly fascinating to watch.

The veteran Left leaders could see her reaching out for her abacus to do fresh calculation and were in a state of animated suspense.

Shrewd calculation has gone into Jayalalithaa's momentous decision to break the AIDMllK's electoral alliance with the Left and the ostensible reason -- irreconcilable differences over 'seat-sharing' -- is mere excuse.

Read MK Bhadrakumar's blog.

Just in: All 14 AAP workers who were arrested for protesting outside the BJP office yesterday have been given bail.

The Delhi police are now outside Shazia Ilmi's residence. The AAP candidate says she did not resort to any violence yesterday.

Ashutosh has told AAP volunteers not to resort to any violence. 

A local court in Goa today fixed the hearing on four different applications filed by Tehelka founder editor Tarun Tejpal, accused of sexually assaulting a junior woman colleague, and the Crime Branch to March 21.

The Fast Track Court ordered that it will hear the three applications by Tejpal and an application by Crime Branch filed before it on March 21. The judge today adjourned the matter giving time to the prosecution to file reply on the applications filed by the defence.

Tejpal, 50, has moved three different applications before the fast track court, including one wherein he has stated that the charge sheet filed against him by Crime Branch has disclosed the identity of the victim. The chargesheet, he said, is a public document.

AAP Lok Sabha candidate Ashutosh has been taken away for questioning. The party got a notice from the EC notice over clashes with the BJP last evening. 

Omar Abdullah on the UP government slapping sedition charges against Kashmiri college students: "Have just spoken to CM UP who has assured me he will personally look in to the matter of the Kashmiri students in Meerut."

Here's what Subrata Roy, who comes with the suffix Sahara after his surname has been doing in Tihar jail.

Sahara Chief Roy spent the day meeting his son, brother and a top company official besides reading newspapers in his cell. Roy who was brought to Tihar jail last evening and has been kept in ward number four of prison 3, the same ward where all accused of the 2G scam were kept.

Roy has been provided a bed to sleep as he is above 60 years of age, a jail official said.

Subrata Roy, who was sent in judicial custody for a week in Delhi by the Supreme Court yesterday, had reached Tihar prison at around 8 pm following which doctors examined him and he was found to be in good health.

According to Tihar Spokesperson Sunil Gupta, as per rules, Subrata Roy was given a bed to sleep as he is above 60 years of age.

"He had a sound sleep. In the morning he read newspapers in his ward. He took bread and tea in breakfast. He also ate jail food. Later, he also ordered something to eat from the jail canteen," he said.

"As per prison rules, a prisoner is served chapati of 400 gm grain, 250 gm vegetable and 90 gm dal every day. According to this rule, he is being served food," he said.

Reports of more clashes between AAP and BJP in Gandhidham.

The Delhi police submits its report to the Election Commission. The police say it was AAP protestors who began throwing stones at the BJP office.

Delhi police have reached Shazia Ilmi's residence. The police have asked her to be present for the probe.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today made his Prime Ministerial ambitions known, saying he is more qualified and experienced than those "roaming around" for the top job.

"I am more qualified than those roaming around for the post of Prime Ministership," Kumar said in his 'sankalp yatra' held here to demand special category status for Bihar.

Without naming either the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi or Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, he said, "While one does not have the experience of Parliament another has no experience of running a state... I have both experiences ... Am I less qualified than them?"

Asked categorically if he was a Prime Ministerial candidate, Kumar said his party JD(U) was small and modest and did not make tall claims, but believed in working sincerely for the people.

The CEO of a virtual currency exchange has been found dead in her home in Singapore. A police spokesman said today there was no suspicion of "foul play" in the death of 28-year-old Autumn Radtke.

The spokesman says Radtke, an American, was found dead in her home on Feb. 26.

Her company, First Meta, said it was "shocked and saddened by the tragic loss." First Meta allowed users of virtual currencies such as bitcoin to trade and cash out the currencies.

