In view of the recent twin terrorist attacks in Kathua and Samba, a top Army official has visited the Army formations along the International Border in Samba sector here and reviewed the security situation. 

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has said the black box has been found after a passenger plane carrying 150 people crashed in the French Alps.

The former army chief also clarified, "I have not offered to resign nor was I asked to do so."

Amid rumours swirlingt that he has tendered his resignation, General V K Singh, minister of state, external affairs, made a statement to clarify his position on his presence at the Pakistan Day reception, which also witnessed the presence of separatists. 

Germanwings? Never heard about the plane company before today's air crash? Here's all you need to know about the Cologne-based company. 

Minister of State External Affairs General V K Singh has offered to resign, say TV reports following the controversy of the Pakistan Day reception. 

Back to the crash, French police at the crash site have said that no one survived and it would take days to recover the bodies of those on board due to difficult terrain.

The Supreme Court struck down Section 66A of the Information Technology Act that criminalised the posting of "offensive" content online.

Sixteen pupils and two teachers from a single German school are feared among the dead. Bild newspaper reports that the group from Joseph-Knig-Gymnasium school in the Ruhr area of Germany were on their way back from a student exchange. 

According to Germanwings officials, flight 4U 9525 took eight minutes to descend from 38,000 feet. Contact between the plane and French air traffic controllers broke off at 10:53 (local time) at an altitude of approximately 6,000 feet.

Crash of the Germanwings flight is extremely unfortunate. We share the sorrow & pain of the families of those on board says Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Twitter feed.

"This is a time and an hour of great sorrow and great grief. We should be thinking about people who have lost relatives and also friends, " said Merkel, who will travel to the crash site on Wednesday.

Authorities have said that the last words from the downed Germanwings A320 distress call were 'emergency, emergency'.

And someone just posted this on Twitter.

Germanwings-owner Lufthansa has also changed its logo to grey. Carten Spohr Luftansa CEO, tweeted earlier: "We do not yet know what HAS happened to flight 4U 9525. My deepest sympathy goes to the families and friends of our passengers and crew. We 4U 9525. If our fears are confirmed, this is a dark day for Lufthansa. We hope to find survivors." 

The French interior ministry has tweeted emergency numbers put in place for those close to victims.

French president Hollande says it will be several hours before rescue teams can reach crash site #A320 #Germanwings. 

Victims of #Germanwings crash were most likely from Spain, Germany and Turkey, says French President Holland.

La Provence reports that Bruno Lambert, a mountain guide in the municipality of Prads-Haute-Blone where the A320 crash took place, said people have not heard the crash. He himself did not hear. "The land where the crash occurred is very alpine, steep and very avalanche prone," he said. 

Debris from the Airbus crash is believed to have spread over 2 km in the town Vernet. Police says that there are no survivors. Hours after Airbus debris is found, aircraft company Germanwings yet to confirm crash.

If you're wondering about how safe the Airbus A320 is, this is what the a former pilot who has flown the plane says. "It's a delight to fly," said John Cox, a former pilot and the CEO of Safety Operating Systems, an aviation consulting company. "It's a highly reliable airplane."

Alain Vidal, Secretary of State for Transport, confirmed that there was "no survivors" in the crash in the French Alps for the Airbus A320 Germanwings company operating between Barcelona and Dsseldorf.

Carten Spohr Luftansa CEO, tweets: "We do not yet know what HAS happened to flight 4U 9525. My deepest sympathy goes to the families and friends of our passengers and crew. We 4U 9525. If our fears are confirmed, this is a dark day for Lufthansa. We hope to find survivors." 

Firefighters Bouches-du-Rhne are getting ready to leave for the scene of the A320 crash in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. The group will include members of the reconnaissance group and perilous based intervention (Grimp), specialists in lighting, rescue and medical team. A disaster management plan or the White Plan has already been enabled at the Digne hospital near the crash site. 

Franch president Hollande has said he will be meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the King of Spain, who is visiting Paris for three days. The cause of the crash was not immediately known, with weather conditions described as good in the region and the airliner flying at an altitude high above the Alps.

Many Germans and Spanish nationals are believed to be on board the aircraft.

The mountainous Trois Eveches region in the French Alps where the plane came down. Pic: Sebastien Thebault.

French president Francois Hollande said of the Airbus crash: "It's a loss, a tragedy which has happened on our soil. I am seeking information about homes in the area it came down. It's difficult place to access. In the meantime solidarity must prevail."

