Jihadist militants from Islamic State have burned to death 45 people in the western Iraqi town of al-Baghdadi, the local police chief says.

According to reports, Prime Minister's Narendra Modi's monogrammed pinstripe suit will be auctioned in Surat tomorrow.

Mars One, a group that plans to send humans on a one-way trip to Mars, has announced its final 100 candidates.

Hyderabad has been ranked the third best in the world in service quality in 5-15 million passengers per annum (MPPA) category for 2014, its operator said today.

Swine flu claimed five more lives in Gujarat today, taking the toll to 155 since January, while 155 new cases were detected in the state, according to an official release issued by the state health department.

JUST IN: A fire has broken out at the Ansal Chambers in the Bhikaji Cama complex in New Delhi. 15 fire tenders are at the spot trying to douse the flames. 

After tweeting that he would be putting forth the plan for eateries and cafes to remain open all night, Aaditya Thackeray tweeted once more saying that his proposal had been accepted by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. 

The fear for visitors to the US such as Sureshbhai Patel is that even where legal remedies for damages exist, there is far less to protect them from the actual acts of violence. 

A rescue operation has been launched after a ferry has run aground near the Elephanta island, off the Mumbai coast. The Indian Coast Guard has launched a helicopter service and hovercraft to help rescue the stranded passengers after the state government requested for aid. According to reports, 78 passengers have been rescued. 

Cracking the whip, the Janata Dal-United suspended 7 pro-Manjhi ministers. The JD-U recently had suspended Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi for 'anti-party activities' for 6 years. Bihar's political scene has been facing a crisis ever since Manjhi refused to step down from the chief minister's post. 

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam handed over a cheque of Rs 12 lakh to Indhu Rebecca Varghese, widow of Major Mukund Varadarajanand a recipient of country's highest military award Ashok Chakra. 

Looking to escape the hustle and bustle of city life? Then this job may be for you -- but only if you can put up with the company of 2,000 'smelly' penguins.

Niger's President Mamahadou Issoufou today told thousands of people protesting at deadly raids by Boko Haram that "Niger will be the tomb" of the Islamists from neighbouring Nigeria. 

Suicide bombers attacked police headquarters in Logar province in eastern Afghanistan, killing 10 police officers and injuring eight others, a government spokesman said Tuesday.

CBI to probe Noida's millionaire chief engineer Yadav Singh, say TV reports. Assets worth Rs. 10,000 crore were found during raids at his home.

The Prime Minister has no power to declassify secret files relating to the mysterious disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, the Prime Minister's Office has clarified in an RTI reply. 

The United States military will provide communications equipment and intelligence to help African nations in the fight against Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram, the commander of US Special Forces operations in Africa said.

A 16-year-old boy studying in class X at a school in Banaskantha district allegedly committed suicide after he was severely beaten up by four teachers for damaging a school property, police said today. 

An estimated 215 million Indians -- roughly the population of Canada and Pakistan combined -- are largely excluded from economic progress.have

They have "zero assets', which means they do not own a television set, a motorcycle, a mobile phone, or any of seven items recognised by the government as being of economic value, official data revealed.

43 million households have zero assets, according to census data. If we consider an average of five people living in a household, that gives us a figure of 215 million Indians without assets, according to a report in scroll.in.

Of those with zero assets, nearly 80 million people -- the population of Germany  or 16 million households are Adivasi.

A 32-year-old woman staff member of an IPS officer of additional director general rank has alleged that she was molested by him, police said today.  

In a written complaint to Colaba police station, the woman alleged that the senior police officer groped her at his south Mumbai office yesterday, they said.  

The incident happened last morning following which she lodged a complain with Colaba police. The woman, a widow who is into clerical work, claimed that the police officer had a few days back even asked her about her marital status and family background and subsequently called on her mobile phone to speak to her.   

"We took her written complaint and are verifying her claims. She says she was inappropriately touched by the IPS officer," a police officer said on condition of anonymity.   

No FIR has been registered into the matter so far.

Pakistan army chief General Raheel Sharif and Inter-Services Intelligence Chief Rizwan Akhtar have arrived in Kabul, ISPR reported. 

The army chief and DG ISI are in Kabul on a one-day visit to discuss matters pertaining to security. They will meet senior military and political leadership.

