A Japan Airlines domestic flight returned safely to Tokyo today after the pilot shut down an engine due to unspecified trouble while en route to Hokkaido in northern Japan. 

A federal jury has reached a verdict in the trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, two days after both prosecutors and defense lawyers said Tsarnaev must be held accountable for participating in the terror attack. 

Republican Party of India (Athawale), an ally of ruling BJP, today asked the Maharashtra Government to have a rethink on the expanded beef ban law and announced a state-wide protest against the legislation, which it said ignores economic welfare of farmers.  

It will be a unique 'Naav Pe Charcha' (chat on boat) when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande have a cruise on Friday on the La Seine river that flows through Paris.                 

The 11 Indians evacuated from Yemen by Pakistan arrive at the Delhi airport. 

ISIS on Wednesday released 216 Yazidi captives in Iraq's Kirkuk province, according to an official with northern Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government.

Congress today demanded immediate sacking of Union Minister V K Singh for his controversial "presstitutes" remarks against newsmen and targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not taking any action against him.

"We are not going to rest till the demand is met. He should be sacked immediately. This is a highly condemnable remark against the media, which is the fourth pillar of democracy," Congress spokesperson Khushboo said at the AICC briefing.

Asked what the party would do if Singh was not removed, she said, "We will first wait to see what action is being taken." Khushboo said what is lamentable is that the Modi government and the BJP is full of ministers and leaders and MPs ranging from Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti to Giriraj Singh and Sakshi Maharaj, known for making controversial remarks.

Singh came under attack from several Congress leaders who slammed the Minister of State for External Affairs over his remarks.

Singh's "statement shows utter intolerance and incapacity to hear any kind of criticism or dissent", the Indian National Congress said on its Twitter handle, quoting its spokesman Abhishek Singhvi.

The Andhra Pradesh government today justified police firing at red sanders "smugglers" in Chittoor district, in which 20 people, mostly from Tamil Nadu, were killed, saying it was done in self-defence.

"It was an incident where the police had to open fire in self-defence because they were terribly outnumbered," Government's Communication Advisor, Parakala Prabhakar, said.

Twenty people were gunned down yesterday in a police operation said to be against Red Sanders smugglers that came under severe attack from the government and political parties in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, which claimed that many victims were labourers from their state.

He said a small combing party of 10-15 personnel were encircled by more than 200 smugglers who were "moving menacingly" towards them.

"In the past, police officials were axed to death, hacked to death. So, in self-defence, police had to open fire," Prabhakar said.

The state had lost six police officers (attacked by red sanders smugglers) while on duty during combing operations in the last few years, he said.

"More than 1000 (red sanders smugglers) are in jail which means wherever possible we have apprehended them and put them in jail. 4500 cases have been registered (against red sanders smugglers) and 6000 vehicles (belonging to smugglers) have been seized," Prabhakar said.

"So, we are not a trigger-happy police force. It was only in self-defence, they had to do."

Asked about reports that the "smugglers" did not have fire-arms, Prabhakar said last time also they had killed police and forest officers with axes and sickles. "So, weapon does not mean fire-arm. They could kill without fire-arm. They did it earlier".

PM Narendra Modi tweets his thanks to Pakistan. @narendramodi "I welcome our 11 citizens who've returned from Yemen with assistance from Pakistan. Thank you PM Nawaz Sharif for your humanitarian gesture."

The 11 people rescued by the Pakistan Navy returned to India by special plane at 5pm today. The Indians arrived at Karachi port on Tuesday after sailing from Mokallah in Yemen, where they were rescued by Pakistani naval personnel onto the PNS Aslat.

Cultural affairs minister Vinod Tawde on the Marathi film mandate for multiplexes: "I have taken a decision in favor of Marathi cinema and viewers. Everyone has a right to criticize, so I don't feel bad if anybody tweets against me or my decision. If someone doesn't agree then there are ways to challenge the decision, they can discuss and convince me. But saying that this decision is dictatorial... I think people have elected us and we are taking this decision for good."

Tawde alludes to columnist Shobhaa De's tweet regarding the Maharashtra government's decision to make it mandatory for multiplexes to screen Marathi films during the prime time slot.

Sena legislator Pratap Sarnaik, through point of propriety, in the legislative assembly said that the novelist had hurt the sentiments of the house which had whole-heartedly welcomed culture minister Vinod Tawde's announcement. A breach of privilege motion was filed against De today. 

