Belgium plans to send six F-16 fighter jets to join the US-led coalition against the Islamic State militant group but will limit their use to Iraq, the government said. 

A Red Cross team was attacked while collecting bodies believed to be infected with Ebola in southeastern Guinea, the latest in a string of assaults that are hindering efforts to control West Africa's current outbreak. 

Nigeria's military today claimed for the first time that Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau was dead, saying troops had shot a lookalike who had been posing as the militant commander. 

Japan's First Lady Akie Abe, taking on a rare public role overseas, told a US audience on today about her deep unhappiness after her husband's first stint in power. 

President Barack Obama today asked Iran to seize the "historic opportunity" of reaching a deal with the world powers on its contested nuclear programme. 

Two persons were killed and five others injured in Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills district when para military forces allegedly opened fire at a mob which obstructed their vehicle and pelted stones at them in the early hours of today, police said.

The Union Cabinet today gave its nod to signing of six MoUs in sectors including education, environment, gas and space science between India and the US ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to that country beginning tomorrow.

Briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said India favoured good relations with the US and the decisions taken today are a pointer in this direction.

"The union cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister today gave its approval to the signing a Joint Declaration between the Ministry of Human Resource Development of India and the National Science Foundation of the United States of America to initiate a new programme entitled Global Initiative of Academic Networks in Higher Education," a government release said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu here on Sunday during his stay in the city to attend the UN General Assembly.

According to sources, Prime Minister Modi will be meeting Netanyahu on September 28, the day on which he will also address thousands of Indian-Americans at the famous Madison Square Garden.

Modi will also meet an influential American Jewish group which had congratulated him soon after his electoral victory and hoped that under his leadership, India's ties with the US and Israel will strengthen further.

Congress and BJP were involved in a blame-game over the quashing of coal block allocations by the Supreme Court, accusing each other of flouting norms in making the allotments.

While BJP said its stand on "illegal" coal block allocations made during the previous UPA regime stood vindicated with the Court quashing 214 out of 218 coal blocks, the Congress suggested that the order had proved hollow the campaign launched by BJP against the erstwhile UPA Government about corruption in the matter.

The cancellations of allocations since 1993 showed that it involved a long period involving several governments including those headed by the BJP, party spokesman Anand Sharma said.

Noting that it was "nobody's case" that there was no mining, nor allocations during 1998 to 2004 when BJP was in power, he gave a word of advice to those in the government to reflect and introspect on how they had targeted the Congress and its coalition over alleged wrongdoing.

Enforcement Directorate today questioned Aeromatrix CEO Praveen Bakshi in connection with the money laundering probe into the alleged kickbacks in the Rs 3,600-crore VVIP Agustawestland helicopter deal.

Agency sleuths, sources said, recorded Bakshi's statement under the criminal provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act after questioning him for over two hours, a day after it arrested ex-board member of Aeromatrix Gautam Khaitan in this case.

The sources said Bakshi's questioning was important as it suspects illegal bribe money was purportedly sent to Aeromatrix from abroad in the garb of engineering contracts under the VVIP choppers deal.

"This week's airstrikes against the ISIS were just a beginning, there will be more," Obama promised.

"Those who have joined ISIS must leave the battlefield while they can," he emphasised."United to fight the cancer of violent extremism," he said.

"ISIS must be degraded, then ultimately destroyed," Obama said. He vowed to keep up the military pressure on the group at the assembly.

"There can be no negotiations with this brand of evil" said US President Barack Obama in his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday. " Let's united to fight ISIS," he said.

China today hailed India's successful Mars mission saying that it was not only a proud achievement for the country and Asia but also a "landmark progress" in mankind's exploration of outer space, in a rare acknowledgment of its Asian rival's rising space prowess.

"We have seen the report and congratulate India on the Mars satellite entering the orbit successfully," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing here while replying to a question on the successful sojourn of India's Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft 'Mangalyaan'.

"This is pride of India and pride of Asia and also is a landmark progress in humankind's exploration of outer space. So we congratulate India on that," she said. Responding to a question on whether China sees any room to work with India on space exploration in future, she said, "China always maintained peaceful development of outer space and carry out cooperation in this regard."

