Pakistan has responded to India External Affairs Ministry's statement about the NSA level talks between the two nations.

"We are deeply disappointed at statement of Spokesperson of India's Ministry of External Affairs putting forth pre-conditions for official talks to take place with Pakistan at the level of the National Security Advisors," said the Pakistan MoFA.

"Pakistan High Commissioner's invitation to Kashmiri Hurriyat leadership to a reception in honour of Adviser on 23 August was very much in keeping with the practice and tradition of the past many years: Pakistan MoFA," the Pak MoFA said.

Having turned large parts of Syria and Iraqinto a battlefield, the Islamic State has drawn up a even sinister plan -- AIDS Bomb. It has been reported that that Islamic State leadership has plans to send 16 of its fighters on suicide missions after they were tested positive for AIDS. 

It may seem that the Narendra Modi government is confused about its Pakistan policy. It is more likely that the policy is to deliberately not have a policy. It seems that India doesn't really want to have serious talks with Pakistan, and the Ufa joint statement was a charade under international pressure.

The Aam Aadmi Party MLA Surinder Singh was arrested by Delhi Police for allegedly beating and manhandling a worker of New Delhi Municipal Council. AAP senior leader Ashutosh came down heavily the Central government for the arrest and criticised them for inaction in Delhi's CNG fitness and arrest of a 'patriot' like Surinder Singh

Minutes after Vikas Swarup, the ministry of external affairs spokesperson, said that India was committed to discussing issues with Pakistan peacefully, bilaterally, Home Minister Rajnath Singh reiterated the government stand, saying, "We are firm on our stand that whatever talks are held withPakistan should only be on terrorism."

In a presser quelling rumours of cancellation of India, Pakistan talks, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson said this evening, "India is committed to discussing issues with Pakistan peacefully, bilaterally. New conditions by Pakistan cannot be the basis of going forward."

"As per Ufa deal, the NSAs were to discuss issues related to terror," he added.     

PTI has withdrawn its alert on India cancelling talks with Pakistani. However, it reports that the deadlock continues in the proposed talks and the dialogue is unlikely.

India has not called off NSA-level talks with Pakistan formally. However, PTI reported that the talks have been called off.

But, the MEA was non-committal, tweeting: "India remains committed to discussing issues with Pakistan bilaterally & peacefully: But unilateral in position of new conditions & distortion of agreed agenda cannot be the basis for going forward."

"In Ufa, both PMs agreed on a meeting of NSAs to discuss all issues connected to terrorism:Instead we saw a sharp increase in unprovoked firing from Pak side and some serious cross border terror incidents."

Both India and Pakistan have been locked in a confrontation over Kashmiri separatist leaders.India made it abundantly clear that a meeting between separatists and Pakistan's NSA Sartaj Aziz was unacceptable.

Kashmiri separatist leaders had been briefly detained before being released on Thursday in a clear signal to Pakistan. Meanwhile, Pakistan said that it would go ahead with its meeting with the separatists, saying it wasn't unusual and wouldn't accept dictation from India.

Taking suo motu congnisance of his recent remarks on rape, a local court has summoned Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on September 16.

Civil Judge (Junior Division) of Kulpahad Tehsil Ankit Goel took congisance of Yadav's statement on rape on August 18 in Lucknow, where he had said while one man commits rape, four are named to "settle scores" and that rape by four persons was not "practical".

The SP supremo had said there were instances where only one person committed rape but the victim named four people merely to "settle scores". The summons have been issued under sections 3 and 4 of Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1956 and under IPC sections 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 505 (statements conducing to public mischief), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 116 (abetment of offence punishable with imprisonment)

The Commonwealth parliamentary conference to be held in Islamabad was cancelled by the Commonwealth parliamentary association on Wednesday, according to details available which contradict Pakistan's claim that the decision was its own.   

The CPA executive committee met in the UK to consider whether or not to proceed with the plenary conference scheduled to be held in Islamabad from September 30 to October 8 after Pakistan, the host, expressed inability to invite Jammu and Kashmir, according to the details available in New Delhi.   


