K Anurag reports from Guwahati   

Palamau Express derailed this evening after suspected Maoists blew up a stretch of railway tracks in Latehar district but no casualty or injury was reported. 

Pakistan's PM Nawaz Sharif has called for emergency measures as the death toll from a heatwave in southern Sindh province reached nearly 700.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money today sought update from multiple probe agencies on the role of Lalit Modi in alleged financial irregularities in the T-20 cricket tournament.

Besides Modi, former IPL Chairman, the SIT also reviewed cases of BCCI officials and other individuals involved in the operation of the various editions of the IPL.

Sources said the two-hour long meeting was chaired by SIT Vice Chairman Justice (retd) Arijit Pasayat and it is understood that directions have been issued to agencies like the Income Tax department, Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to update it with more information and status on each of the cases being handled by these probe bodies.                                      

"The SIT has a wide mandate and hence as part of its overall review of black money cases and those related to illegal assets held abroad, the panel also reviewed cases related to the IPL and people involved in it," the sources said.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain has announced that Essential Services Maintenance Act has been imposed to curb the ongoing doctors' strike in the city.

"I appeal to all doctors to resume service. ESMA has been imposed. I can't leave patients to die because of a strike by doctors. All their justified and unjustified demands have been agreed upon," Jain said.

Fire broke out at CNBC & IBN7 television offices located at Empire Complex in Lower Parel, Mumbai. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will carry out a reshuffle of the Union Council some time in the next few weeks. He made this disclosure at a meeting with top editors recently. The prime minister has been meeting senior editors, and the discussions have been strictly private.

However, he also told the editors that no one will know when he will carry out the reshuffle.

It is believed that among the ministers who will be shifted is Gen V K Singh, the minister of state in the external affairs ministry.

And, if you are wondering if a similar fate awaits Gen Singh's Cabinet minister, no, she is not going anywhere.

Stoking another controversy today, Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Sadhvi Prachi said that those who oppose the pratice of yoga can go to Pakistan.

A Delhi court is likely to pronounce tomorrow its order on a complaint against Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani for allegedly giving "false" information about her educational qualification in affidavits filed with the Election Commission.

Metropolitan Magistrate Akash Jain had on June 1 reserved the order on the plea after hearing arguments on the aspect of limitation and whether cognisance can be taken or not.

The complaint was filed by freelance writer Ahmer Khan, who alleged that Irani in her three affidavits before the EC while filing nominations for her candidature for Lok Sabha as well as Rajya Sabha polls had purportedly given different details about her educational qualification.

Senior advocate K K Manan, appearing for Khan, had told the court that in her affidavit for April 2004 Lok Sabha polls Irani had said that she completed her BA in 1996 from Delhi University (school of correspondence) whereas in another affidavit of July 11, 2011 for contesting Rajya Sabha election from Gujarat she said her highest educational qualification was B.Com part I from the School of Correspondence, DU.

The complaint alleged that in the affidavit filed for nomination of April 16, 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Amethi constituency in Uttar Pradesh, Irani said she had completed Bachelor of Commerce Part-I from School of Open Learning, DU.

"It is evident from the contents of the affidavits filed by Smriti Z Irani that at best only one of the depositions by her on oath in respect of her educational qualifications is correct," the complaint alleged.

"The aforesaid affidavits of Smriti Irani, apart from the ostensibly false and discrepant statements in respect of her educational qualifications, also appear to contain false/ discrepant statements in respect of immovable properties owned by her and other details set out by her," it claimed.

"The aforesaid facts and circumstances reveal commission of offences by accused under section 125A of Representation of People Act, 1951, besides any other offences that may attract other penal provisions as an outcome of an additional investigation," the plea alleged.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is expected to form a "final opinion" on the meeting of Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria with ex-IPL boss Lalit Modi in London based on the report on the matter to be submitted by the Home Secretary this evening.


"Rakesh Maria submitted the information sought by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to Additional Chief Secretary (Home) K P Bakshi last evening. He is now in the process of examining the report and he will give his final opinion to the CM by this evening," a senior Home Department official told PTI, requesting anonymity.


"This is an old case. Hence, time is required to study the issue in detail and analyse the information that Maria has submitted to Bakshi. He is taking his time because his decision will be very important for the government to take a decision on Maria's fate," the official said.


The official further said that aspects like 'conduct rules broken', confidentiality, breaking of the secrecy pact or if there were vested interests or favouritism were behind the meet, are being analysed by Bakshi.


