Prime Minister Narendra Modi undertakes a boat ride with French President Franois Hollande on the river Seine. 

"This is my first visit to Europe, this visit indicates our deep and close relationship with France," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"We have numerous joint projects in field of missiles, submarines as well as aircrafts," French President Franois Hollande says cursorily hinting at the Rafale deal. 

"We have developed a Franco-Indian agenda to work jointly on issues pertaining to energy efficiency and alternative sources of energy," the French president added.

PM Modi and French President Franois Hollande issue joint statement at lyse Palace, Paris. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Franois Hollande witness the signing of agreements at lyse Palace, Paris.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Hollande hold talks and discuss nuclear, defence, economic and people to people ties.  They discussed bringing perpetrators and conspirators of terrorist attacks to justice. 

India and France have signed 17 agreements at the Elysee Palace. France will invest 2 billion Euros in India, President Hollande announced.

Modi and Hollande will address a joint presser shortly. 

The Times of India reports: India and France are expected to sign an agreement today for smart cities.

France will give tourist visas to Indians in 48 hours.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Paris last evening on the start of his three-nation tour that includes a visit to Germany and Canada. 

An Indian national, believed to have been injured in a bomb blast in Yemen's Aden, has succumbed to his injuries, defence sources said on today.

Manjit Singh, who was working on merchant vessel Gulf Dove, is believed to be a victim of injuries sustained in a bomb blast in Yemen.

"Though he was admitted in a hospital, he was declared dead subsequently," defence sources said. Indian Navy's stealth frigate INS Tarkash, which evacuated about 450 people from Aden harbour, is carrying his body to Djibouti. The exact dates of his injury and death was not immediately known.

C17 Globemaster IIIs of the Indian Air Force are back at Hindan base after th evacuations in Yemen. They brought back 2,096 evacuees from Djibouti, tweets the spokesperson of the ministry of defence.

He also tweeted this picture of the man who lead the air force operations in Dijbouti -- Capt Pathania. Team Leader of the Indian Air Force ops in Djibouti Gp Capt Pathania returns home, ‏@SpokespersonMoD  tweeted.      

Prime Minister Modi and French President Hollande review relations. They discussed defence, nuclear, economy, cultural and educational ties, according to the Ministry of External Affairs. 

Just in: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is at the delegation level talks between between Indian and France at the Elysee Palace. He earlier held a one-on-one meeting with French President Francois Hollande.

"Release of terrorist accused of heinous crime of Mumbai terror attack (Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi) is deeply shocking," Hollande said. 

Photograph: PIB

Indian envoy in Islamabad today met Pakistan foreign secretary to protest the release of Mumbai attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi.

Our high commissioner emphasised, that this is a most negative development as far as bilateral ties are concerned, the Ministry of External Affairs said.

But Pakistan in turn has put the blame on India. Inordinate delay on part of India in extending cooperation complicated Lakhvi's case and weakened the prosecution, the Pakistan foreign office said today.  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at Elysee Palace for tete a tete with French President Francois Hollande. Earlier in the day, Modi addressed diplomats at the UNESCO headquarters. According to sources, Modi and Hollande will discuss the important Rafale deal

JUST IN: Indian High Commissioner meets Pakistan Foreign Secretary, lodges protest on 26/11 mastermind Lakhvi's release, say sources

The loud protests by Shiv Sena workers outside Shobhaa De's home in tony Cuffe Parade in Mumbai are not the first time the party's activists have gone after the author. As she has said herself, she is the Sena-BJP's pet target, because they think she has let down Marathi culture, an odd allegation to make because she, in her words, a "proud Maharashtrian".

Following the release of 26/11 Mumbai attacks mastermind Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, France expressed their solidarity with India, saying that the LeT terrorist's release was not good for India or the world, the ministry of external affairs said. French national assembly members expressed anguish over release of Lakvi in Pakistan in meeting with PM Modi, said MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin. 

