Mukhtar Ahmad reports from Srinagar: 

A French court has acquitted former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn of procuring prostitutes for sex parties in France, Belgium and the US.

Power tariff in the national capital was today hiked by up to six per cent by the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission as it restored a surcharge to compensate the private electricity distribution companies for rise in power purchase cost. 

A Rwandan journalist has been arrested and charged with "spying" in neighbouring Burundi, law officials said today, as the country clamps down on the media whom it accuses of organising anti-government protests. 

A welcome of a different kind awaited former Delhi Law Minister Jitendra Singh Tomar as he was brought by the Delhi Police to the Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University in Bihar's Bhagalpur today.


He was hit by eggs, ink, and slogans as angry students cutting across party lines berated not just him, but also Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani of the BJP.


The students were angry with Tomar for bringing disrepute to the university -- the AAP leader has said that he secured a degree in law from this Bihar university.

AAP is considering sacking Tomar, even as it has vowed to go after ministers in the BJP-led central government who have been in controversies over their educational qualifications, like Smriti Irani and Ram Shankar Katheria, a junior minister in Irani's ministry.

Search for the missing Coast Guard Dornier aircraft and its three crew members entered the fourth day today with INS Sandhayak, a hydrographic survey vessel of the Navy, joining the operations off the Tamil Nadu coast.

The US is experiencing a worldwide delay in processing of visa and passports at its overseas missions, including India, due to technical difficulties.


"The Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs is currently experiencing technical problems with our overseas passport and visa systems," an official statement said. This issue is affecting US operations at its missions in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad. Passport applications accepted overseas or after May 26, 2015 are affected by this delay, the statement said.

BJP President Amit Shah appoints Ananth Kumar as Bihar Assembly Election in charge and Dharmendra Pradhan as co-incharge. The BJP on Thursday received a shot in the arm ahead of the high-stakes Bihar assembly elections, with former chief minister and mahadalit leader Jitan Ram Manjhi announcing a tie-up with it to defeat the "unholy" alliance of Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad.

Corporate lawyer Janhavi Gadkar, who allegedly rammed her car into a taxi killing two persons on the Eastern Freeway, has been sent to judicial custody till June 26.

What we know today is that the alcohol level in her blood was about four times more than the permissible limit.

"Preliminary reports have suggested that the lawyer had an intake of alcohol four times than the permissible limits," a police source said quoting initial forensic report which confirms that the 35-year-old lawyer was heavily drunk at the time of the incident on June 9.

Legally, blood alcohol concentration is permissible up to 0.03 per cent, 30 mg per 100 ml of blood.

But, Gadkar's sample shows the presence of about 120 mg of alcohol concentration in 100 mg of blood, said the source. "The forensic laboratory put this (case) on priority to give the preliminary report on our request," the source said, adding, that it would take another few days for the final report to be compiled.

After two weeks of raising a stink in Delhi, conservancy workers of the Delhi municipal corporation call of their strike. 

Pakistani cricketing greats Imran Khan and Wasim Akram go back a long way. Imran was Akram's captain when he led Pakistan to a World Cup victory in 1992.


So it follows that the two shared some lovely moments together with their wives Reham Khan and Shanirea Akram last night, at the end of which Akram tweeted this picture, saying: @wasimakramlive Great time with lots of laughs! Thanks for the hospitality Skip @ImranKhanPTI @RehamKhan1 @iamShaniera #PakZindabad

Imran Khan then posted the 'selfie of epic proportions' on his Facebook page as well, which Wasim promptly shared. Imran Khan (official) read: What happens when the legends of 1992 get together after a long time? A selfie of epic proportions of course. It's so good to see two of our cricketing heroes retain that bond even after 23 years; something so special about the fact that Wasim Bhai still refers to Kaptaan as "skip". Good to see the old comrades and their wives having some laughs together. A selfie of epic proportions indeed!"

Former Odisha Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang today met BJP president Amit Shah and announced that he was joining the party. While the party leadership is reported to have accepted his joining, his formal joining will take place later in Bhubaneshwar.


The 72-year-old tribal leader from Odisha, who quit the Congress on May 30, said he decided to join the BJP as he liked its political strategy.

Just in: 25 people electrocuted to death in Tonk, Rajasthan, when a high tension wire falls on a bus. 

A court in France has acquitted Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the International Monetary Fund, of charges of aggravated pimping. Strauss-Kahn had been accused in connection with sex parties he attended in various cities across the world.


The ruling was the last step in four years of legal drama for Strauss-Kahn, beginning when a New York hotel cleaner accused him of sexual assault in 2011. That case was later settled out of court.