Syed Nasim Ahmad Zaidi takes over from HS Brahma as the chief election commissioner. Brahma retires on April 19.

Zaidi was appointed as an Election Commissioner in 2102. President Pranab Mukherjee made the appointment filling a vacancy caused by the elevation of V S Sampath as Chief Election Commissioner after S Y Quraishi demitted office.

A 1976 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, retired as Civil Aviation Secretary on July 31, 2012.

He had served as director general of civil aviation and as the permanent representative of India to the council of international civil aviation organization from 2005-08. He also served earlier as chairman in airport authority of India.

Just in: Nasim Zaidi takes over from HS Brahma as the chief election commissioner. Brahma retires on April 19. 

Just in: India extends air evacuations from Yemen by a day. MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin tweets: Responding to needs of 140 nurses India extends air evacuation from Yemen by a day. Fights planned for tomorrow also, subject to clearances."

Former J-K CM Omar Abdullah on the Modi government's proposal for 'composite townships' for Kashmiri Pandits.

Abdullah says, "No right-minded Kashmiri will oppose the return of Kashmiri Pandits to their homes in the valley.

"No right-minded Kashmiri will support the ghettoisation of Kashmiri Pandits, housed in segregated inherently unsafe camps in the valley.

"I very much doubt very many Kashmiri Pandits would like to return to the valley just to be housed in ghettos, segregated and isolated. I will do everything possible to support the return of Pandits to the valley in keeping with our composite culture and Kashmiriyat."

A row has erupted over the J-K government's plan to create "composite townships" for displaced Kashmiri pandits in the valley. The government's move has been met with strong opposition from several parties and separatists in the state.

While the National Conference said the move will be dangerous for integrity of state and country, separatist leader Yasin Malik said a separate colony on the basis of religion will only build walls of hate, like in Israel.

J&K chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed during his meeting with Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Monday had assured that the state government will acquire and provide land at the earliest for composite townships for displaced Kashmiri pandit migrants in the valley. 

Also read: A House for Mr and Mrs Raina

Syed Akbaruddin , MEA spokesperson tweets: 232 persons from 26 countries evacuated by India from Yemen. Efforts continuing.

Click on the picture for a larger image.

The 11 people rescued by the Pakistan Navy to return to India by special plane at 5pm today. The Indians arrived at Karachi port on Tuesday after sailing from Mokallah in Yemen, where they were rescued by Pakistani naval personnel onto the PNS Aslat.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif offered a special plane to transport them back to India, which was accepted by the Indian government.

Last week, India evacuated three Pakistani nationals from Al Hodeidah to Djibouti as part of its rescue mission for Indians.

Image: Representational picture of some of the Indians rescued from Yemen

It's difficult to say who suffered more these 28 years: The men who survived the PAC shooting and the assaults in jail; or the women who lost their men in these custodial killings. Jyoti Punwani and photographer Uttam Ghosh report from Hashimpura, Meerut, on how the families have coped with their loss all these years. Read

Read the first part of the interview here.

"In the newsroom, the thought process is about understanding the story, it's about complicating the story, constantly guarding against the black and white, trying to look beyond the obvious. As for the fiction-writing process, it's similar in many ways, but more internal. The people and the places where one needs to go are all inside you."

Indian Express Chief Editor Raj Kamal Jha speaks to Saisuresh Sivaswamy/Rediff.com on his new book, She Will Build Him A City. Read

Family members of the Turkman gate road rage victim met local MLA Asim Khan and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal (not in pic). Kejriwal said the Delhi government will provide legal help to the family.

All five accused in the case have been arrested. Three of the accused have been sent to 14 days judicial custody.

Afghan soldier opens fire, wounds 3 US troops before being shot dead.

As PM Modi readies to go to France, Germany and Canada, a pertinent peice on the Guardian: "Europe carpets the Greeks but rolls out the red carpet for Narendra Modi. How's that right?" Read

PM would be travelling to France,Germany and Canada in that order. The common theme of the countries is that all are G-7 countries, says the MEA.

The Canada visit of the PM is important because it's the first standalone prime ministerial visit in 42 years to Canada, says S Jaishankar.

In Germany, on the agenda during discussions will be the cleaning and rejuvenation of the Ganga.

Question: Your junior minister (MoS external affairs VK Singh) has called media presstitutes.Do you have anything to say?

Foreign secretary S Jaishankar: No

The ministry of external affairs holds a presser ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's tri-nation visit to France, Germany and Canada tomorrow. The PM arrives tomorrow evening in Paris.