Siddharth Varadarajan tweets: Four thugs recently beat up the caretaker of my flat in Delhi. The incident took place near our home, with the thugs saying, 'Tell your sahib to watch what he says on TV.'

"They also issued a threat to my wife, Prof Nandini Sundar, about her Chhattisgarh case. We don't know who they are, but it's clearly aimed to intimidate.

The caretaker is recovering. While the police have been helpful and are reviewing neighborhood CCTV footage, I am making this incident public on the advice of friends who believe it may serve some deterrent value."

If it is election time, leave nothing to chance, not even the location of a swimming pool.

For the uninitiated, a pool to the south of one's house is inauspicious, say Vastu experts.

That's the reason RJD supremo Lalu Prasad is filling up the existing swimming pool at his house.

The pool was built at their 10 Circular Road house in 2005 when Rabri Devi shifted there from 1 Aney Marg. It is the one in which she offers arghya (obeisance) to the Sun god during Chhath Puja, Bihar's holiest festival.

But on Wednesday half-a-dozen labourers were busy filling up the 20ft by 50ft swimming pool on Lalu's instructions.  Here's why.

Kanchan Gupta tweets: Charging Kashmiri students with sedition is debatable. But how does it exactly alienate adults who identify themselves with Pakistan?

Omar Abdullah tweets: Sedition charge against Kashmiri students is an unacceptably harsh punishment that will ruin their futures & will further alienate them. I will talk to UP CM ASAP & intervene on behalf of these misguided students to have this charge of sedition removed. I believe the University did what it had to to control the situation but this action by the UP Govt is uncalled for & should be reversed.

So, the group of Kashmiri students of a private university in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, who were suspended on Tuesday, have now been booked for sedition after they cheered Pakistan during a cricket match.

Sixty-seven students of the Swami Vivekanand Subharti University were suspended for celebrating Pakistan's victory over India in the Asia Cup match on Sunday. They now face arrest.

"The case has been registered for being against own country and supporting the other (sic)," said a senior police officer, Onkar Singh, justifying the FIR that doesn't name any student.

Read: Sedition laws and the death of free speech in India

The troubles in Ukraine are already reverberating in India, disrupting the supplies of a crucial oil to Asia's third largest economy -- sunflower oil.

While Indian consumers so far haven't been exposed to any direct impact from the crisis in Ukraine, commodities traders said that could change soon as the conflich is expected to increase the cost of one of their favorite oils for frying foods.  Read more

Meanwhile, Delhi police have left for AAP's Model Town office to possibly arrest Ashutosh. AAP's spokesman and former journalist Ashutosh has been named in the FIR filed by Delhi Police in relation to the clashes that took place between the AAP and BJP outside the latter's headquarters in the capital.

At least 30 AAP workers have also been detained in relation to the case. Ashutosh's name appears in the FIR for illegally gathering at the BJP's headquarters on Wednesday.

The Delhi police have also sent a notice to Shazia Ilmi asking her to join the probe.

Sushma Swaraj, a senior leader of the BJP, has tweeted her opposition to the possibility that controversial Haryana politician Venod Sharma may have found an entry point into the coalition led by her party.

"I am against this," Swaraj tweeted this morning, about reports that Sharma, who quit the Congress on Wednesday after nearly four decades, will join the Haryana Janhit Congress, a regional party that is a member of the National Democratic Alliance, which is anchored by the BJP.

Read more

A Nato airstrike has killed five Afghan soldiers and wounded eight in eastern Afghanistan, Afghan officials say.

The airstrike took place in the early hours of Thursday in Charkh district of Logar province, a defence ministry spokesman said. Nato said it was investigating the reported incident. Read

The numbers say it all. With about 81.45 crore people eligible to vote, India will witness a nine-phase election over a 36-day span covering 9,30,000 polling stations that will press into service 18,78,306 electronic ballot units the largest and lengthiest democratic exercise in the world. Read

KCR gambles to hit the EVM jackpot in Telangana. Read

Ramesh Srivats on Twitter:
Ashutosh. Used to be a "journalist".
Now, "runs to jail".
Anagram.