BSF troops shot dead two smugglers near at Indo-Pak border here and seized arms and ammunition from their possession. BSG DIG RPS Jaswal said the encounter took place yesterday at Border Out Post Khalra in Amritsar sector.

He said BSF troops on duty in the area noticed suspicious movement near the fence and saw smugglers trying to throw something from Pakistan side into the Indian side.

When the BSF troops challenged the smugglers, they started firing on them, he said, adding BSF troops then opened fire in self defence. On search of the area, the bodies of two Indian smugglers were recovered, he said.

A pistol, one magazine and seven rounds of ammunition were also found. Pakistani smugglers, however, managed to escape towards Pakistan territory under the cover of paddy crops.

Chinese Ambassador Le Yucheng today met senior officials in the External Affairs Ministry here today even as India said it has raised a couple of times the issue of continued standoff in Demchok and Chumar region with China -both here and in Beijing- in last one week.

"...Since our two leaders met and discussed issues relating to recent events on the border, there have been several follow-up issues that have been taken up by engagement at different levels in different places by India and China. In essence, I can tell you diplomacy is at work, it is quietly at work," the External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson has said.

According to sources, the matter has been raised by Indian mission in Beijing and also with the Chinese embassy officials here.

Significantly, Le's meeting comes a day after Indian Army said that Chinese Army has sought a flag meeting.

The two flag meetings in the last ten days had made no progress in resolving the crisis.

For over a week, 1000 Chinese and 1500 Indian soldiers have been ranged against each other on Indian territory, after the Chinese incursion in the Indian territory in the region.

561 trucks with 6103 animals already entered in Mumbai for Bakri Eid: Mumbai Police.

Meanwhile, the latest on the BJP-Sena alliance in Maharashtra. Hours after threatening to quit 'Mahayuti' over 'paltry' allocation of seats for Maharashtra Assembly polls, three smaller partners in Shiv Sena-BJP led alliance indicated they would stay on following an assurance from Uddhav Thackeray that they will be given a "respectable" number of seats.

"Our meeting with Uddhavji was very successful. We have proposed to him a formula that can make every party happy. We have asked him to keep 150 seats for Shiv sena, leaving 120 for BJP and we will be satisfied with 18 seats.

"We are going to meet BJP leaders now and hope this logjam will be sorted out today," Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathana leader and Lok Sabha MP Raju Shetty told reporters after his meeting with Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray.

Vinayak Mete of Shiv Sangram, who was also present during the meeting, said junior partners in the alliance will get more than 7 seats.

"We met Uddhavji and other leaders of the Sena. We have reworked a new formula which we will now discuss with BJP leaders today. Under the new formula smaller parties will be getting more than 7 seats to contest," Mete said.

And this one too... 

Our pick

Some of them obviously haven't worked. Shudder. 

Roger Federer took Twitter by storm when he asked his fans in India to photoshop at interesting locations in India.

This is what he tweeted on September 22. @rogerfederer I need some help from my supporters in India. I'm only in Delhi for a few days, so can't visit all amazing places that I'd like...


Federer will be in Delhi for the International Premier Tennis League where he will lead the Indian Aces, the Indian franchise of the league.

Immediately after he confirmed his partcipation, he had tweeted: "India, here I come! Looking forward to playing two matches in Delhi on December 7th & 8th. I'm beyond excited!"  (And so are we, Roger!)

Anyway, fans across India have been photo shopping his picture and the results are amazing. Have a look.

Citing restricted access to ministers and bureaucrats, the Editors Guild of India today asked the Modi government to "enlarge access and engage more actively" with the journalists.

"By delaying the establishment of a media inter-face in the Prime Minister's Office, in restricting access to ministers and bureaucrats in offices and in reducing the flow of information at home and abroad, the government in its early days seems to be on a path that runs counter to the norms of democratic discourse and accountability," the Guild said in a statement.

It said that every government is entitled to choose a media strategy that best suits its philosophy and interests.

"Indeed, the media would not grudge a government keeping an arm's-length distance while it is engaged with its core issues of governance.

"However, diminishing access to information to journalists and the media runs against the grain of democratic functioning in an age of openness, transparency and right to information," the Guild said.

Its statement highlighting "certain deficit in transparency in the functioning of the government" comes in the backdrop of a succession of press conferences by the new ministers to mark 100 days in office and the Prime Minister's interactions with the foreign media.