In France, Modi will pay homage to the thousands of Indian soldiers killed in World War I at a memorial in the French city of Lille and will also visit the southern city of Toulouse.

Foreign secretary S Jaishankar announced that PM Modi and President Hollande will take a boat ride on the River Siene. "It's a sort of boat pey charcha," Jaishankar said.

Modi will be accorded a ceremonial welcome on Friday morning in Paris with the "highest protocol and honours".

He will meet a select group of top French business leaders to discuss his 'Make in India' initiative.

The visits will  be focused on boosting the Indian economy through investments and manufacturing for creating jobs.

In Paris, the Prime Minister will visit the UNESCO headquarters on April 10 to meet its Director-General Irina Bokova.

He will address the diplomatic community, private sector representatives, UNESCO staff, and leading personalities, including UNESCO's Paris-based goodwill ambassadors there.

The PM will reach Ottawa (Canada) on 14th evening, and on 15th morning there will be a ceremonial welcome, Foreign secretary S Jaishankar said.

PM Modi will be visiting the Air India memorial, a gurdwara and a temple in Canada. In Vancouver, the PM will visit the Laxminarayan temple where he will interact with Indian community, and then visit a Gurudwara, says R Swaminathan from the MEA.

The bizarre gunning down of 20 men in Andhra Pradesh's Chittoor district in a police operation supposedly against suspected red sandalwood smugglers on April 7 has elicited strong reactions in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

Red sandalwood, an endangered species indigenous to South India, has a huge demand abroad, especially in China and Japan, and commands a good price.

People's Union for Civil Liberties, PUCL, Tamil Nadu General Secretary S Balamurugan tells A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com how insecurity and the lack of a livelihood forces tribals from the state to cross over to Andhra Pradesh and the government apathy towards them.  Read

First they came for the car, then they came for the logo.

An Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supporter has claimed ownership of the party's logo and wants it back.

Volunteer Sunil Lal, who says he has designed the AAP logo, has asked the party to stop using it in any form of branding including on stationary, website, handbills, flags, posters etc.

"The logo which I had designed for AAP is my intellectual property ownership of which I had never transferred to the party. Hence, the use of same should be stopped with immediate effect,' Lal wrote in a letter sent to party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal.

Lal has also asked the party to accept his resignation as primary member. He said the party has hurt people's sentiments and failed to meet their expectations.  Read his full letter to Kejriwal here.

A few days ago, Kundan Sharma, a software engineer who had donated the blue WagonR to Kejriwal in January 2013, had demanded it be returned.

Sharma later clarified that he actually did not want the car or donation money back, but tweeted the demand to seek the attention of Kejriwal and other top leaders of the party.

More reactions to the Maharashtra government's maha mandate on screening Marathi films during prime time in multiplexes.

Director-producer Karan Johar today said that though he believes in promoting regional cinema, putting restrictions on multiplexes may not be the best way.

"I do believe in promoting regional cinema be it Marathi or Bengali but I am not sure if putting restrictions or rules and regulations will help that process," said Johar at the launch of Ronnie Screwvala's book 'Dream With Your Eyes Open' here.

"I don't know many details about the whole strategy behind doing that but I believe empowering Marathi cinema is a way forward. I feel when you force it and not enforce it, there is always a problem," Johar added.

"In a country like India, it is clear that respecting religions -- in politics or in the kitchen -- is disastrous," says Amberish K Diwanji/Rediff.com.

Nikhil Wagle tweets his support for Shobhaa De: "Privilege motion against @DeShobhaa is a joke. She has every right to criticize govt decision to block prime slot for Marathi films."

Changing times, changing needs...

If there's one major issue plaguing smartphones, smartwatches and other gadgets we use every day, it's battery life. Now, a team of researchers at Stanford University has built an aluminum-ion battery prototype which offers several improvements over today's ubiquitous lithium-ion batteries, including super-fast charging times.

Read

In fact, Shobhaa De ‏tweeted these as well yesterday, which are as innocuous as the earlier tweet:

"Devendra 'Diktatwala' Fadnavis is at it again!!! From beef to movies. This is not the Maharashtra we all love!"

... and

"Nako! Nako! Yeh sab roko! I love Marathi movies. Let me decide when and where to watch them, Devendra Fadnavis. This is nothing but Dadagiri."

It's easy to get an MLA's goat in a state which deems it fit to ban beef.