For decades, India's business elite dreamed of an alpha-male dictator who would also be a university graduate and generally a wonderful person, while the intellectual elite waited for the revolution that would set everything right.

The poor ensured that India remained a democracy by turning out to vote every time they were asked to. In tribute, the politicians ensured that they remained poor. Read Manu Joseph on the NYT

AAP leader Manish Sisodia today accused Gujarat Police of spying on him, a day after party leader Arvind Kejriwal was briefly "detained" in Gujarat while on a tour to "inspect" development in Narendra Modi's state.

Sisodia, who along with Kejriwal is on a four-day visit to Gujarat, alleged that police was troubling, questioning and threatening people he had met last evening.

"Day 2 in Gujarat-state police is spying on me. Troubling, questioning, threatening people I'm meeting since last evening in Gujarat," he tweeted. Kejriwal had yesterday accused Modi of trying to stall his visit to Gujarat meant to "inspect" development.

After he embarked on his tour to "verify" Modi's claims of providing water, power, education and healthcare to people in Gujarat, the former Delhi Chief Minister was taken to Radhanpur police station in North Gujarat and allowed to leave after half an hour.

The Gujarat police have formed two teams to nab the accused, who attacked Arvind Kejriwal's car yesterday. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader is on a four-day visit to verify development claims by Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

The windshield of the car carrying Kejriwal was damaged when BJP workers allegedly attacked his convoy in retaliation to the protests by AAP workers in front of the BJP headquarters in Delhi last evening.

A FIR has been registered by the Gujarat police in connection with the case.

In New Delhi, BJP activists allegedly pelted stones at Aam Aadmi Party members and the protestors retaliated as the latter's "peaceful" protest at BJP's headquarters in central Delhi turned ugly.-- Zee News

Kiran Kumar Reddy has in fact decided to float a new party. He will make an announcement at 4 pm today. With him will be 12 other leaders from the Congress including 'pepper spray' MP Lagadapaty Rajgopal.

Reddy who had earlier indicated that he would NOT float a new party has now changed his mind as he sniffs an opportunity in Seemandhra.

Armed with his own resignation from the Congress and also the fact that he stood against the formation of Telangana, he will woo the voter on these counts.

Producers of Madhuri Dixit-starrer Gulaab Gang move a larger bench of Delhi HC against order staying release of the movie. Delhi HC agrees to hear the plea during the day.

Yesterday, the Delhi HC stayed the release of the film, Gulaab Gang, starring Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla. The film cannot be released in censored or uncensored form, the HC said. The film is set for release on March 7.

The order comes in the wake of activist Sampat Pal moving the Delhi High Court for blocking the release of of the film, which is reportedly based on her life. Pal formed Gulabi Gang, a group of pink sari clad women vigilantes from Uttar Pradesh. Pal has said the filmmakers did not take permission from her to make the film.

Read: Pal's interview with Rediff.com: Madhuri has never met me, I will stop Gulaab Gang no matter what.

Just in: Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Reddy moves SC against bifurcation of the state.

Just in: The Supreme Court has deferred the hearing on the Centre's plea against the release of the convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case till March 26.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday said that reports about the involvement of many groups, including the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) of India, in the Islamabad District Courts firing and bomb attack had been pouring in and the investigation was going on in this regard. Read

"I've always been slightly short with people who say, 'You haven't written anything again,' as if all the nonfiction I've written is not writing,"' Arundhati Roy said.  Read

That's Siddhartha Deb's interview with Roy for the NYT. Deb's riveting essay on IIPM's Arindam Chaudhuri for Caravan magazine is a must read, but it's not available for reading online after Chaudhuri slapped the magazine with a law suit. 

Over 25,000 students were wrongly failed in exams conducted by Mumbai University (MU) over the past year-and-a-half, according to information obtained under an RTI application. Further, the RTI reply reveals that the Mumbai University examinations department has said details of action taken against the erring professors/examiners cannot be revealed since it is confidential.  Read more

In Lucknow, workers of the Aam Aadmi Party, armed with brooms, had clashed with lathi-wielding activists of BJP and fought pitched street battles outside the BJP office on Vidhan Sabha Marg in protest against the alleged detention of Arvind Kejriwal.

