The Andhra Pradesh government today decided to install a statue of late President APJ Abdul Kalam at Acharya Nagarjuna University in Guntur and also name a technology institute after him.

Describing the student unrest in FTII as unfortunate, AAP leader and spokesperson Ashutosh today said institutions like FTII should not be led by people with no credentials.

The death toll due to heavy rains earlier this week which created a flood-like situation in north Gujarat and Kutch has reached 40, including 14 deaths in the worst-affected Banaskantha district. "As per the reports received till today, at least 40 persons have lost lives in different parts. 14 deaths were reported in Banaskantha alone, while five deaths were reported in adjoining Patan district and four in Kutch," said state relief director Bipin Bhatt. Though the rains have stopped or let up for the last two days, many areas of north Gujarat remain inundated. The state government has deployed 16 teams of National Disaster Response Force for relief and rescue work in these areas.

Militants attacked a police party in Mirgund in Baramullah district in Kashmir. They opened fire on the police, injuring three cops. After the firing, they fled the scene in a SUV. 

JUST IN: Those having non-subsidised LPG cylinders will now have to pay less after the prices were slashed by Rs 23.5 per  14.2-kg cylinder. The new prices will come into effect from midnight tonight. This means a non-subsidised LPG cylinder will cost to Rs 585. 

Post-mortem was conducted on the three terrorists who had stormed a police station on Monday and were gunned down by Punjab police personnel during a day-long operation. "Post-mortem was being conducted at Gurdaspur civil hospital here," Gurdaspur Deputy Commissioner Abhinav Trikha said. 

Afghan Taliban have confirmed death of Haqqani Network leader Jalaluddin Haqqani. According to reports, Jalaluddin Haqqani died a natural death a year ago and was buried in Afghan province Khost. The Haqqani group, founded by Jalaluddin, is considered the most dangerous faction in the Taliban Army in Afghanistan. Sources said Sirajudin Haqqani, Jalaluddin's son, has been running the militant network for over a year now, ever since his father's illness.

Taking a dig at Rahul Gandhi over his remarks accusing RSS and its ideologues of "systematically promoting mediocre people in the system", BJP wondered if the Congress vice president's comment also applied to his party.  "Does Rahul Gandhi's statement at FTII, Pune about 'Mediocrity on the Top' also apply to the Congress party," Union Minister Arun Jaitley said in a tweet.

By now everyone on the internet has had their say on Cecil the Lion. There has been widespread condemnation for Walter Palmer, the American who shot and killed the lion. 

This might be an embarrassment for the Congress. 

BJP MP Maheish Girri has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposing to change the name of Aurangzeb Road in New Delhi to Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Road. 

The government seems to have done a sudden and sharp U-turn from its statement yesterday that the plot to launch the terror attack in Gurdaspur, Punjab, was hatched in Pakistan.


NDTV quoting government sources said that India now believes that the Pakistan government's support is not visible in the Gurdaspur attack and there is fresh evidence that the the plot was hatched 17 days before the attack and the Pakistan government did not know of the attack.


Pakistan has maintained that it categorically rejected the Indian assertion. A statement from its foreign office said yesterday, "In the Gurdaspur incident, blames were apportioned to Pakistan in the Indian media, even when the encounter with terrorists was still going on."


Just yesterday, home minister Rajnath Singh warned of "a befitting reply" to terror attacks. Seven people were killed in Gurdaspur just 18 km from the border.

A court here today fixed September 10 for recording of pre-summoning evidence in a criminal defamation complaint by a Delhi Police constable against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for using a slang "thulla" to describe policemen.

Some good news for the families of the four abducted Indians and Libya.

@MEAIndia  tweets:  Welcome news from Libya. 2 of the 4 detained Indians brought back safely to University of Sirte. Our efforts continue for the remaining two.

External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said, "I'm happy we've been able to secure the release of Lakshmikant and Vijay Kumar. We are trying for the other two."


This morning, the Ministry of External Affairs had issued a statement that four Indians had been abducted by the ISIS in Libya. The MEA said that all the four Indians were employed there as teachers.
 

"MEA through the head of mission in Tripoli is ascertaining details," MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.  "Two are from Hyderabad and two are from Karnataka. Of the four Indians abducted in Libya, three are faculty in University of Sirte and one works at a university branch," he added.