Thousands of people today bid a tearful adieu to R R Patil as the former Maharashtra deputy chief minister was cremated Maharashtra's Anjani with state honours. Those present at the NCP leader's native village to pay their last respects included Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis,

NCP chief Sharad Pawar, former CM Prithviraj Chavan and social activist Anna Hazare besides several leaders across parties and many of Patil's former cabinet colleagues. 

Thousands assembled at the cremation site and shouted slogans "R R Patil Amar Rahe" as his son Rohit, accompanied by Patil's two daughters -- Smita and Supriya -- lit the funeral pyre.   

The body of Patil, who died in Mumbai after a prolonged battle with cancer, was brought to Anjani this morning and taken to his residence.   

It was later taken to the agricultural produce market committee where thousands of people, including several women offered their last respects.   The funeral procession began from the Chowk area and the vehicle carrying Patil's body reached the helipad ground,near which the last rites were performed.   

The government has declared a day's mourning in the state today as a mark of respect for the departed leader.

Fans of Narendra Modi are not too happy that the PM attended a Christian function and spoke of tolerance, reports scroll.in. Right-wingers believe it will give credence to what they see as an anti-Modi spin.

His supporters, who have been insisting that minorities in the country are simply crying wolf to attack the Modi government aren't exactly pleased. In their minds, Modi has just given currency to those who believe that the narrative of violence against minorities is a made-up one simply to discredit the new government. And they have been vocal about this.

@voxindica tweets: Nothing wrong in PM attending or eulogizing the 'saints' but his remarks should not strengthen the impression churches were indeed attacked.

@shashi_sah: Modi wins-> Some theft in church.->NYT writes oped -> Obama Speech -> Protest before elections -> Modi Loses to church. #SecularModi

@siddhu_75 : For Advani becoming 'secular' we blamed @SudheenKulkarni , who do we blame bow for NaMo

Communist Party of India-Marxists Brinda Karat slammed the Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi for not including any women in their cabinet.

She said, No women in the AAP ministry after its stupendous victory in Delhi is disappointing.

The explanation that it is because of the legal limit of seven in the number of ministerial berths (implying thereby that there is no woman who would qualify as a choice in the first list) sounds familiar.

She added, There is always a justification. We are told that women will be included in important roles in the Chief Minister's Office, where policy decisions will be made. Here, we see a novel extension to the political sphere of domestic cultures of women's invisible work: behind every successful man there is a woman, in this case, behind every successful government are women.
 
The AAP government shares these laurels with seven such other brother state governments, where there are no women ministers.

With the lack of women in the cabinet, Delhi joins the ranks of seven other states with no women ministers.

Barkha Dutt, one of the most popular faces on television, has stepped down from her position as Group Editor in NDTV after almost two decades of working with the news channel. She is going to step up her own multi media company and policy group.

In her first interview after stepping down she speaks about her plans. "I cant say there was any particular trigger for this other than a deeply felt need within me to re-invent and grow in new areas. I do believe that stasis is the death of creativity and when you get too comfortable you should shake things up for your own sake. "

"And while I am a child of news (my mum was a trailblazing journalist) and belong to the first generation of TV journalists in India I have other interests - in the print, digital and public policy space - that I am keen to explore. Hence this decision to keep one foot firmly in TV and take the other out for a brand new adventure."

Read her complete interview here

Three Indians, two women and one man, have made it to the list of 100 applicants who will move on to the next round of an ambitious private mission that aims to send four people on a one-way trip to Mars in 2024.

From the initial 202,586 applicants, only 100 hopefuls have been selected to proceed to the next round of the Mars One Astronaut Selection Process, The Netherlands-based non-profit organisation Mars One has announced. The project aims to set up a human colony on Mars and eventually around 40 people will be sent to the red planet on a permanent basis.

The finalists will train for seven years and Mars One will begin sending out four at a time from 2024. The Mars 100 Round Three candidates include 50 men and 50 women with 39 from the Americas, 31 from Europe, 16 from Asia, 7 from Africa, and 7 from Oceania.

Photograph: www.mars-one.com

PM Modi further added, "My government stands for personal freedom. Religion is a personal choice. Fanaticism will not be tolerated. My government will not allow any religious group, belonging to majority or minority to incite hatred against others," he said.

