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Tue, 13 January 2015

Timeline Refresh

23:11 Govt proposes raising minimum age to buy tobacco to 21 years

Brushing aside opposition, the government today moved to amend the anti-smoking law and proposed radical changes, including ban on sale of loose cigarettes and raising the minimum age of a person buying tobacco products to 21 years from existing 18.

It has also proposed raising of fine to Rs 1000 from Rs 200 on smoking in public places as well as recommending removal of designated smoking zones in hotels and restaurants.

These are some of the major recommendations in the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) (Amendment) Bill 2015, which were put out by the Health Ministry today to seek suggestions from the public.

The bill puts to rest speculation about the fate of a panel's recommendations, which had covered most of these issues, as there were reports that the health ministry had developed cold feet following outcry from lobbies representing farmers and tobacco industry.

US Congressman Randy Weber took to Twitter to criticise President Barack Obama for not joining other world leaders in Paris on Sunday.

"Even Adolph [sic] Hitler thought it more important than Obama to get to Paris. (For all the wrong reasons.) Obama couldn't do it for right reasons," he tweeted.

The tweet referred to the German dictator's visit to the vanquished city after his troops invaded in World War II, and to Obama's failure to join world leaders at the anti-terror march to condemn last week's terror attacks in the French capital.

After facing criticism, the White House issued a sort-of apology on yesterday. "I think it's fair to say that we should have sent someone with a higher profile" than the US ambassador, White House spokesman Josh Earnest acknowledged.

Image: Republican Rep Randy Weber

PTI reports: At least 30 bodies, which were ostensibly disposed of in the Ganga river as part of last rites by their kin, surfaced after the water receded near Pariyar ghat in Unnao district, prompting administration to order an inquiry into it.

Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) A Satish Ganesh said that around 20-25 bodies were recovered near Pariyar ghat in Safipur area of Unnao.

"During preliminary investigation, local residents informed that instead of cremating the bodies of unmarried girls they are set adrift in the Ganga river," the IG said.

He said that the bodies came on surface after water receded in the river near Pariyar ghat. "Most of the bodies were badly mutilated so it was difficult to ascertain their gender," he said.

An unidentified miscreant today threw eggs and a stone at Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal at a rally in Sultanpur Majra assembly constituency in north west Delhi.

Kejriwal was unhurt in the incident.

According to a party volunteer, while the AAP chief was holding his third 'jansabha' at Jalebi Chowk in Sultanpur Majra, an unidentified person threw eggs and a stone at the rally and fled. The eggs and stone did not hit Kejriwal, but fell near the podium from where he was addressing.

This is the second attack on the former Delhi chief minister in Sultanpur Majra. While campaigning for Rakhi Birla, AAP's Lok Sabha candidate for North West Delhi, Mr Kejriwal was hit by an auto driver.

The US today designated Maulana Fazlullah, the chief of Pakistani Taliban, as a global terrorist and slapped sanctions against him.

Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan had claimed responsibility for the December 16, 2014 attack on an army school in Peshawar that resulted in the deaths of at least 150 people, mostly children.

The announcement came hours after US Secretary of State John Kerry asked Pakistan to target all terror outfits like LeT, Taliban and the Haqqani network that pose a threat to itself, neighbours like India and America.

21:16 VHP plans big meet in Delhi. Should BJP worry?

With its MP Sakshi Maharaj kicking up a row by his 'four-child' remark, the BJP asked party leaders today to refrain from making contentious statements which could provide a handle to the opposition to attack the NDA government.

BJP spokesman Syed Shahnawaz Hussain said Sakshi Maharaj had been asked to explain his controversial remark even though the MP from Unnao in Uttar Pradesh insisted that he was unaware of any show-cause notice on the comments which termed as "internal matter" of the party.

But trouble continues for the ruling party.

Now, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad -- an affiliate of the BJP's ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh -- plans to hold what it calls a 'Virat Hindu Sammelan', at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, in the heart of the national capital, on March 1, reports NDTV.

At the meet, likely to be attended by top RSS leaders, the VHP is expected to raise issues like religious conversions, which kicked up a storm in the Parliament.

Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Naxal' barb, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal today said such kind of language did not suit the prime minister.

