Apple CEO Tim Cook at Apple's event: We are pleased to announce the biggest advancement in iPhone.

India's Jitu Rai won the silver medal in the men's 50m Pistol Event at the World Shooting Championship in Granada, on Tuesday. Rai, who scored 191.1 points to claim the silver, also qualified for the 2016 Olympics in Rio.South Korea's Jongoh Jin won the gold with 192.3 points, while Wei Pang of China (172.6 points) settled for bronze.

The TMC leadership is involved in this, all will also be out soon, says Prakash Karat on former DGP WB Rajat Majumdar's arrest.

Delhi government is devising comprehensive awareness modules to prevent child abuse, especially sexual abuse. The awareness modules are not only meant for children but also for the parents, teachers and other care givers in Homes where children in need of care and protection are lodged.

BSNL to IBN: Services are fine in all areas except Kashmir valley. Worst hit is Srinagar where our exchange is in 20 feet deep water. We are looking at restoring a couple of areas near the airport tonight. We have sent 10 VSAT towers from Bangalore to Srinagar which will help us get connectivity in a few more areas from tomorrow. We will look at restoring emergency mobile services across the city in 3 to 4 days.

Over 47,000 people have been rescued so far by the armed forces, but lakhs remain stranded.

Bored child face-plants White House sofa as parents meet Barack Obama. Read

Cute, even if you aren't child friendly.

Former IPS officer Rajat Majumdar arrested by the CBI probing the Saradha scam. The agency, on August 14 searched the residence of Majumdar, a former security advisor to the Saradha group. The former IPS officer also served as a poll observer for the Trinamool Congress in Birbhum for panchayat polls in 2013.

Ending days of suspense over the Asian Games contingent, the government today cleared a 679-member squad that will represent India in the 17th edition of the event to be held in Incheon, South Korea, from September 19 to October 4.

"Ten minutes after meeting my future mother-in-law, I was wearing only underwear and socks. Acres of magenta chiffon and piles of gold sequins and faux-emerald jewelry -- the regalia for my engagement ceremony -- lay on the bed.

Read an Indian Amercan's account of draping the sari.

Amitabh Mattoo tweets: Friends, my parents and I are safe. Please let me know if there is anything we can do for d less fortunate. Feeling very helpless..

Read his account of surviving the Kashmir floods.

"The Lives of Others is searing, savage and deeply moving: an unforgettably vivid picture of a time of turmoil."

Amitav Ghosh reviews Neel Mukherjee's Booker shortlisted novel. Read

A bus driver from Pune who hijacked a public bus two years ago and killed nine people has been given the death sentence by the Bombay High Court. Santosh M Mane, 37, sped through the streets of Pune in January 2012, running over pedestrians and hitting other vehicles during rush hour.  Nine people were killed and nearly 40 injured during his nightmare drive, which covered more than 10 kilometres. 

After he was given the death sentence by a city court, he appealed to the Bombay High Court and lost his case today.

Mane worked for the public transport company in Pune, but was not on duty when he stole a bus from the depot.

His lawyers argued during his trial that he had committed the murders in "a fit of insanity."

The Supreme Court reserves its order on the cancellation of coal blocks it had termed illegal. No date has been set as yet on the verdict. The centre today had told the SC that all 218 coal blocks should be cancelled. The Centre had also suggested that Coal India can takeover the coal blocks. While the date of the verdict is undecided the hearing on the coal block allocation ended today.

British-Indian writer and Kolkata-born Neel Mukherjee's latest novel 'The Lives of Others' that is set in 1960s Bengal and revolves around a man's extremist political activism during troubled times has been shortlisted for the prestigious Man Booker Prize 2014. The Lives of Others is Mukherjee's second novel.

Internal squabbles and differences in the AAP are resurfacing. Two AAP MPs and eight MLAs in Delhi have distanced themselves from party chief Arvind Kejriwal. Sources say they could be considering the formation of a splinter group of the AAP.

The question now is, will they they support the Congress or the BJP? Their displeasure is against the domination of media persons in AAP.

One AAP MP has said that the party is not structured but floats on a arrangements that are at best skeletal.

Kejriwal is well aware of these dissidents and the next 15 days is going to be crucial. 

Meanwhile, the Srinagar-Leh National Highway, connecting flood-hit Kashmir Valley with the Ladakh region, has been restored for vehicular traffic, says the Army.