Following a detailed discussion, the executive committee resolved on August 19 that the planned 61st plenary conference and associated conferences, workshops, meetings of the executive committee and sub-committee will not take place in Pakistan.   

The decision was taken to uphold the CPA constitution, sources said. The CPA was of the view that non-invitation of a branch that is in good financial standing with the Association, such as Jammu and Kashmir, would amount to a breach of Articles10(2)(e) and 11(4)(d) of its Constitution.   

These articles state that branch delegations are entitled to attend the CPA plenary conference and general assembly meeting held during the plenary conference.

Noble Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai (18), quite expectedly, has aced her GCSE exams, earning six A* and four As. Her father Ziauddin Yousafzai posted Malala's final results on Twitter this morning: @ZiauddinY My wife Toor Pekai and I are proud of Malala getting 6A*s and 4As. #education for every child.


Malala, who now attends Edgbaston High School in Birmingham, did particularly well in the sciences, with top A* grades in biology, chemistry and physics - as well as in religious studies.


Malala was shot by the Taliban after writing a diary about life under their rule in the restive Waziristan province in north-west Pakistan. Last year, she became the youngest person ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize.


Pic: Malala's report card tweeted by her father.

Omar Abdullah @abdullah_omar tweets: We live from statement to statement. Indian-Pakistani-Indian-Pakistani. 15-Love; 15 All; 30-15; the statement match goes on. #IndoPakMess

Pakistan government sources say it seems that the NSA talks are as good as over. 

The PDP govt in Jammu and Kashmir says it will not arrest the Hurriyat leaders in Srinagar, which means they may be detained when they head to New Delhi.


According to reports, yesterday, it was the Peoples Democratic Party MP Mehbooba Mufti who forced the release of Hurriyat leaders including Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, Yasin Malik and Shabir Shah who were put under house arrest ahead of their proposed meeting with Pakistan's National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz in Delhi on Sunday. According to reports Mehbooba Mufti was upset over the timing of arrests.

In an official response to India's warning against Pakistan's National Security Adviser Sartaz Aziz meeting Kashmiri separatists, Islamabad said "it would not be possible for Pakistan to accept this advice."

"The Pakistani leadership has always interacted with Hurriyat leaders during their India visits. Pakistan sees no reason to depart from the practice," says the Pakistan government.  "We have told India we will discuss Kashmir as well."


Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said there will be no stepping back on Kashmir. Sharif had a meeting with top ministers and Pakistan's army chief Raheel Sharif and Islamabad said it would "make no compromises".

The ball is now in India's court.

Govt to sell 10 per cent stake in Indian Oil Corp (IOC) on Monday.

Before you head to the multiplex to watch Manjhi The Mountain Man, read Sukanya Verma's review: 'Much promise but flimsy execution'.

India will not back out from talks, but will talk only on terrorism, ABP news says of the NIA talks between India and Pakistan scheduled for Sunday. 

Just in: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is escorting the captured Pakistani terrorists Mohammed Naved Yakub to Kashmir. The NIA is trying to reconstruct the sequence of events which led to the attack on a BSF platoon in Udhampur and consequently, Naved's capture.


Naved was subjected to a lie detector test on August 17 after he had made 'contradictory and misleading' statements about his Indian contacts and the route taken his group to infiltrate India.

Naved was kept in isolation for some time before being subjected to the polygraph test.


Naved and another terrorist, Noman, had attacked a BSF bus on August 5 at Narsu Nallah in Udhampur district, killing two troopers and injuring 11 others.

While Noman was killed in the gunfight with BSF troopers, Naved managed to escape to Samroli, 15 km from the attack site on the Jammu-Srinagar highway. He later took three people hostage in a house in Chirdi village.

The Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist was, however, overpowered by his hostages and handed over to local police.

Shabbir Shah, separatist leader tells ANI: Meeting with Pakistan NSA Sartaj Aziz will be on 23rd August at 6 pm at Pakistan House in Delhi. JKLF chairman Yasin Malik also confirmed that he would be heading to Delhi for meeting the Pakistan NSA, saying, "Kashmir people have every legitimate claim to be a part of any kind of decision making process," he said.