The Rajasthan High Court today rejected actor Salman Khan's plea against a trial court order allowing four more witnesses in the Arms Act case in connection with the 1998 blackbuck poaching incident.

The examination of these four new witnesses will now begin in the trial court on Monday.

"Khan had moved an application in the High Court with a plea to quash the order of the lower court, in which the court had partially granted the applications of the prosecution and had allowed to summon four witnesses pertaining to the case," government counsel Vikram Singh Rajpurohit said.

Alleging that "evidence had been manufactured to falsely implicate him" in the 2002 hit-and-run case, Bollywood actor Salman Khan today told the trial court in Mumbai that there were circumstances to show that he was not driving the car which rammed into a shop killing one person and injuring four.

His lawyer Srikant Shivade told Judge D W Deshpande that it was Ashok Singh and not Khan who was driving the Toyota Land Cruiser SUV at the relevant time and this has been brought out in the examination of this defence witness.

"Merely because Salman Khan had got down from the driver's side does not mean that he was driving"...We have explained this in cross-examination (of defence witness) and also in the statement of the accused (Khan)," said his lawyer Srikant Shivade who commenced final arguments today.

There is no evidence on record to show that Salman was driving the car. All that has emerged in the examination of witnesses is that he (Khan) got down from the right hand side of the car.

This is because the left door got jammed in the impact of the mishap and did not open, Khan's lawyer said. There is no reason why Khan's statement in the court and Singh's testimony should not be accepted, he argued while picking holes in the prosecution's case.

Mihir Sharma @mihirssharma  63 Rafales to be bought, made entirely in France, $7bn. When push comes to shove, 'Make in India' was de-prioritised pretty quickly, eh?

Syed Akbaruddin @MEAIndia  tweets: India's PM @narendramodi is in town. Indian colours all around at official events - flowers, fruits & more.

A highlight of his Modi's stay in France will be a boat ride with France PM Francois Hollande, which is being described as naav pe charcha (chat on a boat).

Earlier, Modi has had chai pe charcha (chat over tea) with foreign leaders, including President Barack Obama during his visit to New Delhi in January.

Full text of the PM's address at the UNESCO. 

Ahead of his speech at the UNESCO, PM Modi paid homage to the statue of Shri Aurobindo at the UNESCO, Paris.


If you think the upkeep of statues in India leaves a lot to be desired, read this letter by Le Figaros correspondent in South Asia.

The Islamic State has lost control of approximately 95 percent of its oil production capacity following the advancing Iraqi counteroffensive, according to a leaked German intelligence report. Read

Hillary Clinton is expected to formally announce her candidacy for the White House on Sunday in a video, source close to the campaign tells CNN.

The  Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter, and the Guardian said that the former secretary of state would declare she's in the race on Sunday. She is expected to travel to early-voting states soon after her announcement.

Richard Verma US Ambassador to India  tweets: "We would like to thank the Government of India for assisting American citizens during the #Yemen Evacuation this past week.

India on Thursday wrapped up its air evacuation operations from Yemen rescuing another 630 of its citizens from Sanaa, taking the total number of Indians brought home from the war-ravaged country to over 4,640 besides around 960 nationals from 41 countries. Of these, at least 12 people were Amercian citizens.

The US Department of State website on Wednesday, asked its citizens stranded in Sana'a, Yemen, to use the India-operated flights to evacuate from the country.

This is what the website said: "The Indian government may operate an additional flight from Sana'a on April 9. US citizens may be able to board Indian planes leaving from Sana'a to Djibouti. Contact First Secretary Raj Kopal at the Indian Embassy in Sana'a to make arrangements."

India extended its evacuation ops from Yemen by a day to help 140 nurses stranded in the country.  Evacuation ended yesterday.

India took the lead in the rescue of foreigners trapped in Yemen, evacuating more than 550 foreigners from 32 countries, including a dozen Americans and three Pakistanis.

In fact, the US has categorically said on its state department website that
"There are no plans for a US government-coordinated evacuation of U.S. citizens at this time.  If you wish to depart Yemen, you should stay alert for other opportunities to leave the country. 