Le Monde reports that this is the first crash of an airliner on French soil since the Concorde accident in Gonesse, near Roissy in July 2000.

Germanwings has still maintained that it does not have any confirmed information of its that is not based on media reports. "As soon as definite information is available, we shall inform the media immediately," the Germanwings website said.

The French interior ministry says debris located at 2,000 m altitude: AP

Alex Macheras, aviation safety expert, tells Sky News, about what can be done to bring down a plane safely if something goes wrong over a mountainous area.

"One would hope there would be an airport nearby," he told Sky News.

"This is near ski resorts and although there may be smaller runways that wouldn't be the easiest for the aircraft to land at, the pilots would make their best effort to bring the aircraft down safely if they had no choice in terms of other safe airports they could divert to.

"But it all depends on the extent of the emergency onboard."

While Germanwings may be a low-cost airlines, this is the first major disaster it has been involved in. In 1993, a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to Warsaw overshot the runway and crashed. The plane caught fire and 2 people were killed - a co-pilot and a passenger, reports the Telegraph.

Eric Ciotti, the head of the regional council, said search and rescue teams are heading to the crash site at Meolans-Revels, reports La Provence.

The French civil aviation authority said the crew had sent a distress signal at 10.47 am -- 46 minutes after takeoff from Barcelona. A gendarmerie helicopter had located the crash scene in high mountains, officials said.  -- The Independent.

Le Monde reports: French president Francois Hollande said, "The conditions of the crash of the Airbus has 320 suggests that there were no survivors among the 148 people on board."

"The accident is produced in a particularly difficult area to access and it is likely that there is a number of German victims."

Debris of an airliner has been found in the Barcelonnette region and significant emergency resources" had been "mobilized", the interior minister has said.  

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said the causes of the crash were not yet known.

"We of course don't know the reasons for the crash,' Valls told reporters.

"We obviously fear that the 142 to 150 passengers and crew died today, given the conditions of this crash."

Valls said he had activated the ministerial crisis cell to help coordinate the aftermath of the crash.

Remember, Germanwings has said it was as yet unable to verify reports of the crash.

France's Le Monde reports that Bernard Cazeneuve, France's Minister of the Interior, visits the site. 

What we have so far is this: There is still NO official confirmation of the crash.

The aircraft reportedly lost signal at 6800 ft, while some reports suggested that the plane was over 20 years old.

The  plane belonged to Germanwings, an affiliate of German airline Lufthansa, travelling between Barcelona and Dusseldorf.

In a statement on Twitter, Germanwings said: "We have recently become aware of media reports speculating on an incident though we still do not have any own confirmed information.

"As soon as definite information is available, we shall inform the media immediately."

The plane disappeared from the radar at 09.39 local time.

Pic: The flight path taken by the Germanwings aircraft.

AFP reports: The plane belonged to Germanwings, an affiliate of German airline Lufthansa, travelling between Barcelona and Dusseldorf. 

The plane crashed at the foot of Prads-Haute-Blone, between Digne-les-Bains and Barcelonnette (in the French Alps), two helicopters of the gendarmerie confirmed to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

The Airbus A320 had 142 passengers, plus two pilots and four cabin crew. The aircraft went down in southern France.

Just in: Germanwings Airbus A320 crashes in French Alps near Digne.

The airliner was flying from Barcelona, Spain, to Germany's city of Dusseldorf when it disappeared from the radars in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in southern France.

According to media reports, the first debris have been found.

Germanwings passenger jet that crashed in southern France had 142 passengers and 6 crewmembers aboard.

There are no reports so far of the wreckage location or if there are any survivors.

National Awards: Srijit Mukherji named best director for Bengali film "Chotushkone"

And while on awards...

Amitav Ghosh today emerged as the only Indian author among 10 finalists for this year's Man Booker International Prize for his contribution to the English language writing.

Kolkata born, 58-year-old Ghosh had narrowly missed out on the Booker Prize back in 2008 when he was shortlisted for his work 'Sea of Poppies'.

The international version of the popular literary prize, to be held in London on May 19, is awarded every two years to a living author who has published fiction either originally in English or whose work is generally available in translation in the English language.

The winner is chosen solely at the discretion of the judging panel and there are no submissions from publishers.

Fingers crossed, Mr Ghosh.