"While information always has ways of getting out, the public will be well served by such professional journalistic practices as identifying sources and getting elucidation and reactions from persons in office and outside.

"The Guild calls upon the government to enlarge access and engage more actively with professional journalists and the news media," the statement said. The Guild, a professional body of editors, unreservedly welcomed the increasing use of social media by the new government to get its message across.

"But a top-down, one-way interaction in a country with limited internet connectivity and technological awareness cannot be the only answer for large masses of readers, viewers, surfers and listeners. Debate, dialogue and discussion are the essential ingredients of a democratic discourse," it said.

The Guild hopes that the ministers and officials would continue to be as forthcoming with the media as they did when marking the completion of 100 days in office and that the Prime Minister would interact with the Indian media as well on the lines of his interactions with the international media, the statement said.

"The Editors Guild of India urges the government to see the news media, with its diversity, varied viewpoints and multiple functions, as a valuable interface with the democratic constituents," it added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US is the perfect occasion for building a mutually beneficial relationship. Read

APJ Kalam on Mangalyaan: ISRO team is fantastic, was very happy last night when I met them.

Twenty-three people were killed and 17 injured in a bus accident in Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh. The bus fell into the Gobind Sagar reservoir at Rayian near Bilaspur, 95-km from Shimla. The bus was over loaded, ordering a ministerial level inquiry, says GS Bali, HP Transport Minister.  

IS agents have crossed the border with propaganda to recruit new fighters. Read

This is what the ABC wrote on the Mars mission last year.

"Lacking a rocket large enough to fire the satellite directly out of earth's atmosphere, ISRO has also had to rely on another famed Indian specialism of "Jugaad" - confecting a cheap work-around solution.

Instead of flying directly, the 350-tonne rocket will orbit earth for nearly a month, building up the necessary velocity to break free from the earth's gravitational pull."

France's Le Monde uses the Indianism 'Jugaad' to explain how India managed the cheapest Mars mission ever for just Rs 450 crore.

"La mission indienne a en effet t conue selon le principe du jugaad , un principe typiquement indien que l'on pourrait rapprocher du  systme D  et qui consiste  trouver la solution la moins onreuse possible."

If you understand French, read this.

The young man who was killed by a white tiger at the Delhi zoo on Tuesday was stopped by guards twice before he jumped into the enclosure, zoo officials said today.

The zoo has blamed the man for the mishap yesterday.

"The man is responsible for this entire incident. He has been a mental patient for four years," said Riyaz Ahmed Khan, zoo spokesperson.

The man, who has been identified as Maqsood Khan, 20, fell into a dry moat in the tiger enclosure yesterday and was mauled to death in 10 minutes.

The animal first circled the man and did nothing and struck only after eyewitnesses started shouting and throwing stones at it. 

It then grabbed Maqsood around by the scruff of his neck and dragged him away to a corner of the enclosure.

Khan said a security guard stopped Maqsood from jumping in twice, but he did it anyway when the man's attention was on other visitors.

In an image captured by witnesses, he is seen cowering before the animal, his hands folded, after he fell into the moat.

Witnesses had said he lost his balance while trying to get a closer look.

Maqsood stays in a west Delhi area with his parents and brother, who admit that he was mentally unwell.

The tiger, called Vijay, is seven, and weighs over 200 kg and has never attacked anyone before, said zoo officials.

Zoo officials said earlier, someone had entered a lion cage but escaped unharmed as the "lion wasn't in the mood."

When the floods wreaked havoc in Kashmir and plunged most parts of the Valley into darkness, few doctors at a lone maternity care hospital in Srinagar, lent a ray of light to people's lives by performing birth surgeries under candlelight.

Doctors at the Lal Ded Hospital, whose ground floor was submerged by flood waters from Jhelum, performed six deliveries under the candlelight as the electricity supply to the hospital was snapped on September 6, and the generator stopped working the very next day.

"Since electricity was snapped on Saturday evening and genset stopped working as water entered into it on Sunday morning, we had to perform deliveries under candlelight later that day," Medical Superintendent, Lal Ded Hospital, Mushtaq Ahmad Rather said.