US citizens who are able to depart Yemen for another country and are in need of emergency assistance upon arrival may contact a U.S. embassy or consulate in that country."

DMK Chief Karunanidhi announces Rs.1 lakh compensation for victims of Chittoor encounter.

Nach Baliye 7 judges announced: Preity Zinta, Chetan Bhagat And Marzi Pestonji shoot for a promo.

Chetan Bhagat tweets: Crushed on @realpreityzinta right from Dil Se days.Strange and amazing in equal parts to be next to her. Nach Baliye!

Various organisations representing people of Kashmiri Pandit community today held protests here against the separatists and political parties opposed to the idea of creation of a "composite township" in Kashmir Valley for the displaced people.

Members of the community living in various satellite townships demanded townships in the Valley where they can live peacefully.

"It has been 25 years that we were forced to leave Kashmir valley and now we want to go back to our homeland. At present the situation is not conducive for our return to our native places so we want a Jagti-type township in Kashmir Valley where we can go and live peacefully," said Kakaji Bhat, a resident of the Jagti satellite township for Kashmiri migrants.

He said Kashmiri Pandits want to return to their native places, but the opposition from separatists has shown that situation is not conducive for their return.

PM: We will defend and protect rights and liberty of every citizen. Will ensure people of every faith, culture and creed have an equal place.

PM: "For us science is driven by larger purpose of human development and, for a safe, sustainable, prosperous future for India.

"UNESCO's initiatives to preserve the world's cultural heritage, including in India are inspiring.

"The programme to educate and support the girl child in India is one that is closest to my heart.

"Culture must connect, not divide.

"Grateful for Unesco's help in education.

"Will fight prejudice against women.

PM@UNESCO: "We shall judge our progress not just by cold statistics of growth, but by the warm glow of belief and hope on human faces.

"I recall Mahatma Gandhi's message to UNESCO calling for urgent action to address needs of education to secure lasting peace.

"We have launched the most ambitious programme to provide skills to our youth and education for every child in the remotest villages.

"Our Digital India will create a participative, transparent and a responsive government connected to our citizens.

"The programme to educate and support the girl child in India is one that is closest to my heart."

PM: Our collective goal is to seek a peaceful and prosperous future for our world in which every nation has a voice. No organisation serves that cause more than this one.

PM: I feel specially privileged to visit this great institution in its 70th anniversary year. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to address the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris. An hour ago, he met UNESCO director-general Irina Georgieva Bokova. During the talks, Bokova told the PM that his priorities resonate with UNESCO's goals.

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

Among the attendees is Bollywood actor Mallika Sherawat who tweeted a picture of her invite yesterday and today, on the way to the Unesco meet.

As soon as he reached at the UNESCO headquarters, Modi offered flowers to the statue of Sri Aurobindo, the Indian philosopher who took part in India's independence movement.

Slogans of "Vande Mataram" and "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" raised inside UNESCO.

India had strongly reacted to the court's decision, saying it "eroded' the value of assurances repeatedly conveyed to it by Pakistan on cross-border terrorism.

In other news, India's Test captain Virat Kohli today lashed out at critics, who blamed his girlfriend Anushka Sharma for the team's exit from ICC Cricket World Cup, stating that they "should be ashamed of themselves" as "no one has won more matches" than him in the last five years.

Kohli, opened up for the first time since the World Cup exit, after which his filmstar girlfriend took a lot of unncessary flak in various social networking sites.

"At a human level, I would say I was hurt and the people who said those things and the way they said should be ashamed of themselves," Kohli said at a promotional event of his IPL side Royal Challengers Bangalore, in reference to the abuse that the Bollywood star had to face after Kohli's poor show in the semi-final Kohli was unusually open during his interaction with media today as he didn't forget to mention his performance during the past five years.

"Personally, I was very disappointed. In last five years, the number of matches I've helped India win and the consistently I've played is more than anyone else in the team. I don't think there's anybody else in the team who has done better than me," Kohli answered with same swagger that one finds in his batting.