Chaitanya Tamhane's "Court" named best feature film at the 62nd National Film Awards.

Vijay named best actor for Kannada movie "Nanu Avanalla Avalu".    

Mary Kom named best popular film at the 62nd National Film Awards. 

Vikas Bahl's Queen also wins the National Award for Best Hindi film.  Haider wins National Award for Best Dialogues. This is Kangana Ranaut's second National Award, she had bagged the Best Supporting Actress award for 'Fashion' in 2008.

Bollywood actors Shahid Kapoor and Aamir Khan, Malayalam actors Mammootty and Jayasurya among others are reportedly being considered for the Best actor title in 62nd National Film Awards.

Details awaited.

Kangna Ranaut receives the National Award for Best Actor (Female). Just last month, Ranaut won Best Actor award for the film Queen, at the 60th Britannia Filmfare Awards ceremony.

Ranaut, who played the protagonist in the film, holds your hands and together you discover the magic of honeymoon, holiday, healing and hungama. Read the review. 

Jadavpur University professor Ambikesh Mahapatra, who was arrested for posting a cartoon of Mamata Banerjee on Facebook in 2012, today welcomed the Supreme Court judgement striking down Section 66A of the IT Act.

"The move would protect common man's right to freedom of expression," Professor Mohapatra, who was arrested under the provision of the Section 66A, said.

"Section 66A should have been scrapped earlier. Under this Section, common people in several states came under the wrath of the state government for making anti-administration remarks... the same thing what happened to me," he told reporters in Kolkata.

He said he hoped the move would protect the common man's right to freedom of expression, opinion and human right.

The Maharashtra government is mulling to set up 10-12 member committees in every village across the state which will work towards preventing farmers' suicides, the Legislative Council was informed today.

Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse, while replying to a query during the Question Hour told the Council that a total of 17,645 farmers have committed suicides between 2001 to December 2014.

"The number of farmers committing suicides is humiliating and a matter of grave concern. Nobody can say for sure that farmer suicides will completely stop, but a lot can be done if everybody works together. To help these farmers, a committee of 10-12 people, consisting of gram sevaks, doctors, educated people, etc will be made in every village, who will take care of farmers and their families," Khadse said.

He said this committee will periodically visit farmers to gauge their mental condition, help them with issues like taking loans and family marriage functions.

The four arrested for the Navi Mumbai Church attack -- Patil, Chavan, Tabrek Shaikh and Sugvekar -- suspected that the church had complained against their gambling den, tweets @news_houndz. 

The Maharashtra government on Tuesday said that those involved in the sale of gutka would be booked under non-bailable sections regarding the offence.

The manufacture and sale of gutka is banned in Maharashtra, but it is not implemented effectively as there are no such restrictions in neighbouring states due to which the tobacco-laced chewing products are smuggled in.State Food and Drug Minister Girish Bapat told the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday that the government is taking steps to enforce the ban strictly.

A local court in Muzaffarnagar has sentenced two persons to five years in jail for cow slaughter.  On August 17, 2004, police had raided a house and recovered 30 kg beef and cow skin. However, the duo Riyasat and Nazim had fled from the spot. Police had registered a case in this connection.

A day after Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told the police it has 48 hours to track down and arrest the men who attacked a church near Mumbai, four people have been arrested in the case. Fadnavis is likely to make a statement in the Assembly.

The attack was carried out by two masked persons who were riding pillion on a motorcycle at around 1.30 am on Saturday when they hurled stones at the Saint George Catholic church located near a bridge in New Panvel.

In the incident, the covering glass outside the statue of Saint George was  damaged.

The trio, comprising the biker and the two pillion riders, had their faces covered, a police official said.

Breaking now: PM Narendra Modi to attend the funeral of Singapore's First Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew on 29th March 2015.

This is what Modi had tweeted on Monday, hours after Lee Kuan Yew's death.

"In this hour of bereavement, our prayers are with Mr. Lee Kuan Yew's family and the people of Singapore. May his soul rest in peace. A far-sighted statesman &a lion among leaders, Mr Lee Kuan Yew's life teaches valuable lessons to everyone. News of his demise is saddening."

Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's founding father who dominated the country's politics for more than half a century and transformed the former British colony into a global trade and finance powerhouse, died aged 91 on Monday.