Just in: In the theatre of the ridiculous, a privilege motion has now been filed against writer Shobhaa De in the Maharashtra assembly.

This, because, De, tweeted yesterday: "No more pop corn at multiplexes in Mumbai? Dahi misal and vada pav only. To go better with the Marathi movies at prime time."

De's ire was directed at yesterday's Maharashtra government's order to multiplexes directing them to screen Marathi films at prime time (6 pm to 9 pm).

De posted this comment immediately after the government's order.

The privilege motion was tabled by Shiv Sena legislator Pratap Sarnaik.

De reacted, again on Twitter, saying, "Now a privilege motion demanding an apology from me? Come on! I am a proud Maharashtrian and love Marathi films. Always have. Always will!"

Food for thought: @brownbrumby tweets: V K Singh can simply admit that @rahulroushan runs his account & that will explain the filth he spewed. Dont even know how to use minions :D

Senior journalist and vice-chairman of the India Today group tweets on VK Singh's presstitute remark.

Shekhar Gupta: "We journos are used to individual gaalis & can deflect them off our thick skins. But this new institutional calumny is incendiary & fascist."

The Enforcement Directorate has attached the bank balance worth Rs 101 crore in connection with the money laundering probe in SpeakAsia online scam case.

The main accused in the Delhi road rage case has been arrested. Ameen Pehelwan was arrested this afternoon, while another four people have also been held.

The incident took place around 11.30 pm on Sunday when the victim, identified as Shahnawaz (38), was returning home from a wedding on his motorcycle along with his two children Fahad (13) and Kaif (9).

As they reached Turkman gate, the bike hit a i-20 car, which had five occupants, police said.

An argument ensued between the occupants of the car and the motorcyclist which soon took an ugly turn with Shahnawaz beaten up badly.

He was later taken to the nearest hospital where he was declared dead, police said.

Image:  Relatives of the road rage victim Shahnawaz (inset) mourn his death at a street in Turkman Gate area of Delhi on Monday.

A senior Congress leader is in regular touch with a Union minister and passes on 'palace rumblings', it is said. 

There's strong buzz in Delhi that a Union minister recently sold his four-room apartment to another Union minister.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh phones Andhra Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu to seek facts on the shooting of the 20 suspected sandalwood smugglers.

Twenty people were gunned down in Andhra Pradesh's Chittoor district in a police operation said to be against red sandalwood smugglers yesterday.

The operation came under severe attack from the government and political parties in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, which claimed 12 victims were labourers from their state.

Taking suo motu note of the incident, the National Human Rights Commission has issued a notice to the Andhra Pradesh government after one of its members observed that it involved "serious violation" of human rights of the individuals and the firing cannot be justified on the ground of self defence.

NHRC chief KG Balakrishnan has also issued a notice to the state government over the alleged encounter. "Police will always their justify actions. We will probe the incident," NHRC chief KG Balakrishnan said.

Meanwhile fresh protests have erupted in Chittoor and Chennai against the killing of red sanders "smugglers".

Barkha Dutt tweets: Don't agree with @Gen_VKSingh choice of words, but equally true that channel under attack vilifies others, including media, without a pause.

Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh was caught in a fresh controversy over his remarks comparing the Yemen evacuation operation with his visit to the Pakistani mission recently and later making snide remarks against a TV channel.

For five days now, top officials of Delhi's education department have been absent from work.

Reason: They have been busy marking their presence at a workshop in Chhattisgarh to learn about "a new way of value-based teaching'. Among the "at least 40 officials' attending the seven-day 'Madhyasth Darshan Jeevan Vidya' course in Durg -- on the orders of Education Minister Manish Sisodia -- are the directors of Delhi's education and higher education departments.

Read more

The visitors' register kept at the Prime Minister's Office's main reception had been sought for analysis by a senior PMO functionary, sending jitters among the political class but the maximum impact from this move was felt by corporate lobbyists. 

The NDA govt needs to summon political will to resume India-Pakistan dialogue immediately and make Pakistan pay, militarily and diplomatically, for fostering terror. Read

JUST IN: The High Court directs all civic agencies and the Delhi govt to remove large hoardings, posters and billboards from buildings immediately.

Mumbai awaits.

President Pranab Mukherjee plans to avoid the Delhi heat and dust and spend one fortnight in Rashtrapathi Nilayam in Hyderabad in the middle of June and early July.

Even as the 2002 hit-and-run case is , fresh trouble seems to be brewing for Bollywood actor Salman Khan.

