Congress and NCP were driving a hard bargain today as the two prepared for a crucial meeting tomorrow that was likely to finalise seat-sharing arrangement for October 15 Maharashtra assembly elections.

Racing against time, both sides gave positive signals on working out a deal to salvage their 15-year-old alliance that has seen them in power in the key state since 1999. At the AICC briefing, party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi downplayed speculation about a break-up saying, "We are hopeful and we want the alliance to continue and high level-talks are on."

He also said that both are "responsible political parties". NCP leader Praful Patel tweeted "positive decision is expected in tomorrow's meet with the leaders of #Congress".

"We have nothing to do with Shiv Sena'"BJP. It's been long time since we are demanding additional seats", he said adding, "We have taken good care to protect our alliance with Congress."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will witness the crucial Mars Orbiter Insertion at the Spacecraft Control Centre at ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network in Bangalore on Wednesday.

"Yes. The prime minister will be present at the centre on Wednesday when the operation is going on. This is the information we have," ISRO Scientific Secretary Koteswara Rao told PTI.

Mars Orbiter Insertion operation of the spacecraft is scheduled to be performed on September 24 at 07:17 pm IST by firing the Liquid Apogee Motor along with eight smaller liquid engines for about 24 minutes.

India's maiden Mars mission was on course to reach the Red Planet's orbit as the spacecraft's main engine was successfully fired for abour 4 seconds today in the first test of its last crucial manoeuvre in search for evidence of life.

Against the backdrop of ongoing incursions by Chinese troops in Ladakh, the army has raked up the issue of bringing the Indo-Tibetan Border Police under its operational control along the China border.

The matter, which was taken up at a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, will be discussed by it in the coming days. The Army raised the issue of bringing the ITBP, which is under Home Ministry's control, and road construction organisation BRO under its direct operational control along the Line of Actual Control, sources said.

The raising of the issue once again has come at a time when the Chinese Army has made intrusions well inside the Indian territory in the Chumar area and have refused to leave more than ten days after they came there, they said.

There is a view that ITBP and the BRO under a single organisation can reduce duplication of command and the issue is expected to be discussed by the Committee, sources said. The issue has to be examined by other agencies including the home ministry and cannot be decided in a haste merely on demands made by the army, they said.

A woman lawyer from Chhattisgarh, claiming to be a victim of gang-rape allegedly by her husband's family members, today broke down before a Supreme Court bench and sought justice.

As a bench headed by Chief Justice R M Lodha was about to rise for the day after completing the day's list of business, the woman started crying, complaining of alleged inaction of state police on an FIR lodged by her in connection with the alleged gang-rape.

Since the lady was inaudible, the bench, also comprising Justices Kurian Joseph and R F Nariman, sought the assistance of another woman lawyer who, after speaking to her, said she has consumed naphthalene balls. The bench asked the police present in the court to take her to the apex court dispensary from where she was rushed to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.

JUST IN: BJP's Rajiv Pratap Rudy said that the party has sent a fresh proposal of 130 seats to Shiv Sena for the Maharashtra assembly polls and that they were awaiting their ally's response. 

Apple said it sold more than 10 million of its new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus devices during the first weekend of sales, a new high for the company even though the devices have yet to go on sale in China."Sales for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus exceeded our expectations for the launch weekend, and we couldn't be happier," Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said. Last week, the company said it received more than four million preorders of the phones during the first 24 hours, which the company dubbed a record.

Rajiv Pratap Rudy, BJP: Proposal given is for 130 seats, such seats which Shiv Sena has not won in last 30 years, the proposal given is very liberal.

There seems to be no end to The Times of India (TOI)-Deepika Padukone battle that has been going on around for over a week now. However, this time there seems to be discontent brewing within the media organisation itself. Read

Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharti met Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel. 

NCP Core Committee meeting ends. Senior party leader Praful Patel says that the NCP and the Congress will sit together and decide the seat sharing issue tomorrow. "Congress leaders are in Delhi. We will hold talks tomorrow tomorrow. The Congress has said we will discuss seat sharing together. We believe that the Congress should consder our demands for more seats. We want to keep communal forces at bay," said Patel immediately after the meet. 