At 11 pm last night four Indian nationals detained at checkpoint in Sirte, Libya. Ascertaining details. We are in regular touch with their families," Swarup said.

A newly developed vaccine against the deadly Ebola virus is "highly effective" and could help prevent its spread in the current and future outbreaks, the World Health Organization has said. Trials of the VSV-EBOV vaccine began in March in Guinea -- one of three West African nations at the center of the current outbreak -- and have shown such promise that this week it was decided to extend immediate vaccination to "all people at risk," a WHO statement said.

"I am not saying he doesn't have the blood of hundreds on his hands by choosing to not report workings of his brother to the authorities in time. But hanging Yakub Memon will not bring closure to the families of the victims of the 1993 serial blasts." Read more

And another piece of good news: Pakistan will release 164 Indian fishermen on August 3 in pursuant with the Ufa joint statement as a goodwill gesture, the Pakistan High Commission said.

Just in: BJP MP Maheish Giri writes letter to PM Narendra Modi requesting him to rename Aurangzeb Road in New Delhi to Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road.

Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief and 26/11 Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed led a "funeral" prayer for Taliban's longtime supremo Mullah Omar in Lahore after the terror outfit confirmed his death.


A large number of activists of JuD -- a terror outfit listed by the UN but operates freely across Pakistan -- attended the prayer at its headquarters in Chauburji here last evening. Offering prayers, Saeed, who has a USD 10 million US government bounty against him, prayed to God to "forgive the sins of the great leader of (Muslim) Ummah and grant him a high place in heaven."


Later, addressing the JuD members, Saeed said Omar was "a great asset as he played an important role in the defeat of the United States and Nato forces in Afghanistan."


The founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist group, which carried out the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, tweeted from his official account saying "funeral prayer in absentia is being offered of amir (chief) of hundreds and thousands of Mujahideen. Asset of Ummah, defeater of the US Omar has met his Lord."


The Afghan government on July 29 announced that elusive one-eyed Mullah Omar, who ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 with an iron fist before US-led forces overthrew his government, died in April 2013 in Pakistan. Taliban yesterday confirmed the death of Omar.

Taking the party's campaign against death penalty forward, DMK Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi on Thursday said she would move a Private Members Bill in Parliament for abolition of capital punishment. Read

ISIS and Pakistani flags were displayed again on Friday near Jamia Masjid in Srinagar, not for the first time in the Valley. At least 12 youths have been identified by security agencies for allegedly raising the flag of the Middle-East terror group ISIS in J&K in the recent past. "These 12 youths were behind almost all incidents where ISIS flags were raised in Kashmir. We are keeping a close eye on all of them," a senior official said.The youths were identified on the basis of intelligence inputs, footage of CCTV cameras, still and video photographs.

"Yes, absolutely every word of it," Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy on whether he stands by his tweet on Yakub Memon's funeral.


This is what Roy had tweeted.

"The dragon is Narendra Modi. While it may be harsh -- a tad -- to say that it was sleeping, it is fair to say that the government's approach in tackling corruption cases was lackadaisical. By choosing corruption as an issue the Opposition has goaded the Treasury benches to return fire -- and the BJP has more potent ammunition," says T V R Shenoy. Read more

A part number on a piece of aircraft wreckage found in the Indian Ocean confirms the object is from a Boeing 777, a Malaysian transport official said today. "From the part number, it is confirmed that it is from a Boeing 777 aircraft. This information is from MAS (Malaysia Airlines). They have informed me," Deputy Transport Minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi told AFP.

The Malaysia Airlines flight - a Boeing 777 travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing - vanished in March 2014. There were 239 passengers and crew on board the plane when it went missing.

Beijing has been chosen to host the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, beating the bid of Kazakhstan's Almaty, reports the BBC. Having hosted the 2008 Olympics, the Chinese capital will be the first city to host both a summer and winter Games. Beijing and Almaty were considered outsiders when the 2022 bid race opened two years ago.

The Bombay High Court has suggested new tests on Maggi noodles, which were banned in India early last month. The country's food safety regulator had declared the instant noodles, which are hugely popular, as "unsafe and hazardous for human consumption".


Nestle, which makes Maggi Noodels maintains the snack is safe and has challenged the national ban in court.