He said a team of doctors led by Head of Department (HoD), Gynaecology, Shehnaz Taing performed four normal deliveries and two Lower Segment Caesarean Section (LSCS) on six women under the candlelight on Sunday evening.

"The procedures involved high risk, but thankfully, by the grace of god, all the six babies and their mothers were fine when they were shifted from here," Rather said. The medical superintendent said the procedures were not an easy task as the oxygen supply and sterilisation set-up had been affected by the floods.

Yogendra Yadav @AapYogendra Thanks Prashant Bhushan ji for saving india's reputation and billions of people's money. This is true patriotism.

Owners of the new iPhone 6 Plus have been surprised by an unintended extra feature dubbed 'bend-gate'. Read

Arvind Kejriwal 4 PM @AKForPM Maganl bhari pad gaya corrupt Coal Companies par :) 

Rs 295 per tonne penalty imposed on all cancelled coal block holders by SC. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, says that of the 214 coal blocks that have been cancelled, four coal blocks remain. Two have been saved, one belonging to SAIL and the other to NTPC.

Aam Aadmi Party @AamAadmiParty tweets: SC scraps all coal block allocation except 4. Salute to Prashant Bhushan fr making sure that India's National resources don't gt plundered.

In 2012, Bhushan, who is a senior member of the AAP, filed a PIL seeking cancellation of coal block allocations by the government on the grounds that certain companies had been illegally favoured by the politicians.

In response to the PIL, the SC scrutinised coal block allocation since 1993. Bhushan also filed a PIL against illegal iron ore extraction in Goa, which led to the Supreme Court halting all the mining operations in the state.

First reactions: PC Parakh, ex-Coal secretary says the Impact depends on how quickly the government responds to the SC verdict and how the procedure for reallocation of coal blocks is followed.

The Supreme Court cancels 214 coal blocks after labeling their allocation ad-hoc and illegal. The SC has however spared four coal blocks that are govt run. The SC order will become operational in four months. The CBI enquiry into the coal scam will however continue.

On August 25, the Supreme Court held that all coal blocks allocations since 1993 by various regimes at the Centre have been made illegally and arbitrarily.

The apex court, which had used almost all terms to condemn the procedures adopted by 36 screening committee meetings since 1993, however, had stopped short of cancelling them saying, "what should be the consequences, is the issue which remains to be tackled.'

The court, which examined the allocation of 218 blocks in pre-auction era till 2010, had held that they were done in an illegal manner by an "ad-hoc and casual' approach "without application of mind' and "Common good and public interest have, thus, suffered heavily' due to lack of fair and transparent procedure resulting in "unfair distribution' of the "national wealth''"coal'""which is king and paramount lord of industry.'

And a tweet from Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan: Today India has reached Mars on 7 times less price of a Metro Bus project whilst Nawaz shall enjoy US visit with 1 lac $ per day on our tax."


AQ Khan, is regarded as the father of Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme. He is believed to be involved in a black market of nuclear technology and know-how whereby uranium-enrichment centrifuges, nuclear warhead designs, missiles, and expertise were sold or traded to Iran, North Korea, Libya, and possibly other countries.

Rahul Gandhi wakes up to the success of Mangalyaan: A historic day for us as India becomes the first country to enter the Mars orbit on its first attempt. Congratulations to the #Mangalyaan team and ISRO on this extraordinary achievement.

Yo!

The Supreme Court of India has, thankfully, decided to reconsider an earlier order calling for revealing the identity of the whistle-blower while hearing a petition alleging gross misconduct against the Director of the country's foremost police agency, the CBI. Read

BJD's Baijayant Jay Panda tweets: Go #Mangalyaan! #ISRO scientists continue to make the nation proud. Mars in 1st attempt, w/puny budget. Object lesson for our public sector.

Mangalyaan scientists celebrate in Mission Control Room, Bangalore.  

BJP president Amit Shah's visit to Mumbai today has been cancelled, a party spokesperson said today.

"Shah's visit today has been cancelled," state BJP spokesperson Keshav Upadhye said.

Shah was earlier expected to reach Mumbai this evening amid the impasse over seat sharing among 'Mahayuti' (grand alliance) partners.

He was expected to discuss the alliance tangle with senior state BJP leaders, party sources had said earlier today.