The NCP has said they want to contest 144 seats. The Congress has also looked for ways to end the impasse with leaders from Maharashtra, including Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and PCC chief Manikrao Thakre, holding consultations with some central leaders.

Here we go again. Gangster Ravi Pujari has made an extortion call to Shilpa Shetty's husband and IPL team Rajasthan Royals owner Raj Kundra. Pujari has demanded Rs 3 crore from Kundra. A case has been registered and security has been upped at Kundra's Juhu residence.

Pujari was in the news in June this year, for calling the office of industrialist Nusli Wadia, threatening him not to mess with Preity Zinta. He said he was a very big fan of the actress and was upset that nobody was standing up for her in the row with former boyfriend Ness Wadia.

Legendary runner Milkha Singh today said that the current crop of Indian track and field athletes have the potential to do well at international level but they need commitment to come on top at the highest stage.

"Our youngsters do have the potential to do well at highest level. All they need is hard work, strong determination and commitment," Milkha said at the launch of a talent hunt programme organised by GAIL.

Asked about his expectations from the Indian athletes in the ongoing Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, he said, "Honestly, I am not very hopeful with our athletes to do well at the Incheon games."

Meanwhile at Jadavpur University, a notice to students to return to their classes immediately. JU Vice Chancellor Abhijit Chakrabarti has also offered to talk to the students at some other venue, but the students have turned down the offer. Students demand his resignation.

-- Indrani Roy.

Olympian shooter Abhinav Bindra announces his retirement. "Tomorrow will mark the end of my professional shooting life ! I will however still shoot , compete as a hobby shooter training twice a week," he tweets. This will be his last Asian Games.

But then there is this googly: Bindra tweets: And yes I will still try to be at rio and my bio is now most appropriate ! Great times and am sure there will be a few more!

Rio is the where the 2016 Olympics will be held.

Jadavpur University issues a notice to students to return to their classes immediately.

Just in: A probe has been launched against the five-star hotel in Ahmedabad that hosted Chinese president Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan, for asking its staff from the northeast to keep away from the venue.

News reports said that the police did not want anything or anybody to make a bad impression on Jinping.

While the hotel staff, even those from the northeast, had been issued passes, they had been told to keep away from the venue.

Obama, Biden will host dinner/lunch, but NaMo will eat nothing. Read

Indian tennis fans will be able to watch one of the best, if not the best player of all-time in the flesh -- Roger Federer -- who has been signed by the India franchise for the International Tennis Premier League. Federer will team up with Pete Sampras and Sania Mirza. 

In this season of alleged 'love jihad', a story of the lone Muslim student to have returned to his school in one of Muzaffarnagar's worst riot-hit villages and his three Hindu classmates. Pritha Chaterjee on how the four are trying to rediscover lost friendships and childhood in a changed, aged world.  Read

Girl, 8, calls on Islamic youth to back jihad.  Read

Proud moment for ISRO!

@isro MarsOrbiter Main Liquid Engine test firing successful!

ISRO successfully test fires the Mars Orbiter's main liquid engine. This is the Orbiter's final test before entry into the Mars orbit on Wednesday.

Isro launched the Mangalyaan on November 5 to find evidence of life on Mars. If the spacecraft makes it, India will be the fourth after US, Russia and Europe to reach the Red planet. Once in orbit, the craft's five payloads will take pictures and collect data for the next six months. Probes to Mars have a high failure rate. Of the 51 missions so far, only 21 have succeeded. A similar mission by China failed in 2011.

Read: Mangalyaan enters last leg: Will India win Asian race to Mars?

The figure for households without toilets is 47 per cent for Hindu households as against 31 per cent for Muslims and 16 per cent for Christians and Sikhs, according to NSS data. Extensive new evidence shows that building toilets alone will not eliminate open defecation in India as not everyone who has access to toilet, especially men, believe that it's important to use it.
Read more

The West Bengal Government today announced a five-member committee to investigate the alleged harassment of a girl student in Jadavpur University and will submit its report 'as soon as possible'. Calcutta University Vice Chancellor Suranjan Das would the chairman of the committee, state Higher Education Minister Partha Chatterjee said.