The court said that samples could be freshly tested in five labs that are agreed upon by Nestle and the food safety authority.


Nestle has agreed to the suggestion and the regulator is expected to respond tomorrow.

The government on Friday hit out at Congress, saying the term "Hindu terrorism' coined by its previous government had "weakened' the fight against the scourge by diverting the direction of probe into the incidents of terrorism.



Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who made a statement on Gurdaspur attack in Lok Sabha a day after his speech on the issue was disrupted in Rajya Sabha, attacked the opposition for making it appear that Parliament is divided on terrorism.


After making the statement, he raked up a host of issues, including Sharm-el Sheikh fiasco and statements at Havana NAM Summit besides the 1962 war with China, to underline Congress' alleged failures, adding fuel to fire in the protests.

Benedict Cumberbatch has to remember 1,480 lines to give his new 'Hamlet'. An orchestra is performing a whole symphony by heart for the Proms. How do they do it, and why is it so good for their brains -- and ours? Read

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and actor Paresh Rawal on Friday made a jibe at Rahul Gandhi for politicising the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) chairman, saying the students must be seeing 'an actor' in the Congress vice-president.


"I have not listened to Rahul Gandhi's questions. He has got a topic. We should at least allow him to be happy and celebrate. We will answer him later," said Rawal.


"I just want to ask the students at FTII that if they are seeing a RSS person in Gajendra Chauhan, then are they seeing a filmmaker in Rahul Gandhi?" he asked.


Rahul Gandhi told protesting (FTII) students in Pune on Friday that the NDA regime was trying to undermine the institution. Gandhi, who was greeted by strong BJP protests outside the FTII campus, asked the students, "Why do you think the government is so disturbed by your protests?"The students replied that "There is lack of knowledge in the people governing us.


"Gandhi also asked them as to why was the government upsetting their peace of mind.


A student said, "This is not just about FTII. It is happening in a lot of higher education and cultural institutions."


Gandhi, who was dressed casually in a T-shirt and jeans, also used the occasion to target the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)."If the student body doesn't want you (Gajendra Chauhan), then you clearly should not be there. The RSS, its wings and their ideology are consistently promoting mediocre people. I have seen this everywhere," he said.

I&B ministry refuses to respond to striking FTII students, who insist that Gajendra Chauhan has to go. Harishankar Nachimuthu, president, FTII students association, speaks to A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com. Read

A former Governor recalls the years when he worked with a "boss' who was a gracious host, a great leader, and absolutely dedicated to the goal of a developed India. Read more

The Supreme Court gives three weeks to the CBI to take a handover of all the Vyapam scam cases. It further directs the CBI to to appoint prosecutors in six weeks. The CBI lawyer tells the court that there will be five courts in Bhopal which will be notified as special CBI courts, while 20 more courts will be planned in other districts.

This came after the CBI informed the Supreme Court that it would need 6-8 weeks to take over all the cases arising from the muti-crore Vyapam scam. It also requested the Madhya Pradesh government to direct 307 police personnel of different ranks to help them probe the cases.


In an affidavit filed in the Court, the agency further added that it is understaffed to handle all the cases and would require at least six IPS, 20 additional SP, 40 inspectors to carry the probe.

Aftermath of his hanging puts at risk presumptive legitimacy of institutions that mediate social division, writes Pratap Bhanu Mehta. Read

The Taliban statement on Thursday confirming Mullah Omar's death was delightfully imprecise as to when exactly he died. Unsurprisingly, though, it insisted that he died in Afghanistan due to natural causes, although it wouldn't say where he exactly he drew his last breath. Don't worry, details will emerge. Read MK Bhadrakumar's blog.

Since it's guru purnima today...

Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, Taliban's newly-anointed chief, may have deceived fellow insurgents for the past two years by claiming to pass orders and messages from Mullah Muhammad Omar even though he would have been aware that his boss had died in 2013, a media report said.


"Yet even by Mullah Omar's standards, his elusiveness in his final years was remarkable. Only a handful of high-ranking Taliban had any access to their leader, and by the middle of 2013 that number had been winnowed to one: Mullah Akhtar Mansour, effectively the No 2 in the insurgency," a report in the New York Times said.


