CNN reports: The Malaysian Air Force has traced the last known location of Malaysia Airlines flight 370 to a spot above Pulau Perak, a very small island in the Straits of Malacca and hundreds of miles from the usual Kuala Lumpur to Beijing flight path, according to a senior Malaysian Air Force official.

The official declined to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

Read the full story here

The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan today denied reports that it was planning to target former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, saying it will abide by a month-long ceasefire announced by the militant group.

The Taliban, which had earlier announced that it will target Musharraf, said in a statement that it will not break the promise for halting attacks for a month. The statement came a day after a leaked document surfaced in the media, warning that Musharraf might be targeted by the TTP or al-Qaeda on his way to the special court hearing the high treason trial against the 70-year-old commando.

"Our Shariat does not allow us to break the promise. We cannot target anyone during ceasefire and other jihadi organisations are also in favour with us about it," Chief of Executive Commission TTP Momand Agency Omar Khorasani said in a statement posted on his twitter account

Cracks are appearing in Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party. Kumar Vishwas and Shazia Ilmi are both expected to revolt against the former Delhi CM, reports our correspondent from New Delhi.

Vishwas tweeted: The AAP is rising river but dirty drain water mix is preventing people from even taking a sip let alone a dip.

Both AAP leaders have kept away from TV cameras since former TV editor Ashutosh joined the party.  

Domestic airlines SpiceJet and IndiGo have started a fourth round of fare war. They are offering massive cuts in ticket prices

The US has asked India not to increase crude oil imports from Iran until the middle of 2014 as it tests Tehran's resolve to cooperate with world powers on its controversial nuclear programme. 

The head of the Senate Intelligence Committee says the CIA's improper search of a stand-alone computer network established for Congress has been referred to the Justice Department.

I have to confess that there are many times that I too have wanted to stop supporting the Indian cricket team and root for some other team. And this is not just with the current lineup and their losses in South Africa and New Zealand.

Kevin Pietersen tweets: It's arrived! Thank you @MEAIndia! Always happier when I have my passport!  

The Big Three's takeover of the International Cricket Council (ICC) took place despite strong opposition from some boards '" including Pakistan's. But it has transpired that the row had briefly opened up a window of opportunity for Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). 

Three suicide bombers detonated their explosives belts in a hotel in a predominantly Kurdish town in northeastern Syria today, killing three people, the state-run news agency said. 

A friend of Oscar Pistorius testified in the Olympian's murder trial today that the athlete twice fired guns for which the double-amputee is charged with firearms violations. 

Scotland Yard today arrested three persons, including a woman, on suspicion of supporting terror acts in Syria even as a growing number of British Muslim families are working with police to prevent their relatives from joining terror networks in war-torn regions of the world. 

What happened to Flight 370? Four scenarios fuel speculation among experts. Read

Opposing the petition filed by social activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband seeking quashing of an FIR against them for alleged misappropriation of funds, Gujarat police today told Bombay High Court that the duo had cheated victims of 2002 Godhra riots and "embezzled funds" collected in their name.

Union home secretary Anil Goswami calls emergency meeting over the Chhattisgarh incident. The IB director, senior paramilitary officials and home minstry officials will be at the meeting. Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde says the government is taking the incident very seriously.

The purpose of the meeting is to form an action plan to step up security in these areas in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls.

In a hard-hitting attack on Narendra Modi on his home turf, Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accused his government of "stealing" farmers' land and charged the BJP with appropriating credit for schemes launched by the Congress-led UPA.

Without directly naming the Gujarat chief minister, Rahul Gandhi also alluded that Modi works like Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler and attacked him for retaining "corrupt" ministers in his state cabinet while talking tall of fighting corruption. 

The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 does not appear to be related to terrorism, the head of the international police organization Interpol said Tuesday.

"The more information we get, the more we're inclined to conclude that it was not a terrorist incident," Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble said at a news conference in Lyon, France.

