Zee News reports: Underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, wanted for 1993 Mumbai blasts, has returned to Karachi due to security concerns, as per news reports on Sunday.

Dawood was reported to be hiding at Pakistan-Afghanistan border and was shifted to Karachi by Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence due to security concerns.

According to earlier reports, ISI was attempting to shift Dawood to a safer base including but changed the plans at the last minute due to security reasons.

Dawood allegedly returned to Karachi after war between Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP) and Pakistani Army.

He reportedly wants to shift to Saudi Arabia along with his family but ISI is against the move due to country's increasing co-operation with India.

Attempts to shift Dawood to a safe base are being made by ISI who has earlier also tried to move him to Thailand, Nairobi, UAE and Bangladesh but plans were later changed.

US Broadcaster Fox News today apologised for airing comments from an American terrorism expert who claimed that the British city of Birmingham is "a totally Muslim city" where non-Muslims simply "don't go". 

Steven Emerson, an American terrorism commentator, made the claims as he spoke to the channel about the terror attacks in France last week. 

Emerson retracted his claims after being contacted by media outlets. 

Fox yesterday said it "deeply regrets" the errors and apologised to the people of Birmingham. 

Issuing the apology presenter Jeanine Pirro, who was interviewing Emerson when he made the claims, said a guest had made "a series of factual errors that we wrongly let stand unchallenged and uncorrected." 

"The guest asserted that the city of Birmingham, England, is totally Muslim and that it is a place where non-Muslims don't go," she said. 

"Both are incorrect." 

She went on to say census data from 2011 indicated 22 per cent of the population of Birmingham identified themselves as Muslim. 

"We could find nothing that indicated Birmingham is a so -called no-go zone. We deeply regret these errors and apologise to the people of Birmingham, our viewers and all who have been offended."

Daily life came to a standstill in Pakistan due to the fuel shortage, prompting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to suspend four top officials for failing to deal with the crisis that has led to black marketing and summoning a special cabinet meeting tomorrow to find a solution. 

The crisis largely occurred as the state-run Pakistan State Oil, country's largest oil marketing firm, ran out of cash to import petroleum products. 

Frustrated citizens in Lahore, Punjab province, Islamabad and parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa spent the holiday queueing up at the handful of petrol pumps, with some saying they had been there overnight.

Sharif, who spends Sundays with his family at Raiwind residence in Lahore, left for Islamabad this afternoon and called his 'kitchen cabinet' members and all related to petroleum ministry for a meeting tomorrow.

"The prime minister has taken serious notice of the fuel shortage. The premier is expected to take important decisions in Monday's meeting. He is also expected to focus on trying to bridge the supply-demand gap," says a statement by prime minister's office.

The prime minister said the public should not suffer and that every measure would be taken to provide relief on an immediate basis. 

A fuming Sharif, on his return from Saudi Arabia yesterday after a two-day visit, sacked four officials including Petroleum Secretary Abid Saeed, his deputy Naeem Malik, Oil Director General CM Azam and Pakistan State Oil chief Amjad Janjua.

BJP President Amit Shah today told party workers that Delhi polls is like an "examination" which cannot be taken lightly and expressed confidence that his party will form government with two-thirds majority in the national capital.

"The way the Modi government has worked for seven months, it is  moving ahead by eliminating all the misdeeds done by the UPA government," he said, adding that the NDA regime was moving in the right direction. 

"There is no substitute for BJP in Delhi. BJP has to win and will win. But I am here to tell you how will we win Delhi. This is like an examination for us. Modi's leadership is accepted all over the country, any one can make us win the election," Shah said while addressing party workers in New Delhi.

He, however, made it clear that the February seven elections "cannot be taken lightly".

Shah said the year 2014 was the BJP's "victory year" in which the party could fulfil its dream of having its leader as Prime Minister with full majority in Lok Sabha.

The party could also continue its victory run in subsequent assembly polls in Maharashtra and Haryana and the BJP created history in Jammu and Kashmir by winning 25 seats. 