Kohli feels that now he knows "whom to trust" after the public outrage over his poor show against Australia in the semi-final of the World Cup.

"To see those reactions after just one match was very disappointing for me personally. It makes you lose faith in a lot of people. It's a good thing in a way. You get to know who's with you and who's not. It was not in my control. But the reactions were very disappointing," Kohli said at the function where RCB announced its tie-up with home appliances brand Midea.

Taking a dig at the media, Kohli sarcastically remarked that there are different parameters for different players when it comes to dip in form.

"It's funny that I never know when my rough patch comes but you make the judgement. In my case, if I don't do well in two games, it's dip in form but if some other player performs two games out of 10, they come back in form," Kohli was at his sarcastic best.

"So I don't get the balance and I really don't pay attention to it. It's about how you hit the ball on that particular day," Kohli was again in his usual dismissive self.

Sitanshu Kar, spokesperson MoD tweets: Funeral parade of former Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal (retired) Hrushikesh Moolgavkar will be held in Pune tomorrow at 5 pm.

Moolgavkar passed away in Pune yesterday. The 95-year-old Air Chief Marshal had been a recipient of the prestigious Param Vishisht Seva medal and the Mahaveer Chakra.

The Pakistan government had arrested Lakhvi in the kidnapping of an Afghan national after the trial court granted him bail on December 14, 2014. The court had granted him bail in the case and directed the government not to register any other case against him without informing the court. Lakhvi and six others have been charged with planning and executing the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people and wounding over 300.

Lakhvi was in fact released late last night. The Jamat ud Dawa, formerly Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, has shifted Lakhvi to some unknown place.

Shiv Aroor @ShivAroor Releasing Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi from prison is an act of war. Let there be no mistaking that.

A Pakistani court yesterday said the detention of Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, the 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind and Lashkar-e-Tayiba operations commander, was illegal. It thereby suspended the Punjab governments detention order against him under a public security act, drawing Indias ire.

Justice Muhammad Anwarul Haq of Lahore high court suspended the detention of 55-year-old Lakhvi under Maintenance of Public Order after the government failed to present sensitive records against him in the court.

The judge ordered Lakhvi to submit two surety bonds worth Rs 1 million each for his release.

The law officer had submitted important information about Lakhvi, but the court did not accept this and declared the evidence unsatisfactory, an official of LHC said.

Justice Muhammad Anwarul Haq on the last hearing on April 7 had directed the governments counsel to submit record of secret documents about activities of Lakhvi on Thursday.

Lakhvi had challenged the March 14 order of Punjab governments district coordination officer, Okara to detain him for 30 days.

Just in: 26/11 mastermind Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi walks free.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in Paris on a bilateral visit, attended a round table conference with CEOs on infrastructure as theme. The round table conference took place in Paris. Modi was accompanied by Indian delegates during the conference with French CEOs. Following this, the prime minister will attend another Round Table Conference with CEOs on defence.

The PM will hold talks and consultations with French President Francois Hollande tonight and will hold a naav pe charcha (chat on a boat) on the Seine river with the French premier.

Modi is in France on the first leg of his three nation tour. After France, the PM leaves for Germany followed by Cananda. 

While the skeleton of the original remains, the external structures of Kolkata's Writers' Building has been extended and remodelled with the changing intentions of the city's rulers for more than 230 years. Read

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Paris, reciprocating French President Francois Hollande's visit to India in February last year.

Despite the frequent high-level interactions there has been little traction on substantive issues between the two nations. There are several long-pending issues like six new nuclear power plants by Areva and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited, a government-owned entity, and order for the Dassault Avions Rafale fighter.

Read more

When cracked ribs couldn't stop Benaud from enjoying a lunch with his legendary West Indian opponents in Barbados. Read 

While the Pakistan government's law experts are finding a way to keep LeT operations commander Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi behind the bars, the jail authorities have not yet received the release order of the 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind.