Among the evidence pointing in that direction, he said: news from Malaysian authorities that one of two people said to be traveling on stolen passports, an Iranian, was trying to travel to his mother in Germany. 
Read more

Chhatisgarh CM Raman Singh to go to Raipur shortly. He says the affected security personnel will be moved by helicopter, but refused to comment on whether there was in fact any intelligence failure.

Naxals ambushed a security team of around 44 killing 15 personnel including 11 of the Central Reserve Police Force and also a civilian in a chilling reminder of the 2010 massacre of 76 securitymen in the same area in the worst-hit Sukma district of Chhattisgarh.

Iran offered its assistance today with a Malaysian investigation into two of its nationals believed to have been travelling on stolen passports on an airliner missing for days. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said Iran was "following up on reports regarding the possibility of two Iranian passengers aboard the plane."

After "NaMo Chai", Delhi BJP has launched "NaMo Gulal" campaign ahead of Holi festival just before Lok Sabha polls.

As many as 50,000 packets of Gulal (colour powder) carrying photo of party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, have been printed in Haridwar by the party.

Apart from Modi's photo, BJP has got its Delhi chief Harsh Vardhan's picture printed on the "NaMo Gulal" packet.

BJP has also printed a quote of Modi during his Delhi visit which says: "Let us create a brilliant rainbow of achievements for us and for India". 

Stepping up the war of words with Narendra Modi, Nitish Kumar today said his promise to bestow a special status on Bihar along with a special package was nothing but a 'ploy' to win votes by 'befooling' people.

Nitish also wondered how Modi could make Bihar a "new Bihar", as he promised, without the knowledge and love for the state. The Bihar chief minister said on social networking site "Facebook" that it was just a ploy to win votes.

Modi in his address at Purnea yesterday said that if his party formed government in Delhi, it would provide special status, special package and pay special attention to the state to spur its development.

Nitish also alleged that the BJP leader was trying to 'jam' development of Bihar and undermine it by trotting out wrong figures.

Read:Why Mamata Banerjee needs star power this election. 

Sucheta Dalal tweets on Kejriwal's day in Mumbai tomorrow: After chartered flight 2 conclave, Kejri will take auto from airport to andheri station tomorrow & train @ churchgate. Media alert out! lol

A special court in New Delhi has ordered the framing of charges against former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal's nephew Vijay Singla and then Member (Staff) of Railway Board Mahesh Kumar.

Bansal, who had to resign from his post after the case had come to light, has been arrayed as a prosecution witness by the CBI.

CBI had filed a charge sheet on May 2 last year against 10 accused -- Kumar, Singla, Managing Director of Bangalore-based G G Tronics India Pvt Limited N R Manjunath, middlemen Ajay Garg and Sandeep Goyal, Rahul Yadav, Sameer Sandhir, Sushil Daga, C V Venugopal and M V Murali Krishan.

The probe agency had alleged that Singla had demanded Rs 10 crore from Kumar for his appointment to the post of Member (Electrical) and it was decided between the accused that Rs 5 crore will be paid before the appointment and the rest will be paid after the job was done.

It had claimed that first tranche of around Rs 90 lakh was given to Singla who was apprehended while accepting the money.

Malaysia's military believes it tracked the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner by radar over the Strait of Malacca, far from where it last made contact with civilian air traffic control off the country's east coast, a military source told Reuters.

The Straits of Malacca, one of the world's busiest shipping channels, runs along Malaysia's west coast.

The airline said on Saturday that the flight carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew last had contact off the east coast Malaysian town of Kota Bharu. "It changed course after Kota Bharu and took a lower altitude. It made it into the Malacca Strait," the military official, who has been briefed on investigations, said.

Delavar Seyed Mohammadreza named by Interpol as second MH370 passenger travelling on stolen passport. 

Alright, so, Arvind Kejriwal hits Mumbai tomorrow. And he plans to travel like the aam admi and hop on to a local train to South Mumbai for a fund raising programme. 

At 1 pm: Road shows for AAP South Mumbai candidate Meera Sanyal to be followed by a road show for Mumbai North East AAP candidate, Medha Patkar.

8 :20 pm: Takes a flight to Nagpur.

