Anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare today said a 'jail bharo aandolan' will be started across the country taking up the questions raised by farmers and demanded a separate Krishi Ayog for them.             

Two extremists who attacked a landmark museum in Tunisia, killing 23 people, got weapons training at camps in Libya, an official said Friday.

26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Ajmal Kasab's demand for Mutton Biryani in jail was just a myth and was "concocted" to stop an "emotional wave" which was being created in favour of the militant, claimed Ujjwal Nikam, public prosecutor in the case.

Swine flu claimed the lives of 33 more persons pushing the toll towards the 1900 mark, while the total number of persons affected by the H1N1 virus touched 32,000.        

A 20-year-old US student who was shot in the shoulder during the deadly Arizona rampage this week took it in his stride and posted online a series of bloody selfies rather than calling for medical help.

Arizona-based college student Isaac Martinez was shot during the deadly Arizona rampage on Wednesday that left one person dead and five others injured, but the selfie-savvy youngster started posting smiling selfies with a bloody face instead of calling 911.

Martinez did not just stop there and continued documenting his harrowing ordeal online as he was being taken to the hospital, posting a series of bloody selfies, Fox News reported.

Once in the hospital, he shared another selfie which showed him lying in bed bare-chested with a white dressing on his bloodied shoulder. "Any higher or lower it could have hit a artery, or shatter my shoulder blade. It was a miracle hit," he wrote.

After being released from the hospital, Martinez again updated his condition, saying that the bullet struck him from behind and exited out of his collar area. "I'm glad it went the way it did rather than any other way," he posted.

Shahir Sabale passes away at 92. Sabale was a cult figure in Maharashtra for popularising Shivaji by singing pawwadas (a song of praise).

He is famous for the zesty 'Jai Jai Maharastra Mazha, Garja Maharastra mazha'. He is also a lyricist, singer, dholaki-player and a playwright.

Sable was honoured with the Padmashri in 1998.

he passed away at 92 (not 94 as mentioned earlier)

Congress president Sonia Gandhi advises Karnataka CM to handover the probe into the death of IAS officer DK Ravi to the CBI. 

"High salaries and pension bills' eating into its revenue had held the Punjab Government back from increasing its employees' salaries. But, those governing and representing the state's electorate have now decided to increase their own wages -- from 100 per cent to 57 per cent.

A day after presenting the Budget with a huge revenue deficit of Rs 6,394 crore and a salary and pension bill of Rs 25,536.35 crore, the Punjab Cabinet, which met today under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, approved doubling the salary of the CM and Chief Parliamentary Secretaries.

Read

The brutal murder of an Indian national, Prabha Arun Kumar, in Sydney on March 7 has reignited debates around the safety of Indians abroad.

The spate of violent attacks on Indians in Australia over the past decade has persistently fuelled nagging tensions in India-Australia relations, puncturing the sense of optimism that had emerged on that front.

Read

Top corporate houses, including Reliance Group, Birla Group, Tata Group and DLF have established 'Electoral Trusts' to offer funds to political parties, Parliament was informed today.

These trusts are being registered under a new framework that enables applicable tax benefits for funds given to various political outfits. These groups have set up their respective 'Electoral Trusts' under the Electoral Trust Scheme put in place by government in 2013.

Maharashtra Child Commission directs the Mumbai police to register an FIR against Shah Rukh Khan in the Wankhede brawl matter.

In 2012, the Bollywood superstar got into an ugly spat with Mumbai Cricket Association officials at the end of an IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders, in Mumbai.

According to MCA officials, Shah Rukh, who came to the Wankhede stadium at the end of the match, first got into a fight with the security men and when the MCA staff intervened he threatened them as well.

The Mumbai Police had registered a non-cognisable offence against Shah Rukh and three others in connection with the May 16, 2012, incident involving them and officials of the Mumbai Cricket Association at Wankhede Stadium.

SRK was banned for five years from entering the MCA premises, including the Wankhede Stadium, by the Association's Managing Committee, headed by the late Vilasrao Deshmukh.

Rajya Sabha passes Coal Bill. 

The Maharashtra government today made it clear that there was no plan to teach Bhagwad Gita to municipal school students in Mumbai.