The Indian Air Force says they have 50 aircraft operating in the flood-hit areas of J&K transporting relief material. Gerard Galway, IAF, PRO, says they have more than 30 helicopters providing relief material, food and medicines to stranded people. The IAF has have evacuated 2200 people including 800 who have been winched up. Operations are going on in full swing.

The army has said it aims to restore full connectivity to Srinagar in three to four days.

Naval marine commandos were deployed for the first time on Monday in the massive multi-agency rescue operations that were underway in flood-ravaged Jammu and Kashmir with the grim situation in the Valley further compounded by snapping of telecom links.

Senior Congress leader Beni Prasad Verma comes out in support of Rahul Gandhi. He says, senior leaders cannot criticize someone who is going to be the PM of this county someday. "Criticizing Rahul Gandhi is not right, I will oppose those people. It's only because the party lost in the polls that the leaders are criticizing Rahul Gandhi now," said Verma.   

Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi today announced Rs ten crore for relief works for the flood-affected people in Jammu and Kashmir, besides supply of dry ration and boats.

"It has been decided to give Rs 10 crore assistance to Jammu and Kashmir from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund as token support to the disaster management in the flood-hit state," Manjhi said.

Professor and columnist Amitabh Mattoo on surviving the Jammu and Kashmir floods. "I have returned from the hell that Srinagar and much of the Kashmir Valley is today. I have returned with my parents only because of the Indian Army and the kindness of strangers. Everything else has collapsed in most of Srinagar." Read more

Just in: Dutch experts say Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 broke up in mid-air after being hit by "numerous objects" that "pierced the plane at high speed".

A report released by the Dutch Safety Board said there was "no evidence of technical or human error", reports the BBC.

All 298 people on board died when the plane came down, amid reports it was shot down by pro-Russian rebels.

The plane was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed in eastern Ukraine.Dutch aviation investigators relied on information from the black box flight data recorders, air traffic control, satellite images and photos from the scene to compile the preliminary report.

Israel has expressed interest in sharing its expertise on water purification and waste water treatment under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet project for cleaning river Ganga.

The Centre had set a target of three years to rejuvenate the polluted holy river Ganga and has formed an integrated plan 'Namaami Gange' in this regard.

"We have already met the Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti and the concerned Secretary few times, we want to be involved. We offered our knowledge, technology and technical know-how (for the project)," Israel's Head of Economic and Trade Mission Yonatan Ben-Zaken said.

Speaking on sidelines of a seminar on 'Water Security & Waste Water Management', he said Israel is known for its capabilities and expertise in waste water treatment, purification and water reuse for agriculture and industry.

"We are in talks and we think that cleaning industrial pollutants from the river (Ganga) should be first priority," Yonatan said. Emphasising on the need to make Ganga rejuvenation a mass movement, Modi had yesterday said the first priority of the Namaami Gange mission should be to prevent fresh generation of pollutants.

AAP's Ashutosh tweets: Some ppl in BJP - Vijendra Gupta, Harsh Vardhan, Vijay Goel etc are against horse trading and support fresh elections. Bjp shud listen to them. AAP wants immediate dissolution of assembly and no more suspended animation. It's promoting horse trading and destabilising democracy.

The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, which began in June, concluded today as the last and 18th batch of pilgrims left for New Delhi from Kathgodam in Uttarakhand.

"Before departing for New Delhi, the last batch of 38 pilgrims was received by officials of Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN) (the nodal agency for the yatra) at Sukhatal guest house of the Nigam and the members were given citations and memorials on completion of the yatra," Nigam officials said.

"A total of 910 pilgrims from 28 states of the country undertook the pilgrimage to Mansarovar and Kailash this year. The pilgrims were divided in 18 batches, the maximum number since the yatra started in 1981," Managing Director of KMVN Deepak Rawat said.

The Centre on Tuesday favoured cancellation of coal blocks, which were declared as illegal by the Supreme Court.

"In sum and substance, cancellation of coal block allocation is a natural consequence," the Centre told SC. The Centre further said that the retention of 46 blocks which are in operation or to be operated soon should be considered.

Companies, who were allocated coal blocks, however, pleaded SC not to cancel allocation without hearing them.

The Supreme Court will today decide the fate of 218 coal blocks, whose allocation it had declared "illegal and arbitrary in a previous judgement.

Earlier the government on Monday left it to the Supreme Court to decide the fate of 218 coal blocks allocation held as illegal by it while stating that about 40 blocks are operational and another six are ready to produce 50 million tonnes coal in the current year.

How the Aam Aadmi Party is preparing to fight the long fight.
Read the report here.