Hitting back at Modi, who had said the BJP had a mastery in governance, the AAP leader said his party knew the art of wiping out bribery from governance.

"The prime minister launched an attack on me in a rally, saying Arvind Kejriwal is a Naxal. Am I a Naxal? Do I need to go to forest?" the AAP leader said addressing a rally in Wazirpur assembly constituency in New Delhi.

"But this does not suit the prime minister. Should the BJP do this (resort to such attacks)?" Kejriwal asked. This is the first time Kejriwal has responded to the Naxal barb in a rally.

In an apparent reference to Kejriwal's comment made almost a year back that he was an "anarchist", Modi, in his rally on Saturday, said, "If somebody is an anarchist, he should go to the jungles and join the Naxals."

20:40

The letter that terminates the contract of the DRDO chief.

20:36 Govt sacks DRDO chief

The government has terminated the contract of Defence Research & Development Organisation chief Avinash Chander.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi-headed ACC has terminated his contract with effect from January 31. Chander was on extension contract, reports CNN-IBN.

The reason for his termination is not yet known.

Details awaited.

Extreme political views and decent humour in the cyber world cannot be prohibited, the Centre told the Supreme Court today while making out a case for blocking outrageous and offensive contents hurting religious sentiments.

"The extreme political views or contrary views and decent humour cannot be prohibited," Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted before a bench comprising Justices J Chelameswar and R F Nariman.

The ASG, however, placed documents indicating that thoseposts which had the potential of "outrageously and directly offending" religious sentiments needed to be prohibited in the cyber world.

Mehta also wanted that the documents, submitted in a sealed cover, should be only for the perusal of the bench but when the opposite parties demanded them, he was asked by the judges to supply them the material.

The law officer then requested that the contents of the documents prohibited from posting in the social networking sites, should not be allowed to be circulated.

Taking serious view of alarming drop in the sex ratio of Uttar Pradesh, Supreme Court today issued a slew of directions which includes completion of trial of cases lodged in the state for offence of sex determination and female foeticide within three months.

"Who will speak on your (UP) behalf on the issue of female foeticide," a bench of justices Dipak Misra and Prafulla C Pant said while hearing a batch of pleas on female foeticide.

The bench, which today took up the case of Uttar Pradesh, said the trial in nearly 143 cases registered under the Pre- natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act for the offences of sex determination and female foeticide be completed within three months starting January 20.

It further clarified that the cases would include only those where either the Allahabad high court or the apex court have not stayed the trial.

In-camera hearing will be held in Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi's detention case after the high court today accepted Pakistan government's plea in this regardon the grounds that "strong evidence" against the Mumbai attack mastermind could not be shared in open proceedings.

"The deputy attorney general today informed the Islamabad HC that the government had 'strong evidence' against Lakhvi which could not be shared in open proceedings,"a court official told PTI after a hearing.

"He requested the court to hold in-camera proceedings so that the government could present the evidence against the accused, justifying its decision to detain him under the maintenance of public order," the official said.

IHC judge Noorul Haq Qureshi accepted the government's plea and adjourned the hearing till tomorrow, the official added.The IHC has taken up the case on the direction of the supreme court which earlier had set aside its decision to suspend the government's order to detain Lakhvi under MPO.

US Secretary of State John Kerry visited the Dunkin' Donuts store here in the Pakistani capital today to a get a "little slice" of the popular American breakfast snack, and was soon trolling on twitter.

Kerry, who is on a two-day visit to Pakistan for a strategic dialogue, dropped into the eatery early in the morning. The 71-year American diplomat later tweeted his picture taken at the store in which he is shown dressed in a blue suit with his grey hair combed backwards.

"A little slice of home here in Islamabad at Dunkin' Donuts to start the day," Kerry tweeted. The picture was a hit on the micro blog. It received some interesting comments, including from state-run Radio Pakistan which said the "US Secretary of State visits a local Bakery before starting the day in Islamabad."

Another tweet said, "Have been told that take a copy of this pic to your nearest Dunkin Donuts and they will pay your US visa."