The last time he hopped on to public transport -- the Delhi metro -- on the day he was sworn in as Delhi CM, there was total chaos and thousands of disgruntled commuters. 

Two books shortlisted for the 2014 Romantic Novel of the Year Award are set in India. Their authors tell Amit Roy that India offers the perfect setting for romantic novels. Read

Shabana Azmi tweets a picture with President Pranab Mukherjee. "Handing him d Beti Zindabad pin on behalf of many social organisations and ActionAid India."  ActionAid India is an anti-poverty agency, working in India since 1972 with the poor to end poverty and injustice.

Why India allows candidates to contest from two seats. Read

More updates on the mysterious missing Malaysian Airlines plane. A man travelling on a stolen passport on a missing Malaysian jet was a young Iranian who is not believed to have terrorist links, Malaysian police say. They say the 19-year-old - named as Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad - was probably migrating to Germany. Investigations are continuing into a second man using stolen documents.-- BBC.

Cameraman tells of moment Australian naturalist's chest was repeatedly pierced by barb, and his last words -- 'I'm dying'. Read

A gunman shot dead a Swedish-British journalist in central Kabul today, officials said, a rare daylight murder of an expatriate in a city often hit by Taliban suicide attacks. The Taliban denied responsibility for the killing in an upmarket district close to a Lebanese restaurant in the Afghan capital, where the militants launched a suicide attack that killed 21 people, including 13 foreigners, in January.

A terrified UK family fled their home after hundreds of deadly spiders swarmed out of a pack of bananas they had bought from a local shop. Jamie and Crystal Roberts in Staffordshire were horrified when they found the creepy crawlies, believed to be Brazilian Wandering Spiders which are the world's deadliest spiders, in the bananas they had bought from a local corner shop.

Jamie, 31, had spotted white patches covering the fruit and assumed it was harmless mould.

But when he took a closer look later he realised the bananas were infested with a spider nest containing hundreds of spiders.

"It was like something out of a horror film because suddenly the window sill was moving with hundreds of these spiders," Jamie said.

Jamie fled his home, along with his wife Crystal, 30, and two children on the advice of the pest controllers, 'mirror.co.uk' reported.

The house was fumigated and the family was allowed to go back only after three days. Pest controllers told the family they suspected the creatures were the deadly Brazilian Wandering Spiders.

They are considered the most toxic spiders on Earth and their venom is said to be 30 times more powerful than that of a rattlesnake. Humans bitten by one can suffer an irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, vomiting and eventual death.

Arvind Kejriwal will be in Mumbai tomorrow. Heads up.

DG CRPF and DG Chhattisgarh police are on their way to the spot.  Exact location of the ambush is between Tongpal and Jheeram, spot is 5km from Tongpal.

DigvijaySingh: BJP has gone hoarse crying,"Modi Wave, Modi Wave'! Arey?? If there is Modi wave, why you need to displace poor MM Joshi Ji from Varanasi?

He probably has less than three months in his job, and he's all but forgotten, despite holding the job for 10 years, in the great cacophonous conversation that's Indian election.

But this near-irrelevancy in current public discourse notwithstanding, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his PMO are busy '" busy with government work and busy wondering whether post-PM days will herald events worse than unflattering assessments. Read

A policeman holds up photos of the two men whom they believe were travelling onboard the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 on stolen passports after a news conference in Kuala Lumpur International Airport March 11, 2014. Malaysia's Inspector General Khalid Abu Bakar told the news conference that the man on the left was identified as a 19-year-old Iranian Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad travelling on stolen Austrian passport while the identity of the man on the right is currently under investigation.

Pic: Edgar Su/Reuters 

In the other big news story that we have been following -- the missing Malaysia Airlines plane --  the family of Muktesh Mukherjee, a passenger on board the missing plane, are praying that disaster has not struck twice.

The 42-year-old's grandfather, a former Indian government minister, was killed in a plane crash on the outskirts of New Delhi in 1973. "Miracles do happen. We pray it will happen this time and Muktesh will come back to us,' his uncle Manoj Mukherjee told AFP in Kolkata. Read

Remember these are still initial reports, so the numbers may change. But conservative estimates put the toll at 20.  

Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde confirmed the incident.

The casualties are from both the state police and the CRPF jawans. Three security men have been injured.

The joint police party had gone out on a road opening and on the way were ambushed. The encounter is over and losses were mainly due to the topography, says ADG Chhattisgarh, Mukesh Gupta tells CNN IBN.

Gupta confirms the death toll to be 20, of which 15 are state police and five are CRPF jawans. The strength of the combined police force was 44. There were an estimated 200 Naxals.

The encounter is still on. Early reports say the deaths occurred as a result of an IED blast followed by firing. The attack took place at around 10.30 am. So far, five bodies have been recovered, but police say the toll could go up to 20.

Reports said that the Maoists ambushed a convoy of 50 CRPF men who were providing security to road construction workers. 

This is the same area where Maoists hit a Congress party convoy in May last year, killing top party leader Mahendra Karma, the man who started the anti-Naxal campaign called SalwaJudum. Police counted 17 dead, many among them well-known state Congress leaders, and several injured. Chhattisgarh Congress chief Nandkumar Patel's body recovered from Darbha Ghat. Nandkumar's son body also found near site of ambush.

Unconfirmed reports say that at least 15 to 20 CRPF jawans are feared dead, say Dantewada police. The CRPF battalion was providing protection to construction workers. The encounter has been on since 10:30 am. The encounter occurred at Geeram Ghati in the area.

Update: Three CRPF jawans have been killed in a Naxal encounter in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh.

In 2010, Naxal guerrillas ambushed and massacred 76 security personnel in the dense forests of Chhattisgarh in the worst such attack since the Maoist rebellion erupted 43 years ago.

Fearing leakage of their strategies ahead of Lok Sabha polls, Naxals are keeping a close watch on people who could act as informers and pass on information using mobile phones in villages of their hot-bed Bastar.

The Home Ministry has given the go-ahead to hold the IPL 2014 matches in India after the Lok Sabha elections. Details in a bit. 

Just in: News of a fierce encounter between security forces and Maoists in the Sukma area of Chhattisgarh. 

The mystery surrounding the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has thickened somewhat as family members of passengers have reported mobile phones ringing, but nobody answering. Read

The investigation into the fate of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 widened with authorities questioning travel agents about the two men who boarded the plane with stolen passports of an Italian and an Austrian and looked into why five individuals who checked in for the flight did not board.

An Iranian man named Kazem Ali bought one-way tickets for the two men, describing them as friends who wanted to return home to Europe.

While Ali made the initial booking by telephone, either Ali or someone acting on his behalf paid for the tickets in cash, police said.

Imitation, it is often said, is the sincerest form of flattery, but many in Pakistan failed to take the compliment when British designer Paul Smith released a new sandal bearing close resemblance to the country's Peshawari chappal (slipper), called it Robert, and sold it for $595. Read

Ever heard of a temple where mouth-watering chocolate bars are offered by devotees to the presiding deity? While devotees offer flowers, sandal paste and fruits to invoke divine blessing, the 'Thekkan Palani' Balasubramania temple in Alapppuzha differs as chocolate bars are offered in the sanctum sanctorum.

Chocolate bars of a leading brand are made as offering by devotees and they get them back as 'prasdam' after poojas. No wonder, the presiding deity of the shrine located at Subrahmanyapuram on the outskirts of the the town is known locally as "Munch Murugan."

North Korea confirmed today a near-perfect turnout for its parliamentary "election" in which single candidates -- approved by the political elite -- stood uncontested in 687 constituencies across the country.

"According to the election returns available, 99.97 per cent of all the voters registered... took part in the election," the North's official KCNA news agency said.

Rebel RJD leader Ram Kripal Yadav today met top BJP leaders in the national capital amid indications that he would cross over to saffron ranks ahead of Lok Sabha polls.

Yadav, a former close aide of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, met BJP President Rajnath Singh and party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad at the Delhi airport, giving rise to speculation that he would soon join the BJP. An announcement to this effect is expected to be made in a day or so.