Lee, Singapore's first prime minister, "passed away peacefully at the Singapore General Hospital," the government said. He had been under intensive care for pneumonia since early February 5.

Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopananda Saraswati of Dwarka Peeth yet again stirred up another controversy on Monday by stating that Sai Baba was a Muslim and used to eat beef.

News 18 reports that Swaroopananda alleged that Sai Baba used to read the Fatiha for the deceased. He also accused him of committing fraud against Hindus.

According to him, 'Sabka Malik Ek' were the words of Gurunanak and not a saying of Sai Baba.

"Government should oppose installation of Sai idol in Hindu temples", he said.

Every hot-blooded male reading this interview will be looking daggers at Rediff.com's Sonil Dedhia.

Sonil met Sunny Leone (we shall hold the introduction) where she discusses her new film Ek Paheli: Leela, why she doesn't mind her sex symbol tag and why she finds Ranveer Singh sexy.

Read

The electronic media is all set to be restrained from airing live coverage of the anti-terror operations conducted by the security agencies following the Information & Broadcasting ministry's nod to a Home Ministry advice on the matter.

The Indian Express reports that under the new clause to be added to Cable Television Network Rules, 1994 and to be notified shortly, the television news channels will be mandated to restrict themselves to reporting periodic briefing by designated officers while reporting on an anti-terror operation.

Following the Home ministry's advice, the I&B ministry, officials said, would add a new clause to the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994 according to which TV channels will not be allowed to carry content "which contains live coverage of any anti-terrorist operation by security forces, wherein media coverage shall be restricted to periodic briefing by an officer designated by the appropriate Government, till such operation concludes.'

A day of U-turns from Congress leaders who in fact misused section 66A of the IT Act.

Congress leader P Chidambaram today welcomed the Supreme Court judgement holding Section 66A of the IT Act as unconstitutional, saying it was poorly drafted and misused.

"I welcome the judgement of the Supreme Court holding that Section 66A of the IT Act is unconstitutional. "The section was poorly drafted and was vulnerable. It was capable of being misused and, in fact, it was misused," he said.

The former Union Minister, who held the Home and Finance portfolios in UPA government, said there could be a case of misuse of freedom of speech and in such cases ordinary laws should apply and the offender should be dealt with under them.

"If some provisions of the law have to be strengthened, that could be considered. But Section 66A was not the answer," Chidambaram said.

Puducherry businessman Ravi Srinivasan had, in 2012, tweeted about the assets of Karthi Chidambaram, son of former finance Minister P Chidambaram.

Srinivasan was arrested by the Puducherry police from his house after being charged under Section 66-A of the IT Act, based on a complaint filed by Karthi. He was later released on bail.

Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman had an unpleasant experience at a lunch hosted by finance minister Arun Jaitley recently. Jaitley hosted the lunch in his chambers -- a small cramped space -- inside Parliament where he invited six ministers.

The hungry mantris were jostling to get to the buffet each other to fill their plates when a woman minister while picking up her vegetables -- rather oily at that -- dropped her plate which was both hot and weighty.

And so, most of the vegetables spattered on to Sitharaman's cotton sari, who was ahead of her in the queue.

Visibly annoyed, the minister removed whatever she could the mess on her sari and quickly left parliament house from a rear gate where has no TV channel posted there.

Poor Ms Sitharaman -- remember the time she lost her luggage at London airport?  Air India lost her suitcase as she landed in Sydney, Australia, en route to Cairns for the G-20 summit in 2014, but luckily found her luggage later. 

Cyber crime is at its peak, but we respect law and the SC's judgement: Fasahat Ali (Media advisor to Azam Khan and the complainant in the FB comment case)

Kashmiri Separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq holds meeting with Pakistan Envoy Abdul Basit. Other Separatist leaders Abdul Ghani Bhat and Agha Sayed Hasan also in the meeting with Basit.

Hollywood superstar Angelina Jolie said that she underwent preventative surgery to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes, two years after she sparked a debate on women's health by getting a preventative double mastectomy.  Read more

When IT Act's Sec 66A was used to muzzle free speech. Read

Mid Day editor Sachin Kalbag tweets two telling posts by Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha. Talk about U-turns! 

What goes up on Twitter stays on Twitter...

Click on the picture for a larger image.