19:15

Read the full text of Sonia's speech HERE

18:57 Ajay Maken to be Cong face in Delhi assembly polls

Faced with the challenge of regaining lost ground, Congress today appointed former Union Minister Ajay Maken as chairman of the party's 101-member campaign commitee for Delhi Assembly polls, marking dawn of a new leadership in the capital after the legacy of three-time Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

The AICC general secretary will be the face of Congress's campaign which will revolve around its success during the 15-year rule between 1998-2013 as it will appeal to the people to go for 'tried and tested' leaders in the February 7 polls to the 70-member House.

"We have constituted a Campaign Committee for Delhi assembly polls. The 101-member committee will be headed by Ajay Maken," AICC in-charge of Delhi P C Chacko told a joint press conference with Maken.

The four French Jews killed in the terror attack in Paris last week were today buried here after an emotional funeral procession joined by Israel's top leadership which described the attackers as "not just enemies of the Jews but all of humanity".

Israel's President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuhe attended the funeral of the four Jewish victims whose bodies were flown here from France early morning. Israel's President Reuven Rivlin said that it was unacceptable that seven-decades after the Holocaust, Jews were afraid to walk in the streets of Europe.

"We cannot allow that in 2015, 70 years since the end of World War II, Jews are afraid to walk in the streets of Europe with skullcaps and tzitzit," he said at the funeral procession, attended by many public figures and throngs of mourners.

"These aren't just enemies of the Jews, but all of humanity," the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuhe said. "It's about time that all of the civilised world unite and uproot these enemies from our midst."

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi today launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and charged that the NDA government has "dictatorial" tendencies even as her party's leaders met here to draw up a strategy for painting the ruling alliance as being "anti farmer".

In her opening remarks at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, the party's apex decision-making body, Sonia accused the prime minister of "ignoring provocative statements and speeches" by members of his Cabinet as well as BJP leaders and alleged that it was a continuation of the "strategy of polarisation" adopted during Lok Sabha polls.

With the party facing a depleting support base ever since its debacle in the general elections last year, Sonia asked senior leaders to "propose ways and means to reach out to the masses" at the meeting which was held to deliberate on plans for holding nationwide agitations against the land ordinance and other farmer issues.

18:23 Kerry announces $250 million aid to Pakistan

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday praised the Pakistani military's operation against militants in the country's northwest, saying the results are "significant,' but cautioned that more work needs to be done.

Read the full story HERE

BJP national spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain today said the party's Unnao MP Sakshi Maharaj has been asked to explain his controversial remarks.

"Maharaj has indeed been asked to explain his controversial remarks that a Hindu woman should give birth to at least four children," Hussain said.

Indicating that Maharaj's remarks have not gone down well with the BJP leadership, Hussain asked all party leaders to refrain from making contentious statements which could provide a handle to the opposition to attack the NDA government.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah have directed party leaders to toe the party line while speaking at public forums, he said.

Speaking on the political situation in Bihar, Hussain exuded confidence that the BJP-led NDA would sweep the Assembly elections to be held later this year as the electorate do not want the return of 'Jungle Raj' in the state, referring to the the 15 year rule of the RJD.

An irate Shashi Tharoor hit back at Bharatiya Janata Party's Subramaniam Swamy. When asked about his wife, Sunanda Pushkar's murder case, he hit back saying, "Who is Swamy? If he knows the murderer let him tell the police."

Swamy, has in the past, accused Tharoor of being involved in his wife's murder. Earlier this month, after Delhi police declared Pushkar's death a murder case and field an FIR, Swamy had called Tharoor a liar.

On another occasion, he claimed that Tharoor did not kill his wife but he knows who the killer was. "Tharoor did not kill her, but he knows who killed her and facilitated her killing. He lied and tried to cover it up. So he will also be sent to jail, but won't get capital punishment."

While people all over the world are mourning the loss of the people killed in the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris, dozens of people in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar paid tribute Tuesday to the brothers who carried out the murders.

The special investigation team , probing the Muzaffarnagar riots, has given a clean chit to six accused in connection with a murder case during the communal violence in the district. SIT Inspector Sampurnanad Tiwari filed a closure report in the court after giving a clean chit to six accused -- Prahlad, Vishan, Devender, Jitendra, Yogender and Ravinder -- saying they were not found involved in the murder of Shahnawaz during 2013 communal riots

French President Francois Hollande awarded the National Order of the Legion of Honour, France's top award, posthumously to three police officers that were killed in last week's heinous attacks.