He also referred to the BJP's emphatic victory in Jharkhand.

In a significant move, the 'Sarv Jatiya Khap Mahapanchayat' (all castes' council) in Haryana here today took a pledge to oppose honour killing and prevent dowry system in the state.

A decision to this effect was taken at the meeting of the mahapanchayat attended by representatives of around 150 khaps across Haryana mostly from Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonipat, Jind, Rewari and Bhiwani at Gohar village in Rohtak.

Mahapanchayat's coordinator Hardeep Ahlawat said the khaps pledged to oppose honour killing and dowry system in Haryana.

"Honour killing can be put to an end by deliberations among the members of khaps and families of those boys and girls who decide to marry each other," he said. 

He said the khaps will propagate the message to prevent honour killing across the state.

"We will help those who will come forward against honour killings in the state," he said, adding that the mahapanchayat "unanimously" decided to hand over stringent punishment to those involved in honour killing.

Besides, the members of khaps also pledged not to accept dowry so that the social evil can be curbed. 

Ahlawat said the members of khaps also decided to socially boycott those involved in accepting dowry and indulging in honour killing.

Within days after BJP leaders Sakshi Maharaj and Sadhvi Prachi stirred up the hornet's nest by their 4-kid remark, Shankaracharya Vasudevanand Saraswati has gone a step ahead and urged the Hindu couples to produce ten kids each, as per reports on Sunday.

During a convention of Sadhus in Allahabad, Saraswati reportedly urged the Hindu couples to produce 10 kids, stating it will save Hindus race.

Produce 10 kids so that Hinduism does not become a minority, said Saraswati.

Commenting on contentious conversion issue, Saraswati said, There is a need for strict laws to counter conversions in the country.

He also said that government should soon clear all the obstacles coming in the way of construction of Ram Mandir.

According to sources, the BJP leadership while taking a tough stand against the fringe elements had issued a show-cause notice to Sakshi Maharaj to give clarification on his statement. Later, Sakshi Maharaj had expressed regret on his remarks.

Former Aam Aadmi Party MLA Vinod Kumar Binny today joined the BJP, ahead of the assembly polls in Delhi. 

Binny had met Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay yesterday, triggering speculations that he may join the party.

Binny, a former MLA from Laxmi Nagar, had quit the Aam Aadmi Party last year.

Delhi goes to polls on February 7; votes will be counted on February 10.

The Jaipur Literature Festival, a mega annual gathering of litterateurs, will begin on January 21.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje will inaugurate the five-day long festival at the historic Diggi Palace.

"The rich heritage of Rajasthan is set to come alive next week as the ZEE-Jaipur Literature Festival will showcase the colour and culture of its home state to over two lakh expected visitors," a statement by the organisers said.

Google is set to discontinue the sale of its smart eyewear Google Glass, but the tech giant plans to release new, consumer-friendly versions of the device in the future.

Google has announced that it will no longer sell its experimental first version of Glass which went on sale in the UK last year priced at 1,000 pounds. 

The company said that the Glass project would not be scrapped, with development continuing towards the creation of a viable consumer product. 

The company did not indicate, however, when its next version would be made available. 

"January 19 will be the last day to get the Glass Explorer Edition. In the meantime, we're continuing to build for the future, and you'll start to see future versions of Glass when they're ready," the company said. 

Google will also shut down the Explorer programme, which produced the first commercial version of Glass within Google X, the company's special projects wing. 

The Glass project will now have its own division, headed by Ivy Ross, its current manager, 'The Times' reported. 

Ross and the Glass team will report to Tony Fadell, founder and chief executive of smart thermostat maker Nest Labs, which was acquired by Google a year ago. 

The government is planning to appoint new Governors in at least six states in the next 15-20 days, with Bihar, Punjab and Assam likely among these. 

"We are planning to appoint 6-7 new Governors in the next 15-20 days," Home Minister Rajnath Singh told PTI. 