A meeting of the Mahayuti leaders held in Mumbai late last night remained inconclusive with the junior members insisting on more seats and expressing their displeasure over the 151 for Shiv Sena, 130 for BJP and seven for allies seat-sharing formula proposed by Sena for the Maharashtra Assembly polls scheduled for next month.

The saffron combine has four junior partners -- Raju Shetti's Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghtana, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha led by Mahadeo Janker, Vinayak Mete's Shivsangram and Ramdas Athawale's RPI(A). Shetti had earlier said that giving seven seats to four parties was an 'insult' to them and that would not be accepted.

Just in: Jordan court acquits radical preacher Abu Qatada of plotting attacks on Americans, Israelis.

"On the evening of September 7th, I was trying to reach my family in Srinagar, the largest city in India-controlled Kashmir. Automated messages thwarted me: "This number is out of coverage area'; "The number you have called is not available."

At a certain point in the night, my father willed a call across the Himalayas. "We are home,' he said. "It is all right here.' His voice belied his words. I wanted to check if he had the medicine he needed for his heart condition, but the call dropped.

Basharat Peer's first-person account of the Kashmir floods. Read

About 30 persons were feared drowned when a bus plunged into the Gobind Sagar reservoir this morning at Rayian near Bilaspur, 95-km from Shimla.

Twelve bodies have so far been recovered and the bus has been pulled out of the water, Bilaspur Deputy Commissioner Ajay Sharma said, adding that a search is on for those missing.

The exact number of passengers travelling on the bus is not known. The ill-fated bus belonging to a private transportation company was on its way from Rishikesh to Bilaspur and most of the passengers were locals.

The 40-seater bus was packed to capacity and some passengers were also said to have been travelling on its roof, sparking fears that the toll may rise.

As Indian community in New York looks forward to hear Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the organisers of the upcoming reception event at the Madison Square Garden say that the 30,000-strong crowd in attendance would include age groups ranging from 5 years to 90 years.

However, the majority of the crowd, as per a data analysis of those having registered for the event, would be in the age group of 30-35 years.

The registration for the Community Reception event at Madison Square Garden for the Prime Minister of India, to be held on September 28, has ended.

The data analysis includes approximately 20,000 registrants through "Welcoming Partner" organisations and about 10,000 registrants through the General Admission.

The female participation is expected to be maximum in the age group of 20-25 years. The data shows that about 12 per cent of the attendees would be in the 30-year age group, followed by about 11 per cent each in the 35-year and 40-year age groups, and over 10 percent registrants in about 25 years age group. Those in the age group of up to 5 years are estimated over one per cent of the total crowd, while there are also a few in the age group of 85-90 years among those having registered for the event.

Those having registered for the event include representatives of group like Gujarati Samaj of New York, Indo American Seniors Organisation, US India Political Action Committee, Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America, Bihar Jharkhand Association of North America, New York Tamil Sangam, Indian Business Association, and Overseas Friends of BJP.

Modi will be in US from September 26-30, during which he will address UN General Assembly, hold talks with US president Barack Obama and other senior U.S. Government officials and business leaders, besides attending this community reception and other events.

After lending his presence at ISRO, PM Modi is in Tumkur to launch a food park.

Modi who spoke after Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah's speech in Kannada.

"I do not understand the language, but I understood what he said. The Central Govt, private party and State Govt all have contributed to this Food Park.

"This shows that States need to be developed in order to develop the nation and that the centre and states have to work together.

"The PM and a CM may belong to any party, but the nation is one and we all have to walk shoulder to shoulder.

"Farmers work to provide for us, but if they are not developed then where will they go? Therefore there needs to be value addition. For farmers to develop economically they need to be given facilities for better growth.

"Mangoes if made into pickles get more revenue for the farmers, farmers need to be taken to the global market."

Digvijaya Singh is miffed: UPA govt took decisions on #Mangalyaan back in 2012, PM should have mentioned that and given us credit for that.

Somebody in ISRO has a sense of humour. This is the descriptive for the Mars Orbiter on its Twitter page.

ISRO's Mars Orbiter
Verified account
@MarsOrbiter
India's first mission to Mars. Orbiting the Red Planet since Sep 24, 2014. Explorer. Loves science, photography and long cruises.