Hollande eulogised three slain police officers -- Ahmed Merabet, Franck Brinsolaro and Clarissa Jean-Philippe and awarded each with the Legion d'Honeur (National Order of Merit), placing a medal on each coffin.

Merabet was a Muslim policeman killed while trying to pursue the assailants from the Charlie Hebdo attack, which left 12 people dead.

Brinsolaro worked as a protection officer for the Charlie Hebdo's editor, Stephane Charbonnier, who was also killed and Jean-Philippe was killed by a gunman suspected in last week's terror attacks. She and her partner were responding to a traffic accident when she was gunned down.

In a rare admission, the White House said the United States should have sent "someone with a higher profile" to join world leaders in the unity march in Paris but maintained Secretary of State John Kerry skipped the rally as he was preoccupied with "some important work" in India.

"I think it's fair to say that we should have sent someone with a higher profile to be there," White House Press Secretary, Josh Earnest said while responding to criticism about Obama and senior officials being absent at the anti-terror march over the weekend in Paris.

Earnest said: "The Secretary of State is somebody who has very important responsibilities himself. He was in India this past weekend doing some important work representing US interests there."

Image: World leaders join French President Francois Hollande at the Paris Unity march.

16:38 Speaking power to satirical truth

Charlie Hebdo was brutally attacked for its dark sketches of humour; for apparently talking 'satire to power.' French President Francois Hollande called the attacks an assault on "the expression of freedom," and liberal democracies globally have shown their support to protect this freedom.

Cartoonists in solidarity with Charlie Hebdo sketched the incongruity of a pencil and a gun. But what explains this incongruity? What is it about satirical humour that can invite such anger or can justify its protection, even through so-called legitimate state violence?

Read more HERE

16:26 Four MNS ex-MLAs join BJP

The Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena today received a jolt as four of its former legislators joined the ruling BJP today.

Maharashtra BJP president Raosaheb Danve inducted the four former MLAs -- Pravin Darekar, Vasant Gite, Ramesh Patil and Kashinath Megal -- along with some other former office-bearers of zilla parishads and panchayat samitis.

The move would further weaken the MNS which got routed in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections. The party had drawn a blank in the 2014 general elections and won only one seat in the 288-member Maharashtra assembly last year as opposed to 13 seats in 2009.

On the occasion, Danve said the new entrants have come to the BJP fold due to their faith in the leadership of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.

To a query on corruption charges against Darekar, Danve said, "There are mere allegations and nothing has been proved. Once corruption is proved, that person will no longer remain in the BJP."

The astrologer who counselled Mahinda Rajapaksa to call for early elections has been asked to vacate the bungalow he was living in, which was gifted to him by the former Sri Lankan president. Reflecting on his fate after his wrong prediction, Sumanadasa Abeygunawardena said, "Not all of Nostradamus' predictions came true either." Abeygunawardena admitted he was trying to keep a low profile for the moment while confident that the setback would not lead all his followers to desert him. In addition to losing the home, the astrologer also lost his limousine, chauffeur and vacated his seat on the board of a state-run bank.

16:11 Amal Clooney takes on Armenia genocide case

Amal Clooney is to step into another high-profile case -- the Armenian genocide. A century on from the 1915 genocide, in which up to 1.5 million Armenians were slaughtered by the Ottoman Turks, the newly wed wife of George Clooney will be part of a legal team representing Armenia in a case involving denial of the genocide by a Turkish politician. Dogu Perincek was found guilty by a Swiss court in 2008 of denying, during a visit to Switzerland, that the genocide ever took place. Perincek, from the Left-wing Turkish Workers' Party, called the genocide "an international lie" and was fined by the court in Switzerland. He appealed to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, which ruled in Dec 2013 that Switzerland had violated his right to free expression.

Please read more HERE

15:45 8 Bodo militants arrested in Assam

PTI reports of 8 hardcore NDFB(S) terrorists, including its Chief Recruiting Officer, being arrested in a joint operation by the Army and the Assam Police.

A Frenchman arrested in Bulgaria on January 1 trying to cross into Turkey was in contact with one of the two brothers who carried out the Islamist attacks in Paris last week, prosecutors today said.