DMK chief M Karunanidhi today announced that refraining from "the bashing of other parties" is included in his party's manifesto for the national election.

Asserting that DMK had the capability to face the polls with its existing local allies, party president M Karunanidhi today said there was no setback
for his Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA) in the absence of a national party in the combine.

"No. There is no setback," was his response to a question during a media interaction following the release of DMK's manifesto for the April 24 Lok Sabha polls.

DMK had shut the door on its former ally Congress, with whom it snapped ties over the Sri Lankan Tamils' issue in March last and spurned offers for revival of ties from the Sonia Gandhi-led party.

DMK yesterday announced candidates for 35 seats, leaving five to its allies - VCK (2) and one each for MMK, IUML and Puthiya Tamizhagam. Tamil Nadu has 39 Lok Sabha seats and neighbouring Puducherry one.

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal's obituary references to four RTI activists at a large public gathering in Ahmedabad on Saturday left his supporters red-faced as three of them are alive.

He said that the four were killed for asking awkward questions and hailed them as martyrs for the cause of society. Kejriwal got the first victim's name right '" Amit Jethava, who was killed allegedly by the mining mafia in front of the Gujarat high court on July 20, 2010. Read

Artist Ani Varnam uses his tongue as a paintbrush. In the past six years, the 33-year-old art teacher from Kerala says he has painted more than 1,000 watercolor pictures using just the muscle in his mouth. Read

Retweeted by Madhuri Dixit-Nene Dr. Shriram Nene: Men, never argue with ur wife...trust me, lol!

Ashamed to be an Indian citizen: Read the blog

Wooing Jats with OBC status, Congress falls back on worn tactics in UP. Read

How Nandan Nilekani, the former Infosys CEO, is remodelling himself as a son of the middle class. Read

Educationist and child rights lawyer Ashok Agarwal resigns from AAP, says party works like a private limited company. Agarwal, who was a member of the AAP's national executive, was against Kejriwal quitting as Delhi CM. He had said the people of Delhi had voted for the party to govern and govern well, but instead it was taking up, one after another, issues that were diverting its attention from core issues of governance. "There is so much to do in Delhi, so many departments that need government's attention. If we perform well, it will go down well with the people across the country," had said. 

Outsider Amit Shah quells heartland dust in UP. Read

When 18-year-old Linor Abargil called up her mother and told her she had been raped, the first instruction was "not to take a shower'. This, Abargil believes, changed her life forever.

"For a rape victim, it's all about the first response. She didn't ask me 'Why did you go with him?' or 'Why were you wearing this?' Most parents of rape victims do that and then that's it, the girl is never going to speak again about anything,' said Abargil, who won the Miss World pageant in 1998, seven weeks after being raped at knife-point by her travel agent during an assignment in Italy. Read

Aspiring to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Baghpat in UP, former Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh today said the riot taint on some BJP MLAs will not affect his chances and he will fight the polls on the development agenda in RLD leader Ajit Singh's stronghold.

Singh, who resigned from his post in February and joined the BJP, however, acknowledged that people in the constituency, especially Muslims and Jats, have "very very bitter" feelings following Muzaffarnagar riots.

The former Mumbai Police Commissioner stressed that he would focus on the issue of development.

Four days on, the Malaysian plane remains missing. 40 ships and 34 aircraft from 10 countries have returned with nothing to show. Have a look at this graphic including details of search areas. 

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has justified RSS's efforts to bring the BJP to power, saying that it was in the "national interest". Read

Aamir Khan's television programme, Satyamev Jayate, has unquestionably raised awareness of social ills in the public. But some of those who appeared on it have paid a price. V Kumara Swamy tunes in. Read

A video clip uploaded on YouTube has shown Arvind Kejriwal requesting a television interviewer not to ask him about the corporate sector and turn "all the middle class support against us".

The Aam Aadmi Party leader is also seen telling the interviewer to play up a part that will portray him as revolutionary, possibly a reference to Bhagat Singh whose photograph is shown behind Kejriwal.