Reaching out to Christians at sainthood celebrations in New Delhi, PM Narendra Modi said, "The ancient Indian principle of mutual respect for all faiths is now beginning to manifest in global outreach. India is a land of Budha and Gandhi, equal respect for all religion should be in the DNA of every citizen."

"My government will ensure that there is complete freedom of faith. We cannot accept religious violence on any pretext, we will act strongly against this. I appeal to all religious groups to act with mutual respect and tolerance."

"Unity strengthens us. Division weakens us. I sincerely request all Indians and all of you present here to support me in this huge task," he says.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the Christian community in Delhi after attending a celebration of elevation to Sainthood of Kuriakose Elias Chavara and Mother Euphrasia.

"I am delighted to participate in this function. Saint Kuriakose Elias Chavara and Saint Euphrasia, the whole country is proud of their recognition. The life and deeds of Saint Chavara and Saint Euphresia are an inspiration to humanity as a whole. Saint Chavara was a man of prayer and also a social reformer. He opened the doors of education to every section of society."

"Mother India gave birth to many religious and spiritual streams. Some of them have even travelled beyond Indian borders. The tradition of welcoming, respecting and honouring all faiths is as old as India itself," he said. "As Swami Vivekananda said: We believe not only in universal toleration but we accept all religions as true."

"Our constitution did not evolve in a vacuum, it has roots in ancient cultural traditions of India. The world is increasingly witnessing division and hostility on religious lines. This has become a matter of global concern. We believe that there is truth in every religion, this is critical for peace and harmony," he said.

Just in: The Supreme Court seeks a response of Prasar Bharti on suggestions of Star Sports on sharing of live feed of cricket matches with private cable operators. The SC has asked Prasar Bharti to reply by Thursday. A reply has also been sought on launching a separate channel to air India's matches.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the Delhi high court order that barred public broadcaster Doordarshan from sharing the live feed of the cricket match with cable operators. The Delhi HC last week had barred Doordarshan from sharing the live feed of World Cup matches.

Lady Gaga announced engagement her to actor Taylor Kinney by sharing a picture of her huge, heart-shaped diamond ring via Instagram. "He gave me his heart on Valentine's Day, and I said YES!" she captioned the photo.

After Kinney popped the question, the couple celebrated at Gagas family's restaurant, Joanne Trattoria, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Times Herald-Record executive editor Barry Lewis said.

Photograph: Getty Images

So we believed that Mos PMO Jitendra Singh was visit Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra to hold talks on government formation in the state, which has been on hold for almost two months now. But apparently not.

"This is purely a personal meeting, I came here to extend my invitation for a wedding in family," he said.

Rubbishing reports that the PDP wanted in writing an assurance on the BJP's stand on Article 370, he said, "There are reports of the PDP insisting on hving evrthing in writing. Absolutely no clue about that."        

Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao is in Mumbai. He visited the famous  Ganpati temple, Siddhivinayak, in Prabhadevi.

Tamil author and professor Perumal Murugan, who gave up writing after he was hounded by Hindu fundamentalist and caste groups, would join the faculty of the Presidency College in Chennai today.

His wife, a member of the Tamil faculty, would join Queen Mary's College in the city. Both had sought transfer, fearing for their life in their hometown of Namakal, where they used to teach at the government college, reports NDTV.

Hindu groups and caste outfits in Namakal had protested and even observed a bandh last month against Perumal Murugan's novel, Madhorubhagan, saying it showed their women and their temple in bad light. The novel had been published in 2010, and has also been translated in English, as One Part Woman.

Sahara has moved the Supreme Court seeking extension of facilities by six weeks given to its jailed chief Subrata Roy for striking deals with various persons. The court has asked Shara group to file an application in this regard.

"You are struggling to pay Rs 10,000 crore then how will you pay Rs 30,000 cr after coming out," the SC asked.

The apex court has set a condition that Roy has to deposit Rs 10,000 crore to ensure his release from Tihar jail where he has been lodged since March 4, 2014. On January 9, it had allowed Sahara Group to go ahead with its proposed transactions with some conditions including the approval of RBI for the transfer to India of the funds raised in the US to meet the requirement set for release of Roy, who is lodged in Tihar jail since March 4 last year for non-refund of over Rs 20,000 crore with interest to depositors.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today greeted the people on the occasion of Maha Shivratri. "Greetings on Maha Shivratri," he tweeted.