So, charges of rioting, obstructing a public servant from performing his duty and damaging public property have been slapped against 14 AAP protestors including leaders Ashutosh and Shazia Ilmi.

Police had initially detained 33 people out of which 14 were arrested late last night while others were allowed to go.

"All those identifiable and present at the protest site have been named in the FIR," said a senior Delhi police official.

Those arrested will be produced before a local court in New Delhi this afternoon.

28 people, including 13 AAP activists and 10 BJP supporters, were injured in the clashes, police said. Police have termed the AAP protest as completely illegal as no prior permission was sought in this connection by the party.

Times NOW exclusively reports: Gurunath Meiyappan, the son-in-law of BCCI President N Srinivasan and former boss of the Chennai Super Kings, has admitted to friendly betting with Bollywood actor Vindoo Dara Singh in the Indian Premier League.

Meiyappan is expected to be interrogated by the Chennai police later today for his role in the betting scandal last year.

TIMES NOW has access to Meiyappan's interrogation report by the CB-CID on IPL betting.

More on Meiyappan's confessions here
 

Indian-origin hedge fund portfolio manager Mathew Martoma, convicted for his role in the most lucrative insider trading scheme in the history of the United States, has been stripped of his MBA degree by the prestigious Stanford business school.

This is the first time the Stanford Graduate School of Business has revoked a graduate's degree.

Martoma, 39, took admission in Stanford's Graduate School of Business in 2001, after being expelled from Harvard in 1999 for allegedly doctoring his law school transcript to try to gain a federal clerkship. Martoma had even changed his name from Ajai Mathew Thomas before applying to Stanford, where no one knew that he had been expelled from Harvard.

NDTV reports: Arvind Kejriwal today resumed his tour of Gujarat after a day of dramatic protests and clashes that followed his brief detention yesterday, which he described as harassment on the orders of Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

The Aam Aadmi Party leader has alleged that the police were constantly reporting his movements to "someone" on the phone.

Read the full report here

United States President Barack Obama has called British Prime Minister David Cameroon to consult on the unfolding developments in Ukraine as both the sides have agreed that Russia's action violated Ukrainian sovereignty.

During the call, Obama and Cameroon expressed their grave concern over Russia's clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity, the White House said in a statement yesterday.

"Both noted that the current circumstances are unacceptable. Russia has already started to pay a cost for its actions, such as reducing investor confidence in Russia," it said.

"The two leaders welcomed the military observer mission being undertaken by Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe at the request of the Government of Ukraine," the statement said adding that they also discussed support for the government of Ukraine as it works to stabilise its economy and makes preparations for elections in May.

Fourteen Aam Aadmi Party workers have been arrested for after clashes with the Bharatiya Janata Party yesterday. AAP spokesperson Ashutosh has been booked for rioting by the Delhi police.

FIRs have been registered under sections including rioting, obstructing public and damaging property.

AAP workers clashed with BJP activists after former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was detained briefly in Gujarat.  

The doctors in Uttar Pradesh, who were protesting protesting against the alleged high-handedness of police and administration, called off their strike this morning.

Their decision comes after intervention by the Allahabad high court.  The HC had yesterday taken suo motu congnizance of the strike and had ordered a probe into the incident that had led to the strike.

The striking doctors were demanding that cases be lodged against Samajwadi Party MLA Irfan Solanki for allegedly beating up junior doctors in Kanpur.

The strike had crippled UP as it spread to other parts too.

Kejriwal says sorry, deputies target Modi

Lathi vs jhadu: BJP activists beat up AAP workers in Lucknow

Congress, RJD, NCP seal Lok Sabha poll alliance in Bihar

Graft case: Jagan's assets worth Rs 863 crore sealed

SC holds Ansals guilty for Uphaar cinema tragedy