There are vacancies in Governors' posts in Bihar, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura. While Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil will retire on January 21, Himachal Pradesh Governor Urmila Singh will complete her five-year tenure on January 24. 

West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi is holding additional charge of Bihar and Meghalaya, while Nagaland Governor P B Acharya holds additional charge of Assam and Tripura. Also, Uttarakhand Governor K K Paul is holding additional charge of Manipur.

Governor of Tamil Nadu, K Rosaiah, and his Odisha counterpart, S C Jamir, both retire in the next few months and are among the few Governors who were appointed by the previous UPA government and continue to hold office after the NDA dispensation came to power. 

Aziz Qureshi, who had moved Supreme Court objecting to Union Home Secretary's nudging Governors to quit office, was shifted to Mizoram Raj Bhavan from Uttarakhand early this month.

A controversy erupted a few weeks after the Narendra Modi government took charge when Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami called a number of Governors and conveyed to them the new government's desire that they relinquish office.

Gujarat government has decided to start issuing liquor permits to foreign as well as domestic travellers arriving at Vadodara and Bhuj airports. 

"Foreign, domestic tourists and other visitors, landing at Vadodara and Bhuj airports, will just have to approach the tourism department counters set up there to seek liquor permits. The process will start from next week as orders have already been issued in this regard," Sanjay Kaul, Commissioner of Gujarat Tourism Department, said today.

The department had initiated a similar move a few years back at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad. 

"Now, in addition to Ahmedabad, airports in Vadodara and Bhuj will be added to the list, taking the total number of airports in Gujarat to three from where the visitors will get the liquor permits on arrival," Kaul said. 

Gujarat has a total prohibition policy and liquor permit is issued to individuals only on the health ground. 

"We have taken the initiative to ensure that liquor is not an impediment in the growth of tourism sector in the state. The government has taken this move as it wants to get rid of the time consuming procedures involved in giving liquor permits to air travellers," another government official said. 

The Delhi Police on Sunday stated that it will not allow television debates to be held in public spaces ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in the city, observing that such activities led to problems in law and order.

According to reports, all district Deputy Commissioners of Police have been instructed to decline requests by news channels for the shooting of debates in their areas.

The decision was taken following a clash between Bharatiya Janata Party and Aam Aadmi Party workers in the Tughlakabad area of the city, which was allegedly triggered by a television debate.

The elections for the 70-member Delhi Assembly will be held in a single phase on February 7, with the counting of votes set to take place on February 10. 

Sri Lanka expelled the Colombo station chief of India's spy agency in the run-up to this month's presidential election, political and intelligence sources said, accusing him of helping the opposition oust President Mahinda Rajapaksa. 

An Indian foreign ministry spokesman denied any expulsion and said that transfers were routine decisions. 

Rajapaksa, voted out of office in the Jan 8 election, told Reuters he did not know all the facts while the new government in Colombo has said it is aware of the reports but cannot confirm them.

But several sources in both Colombo and New Delhi said India was asked to recall the agent in December for helping gather support for joint opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena after persuading him to ditch Rajapaksa`s cabinet.

A sketchy report in Sri Lanka's Sunday Times newspaper on December 28 said that "links with the common opposition" had cost India's Research and Analysis Wing station chief his job in Colombo.

India has often been involved in the internal politics of the small island nation off its southern coast -- it sent troops there in 1987 in a botched effort to broker peace between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels.

Rajapaksa's unexpected defeat after two terms in office coincided with growing concern in India that it was losing influence in Sri Lanka because of the former president`s tilt toward regional rival China.

Former IPS officer and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kiran Bedi on Sunday said that the party was blessed with the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"BJP has been blessed with the leadership of Narendra Modi. He is the sun and we are just small stars," said Bedi.

She further urged people not to waste their votes during elections.

"I have over 20000 tweets asking people not to waste their votes. This is for the future of the people and the country. What I am doing is for the future of the country. Now people have started calling me "Kiren Didi"," said Bedi.

It is being speculated that Bedi, who joined the party on Thursday, might be projected as the next chief minister for the party in the upcoming Delhi assembly polls.

Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Arun Jaitley on Sunday said that technology has changed both the nature and content of media over the last two decades, adding that news is now being reported in almost real time in the digital media.

"Over the last two decades the nature and content of media has changed. This is primarily on account of changes brought in both by technology and also the changes in the economy. Firstly, the definition of news has changed. With the advent of 24x7 news channels, camera became the main medium for capturing news. Whatever the camera could capture became news," said Jaitley while delivering the Justice J S Verma Memorial Lecture on the topic 'Freedom and Responsibility of Media'.

"Now the news is being reported in almost real-time in the digital media. Newspaper companies have informed me that their circulation is definitely isn't growing. Magazine journalism is facing the most sever challenge with all these mediums around," he added.

Jaitley further said that digital media has led to the empowerment of stakeholders as anyone can run an online news portal free of charge.

Jaitley also remembered Justice J S Verma on the occasion, stating that the former Chief Justice of India was the conscious keeper of society.

In a sharp attack on Censor Board members who quit the film certification body alleging government interference, Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu today if there was something wrong, they should blame themselves as they were in power.

He also slammed the Congress, saying it was the UPA Government that "politicised" the Central Board of Film Certification.

"They were in power till yesterday and if something was wrong in Censor Board, they should blame themselves," he told reporters at the airport here. 

"This board was politicised by UPA Government and they (board members) cannot blame the present newly formed government", the Urban Development Minister said. 

Naidu was responding to questions on the resignation of CBFC Chairperson Leela Samson and 12 other members protesting alleged government interference in the past couple of days amid the controversy surrounding clearance of film "Messenger of God" featuring Dera Saccha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh by the film tribunal.

The year 2014 was the hottest on record, with global average temperature increasing about 0.8 degrees Celsius since 1880, according to US government scientists.

Two separate analyses by NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists have found that the year 2014 ranks as Earth's warmest since 1880. 

The year's record-breaking warmth continues a long-term trend of a warming climate. 

The global average temperature has  increased about 0.8 degrees Celsius since 1880, with most of that warming occurring during the last three to four decades.

The 10 warmest years in the instrumental record, with the exception of 1998, have now occurred since 2000. 

This trend continues a long-term warming of the planet, according to an analysis of surface temperature measurements by scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS) in New York. 

In an independent analysis of the raw data, NOAA scientists also found 2014 to be the warmest on record. 

"This is the latest in a series of warm years, in a series of warm decades. While the ranking of individual years can be affected by chaotic weather patterns, the long-term trends are attributable to drivers of climate change that right now are dominated by human emissions of greenhouse gases," said GISS Director Gavin Schmidt

The BJP is scheduled to hold a parliamentary board meeting on Sunday wherein the party's senior leaders are expected to decide on the name of party's chief ministerial candidate for the national capital.

Since her induction in the BJP, speculations are rife that former IPS officer Kiran Bedi may become the party's chief ministerial face for Delhi. However, the official announcement on the matter may be done today.

While speaking to PTI, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said: "So far there is no decision. The parliamentary board will take a final call."

The two-time BJP president said the party sometimes projects its chief ministerial candidate and sometimes not.

"In case of Delhi, the parliamentary party will take the final decision," he said.

The 12-member BJP parliamentary board include Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitely besides others.

The top brass of the party is divided over naming new entrant Kiran Bedi as the Delhi chief ministerial candidate even as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has cleared her candidature, sources told NDTV on Sunday. 

Elections to 70-member Delhi assembly will be held on February 7.

Bedi, who joined the party on Thursday, herself had also given a broad hint that she would be BJP's chief ministerial candidate.

The Central Information Commission has issued another notice to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi asking her to explain why her party has not complied with the directives of a panel about responding to RTI queries and not replying to an RTI plea filed last year. 

A full bench of CIC had declared that Congress and five other national parties -- BJP, CPI, CPI-M, NCP and BSP -- are public authorities which are answerable under the RTI Act, but none of the parties either set up any mechanism to respond to such queries nor alter law or challenge the order in any high court.

