Annoyed over visuals of Odisha's Director General of Police (DGP) Sanjeev Marik touching the feet of Daitapati priests in uniform, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today "warned" the top cop not to repeat the action in future.

The US and Cuba today agreed to reopen each other's embassies in their respective capitals from July 20, a major step towards normalisation of ties between the Cold War foes after more than 50 years.

A 25-year-old woman fashion designer, believed to be driving in an inebriated condition, allegedly rammed her SUV into a tea stall in suburban Bandra injuring a roadside vendor, the police said today.

A week after he announced his 2016 presidential bid, the popularity ratings of Indian-American Republican candidate Bobby Jindal remain abysmally low at two per cent, a latest poll said today.  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said he dreams of a Digital India where the government is open and governance is transparent, where high speed digital highways unite the nation and where 1.2 billion connected citizens drive innovation.


"I dream of a digital India where high speed digital highways unite the nation...

"I dream of a digital India where high speed digital highways unite the nation...

"I dream if a digital India where government is open and governance is transparent," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the launch of the Digital India week.


"I dream of a DigitalIndia where 1.2 billion connected Indians drive innovation.


"I dream of a Digital India where the world looks to India for the next innovation. I dream of a Digital India where ICT enabled citizen-government interface is incorruptible," he added.


Digital India aims to transform the country into a digitally empowered knowledge economy.


'E-Governance is going to change into M-Governance... M is not Modi Governance, it is mobile governance," the PM said with a smile, sketching a broad roadmap in his speech of how he plans to digitise India.

The BJP today claimed that results of the by-elections to six assembly constituencies in states showed that people have once again reposed their trust in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and strongly rebuffed the practitioners of negative politics "led by Congress".


"The bypoll results are a shot in the arm for the BJP and its positive politics at the Centre and in states and is a strong rebuff for the practitioners of negative politics led by the Congress," BJP spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao said.

Man Booker prize winning author Aravind Adiga has donated Rs one crore to his alma mater, the Canara High School Association, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary. Adiga, who did his primary and secondary education from the institution, sent the cheque to the school yesterday.


The association would utilise the money to set up endowments named after five teachers who founded the institution in 1891.


Adiga himself volunteered to make a donation to the institution and the endowments would be used to provide free education to economically backward students studying in the institution's primary schools.

The BJP's attempt to gloss over 'Lalitgate' will not be easy. After the Prime Minister took the high moral ground, in 2014, on fighting corruption, anymove now to renege on his promise will not only dent his credibility but also cause the moral edifice of his campaign and the government to collapse.
Read

The head of Al-Qaida's Pakistan wing has been killed in a raid by counter-terrorism commandos earlier this week near Lahore, foiling their plot to attack the offices of a spy agency, Punjab Home Minister said today.

Tennis player was told off for having the wrong type of bra on at Wimbledon. Read

Tata Sons Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata has invested an undisclosed amount in his personal capacity in online taxi services company Ola, the Mumbai-based venture announced on Wednesday.


The Economic Times reports that the transaction is the latest in a series of investments made by 77 year-old Tata over the course of the last 12 months. He has also backed Snapdeal, India's largest online marketplace, mobile marketplace Paytm, auto portal CarDekho.com, and online furniture and lifestyle retailer Urban Ladder, among others.

Shoma Chaudhury, former editor of Tehelka is back as editor in chief with a new digital property called Catch, promoted by the Rajasthan Patrika group, 19 months after she was forced to quit.

Take a look

Best wishes, but the name does sound like a salt and pepper brand.

The international human rights watchdog, Amnesty International, has called for revoking of AFSPA and investigations into the human rights violations in J&K by an "independent and impartial" authority.


Seeking removal of all "requirements of sanction or prior permission' to prosecute security force personnel, Amnesty International has identified "impunity' and "lack of political will' as a long standing problem in J-K.


The demands have been made in the report "Denied '" Failures in accountability for human rights violations by security force personnel in Jammu and Kashmir' that was released on Wednesday.  Read more

The Delhi Commission for Women today came under attack from AAP after it submitted in a high court that proceedings against Kumar Vishwas have been closed but the body insisted it had not 'dropped' the case and had handed it over to police after he did not respond to summons.


"Possibly fearing embarrassment 4m DHC, DCW informed d (sic) court that they dropped proceedings aganst Dr. Vishwas," Malviya Nagar MLA and Vishwas' counsel in the case Somnath Bharti tweeted.