It said that Afghan and American intelligence indicated that Mullah Omar was probably dead by 2013. "That means that Mullah Mansour may have spent most of the past two years deceiving his fellow insurgents by claiming to pass on orders and messages from Mullah Omar," it cited officials as saying. Mullah Mansour's statements appear to have "aroused the suspicion" of Mullah Omar's son Mullah Yaqoub and his brother Mullah Abdul Manan.


The report said both had previously had access to Mullah Omar, and they began telling people that they believed they were being kept away because he was dead.

It's probably these small gestures that make Amitabh Bachchan the superstar he is.


Last evening, the actor visited his on-screen mother Sulochana Latkar's home here to celebrate her 86th birthday.


Sulochana had essayed the mother's role of almost all the leading actors of the time like Manoj Kumar, Dev Anand and Mehmood.


Bachchan tweeted the picture saying, "Sulochana ji happy 86th birthday! Played my Mother in endless films! Went to her home and greeted her! Sulochana ji, Mother to so many leading men in films - soft gentle and endearing... 86th birthday!".

Rahul Gandhi is in Pune to meet students of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), who have been on strike for nearly two months over the appointment of television actor Gajendra Singh as their chairman.


Addressing a small group of students the Congress vice-president, dressed casually and a T-shirt and jeans said he was here because their voice was not being heard. Talking about the Gajendra Chauhan, Rahul said, "If the student body doesn't want you (Gajendra Chauhan), then you clearly should not be there. The RSS and its wings promote mediocrity. I have seen this everywhere. This is not simply about this school, this is being done to the entire country."


Around 250 students of the Pune-based film training institute have boycotted classes and refused to return unless Chauhan is removed. Some students had approached the Congress vice president for help with their campaign and urged him to take it to Parliament. The protesters had met Union Information and Broadcasting minister Arun Jaitley on July 3 but nothing came of it.


In a letter, the students have asked Rahul Gandhi to take up their cause like he had when the IIT Madras banned the Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle. The ban was revoked last month after protests.

The Ministry of External Affairs has issued a statement on the four Indians abducted by the ISIS in Libya. The MEA says that all the four Indians were employed there as teachers.
 
"MEA through head of mission in Tripoli is ascertaining details," MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.
 
"Two are from Hyderabad and two are from Karnataka. Of the four Indians abducted in Libya, three are faculty in University of Sirte and one works at a university branch," he added. At 11pm last night four Indian nationals detained at checkpoint in Sirte, Libya. Ascertaining details. We are in regular touch with their families," Swarup said.

Even until the eve of his 53rd birthday, which was also the day he was supposed to die, Yakub Memon was hopeful that his hanging would be stayed by the President of India.


"On Wednesday evening, we told him the Supreme Court had rejected his plea. Yakub was very disturbed, but he told us that his mercy petition was still pending with the President and that the latter would accept it," said Yakub's Nagpur lawyer, Anil Gedam, who had gone to meet him with Yakub's brother Suleman Memon and cousin Usman.


Jail sources said that Yakub was hanged to death at the Nagpur Central Jail around 6.45 am yesterday, making it the 24th hanging in the jail and the 56th in the state since Independence. They added that two of the hangmen, who had allegedly hanged 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Qasab, hanged Yakub as well.


"Yakub kept repeating that he was going to be hanged for his brother's sins, if at all, and that he had not done anything wrong," said Gedam. Yakub had also signed some property papers, which were handed over to his family members on Wednesday night.  Read more

BJP leader Tathagata Roy calls mourners at Yakub Memon's funeral "potential terrorists". Roy, who is now the Tripura governor, is a controversial figure (particularly for his anti-Muslim tweets) but had said he would stop since his new office demands it. Hasn't kept his word, it seems.

The diplomat who coordinated the return of Yakub Memon's family from the United Arab Emirates in 1994 has dubbed the hanging of the Bombay blasts convict as "harsh".


"There were, I think, extenuating circumstances in this case that should have been taken into account," Krishnan Srinivasan, former foreign secretary and a columnist for The Telegraph, said.  Read more

Chhota Shakeel, one of the accused in the Mumbai serial blasts case and the chief henchman of Dawood Ibrahim has angrily reacted to the hanging of Yakub Memon, calling it "a legal murder" and accusing the Indian government of betraying the promises it made to lure him back to India.