After a day's silence in the aftermath of the detentions of separatist leaders in Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan today said there can be no conditional diplomacy. India today has advised Pakistan that it will be inappropriate for its National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz, who is arriving on Sunday, to meet with Kashmiri separatists. "Such a meeting would not be in keeping with the spirit and intent of the Ufa understanding to jointly work to combat terrorism," the foreign ministry said. Pakistan responded today saying, "Our meeting with the Hurriyat stands. Pakistan will not be browbeaten by India on Kashmir. We will not take dictation from India. We dismiss the so-called red lines."Pakistan also unilaterally changed the timing of the Hurriyat meet to Monday instead of Sunday after India asked for an agenda of the meeting. Pakistan has also accused India of running away from talks. The NSA meet between India's Ajit Doval and Pakistan's Sartaj Aziz was set for August 23, Sunday.


Yesterday, three Kashmiri separatists were placed under house arrest in Srinagar but were released within two hours. The brief detention was described by government sources as a signal that "the separatists cannot be a third party to talks," and they can be detained if they try to meet with the Pakistani delegation.

Students may soon end up using Aadhaar numbers instead of their roll numbers for examinations going by a circular from the Department of School Education and Literacy under the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development. Read more

Also see: Protect the Right to Privacy as a Fundamental Right!

Rashtriya Janata Daj (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad on Friday mocked BJP chief Amit Shah after the latter was trapped in an elevator for almost 45 minutes in Patna. "A man as fat as Amit Shah shouldn't have entered Patna lift as Bihar lifts are not made to carry such fat people," news agency ANI quoted Lalu Prasad as saying.


BJP President Amit Shah and three other senior leaders were trapped in the lift of the state guest house here for around 40 minutes, throwing the security and party officials into a tizzy. He was ultimately rescued by CRPF personnel who were present there as part of his Z+ security cover.


They had to tear apart the steel doors of the elevator to pull out Shah and other leaders trapped inside.

Read more on that incident here.

Hurriyat chief Syed Ali Shah Gilani and another separatist leader Shabbir Shah put under house arrest, says ABP.  

Weighing around 60 kgs, the six-feet high and four-feet wide chandelier was installed at the Taj Mahal's royal gate in 1905 on the instruction of Lord Curzon. Thankfully, nobody was injured when it fell. Read

Yup, it's true -- a Sydney man gets stuck in a top-loader washing machine for three hours - and comes out spotless from the waist down. Read 

The Gujarat High Court today stayed a government move to make voting mandatory in the coming civic bodies' elections in the state. The rules had been drafted following a notification issued in this regard a month ago.

Former J-K CM Omar Abdullah on the Hurriyat-Pak meet in New Delhi: Whose idea was it to make such a big deal of the Hurriyat-Pak chat? These were such non-events before this Govt blew them out of proportion!

Just in: Exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen's visa extended for a year, says the home ministry. Her residence permit expired on August 17.

Taslima Nasreen, living in exile since she left Bangladesh in a cloak of secrecy in 1994 in the wake of threats to her by fundamentalist groups for alleged blasphemy, was given one-year visa by the government in 2014 and allowed to stay in India till today.      


She has been getting an Indian visa on a continuous basis since 2004. She now stays in Delhi.      


On many occasions, she had expressed her wish to live in India permanently, especially in Kolkata.

More on the NSA meet: Sources from Pakistan tells NDTV that media reports saying the timing of the reception has been changed from Sunday evening is untrue. The reception will be held on Sunday evening, reports NDTV quoting Pakistan sources.

"Pakistan's capacity to carry a normal relationship with India doesn't exist. The relationship with Pakistan is less important than several others."

On the eve of the National Security Adviser-level talks between India and Pakistan, former NSA Shiv Shankar Menon speaks to Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com

Read

Also read Nitin Gokhale's column for Rediff.com on the NSA talks: Talking terror to Pakistan only agenda of Sunday's meeting. 

After a day's silence in the aftermath of the detentions of separatist leaders in Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan today said there can be no conditional diplomacy.

India today has advised Pakistan that it will be inappropriate for its National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz, who is arriving on Sunday, to meet with Kashmiri separatists. "Such a meeting would not be in keeping with the spirit and intent of the Ufa understanding to jointly work to combat terrorism," the foreign ministry said.