Fritz-Joly Joachin, 29, a French citizen of Haitian origin, "was in contact several times with one of the two brothers -- Cherif Kouachi," public prosecutor Darina Slavova told AFP.

The attack on the offices of the satirical French newspaper Charlie Hebdo claiming 12 lives was the most closely followed news in the U.S. last week, but interest in the story was not as high when compared with four previous terrorist incidents abroad.

About three-in-ten Americans (29%) say they had followed the news from Paris very closely, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

15:15

Praveen Swami reports in Indian Express on France's hunt in the African desert for jihadists 'Mr Marlboro' and his MiniMe. Read the full report here.

15:12 Delhi court frames charges against rape accused Uber cab driver

Delhi court frames charges of rape, kidnapping and criminal intimidation against Uber cab driver accused of raping woman passenger.

The Special Investigation Team will take a decision on which country the samples of Sunanda Pushkar's viscera will be sent, in the next two days, Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi said.

"It (viscera) will be sent abroad, the decision will be taken in one or two days," he told reporters outside Delhi Police Headquarters.

A senior Saudi cleric has issued a strict religious ruling that bans the building of snowmen because he says they are "anti-Islamic."

Religious scholar Mohammad Saleh Al Minjed said it's "not permitted to make a statue out of snow, even by way of play and fun," according to reports.

He announced the frosty fatwa after being asked on a religious website whether building the figures was permissable.

Amidst speculations that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi might be elevated to the position of president at its ongoing Working Committee meeting, party leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Tuesday refused to confirm or deny the move.

Banned terror outfit Students Islamic Movement of India has threatened to blow up a marriage hall on Thana Railway road in Meerut, the police said today.

According to a complaint filed by the manager of Agrasen Bhavan, a letter purportedly written by SIMI was found on January 1 at the gate, threatening them with a bombing at gate number 1 and 2 between February 6 and 10, the incharge of the police station, Hansraj Bhadoria, said.

A complaint was registered in this connection today, the police said.

The letter appears to be a hoax but the police have nevertheless taken the matter seriously and investigations are on, they said.

Recently the Indian Express reported that the average daily wage rate for rural India grew by 3.8 per cent in November 2014, the lowest growth rate since 2005.

This decline in rural wage growth happened at a time when the government has cut back on allocation for the rural employment guarantee scheme.

While the government has denied that this was the case, data analysis by Scroll.in shows that barring five states -- West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa and Chhattisgarh -- all others have received significantly lower funds from the Centre.

You can read the report here.

Court in Egypt orders retrial for ex-president Hosni Mubarak, overturning 3 year prison sentence for corruption.

Ousted president Hosni Mubarak was tried along with his two sons for embezzling almost EGP 126m from state funds in the case.

The court sentenced Mubarak in May to three years in a maximum security prison, and his sons Alaa and Gamal to four years each. The court also fined the three collectively EGP 125m in addition to repaying EGP 21m.

Four French Jews killed in the terror attack at a kosher supermarket in Paris last week will be buried in Jerusalem today in a state ceremony amid heightened security arrangements.

The flight carrying the bodies of the four Jewish victims, Yoav Hattab, 21, Yohan Cohen, 20, Philippe Braham, 40 and Francois-Michel Saada, 64, arrived in Israel early morning from France and the coffins were then driven to the cemetery's large parking lot where the ceremony is scheduled to take place at around noon.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sakshi Maharaj on Tuesday denied all knowledge of being served a notice by his party.

"I have no knowledge of this notice. I have just gotten off the train at New Delhi. If and when I receive the notice, I will give my defence to the party," Sakshi Maharaj told the media.

The action against Sakshi Maharaj comes days after his latest comment - that Hindu woman should "give birth to four children to protect the Hindu religion" - created a storm, with political opponents demanding an explanation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

After his controversial remarks over the LGBT community drew flak, Goa minister Ramesh Tawadkar today did a u-turn over the issue saying he was misunderstood and misquoted on the issue.

"I was misunderstood and misquoted. I was not talking about the LGBT (youths) but about drug addicted and sexually abused youths," Tawadkar told PTI, even as local channels continued to air the footage where he assured medical treatment to make LGBT youths "normal".