"There is absolutely no such proposal," Education Minister Vinod Tawde said, when asked abut media reports quoting an official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation that all municipal schools in the city and suburbs would teach Bhagwad Gita to students in order to make them more focused, boost their morale and impart knowledge about spirituality.

"Besides teaching Bhagwad Gita, Quran and Bible, there are other ways to inculcate value education among students. We are exploring the other ways," Tawde told reporters at Vidhan Bhawan.

BMC education committee chairman Vinod Shelar said, "There is no such plan by the BMC." The official has been misquoted, Shelar said.

The BMC has 1153 schools with a total strength of 4,78,000 students. The corporation spends over Rs 3,500 crore every year to impart free education to children in nine regional languages.

A Pakistani court today dismissed the plea of Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi against his detention under a public security act, keeping the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attack in jail till next month.

Lahore High Court judge Mahmood Maqbool Bajwa dismissed 55-year-old Lakhvi's plea against his detention under Maintenance of Public Ordinance by the Punjab government on March 14.

In the high art of Pakistani fast bowling, where the short ball is mostly used as a warning, Wahab's uncomplicated, extreme pace is an indulgence that stands out. Read

Faisal Shariff tweets, "Just praying semis & final turn out to be close encounters & light up the #CWC2015 Right from 1999, 2003 & 2007 finals have been duds."

Almost half the Union Cabinet and many leaders of opposition were present as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley hosted a Marwari lunch for his colleagues.

The 17-course lunch was served at his chambers in Parliament.

Most of food on the menu was prepared at BJP MP Ajay Sancheti's  home and brought into Parliament House.

NCP senior leader Praful Patel jokingly stated it was a thanksgiving for passing the Mines Bill. Also present at the lunch was Congress leader Rajiv Sukhla. 

Jaitley, however, is non-vegetarian and is known to love his tandoori chicken.

In fact, in August, last year, Jaitley hosted a lunch for a few close friends in his chambers inside Parliament house. The lunch was prepared and brought to Parliament, (yes, you guessed it) by Ajay Sancheti, BJP MP from Maharashtra and therefore was primarily Maharastrian cuisine and a pure vegetarian spread.

MPs across parties --  Supriya Sule, DMK leader Kanimozhi, Javed Akthar, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Rajiv Sukla, Naresh Gujral, Dushyant Singh, Anurag Thakur Ministers Nirmala Sitaraman, Prakash javedkar, Dharmedra Pradhan and Harsimrat Kaur -- were present. Sule wanted non vegetarian cuisine, while Harsimrat Kaur was more specific -- Amritsari Kulche and  Fathepuri Chhole. Burp.

The BJP government is believed to have drawn up a new strategy to ensure the Land Bill gets the green signal in Parliament.

A new Land Bill will be introduced in the second half of the Budget session in the Lok Sabha. This bill will be presented before a Joint Select Committee and suggestions for changes can be sent to the JSC in a month.

The suggestions for changes to be incorporated in the bill can be sent over the Internet. The government is also planning to ensure maximum interaction with the maximum number of political parties.

The government wants the Budget session to be extended by a week, by which time both houses will pass the Land Bill (or so it hopes).

This strategy will be put in place once regional parties like the AIADMK, BJD, BSP, SP, NCP and the Trinamool can be convinced to come on board.

Some of the basic amendments suggested by the BJP committee report on the Land Bill is that RSS inputs will be in corporated.

And yes, sources tell us that the Land Bill will be law by the middle of May. 

What we can and should point out to you is that during the voting on the Mines Bill, the Congress could not muster all its 68 MPs. Ghulam Nabi Azad is believed to be concerned about the 12 absent MPs who refused to give any reason for staying away from voting. 

Heads up, folks. News on the still MIA Mr G.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has been sending text messages and has been in touch with a few senior Congress MPs.

News comes in that Mr Gandhi had directed the MPs especially from the Rajya Sabha to oppose the Mines Bill.

Two Congress MPs who received this SMS shared the text with the media in Central Hall of Parliament today.

But clearly, his message was ignored by a large majority of Congress men in the upper house, which passed the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Amendment Bill, today.

So, was there any deal that was struck due to which Mr G's text was ignored? The real story will never be revealed.