"We are discussing several options to keep Lakhvi behind the bars. A decision in this regard is likely anytime today,' a law officer involved in the government's consultation with its law team over the matter said.

The Lahore High Court yesterday suspended the Punjab governments order to detain Lakhvi under a security act and ordered his immediate release.

On the other hand, Rawalpindis Adiala Jail authorities have not yet received the LHC order to release Lakhvi. We havent yet received the LHC order regarding release of Lakhvi, a jail official said.

Strictly for the non-diabetic.

Abhishek Bachchan tweets: How sweet of my unit here in Dubai. Got a cake for Dads Padma Vibhushan #loveit #honoured #HeraPheri3

Amitabh Bachchan tweets: @juniorbachchan @CokyCrazyByAB to Team HP3 .. thank you for your kindness and love .. enjoy the cake ! Really sweet of you to do this ..

Abhishek Bachchan ‏tweets his reply @SrBachchan I think we enjoyed it a bit too much pa.

Image: The writing on the chocolate cake says, "Dear Amitji, Heartiest Congratulations on being honoured with the Padma Vibhushan. With love and respect Team HP3

The Madras High Court today has directed the Andhra Pradesh government to register a murder case under Section 302 of the IPC on the Chitoor killings.

Yesterday, the HC directed the government that the bodies of the six persons, gunned down in an encounter in the Seshachalam forests in Andhra Pradesh, be preserved until Friday when it will take up the matter.

The bodies would be preserved in a mortuary in Thiruvannamalai District Headquarters government hospital.

Relatives of the two of the men killed in the Andhra Pradesh police operation against alleged red sanders smugglers, have staged a protest in Tiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu demanding a proper probe into the incident which left 20 people, many of them Tamils, dead.

Twenty people, many of them woodcutters from Tamil Nadu, were gunned down on Tuesday in Andhra Pradesh's Chittoor district in an operation said to be against red sanders smugglers that came under severe attack from the government and political parties in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

The world may know BR Ambedkar as a Dalit leader and a visionary who headed the committee that wrote the Indian Constitution, but the RSS has decided to bring out what it calls "lesser known facets" about him.

On Ambedkar's 125th birth anniversary next Tuesday, both the Organiser and Panchjanya will issue collector's editions, 200-page bumper issues on Ambedkar, where he would be celebrated as a 'purifier' who vehemently spoke against Islamic 'aggression', conversion to Islam, communism and Article 370. Read

India may scrap negotiations with Dassault for 126 Rafale fighter jets. Instead, it is likely to buy over 60 jets in flyaway condition, reveals Nitin Gokhale. Read

In a room packed with journalists, foreign secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar had just spent 40 minutes speaking and answering questions about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's trip to France, Germany and Canada when it was time for one final query.

A reporter asked Jaishankar if there was any precedent of a junior foreign minister comparing the news media to sex workers and if the foreign secretary would like to comment on minister of state for external affairs VK Singh's coinage of the word "presstitute?"

Jaishankar paused, thought and responded: "No."

Read more

Veteran Congress leader and member of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Ghulam Rasool Kar died after a prolonged illness in Srinagar today. He was 96. 

The return of Pandits to Kashmir is integral to any solution to the Kashmir dispute, but the proposal to create enclaves for them in the Valley is a misconceived element of tokenism that would do great harm and no good.

Indeed, by pushing the idea of separate zones for Pandits, the Bharatiya Janata Party is in effect abdicating the responsibility of the government it heads at the Centre and of the government it is part of in Jammu and Kashmir, in restoring normality to the conflict-torn Valley. Read

PMO tweets this picture of the PM arriving at Paris hours earlier. 

India-France stepping ahead in unison at Les Invalides. Prime Minister Narendra Modi may reach a breakthrough on a long-delayed deal to buy Rafale fighter jets from France in talks with the French president later this evening. India has been in negotiations since 2012 to buy 126 Rafale jets from France's Dassault Aviation, but the estimated $12 billion dollar deal has hit roadblock.

