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Sat, 07 March 2015
Live! No regrets on Alam's detention: Omar after separatist' release

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23:40   No regrets on Alam's detention: Omar after separatist' release
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tonight said he had no "regrets" that his government had detained the hardline Kashmiri separatist leader Masarat Alam who was released following the order of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed.

"Yes, my Govt detained Masarat Alam & we kept him out of circulation. Detention isn't ideal but difficult situations have to be tackled," Abdullah tweeted shortly after the release of the separatist leader.

Stating that Alam was "the chief architect" of the anti-national protests of 2010, Omar said that his detention ensured peace in the Valley even during the time of Afzal Guru's execution in 2013 and even allowed for smooth elections.
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23:02   PIL in HC seeks lifting of ban on Dec 16 gangrape documentary
A PIL has been filed in the Delhi high court seeking lifting of the ban on telecast of the controversial documentary featuring an interview of one of the convicts of the December 16 gang rape case.

A Delhi court had on March 4 said that its order restraining broadcasting of the convict's interview, which was conducted inside Tihar jail here, will continue till further orders.

The petition, filed by a law student, has sought lifting of the ban on the ground that it is 'nothing but a honest look at the mind and mindset of one of the convicted rapists of the young woman'.
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22:55   White House lockdown triggered by bang now lifted: Reports
The White House lockdown triggered by a loud bang just moments before President Barack Obama and his family were due to take off by helicopter from the South Lawn has been lifted, media reports said on Saturday.

Read this story HERE
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22:10   CBI files charge sheet in Kerala RSS activist murder case
The CBI today filed charge sheet against 19 accused in a murder case of a RSS leader in Kerala's Kannur district.

The probe agency filed the charge sheet in a special CBI court in Thalassery under various sections of IPC, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and Explosive Substances Act in the murder case of E Manoj, an office bearer of RSS, by CPI-M activists last year, a CBI spokesperson said here. CBI had registered a case in November last on the state government's request after the incident took place in Thalassery in Kannur district on September 1, 2014.

Manoj was allegedly killed by hurling bombs and inflicting knife injuries, when he was travelling in a vehicle through Kathirur-Ukkas Motta road, by a group of workers of a political party (CPI-M) under the leadership of K T Vikraman and others, the CBI said.
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21:48  
A day before the completion of one year since the mysterious disappearance of MH-370, noted sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik today sculpted a sand formation of the missing Malaysian airliner.

"I have raised my concern three times by creating different sand art. Today for the fourth time I have sculpted another art to show my concern about the tragedy," Pattnaik said.

Pattnaik has created sand sculpture of the missing Malayasian flight within a big question mark with message "Where is MH370" at Puri beach of Odisha.
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21:41   8 hours allotted to discusson on land acquisition bill in LS
Eight hours have been allotted for the discussion on the controversial Land Acquisition amendment Bill which is likely to come up for consideration and passage in the Lok Sabha on Monday

 Financial business, including the discussion on railway and general budgets for 2015-15 and consideration and passing of the Bills to replace the ordinances will be the main focus of the business before both the Houses of Parliament during the third week of the budget session of Parliament beginning March 9, government said today.

The government business in the Lok Sabha for the next week includes consideration and passing of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, besides discussion and voting on Railway Budget, Demands for Grants on Account(Railways) and consideration and passing of related Appropriate Bills and discussion and voting on general budget for 2015-16.
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21:28   Mayank Gandhi threatens to quit AAP
Rumblings in Aam Aadmi Party took a new turn today when AAP leader Mayank Gandhi threatened to quit, accusing a 'small group of party decision-makers' in Delhi of targeting him for decrying removal of Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav from the party's Political Affairs Committee.

He also said that a concerted effort was being made on the social media to portray him as 'anti-party' and 'anti-AK' (Arvind Kejriwal).

Gandhi claimed similar attempts were made to "humiliate" and oust Yadav and Bhushan from the party but they overturned that plan by not quitting.
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21:27   Live! Kejriwal's sugar still high, but responding well: Doctor
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's blood sugar levels were still on the higher sidebut he was responding well to the nature cure regimen for his ailments, a senior doctor treating him at the naturopathy institute here said today.