Update on the probe into the death of Sunanda Pushkar. Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi clarified that India hasn't established any contact with the Pakistan High Commissioner regarding the questioning of Mehr Tarar. "These reports are untrue. As far as examining of Mehr Tarar is concerned, it will be done if required," Bassi said.

Bassi's statement came in the wake of reports that the Delhi Police has written to the Pakistan High Commission asking it to facilitate the questioning of journalist Mehr Tarar in the case.

The development comes just days after Delhi Police said that it may question the Pakistani journalist over whom Sunanda fought with her husband Shashi Tharoor before her death last year. Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi had said that Tarar may be questioned as she may throw light in the case.

Buddy Elias, the closest living relative of Anne Frank and an ardent guardian of her legacy, died on Monday at his home in Basel, Switzerland -- a house whose attic yielded a cache of long-forgotten letters from Anne and her family that formed the basis of a recent book. He was 89.

Read

First image of the Solar Eclipse in Newquay, England. Lakhs of people in the UK and northern Europe are witnessing the best solar eclipse in years. In a solar eclipse, a path across the Earth's surface is plunged into darkness as the Moon comes between us and the Sun.

The eclipse commenced at 07:41 GMT but the deepest part of the Moon's shadow first touches the Earth's surface at 09:13 GMT. Experts are warning people not to look directly at the Sun, reports the BBC.

The Guardian reports that phases of the eclipse will be visible from everywhere in Europe, most of northern Africa, western Asia and parts of the Middle East. Saint John's in Newfoundland, Canada, will also see a small bit of the eclipse at sunrise, but the rest of North America will not be able to view it.

The sun will be completely blocked out on the Norwegian islands of Svalbard, where some hotels have been booked out for the event since 2008.

Japan marked the 20th anniversary today of coordinated attacks on the Tokyo subway system, when a doomsday cult released a Nazi-developed nerve gas on packed trains, killing 13 people and injuring 6,000.

At Kasumigaseki, one of the hardest hit subway stations, staff and relatives of some of those who died in the biggest attack on post-WWII Japan fell silent at 8 am to remember those who were lost and those still affected.

"Twenty years have passed but I think the victims are still suffering," said Fumiko Suzuki, who was there to pay tribute to a friend made ill by the invisible clouds of sarin that spread through rush-hour trains.

"We should not forget about the attack." Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also visited the station in the afternoon to place flowers in memory.

"I offered my condolences to the victims as we marked the 20th anniversary of the attack," he said.

"The incident isn't over yet because many are still suffering from the after-effects of the sarin."

Thirteen members of the Aum Supreme Truth cult remain on death row for their part in the March 20, 1995 terror and for other murders and kidnappings the group carried out.

Cult leader Shoko Asahara, a blind mystic who espoused a blend of Hinduism and Buddhism, was convicted of ordering five teams of followers to dump packets of sarin on trains, puncturing them with the sharpened tip of an umbrella.

Thousands of commuters were unknowingly exposed to the colourless, odourless nerve gas, which even in low doses can cause paralysis of the lungs and neurological damage. Some died almost instantly, while others suffered gradually worsening symptoms.

According to preliminary reports, the locomotive driver of the Dehradun-Varanasi Janta Express apparently overshot the signal and as a result, the engine and two adjoining coaches derailed, Railway Spokesperson Anil Saxena said. Divisional Commissioner Mahesh Gupta said 15 persons were killed and about 50 persons were injured in the accident.

Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser has died aged 84. A statement from his office said Fraser, who led the nation between 1975 and 1983, died after a short illness.

The statement from his office said he "died peacefully in the early hours of the morning" on Friday."We appreciate that this will be a shock to all who knew and loved him, but ask that the family be left in peace at this difficult time," it added.  -- BBC

The BBC on the cheating during the Std X exams in Bihar. See

The 71-year-old nun, who was gang-raped at a convent in Ranaghat and was discharged from hospital in the early hours today has she left for an undisclosed destination, even as no arrests were made even six days after the incident. 

The Maharashtra government is considering to make it mandatory for all elevators in multi-storey building across Mumbai to have glass doors and CCTV cameras. The Opposition said that in the last few months, many cases have come to light of people getting stuck inside lifts, and asked whether these elevators were being inspected, in the wake of several posts of inspecting staff lying vacant.

More tragedy for IAS officer DK Ravi's family. ANI quotes AN Natraj Gowda, Ravi's relative, saying that his aunt was so shocked at his death that she had barely eaten and today she died of a heart attack. 