Image: That's the PM with France foreign minister Laurent Fabius.

Narendra Modi reaches the Elysee Palais for a ceremonial welcome in France with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. Official reception will be at the Elysee Palace where he will also meet French PM Francois Hollande. 

Just in: PM Modi arrives at the Elysee Palace to meet French PM Hollande. He was welcomed by French finance minister Laurent Fabius. The welcome ceremony is at Les Invalides. This is where Napoleon Bonaparte is buried.

Over 4,500 Indians have been rescued from strife-torn Yemen in a week. The youngest one, however, came on the final day, yesterday. 

The picture of this passenger, "a 3-day-old baby in incubator along with an accompanying doctor on Air India flight to Kochi", was tweeted by Syed Akbaruddin, official spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs.

India on Thursday wrapped up its air evacuation operations from Yemen rescuing another 630 of its citizens from Sanaa, taking the total number of Indians brought home from the war-ravaged country to over 4,640 besides around 960 nationals from 41 countries.

The Supreme Court today agreed to hear on Monday the plea of farmers' organisations challenging legality of the fresh promulgation of the land acquisition ordinance by the Narendra Modi-led government.

"We will have it on Monday," a bench comprising Chief Justice H L Dattu and Justice Arun Mishra said, when senior advocate Indira Jaisingh, appearing for farmers' organisations sought urgent hearing of the petition.

The farmers' organisations, in their plea filed yesterday, challenged the re-promulgated land ordinance, terming it as "unconstitutional" and ultra vires of the Constitution and as a "colourful exercise of power" by the executive usurping law-making powers of the legislature.

The petition was filed by Bharatiya Kishan Union, Gram Sewa Samiti, Delhi Grameen Samaj and Chogama Vikas Avam, seeking a direction to restrain the government from acting upon in furtherance of the Right to Fair Compensation & Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015.

Syed Akbaruddin tweets: The Indian Embassy in Paris gets ready to welcome the PM. 

Netaji's grand nephew Sugata Bose has demanded a probe in the issue. Bose is a Trinamool Congress MP. 

Two recently de-classified Intelligence Bureau files reveal that former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru spied on the family of freedom fighter Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose for two decades from 1948 to 1968.

Nehru died on May 27, 1964, but the spying continued for four years even after his death.

Apart from allegedly intercepting and copying letters written by Bose's family members, the agency sleuths shadowed them on their domestic and foreign travels.

The agency seemed especially keen to know to whom Bose's family met and their discussion.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader MJ Akbar claimed that the government was unsure whether Bose was dead.

Akbar said Bose was the only charismatic leader who could have mobilised and united the opposition parties against Congress, and offer it a serious challenge in the 1957 elections.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will jointly inaugurate India's participation as 'partner nation' in the Hannover Fair besides holding in-depth talks during the Indian leader's first official visit to this country which begins on Sunday.

Merkel will receive Modi when he arrives at the Hannover trade fair grounds on Sunday evening and afterwards they will attend the opening ceremony of the annual Hannover Fair, the world's largest show of capital goods and technology.

The two leaders are scheduled to address the gathering at the Hannover Congress Centre. Chancellor Merkel will later host a dinner in honour of the prime minister and his delegation.

Around 120 top executives from India as well as several representatives of Germany's business and industry are expected to join the two leaders for the dinner.

Modi will leave for Berlin around mid-day on board a special aircraft and in the afternoon he will visit a training centre of Siemens on the outskirts of the capital.

Sigmar Gabriel, Deputy Chancellor and Economy Minister, is scheduled to call on Modi in the evening. The prime minister will continue his discussions on Tuesday morning by receiving Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier for an exchange of views.

He will also unveil a bust of Mahatma Gandhi in Hannover.

Chancellor Merkel will receive Modi with full military honours at noon on Tuesday at the chancellery and afterwards she will host a lunch in his honour.

They will have detailed talks in Berlin with focus on how Germany can work with India in its developmental agenda.