DCW chairperson Barkha Shukla Singh, whose terms ends on July 18, denied suggestions that the panel had closed the case against Vishwas over allegations that he was not rebutting "rumours" about an illicit liaison with an AAP volunteer.


An official of the women's panel told PTI, "Since we have handed over the case to the police after he (Vishwas) did not appear before the panel after being summoned twice, we are not the competent authority to pursue the matter."


The functionary added that DCW would file a detailed report within two weeks with regard to the oral submissions made by its advocate to the court, as per the HC directions.


Minutes after the DCW's submission before the court, AAP leaders attacked Singh accusing her of trying to malign Vishwas' image. But Singh alleged that AAP was trying to mislead the people.

Just in: The Greek government has signaled to its creditors that it is willing to accept many of the terms of a bailout package that it had earlier rejected, if they are part of a broader deal to address the country's funding needs for the next two years, officials said on Wednesday.


The New York Times reports that the development raised the prospect of progress in resolving a financial crisis that has sent shudders through global markets and deeply strained European unity.


Yesterday, EU authorities made a last-minute offer to salvage a bailout deal that could keep Greece in the euro as the clock ticked down with Germany warning that time had run out to extend vital credit lines to Athens.


The European Commission urged Greece to accept the proposed deal, while holding out hopes that some tweaks could still be possible.

Calling it a "scam of words" Maharashtra minister Pankaja Munde, under fire for alleged irregularities in purchase of items worth Rs 206 crore, today said that similar items were procured at a higher price during the previous Congress-NCP rule.


"The earlier Congress-led regime purchased such items at a cost of Rs 408 crore during its tenure. You call that a purchase and term the procurement made by us a scam," Munde said.


"It is a scam of words," Munde, a BJP member in the Devendra Fadnavis cabinet, said, adding that "the allegations against me are politically motivated".


The previous regime had in 2013-14 alone made purchases worth Rs 114 crore, the minister claimed. "I want every child to fight malnourishment with the support of government and I will ensure that despite of what happens," she said. "These are politically motivated charges. I deny all charges against me. There is an intention (on the part of the Opposition) that some scam should be attached to a BJP minister," she said. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's greetings to Prime Minister Li Keqiang on the 94th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party's establishment has gone viral in China.


Modi, who now has 170,000 followers on Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter, send the "Happy Birthday' greeting on Wednesday, and according to Wang Hao, deputy editor-in-chief of the China Daily, the message been re-tweeted across the country within few hours. The daily is the only English language newspaper in the country.


The message read: Prime Minister I wish you a happy birthday and a long life and I recall with fondness our meeting in May.


Modi's message elicited 1,800 comments.The CPC was set up in 1921, and China has major plans to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the party in six years. Twitter is banned in China and its local equivalent is the most popular way of sharing news in the country.

The board of Housing.com has fired co-founder Rahul Yadav as CEO, bringing to an end a tumultuous relationship at one of India's most-watched startups.


In a board meeting on Wednesday at Housing.com's headquarters in Mumbai, the company cited his "behaviour towards investors, partners and the media" as the reasons for his ouster.

The proceedings on a complaint against AAP leader Kumar Vishwas by a party volunteer alleging that her life was ruined as he was not rebutting "rumours" about their illicit liaison, have been closed by the Delhi women's panel, its chief told Delhi High Courton Wednesday.


Justice VP Vaish was told by Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson Barkha Singh's counsel that "there are no proceedings pending in the case" before the body.The DCW counsel further said that as the probe against Vishwas was closed on June 23, the present petition becomes "infructuous".

The gunman who murdered 38 tourists on a Tunisian beach laughed while he took photographs of their bodies, a survivor has said.


Paul Short, who was staying in one of the resort's hotels with his wife Sarah when the attack took place, said he witnessed Seifeddine Rezgui, 23, just metres from him as he tried to help fellow tourists.


"The gunman was just around the corner, not even 50 metres away from us," he told Good Morning Britain.


"The gunman was busy with his gun on his back with a phone out taking photographs of the bodies and laughing." a former Territorial Army member, got his wife to their hotel room when the couple first heard gunshots.


Afterwards, he saw "three or four bodies lying on the steps, just outside my room."

The Delhi High Court criticises the Delhi government for declaring Gajendra Singh, who committed suicide during an AAP agitation, as a martyr. The HC has sought a reply from the Delhi Govt on why Gajendra was declared a martyr. A reply to the notice has to be given in four weeks.


Gajendra Singh, a farmer from Rajasthan committed suicide in April by hanging himself from a tree in full public view in the presence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at an Aam Aadmi Party rally even as appeals from those around to desist from taking the extreme step had fallen on deaf ears.