Bollywood's inability to cast an actor from a similar ethnic or cultural group for the role of Mary Kom speaks of an issue that goes beyond cinema: race.

Read

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit India, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan and the Maldives from next week to bolster the country's relations with South Asia and Central Asia. Xi, also the General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China, will attend a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit and visit four countries later this month, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang announced today.

The President is scheduled to attend the 14th meeting of the Council of Heads of the SCO member states on Thursday and Friday in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, said Qin.

For an Army rescue boat in Srinagar, one call of help came from a group of women who, it turned out, were Pakistani nationals.

When three of them came on board, the Army learnt there were 28 of them, men, women and even a 10-year old girl, Aksa Jamshed, trapped at three locations within Srinagar.

In India to participate in the SAARC Golf Tournament, since cancelled, the group was taken to Badami Bagh Cantonment and arrangements were made to send them to Lahore. Read more

Minister of State for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar's answer in Parliament on August 13 on the reconstitution of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) is worth examining.

In reply to four questions by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Lok Sabha member M.B. Rajesh on the Board being recast without the mandatory number of non-government members and the reasons for violations, he blandly said this was done through a notification dated July 22.

While the Board was reconstituted, it did not have the five mandatory NGO representatives or the ten persons to be nominated by the Central government from among eminent conservationists, ecologists and environmentalists, as mandated by Section 5A of the Wildlife Protection Act. Besides, the notification only referred to the Standing Committee.

It was not surprising therefore that the Supreme Court on August 25 stayed the decisions of the diluted Standing Committee of the NBWL, after a petition challenged the constitution of the Board. Read

In a shocking case, a 25-year-old married woman was allegedly kept locked in a bathroom in Bihar's Darbhanga for the last three years by her husband and in-laws after she could not meet their dowry demands.

The victim was rescued on Sunday by police from a house in Rambagh locality of Darbhanga town, around 140 km north-east of Patna.

Station House Officer Seema Kumari found her in tattered clothes, unkempt dry hair and with overgrown nails.

"The woman could barely open her eyes in the sunlight, as she had survived in darkness and dim light, closeted in the small space," Kumari said.

"The woman revealed that she was thrown into the bathroom and locked there. She was not allowed to see her child, and given leftover food irregularly. It was as if her in-laws were seeking revenge for not bringing ample dowry and giving birth to a girl child," the SHO said.

The woman hails from Patsan village in Andrathadi police station area in Darbhanga district.She was married to a Prabhat Kumar Singh in 2010. Soon after the marriage, her husband and in-laws allegedly started torturing her for more dowry, police said.

Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan tweets: Floods in J&K are devastating & my thoughts are with everyone there. I've announced aid of Rs 10 crores from CM's Relief Fund.  

Barkha Dutt tweets: The irony is inescapable- Armed Forces at forefront of rescue in a valley where they are so often seen with hostility. Turning point?

India and Japan are both embroiled in territorial disputes with China. Both view the growing economic and military heft of their neighbor with apprehension. And both are looking for ways to enhance their security.

So when India's new Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe gave each other a bear hug in Kyoto it was tempting to read into the gesture something more than just a warm personal chemistry.

Read

The Supreme Court has refused to take on record the Aam Aadmi Party's affidavit on a sting operation alleging that Delhi BJP MLA Sher Singh Dagar tried to bribe their MLAs in a bid to help his party form government in Delhi.

The SC says some progress seems to be made on govt formation in Delhi and asks the Centre to take a decision swiftly. The Centre informs the SC about the L-G's letter to the President on govt formation, following which the SC defers the case till Oct 10.  The government says it hasn't received any communication from the President on government formation.

Arvind Kejriwal meanwhile says Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung has been "batting for the BJP".

Kejriwal's claims comes a day after BJP chief Amit Shah said that the party should form the government in Delhi as it has the required number of members, as per news reports.

AAP had earlier met President Pranab Mukherjee and urged him to not allow Lt Governor Najeeb Jung to invite BJP to form a government in Delhi.

JUST IN: The Supreme Court has asked CBI director Ranjit Sinha to file  a response in the coal scam case in 10 days and post the matter for further hearing on September 19.

This comes after SC advocate Prashant Bhushan filed a plea to  remove Sinha from investigating the coal scam.

The SC notice to the CBI director comes after Bhushan points out that accused in the coal scam met Sinha as per records in his visitors' logbook at his residence. Bhushan tells the court that there is a record of meetings in Sinha's visitors' book.

The bench took on record the original register of entry list/guest list at the CBI director's residence which was handed over by advocate Prashant Bhushan in a sealed envelope, yesterday.