"All these things need to be examined very carefully. Injustice cannot be done and therefore at least a day's time is required before the Additional Chief Secretary can come to a final opinion. Based on Bakshi's opinion, the CM may take a call within 1-2 days," the official added.


Amid speculation about the government's response to Maria's information submitted on meeting with Lalit Modi in London, Maria met Fadnavis here last night. Neither Maria nor the CM have so far commented on contents of Maria's letter in response to Fadnavis' directive to the Mumbai Police Chief on the Lalit Modi issue.


On Saturday, after a news channel aired a photo purportedly featuring Maria with Lalit Modi, the Mumbai Police Chief had issued a statement saying that he had indeed met the ex-IPL boss at the insistence of the latter's lawyer in London last year.


During the meeting, Lalit Modi sought the help of Mumbai Police in view of "threat" to his life by the underworld in London, Maria said, adding that he had apprised the then Home Minister (late R R Patil of NCP) about the meeting soon after return.


Fadnavis had on Sunday said that based on Maria's information, further course of action would be decided. Lalit Modi, who is facing probe by Enforcement Directorate, is in news following revelations that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj helped him get a travel document in London.

A 35-year-old woman had to be cut out of a pair of skinny jeans after her calves ballooned in size, the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, reported.


The BBC reports that she had spent hours squatting to empty cupboards for a house move in Australia. By evening, her feet were numb and she found it hard to walk.


Doctors believe the woman developed a condition called compartment syndrome, made worse by her skinny jeans.


Compartment syndrome is a painful and potentially serious condition caused by bleeding or swelling within an enclosed bundle of muscles - in this case, the calves.


The condition caused the woman to trip and fall and, unable to get up, she then spent several hours lying on the ground.


On examination at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, her lower legs were severely swollen.


Although her feet were warm and had enough blood supplying them, her muscles were weak and she had lost some feeling.


As the pressure had built in her lower legs, her muscles and nerves became damaged. She was put on an intravenous drip and after four days was able to walk unaided.


Other medics have reported a number of cases where patients have developed tingly, numb thighs from wearing the figure-hugging low-cut denim trousers - although the chance of it happening is still slim for most people.


Representational picture of actress Anushka Sharma in skinny jeans

Another story that fosters the UP badlands narrative.


A disc jockey was shot dead by a youth for not playing a song request at Sidhauli village in Meerganj area, police said on Tuesday.


Arun Valmiki (30) was shot dead by Ashu alias Ishu when he expressed his inability to play a song demanded by the latter late on Monday night, it said.


The incident took place during a birthday party of the grand-daughter of a jeweller, police said.

A "depression" has developed over the Arabian Sea, a second time in a month, and is likely to turn into "deep depression", bringing in squally winds and heavy rains in Maharashtra and Gujarat, the weather office said today.

Just like with millions of Indian Muslims, even the vice president of India has been forced to undergo the covert loyalty test: 'you are presumed to be pro-Pakistan until you demonstrably prove you are a nationalist', says Shehzad Poonawalla. Read

A Dalit activist lodged a complaint with the Puducherry police against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for insulting the national flag during the International Yoga Day celebrations on Sunday.


Police said Dalit Sena state general secretary Sundar lodged a complaint with the Oreleanpet police stating that he received photographs in his WhatsApp account showing Modi insulting the national flag by hanging the tricolour on his neck and using it to wipe his sweat while performing yoga in New Delhi. Read more

Just in: The Delhi government has imposed the Essential Services Maintenance Act on striking resident doctors, who failed to resume work by 11 am as ordered by the government.


Around 2,000 doctors at 20 hospitals in the national capital on Monday launched an indefinite strike, demanding adequate life saving drugs, security at workplace and timely payment of their salaries.


The strike by resident doctors at 20 hospitals run by the central and Delhi governments and civic corporations including Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital, Lady Hardinge Medical College, Maulana Azad Medical College affected services at the facilities.


This comes a day after Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal tweeted yesterday, "Most demands of striking docs genuine. I hv directed health dept to implement them. Health dept shoould have resolved it earlier. This govt is committed to providing best health facilities to masses. It cannot be done without cooperation of docs."

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said if the land reform bill is not passed in the Rajya Sabha then a joint session of the Parliament would be called as its passage is key to the success of next phase of reforms and achieving India's growth target.


"I hope, we do not have to reach that situation (of convening a joint session of the Parliament) and it gets sorted out before that. The present government as far as the constitutional mechanism is concerned has the numbers. Therefore, we would like to make sure that this landmark reform in India does take place," Jaitley said.