Pakistan responded today saying, "Our meeting with the Hurriyat stands. Pakistan will not be browbeaten by India on Kashmir. We will not take dictation from India. We dismiss the so-called red lines."


Pakistan also unilaterally changed the timing of the Hurriyat meet to Monday instead of Sunday after India asked for an agenda of the meeting. Pakistan has also accused India of running away from talks.

The NSA meet between India's Ajit Doval and Pakistan's Sartaj Aziz was set for August 23, Sunday.


Yesterday, three Kashmiri separatists were placed under house arrest in Srinagar but were released within two hours. The brief detention was described by government sources as a signal that "the separatists cannot be a third party to talks," and they can be detained if they try to meet with the Pakistani delegation.

Just in: Maharashtra government accords 'Z' category security to anti-corruption Anna Hazare in view of threats to him.


This comes after the social activist filed a police complaint after he had received a threat letter, yesterday.


 "The letter mentions name of one Mahadeo Panchal from Latur district and was posted from Osmanabad," Hazare's aide Datta Awari told PTI over phone from Parner.

Ten days ago, Hazare received another threat letter which stated that he would be "bumped off" if he does not dissociate himself from Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

A case was registered under IPC section 506 (criminal intimidation) at Parner police station in Ahmednagar district, a police official from Parner had said.

"The letter was dated August 7 and is mostly written in English," the official said.

The letter warned Hazare that he will meet the fate of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, who was killed in Pune two years back.

The letter also asked the Gandhian to stay put in his native Ralegan Siddhi village, police said.

The village will tomorrow undertake a cleanliness drive and this will be followed by a plantation campaign.

On the day Saina Nehwal regained the top ranking in the world of badminton, the ace shuttler also signed up a new sports marketing firm to manage her portfolio. The contract with IOS Sports & Entertainment promises her Rs 25 crore in the next two years.The 25-year-old currently earns between Rs 5 crore and Rs 7 crore a year from around 10 endorsement deals, some of which are for digital ads. Read more

Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar on Friday alleged that things are unravelling ahead of NSA level talks because adequate preparations have been nil from India and Pakistan, adding that the talks may not be taking place at all. "The biggest mistake you can make in democracy in diplomacy is to hold a summit meeting without making adequate preparations," Aiyar said.

@soniandtv Neelam Krishnamurthy told me she has written to the Prime Minister, 2 Law ministers in government for law on public safety, no response. 

They are trained to supervise law and order operations and counter insurgency, but the CRPF personnel, in a novel initiative, are helping farmers in ploughing their fields through tractors to win the hearts of tribals in Chhattisgarh's worst Naxal-hit Sukma district.


The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the biggest force fighting Naxalism in various parts of the country, last month launched a unique programme to help tribals in ploughing their fields with the help of tractors, ahead of the crop sowing in Sukma district of South Bastar region.


"The initiative was taken up not only to improve relations between the security forces and locals, but also to support the poor tribals in farming who often do not get good crop productivity due to lack of modern and efficient agricultural equipment," a senior CRPF official said.


In farming, ploughing is done for initial cultivation of soil in preparation of sowing seeds or planting saplings. The idea was introduced by CRPF's II battalion led by commandant VVN Prasanna in two-three villages for sowing paddy crops and it received a huge response, he said.


The CRPF personnel themselves ploughed at least 100 acres land through tractors in Misma village on Sukma-Dornapal road during the current kharif crop season, he said.


They also helped in ploughing some fields in the remote Injram and Bhejji villages of the region, he said. Initially, the farmers were hesitant in taking assistance from paramilitary forces, but gradually they were persuaded when informed about how tractors can be more fruitful for them in yielding more production, he said.

Neelam Krishnamoorthy, whose children were among the 59 people killed in the Uphaar fire tragedy, today met Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and requested him not to accept the Rs 60-crore fine that builders Gopal and Sushil Ansal have been asked to pay by the Supreme Court.


"The CM said the Delhi Govt has enough money to build a trauma centre. He told us that we victims can decide its name of the hospital," Neelam Krishnamoorthy, who lost her two children in the Uphaar fire, said and added that Kejriwal had assured support for the victims and said he would be taking legal advice. The SC in its judgement said the Rs 60 crore should be given to the Delhi government to build a trauma centre.