Former PM Manmohan Singh will move the Supreme Court to quash the CBI special court summons in the coal allocation case. Former union minister Kapil Sibal and Supreme Court lawyer KTS Tulsi will appear in court on his behalf.

Dr Singh has been made an accused in the case related to the allotment of coal blocks during his term at the helm of the previous UPA regime.

The Congress party, which met under the leadership of president Sonia Gandhi, has vowed to fight the case politically and legally, and the party's top legal eagles could appear for Singh in the apex court.

The Patna High Court today has directed the Bihar DGP to ensure the conduct of the ongoing Class 10 board examination is free and fair.

This follows a petition on statement by Bihar's Education Minister PK Shahi that cheating-free examinations were not possible in the state without the cooperation of parents.

More than 600 students taking the class 10 board exams in Bihar's Hajipur district have been expelled in the last two days after they were caught cheating in the examination.

The cheating did not just involve the students but even their parents who clambered over school building walls to pass chits and assist their wards and friends.

District officials said that over 100 parents were arrested on Thursday.

Bihar Education Minister P K Shahi on Thursday said that free and fair exam was not possible unless parents and guardians of over 1.4 million students in the state appearing for the examination cooperate with the state government.

"It is not possible to fully stop cheating during the exam,' Shahi said at a press conference.

"It is the responsibility of the society, not the state government alone, to ensure a cheating-free exam. More than the government parents and guardians of students should come forward for it," Shahi said.

MI Khan/Patna

All parties, barring Congress and Left, support govt in passage of Mines Bill, as JD-U walks out.

Mines and Minerals bill passed in Rajya Sabha.

Update on the Dehradun-Varanasi Janta Express derailment.

Rescue teams from Lucknow and Rae Bareli have rushed to the spot and cranes have been deployed to lift the bogies. The seriously injured would be sent to King George Medical University and Sanjay Gandhi Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences -- both in Lucknow.

A trauma centre in KGMU was being kept ready to handle the injured passengers.

Ambulances carrying teams of doctors have been rushed to the accident site to help the passengers who were seen screaming in pain.

Gas cutters were being arranged to cut open the crushed compartments to pull out passengers.

At least six passengers are reported killed after the engine and 2 bogies of the train derailed in Bachhrawan, in Rae Bareli district of Uttar Pradesh today.

Home minister Rajnath Singh speaking in the Lok Sabha on the militant attack in Kathua, Jammu.

Singh said the government admired and commends the work done security forces and condoled the death of a civilian shot down by the militants.

He confirmed that two militants were gunned down by security forces.

The home minister has asked home secretary LC Goyal to monitor the situation.

RBI expects banks to pass on the rate cut benefits to customers, says Deputy Governor S S Mundra.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been ranked as the 'world's best leader in handling domestic and international affairs' by China's National Image Global Survey 2014.

The survey polled over 4,500 respondents from nine countries, including the US, UK, Australia, Japan, South Africa, India, Russia, Brazil and China.Chinese President Xi Jinping was ranked second in the survey.

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah has been persuaded to agree to a CBI probe into the death of 36-year-old IAS officer D K Ravi.

The death of the officer has resulted in widespread protests and demands for a CBI probe. Ravi's parents have also demanded CBI probe into their son's death.

After preliminary investigation the police has submitted a report into the condition surrounding the untimely death of Ravi.

Full report by Sheela Bhatt on Rediff.com shortly.

The early morning terrorist attack in Kathua district rocked the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly today with Opposition members seeking an explanation from the government on the incident.

The issue was raised by National Conference MLA Devender Singh Rana who wanted to know about the steps being taken by the government to thwart the attack.

"The House wants to know how the militant attack took place, how the militants were able to launch this attack," Rana said.

Yes!

The two militants involved in the Kathua police station attack have been killed. 

A policeman and a civilian were killed when a group of heavily-armed terrorists attacked a police station in the Kathua district of Jammu early this morning.

Nine other people, including seven from the Central Reserve Police Force, one policeman and one civilian, have been reported injured in the assault which began at 6:20 am.

'Demographic dividend' will remain a mere mantra unless a real policy for youth is laid out. Read

A 16-year-old American national was raped this week allegedly by a 21-year-old African man in a Gurgaon guesthouse.