If you don't see traffic police on the road, don't try to break the signal as violators shall be caught on camera as part of the E-Challan procedure which will be soon made mandatory by the Maharashtra Government.

After a successful trial in Thane and Navi Mumbai, the scheme will be rolled out in the entire state from June, I T Principal Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said.

President Pranab Mukherjee has given his assent to an ordinance for auction of iron ore and other non-coal mines, a government source told PTI.

The Union Cabinet had earlier approved the ordinance on January 5. This would pave the way for introduction of competitive bidding for allocation of iron ore and other minerals.

Pakistan is supporting the proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir despite suffering casualties in their own country, says Army Chief Dalbir Singh.

"110 terrorist were neutralised in Jammu and Kashmir by forces in 2014."

12:28 200 crude bombs found in Birbhum

More than 200 crude bombs have been found in Birbhum, West Bengal.

The police have made 2 arrests.

More details awaited.

Two foreigners were detained by the police for having drone cameras in Varanasi.

The police was informed about two foreigners staying in a guest house at Lalita Ghat area who had these drone cameras.

As per reports, the foreigners were operating the cameras when police reached their room.

Online messaging services like WhatsApp and Snapchat may face a ban in Britain as Prime Minister David Cameron has vowed to introduce a slew of legislations that would deny terrorists a "safe space" to communicate online in the aftermath of a series of terror attacks in France.

The proposed legislation would provide a new legal framework that will authorise British intelligence agencies to crack the communications of terror suspects if there was specific intelligence of an imminent attack.

Cameron asked, "Are we going to allow a means of communications where it simply is not possible to do that?" He responded by saying: "No, we must not," reported The Guardian."

Several messaging services like Snapchat, Apple's iMessage, WhatsApp and others, encrypt messages sent through their applications. If the legislation comes into effect, all such services that do not allow any access to the communications will be banned.

The legislation would only be introduced if Cameron is elected for a second term.

Two foreigners were detained by the police for having drone cameras in Varanasi.

The police was informed about two foreigners staying in a guest house at Lalita Ghat area who had these drone cameras.

As per reports, the foreigners were operating the cameras when police reached their room.

The first vice chairman of the newly-created NITI Aayog, noted economist Arvind Panagariya, took charge today.

NITI Aayog CEO Sindhushree Khullar and other senior officials briefed the vice chairman about the newly created body. Panagariya is expected to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is the chairman of the Aayog, later in the day.

The government had announced the appointment of vice chairman, two full-time members, four ex-officio members (Union ministers) and three special invitees for the Aayog on January 5.

Economist Bibek Debroy and former DRDO chief V K Saraswat, who were appointed as full-time members, are expected to join shortly.

NITI Aayog has replaced the 65-year old Planning Commission.

A man was arrested for allegedly spreading objectionable messages against a religion on mobile phone application WhatsApp leading to tension in Nanpara area in Bahraich, UP, the police said today.

Rajesh Rastogi was arrested yesterday when some persons alleged that he was spreading objectionable messages against a particular community, superintendent of police R L Verma said. His messages had created tension in the area as some people objected to it.

Later, on the complaint of Maulana Moinuddin, an FIR has been registered against Rastogi, who was later arrested.

While on the subject, please read this article from Rediff.com: India's struggle with hate on WhatsApp

Pakistani Rangers and BSF troops exchanged fire along the International Border in the Samba sector of Jammu and Kashmir, a senior BSF officer said today.

"On suspicion we fired a few rounds and the Pakistan posts also fired a few rounds along the IB in Samba sector last night," the officer said.

"However, there was no specific movement or infiltration attempt from across," he said. "The firing continued intermittently between 2140 to 2145 hours last night. There was no loss of life or injury to anyone in the firing."

US Secretary of State John Kerry tweeted a photograph of him at the Dunkin Donuts store in Islamabad.

This is what he tweeted: A little slice of home here in #Islamabad: @DunkinDonuts to start the day.

The White House, facing a storm of criticism for President Barack Obama's absence from Sunday's peace march in Paris, said on Monday that his team erred in failing to dispatch a high-ranking US official to join the show of solidarity against terrorism.

But French officials quickly rejected the idea that Obama had snubbed the event. "It's fair to say that we should have sent someone with a higher profile to be there," Josh Earnest, the White House spokesman, said at his daily briefing with reporters, which was dominated by questions about the lack of a prominent American presence at the march.

