The Gujarat unit of the BJP claimed here today that its membership drive has been successful in enrolling one crore members in the state.             

Social activist Medha Patkar today formally resigned from AAP and termed ouster of Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan from the party's national executive as 'not justifiable, questionable and condemnable'. 

A city based metallurgical engineer has been stranded in strife torn Yemen for the last four days, leaving his family here on tenterhooks, waiting for his safe return.

Concerned over the safety of 4,000 Indians in strife-torn Yemen, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tonight sought the help of Saudi Arabia as he held a telephonic conversation with King Salman bin Abdul aziz Al Saud.

Read full story HERE.

The last lot of five AN-32 aircraft, which were sent for upgrade to Ukraine, continues to remain stranded there due to the geo-political situation there, the Air Force said today.

Governor ESL Narasimhan is set to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday to brief him about Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. 

President Barack Obama will make his first trip as president to Kenya, the country of his father's birth. 

Local media are reporting that shots have been fired at the headquarters of the National Security Agency outside of Washington.

BBC reports: The co-pilot of the crashed Germanwings plane, Andreas Lubitz, had received treatment for suicidal tendencies before getting his pilot licence, investigators say, but not recently.

Lubitz, 27, is suspected of deliberately crashing the plane in the Alps, killing all 150 people on board.

Duesseldorf public prosecutor Christoph Kumpa said that before Lubitz became a pilot he "had at that time been in treatment of a psychotherapist because of what is documented as being suicidal".

Read the complete report here

  Beginningtoday, sale, purchase, storage and manufacturing of all forms of chewable tobacco including 'guktha' and pan masala containing tobacco is banned in the national capital.


The Delhi government has decided to run campaigns on a large scale to educate the masses about the ban and harmful effect of chewable tobacco. The Aam Aadmi Party government has issued a notification banning all products of chewable tobacco in all forms.

"We have put a ban on purchase, sale, manufacturing and even storage of all forms of chewable tobacco from today in city. To implement the ban, several teams of the Delhi police, MCD, food adulteration will conduct suprise raids," Health Minister Satyendra Jain said.

However, no such ban will be enforced on cigarettes in the capital. Jain said that over 10,000 people die of oral cancer caused by tobacco every year and in the interest of public health, governmnet will not allow the sale, purchase and storage of gutka, pan masala, scented tobacco, kharra and similar products containing tobacco.

The rich and mighty escape with lesser punishment in rash driving cases, the Supreme Court today said, and asked the Centre to work on a tougher law.

The court asked the government to amend the law for rash and negligent driving to have more stringent punishment, NDTV reports.

The comments came as a court in Mumbai is in the middle of a trial of actor Salman Khan on charges of culpable homicide. The 49-year-old is accused of drinking and driving his SUV and running over people sleeping on a pavement in Mumbai on September 28, 2002.

Today, his driver appeared in court and said he was the one behind the wheels.

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad gets custody of Sayyed Ismail and Saddam Khan, arrested by Bengaluru police, in 13/7 Mumbai blasts case.

The serial blasts on July 13, 2011, at Mumbai's Opera House, Zaveri Bazaar and Dadar left 26 dead and 127 others injured.

The Jammu and Kashmir government today said the water level of Jhelum river which had touched the flood levels at Sangam and Ram Munshi Bagh is showing a declining or static trend.

"Water level in Jhelum which had touched the flood levels at Sangam and Ram Munshi Bagh is showing a declining or static trend," an official spokesman said.

The latest readings at 5 pm showed the levels at 21 ft, 19.7 ft and 12.33 ft at the three places.

Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today visited the Pattan area in north Kashmir's Baramulla district to take stock of the situation arisen due to heavy rainfall.

"Naqvi, accompanied by state minister for PHE, irrigation and flood control Sukhnandan and minister for technical education Imran Reza Ansari visited several villages of Pattan and other adjacent areas to take stock of the situation which has arisen due to incessant rains," an official spokesman said.

While interacting with people, the ministers assured them that necessary mechanism have been put in place by the government for dealing with the flood situation. They said that control rooms have been established in North, South and Central Kashmir to monitor the water levels.

The ministers also appealed to the people not to panic as every possible step was being taken to deal with the flood threat and around four lakh sand bags have been made available to strengthen the river banks and to deal with any eventuality.

BJP's Sambit Patra gets snarky: Just heard that Rahul Gandhi will be returning back and will be relaunched, we are happy that a missing person has been found.