NDTV reports that the girl has told the police that the man had befriended her on Facebook.

The man, whose nationality has not been ascertained, is said to be on the run.

The Gurgaon police said the teen from Texas in the US, studies through correspondence and lives in Gurgaon with her mother, who works with a multinational company.

She said she had made friends with David, the man she has accused of raping her, on Facebook six months ago and that they had met twice last month, a police spokesperson said.

"After two meetings with her last month, the man took her to a guest house in Sector 38 on March 16 and sexually assaulted her," Assistant Commissioner of Police Rajesh Kumar said.

A medical examination at Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences has confirmed rape, the police said, and a case has been registered.

No arrests have been made. The police said the girl has said in a statement to a magistrate that she does not want the man harmed.

As Maharashtra bans beef, captive lions are being fed chicken in the Borivali national park in Mumbai. With meat traders on strike to protest the new prohibition, tigers, lions and leopards in a city animal safari attraction have been subsisting on poultry.  Read


That's Hemant Morparia's cartoon for Mumbai Mirror today.

Update on the terror attack in Kathua, Jammu.

A policeman was among two persons killed and nine others were injured, including seven CRPF men, when a group of militants of a 'fidayeen' squad dressed in army fatigues stormed a police station in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir in the wee hours today.

A militant was also killed in the operation, according to an injured CRPF constable Bharat Prabhu.

Police officers said a group of two to three militants of a 'fidayeen' squad stormed Rajbagh police station in the wee hours and opened indiscriminate fire.

"It is a fidayeen attack," IGP Jammu Danish Rana said. Prabhu said the militants wearing Army uniforms intercepted a jeep going from Jammu to Pathankot on the pretext of checking the vehicle.

Nobel laureate Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan has been confirmed as president elect of Britain's prestigious Royal Society.

Ramakrishnan, who will be the first Indian-origin scientist to hold the post, was born in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, and studied biology in the US.

The result of a ballot held by the fellowship was confirmed at a meeting of the Society's Council this week and Ramakrishnan, or Venki as he is popularly known, will take up the post on December 1, 2015,

The Supreme Court asks the UP police to explain the circumstances in which a Class XII male student was arrested for posting objectionable remarks against Azam Khan. The UP govt has been given four weeks to respond.

The student was arrested for allegedly uploading a 'fake' comment on Facebook that was provocative and attributed to senior SP leader and Uttar Pradesh Minister Azam Khan.

The student of a Bareilly school was sent to jail by a local court after being booked under the controversial Section 66A of the Information Technology (IT) Act and for breach of peace by the Rampur police.

He was arrested on a complaint lodged with the police by the minister's PRO Fasahat Ali Khan Shanu. A team of crime branch sleuths was constituted which arrested the youth from his residence.

The boy was given bail yesterday.

The benchmark BSE Sensex fell over 136 points in early trade today on sustained selling by investors amid mixed cues from other Asian markets. The 30-share index was trading down by 136.92 points, or 0.48 per cent, at 28,332.75 as stocks of infrastructure, power, auto and FMCG sectors, witnessed heavy profit-booking.

Just in: Dehradun-Varanasi Janta Express derails near Bachhrawan in Uttar Pradesh's Rae Bareli District.

At least six people are believed to have been killed and 24 injured in the incident.

According to the report, three coaches of the train derailed in Bachhrawan after locomotive brakes of the train failed.

Officials have been informed and are reaching the spot. The UP government will do whatever is required, says, Manoj Pandey, cabinet minister UP.

Rae Bareli is Sonia Gandhi's constituency.
More details are awaited.

Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has fled to a safe location after his palace in the southern city of Aden was attacked by an unknown fighter jet. 

Delhi Police's 'Himmat' mobile app for women's safety, available only on android smartphones till now, was on Thursday launched for iPhone users and can be downloaded from the Apple App store.             

Sierra Leone said Thursday it will confine around 2.5 million people to their homes across the capital and in the north in a three-day shutdown aimed at stemming the Ebola epidemic.

Japanese police said they arrested a man on Thursday accused of making bomb threats against the US Embassy in Tokyo, and media reports said he is also a possible suspect in recent death threats against Ambassador Caroline Kennedy.