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Chavan, who recently won the Lok Sabha polls on a Congress ticket from Nanded, will be represented by a team of lawyersafter he informed the EC that his "authorised" counsel willappear before the poll body in response to its summons issuedto him last week.
"Chavan has asked for framing of charges in this case bythe EC against him. The Commission will conduct a hearing inthis regard tomorrow in the presence of the former CM's lawyers," sources privy to the development said.
A similar case of furnishing allegedly false election accounts by former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda has been postponed till May 26, the sources said.
The EC, on the directions of the Supreme Court, had issueda notice to Chavan last week to appear before it in connection with the case of alleged expenses made by him during the 2009 polls which were categorised as "paid news".
BJP's ally MDMK has opposed the participation of Rajapaksa in the May 26 swearing-in ceremony of Modi, saying his presence would hurt the feelings of the Tamil people. The DMK headed by Karunanidhi, said Modi could have "avoided" inviting the Sri Lankan President and also that the Prime Minister should "understand the feelings" of the people of Tamil Nadu.
"Very few parties choose women as leaders. BJP has given a woman Chief Minister to Gujarat. So not only I, but each and every woman in Gujarat is feeling like Chief Minister," Patel told the media after her swearing-in ceremony at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar.
The 73-year-old close aide of Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi, who was Revenue Minister in his cabinet, said BJP provided her opportunity to work for the people and vowed to fulfil all responsibilities that came with the job.
"This is a big responsibility for me and I will work towards fulfilling this responsibility."
Patel's daughter Anar, who attended the ceremony, said, "This is a proud moment for our family. She (Patel) had done good work in the portfolios given to her in the past."
Patel's husband Mafatlal said, "This is a matter of pride for me and my family. We are very happy. She will take forward the work of Narendra Modi."
Gogoi, earlier, had attributed a bit of "arrogance and complacency" within himself and the Congress for the party's poor show in the the Lok Sabha elections in Assam. Gogoi arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday to offer his resignation to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and seek her directives on his future role.
"In order for the country to return to normal quickly, the National Peace Keeping Committee comprised of the army, the Thai armed forces, the Royal Air Force and the police need to seize power as of May 22 at 4.30 pm," army chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha said.
The commander-in-chief, who invoked martial law on Tuesday, said the coup was needed to prevent the conflict escalating."
All Thais must remain calm and government officials must work as normal," he added.
Yesterday, UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav gave marching orders to the 36 leaders who are holding various official positions in Minister of State(MoS) rank as part of political appointments.
Yadav, however, ruled out his resignation. SP sources said six leaders from the minority community were among those who got the axe. As the political fallout of the resounding BJP win in UP spread, the sources said some cabinet and state ministers may be also sacked.
Amid demands for his resignation, Akhilesh, however, indicated that he was in no mood to quit and said reasons behind SP's poor show were being reviewed. He was speaking after presiding over the first state Cabinet meeting in the aftermath of the poll results.
Narasimhan will use this occasion to brief the new government, especially Modi and the new home minister, on the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh into Seemandhra and Telangana.
On Thursday, Narasimhan directed the Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh to brief details on the bifurcation to the new Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu and Telangana's first CM, K Chandrasekhar Rao.
Kumar has been allotted the bungalow on 7 Circular Road, while Lalu lives in the one at 10 Circular Road allotted to his wife former chief minister Rabri Devi.
Kumar will soon leave the CM's residence on One Anne Marg, which had been his abode for nine years. The 7 Circular Road bungalow is at present in the name of Chief Secretary Ashok Kumar Sinha. But as Sinha is retiring in June end, he will move to another building to make way for Kumar, sources in the BCD said today.
But, with some construction work required in 7 Circular Road bungalow keeping in view the security aspect of the former CM, the BCD department has made available 2 Strand Road bungalow to Kumar for the time being, the sources said.
Known in political circles as 'bade bhai and chhote bhai' (elder and younger brothers), Prasad and Kumar turned hostile after Kumar left him to form Samata Party and later JD(U).
Tasnim Aslam, Pakistan foreign ministry spokesperson says it's a normal practice that if he/she has a preoccupation, he can nominate somebody. Its not a violation of protocol.
Tunku Varadarajan tweets: If Nawaz Sharif fails to attend Modi's swearing-in ceremony, he will squander an incredible opportunity to generate cross-border goodwill.