@MarsOrbiter tweets: Ill be back after breakfast. Good ol sunlight. Its good for your battery.

BJP president Amit Shah is reaching Mumbai this evening amid the impasse over seat sharing among 'Mahayuti' (grand alliance) partners. Shah is expected to discuss the alliance tangle with senior state BJP leaders, party sources said.

A meeting of the Mahayuti leaders held in Mumbai late last night remained inconclusive with smaller parties insisting on more seats and expressing displeasure over the 151-Shiv Sena, 130-BJP and 7-allies formula proposed by Sena, for the Maharashtra Assembly polls to be held next month.

The saffron combine has four junior partners - Raju Shetti's Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha led by Mahadeo Janker, Vinayak Mete's Shiv Sangram and Ramdas Athawale's RPI(A).

Shetti had earlier said giving seven seats to four parties was an 'insult' to them and that would not be accepted. "If the Sena distributes seven seats among four alliance partners, it will be an insult to us. Sena and BJP can fight elections on all 288 seats and satisfy their egos," he had said.

Athawale was reportedly miffed with Sena's proposal and had left midway during the discussions late last night.

If India's Mangalyaan space probe successfully enters an orbit around Mars on Wednesday, the country will have made history -- twice.

It will be the only nation so far to reach Mars on its first attempt.

It will also have spent the least amount of money to do so.

India's Mars mission has a price tag of about $74 million, a fraction of the $671 million cost of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration's latest Mars program.

Read

More on Narendra Modi's message to the nation on Mangalyaan:

The PM said that Atal Bihari Vajpayee's vision had inspired us to reach for the moon. The successful Chandrayan mission in turn led to the Mars Orbiter Mission.

"Modern India must continue playing this leading role of 'Jagad-guru Bharat'. Our efforts have historically focussed on ultimate objective of nation-building. Of translating space technology into space applications," he said.

The Prime Minister told the scientists, "Through your achievements, you have honoured our fore-fathers and inspired our future generations."

"The postponement of the traditional visit by the army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag to Bhutan has fueled speculation that it was due to the tensions on the border with China. If so, it is a silver lining on the horizon." Read

A three-tier protection is in place at Anna Arignar Zoological Park in Vandalur, Chennai, to protect animals from human visitors and visitors from wild animals, say zoo authorities.

This comes in the wake of yesterday's accident when a 20-year-old man accidentally fell into a white tiger's enclosure at New Delhi zoo, and was later mauled by the big cat. 

Excerpts from Modi's speech:

"With today's spectacular success, ISRO joins an elite group, of only three other agencies worldwide to have successfully reached the red planet.

"The odds, were stacked against us. Of the 51 missions, attempted across the world so far, a mere 21 had succeeded. But we have prevailed.

"Travelling an incredible distance, of over 650 million or 65 crore kms, we have gone beyond boundaries, of human enterprise and imagination."

#Mangalyaan is the most talked about topic worldwide on Twitter. 

PM Modi on the Mars mission:

"The moment this mission was named MOM, I knew it would not disappoint. Moms never fail... We dared to reach out to the unknown.

""History has been created today. We have achieved the near impossible. I congratulate all ISRO scientists and all my fellow Indians on this historic achievement," Modi said, noting that India was the first country to achieve this on the first attempt.
 
"The odds were stacked against us. Of the 51 missions attempted across the world so far, a mere 21 had succeeded. But we have prevailed," he said.

Dr Manmohan Singh on Mangalyaan: He (Pt. Nehru) hoped this endeavor will inspire future generations to develop scientific temper. We have honored that vision, hope this Govt will take necessary steps to promote growth of scientific temper."

On the News Hour tonight...

It marks the mission by Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru who laid seeds for India's space program, former PM Dr Manmohan Singh.

Anonymity can protect unpopular individuals from retaliation -- and their ideas from suppression -- at the hand of an intolerant society. Read

APJ Abdul Kalam @apj_abdul_kalam ISRO has yet again given the nation a reason to smile... Well done. :)Milind.