In fact, Congress Chief Minister Oomen Chandy made a personal appeal to Governor Sathasivam not to leave Kerala for another year, till the state elects a new assembly in May 2016. Chandy's apprehension is that Narendra Modi will send a hard core fundamentalist with a RSS background as replacement, which will affect not only the Congress but also also the UDF's chances of returning to power.

Kerala governor Justice P Sathasivam may resign as he is keen to head the National Human Rights Commission.

Sathasivam, who was Chief Justice of India, is believed to be bored cooling his heels in the relative quietude of the Raj Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram.

His interests lie in legal issues and not on political problems, so it is now up to the BJP government to accept his resignation and allow him to ease in to the legal fraternity.

Or will PM Modi be annoyed as Sathasivam was accommodated despite the Congress allegations that he was being given the gubernatorial post for giving relief to BJP president Amit Shah in a fake encounter case.

Palghar girl Rinu Srinivasan reacts to the scrapping of section 66A of the IT Act.

"I'm feeling very happy, we have got justice after two years. My post did not have any abusive content, people must feel free to express their opinion," she said.

A Palghar court closed the case against the two girls (Rinu and her friend who had liked the post), who were arrested for posting a comment on Facebook on the bandh after the death of Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray on November 17, 2012.

The Palghar sessions court accepted the police closure report seeking dropping of charges against the two girls.

The girls' subsequent arrest had sparked a nationwide outrage which embarrassed the Maharashtra government.

Following the uproar, two police officers were suspended in connection with the incident while the magistrate at Palghar, who ordered bail for the girls, was transferred.

Later, the police had concluded that there was no evidence against the girls.

Here's an interesting tidbit on Shreya Singhal, 21-year-old girl, who filed the PIL against the IT Act.

Her great grandfather is former law minister H R Gokhale. Her grandmother is Justice Sunanda Bhandare and her aunt is Hindustan Times columnist Namita Bhandare. Her grandaunt is Namita Gokhale, who married her grand uncle Rajiv Gokhale.

One of her aunts Meru Gokhale is married to writer Patrick French, while the other Shivani Sibal is married to Akhil Sibal whose father Kapil Sibal is the author of the IT Act and the contentious section 66A!

Meet the 21-year-old girl who filed a PIL against the IT Act calling it 'unconstitutional', which led to the SC scrapping the draconian section 66A of the IT Act. Read

The Supreme Court has sought a response from two lawyers for making derogatory remarks against women in the BBC documentary India's Daughter on the December 16 gang-rape case. The matter requires consideration in view of the factual and legal argument made by the women lawyers' association, the SC said.

The Supreme Court Women Lawyers' Association had moved a petition in the apex court seeking a complete ban on the entry of advocates ML Sharma (pictured) and AP Singh in the top court's premises.

The remarks made by Sharma and Singh, who represented accused in the 16 December Delhi gang-rape case, created an atmosphere of terror and an apprehension of misbehaviour among female lawyers, the women advocates said.

Read our 2013 interview with the two lawyers before the verdict in the gang-rape case was pronounced.

The picture that has gone viral on Twitter with the message: Dear @Gen_VKSingh, I'm confused. Would this be #Duty or #Disgust?

Barely two hours after attending the Pakistan National Day reception as the Indian government's representative, Minister of State (External Affairs) Gen V K Singh (retd) posted a series of cryptic tweets on Monday defining "duty' and "disgust'.

While he made no direct references, the tweets indicated his discomfiture at having been deputed to attend an event at the Pakistan High Commission that was also attended by Hurriyat leaders.

The series of five tweets, under the tags 'duty' and 'disgust', came on a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed his greetings to his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, expressing conviction that all outstanding issues could be resolved through "bilateral' dialogue.

The Opposition today slammed Minister of State for External Affairs General (retd) V K Singh for his tweets of 'duty' and 'disgust' after attending the Pakistan Day celebrations in New Delhi.

Pic: MoS External Affairs VK Singh with Pak high commissioner Abdul Basit at the Pakistan day celebrations in Delhi last night

'Modi is never ever prepared to consider failure as an option'. Read

The SC has said that government's assurance that 66 A will not be misused is not valid ground for keeping it.

The scrapping of section 66 A of the Information Technology Act will come as a huge relief.  Just last week, a Class 12 student from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, was arrested and sent to jail for a Facebook post about senior Uttar Pradesh Minister Azam Khan.