Refraining from giving a timeline for convening a joint session of the Parliament, Jaitley exuded hope that the land reforms bill in its new shape would be able to get through the Rajya Sabha, where the ruling party and its coalition partners do not have a majority.


However, he pointed out that the BJP and its coalition partners have enough numbers to get the bill passed if there is a joint session of the Indian Parliament.


"We would like to ensure that this landmark reform in India does take place," Jaitley said in his presentation on 'India's Economic Future' organised by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.


"The land law which was approved in 2013, in my view, has hindered the complete development of rural India. Almost 55 per cent of India is rural India," he said.


Jaitley asserted that the 2013 law does not provide for adding irrigation, rural infrastructure, easy availability of land for affordable housing for poor and also even industrialisation in rural areas.


"This has become politically very contentious. It is currently before the Joint Select Committee. I am keeping my fingers crossed as to how this debate would proceed. But I do hope that the Joint Select Committee comes out with some agreed formulation, otherwise if consensus eludes us -- both house choose to disagree with each other -- then a joint session of the houses will take it up," he said. Jaitley said the government is committed to continuing with reforms.

First BJP says Lalit Modi will be arrested the moment he comes to India and then they say help extended was on humanitarian ground: Sachin Pilot.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today offered his condolences over the demise of Sister Nirmala who succeeded Mother Teresa as the head of the Missionaries of Charity founded by the Nobel laureate.


"Sister Nirmala's life was devoted to service, caring for the poor and underprivileged. Saddened by her demise. May her soul rest in peace," Modi said in a statement.


"My deepest condolences to the Missionaries of Charity family on the passing away of Sister Nirmala," he added.


Her body would be brought to Mother House tomorrow morning and the funeral will be held at 4 pm.

BJP MP and poet Varun Gandhi pays tribute on his father's death anniversary. @varungandhi80 tweets: Visit to Shanti Vana to pay tribute to my father late Shri Sanjay Gandhi, on his 35th death anniversary.


Sanjay Gandhi, widely expected to succeed his mother, Indira Gandhi as head of the Indian National Congress, died in a plane crash on June 23, 1980. 

While the Bharatiya Janata Party government has, on the one hand, been striving to pursue a growth- and development-oriented agenda with a firm emphasis on the economic and foreign policy fronts, on the other hand the question has come up too often whether it is meanwhile systematically seeking to use the ministries related to culture, information, education and human resources to push itself away from values promoting excellence and expertise when it comes to certain key appointments.


Read more

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday slammed Trinamool Congress Party (TMC) leader Abhishek Banerjee over his statement wherein he said that those who dared to challenge the TMC administration will have their eyes gouged out and their hands chopped off and called for a case to be registered against him.


"I think Abhishek Banerjee has been making such highly provoking speeches earlier also. There should be a case registered against him. He should not indulge in any such speeches being a Member of Parliament.


Threatening the people to vote for Mamata shows that she does not have believe on the work she has done and that the BJP has emerged has a competition to TMC," said BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao.

Sister Nirmala's mortal remains will be kept at St John's Church, Kolkata, till Wednesday afternoon.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said assessing authorities in India would continue to do their job with regard to the probe into the over Rs 11 crore transaction between Dushyant Singh and Lalit Modi while asserting that his remarks on this issue were misinterpreted.


"I have never used such a word. That is never part of my domain," Jaitley told reporters when asked about opposition's allegations that his remarks that the loan given to Singh by Modi, the former IPL chief, was a commercial transaction, amounted to giving clean chit to the BJP MP.


"That is clear misinterpretation of (what I said). Whatever various assessing authorities in India have to do, its their job. They would continue to do that," Jaitley said on the sidelines of a public event at the Stanford University.


Singh, son of Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, has been under attack over media reports that his company received Rs 11.63 crore in investments from Modi in 2008.


External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Raje have been facing flak for "helping" Modi in procuring travel documents in the UK, a country which he has made his home to avoid legal processes in India.


Modi, 49, travelled to London in 2010 after the Indian Premier League (IPL) became embroiled in allegations of match-fixing and illegal betting.

With a sniper on the roof and Secret Service personnel all around on Friday, Marc Maron welcomed President Barack Obama to his Highland Park garage as a guest on his "WTF' podcast. After chit chat about Maron's decorating abilities and Obama's Occidental College days, the two got down to serious business to talk racism in America --  an exchange that resulted in the president using the n-word."Racism, we are not cured of it,' Obama said.