India's white marvel, the Taj Mahal, acquiring yellowish hues has prompted authorities in Agra to ban burning of cow dung cakes for cooking near the 17th century monument.

The Agra district administration is also planning to ban use of coal by small industrial units making bangles and famous local sweet - 'petha' to protect the Monument of Love.

NDTV reports:

A minister in Bengal has provoked outrage with his comments against women activists of the opposition Left. "They have often torn their own blouse and claimed they were assaulted," said Swapan Debnath.

Debnath, a senior leader of the state's ruling Trinamool Congress, was addressing a rally in Burdwan when he said, "We say that a police officer arrests his own son for a promotion. Similarly, we know many women's wing leaders of CPI-M who used to tear their own blouse and accuse others of molestation."

India and Pakistan should re-engage in serious dialogue,says US Secretary of State John Kerry in Islamabad.

Addressing the media, he said terror groups like Pakistani and Afghan Taliban and the Lashkar e Tayiba continue to pose a threat not just to Pakistan and its neighbours but also to the United States.

The Peshawar school tragedy, he said, was a serious reminder of the threat posed by the Taliban.

Saying that the US stands with Pakistan in its fight against terrorism, Kerry said Pakistan-US ties not only about counter-terrorism but also about making both countries stable.

Details soon.

A woman died and dozens of people were injured after thick smoke filled a subway tunnel in the US capital Monday during the evening rush, officials said.

A spokeswoman for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) confirmed the incident, which caused mayhem in the second-busiest US mass transit system after New York.

The Congress Working Committee is meeting in New Delhi today to chalk out the next steps in its political strategy.

This will be the second CWC meeting in recent months to discuss the political situation and the challenges before the Congress, after the session last year during which Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul had offered to resign in the wake of the party's worst-ever debacle in the general elections, which had seen its seat tally plummeting to 44 from 206.

The CWC had met a few other times, but those meetings were held only for the passage of condolence resolutions in the wake of the demise of A R Antulay and some other senior leaders.

Today's CWC meeting is also likely to discuss organisational issues like the appointment of office-bearers through election or nomination.

The US Supreme Court has denied an appeal by India-born former Goldman Sachs Director Rajat Gupta, who had challenged a ruling by a lower court permanently banning him from from serving as an officer or director of a public company.

In the Supreme Court order issued yesterday, Gupta's certiorari was denied, in effect keeping intact the ruling made by the US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit last year which had imposed a permanent injunction prohibiting the former McKinsey head from serving as an officer or director of a public company, associating with brokers, dealers, or investment advisors, and further violating securities law.

Continuing its rising streak for the fifth straight session, the rupee gained another 12 paise at 62.04 against the dollar in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks amid higher opening of domestic equities.

The bonfire festival of Lohri will be observed and celebrated across Northern India today.

The people of Punjab and Haryna primarily celebrateLohri to signal the end of the Winter Solstice.

This year, in Punjab and Haryana, the state governments and NGOs are going with the theme of saving the girl child.

08:55 Divers retrieve second AirAsia black box

A day after recovering the data recorder, divers Tuesday retrieved the cockpit voice black box from the AirAsia flight that crashed into the Java Sea two weeks ago with 162 people aboard, an Indonesian said.

The cockpit recorder was aboard an Indonesian navy vessel headed for Jakarta, where both devices will be analyzed, a transportation official told MetroTV, Reuters reported.

As many as 6 members of a terrorist cell involved in the Paris attacks may still be at large, including a man who was seen driving a car registered to the widow of one of the slain gunmen, police officials have said.

Two French police officials told The Associated Press yesterday that authorities were searching the Paris area for the Mini Cooper registered to Hayat Boumeddiene, the widow of Amedy Coulibaly. She is now in Syria, according to Turkish officials.

In the aftermath of recent terror attacks in Paris and other parts of the world, the US has announced to step up security measures at its major airports, government buildings, installations and big cities.

"Recent world events call for increased vigilance in homeland security," Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said in a statement yesterday, adding, the measures taken are precautionary as there were no specific threat at this time.