Singh, a father of three from Dausa in Rajasthan, climbed a neem tree in Jantar Mantar, a stones throw away from Parliament, the venue of anti-land bill rally, climbed a tree, put his gamcha (towel) around his neck and also tied it to a branch.


In a bid to apparently draw attention to the plight of farmers who have suffered losses in the recent rains, he was seen raising slogans. AAP volunteers shouted and appealed to him to come down. A couple of them even climbed the tree and tried to bring him down by undoing the knot.


But before they could access him, Singh tied himself to a branch and his body could be seen hanging still. When the volunteers reached him and started untying the knot from the branch, it fell.


AAP leader Kumar Vishwas, who was addressing the rally had appealed him to come down and asked the police to rescue him. He was joined by another leader Sanjay Singh.

The police and the army have busted a terrorist hideout in the Keshwan area (Kishtwar District, J&K) last night and recovered a huge cache of arms, ammunition and explosives. The Kishtwar police and Kishtwar based troops of Delta Force jointly busted this hideout that was used by terrorists in the past.

Mamata Banerjee announced a plan to hire 1.2 lakh peons and clerks, ending a decade-old informal freeze on such mass recruitment that had bled the state coffers and suggesting that she is more Left than the Left when it comes to replicating profligate policies.


"We have decided in the cabinet today that we will recruit 2 lakh people to the vacant posts of teachers and Group C and Group D government employees. There will be 70,000 teachers, 60,000 Group C employees and 60,000 Group D employees," the chief minister said at Nabanna.


The recruitment of teachers is unlikely to be questioned per se - although quality has been a source of concern - but the trend elsewhere has been to outsource low-skilled jobs that peons and lower-division clerks do. 
Read more

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that no mediations or compromise can take place in rape cases.


"A woman's body is her temple. No mediation and no compromise will take place in rape cases," the Supreme Court said.


"It is a spectacular error on the part of the court to promote any such mediation," said the Supreme Court.


The Supreme Court observation came days after the Madras high court granted bail to a rape accused to 'mediate' with the survivor. In a controversial ruling, the Madras HC referred a case of the rape convict to its mediation centre to settle the matter taking note of the future of the victim.

Constipated? Read this: Teenage girl with toilet phobia dies from heart attack after going eight weeks without using loo.

The Bombay High Court today deferred till July 13 an appeal filed by Bollywood superstar Salman Khan against the five-year sentence awarded to him in the hit-and-run case, after the actor's lawyer sought time to check documents.


Although the 'paper book' (compilation of evidence and documents) is ready and copies have been served to both the sides by the court), Salman's counsel Amit Desai urged for three weeks' adjournment to check whether the documents were in order.


Justice A R Joshi, however, granted adjournment till July 13 to carry out the drill of checking documents. The actor's lawyer said he would need to check whether translation of any document in vernacular language is required to be done in English.


He also wanted to check whether any documents were missing, in which case he would file an application seeking a direction to place them on record.


On behalf of the Maharashtra government, Chief Public Prosecutor S S Shinde consented to the adjournment date.


Salman did not come to the court. His sister Alvira was, however, present. The HC had on May 8 stayed the execution of the 5-year sentence awarded to 49-year-old Salman in the 13-year-old case and granted him bail while admitting his appeal.


Salman was convicted by a sessions court on May 6 and sentenced to five years' imprisonment on various counts, including 'culpable homicide not amounting to murder'.


A man was killed and four others were wounded when the actor's Toyota Land Cruiser ran over them while they were asleep on a pavement outside a bakery in suburban Bandra on September 28, 2002.

The Delhi government does not have the evidence to show that grants worth nearly Rs 6,000 crore given by it were utilized for the intended purpose even 10 years or more after the amounts were given. This is among the shocking findings of a CAG report on the national capital's finances for the year ended March 31, 2014.  Read more

Greece lurched deeper into crisis today as European finance ministers prepared to consider a request for new loans in a last-ditch effort to keep the country in the eurozone after it defaulted on a key payment and a bailout keeping its economy afloat expired.


Cash-strapped Greece became the first developed country to default on the International Monetary Fund after missing a 1.5 billion euro (USD 1.7 billion) payment yesterday, as efforts to find a compromise with its EU lenders came to naught.


The missed payment underscored the failure of more than five months of wrangling between Greece's left-wing government and its creditors to reshape the country's bailout and prevent it dropping out of the eurozone.