Just in: ISIS flags and banners waved near Jamia Masjid in Srinagar with the slogan "Jeeve Jeeve Pakistan" (Pakistan Zindabad) by people believed to be Hurriyat supporters.

Hurriyat supporters also hoisted Pakistani flags in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, while the ISIS flags were waved in Srinagar by supporters of separatist leaders, reports CNN IBN.

Though Pakistani and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) flags have appeared in the Valley on earlier occasions as well, this is probably the first time that separatist supporters have raised Islamic State flags in the state.

Just in: Two minutes of hope for Maggi lovers is dashed as the Bombay High Court refuses to stay the ban. In other words, the ban on Maggi noodles will continue.


Nestle India Ltd on Thursday filed a case in the Bombay high court for a review of orders passed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Maharashtra and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) banning the sale, production and distribution of Maggi noodles.


Nestle told the Bombay High Court that the ban on Maggi by the food safety regulator was arbitrary. Nestle said that the samples found with lead were past the expiry date and were open.  Nestle has explained that trace amounts of lead are present in the atmosphere and in the soil around the world due to the use of fertilisers and pest control and can get into food products.


Nestle has accused India's food regulators of rushing to judgement on Maggi noodles and ordering its withdrawal for containing excessive lead without fulfilling all the requirements stipulated under the law in such circumstances.


Nestle told the HC that the products were not sub-standard and they had built a reputation for nutritious and healthy food. Nestle tells the court that it was not thrusting a bad product on a third world country.

All to naught it seems.

Just in: Eight fire and safety officials of the Airport Authority of India have been arrested in connection with the Karipur airport violence that led to the death of a CISF jawan.


Flight operations at the Karipur international airport in Kerala resumed yesterday after an over six-hour shutdown following Wednesday night's violent clashes between the Central Industrial Reserve Force and the Airport Authority of India personnel that left a jawan dead, prompting the authorities to book 15 people for murder.

Senior officers from the civil aviation ministry, directorate general of civil aviation, the bureau of civil aviation security, the AAI and the security directorate have been rushed to the airport to take stock of the situation, official sources said.

 

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo will leave the San Francisco-headquartered social network within days. Shares in Twitter soared nearly eight per cent on the news.The microblogging site said in a SEC filing, published in the past few minutes, that Costolo will leave as chief exec on July 1 and be replaced by Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey. Read

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has asked that the Government of Manipur pay Rs 5 lakh as monetary relief to the next of kin of Sorokhiabam Jibon Singh, who was killed in an 'encounter' with police at Chandanadi Lamkhai, Imphal West District of Manipur on July 1, 2009.


The NHRC has given eight weeks time for compliance report and proof of payment.


The NHRC, while recommending monetary relief to the next of kin of the encounter victim, observed that in view of the facts and circumstances of the case, even assuming that there was an encounter as claimed by police, there could be no justification for such excessive use of force.


It also observed that the police exceeded the right of defence on consideration of material on record received from the State Government, in response to its notices since 2010.

K Anurag in Guwahati/Rediff.com

Three years have passed since Mehdi Hassan's death but despite several promises no steps have been taken to build a mausoleum of 'Shenshah-e-Ghazal' in Karachi while his belongings, stolen from Lahore, are still untraceable.


Hassan breathed his last on 13 June, 2012 at Aga Khan Hospital in Karachi after suffering from lung, chest and urinary tract diseases for 12 years.


His family has expressed anguish that despite tall claims, no progress has been made so far to build his mausoleum.


His prized belongings, including awards, medals, shields, harmonium, handwritten documents and clothes, were stolen from a rented house in Lahore three months back but no action has been taken so far, they claimed.


"It has been three years since he (Mehdi Hassan) passed away but we are still waiting for his mausoleum. Centre, state government and governor had also made promises but they remained only promises," Arif Hassan, son of Mehdi Hassan, told PTI from Karachi.


"One-and-a-half years back, only the fencing work was done and that too after our tireless efforts. Kids play cricket on the land allotted for building Abba's mausoleum . We are deeply hurt that nobody cares," he rued.

After a beating over the Maggi mess, a resurgent Nestle tells the Bombay High Court that the ban on Maggi by the food safety regulator was arbitrary. Nestle says that the samples found with lead were past the expiry date and were open.  Nestle has explained that trace amounts of lead are present in the atmosphere and in the soil around the world due to the use of fertilisers and pest control and can get into food products.