"And it's not just a matter of it not being polite to say 'n' in public. That's not the measure of whether racism still exists or not. It's not just a matter of overt discrimination. Societies don't, overnight, completely erase everything that happened 200 to 300 years prior.'

(The White House has released a statement about Obama's comments, pointing out that this is not a unique occurrence and he also used this term in his memoir "Dreams From My Father').


The comments came after Obama spoke of the horror of the South Carolina shooting, declaring again that "way too often' during his presidency, he's had to "speak to the country and to speak to a particular community about a devastating loss.' Read more

Mumbai's top cop Rakesh Maria confronts the possibility of being transferred as penalty for a meeting he held last year in London with Lalit Modi, wanted in India to answer charges of corruption, tax evasion and money laundering during his term as chair of the Indian Premier League or IPL.


NDTV reports that the sources in the Maharashtra government said Maria met with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis last night for a first-hand explanation of the controversial conferral. Fadnavis has also demanded and received a detailed written report from Maria, who has said in his defense that he had informed then Home Minister RR Patil of his session with Modi. Read more

James Horner, Hollywood composer who wrote the score for the Oscar-winning film Titanic, dies in California plane crash.


The two-time Oscar winner, 61, worked on three James Cameron films, two 'Star Trek' movies and classics like 'A Beautiful Mind,' 'Field of Dreams' and 'Apollo 13.'


James Horner, the consummate film composer known for his heart-tugging scores for Field of Dreams, Braveheart and Titanic, for which he won two Academy Awards, died Monday in a plane crash near Santa Barbara. He was 61.

@BDUTT  Strong buzz that @Dev_Fadnavis examining explanation by Rakesh Maria on his meeting with Lalit Modi but also considering a transfer for him.

As expected, the the Karnataka government has moved the Supreme Court against Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa's acquittal in the corruption case.


The Karnataka government told the the Supreme Court today that Jayalalithaa, was wrongly found innocent in the corruption case and challenged her acquittal, describing it as a "farce."

Jayalalithaa returned to office as Chief Minister in May after she was found not guilty of amassing wealth that could not be accounted for by her declared sources of income during her first term as head of the state government in the early 90s.

The case had been transferred from Tamil Nadu to Karnataka in 2003 to ensure the trial would not be impacted by the influence of Jayalalithaa or her political opponents.

Contrary to the forecast by the Meteorological Department about deficit rainfall this monsoon, most districts in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra have received showers crossing the average mark well before the end of this month.

Promising that the Centre will go "all out" to support Bihar in a "big way", Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said the government is likely to announce projects and schemes in a few weeks time to assist the resource-rich state.


"Bihar is a state with a lot of potential. It is a state which has very less industry. It has (a lot of) human resource. It has agriculture. Therefore for an equitable development of the country, Bihar needs to be supported," Jaitley told reporters at the Stanford University after delivering his remarks on 'India's Economic Future'.


"And therefore Government of India will go all out to support Bihar in a big way," he said.


Responding to a question from an Indian-American, Ramesh Yadav, Jaitley said the central government is working on various schemes and projects for holistic development of the state.


Jaitley ruled this out as a pre-election package and stressed that this is not being done with an eye on state elections.


"Why do not you wait for a few weeks," he said when asked to explain the government's "all out" support for Bihar. Jaitley's remarks on Bihar were not part of his presentation, in which he spent a significant amount of time on states.


"Why your government has not planned for Bihar?" elderly Yadav asked, to which Jaitley responded, "Bihar has two great resources. One is water, as a result of which its agriculture is quite good. Second is human resources. Bihar has a huge human resource. In fact the first generation of expatriates who went to a lot of countries were from Bihar."


Noting that in the last two decades Bihar has suffered a setback, Jaitley said a large number of people have left the state for other parts of the country for education and jobs.


"We are working on assisting Bihar. If you wait for literally a few weeks you may hear something from the central government with regard to Bihar," Jaitley said without elaborating.


"Bihar needs infrastructure. It needs roads. It has two airports Bodh Gaya and Patna. Both of them are in terrible situation. It has not been able to exploit its tourism, including its religious tourism. Its universities need to be propped up a lot. Therefore the Central government is currently working (on projects and programmes to assist Bihar)," he said.

After cocky tweets, the government has fittingly had to eat crow.


The government on Monday apologised to vice-president Hamid Ansari, a yoga practitioner himself, for BJP general secretary Ram Madhav's controversial tweets questioning his absence from the Yoga Day function on Rajpath.