Read what Shakeel told the Times of India.

Lashing out at those who sought leniency for Yakub Memon, the Shiv Sena today demanded they should be "tried for being enemies of the country" and also asked the government to ensure that the 1993 serial blasts convict does not become a martyr in the eyes of people.


The souls of all those affected by the 1993 bombings will be at peace only when its main conspirators and mastermind - Tiger Memon and Dawood Ibrahim - are brought back to the country and sent to the gallows, the Sena said.


"Around 50 people had written letters asking for mercy to be shown towards Yakub Memon. These people had not lost anyone in the Mumbai attacks and were thus pleading for leniency. But, the President and the Supreme Court did not listen to them and dismissed their petitions keeping the sentiments of the country in mind," the Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.


"All those who asked for mercy to be shown towards Memon should be tried for being enemies of the country," it asserted. "Memon has been hanged, and now government should take firm steps to ensure that no efforts are made to project him as innocent or martyr before the people," the Sena demanded. The Mumbai serial blasts was an attack on the country by Pakistan, the Sena said and added that the neighbouring country has long been planning terror strikes against India.

An all-party meeting held to break the logjam in Parliament proved unsuccessful today, but the government has indicated that another meeting could be held. 

Etihad Airways today vowed to keep fighting a lawsuit brought in Australia by a man who claims he hurt his back after being seated next to a sick, obese passenger. Brisbane man James Bassos, 38, is seeking damages, reportedly Aus dollar 227,000 (USD 165,000), after claiming he suffered permanent health problems from being forced to twist and contort his body to avoid contact with the other passenger "whose body encroached into his seat". 

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan is scheduled to meet PM Modi today amid Opposition demands for his resignation over the Vyapam scam. 

Turning the tables on Islamic State online recruiters, three Chechen girls allegedly swindled over $3,000 by conning them into giving money on the pretence that they would use it to travel to Syria from their homeland. 

In a show of solidarity with the students of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) who are protesting against the appointment of their chairman by the Centre, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi will meet them in Pune on Friday.

The Taliban has elected Mullah Akhtar Mansoor as its new leader, Taliban sources have told Al Jazeera, as the group confirmed the death of their founder Mullah Omar.

The death toll rose to 27 and authorities listed 149 others as injured after a truck lost control and slammed into a religious procession in a central Mexico town. A Public Safety Department official for the state of Zacatecas confirmed the figures yesterday and said some of those hurt had grave injuries. 

US authorities opened a probe today into the killing of a beloved lion in Zimbabwe, as the American doctor who hunted the big cat remained in hiding amid mounting global outrage. 

A surfer was seriously injured as he fought a shark off the Australian east coast today, less than a week after a fatal attack, police said. The 52-year-old man sustained significant wounds to his left leg and hand in the dawn attack at Evans Head, 550 kilometres north of Sydney, Detective Inspector Cameron Lindsay said. 

Investigators for the service have knocked on the front door of Palmer's house, stopped by his dental office, called his telephone numbers and filled his inbox with e-mails.

The Afghan Taliban face the biggest challenge in their history.With the death of their revered leader Mullah Omar and the selection of a successor, the group has entered uncharted territory.Mullah Akhtar Mansour's appointment came after three days of talks among members of their religious council.

Police have arrested a man after six people were wounded in a stabbing at the Gay Pride parade in Jerusalem.A police spokesperson identified the suspect as the same man who stabbed three people at the parade in 2005.

A Congressional resolution marking the upcoming 68th anniversary of India's independence has called for continued strengthening of Indo-US ties.

The Hyderabad high court today directed the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Vijayawada to dispatch to its Registrar the sealed cover containing call detail record given by four telecom operators in connection with alleged phone-tapping by Telangana government.

Cyclone Komen makes landfall in Bangladesh, heavy rains in Bengal, Odisha
Under security cover of 30,000 cops, Yakub buried in Mumbai
Pakistan violate ceasefire for 4th time in 32 hours
Mullah Akhtar Taliban's new leader after Mullah Omar's demise
Teen rape survivor to undergo abortion after rejection from 2 courts
Gurdaspur terrorists came from Pakistan, says Rajnath Singh
Plane debris sent to France, 'likely to be from MH370'