The Bareilly police claimed the FB post was objectionable and capable of inciting violence. The teenager was arrested on a complaint filed by Fasahat Ali Khan Shanu, Azam Khan's public relations officer. The boy was released on bail the next day by a local court after executing two bonds worth Rs 20,000 each. The teenager was booked under the controversial Section 66A of the Information Technology Act.

Read lawyer Karuna Nanda's 2012 interview with Rediff.com in the aftermath of the arrests of a Palghar girl for posting an apparently offensive message on Facebook and another for 'liking' it, the nation erupted in protest.

"We've created a society where if you don't like what someone is saying -- and if you have police power at your disposal or battalions of thin-skinned people willing to riot on your behalf -- then you can harass someone with arrest at one end of the spectrum and three years in jail at the other."

Read

Just in: In what is the first ever verdict in India on the right to freedom of speech on the Internet, Justices J Chelameswar and Rohinton F Nariman have scrapped Section 66 A of the IT Act. The court said that 66 A cannot be properly implemented as governments come and go.

The law allows police to make arrests over "offensive' social posts. Section 66A prescribes the punishment for sending "offensive' messages through computers or any other communication device such as a mobile phone or a tablet, and a conviction can fetch a maximum of three years in jail.

Renowned ecologist Madhav Gadgil has been chosen for the prestigious 2015 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement. The prize, instituted in 1973, is awarded by the international Tyler Prize Executive Committee with the administrative support of the University of Southern California. Read

The Supreme Court verdict on the freedom of speech online is expected today. Here is all you need to know about the controversial law.    

Our ministers do not seem to learn their lessons!

Goa Youth Affairs minister was slammed after he suggested a "cure" for the LGBT youth and now Maharashtra's health minister, who is a doctor, has jumped the same bandwagon.

Deepak Sawant said that the LGBT community is in need of "psychological treatment and counselling" in the Maharashtra assembly. "We would work with NGOs working in the sector," he added.  

Image: Maharashtra Health Minister Deepak Sawant

Just in: Industrialist Harsh Neotia is being questioned by the Enforcement Directorate in Kolkata on the Saradha scam.

The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce today its verdict on a batch of petitions challenging constitutional validity of certain sections of the cyber law including a provision under which a person can be arrested for allegedly posting "offensive" contents on websites.

A bench of justices J Chelameswar and R F Nariman had on February 26 reserved its judgement after the government concluded its arguments contending that section 66A of the Information Technology Act cannot be "quashed" merely because of the possibility of its "abuse".

Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had said that the government did not want to curtail the freedom of speech and expression at all which is enshrined in the Constitution, but the vast cyber world could not be allowed to remain unregulated. However, the court had said that terms like 'illegal', 'grossly offensive' and 'menacing character' were vague expressions and these words were likely to be misunderstood and abused.

Some of the petitions seek setting aside of section 66A of the Information Technology Act which empowers police to arrest a person for allegedly posting offensive materials on social networking sites. The first PIL on the issue was filed in 2012 by a law student Shreya Singhal, who sought amendment in Section 66A of the Act, after two girls -- Shaheen Dhada and Rinu Shrinivasan -- were arrested in Palghar in Thane district as one of them posted a comment against the shutdown in Mumbai following Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray's death and the other 'liked' it.

The apex court had on May 16, 2013, come out with an advisory that a person, accused of posting objectionable comments on social networking sites, cannot be arrested without police getting permission from senior officers like the IG or DCP.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated veteran actor Shashi Kapoor for being selected for the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke award.

Prime Minister Modi took to Twitter to convey his congratulations." Shashi Kapoorji is a fine actor and a stalwart of the film industry. I congratulate him for the Dadasaheb Phalke Award," he tweeted.

The Dada Saheb Phalke award is the highest recognition for film personalities in India, and is reportedly given on the basis of recommendations of a committee of eminent people set up by the government.

The 77-year-old is the third member of the Kapoor family to get the prestigious award, following father Prithvi Raj Kapoor and elder brother Raj Kapoor

United States President Barack Obama will meet Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi at the White House on April 14 to discuss a range of issues, including the military campaign against the Islamic State.

"The prime minister's visit underscores the strategic partnership between the United States and Iraq and the strong US commitment to political and military cooperation with Iraq in the joint fight against ISIL," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said.