Union minister Shripad Naik cited protocol to clarify that the vice-president can't be invited to an event where the Prime Minister is chief guest.  "Unknowingly something happens, we apologise for that. It should have been avoided. It's a mistake, he (Madhav) agrees, he apologised. He withdrew his statement," Naik said when asked to comment on the BJP leader's controversial tweets on Sunday.


His statement came following reports that the government is upset with the needless controversy triggered by Madhav's tweets.


Pic: The cartoon on the Hindu today on the tweet row.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday expressed grief at the passing away of Sister Nirmala who headed Missionaries of Charity after Mother Teresa and said that Kolkata will miss her.


"Saddened at the passing of Sister Nirmala who headed Missionaries of Charity after Mother Teresa. Kolkata and the world will miss her," she tweeted.


Nirmala Joshi, better known as Sister Nirmala had replaced Mother Teresa as the superior general in 1997.


Born to a soldier in Ranchi hailing from Nepal, Sister Nirmala had joined the Order at the age of 17. She was later succeeded by German-born Sister Mary Prema.

And in Mumbai, the day began with heavy rains, which have caused major water logging in various low-lying areas of the city. The city traffic on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway was also severely affected due to the landslide, caused by heavy rainfall yesterday. Seasonal rains in Mumbai began after the southwest monsoon hit the western coast last week.

Trains: A diversion between Vidyavihar and Matunga rail stations has caused the slowing down of traffic by 30 minutes on the Central Railway line.


Flights:  Flight delay of around 15 to 20 minutes at Mumbai airport, five flights asked to 'go around', say reports.

The men who stole Azam Khan's buffaloes have been arrested. In February 2014, theft of seven buffaloes belonging to UP's powerful minister Azam Khan led the authorities to promptly punish three cops.


A sub-inspector and two constables were stripped off their posts and sent to lines in Rampur district, even after the local police recovered the buffaloes after a day-long hunt and deposited the bovines back in the minister's farmhouse on the outskirts of Rampur city, about 300 kilometres from Lucknow.


According to reports, the minister was contemplating more serious action against the policemen, and more heads were likely to roll, because the fastidious minister firmly believes in fixing responsibility for the "grave lapse' and "dereliction of duty.'

Sister Nirmala Joshi, the former superior general of the Missionaries of Charity, has died. Sister Nirmala had replaced Mother Teresa as the superior general in 1997 after Mother Teresa's death. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took to Twitter to pay her tributes and added that the world would miss Sister Nirmala. 


Also read: 'She said one word only: Thank you -- and she died'

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek has left the Trinamool Congress red-faced over a very violent threat. Stirring a controversy, Abhishek warned that those who dared to challenge the TMC administration will have their eyes gouged out and their hands chopped off.

While addressing a party event, president of TMC's youth wing Abhishek said, "In the heart of Delhi, in Parliament and through various protests, Mamata Banerjee and the TMC have proved that if the interests of the people of Bengal are hurt, we will not leave the matter. As long as Mamata is there, if anyone dares to glare at us, we will gouge their eyes out and throw them on the road, if they raise their hands, we'll cut their arms off."

The Islamic State group has hanged two youths after accusing them of eating during daylight hours in the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights said. 

Two explosions killed at least 10 people at a crowded market in the northern Nigerian city of Maiduguri on Monday, witnesses and sources said.

In the largest seizure of gold at Vizag Airport to date after the international flights started landing, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Chennai, and Customs officials seized around 63 kg of gold bars valued about Rs 20 crore last night. 

A group of Saudi students caught in a cheating scandal at a Montana college were offered flights home by their kingdom's diplomats to avoid the possibility of deportation or arrest, according to a cache of Saudi Embassy memos recently published by WikiLeaks and a senior official at the school involved. 

A prominent Saudi comedian who has mocked the Islamic State group and Islamists in the ultra-conservative kingdom has said he shall not be deterred after receiving online threats. 

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif today said that talks with top international powers on Tehran's contested nuclear programme could be completed by a June 30 deadline or slightly later. 

Sudan is facing a huge nationwide outbreak of measles, with at least 2,500 confirmed cases so far this year, mostly children, and 38 deaths due to the disease, the United Nations said today. 

For months, China's visible construction of artificial islands and military facilities in the South China Sea has alarmed US officials and many of China's neighbors.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday he saw a good chance of reaching a final agreement with six world powers on Iran's nuclear program by a June 30 deadline or a few days later, provided there was political will.

The Taliban attack on Afghanistan's parliament Monday could be an indicator that the terror group is trying to prove to Afghan officials and other extremists they are the top jihadist movement in the country, foreign policy experts warn.

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