Devotees across the country today celebrated the festival by visiting Lord Shiva temples and offered flowers and fruits. The festival celebrates the wedding of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati.

An Australian man has reportedly joined a Christian militia fighting against the Islamic State terrorist group in northern Iraq.

Khamis Gewargis Khamis is stationed in a town called Baqofa, around 30 kilometres from the major IS-held city of Mosul, an ABC report said. Khamis, who is married with two children, joined an independent Assyrian militia known as Dwekh Nawsha, meaning "self sacrifices".

The militia was formed in response to IS' assault on the Assyrian minority in Iraq.

Khamis said that he was aware he might be breaking Australian foreign fighters laws by taking up arms with the militia, but that he was ready to defend himself if there were any consequences.

The Hindu reports: Mutually agreeable formulations on the question of Jammu and Kashmirs special constitutional status and the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act remained elusive for the BJP and PDP,  but both sides remained optimistic about arriving at a Common Minimum Programme to form a coalition government in the state.

Factors pushing us closer are stronger than those pulling us apart. But nothing is done until it is done, a senior BJP functionary told The Hindu, adding that some reservations in the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh -- reported in a section of the media -- are only to be expected, but not insurmountable.

While the BJP has agreed to most of our Common Minimum Programme  and seems to be open to our stand on the AFSPA, they seem very reluctant to commit to anything that could be interpreted as giving up its stand on Article 370, a senior PDP leader told The Hindu.

Read the full report here

A BSF jawan today allegedly opened fire from his service weapon, killing a colleague and injuring three others in West Bengal's Malda district.

Officials said the suspected fratricidal incident occurred early morning at the Farrakka battalion camp of the Border Security Force when constable Basant Singh allegedly fired on his fellow personnel who were asleep.

While Head Constable Moolchand succumbed to his injuries on the spot inside the camp, the injured who were rushed to the hospital include constables Kamal Basa, S K Prabhakar and Surender.

"All have borne bullet injuries fired from the INSAS rifle of Singh. About 4-5 rounds are suspected to have been fired," officials said. The reasons for Singh taking the extreme step are being probed, they said.

Singh, 35, is on the run and a manhunt has been launched to nab him, they said.

Jintendra Singh, Minister of State, in the Prime Minister's Office will meet Jammu and Kashmir Governor today N N Vohra on government formation in the state.

The BJP and PDP have been in talks over for formation of government in the state for over two months now. A new government is expected soon if the last-minute hurdles are cleared.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will now take a final call on the common minimum programme on the basis of which the two parties plan to govern Jammu and Kashmir, with the PDP's Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as chief minister, the NDTV reports. 

However, the date of Sayeed's meeting with the PM has not been fixed yet.

Condemning the attack on communist leader Govind Pansare, the Shiv Sena today taunted the BJP-led government in Maharashtra over the "deteriorating" law and order situation   

"Pansare was shot when the sun's rays were illuminating Kolhapur. All this is happening in our own Maharashtra, despite change in government," an editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana said.   

"When (anti-superstition crusader) Narendra Dabholkar was killed, there was the Congress government in the state. It was put in the convict's box over the murder. Now who will take responsibility for this daylight attack," Sena asked.    "

The government is ours (Sena is a part of the Fadnavis-led ministry) so we cannot even say that the law and order situation is in tatters and convicts are roaming scott free,"it said. "Had it been some other government, one could have battered it with these very words."

The United Nations Human Rights Council has delayed by six months the release of a report into alleged war crimes committed during Sri Lanka's civil war, following request by the country's newly-elected government for more time to conclude its internal probe.

The report, which was earlier scheduled to be released on March 25 during the 28th session of the UN Human Rights Council, will now be out in September this year.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said it was a "difficult decision" to postpone the release of the report but added that given the changing context in Sri Lanka, there is possibility that important new information may emerge which will strengthen the report. "This has been a difficult decision," Zeid said.

"There are good arguments for sticking to the original timetable, and there are also strong arguments for deferring the report's consideration a bit longer, given the changing context in Sri Lanka, and the possibility that important new information may emerge which will strengthen the report," he said.

He sought to assure that the deferral was "for one time only", and guaranteed that the report would be published by September. "There should be no misunderstanding," Zeid said.