Noted activist R K Jain had filed an RTI application with Congress last February but with there being no response to it,

he later made a complaint in that regard before the CIC.

Alleging "non-action" on his complaint, Jain approached the Delhi high court seeking directions for the CIC to take action on his plea. The High Court gave six months to the Commission to take action on Jain's complaint.

Complying with the order, the CIC had said, "It is directed that detailed para-wise comments/replies on the complaint of Jain may be furnished to the undersigned, by name, within four weeks after serving a copy of the same to the complainant."

In a separate case filed by activist Subhash Agrawal, notices were also sent to BJP President Amit Shah and the chiefs of the remaining four political parties. 

Refusal to provide information or not furnishing complete information is deemed an offence under the RTI Act, which prescribes a penalty of Rs 250 per day on the public information officer of the public authority from the date the information became due to the day that it was finally made available.

An alert has been sounded in the high-altitude districts of Uttarakhand in view of a communication from the Centre predicting snow avalanches in areas located above 2,500 metres in the hill state.

Avalanche activity may take place in Chamoli, Pauri Garhwal, Pithoragarh, Tehri Garhwal and Uttarkashi districts from January 21 to 23, an official release quoting a communication from the Union Home Ministry said in Dehradun today. 

Chief Secretary N Ravishankar has given directions to the DMs of these districts to take necessary precautions in their areas following the communication, it said.

The DMs have been asked to keep a watch on identified sensitive zones and disaster-prone areas, it said. 

Areas above 2,500 metres in the state are prone to snow avalanches in the mentioned time-frame. 

People living in and around these areas have been advised not to venture out during the specified period, it said. 

They have also been advised to clean snow deposits on their rooftops on a regular basis to avoid damages. 

The Union Home Ministry has predicted possibilities of avalanches in areas above 2,500 meters in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh and areas above 2,700 metres in Jammu and Kashmir, the release added.

Female canteen employees in central government departmental canteens who wear sarees will get a 'petticoat' while those who don salwar kameez will be given a 'dupatta'. 

"The matter regarding issue of uniforms to entitled female canteen employees has been reviewed and it has been decided to authorise issue of petticoat to entitled female canteen employees who wear saree and dupatta to those who wear salwar kameez in addition to already authorised articles of uniforms," said an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).

At present, specified categories of canteen staff are being provided with the articles of uniform as per the administrative or functional requirements. 

The pattern and scale (quantity) entitlement of uniforms being provided to the canteen employees is in accordance with their service conditions, nature of duties and responsibilities, as per existing norms.

They are also eligible for grant of washing allowance at the rate of Rs 30 per month. 

As a measure of staff welfare, departmental canteens and tiffin rooms have been set up in the central government offices to make available beverages, snacks and meals prepared in hygienic conditions, to the employees during the working hours at reasonable rates.

Two Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in Sopore town of north Kashmir.

Security forces cordoned off Saidpora village in Sopore following information about presence of militants in the area, a police officer said.

He said as the forces closed on the target house, the terrorists opened fire which was retaliated, triggering off the gun battle.

Two terrorists were killed in the encounter.

Forty seven flights were delayed and 21 cancelled at the Delhi airport as the city witnessed yet another foggy morning on Sunday. The general visibility at the airport was below 50 metres this morning.

There was dense fog in Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad, part of the NCR region around Delhi. The weather department said that temperature at 5:30 am was eight degrees Celsius.

The city witnessed foggy morning on Saturday too which led to 68 flights being delayed and six cancelled. The fog also affected the movement of trains with more than 50 delayed and eight rescheduled.

The Meteorological department has forecast dense fog in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, West Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan in the winter season

Kouachi was buried secretly late on Friday in the eastern city of Reims, where he had lived before the attack.

The mayor of Reims said he had opposed the burial, fearing a grave could become a shrine, but had been forced to accept it by law.Attacks in Paris killed 17 people last week, 12 of them at Charlie Hebdo.

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