Bhushan submitted that some unknown person had turned up at his residence last night and gave him the documents. He pleaded before the court to take the documents on record as these may be destroyed.

The prominent question in the mind of everyone is who maintained this diary at Sinhas residence. Sinha has already called the diary dubious and says it was not maintained at his instructions.

Sinha admits that he met several people mentioned in the diary, but it is dubious because it doesnt include many names of the people who visited him.

Military and police officials coordinating relief operations say their efforts are being hampered by a deluge of phone calls and messages from influential citizens seeking priority for their loved ones.

"I know people are really concerned for their loved ones and can understand their feelings,' a senior New Delhi-based Army official said.

"However, our resources aren't infinite, and diverting resources from an ongoing rescue operation means leaving someone else's loved ones to their fate.'

Read

As Jammu and Kashmir reels under possibly the worst floods in nearly six decades, and as the toll in terms of lives, property and crops mounts, the question that looms large is whether timely warnings had been issued and measures initiated to let people take evasive action on time. Read

President Barack Obama looks forward to welcoming Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 29-30, the White House announced, saying their talks will "expand and deepen the US-India strategic partnership."

"The two leaders will discuss a range of issues of mutual interest in order to expand and deepen the US-India strategic partnership," White House Press Secretary said in a statement on Modi's first visit to Washington since his landmark electoral victory in May.

"They will discuss ways to accelerate economic growth, bolster security cooperation, and collaborate in activities that bring long-term benefits to both countries and the world," he said.

"They will also focus on regional issues, including current developments in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq, where India and the United States can work together with partners towards a positive outcome."

"The President looks forward to working with the Prime Minister to fulfil the promise of the US-India strategic partnership for the benefit of both our citizens and the world," the White House statement.

The US had shunned Modi for nearly a decade with the previous Bush administration revoking his visa in 2005 for his alleged role or inaction during the 2002 Gujarat riots as the state's chief minister.

The Obama administration was late in reaching out to Modi in the run up to India's parliamentary elections, but Obama was among the first leaders to greet him after his historic win and invite him to the White House.

Professor Bipan Chandra, the outstanding historian of modern India who passed away on August 30, did not just produce brilliant historical analyses based on research and erudition, but he also provided his readers with a whole new Weltanschauung, which reflected his unique intellectual position.
Read

The toll in the Kashmir following five days of non-stop rain and floods. The army, air force, navy and NDRF are leading rescue efforts in the state.

However, cloudy weather in Srinagar could hamper air sorties today. The meteorological department has predicted rainfall in Jammu too.

Heavy floods and rainfall triggered landslides in the Udhampur district of Jammu. Rescue workers pulled out seven bodies in the Pancheri area of Udhampur. But 40 people are feared trapped under the debris. Nearly 25 houses were buried in the landslide, reports CNN-IBN.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval today held talks with China's top diplomat and State Councillor Yang Jiechi to finalise the arrangements for Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to India expected to take place next week.

Doval arrived in Beijing yesterday as the Special Representative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make final preparations for Xi's visit. The two officials met at the Diaoyutai Guest house to finalise the schedule and agenda for Xi's visit. Welcoming Doval, Yang who is also

China's Special Representative for Sino-India border talks, said he highly appreciates Doval's visit. It speaks volumes about the importance the Indian side attaches to Xi's visit and bilateral relations, he said.

On Wednesday, September 17, Chinese President Xi Jinping will reportedly visit Gujarat, before he lands in New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also expected to be in Ahmedabad that day -- it is his 64th birthday, NDTV reports.

Though China has officially not announced dates for its president's India visit or his itinerary, the Gujarat government said in a statement that he would visit the state for a day on September 17 and would go to the Sabarmati Ashram of Mahatma Gandhi.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval will hold talks today with Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi in Beijing and is expected to meet Xi after that.

Modi is expected to visit Gujarat to meet his 94-year-old mother Hiraba like he does every year on his birthday.

United States President Barack Obama called Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to congratulate him on the approval of a new government and discuss its efforts to fight Islamic State militants, the White House has said.

"Obama applauded the efforts of Prime Minister Abadi and other Iraqi leaders in forming a new, broad-based government, and underscored the need for the United States and Iraq to continue working closely with the international community to build on recent actions to counter the threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant," the White House said.

Obama, during the call, expressed his commitment to work with all communities in Iraq as well as regional and international partners to strengthen Iraq's capabilities to fight against the IS, earlier know as the ISIS. 