But talks were set to resume today after Athens asked for a new two-year aid plan -- the third in five years -- as ratings agencies cut their ratings on Greece's debt, predicting it will return to recession this year.


Athens is asking for a further 29.1 billion euros from the European Stability Mechanism, to "fully cover its financing needs and the simultaneous restructuring of debt," for the next two years, according to the prime minister's office.

The Congress today dismissed as "totally baseless" and "mischievous" reports that it had offered a deal to government under which it was ready to support passage of GST bill in Parliament if it axed External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje in the wake of the Lalitgate controversy.


AICC Communication Department chief Randeep Surjewala said, "Sacking Swaraj and Raje are issues of righteousness, impropriety and holding Modi government accountable to their promise of not shielding black money hoarders of the ilk of Lalit Modi.


"Question of quid pro quo on this all pervading issue of morality and constitutional accountability does not arise," he said.


Rejecting the reports, senior party leader Jairam Ramesh said they are "totally baseless and mischievous".


According to reports in a section of the media, Congress has come forward with a proposal for the government -- axe Swaraj and Raje over Lalit


Modi row and get support for Goods and Services Tax Bill in Parliament. The reports said the Centre has rejected the offer from Congress which has kept up the pressure on the NDA government over 'Lalitgate'.


It said the Modi government has outrightly rejected Congress' offer, saying there is no question of any deal with the Congress in Parliament session, be it on GST or Land Acquisition Bill. Instead, the BJP has agreed for a debate on any contentious issue.

Also read: Why Rajapaksa's PM bid is worrying.

Former Sri Lankan president Rajapaksa says he accepts requests to contest elections for prime minister in August. Rajapaksa says he will look to rectify any mistakes made in the past when attempting to form the next government.


President Maithripala Sirisena has resisted calls to allow 69-year-old Rajapaksa to contest.


However, a six-member committee appointed to have talks with Sirisena and Rajapaksa has clinched the former President's candidature.


Sirisena, who was the Health Minister in the Rajapaksa Cabinet, joined the main opposition UNP just ahead of the January 8 presidential election.


Rajapaksa had sacked Sirisena from the party but handed him the leadership after the latter's victory over him.

Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, a close confidante of Rahul Gandhi is concerned about the negative publicity the Scindia family has been getting in the last few weeks over the links between his aunt Vasundhara Raje and former IPL chief Lalit Modi.


Jyotiraditya has complained to Rahul about how one section of the Congress is trying to join the dots between Vasundhara, Dhushyant and Jyotiraditya. It is well known that Jyotiraditya does not see eye-to-eye with Jairam Ramesh, who has repeatedly asked for the resignations of both Sushma and Vasundhara. 

In a major and welcome decision, the Chhattisgarh government has decided to hike the allowances for police jawans including constables, assistant constables and secret troops posted in Naxalite-dominated areas of Bastar division, Gariyaband and Rajnandgaon.


The move, which is expected to benefit nearly 22,000 police jawans, would result in an almost 58% hike in emoluments of assistant constables, who, after the revision, would get Rs 14,144 per month instead of Rs 8,990 earlier. In addition, they would be entitled to Rs 25 lakh insurance cover like other policemen.


This would reportedly cost the exchequer an additional sum of Rs 121 crore annually. Read more

The image of a minister in Jammu and Kashmir touching the collar of a woman doctor has been widely circulated on social media and has provoked sharp criticism.


The photograph was taken when Chaudhary Lal Singh, the state health minister, had gone to a government hospital to check preparedness for the Amarnath pilgrimage, which began today.


Singh reportedly saw the doctor and told her that her collar was not in place. Then he proceeded to fix it. "The minister moved towards her and said ... 'Bitiya your collar is not proper' and corrected it himself. The doctor said nothing," said an officer who was present at the time. The officer said another woman doctor, on seeing the minister admonishing the doctor, fixed her own collar.


"There were lots of people. I do not think he acted inappropriately," he remarked.


Singh, a leader of the BJP, which co-governs the state with the PDP, was lashed on twitter for "inappropriately touching a woman."


"Shame: Health minister lal singh during Lakhanpur visit today," tweeted Sheikh Junaid.

So, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is back in New Delhi. Rahul called an informal meeting at 4 pm today at his residence to get an update on the Vasundhra Raje-Lalit Modi issue and the way forward during the monsoon session of Parliament.


Senior Congress leaders have denied today's story that the GST bill will be passed in Parliament if the BJP agrees to sack Vasundhara Raje and Sushma Swaraj. A spokesperson told Rediff.com that the story was misleading and the Congress rejected it.