Deora '@milinddeora Congratulations Team @MarsOrbiter. You've never ceased to amaze us with your perseverance & dedication @isro

Mangalyaan: From drawing board to Mars in just 4 years. Read

India and its space agency, the Indian Space Research Organisation made history on Wednesday as its Mars Orbiter Mission successfully entered Martian orbit. Do it here

Dr. Manmohan Singh, former PM, on Mangalyaan. "It's a moment of immense national pride and one that shall go down as a significant milestone." 

Amitabh Bachchan tweets: #Mangalyaan , India's Mars mission .. Mars is Mangal, Tuesday .. and what timing and planning to have achieved it on a Tuesday !!!

Amitabh Bachchan tweets: Bharat Mata ki Jai!! Historic! Only country to have succeeded in first attempt, on budget less than Hollywood film!

US space agency Nasa was one of the first to congratulate Isro on its success. Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a congratulatory speech highlighting the success and hard work of the Isro scientists.

The Mars mission trending on Twitter, expectedly with the hash tags, 
#Mangalyaan
#MarsMission
#proudindian
#IndiaAtMars
#IndiansMartian
#Venus
#Jai Hind

And a factoid: India has spent $74 million to reach Mars -- less than the budget of the $100 million film, Gravity. 

First reactions: A golden page has been written in history of the nation, one of the biggest events: Naresh Agarwal, SP on #Mangalyaan. 

NASA's 2012 Mars mission Curiosity Rover, which entered Mars Orbit on Monday, has greeted its latest companion, India's Mars Orbiter.

Namaste @MarsOrbiter, Congratulations to @ISRO and India's first inter-planetary mission upon achieving Mars Orbit, it said in a tweet.

To which India's Mars Orbiter promptly replied, 'Howdy @MarsCuriosity? Keep in touch, I'll be around.'

So Manglyaan has made history and the next it did was have its own Twitter handle. @MarsOrbiter already has more than 21,000 followers and the numbers are expected to grow as #Mangalyaan, #ISRO and #MissionMars trend worldwide.

"India's first mission to Mars. Orbiting the Red Planet since Sep 24, 2014. Explorer. Loves science, photography and long cruises," reads the Twitter profile of the Mars Orbiter.

Here are the first few tweets:

ISRO's Mars Orbiter @MarsOrbiter    2h  

Not only is India the first country to succeed in its maiden attempt, it is also the cheapest. The entire Mars Orbiter Mission have been made ready at a record cost of Rs 450 crore or nearly $67 million.

Mangalyaan is the cheapest inter-planetary mission ever to be undertaken anywhere in the world. At Rs 450 crore, it costs just about Rs 4 per person in India, according to an NDTV reports.

In comparssion, the American rover Curiosity which has been sitting on the surface of the Red Planet -- cost over a whopping two billion dollars.

President Pranab Mukherjee has congratulated the Indian Space Research Organisation for the successful Orbit Insertion Maneuver of the Mars Orbiter Mission 'Mangalyaan'.  

In a message to Dr K Radhakrishnan, chairman of ISRO, the President has said, "I extend my hearty congratulations and best wishes to you and your team on the successful Orbit Insertion Maneuver of the Mars Orbiter Mission 'Mangalyaan' after a journey of nearly nine months. The success has made India the first Asian country and ISRO the fourth space agency to send a satellite to the red planet. ISRO is also the first to enter the Martian orbit in it's maiden attempt."

"The nation is proud of this historic achievement which has demonstrated, yet again, India's space capabilities. I am sure that this breakthrough, which marks a significant landmark in our space programme, will inspire our scientists to make even greater strides."

"Kindly convey my greetings to the members of your team of scientists, engineers, technologists and all others associated with this great mission. The nation is grateful for their hard work and proud of their accomplishment," the President said.  

NASA congratulates ISRO on its successful Mars mission.

We congratulate @ISRO for its Mars arrival! @MarsOrbiter joins the missions studying the Red Planet, tweets NASA. 

Travelling more than 650 million kilometres, we have gone beyond the boundaries of human imagination: These are all accomplishments that will go down as landmarks in history, said PM Modi at ISRO headquarters.

India is the only country to have succeeded in its first attempt. We put together spacecraft in record time within a mere three years, says Modi

Today Mars has got the MOM. I congratulate ISRO scientists. India is the only country to be successful in this mission in 3 years, said Prime Minister Modi.
   