"We conducted a blood test on Kejriwal, and the sugar levels in his blood are on the higher side," Dr Babina Nandakumar, chief medical officer at Jindal Nature Cure Institute on city outskirts, told PTI.

The 46-year-old Aam Aadmi Party leader was admitted to the Institute for a 10-day nature cure treatment of his persistent chronic cough problem and uncontrolled sugar level on Thursday last.
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21:12   Pakistan arrests 45 Indian fishermen
At least 45 Indian fishermen have been arrested by Pakistani authorities for allegedly violating territorial waters in the Arabian Sea, police said today.

Pakistan Maritime Security Agency arrested the fishermen yesterday near the Sir Creek area in the Arabian Sea close to Karachi's coastal area and seized their boats.

"We have seized eight boats from them as well and we arrested them after warning them several times to leave the Pakistani territorial waters," a spokesman for the MSA said.

They were allegedly arrested in Pakistan waters inside the unmarked sea boundary. The MSA handed over the fishermen to police, who have registered a case.
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20:56   BJP should ask Mufti if he is an Indian: artcle in RSS mouthpiece
An article in RSS mouthpiece 'Organiser' has told BJP to ask Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed if he is an Indian or not and that he cannot adopt "double standards" by making remarks like thanking Pakistan and militants for peaceful polls in the state.

The article 'Sparking Controversy' written by former CBI Director Joginder Singh is also critical of government of India's response to the plight of 3.70 lakh Hindus and Sikhs who were forced to leave Kashmir Valley and asked the government to have the "will power" for taking some decisions about them.
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20:25   Bangladesh PM narrowly escapes bomb blast
Bangladesh Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina today had a narrow escape when several bombs exploded in a busy commercial area here minutes after her convoy passed through it. Several crude bombs exploded in Dhaka's Karwan Bazar only 10 minutes after Hasina's convoy passed the area.

Hasina was on her way to address a rally organised by the ruling Awami League in the capital's Suhrawardy Udyan, to mark the anniversary of the historic public address by the Father of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1971.

One police official received minor injuries in the blasts. "But the official, ASI Mahbub, is fine and is still on duty," bdnews24 online quoted a police official as saying. The blasts occurred amid an ongoing transport blockade and a shutdown across Bangladesh, enforced by the Opposition BNP and its allies.
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20:16   Separatist leader Masrath Alam freed from JK prison
Masrath Alam, leader of the hardline-faction of Hurriyat, who had spearheaded the stone-peltingcv agitations in the valley in 2008 and 2010, was on Saturday released from prison following the new government's policy of freeing political prisoners who do not face criminal charges.   

DGP, J&K, K Rajendra Kumar was asked whether the process of release of political prisoners has begun at the level of the police.

"Any direction coming from the the government would be looked into and would be worked out," the DGP said.
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20:07   Avalanche threat looms large in Himachal Pradesh
Avalanche threat loomed large over high altitude tribal areas and higher hills of Chamba following heavy snowfall during the past two weeks while severe cold wave conditions persisted in mid and higher hills. The Himachal State Disaster Management Authority has issued warning against avalanche threat on March 8 and asked people living in high altitude tribal areas and higher hills of Chamba not to venture out. 

The authority has directed the district administration to take all preventive and precautionary measures keeping in view the avalanches threat.

The state capital Shimla was lashed by strong winds accompanied by showers and thick fog engulfed the region, reducing visibility to a few meters.
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19:59   30 fresh deaths take swine flu toll to 1,319 in India
hirty more persons, including a noted theatre personality, have died due to swine flu in the country taking the toll over the 1,300 mark even as SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, suspected to be suffering from the disease, was hospitalised.

Union Health Ministry data said 1,319 persons have perished due to the disease while the number of persons affected across the states stood at 24,661 as on March 6. The ministry had yesterday said that 1,289 had died while the number of those affected by it across the states was 23,922 as on March 5 this year. 