04:01 Who is Hayat Boumeddiene

She's France's most wanted woman.Hayat Boumeddiene is the widow of Amedy Coulibaly, the gunman who held hostages in a Jewish supermarket and was shot dead by police on Friday.

Police say there's a connection between that attack and the killings at the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday.

Boumeddiene is now in Syria, having crossed the border from Turkey, officials there say.

To know more about her, read here.

03:54 Charlie Hebdo attack: Three days of terror

France is emerging from one of its worst security crises in decades after three days of terror attacks brought bloodshed to Paris and its surrounding areas.

It began with a massacre at the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday 7 January and ended with two sieges and a huge police operation two days later.

To know how events unfolded read here.

A young Muslim man is being hailed as a hero in French newspapers and social media for his actions during Friday's deadly hostage situation in a Paris supermarket.

Lassana Bathily, an employee at the Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket in Vincennes, helped guide a group of hostages into a downstairs walk-in freezer while gunman Amedy Coulibaly was allegedly preparing to kill them.

Bathily, a "practicing Muslim," says he entered the freezer with some people, then switched off the freezer and the light and told everyone to stay calm, reports French media.

Read full story here.

As many as six members of a terrorist cell involved in the Paris attacks may still be at large, including a man who was seen driving a car registered to the widow of one of the slain gunmen, police officials said Monday.

Two French police officials told The Associated Press that authorities were searching the Paris area for the Mini Cooper registered to Hayat Boumeddiene, the widow of Amedy Coulibaly. She is now in Syria, according to Turkish officials

Read full story here.

01:54 Anti-Islam protest underway in Germany

Anti-Islam protesters gathered Monday in the German city of Dresden, with some carrying banners with the names of those killed in the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris.

It is the 12th march in Dresden called by the protest group Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of the West, or PEGIDA, since October. Dresden police say the number of people attending these rallies has increased from an estimated 350 protesters on October 20 to 18,000 on January 5.

The PEGIDA movement emerged last year in the eastern German city. About 2% of Dresden's inhabitants are foreigners.

Read full story here.

A French police commissioner has reportedly taken his own life after meeting the relatives of a victim murdered in the Charlie Hebdo massacre.

Helric Fredou, 45, shot himself in his office with his police-issue gun on Wednesday night in Limoges, a city in central France, according to France 3.

Commissioner Fredou began his career as a police office in 1997 and had been the deputy director of the regional police since 2012.

Colleagues told France 3 he was 'depressed' and overworked, and said he was single and had no children.

France's national police union has expressed its 'sincere condolences' over Commissioner Fredou's death and said they were thinking especially of his colleagues.

Read full story here.

France has been on its highest alert level as people went back to work and children returned to schools following the Islamist terror attacks that killed 17 people.

According to sources, the Paris kosher market attacker had been on the US terror database

At least 10,000 soldiers and 8,000 police officers will be deployed across the country, French media reported.

"We must remain vigilant because the threat is still very much present," Prime Minister Manuel Valls said.

Read full story here.

The US Central Command Twitter feed appeared to have been hacked on Monday by people claiming to be Islamic State sympathizers.

"In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, the CyberCaliphate continues its CyberJihad," the Centcom Twitter feed said.

The Twitter account published a list of generals and addresses associated with them, titled "Army General Officer Public Roster (by rank) 2 January 2014."

Subsequent posts on the Centcom twitter account read, "Pentagon Networks Hacked! China Scenarios" and "Pentagon Networks Hacked. Korean Scenarios."

The apparent infiltration came as President Barack Obama prepared to outline new proposals to protect the country's Internet systems from cybersecurity threats.

00:21 Smriti Irani to be BJP's choice for Delhi CM?

Zee News reports: With pre-poll surveys predicting a BJP victory in the upcoming assembly elections in Delhi, the party, reportedly, is already mulling on names of candidates who can take over as the next chief minister of the state.

Sources have told Zee News that Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani is fast emerging as the frontrunner for CM's post if BJP wins power in Delhi.

While it's not yet clear whether she is inclined to be shift to Delhi state politcs but there are many factors that can work in her favour if such a situation arose.

The BJP leadership's line of thought on the matter appears to have been influenced by the findings of its own internal survey on the expectations of the people of Delhi from the next government.

Read more HERE

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