"Both the leaders agreed on the importance of having the new government quickly take concrete steps to address the aspirations and legitimate grievances of the Iraqi people," a White House statement said, adding that they expressed their support for a strong strategic partnership between the US and Iraq.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry hailed the formation of a new government in Baghdad as "a major milestone" for Iraq.

Mathew Martoma, accused of insider trading that earned his employer SAC Capital $275 million -- and himself a $9.38 million bonus -- has been sentenced to a nine years in a Florida prison. He was sentenced to nine and five years on charges of conspiracy and two of securities fraud. The sentences run concurrently.

US District Judge Paul Gardephe said that he had considered 140 letters that described Martoma's compassion, his devotion to his family, and the fact that he had no criminal record, but decided that there was a darker side to Martoma's character, as seen in the fact that he had forged a Harvard transcript, and later hidden his expulsion from that institution when he applied to Stanford, and where he went on to earn an MBA.

Heavy to very heavy rains are expected in Gujarat, Maharashtra, west Madhya Pradesh and Goa in the next couple of days, the India Meteorological Department said.

With southwest monsoon remaining vigorous over west Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha and active over Marathwada and Telangana, it said a few places in these region could experience "extremely" heavy rainfall on today and tomorrow.

Heavy rainfall is also expected over Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Assam and Meghalaya, East Rajasthan, coastal Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand during this period. However, no such warning has been issued for Jammu and Kashmir where rains and floods during the last week claimed 150 lives.

A bomb exploded in a Santiago subway station Monday, injuring at least eight people in what authorities said was the latest in a spree of extremist attacks in the Chilean capital this year.

The afternoon blast occurred in front of a vendor's stall at the Escuela Militar station, said Santiago fire department commander Ivo Zuvic Garcia. There were no immediate claims of responsibility.

Image:Police officers are seen behind barricade tape guarding an area where a bomb exploded in Santiago. Photograph: Ivan Alvarado/Reuters

Read the full story here

US President Barack Obama will meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House on September 29 and 30 during which the two leaders would discuss a wide range of bilateral and strategic issues including economic growth, a presidential spokesperson said today.

"President Obama looks forward to welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India to the White House on September 29-30," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said.

Obama looks forward to working with Modi to fulfill the promise of the US-India strategic partnership for the benefit of both our citizens and the world, he added. The meeting will mark Modi's first visit to the US since his party swept to victory in general elections.

A major terrorist attack on the Pakistan Naval dockyard in Karachi was foiled by security forces who killed two militants and captured four others, a top naval official said today.

One naval officer was also killed and seven others injured in the attack that took place on Saturday, a spokesman for the Pakistan navy said. The attack was, however, foiled by security forces who killed two terrorists and captured four others, he said.

The spokesman said news of the attack was kept under wraps because of strategic requirements. Operations are being carried out to capture more terrorists, the spokesman told Dawn news channel.

The spokesman only confirmed the incident after Geo News channel reported that an attack took place on Saturday morning but the Pakistan Navy had kept the incident a secret.

According to Geo News, two naval officers at the Naval dockyard were involved in aiding the terrorists whose number is yet to be confirmed. But a security source confirmed that the target of the attackers were Pakistan naval ships in the dockyard which is located in West Wharf.

On June 8, ten terrorists stormed the old Karachi airport terminal building in which at least 29 people were killed apart from the attackers.

US Secretary of State John Kerry would travel to the Middle East tomorrow to discuss with leaders of the region the current situation in Iraq and build an international coalition against the Islamic State.

"On September 9th, Kerry will depart for travel to Amman, Jordan, and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. In Amman and Jeddah, Secretary Kerry will hold bilateral meetings with counterparts to discuss regional issues and the current situation in Iraq," State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters today.

"While traveling in the region, Secretary Kerry will also consult with key partners and allies on how to further support the security and stability of the Iraqi government, combat the threat posed by ISIL and confront Middle East security challenges," she said.

A controlled explosion was carried out today at one of Britain's major airports after a security alert over a suspicious suitcase, disrupting flights for thousands of passengers.

The Luton airport, in Bedfordshire towards the north of London, was reopened later this evening after all its incoming flights were suspended over the alert sparked by the checked-in suitcase which was picked out by a security scanner.

The police said the terminal had been evacuated while the package was being examined which had now been destroyed.

"London Luton Airport has evacuated the terminal building after a suspicious item was found in the security search area. The decision has been taken with the police to ensure the safety and security of passengers and staff," an airport spokesperson said.

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