Prime Minister Narendra Modi witnessed the historic moment when India's Mangalyaan entered the Mars orbit.

Speaking in English, which is rare, PM said: India has successfully reached Mars. History has been created today by our scientists.

Celebrations break out as the ISRO headquarters in Bangalore as India's maiden Mars mission, Mangalyaan, enters the Mars orbit.

India becomes the first Asian country to put a satellite around Mars.  

ISRO scientists applaud and are seen congratulating each other as we await a confirmation of the success of India's maiden mars mission.

Occultation is now behind us! Telemetry must have activated. Allow it another nerve wracking 12.5 minutes, tweets ISRO. 

ISRO scientists applaud at the confirmation of burn start.

Photograph: @DDNational/Twitter.

Burn end? The firing must have been completed by now and MOM must be turning towards Earth to resume communication, tweets ISRO.  

Just in: All engines of the #MarsOrbiter are going strong. Burn start confirmed, tweets ISRO.  

Just in: The Mars Orbiter is now in the shadow of Mars. Its start to forward rotation has begun.

All engines must have started fire by now, says ISRO. Skip a few heartbeats and stand by for confirmation, tweets ISRO.

India is a few moments away from history. It will be the first Asian country to reach Mars in the first attempt.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived at the ISRO telemetry and tracking center in Bangalore to witness the historic moment as India's maiden mission to Mars, Mangalyaan,will enter the planet's orbit. 

200 space scientists are currently in the monitoring room.  

It is leading TV bulletins, on the front pages, in the prayers of temple priests and even on special emails sent out to parents of exclusive nursery schools in Delhi. But the one place the satellite has yet to reach is the orbit of Mars, its final destination.

Outgoing President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday blamed the United States for Afghanistan's long war in a final swipe at the country that helped bring him to power 13 years ago but towards which he has become increasingly bitter.

More than 13 years after the September 11 attacks in New York City, one Belgian victim has finally been identified. The New York medical examiner identified the man as Patrice Braut, 31-years-old at the time of the attacks. 

The wife of a British taxi driver held by Islamic State jihadists has pleaded for his release, saying she had received a recording of him begging for his life. 

Refugees streaming into Turkey from Syria say their home city, once bustling with 400,000 citizens, has become a ghost town, emptied of all people but a few thousand fighters trying to hold off an onslaught by Islamic militants. 

 Health teams that went door-to-door in Sierra Leone found 130 confirmed cases of Ebola during a nationwide shutdown to slow the spread of the disease, an official said today, as authorities consider repeating the unprecedented exercise. 

President Barack Obama offered heavily pregnant Chelsea Clinton his motorcade today, in case she needed to speed through New York city gridlock to give birth. 

A Syrian rebel group that has reportedly received weapons from the United States criticised air strikes today by a US-led coalition against jihadists in the war-torn country. The Hazm Movement, in a statement posted on their Twitter account, said the strikes would undermine the armed opposition and benefit President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Notwithstanding initial signs of a rapprochement, BJP-Shiv Sena-led 'Mahayuti' tonight failed to resolve its differences over seat-sharing for the Maharashtra Assembly polls with smaller parties expressing disagreement over the meager share offered to them.

Warning that the cost of climate change is "fast becoming unbearable", UN chief Ban Ki-moon has asked an unprecedented gathering of world leaders to take action to reverse global warming and begin to capitalise the Green Climate Fund, an issue that India has said it would raise at the conference.

The US and Arab allies launched what leaders declared would be a long and sustained military assault against Islamic State strongholds in Syria and Iraq, and the US simultaneously targeted an al-Qaida cell said to be plotting imminent attacks on American and other Western interests, the Pentagon said today. 

The US-led strikes in Syria on today served as the first combat test for the F-22 Raptor aircraft, a new generation air-to-air fighter long in the making. The US military and four Arab allies carried out 14 strikes against Islamist militant groups in Syria that reportedly killed dozens of fighters. 

The Ebola epidemic is set to explode unless the response is radically intensified, the WHO said today, warning that hundreds of thousands could be infected by the end of the year. 

Bob Dylan will be honored as the 2015 MusiCares person of the year. A news release today says the 10-time Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter will be honored at the foundation's 25th anniversary tribute Feb 6 in Los Angeles, two days before the Grammys.

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