Noted theatre personality and former HoD, foreign languages department of Agra University, Jitendra Raghvanshi died of swine flu today at a Delhi hospital. He was also an active member of the CPI.
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19:51   Nagaland puts to use paramilitary forces, no army flag march
Nagaland government is putting to use services of paramilitary forces to instill a sense of security among non-Naga communities of the state in view of the lynching incident in Dimapur on March five. 

Commissioner, Sentiyanger Imchen, said that with a view to instilling a sense of security among non-Naga communities residing in the state, especially Dimapur, the government has been utilising the service of Assam Rifles, besides the state police and Indian Reserve Battalion jawans.

Asked if any flag march was conducted by the Army in Dimapur today as reported by a section of media, he replied in the negative and maintained the paramilitary forces were at hand to instill a sense of security among the non-local residents.
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19:43   Hubble Space Telescope captures exploding star
Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have spotted for the first time a distant supernova split into four images by cosmic lens.             The multiple images of the exploding star are caused by the powerful gravity of a foreground elliptical galaxy embedded in a massive cluster of galaxies.

This unique observation will help astronomers refine their estimates of the amount and distribution of dark matter in the lensing galaxy and cluster, researchers said.

Dark matter cannot be seen directly but is believed to make up most of the universe's mass.

The gravity from both the elliptical galaxy and the galaxy cluster distorts and magnifies the light from the supernova behind them, an effect called gravitational lensing.
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19:09   Wickramasinghe's threat shows its 'bad days' for India: Congress
Targeting NDA government over Sri Lankan premier Ranil Wickramasinghe's controversial remarks that Indian fishermen may be shot if they intruded into their waters, the Congress today said it was "bad days" for India if foreign countries felt no qualms while making such threats.

"It's "bure din" for India if SL can dare to flash eyes to India as it hs on fishermen's issues," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said in a series of tweets.

"It seems the #56InchChest was only for Indian voters and not for foreign threats," he said in another tweet. Singvi also criticised Wickramasinghe for his remarks and said he does not "deserve" to be Sri Lanka's PM if he cannot differentiate between intruders and straying fishermen.

"Yes Mr Ranil, u can shoot intruders entering ur house; bt if u shoot straying innocent bystanders u r liable to be shot at, tried 4 murder."
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19:09   Wickramasinghe's threat shows its 'bad days' for India: Congress
Targeting NDA government over Sri Lankan premier Ranil Wickramasinghe's controversial remarks that Indian fishermen may be shot if they intruded into their waters, the Congress today said it was "bad days" for India if foreign countries felt no qualms while making such threats.

"It's "bure din" for India if SL can dare to flash eyes to India as it hs on fishermen's issues," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said in a series of tweets.

"It seems the #56InchChest was only for Indian voters and not for foreign threats," he said in another tweet. Singvi also criticised Wickramasinghe for his remarks and said he does not "deserve" to be Sri Lanka's PM if he cannot differentiate between intruders and straying fishermen.

"Yes Mr Ranil, u can shoot intruders entering ur house; bt if u shoot straying innocent bystanders u r liable to be shot at, tried 4 murder."
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18:58   Journalists' body demands lifting of ban on BBC documentary
The Indian Journalists Union (IJU) today demanded that the central government immediately revoke the ban imposed on the documentary film "India`s Daughter' based on gang-rape of Nirbhaya in Delhi in 2012, saying it amounted to severe restriction on the freedom of expression guaranteed under the Constitution.

In a statement, IJU President S N Sinha, Secretary-General Devulapalli Amar and Press Council of India Member K Amarnath rejected the argument that the film glorified one of the convicts in the case, Mukesh Singh, by highlighting his 'perverse' comments slighting the feminine gender and justifying his heinous crime.
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18:55   At least 33 dead in northeast Nigeria bomb attacks
Three bombings rocked separate targets in northeast Nigeria's largest city of Maiduguri today, killing at least 33 people in violence blamed on Boko Haram.

The first attack was carried out by a female suicide bomber at the Baga fish market at roughly 11:20 am (local time), said Abubakar Gamandi, the head of the fisherman's union in Borno State, of which Maiduguri is the capital.