Image: A demonstrator holds a placard during a protest against Sri Lanka for alleged war crimes. Photograph: Reuters

Five have been detained by the Kolhapur police in connection with the attack on veteran communist leader Govind Pansare and his wife Uma yesterday.

Two unidentified assailants on a bike shot four rounds of fire from a close range at around 8.00 am at Pansare and his wife. They both were out on a morning walk near their home.

Pansare was hit by two bullets, one near his neck and one in chest, while one bullet hit his wife, according to a report in DNA. They both are being treated for their injuries at Astor Aadhar hospital.

Pansare has suffered heavy loss of blood and is in a serious condition and his is out of danger, say sources .

Muffler man vs 10 lakh suit: Sandip Roy says the parallels between Arvind Kejriwal and Narendra Modi are  far more deliberate than the trajectory of their rise to the top of their parties.

Read the full report here

The New York Times reports: The Obama administration is revamping its effort to counter the Islamic States propaganda machine, acknowledging that the terrorist group has been far more effective in attracting new recruits.

At the heart of the plan is expanding a tiny State Department agency, the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications, to harness all the existing attempts at countermessaging by much larger federal departments, including the Pentagon, Homeland Security and intelligence agencies.

With the Islamic State and its supporters producing as many as 90,000 tweets and other social media responses every day, American officials acknowledge they have a tough job ahead to blunt the groups digital momentum.

Read the complete report here

Over 60 countries including India will participate in a White House summit on "countering violent extremism" beginning today in the backdrop of alarming growth of the Islamic State and recent terrorists' attacks in France and Denmark, senior administration officials have said.

While the first two days of the three-day summit are primarily focused on domestic extremism given that there was substantial increase in home grown terrorism, the final day, Thursday would see full participation of more than 60 countries including several ministers to focus on foreign fighters among others.

India, which for the past several decades has been a victim of foreign supported terrorism and faces a challenge of domestic violent extremism that include Naxals and Maoists in particular, would be represented by R N Ravi, chairman of the powerful joint intelligence committee. "It's a very full and very ambitious agenda to expand and deepen our global coalition to counter and prevent violent extremism," a senior administration official said yesterday.

The conference would highlight domestic and international efforts to prevent violent extremists and their supporters from radicalising, recruiting, or inspiring individuals or groups in the US and abroad to commit acts of violence, efforts made even more imperative in light of recent, tragic attacks throughout the world.

Led by US President Barack Obama, top officials of his administration including Secretary of State John Kerry, National Security Advisor Susan Rice would be addressing the White House Summit. Obama would be addressing the gathering twice in the summit

At least 10 people were killed and over 40 others injured last night when a private bus in which they were travelling in fell into a deep gorge in Machalia Ghat in neighbouring Dhar district.

The bus was on its way to Galiakot in Rajasthan from Indore when the mishap occurred. The driver of the bus lost control while traversing through Machlia Ghat following which the bus fell into a deep gorge, officials said. Rescue operations are underway.

Senior officials from Dhar and Jhabua districts have reached the spot. Jhabua district hospital's civil surgeon R G Kaushal said that so far six dead bodies have reached the hospital and at least 40 persons have suffered injuries in the mishap.

The death toll from swine flu this year has soared to 585 with 100 more casualties reported across the country in three days since February 12, prompting the Centre to order additional stocks of medicines and diagnostic kits.

While the total number of swine flu deaths had stood at 485 till February 12, the latest official data released today says 100 more people succumbed to the H1N1 virus in the three days till February 15, taking the toll to 585.

Altogether, 8,423 people have contracted swine flu this year in the country. Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra are the worst-affected states with their respective tolls standing at 165, 144, 76 and 58, official figures said.

Some 30,000 people gathered in Copenhagen on Monday to commemorate the victims of twin shootings that shocked the nation, with the Danish premier telling the crowd that an attack on the country's Jews was an attack on all of Denmark.

Read full story HERE.

A grand jury in North Carolina indicted a man Monday on three counts of murder in the shootings of three young Muslims in what authorities have said was a dispute over parking spaces.

Lars Vilks, the Swedish cartoonist who escaped the deadly attack in Copenhagen on Saturday, confirmed that he has gone into hiding. 

The death toll from swine flu this year has soared to 585 with 100 more casualties reported across the country in three days since February 12, prompting the Centre to order additional stocks of medicines and diagnostic kits.