"The committee will try to submit its report regarding the girl's allegations of being sexually molested as soon as possible," the minister said.

It has been decided that the panel will preferably submit its report within 72 hours as the girl and her family had personally approached the chief minister demanding a neutral probe.

Rediff.com's Indrani Roy reports that Jadavpur University has constituted a neutral five-member committee to probe the 'alleged' molestation case. JU authorities will also bear the expenses of treatment of five students injured during police 'operations'.

Thousands of students had marched through the city's streets on Saturday demanding the resignation of JU vice-chancellor Abhijit Chakrabarti. West Bengal governor K N Tripathi intervened to end the four-day old stalemate in the prestigious educational institution.

Students from Presidency University, Calcutta University and other educational institutions joined the march in a show of solidarity.

Jadavpur University authorities will withdraw police cases against 37 students who were arrested last Wednesday, university sources tell Rediff.com.

In a setback to CBI Director Ranjit Sinha, the Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider a plea for hearing allegations levelled against him without knowing the name of the whistleblower in a case relating to controversial entries in the visitors' diary at his residence.

So is this why the stalemate between the BJP,  Shiv Sena hasn't ended? Sagarika Ghose tweets: So apparently, reportedly, no decision on Sena-BJP alliance until the Pitru-Paksh ends...24th. The astrology of politics!

India were today knocked out of medal contention in both the men's and women's tennis team events after losing their respective quarterfinal clashes to Kazakhstan in the 17th Asian Games in Incheon. Both the teams lost by a similar 1-2 margin to the Kazakhs, seeded top in men's and second in women's competition.

Even as its alliance with BJP appeared teetering on the brink, Shiv Sena today endorsed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's praise for Indian Muslims, saying he has "initiated a new chapter by giving a guarantee of the community's love for its motherland".

"Modi has lauded Indian Muslims for their patriotism. He has initiated a new chapter by giving a guarantee of the community's love for its motherland. Now, Muslims must not let him down," an editorial in Shiv Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana" said.

The party, an ally of BJP for 25 years, however, said Modi's praise of patriotism of Indian Muslims should not be seen as a dilution of his commitment to Hindutva. "There is no reason to believe that Hindutva in Modi's mind has been diluted just because he called Muslims patriotic," the editorial said.

Nude photographs purported to be of the singer Rihanna were leaked online last night, weeks after hackers released similar naked images of other Hollywood stars. Read

Coup leader Voreqe Bainimarama was sworn in as Fiji's new Prime Minister today, five days after the South Pacific nation held its first general election since 2006.

Will new ISI chief practice what he preached?

@acorn: In his US Army War College dissertation, Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar wrote that Pakistan must "aggressively pursue rapprochement with India"

And the BJP-Sena stalemate over seat sharing continues in Maharashtra.

BJP president Amit Shah Monday called Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and urged him to reconsider his stand on seat sharing in upcoming Maharashtra poll.

The two parties, which have been alliance partners for nearly 25 years, hit a rough patch over seat sharing for October 15 Maharashtra assembly polls.

Sources within the BJP said that Shah called Thackeray Monday morning, and said that the ties between the two parties should not break.While the BJP wants at least 135 seats to contest, Shiv Sena is not ready to offer anything more than 119 seats in the 288-seat assembly.

The last date for filing nominations is September 27.

BJP sources said Monday that they may soon decide on candidates.

Asked about the chances of the alliance breaking up, BJP spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain said: "The decision will be announced soon."

Man hangs himself live on Skype: Shocking suicide emerges of young Russian who invited users to watch - who egged him on. Read 

Major General Rizwan Akhtar was named new Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief on Monday, after being promoted to Lieutenant General's position, Express News reported.

Akhtar had worked as DG Rangers Sindh in the past. The new chief will take charge once DG ISI Zaheerul Islam retires from his post.

The post of ISI chief is the second most important after that of the army chief.

Further, the ISI chief is appointed by the prime minister on the recommendation of the army chief.

The change in the top military brass comes at a time when the army has constantly been accused of involvement in the current political crisis as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Awami Tehreek continue their sit-ins in Islamabad seeking to overthrow the incumbent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government.