Rahul's return to Delhi has galvanized the cadre. He was in London for 10 days on vacation and is keen to take part in a padyatra in six districts of Rajasthan. Priyanka and Robert Vadra will reach India tomorrow, while Sonia Gandhi returned on Tuesday. Informed sources suggest that after a medical check up, it was family reunion after a long time.

One chilly February evening in 2005, Amar Ujala reporter Samiuddin Neelu was returning home when he was allegedly kidnapped by a special unit of the Uttar Pradesh police.


Driven in a jeep to a remote forest outside Lakhimpur Kheri, bordering Nepal, he was held at gunpoint and asked to write a suicide note as the police threatened to eliminate him in an 'encounter' killing.Samiuddin's presence of mind saved him.


He told the police that he had already warned the then Mulayam Singh-led Samajwadi Party government, the National Human Rights Commission, and the Press Council of India. The policemen backed off.


The harassment, however, didn't end. The journalist was falsely implicated and imprisoned for nine days under the Wildlife Act for possessing contraband. Read more

At least 18 people have been killed in landslides triggered by heavy rains in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong sub-divisions of Darjeeling district since last night.

The landslides have caused extensive damage to NH 10 (old NH 55A) and NH 55, cutting off road and telecommunication link to Darjeeling and Sikkim. 25 landslips were reported in the three sub-divisions.

So, did the Narendra Modi government tweak details on Jawaharlal Nehru's Wikipedia page?

According to a Times of India report, a software that tracks anonymous Wikipedia edits has found that mischievous changes were made to the entries on the country's first prime minister and his forefathers on June 26.


The revisions, which originated from a government of India IP (Internet Protocol) address, said Nehru's grandfather Gangadhar Nehru was a Muslim.


These edits were later deleted by volunteer editors of the online encyclopedia.


The discovery was broadcast by @AnonGoIWPEdits - the Twitter handle of the software that was created by Pranesh Prakash.


The malicious edits stated, "Gangadhar was born as a Muslim by the name of Ghiasuddin Ghazi but changed his name to a Hindu Ganga Dhar to escape British clutches."

Similar edits were made on the pages of Ganga Dhar's son Motilal Nehru and grandson Jawaharlal. On the former PM's page, salacious details of his "affair" with Edwina Mountbatten, the wife of India's first governor general, Lord Mountbatten, were also added.

BJP Sultanpur MP Varun Gandhi on Wednesday denied former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi's charges by saying that he never offered any help to Modi.Varun Gandhi is understood to have said that the former IPL czar is trying to divert attention from himself and drag names unnecessarily, sources said.


The former IPL czar on Tuesday revealed that Varun Gandhi visited him in London a few years ago and said that he will settle everything with the help of his aunt Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.


He had even alleged that Varun offered to mediate with the Congress in exchange for money.


Please clarify @varungandhi80 did u or did u not come to my house in london. Whilst staying at the Ritz hotel in lon a few years ago," Lalit Modi tweeted.

"The auntie he refers to is #soniagandhi. The sister is #soniagandhi sister - just for clarity," he added.

"Please clarify @varungandhi80 did u or did u not come to my house in london. Whilst staying at the Ritz hotel in lon a few years ago," he had tweeted.


Reports say that Varun met Lalit Modi only once in London at his residence. The meeting was arranged by a common friend. Sources close to Varun even believe that this is an attempt to deflect attention from those friends of Lalit who are facing the heat in the LalitLeaks case. "Given estranged relations between the two parts of the Gandhi family, it is inconceivable for Varun to seek Sonia Gandhi's help," they added.

The Danish woman, a tourist, who was allegedly gang-raped by eight men last year, appears in a Delhi court for recording her statement.


In January 2014, the victim, who had come to India on January 1, lost her way to her hotel in Paharganj in New Delhi following which she approached a group of six men asking for directions.


At that point she had entered the Railway Officers Club near New Delhi Railway Station. There she was pushed into a small garden and robbed at knifepoint by the men described by police as vagabonds and drug-addicts. The woman said the men took turns to rape her, three of them allegedly raping her twice.


Around 7.30pm, the accused helped her scale the club wall, after which she reached her hotel and told the manager about the incident.


The survivor refused to undergo a medical test and took a flight back to Copenhagen.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor could soon be subjected to a polygraph test in connection with the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar, media reports said yesterday. Senior police officers, however, denied the reports saying they had no such plans yet, The Hindu reports.  