The Pak foreign office says that it is a normal practice for the head of government to nominate someone if he or she cannot attend. "We have expectations from the Indian government. Expectations of peace so that we can focus on development. We also expect betterment of the south Asia region. We expect that when the new government takes over there will be a meaningful dialogue that will resolve the outstanding disputes within the two countries."
The 73-year-old Modi loyalist, the first woman chief minister of Gujarat, was seen as a natural heir to the prime minister-designate as she headed the group of ministers tasked with the responsibility to run the state's day-to-day affairs during his hectic Lok Sabha campaign.
In Gujarat, Patel and Amit Shah are often described as Modi's "left and right arms". Read more
However, people close to Sharad Yadav say he has not given up despite the setback and will continue to pursue it.
Witnesses said two cross-country vehicles driving from north to south ploughed into people in the market at 7:50 a.m and explosives were thrown out of the cars, one of which exploded.
It said an unknown number of people were killed and injured. Injured were rushed to different hospitals, police said.
A businessman in the market said he heard a dozen of big bangs. The open air morning market is located near the Renmin Park in downtown Urumqi.
Nitinkumar Ratilal Patel takes oath. He was senior to Anandiben Patel in the Modi ministry as Finance Minister.
Bhupendrasinh Chudasama takes oath. He is one of the few from Gujarat, who is a member of the BJP's national executive.
Gujarat governor Kamla Beniwal arrives at the ceremony which is being held at Gandhinagar.
"He is keen to improve ties which is also the official policy of the party but he needs to take various aspects of the relations into consideration," a top PMLN leader said.
He said the invitation has come at a short notice and the premier needs time to accept it.
He also said that any decision about going to India will be made by the evening after consultations with the civil and military leaders. Diplomatic sources said that unexpected move by India's Prime Minister-designate has left Sharif with difficult choices.
"If he skipped the invitation it will send a very negative message to India and the world but the acceptance may bring backlash from the hardliners and hawks who consider Modi as anti-Pakistani," said a diplomat.
In the first open criticism from within the Congress after the party's crushing electoral defeat, former union minister Milind Deora said on Wednesday that Rahul Gandhi's advisers did not have their "ears to the ground' and those with "no electoral experience' were "calling the shots', but added that "the people who take the advice also have to bear responsibility'.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Deora, who lost from Mumbai South, said while "many factors' led to the party's defeat and Rahul's leadership alone could not be blamed, "it was not about one person's image but the people surrounding that person also'.
Indications coming from Islamabad suggest that Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will in fact be attending the event on May 26, although an official confirmation in this regard is yet to be made.
Speaking to a TV news channel, PML-N spokesperson Siddiqul Farooq said, "The Pakistan Prime Minister will in all probability attend the event and reciprocate to the goodwill gesture extended by the new government of India." Afghanistan and Sri Lanka have already confirmed their attendance.
The 32-year-old was close to the summit of the 8,505m Kanchenjunga West when the avalanche came thundering down around 3pm, said Mingma Sherpa, the managing director of Seven Summit Treks, which organised the expedition.
Several AAP supporters held protests outside Tihar jail yesterday when Arvind Kejriwal was sent to jail for refusing to furnish the Rs 10,000 bail bond in the Nitin Gadkari defamation case.
Section 144 on unlawful assembly, which prohibits the gathering of five or more persons, has been imposed in the area.
Yogendra Yadav, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh were detained. No case has been registered against them by the police.
All of us had read about (global e-commerce giant) Amazon's plans of using drones. We successfully carried out a test-delivery by sending a pizza to a customer located 1.5 km away from our outlet on May 11," Francesco's Pizzeria chief executive Mikhel Rajani said.
He stressed that this was only a test-flight but its results confirm that it can be used routinely in a few years.
A four-rotor drone took off with the order from its outlet in central Mumbai's Lower Parel area and delivered it to a high-rise building in adjacent Worli area, Rajani said, claiming that it is for the first time that the ubiquitous drone has been used for such a purpose in the country.
The Modi government will take a call on UPA-II' s unfinished agenda with cabinet secretary Ajit Seth asking ministries to compile a list of ordinances, pending and lapsed bills that would put up before the new regime. Read
Modi and Abe are two leaders who came to power on platforms pledging economic revival. They share a keen interest in neighbour China's growing regional ambitions. Read
The baby from Kozhikode was made to set sail alone clinging on to an open parachute by her parents at an adventure sports event organised by an aerosports society, leaving the onlookers in a scary situation.