Just in: Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar is the new DG ISI in Pakistan.

Must read: My Time with Charles Sobhraj, the Bikini Killer. 

India's last viceroy Lord Mountbatten weds Edwina, 18 July 1922 at St. Margaret's, Westminster Abbey.  

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York and address its annual session on Friday. State-run Associated Press of Pakistan said the prime minister will leave for the US on Wednesday to address the UN General Assembly session.

"Political advice is hard to offer to a Prime Minister who managed to win a landslide victory. It would be presumptuous, to say the least. In fact, his instincts have been unerring on how to treat a humiliated Congress with its ruling dynasty finally on the ropes." Read

Arun Jaitley, who was admitted to hospital again for post-surgery check-up, will be discharged by tomorrow afternoon. 

1985: Time Magazine, USA interviews PM Rajiv Gandhi, New Delhi. At the table is also a very young Mani Shankar Aiyar, who when this interview was being conducted was Head of Americas Division, and  Joint Secretary to the Prime Minister. 

The West Bengal government would not replace Jadavpur University Vice-Chancellor Abhijit Chakrabarti, and if the students are not happy with him, they can leave the university.

This terse and straightforward response comes from state education minister Partha Chatterjee.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Chatterjee said that the students who do not like the present V-C are free to quit and join any other educational institution.

Chatterjee spoke to this correspondent even as the students continued with their sit-in demonstration on Mayo Road in central Kolkata demanding immediate resignation of the V-C, pro V-C and the Registrar of JU.

"Why should government change the V-C? If the students are not happy, they can leave and find their place in any other institution,' Chatterjee said.

Read more

Just in: Finance minister Arun Jaitely hospitalised. Jaitley had been admitted to a private hospital in New Delhi on September 1 for bariatric surgery to manage a long-standing diabetic condition.

With Gujarat hoping to boost trade ties with China after President Xi Jinping's recent visit, more and more Gujaratis are thronging institutes here imparting training in various foreign languages especially to learn Chinese with a view to explore business opportunities in the neighbouring country.

Several pacts were inked between the two countries when President Xi visited Gujarat during his three-day India tour.

This included an agreement of sister city pact between Guangzhou in China and Gujarat's mega city Ahmedabad besides a deal on setting up of an industrial park in the state.

The people of Gujarat did not wait for such events to happen and had already started sensing business opportunities in the land of Mao Zedong earlier.

But according to city-based teachers and students of Chinese language, the trend to learn Chinese recently got a big push after Xi's visit.

"I was about to quit journalism a decade back': Arnab Goswami. Read 
Sigh. 

In drawing attention to the plight of the widows of Vrindavan, the BJP's Member of Parliament from Mathura, Hema Malini, got hold of the wrong end of the stick.

Many of the Vrindavan widows are without any means of sustenance, and forced to beg to supplement their meagre earnings from singing bhajans.

But the solution thought up by the actor-turned-politician was for the widows to go to temples in their home-States, and not take the train to Mathura. Read

In controversial comments, Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool Congress MP and nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, today questioned whether the student protests in Jadavpur University were due to banning of drugs and liquor inside the campus.

"Is this protest due to the banning of drugs, liquor and charas?" he said in a Facebook post.

The comment comes in the backdrop of JU students protesting on the streets of Kolkata demanding the resignation of the VC, the Pro VC and the registrar of the varisty in the wake of alleged police assault of students in the early hours of September 17.

Thousands of students had marched through the city's streets on Saturday demanding resignation of JU Vice-chancellor Abhijit Chakrabarti and West Bengal Governor K N Tripathi intervened to end the four-day old stalemate in the prestigious educational institution. Students from Presidency University, Calcutta University and other educational institutions joined the march in a show of solidarity.

JU students have boycotted classes to press the demand for the VC's resignation. Those in the mass communication department boycotted their examination on September 18.

The Shiv Sena on Monday urged Indian Muslims "not to let down" Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he praised the community for its patriotism and love for the country in an interview.