Tharoor's office too said that the former minister had received no such request from the police, and that he was willing to cooperate with them. The Special Investigation Team  tasked with probing the case has already conducted a polygraph test on six people closely associated with Tharoor. It was conducted after a court allowed the test with the consent of those named by the police

Flagging subdued rural economy as a 'credit negative' for India's sovereign rating, global giant Moody's said there are growing concerns about risk of policy stagnation and "some disappointment" has emerged over the pace of reforms under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.

In its latest 'Inside India' report, Moody's Investors Service said the consensus view on India's economic growth prospects is relatively optimistic and in line with Moody's baseline forecast of 7.5 per cent expansion in current fiscal.

"Forecast represents the highest projection amongst G20 economies, and provides a key pillar of support for the Baa3 sovereign rating and positive outlook," it said.

Moody's in April this year had revised India's sovereign rating outlook to "positive" from "stable". It has a "Baa3" rating on India, the lowest investment grade. Major credit rating agencies like S&P and Fitch all have the lowest investment grade rating on India.

Cuba has become the first country to eliminate the transmission of HIV and syphilis from mother to child, according to the World Health Organisation.

World Health Organisation director-general Margaret Chan said it was one of the "greatest public health achievements possible".

"This is a major victory in our long fight against HIV and sexually transmitted infections, and an important step towards having an AIDS-free generation," Chan said.

The Delhi Police has arrested the second Tihar jail escapee, Javed, from his ancestral village in Uttar Pradesh's Gonda district.

The undertrial had escaped from Tihar Jail along with another prisoner on Saturday.

The two prisoners had scaled a wall and dug a tunnel in the dead of night to escape from jail.

The jailbreak came to the notice of jail authorities only when the two inmates were found missing during the morning roll call.

The BSE Sensex opened on a positive note in morning trade today despite Greece defaulting on the International Monetary Fund payment.

At 9.20 am, Sensex was up 92.63 points at 27,873.46. Similarly, Nifty was up 17.90 points at 8,386 during the same time. It is also expected that aviation shares may rise after owner of India's biggest airline files for IPO and on jet fuel price cut. IT shares are however expected to fall, The Indian Express reports. 

Just in: Sensex has opened in green after Greece defaulted on its debt, reports NDTV.

The International Monetary Fund said shortly after midnight that Greece had missed a crucial debt payment to the fund. It is the first advanced country to fail to repay a loan of Euro 1.6bn to the IMF and is now formally in arrears.

"We have informed our executive board that Greece is now in arrears and can only receive IMF financing once the arrears are cleared," Gerry Rice, a spokesman for the fund, said.

Former Indian Premier League boss Lalit Modi has now dragged Bharatiya Janata Party MP Varun Gandhi into a controversy. In a series of tweets posted last night, Modi said that he met Varun in London.

"Please clarify @varungandhi80 did u or did u not come to my house in london. Whilst staying at the Ritz hotel in lon a few years ago," he tweeted.

He also alleged that Varun offered to help settle matters with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.

"Please mr @varungandhi80 -- let the world know what you told about what auntie wants -- witness is our good friend world renowned astrologer," he tweeted.

".. with his aunt. He wanted me to meet her sister from italy. I heard him next I heard from our common friend who introduced us that. that Auntie wants 60 million dollars. Told them whaaaat are u nuts go HKG a kite. Can he deny that. I hope he does."

Modi tweeted that the auntie he refers to is Sonia Gandhi.

Last week, the former IPL commissioner had tweeted that he met Priyanka Gandhi and her husband Robert Vadra in London. However, Priyanka's office had denied this claim.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the Digital India Project via video conference in two village panchayats of a district in Indore, a senior official said.

The Digital India Project, a pet scheme of the Modi government, aims to connect all gram panchayats by broadband internet, promote e-governance and transform India into a connected knowledge economy.

The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited's Indore Circle General Manager MR Rawat said that ten village panchayats, which are around 35 km from Indore, will be connected with a high-speed internet service under the project that will be launched today.

Work to connect 335 village panchayats with high-speed internet is nearing completion, the BSNL official said.

Greece has become the first developed country to default on its debt to the International Monetary Fund, after missing a 1.5 billion euro payment.

Eurozone ministers refused to extend its bailout. But the ministers said they would discuss a last-minute suggestion from Greece for a new bailout programme, BBC reports.

The IMF confirmed that Greece had failed to make the payment. "We have informed our executive board that Greece is now in arrears and can only receive IMF financing once the arrears are cleared," said IMF spokesman Gerry Rice.

CBSE announces JEE (main) ranks; students relieved