"A female suicide bomber exploded as soon as she stepped out of a motorised rickshaw," said Gamandi, who was at the scene. "Eighteen people were killed."
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18:42   5 killed at a nightclub attack in Mali capital
A masked gunman opened fire on a restaurant in Mali's capital Bamako early Saturday morning, killing at least two Europeans -- a Frenchman and a Belgian -- and three Malians.

Read this story HERE
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18:41   Togadia banned from entering Udupi for 'Hindu Samajotsava'
VHP International Working President Pravin Togadia has been banned for a week from entering Udupi district of Karnataka for the 'Hindu Samjotsava' rally to be held on March 9.

The Udupi district administration and the police have imposed the ban to prevent any provocative speech by the VHP leader which might disrupt communal harmony and create law and order problems, Deputy Commissioner, Udapi district Vishal R said.

Condemning the ban, VHP district president Suprasad Shetty said it is aimed at hurting Hindu sentiments.

"The government's move is aimed at hurting the sentiments of the Hindus," he said. Shetty said the state government's "anti-Hindu" policies had been exposed.
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18:24   Uber cab rape case: Re-examination of victim continues
The re-examination of the woman, allegedly raped by a driver of Uber cab service provider, continued today in a Delhi court where the accused asked her about her visit to a Gurgaon hotel with her friends before the incident. 

The victim is being re-examined in-camera by the counsel for accused Shiv Kumar Yadav, whose plea to recall several prosecution witnesses was recently allowed by the Delhi high court. 

According to sources, Yadav's counsel asked the woman several questions relating to her outing with friends in the hotel on the evening of December 5, 2014, after which she had boarded the taxi driven by the accused from Vasant Vihar and was allegedly raped by him.
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18:22   Runaway schoolgirls' family blame Scotland Yard
Relatives of three runaway London schoolgirls - believed to have joined Islamic State extremists in Syria, have criticised Scotland Yard for not passing on "vital" information that the trio were at risk of being radicalised.

The families said they might have been able to intervene if they had known one of the girls' friends was already in Syria and the police had spoken to the trio about it. Shamima Begum and Amira Abase, both 15, and Kadiza Sultana, 16, were each given a letter for their parents, but the girls never passed on the letters to their families.

The police should have given the letter directly to the families, the relatives said. The Metropolitan Police said the girls had not been seen as a flight risk.
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18:11   Swaraj takes up fishermen issue with Lanka PM
) India today took up with Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe the "humanitarian" issue of fishermen's rights as controversy raged over his remarks that Indian fishermen may be shot if they intruded into Sri Lankan waters.

On a two-day trip ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit here next week, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also made it clear to him that there was no comparison between the issues of Italian sailors and the fishermen.

"In the discussion with Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, she (Swaraj) raised the matter regarding issues related to Indian fishermen.
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17:30   Pak court indicts three Karachi airport attack suspects
An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan today indicted three persons for their involvement in a brazen Taliban attack on the country's largest international airport in Karachi last year that killed 39 people.

Asif Zaheer, Nadeem, Sarmad Siddiqui were produced in the Karachi ATC amid tight security. All the three suspects pleaded not guilty to the charges against them. The court has summoned all witnesses in the case for the next hearing scheduled for March 14.

The trio were arrested by the Counter Terrorism Department of the Sindh police in October for providing financial and logistical support to the attackers.

On June 8, about 10 Taliban militants disguised as police guards stormed the Jinnah airport premises and opened fire with machine guns and a rocket launcher, triggering an all- night-long gun-battle with Pakistani security forces. At least 39 people, including all 10 attackers who besieged the airport's old terminal, were killed in the exchange of fire.
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17:28   2 suspects in Nemtsov murder detained: Russian state security
Two men have been detained over the murder of Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, the head of the Federal Security Service has announced.

Read this story HERE
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17:25   Passage of insurance bill in LS 'deplorable': CITU
CITU today termed as "deplorable"the NDA government's act of getting the insurance bill passed in the Lok Sabha despite opposition from all trade unions, and extended its support to the one-day nationwide strike call given by insurance sector employees on March 9

"CITU denounces the NDA government's deplorable act of getting the Insurance Law (Amendment) Bill 2015 passed in the Lok Sabha by neglecting the opposition by all trade unions and the public sector insurance workers and in dangerous disregard of democratic parliamentary propriety," the Centre of Indian Trade Unions said in a statement.