"Modi has lauded Indian Muslims for their patriotism...He has initiated a new chapter by giving a guarantee of the community's love for its motherland. Now, Muslims must not let him down," Shiv Sena said in an editorial in the party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

Frowning on Hindu hardliners, it said that by making this statement, Modi has not diluted his staunch Hindutva ideology.

"Modi is the Prime Minister of the country and of all communities and people...But, he has been always painted as 'anti-Muslim' by pseudo-secularists of the country," it pointed out.

The benchmark BSE Sensex dipped below the 27k-level by falling over 166 points in early trade today as funds and retail investors engaged in reducing positions amid a weak trend on other Asian bourses. The 30-share barometer, which shed 21.79 points in the previous session, fell by 166.32 points, or 0.61 per cent, to slip below the 27,000-mark to 26,924.10.

Indrani Roy, our correspondent in Kolkata, tells us that police have entered Jadavpur University again.

Prashant Bhushan moves application before SC seeking withdrawal of its prior order to disclose name of whistle blower in 2G case.

The interim vice-chancellor at the centre of the Jadavpur University storm was talking to The Telegraph at his home this afternoon when the conversation was interrupted. A maid had rushed into the first-floor room to say: "Dada, kara jeno gate-y eshechhe college theke, hatey ki shob niye (some boys from your college are outside the gate; they are carrying something in their hands).' Read

At least two persons were killed and several others injured in a series of explosions in China's restive Muslim-dominated Xinjiang province.   

Explosions hit at least three locations in Xinjiang's Luntai County last evening, the Tianshan news portal, run by the regional government, said in a short report this morning.    The report did not identify the explosions, which appeared to be coordinated attacks, as acts of terrorism, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.   

"The local social order was normal," the Tianshan said, indicating that there was no further unrest following the explosions.

Veteran Bollywood actor Shashi Kapoor has been admitted to the intensive care unit of a hospital in Mumbai for chest infection, doctors attending on him said today.

The 76-year-old actor was admitted to the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital last evening after he complained of acute cough and breathlessness, Dr Ram Narain, executive director of the Hospital, said.

"He has been diagnosed with a chest infection. Although he is in the ICU for now, he is stable. We are administering him with antibiotics," Dr Narain told PTI.

Times NOW reports: BJP President Amit Shah called Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray this morning and urged him not to break the alliance. "The alliance must continue," Shah reportedly told Uddhav.

He also told the Sena chief that his last proposal was not practical.

The Sena-BJP alliance is facing trouble over seat searing in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly polls. The two parties failed to arrive at a seat-sharing formula even yesterday. Though Sena made its "last offer" of 119 seats, the BJP maintained that anything less than 135 was unacceptable.

In Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah attended the party's central election committee meeting yesterday in the hope of finding a solution to the stalemate.

Former Union minister Salman Khurshid hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his comments on the Muslims and said that the community in India doesn't need a certificate from him to prove its patriotism, reports CNN-IBN.  

Khurshid said, "It's as if Modi just discovered that Muslims are patriotic. They need not be given a certificate. They fought in the independence struggle together."

On the question on Al Qaeda head Ayman al Zawahiri issuing a video and his message to Muslims in India, Modi said in an interview to CNN's Fareed Zakaria, "My understanding is that they are doing injustice towards the Muslims of our country. If anyone thinks Indian Muslims will dance to their tune, they are delusional. Indian Muslims will live for India, they will die for India - they will not want anything bad for India."

NASA's MAVEN spacecraft has arrived in the Mars's orbit after traveling 442 million miles in the course of 10 months to get there.

It won't land on the red planet but instead study Mars' atmosphere from above to answer questions about its climate change, according to NASA.

MAVEN craft will live up to its formal name -- the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution craft -- by helping scientists figure out how ancient Mars changed so dramatically into the planet we know today, CNN reports.

It is the first mission devoted to studying the upper Martian atmosphere as a key to understanding the history of Mars' climate, water and habitability.

Uddhav meets Sena leaders to finalise candidates' list

Chinese pitch 7 tents in Chumar; standoff continues

India can rise again, I have a clear road map: Modi

Uddhav's final offer: 151 for Sena, 119 for BJP

Mars mission: ISRO geared up for a crucial manoeuvre on Monday

Yesterday's live commentary