"The president and prime minister will discuss a range of issues, including continued US support to Iraq to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL, the Government of Iraq's actions to address the needs of the Iraqi people and to strengthen cooperation between all communities in Iraq, and advancing a broad US-Iraqi partnership through expanded political, commercial, and cultural relations under the US -Iraq Strategic Framework Agreement," Earnest said.

The Asian Development Bank today projected India's growth rate to surpass China and improve to 7.8 per cent in next fiscal and further to 8.2 per cent in 2016-17.

India's growth and investor confidence will improve on the back of government's structural reform agenda and improved external demand, the Asian Development Outlook, an annual publication of the ADB, said. It forecast that India's growth will improve from 7.4 per cent in current fiscal to 7.8 per cent in 2015-16 and further to 8.2 per cent in 2016-17.

As regards China, the ADB projected the economic growth to decelerate from 7.4 per cent in current fiscal to 7.2 per cent next fiscal and 7 per cent in 2016-17.

"India is expected to grow faster than the People's Republic of China in the next few years. The government's pro-investment attitude, improvements in the fiscal and current account deficits, and some forward movement on resolving structural bottlenecks have helped improve the business climate and make India attractive again to both domestic and foreign investors," ADB Chief Economist Shang-Jin Wei said.

The Maharashtra government has stated that the sale of gutka, which has been banned in the state, will be declared a non-bailable offence, reports ANI.

According to reports, the remark was made by Maharashtra Food and Drug Minister Girish Bapat after the issue of the continuing sale of gutka was raised by Congress leader Mohammed Arif Naseem Khan during the Question Hour of the state assembly.

Bapat further stated that gutka worth Rs 32 crore has been seized, with the state police receiving directives to book offenders under IPC Section 328 (causing hurt by means of poison).

Maharashtra banned the sale of gutka in July 2012.

After attending the Pakistan Day reception in New Delhi yesterday, Union minister and former army chief General V K Singh tweeted of "disgust" and "duty".

The tweets are being seen as a rebellion by Singh. He later clarified, "Disgusted to see how certain sections of the media are twisting this issue."

On Facebook page, he posted some definitions as per Collins dictionary of "disgust" and "duty" and listed the meanings as tweeted by him.

But as the controversy snowballed, Congress' Manish Tewari said that Singh should step down. "If Mr#duty#Disgust is so disgusted with double standards of his govt on Pak he should quit? Other Min in past refused to attend PAK EVENTS," Tewari tweeted this morning.  

In response, BJP's Subramaniam Swamy asked, "Why does Congress want V K Singh to quit?"

Sources said that Singh had been deputed to the event after clearance from the prime minister.

The Pakistan Day reception is an annual diplomatic event but it generated a controversy because of the presence of the separatist leaders.  

British Prime Minister David Cameron has told the BBC that he will not serve a third term as prime minister if the Conservatives remain in government after the general election.

The PM said if re-elected he would serve the full five years of another Parliament and then leave Number 10.

Cameron tipped Home Secretary Theresa May, Chancellor George Osborne and London Mayor Boris Johnson as potential successors.

Read the full report here

Mangalyaan, the country's first inter-planetary expedition, completed six months in the red planet's orbit today.

It is expected to live beyond its shelf life of six months, the Indian Space Research Organisation said as it attributed a 37-kg reserved propellant to the increased life-span.

The planned life-span of Mars Orbiter Mission, after its insertion into the Mars orbit on September 24, 2014 is six months.

"The planned life-span (6 months) of MOM is completing on March 24, 2015. One of the life-limiting parameters of a spacecraft, under nominal orbital conditions, is the availability of propellant to maintain its orbit and orientation.

"In case of MOM, a reserve of 37 kg of propellant is available in the satellite. Since the health parameters of all critical systems of the satellite are very satisfactory, it is expected that MOM will outlive its planned life-span of 6 months," Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Department of Space said.

He added that the increased duration of observation of Mars by five scientific payloads will enhance the planetary science data and enable coverage of Mars in different seasons.

Singh said MOM, which was inserted in the orbit of Mars on September 24, 2014, is the first mission to use ship-borne terminals to track the launch vehicles and satellite over the Pacific ocean.

ISRO scientists also said that the mission will reach a challenging phase in June when it will face a blackout period for about 15 days during which time no communication will be possible with the spacecraft.

David Cameron has told the BBC he will not serve a third term as prime minister if the Conservatives remain in government after the general election.

sraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he "regrets" warning "the Arabs are voting in droves" during last week's elections.