"Will the money bring back my children? I am going to ask the Delhi government not to accept the money," said Krishnamoorthy whose son and daughter died in the devastating fire at Uphaar, a south Delhi cinema, 18 years ago.


On Wednesday, real estate barons Sushil and Gopal Ansal escaped being jailed in the 18-year-old Uphaar Cinema fire tragedy in which 59 people died with the Supreme Court asking them to pay a fine of Rs 30 crore each and restricting their jail term to the period already undergone by them.


Overturning the pleas of CBI and the victims' association, a three-judge bench of Justices A R Dave, Kurian Joseph and Adarsh Kumar Goel asked them to pay the total fine of Rs 60 crore in three months and deposit it with the Delhi government, which in turn will spend the money on welfare schemes.


While Sushil, 76, had spent over five months in prison, 67-year-old Gopal was in jail for over four months immediately after the tragedy. The bench rejected the submissions of senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for CBI, that the convicts be sent to jail to serve the remaining jail term.


Kejriwal said yesterday, "The Supreme Court judgment... has let down the country. Much more needs to be done to restore the faith of families of the victims in the country's justice delivery system."

At Uphaar, routes to fire exits had been blocked to plant extra seats, turning the cinema hall into a death trap when the fire broke out on June 13, 1997, during a screening of the Bollywood film "Border". Most of the 59 people killed were trapped in the balcony and died of asphyxiation. Over 100 people were injured.  

A fresh batch of 168 pilgrims today left for the cave shrine of Amarnath in the south Kashmir Himalayas, amid tight security. The batch comprising 60 men, 16 women and 92 sadhus left in four vehicles from Bhagwati Nagar base camp here at 4.40 am, a police official said.


Amid tight security arrangements made by CRPF, the pilgrims would reach at the twin base camps of Pahalgam and Baltal by this evening, he said.


Till yesterday, 3,49,720 pilgrims paid obeisance at the cave of Lord Shiva. With today's batch, 48,702 pilgrims have so far left from the Jammu base camp for the shrine.

The whole story of the 2-hour detention of the Hurriyet leaders in Jammu & Kashmir on Thursday may never be known, but what seems plausible is that New Delhi and Srinagar were probably not on the same page.

Very sad, indeed, if South Block didn't anticipate the inevitability of the Pakistani move to invite the Hurriyet leaders to have a cup of tea with their visiting National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz.


Read MK Bhadrakumar's blog on the NIA talks and beyond.

India Today reports: Pakistan is yet to give an official itinerary for the visit of its national security adviser Sartaj Aziz, which has not only kept India on tenterhooks but led to the suspicion that Aziz might be looking for a way to wriggle out of the talks. 

Former US president and Nobel peace laureate Jimmy Carter who is being treated for cancer on his brain, hopes that he would be able to make his scheduled trip to Nepal this November.

Linjawi said that while some sectors of Saudi society view women's suffrage as a "Western intrusion', she sees a "linear advancement in women's participation' in the country's affairs and politics.

The bodies of all 54 people killed in a plane crash in eastern Indonesia have been recovered from a remote jungle site and flown to hospital, an official said on Thursday.

South and North Korea have traded artillery fire across their heavily militarised border, in a rare exchange that left no casualties but pushed already elevated cross-border tensions to dangerously high levels.Key points.

Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has announced he is resigning and has called an early election.

Republican presidential front-runnerDonald Trump took on an array of subjects and political figures during a lengthy interview with CNN's Chris Cuomo on Wednesday, including Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush, Pope Francis and even Caroline Kennedy.

Three fishermen, battling for life atop their sinking boat in midsea, were rescued and brought ashore here today. The three fishermen, in 40-50 age group, had put out to sea in their boat along with fellow fishermen onboard 184 boats from Jegathapattinam in the district yesterday.

Inmate David Sweat, who pulled off an elaborate escape from an upstate New York prison in early June, has been indicted on two counts of escape in the third degree and a count of promoting prison contraband, Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie said Thursday.