Welcoming the call given by insurance sector employees for a day's nationwide strike on March 9 against the government action, CITU appealed to all trade unions irrespective of affiliations to organise solidarity actions in support of the strike.
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17:19   'Schematics' ready to help govt block porn sites: NCSS
The National Cyber Safety and Security Standards is ready with the 'schematics' that would help government block all porn websites which are mainly responsible for crimes against women, Dr S Amarprasad Reddy, additional director general, NCSSS, today said.

There were three crore porn websites and recently the Supreme Court also asked about the possibility of blocking them, he said.

"Now the schematics for blocking the websites are ready, and it will soon be given to the government for operation," he said at the inauguration of the First National Cyber Defence Research Centre at Kalasalingam University.

Pornographic addiction was the reason for crimes against children also, he claimed. About 7,200 children were raped every year,and many child abuse cases go unreported, he said.
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17:09   Heptullah slams UPA govt for allowing to make BBC docu
Union Minister Najma Heptullah today slammed the previous UPA government for allowing to make the controversial BBC documentary on the 2012 Delhi gang rape incident, saying it did not check the parameters, script or nature of the documentary being made.

"When the previous government gave permission for the film, it should have checked what are the parameters, the script and what they were making. There should have been some control but it failed to do it," she told reporters here, strongly supporting Home Minister Rajnath Singh's stand on the issue.

"The action taken by the Home Minister I think is a strong step... whatever steps the government takes keeping various things in mind, it will be right," she said.

Filmmakers coming from outside, she contended, make films from their own perspectives. They do not present the films from the Indian context nor keep local issues in mind while making a film, she said.
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17:08   AAP distances itself from Parikh's views
The Aam Admi Party has distanced itself from the views of an executive member of the party's state team in which he has expressed solidarity with Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan who were removed as the party's PAC recently.

The party's state unit in a release said that the views expressed by Rajesh Parikh were his personal and the state unit was with the party's official stand of removing the two leaders from PAC.

"The party's state unit is with Arvind Kejriwal and does not approve the views expressed by Parikh, which are his personal and not the views of the party," AAP spokesperson Mulkraj said. Yesterday, Parikh had reportedly stated that the removal of Yadav and Bhushan was wrong, and it was "one man's" decision.
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16:59  
JUST IN: Mumbai court allows prosecution to rely on statement of eyewitness, late Ravindra Patil, in 2002 hit-and-run case involving Salman Khan.
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16:59   Tharoor slams Modi govt; says all men should be made to see the film
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor slammed the Narendra Modi government for asking the United Kingdom to ban the documentary on the December 16, 2012 gangrape-murder case. Tharoor said the government embarrassed the country by its move and all men should watch the documentary.

Tharoor said, "No, the ban was not justified. The government has embarrassed the country with its disgraceful conduct on this matter by sending Indian court orders to foreign countries where democracy permits greater freedom of expression. This kind of thin skinned attitude is really disgraceful."

Read more HERE
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16:40   Central security forces failed to stop lynching: Gogoi
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said that the security at Dimapur Central Jail, from where a rape accused was dragged out and lynched by a mob, was under central security forces who failed to stop the lynching. 

"The security in the jail was under central security forces who failed to stop the lynching. It is the Centre who is responsible for ensuring the security of the inmates," the chief mMinister said.

 Gogoi said he has written to his Nagaland counterpart T R Zeliang to ensure the safety and security of Assamese people in the neighbouring state.

The accused Syed Farid Khan hailed from Bosla village in Badarpur of Karimganj district of Assam. Zeliang has assured that all measures would be taken to provide security to their lives and property, the Assam CM said.
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15:10   Amnesty International demands investigation into lynching
Amnesty International India demanded that the incident of lynching of the rape accused in Nagaland must be investigated and members of the mob should be brought to justice. "This is a serious lapse in the criminal justice system and the Nagaland government must ensure that every person who was part of the mob is brought to justice," Amnesty International India Programmes Director Shemeer Babu said.
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14:35   Sena lashes out against 'poisonous' Mufti Mohammad
The Shiv Sena on Saturday came down heavily on Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed for his demands and warned that the nation will have to pay heavy price if Sayeed's 'poisonous' demands were fulfilled.