Nestle has accused India's food regulators of rushing to judgement on Maggi noodles and ordering its withdrawal for containing excessive lead without fulfilling all the requirements stipulated under the law in such circumstances.


Nestle tells the HC that the products were not sub-standard and they had built a reputation for nutritious and healthy food. Nestle tells the court that it was not thrusting a bad product on a third world country.


The court is hearing a petition filed by Nestle against the Maharashtra FDA order.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi earned himself some much-needed brownie points after he visited the east Delhi MCD office and interacted with striking sanitation workers.


The scene at 24 Akbar Road, Rahul's residence was nothing short of jubilant. Rahul's visit had catapulted the Congress into morning prime time on every TV channel.

As he narrated the meeting with MCD workers to his sister Priyanka and mother Sonia Gandhi, there cheers not only from the family, but also the AICC leaders, who sent Rahul congratulatory emails and text messages.


However, an AAP leader asked us a pertinent question. Will Rahul Gandhi make a similar visit to the Congress-ruled state of Karnataka where citizens are facing a similar problem with the Bengaluru Municipal Corporation?


For Delhiwallas, all that matters is that the Delhi High Court today has asked the Arvind Kejriwal government to release the pending salaries of MCD workers by June 15. Delhi LG Najeeb Jung assured MCD mayors that the crisis would be resolved and that Rs 493 crore will be released by Friday itself.


Pic: Rahul meets MCD workers

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha is slowly feeling her way around her government has been functioning in her absence on two main issues -- law and order and the financial health of the state exchequer.

Since she resumed responsibility as CM, she has spoken twice to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on the AIADMK's strategey over the GST and the Land Acquisition Bill.


After the bypolls on June 27, Jayalalithaa plans to visit New Delhi in time for the monsoon session of Parliament, which would begin in July. 


The CM has been facing multiple health issues and has to often go in for medical tests, but to her credit has always remained cheerful. Except may be for that short stint in jail, which sources say, has been understandably traumatic for her. 

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley says the economy is recovering from the serious challenges of the past. Retail credit has picked up, corporate credit is still to pick up. Government spending in infrastructure sector has increased. Jaitley says he has discussed with banks about the passing on of the RBI's rate cut to consumers, as also stalled projects, credit growth, education and housing loans. There is room for further interest cuts by banks, he says.  

Many Indian states have started providing eggs with midday meals, either in schools or in anganwadis or both. This is the best thing that has happened for a long time in the field of social policy.


Indian children are among the most undernourished in the world. They are starved of protein, vitamins, iron and many other essential nutrients. Eating eggs regularly could help them to grow, thrive and think. Indeed, eggs are a kind of super-food for growing children. They contain all essential nutrients except for Vitamin C. Read more

The Delhi High Court directs the Delhi government to release by June 15 the salary dues of East MCD employees. Delhi's garbage cleaners have not been paid for the last two months.


Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Friday visited east Delhi MCD office and interacted with striking sanitation workers.


The strike by sanitation workers has turned east Delhi into a huge garbage dump over the past 10 days, posing a serious threat to people's health, but the squabbling men in authority can't smell the stink.


About 15,000 tonnes of waste has been dumped on roadsides and in residential areas and 12,000 sanitation workers are refusing to work without getting their salaries.

First there is the operation; then there are the optics. Based on available reports, the cross-border operation in Myanmar seems to have been professionally executed. The army's statement was appropriately terse. The operation was not without precedent.


Read more

FIFA president Sepp Blatter on Thursday ruled out a European Parliament demand for him to quit immediately, but one of his top lieutenants did resign from the embattled organisation.


Blatter, who resigned last week despite being re-elected as head of football's world governing body, which has been consumed by an ever-widening corruption probe, intends to continue in office until a successor is designated, probably by the end of the year.


"FIFA is perplexed by the European Parliament's resolution," a FIFA spokesman said. "As is well known, following his re-election, the FIFA President already decided, owing to the special circumstances in which FIFA finds itself, to lay down his mandate at an extraordinary elective Congress."


The European Parliament had called on Blatter to step down immediately and allow for an interim leader to launch reforms in global football's governing body.

An IIT Kharagpur B Tech student who topped across all departments in the institute, has rejected a lucrative job offer from an MNC to remain in academics.


Computer science and engineering student Sikhar Patranabis has scored 9.87 and passed out as the highest-ranked graduate this year. He is tipped to get the President of India Gold Medal.


The lure of a high-paying pre-placement job offer from Microsoft, however, could not distract this talent away from his passion for research. Patranabis has now decided to stay back at the IIT campus and do a PhD on hardware security for embedded systems.