"Bahut krantikari, bahut hi krantikari (Very revolutionary. Indeed very revolutionary),' the interviewer replies when Kejriwal asks him how the interview went.

The clip has not only raised questions about the Aam Aadmi Party leader's efforts at projecting a particular image of himself but also the role of media in conducting what critics have referred to as "collusive' interviews. Read

Our sources in Delhi tell us that BJP leader Subramanian Swamy is keen to contest the Lok Sabha polls from one on these three places: Ayodhya,
Mumbai or New Delhi, but he is willing to abide by the party's decision .

On Saturday, Swamy, had said that AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal's tour of Gujarat was a "sponsored drama" of the Congress. Swamy merged his Janata Party with the BJP seven months ago.

India losing a cricket match is a cricketing tragedy and just that. Those who cheer such an event may lack discretion and taste, but their conduct is not seditious. Read

By announcing support for Narendra Modi as Prime Minister, and at the same time releasing a list of candidates to contest against the Shiv Sena, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray achieved several things in one stroke. Read

Kejriwal is who he is because he has the audacity not to want to do political business. If there is an element of exaggeration in what he says, it does not matter because electoral politics is shaped to a great extent by public perception. Read

About 70 Indian passports have reportedly been stolen from a private company, to which the Indian Consulate in San Francisco has outsourced various visa and passport related services.

The serious breach of security is being investigated by the San Francisco Police Department. Both the Indian Consulate and the local police have informed the State Department and the relevant federal authorities so that these passports are not misused, a media report said.

Rising for the sixth straight session, the benchmark BSE Sensex gained over 67 points to trade over the 22,000 level in early trade today on sustained fund inflows.

The 30-share index, which had surged 988 points in the previous five sessions, gained 67.24 points, or 0.30 per cent, to trade at 22,002.07 with banking, power, realty and capital goods sector stocks leading the rising streak. The 50-share NSE Nifty also edged higher by 23.45 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 6,560.70.

A correspondent from Delhi reports: Tamil Nadu is facing a five-corner electoral contest for the first time. 

A correspondent from Delhi reports: Karunanidhi may be 91 years old, but he is still politically active. He plans to campaign in 20 key cities and towns across Tamil Nadu from a special bus. 

A correspondent from Delhi reports: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has been campaigning for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls on a daily basis. 

A correspondent from Delhi reports: To add a twist in the tale, Madhya Pradesh's BJP unit wants party patriarch L K Advani to fight from Bhopal.

US President Barack Obama and other top leaders continued to mobilise international support to isolate Russia for its action against Ukraine and for a peaceful resolution to the crisis.        

A group of 105 US lawmakers has urged the Pentagon to lift the presumptive ban on Sikhs serving in the military by easing restrictions on beard, turbans, and other religious requirements.        

Three days after Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 went missing, the daughter of a crew member is holding a heartbreaking vigil on Twitter for her father.

A 27-year-old Indian-origin woman has been found guilty by a US jury of arson causing death to her husband two years ago, but not guilty of capital murder.

The Travis County jury found Shriya Patel guilty of arson causing death to her husband. The jury was dismissed by Judge David Crain until tomorrow after reading the verdict.

That's when the sentencing phase of the trial will begin. Shriya faces five to 99 years in prison. Prosecutors accused Shriya of luring her husband Bimal Patel, 29, into the bathtub for a massage, dousing him with gasoline and then setting him on fire on April 17, 2012.

Bimal died at the burn centre of the San Antonio Military Medical Centre, nearly five months after the incident. Defence attorneys argue Bimal did it to himself and forced Shriya to help.

More polling hours this general elections? 
Internal battles adding to the Congress party's troubles?
Pappu Yadav returns to Lalu's RJD, to contest against Sharad Yadav
Another minister resigns from JD-U, to contest on LJP ticket
How Billy Joel inspired the Mulayam song
Over 60 hours later, no trace of flight MH370 yet
Delhi blasts case: IM co-founder Yasin Bhatkal bail plea dismissed