"Demanding the remains of Afzal Guru is anti-national. Guru had committed a crime against the nation and showing sympathy to him would mean ridiculing the judgment of the supreme court and the Indian law," said an editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamna.  

The Saamna editorial has also targetted the BJP-PDP alliance in Jammu & Kashmir. "The positive politics of BJP will create trouble for that party but it would pose danger to the nation. Those who know the reputation of Mufti Sayeed and his family would have never joined hands with them," said the hard- hitting editorial. 
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14:29   When Sania Mirza turned a cricket expert
Like millions of fans in India and across the world, tennis star Sania Mirza too is hoping her favourite cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni to bring back the World Cup. "I did watch yesterday's game. It was another demonstration of the Captain Cool. Love the way he handles the situations and wish him and the entire team the best of luck," Sania said. "My heart and money are with India. I appeal to the fans all over the world to support our team," she added.
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13:38   Awkward! Sushma Swaraj meets Sri Lanka PM
Hours after he made controversial remarks about Indian fishermen being shot if they entered Sri Lankan waters, Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe met with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. Could you wonder if the issue came up whilst they met?
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13:09   Home Minister Rajnath Singh admitted to ICU in Delhi hospital
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has been admitted to a private hospital in the nation's capital following a heart problem, a senior doctor said. Rajnath Singh was brought at Medicity Medanta hospital around 9.15 am Saturday and was admitted to the ICU. The team of doctors treating him refused to say anything about his condition.
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13:01   Modi on a hot tin Lankan roof
The transcript of the interview given by the Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe to a TV channel in the southern state of Tamil Nadu makes very painful reading. 

Ranil's interview has appeared when External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is actually visiting Colombo to prepare the visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which is reportedly slated to take place later this month. 

To put it mildly, Ranil's interview is not exactly the kind of curtain-raiser for Modi's visit that Delhi or the Bharatiya Janata Party's foreign-affairs whizz kids would have expected.

Read the full report HERE
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12:58   Here's why Freedom of Expression is a joke in India
Events of the last three months -- most recently the ban of BBC 4 documentary India's Daughter -- reveal the shortcomings of a government that seems to believe India needs to be kept a secret from itself.

Read more HERE
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12:52   Sonam Kapoor discharged from hospital
Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor was discharged from the hospital today after being treated for swine flu. Kapoor, 29, who was admitted to a private hospital in Mumbai last week, took to Twitter to announce the news of going back to home. "Discharged! Home sweet home!," she posted on Twitter. 

While shooting in Rajkot, the Bollywood fashionista was diagnosed with the swine flu. The actress was then taken to Mumbai on February 28 and admitted to a hospital for treatment.
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12:30   Attempts are being made to call me anti-party: AAP's Mayank Gandhi opens up
After breaking his silence on the removal of Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan from the Aam Aadmi Party's PAC, Mayank Gandhi took to his blog again writing about how party members are now attacking him and accusing him of being anti-party and anti-Kejriwal. 

Read the full post HERE
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12:23   Modi to call joint session of Parliament on March 14 to pass Land Bill?
Amid the chaos and the resistance that the National Democratic Alliance government has faced in Parliament over the Land Acquisition Bill, the Modi-led government is now considering a summoning of a joint session of Parliament on March 14 to pass the controversial law. A highly placed source confirmed that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government is keen to get the land bill passed by March.
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11:45   Mulayam Singh Yadav admitted to Delhi hospital
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam SinghYadav has reportedly been admitted to the Medanta hospital in Gurgaon. According to reports, Mulayam was brought from Lucknow to Delhi last night. 

Mulayam, who is reportedly suffering from urinary infection, was earlier on Thursday admitted to the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Lucknow. 