The Goa police will quiz two topexecutives of Fabindia on Friday in connection with the trial room camera episode involving its outlet at Candolim near here.

President Pranab Mujherjee conferred the Padma Vibhushan to actor Amitabh Bachchan at the Rashtrapati Bhawan today.

Wait, isn't Prince Harry supposed to be the party-all-the-time, anything-goes royal?

At least three terror groups plotting attacks against Britain have changed their communication methods since the leaks by Edward Snowden, it was claimed last night.

A special court here trying the multi-crore accounting fraud in erstwhile Satyam Computer Services Ltd  will pronounce its judgement in the CBI- probed case tomorrow.

Secret Service agents have one of the toughest jobs in Washington: They are expected, if necessary, to put their lives on the line in the protection of the President and his family.

A judge has given the go ahead for a woman to serve her husband with divorce papers via Facebook.

Actress Mindy Kaling's brother says that he posed as a black man years ago to get into medical school and that the experience opened his eyes to what he calls the hypocrisy of affirmative action.

The total number of Indian evacuees from war-ravaged Yemen today touched the 4,000 mark with nearly 700 more nationals, including 600 from Sanaa, rescued in three air sorties as the government decided to end the air evacuation operation on Wednesday.

A South Carolina officer has been charged with murder after a video surfaced that appears to show him shooting an unarmed man who was running away.

Business Insider quotes an explanation made by Gates about the difference between him and Jobs. Gates considered Jobs as one with a design mind-set, while he had a coder's mind, focusing more on the architectural built.

More than 100,000 people have left their homes in search of safety in Yemen since the escalation in fighting last month and 74 children have lost their lives, according to UNICEF, the UN agency for child welfare.

Several Mexican state police have been killed in an ambush by suspected gang members in the west of the country, authorities said on Tuesday, the second major attack on security forces in less than a month in the region.

The Afghan Taliban have published a surprise biography of the reclusive Mullah Mohammed Omar, to mark his 19th year as their supreme leader.

The US state department has approved Pakistan's request for a billion dollars worth of military hardware and equipment, identifying Pakistan as a country of vital importance for US foreign policy and national interests.

Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh was today caught in a fresh controversy over his remarks comparing the Yemen evacuation operation with his visit to the Pakistani mission recently and later making snide remarks against a TV channel.

Prince Karim Aga Khan will be accorded with the prestigious Padma Vibhushan award by President Pranab Mukherjee later today.

Fifteen militants were killed and one other injured during the army raids in the restive north Sinai province in Egypt. 

A car bomb blew up at a rebel base north of the Syrian city of Aleppo, killing at least seven people, two activist groups said. The attack targeted a compound of Islamist armed opposition fighters in the town of Marea, some 30 kilometres north of Aleppo yesterday. 

The Greek government says Germany owes Greece nearly 279bn (204bn; $303bn) in war reparations for the Nazi occupation during World War II.

Iraqi forensics teams have begun exhuming the bodies of soldiers killed in last summer's massacre by Islamic State militants.

Afghanistan today vowed action against Taliban-allied Uzbek insurgents after they posted a video purportedly showing the beheading of a former Afghan soldier, highlighting their apparent tilt towards Islamic State group. 

The Red Cross warned today of a "catastrophic" situation in Yemen's main southern city Aden, as loyalist forces battled rebels in the streets backed by shelling by Saudi-led warships. 

A Kolkata-New Delhi Spicejet flight was delayed by about 90 minutes this evening after an MP3 player found inside the handbag of a woman passenger caused a bombscare just before takeoff, airport officials said. 

Emboldened as they mop up the last Islamic State forces in the city of Tikrit, Iraqi military leaders are already vowing to follow up that operation with a much more ambitious one: marching into the vast Sunni heartland in western Iraq to root out some of the most significant militant strongholds.

The United States is speeding up arms supplies and bolstering intelligence sharing with a Saudi-led alliance bombing a militia aligned with Iran in neighboring Yemen, a senior U.S. diplomat said on Tuesday.

World boxing champion Mary Kom's coach, Hemlata Gupta, was allegedly assaulted by employees of a restaurant in Udaipur on Monday evening. The altercation happened over Gupta's mobile phone, worth Rs. 40,000, allegedly went missing in the hotel where she had gone for dinner with her family. 

A county sheriff is confirming that seven people have died in a small plane crash in central Illinois while returning home from the NCAA basketball tournament in Indianapolis.