India has ended its massive evacuation efforts in Yemen, pulling out 5,600 people, including 4,640 Indians and 960 nationals from 41 countries, the government said. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted yesterday: "The evacuation operation from Yemen is over. General V.K. Singh is returning tonight. We are closing our Embassy there."

Image: MoS External Affairs VK Singh returned to New Delhi and was accorded a hero's welcome. The minister spearheaded the evacuation ops from Yemen.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday justified AAP's decision to expel dissident leaders Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav from top party posts, saying limits were "crossed' and "conspiracies' hatched.

Kejriwal also expressed regret for using abusive language that surfaced in audio sting in which he purportedly hurled expletives against rebel AAP leaders Ajit Jha and Anand Kumar.

"I am a human being and I make mistakes. I was angry. The kind of language could have been avoided," he said in comments that came amid the turmoil in the Aam Admi Party (AAP).

The Delhi Chief Minister was speaking after launching a book titled The Crown Prince, The Gladiator and the Hope authored by AAP leader Ashutosh.

He also sought to dispel the notion that contrarian voices dont have a place in the party and said that there was respect for different view points in the party.

The notion that there are no contrarian voices among us are wrong. It would be wrong to say Ashutosh, Manish Sisodia and Kumar Vishwas agree to everything. They have all left their careers, put everything at stake and joined us.

But everything happens within decorum. There is a limit. Within the four walls, we argue and fight a lot, but outside we are a team. When limits are crossed, it is painful, Kejriwal said.

Fire at the new secretariat building in Kolkata. Fire broke out on the top floor of the 10-storey building. At least 20 fire engines are at the spot. 

A boat ride on the Seine river dubbed the "naav pe charcha" will be a highlight of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to France on the first leg of his three-nation tour. PM Modi arrived in Paris late last night and will hold talks with French President Francois Hollande and business leaders.

The very witty Ramesh Srivats tweets @rameshsrivats  Modi should have visited France 20 years back. He'd have said, "Mitron", and Mitterrand would have said, "Yes?".

Shiite rebels and allied troops overran the capital of an oil-rich Yemeni province in a heavily Sunni area on Thursday, making significant territorial gains despite Saudi-led airstrikes, now entering their third week.

Ahead of talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande, India today said it expects "movement" on a proposal for setting up French nuclear reactors in Jaitapur in Maharashtra as well as Rafale fighter deal, both of which are pending for long. 

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division has released several dash cam videos in connection with the fatal shooting of Walter Scott. None shows the actual shooting, a spokesman said.

The brother of a black man shot dead by a white officer in South Carolina said today he hopes his death will spark change and is calling for greater police accountability. 

UN chief Ban Ki-moon called today for action to prevent a massacre at Syria's Yarmuk refugee camp after Islamic State group jihadists, known for their brutality, overran much of it. 

Jihadists of the Islamic State group killed 17 soldiers and pro-regime fighters today in attacks on checkpoints in the central province of Homs, a monitoring group said. 

France's TV5Monde television channel resumed full operations today, 18 hours after an "unprecedented" hack by self-proclaimed Islamic State militants, who shut down transmissions and hijacked its website and social networks. 

Iran's supreme leader challenged on Thursday two of the United States' bedrock principles in the nuclear negotiations, declaring that all economic sanctions would have to be lifted on the day any agreement is signed and that military sites would be strictly off limits to foreign inspectors. 

A trial defendant shot dead a judge and two others on Thursday on a rampage through a Milan courthouse, casting a harsh spotlight on public security measures that Italy tightened earlier this year.

Delhi Traffic Police today impounded over 250 vehicles as they continued with efforts to enforce the National Green Tribunal's ban on the plying in the national capital of diesel-run vehicles more than 10-years old. 

India today wrapped up its air evacuation operations from Yemen rescuing another 630 of its citizens from Sanaa, taking the total number of Indians brought home from the war-ravaged country to over 4,640 besides around 960 nationals from 41 countries.