Mulayam's son and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is presently in the capital along with his wife Dimple Yadav.
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11:17   BBC documentary's US premier to be attended by Streep, Pinto
The BBC documentary, depicting the aftermath of the brutal gang rape and murder of the pre-med student in 2012, will have its US premier next week and will be attended by Oscar winning actress Meryl Streep and Frieda Pinto in a show of support for the film banned in India. 

The US premier of the documentary Storyville: India's daughter on March 9 at the Baruch College of the City University of New York will be presented by NGO Vital Voices Global Partnership and children's development organisation Plan International. 

Streep and Pinto, who is Plan's 'Because I am a Girl' global ambassador, will be joined by the documentary's director Leslee Udwin at the screening. 

Udwin, a Plan ambassador, said the December 2012 rape and the protests that followed was an 'Arab spring for gender equality'. "What impelled me to leave my husband and 2 children for 2 years while I made the film in India was not so much the horror of the rape as the inspiring and extraordinary eruption on the streets. A cry of 'enough is enough'."
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11:06  
JUST IN: Kerala Assembly speaker G Karthikeyan dies in a hospital at Bengaluru. The 66-year-old was suffering from liver cancer.
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10:55   The reason why Afghan men are donning burqas
A group of Afghan men, wearing burqas are marching in Kabul to draw attention to women's rights. The men marched under a leaden sky, with the bright blue burqas falling over their heads down to muddy sneakers and boots. The demonstrators, associated with a group called Afghan Peace Volunteers, said they organised the march ahead of International Women's Day on March 8.

Read more HERE
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10:51   After 5 days, Jammu-Srinagar highway partially restored
After remaining closed for five consecutive days, the strategic Jammu-Srinagar highway was opened up for one-way traffic today ."One-way traffic has been restored on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway today. Traffic will move from Jammu to Srinagar. No vehicle will be allowed to move on the highway in the opposite direction," a senior traffic police officer said. More than 4,000 people were stranded in Jammu for the last five days due to the closure of the highway.
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09:55   Amal Clooney to teach at Columbia Law School in New York
So your new husband is making a movie in New York and you've got some time on your hands: What do you do? If you're Amal Alamuddin Clooney, the new Mrs.George Clooney and the most famous human-rights lawyer in the world, you sign up to teach at a New York law school.

Columbia University announced that Clooney (the lawyer, that is) will lecture on human rights law at Columbia Law School this spring as a visitor to the faculty and as a senior fellow with the Law School's Human Rights Institute.

Read more HERE
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09:42   Indian fishermen will be shot if they venture into our waters, says SL PM
Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe has justified Lankan Navy's actions against Indian fishermen saying that that the law creates provisions for a man to 'shoot' an intruder in his home. 

In an interview, he said, "If someone tries to break into my house, I can shoot. If he gets killed... Law allows me to do that... On the fishermen issue, as far as I'm concerned, I have very very strong lines. These are our waters... Fishermen of Jaffna should be allowed to fish. We stopped them from fishing, which is why the Indian fishermen came in. They are willing to have a deal... Let's have a reasonable deal... But not at the expense of the income of the northern fishermen."

Wickramasinghe comments come ahead of Prime Minister Modi's scheduled visit to Sri Lanka next week. The Lankan PM feels that the shootings does not violate human rights and questions "Why are you coming into our waters? Why are you fishing in our waters? Stay on the Indian side.There will be no issue."
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09:19   Delhi gang rape movie: Bar Council issues show cause notice to lawyers
The Bar Council of India has issued notices to two defence lawyers for their remarks in a documentary India's Daughter - depicting the brutal gang rape and murder of a paramedic student in Delhi in 2012 -- that have sparked massive outrage and condemnation. In its notice, the council has given the lawyers -- ML Sharma and AK Singh -- three weeks' time to explain why disciplinary action should not be initiated against them for their remarks.

The lawyers' comments triggered a massive outpouring of criticism and demands of punishment for the duo on social media with fellow lawyers even calling for a revocation of their licences.

Image: Advocate ML Sharma, one of the defence lawyers in the December 16 gang rape case. 

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