The aerosports society claimed that the baby girl achieved a rare feat by sailing alone up in the sky.
But the authorities and the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights are not at all impressed by the stunt. The open parachute soared up around 600 feet as the child tried to cry louder in mortal fear, according to eyewitnesses.
Kannur district police chief P N Unniraja also drew flak for flagging off the dangerous stunt.
Commission Nazeer Chaliyam told Express that the incident was a clear violation of the International Child Rights Convention and the parents were punishable under Section 23 of the Juvenile Justice Act.
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Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai has confirmed he will attend.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa will also be here.
Maldives President Abdulla Yameen most likely to attend.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is traveling to Japan but is likely to send the country's Speaker instead.
Pakistan has welcomed Modi's gesture, calling it a bold move, but no confirmation from Nawaz Sharif on whether he will be attending or sending a representative. Remember after his own election last year, Sharif's administration had invited Dr Manmohan Singh to attend, but he had declined.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Deora, who lost from Mumbai South, said while "many factors' led to the party's defeat and Rahul's leadership alone could not be blamed, "it was not about one person's image but the people surrounding that person also'.
As I was leaving Pakistan, my thoughts were on the warmth I had received, the many friendly people I had met but equally so on the intimidation I had faced from some quarters, writes Meena Menon, The Hindu's Islamabad Correspondent who was expelled by Pakistan.
Little Amjad stands outside the Bari Imam shrine in Islamabad, thrusting plastic bags for sale through the barbed wire fence. Like the other boys with him, he doesn't go to school.
He makes Rs.100 a day selling the thin and brightly coloured bags for Rs.2 a piece '" no fuss over micron thickness here. As he looks at me with hope, my camera gives me away. He thinks I am a tourist, which means dollars. He grins in disappointment when I tell him I am Indian but he's excited to have met one.
Even the female security guard asks me a lot of questions about India. In the women's section in the shrine, many of them tell me it is an honour to have met someone from their favourite nation.
Coming right after I was told to leave Pakistan in a week's time, it couldn't have felt better. This was how it was when I left for Pakistan in August 2013. After landing in Islamabad around midnight, we went to buy a can of drinking water from a chemist, where we experienced our first taste of welcome.
From then on there was practically no one who didn't exude charm or warmth; the sinister exceptions came much later. With a visa that was restricted only to Islamabad, and which had to be renewed every three months, the paperwork was enormous; the many trips to the External Publicity (EP) Wing, our contact point, were meant to tire us out. Even there they were nice, always ready to offer a cup of tea and words of solace that the visa would be renewed.
CNN: The next train arriving at platform three will be... completely stuck. That was nearly the scenario in France where, it's been revealed, the country's main train company ordered a fleet of new trains that were too big to fit in hundreds of stations. SNCF, whose swift and efficient services are normally a point of pride for the French, spent 15 billion euros ($20.5 billion) on the trains, only to belatedly realize they weren't quite slim enough.
The revelation that the new TER trains were too "paunchy" for the regional stations they will be serving was made by investigative newspaper Le Canard Enchaine, and widely reported in the French media. The mixup is reported to have occurred when RFF, which operates France's rail network, gave station dimensions to SNCF in advance of the train order.
The United States deployed 80 members of its armed forces to Chad to help in the search for the kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls, the White House said Wednesday "These personnel will support the operation of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft for missions over northern Nigeria and the surrounding area," it said in a letter.
"The force will remain in Chad until its support in resolving the kidnapping situation is no longer required." President Barack Obama informed the House speaker and the president of the Senate of the move.
The forces will be involved in maintaining aircraft and analyzing data, but because they are armed, the President is required by law to inform the speaker of the House, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said. "These are not combat infantry troops that we put into Chad," Kirby told CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper" Wednesday. "These are folks that are there to support the reconnaissance mission."
Online marketplace eBay is forcing users to change their passwords after a cyber-attack compromised its systems. The US firm said a database had been hacked between late February and early March, and had contained encrypted passwords and other non-financial data.
The company added that it had no evidence of there being unauthorised activity on its members' accounts. However, it said that changing the passwords was "best practice and will help enhance security for eBay users".
The California-based company has 128 million active users and accounted for $212bn (126bn) worth of commerce on its various marketplaces and other services in 2013.
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