Virat Kohli's former team mate Yuvraj Singh came to his rescue on Sunday after he and his girlfriend Anushka Sharma were targeted on Twitter for India's semi-final loss to Australia.

Yuvraj wrote on Twitter: "Someone who's scored 5 hundreds on Aus tour deserves much more respect and support from his fans!"

He also added that Indian fans need to respect personal lives of cricketers. "To all our real Indian fans who support us in our wins and loses ! Let's respect @imVkohli and @AnushkaSharma personal life.
I'm sure in the coming times he will shine for his country again and again."

Trevor Noah will replace Jon Stewart in the Daily Show. Noah, a South African comedian and one of the newest "Daily Show" correspondents, was mentioned Friday as the front-runner to replace Jon Stewart on the Comedy Central show. On Monday, The New York Times reported that Noah would officially take over hosting.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi who has been missing in action for over a month, may be back by April 19.

That's when the Congress, led by Sonia Gandhi is planning a massive rally against the Land Bill. Media reports suggest that Sonia wants Rahul to be part of the rally.

In a strongly worded letter, Union Transport and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday told Congress President Sonia Gandhi to stop playing politics over the Land Bill. "We shouldn't do politics over such an important issue (Land Bill) & think in the interest of the nation," Gadkari wrote.

Slamming Sonia Gandhi, Gadkari said, "Sonia ji, it is due to your policies that farmers have always remained dependent on rain. They kept waiting for relief from government."

Gadkari's letter is in response to Sonia Gandhi's letter to the Road Transport and Highways Minister on the land bill on Friday.

In her letter, Sonia Gandhi has slammed the land bill as an "unabashed display of half-truths". Gandhi said in her letter, "Your government is blatantly anti-farmer and anti-poor, compromising rights of the weaker sections of society to benefit a handful of private parties.

"Your proposed legislation makes a mockery of your claim that you stand for interest of farmers. Your government's position on defense, irrigation and electrification issues is a blatant attempt to divert attention, cannot be at the cost of pushing farmers into a pitiable condition or destroying their livelihoods," the letter further stated.

If the anti Land Bill rally does take place on April 18, it will not be the first rally led by a resurgent Congress.

On March 17, leaders of 14 political parties led by Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday marched from Parliament to Rashtrapati Bhavan against amendments to the land acquisition act and pledged to continue their do or die battle.

A delegation of 26 leaders including former Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and H D Deve Gowda  met President Pranab Mukherjee and urged him to protect the farmers interests by impressing upon the Modi government not to go ahead with the amendments in the Rajya Sabha saying they were aimed at promoting divisions and social disharmony.

A question for Indian men: What does your wife do? Read

Must read in the wake of the AAP rift.

"The formal purging of Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav at the meeting of the national council on Saturday gives us a clearer understanding of the nature of the Aam Aadmi Party.

"It teaches us that the AAP is a form of sole proprietorship, not the political cooperative that many thought it was. The faux collegiality of the AAP's early days, the association of people well known in their own right like Medha Patkar, Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav, persuaded many that the AAP's rhetoric of decentralized democracy applied to the party's organization. This latest assertion of Arvind Kejriwal's ownership of the party has helped clarify that confusion."

Read Mukul Kesavan's piece for the Telegraph.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is among 31 world leaders whose personal details were inadvertently compromised at the G20 summit held in Australia last year, a media report said today.

An email error by an employee of Australian immigration department accidentally sent the passport numbers, visa details and other personal identifiers of the heads of government attending the G20 Leaders' Summit in Brisbane last November to the organisers of the Asian Cup football tournament, the Guardian reported.

Besides Modi, US President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Indonesian President Joko Widodo and British Prime Minister David Cameron were among those whose details were exposed, the report said.

The Australian privacy commissioner was contacted by the director of the visa services division of Australia's Department of Immigration and Border Protection to inform them of the data breach on November 7, 2014, and seek urgent advice.

J&K CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on the situation in the flood-hit state:
-- Water levels are above the danger level but there is nothing to panic.
-- Adequate number of sandbags are being used.
-- I have released Rs 25 crore for Kashmir and Rs 10 crore to Jammu.
-- I have also had a telephonic talk with the Home Minister.
-- A NDRF teams have been sent from Centre.
-- We have three joint control rooms of the army and the police that are working 24X7.

The Jammu and Kashmir government today declared a flood situation in Kashmir Valley as Jhelum river crossed the danger mark in Srinagar following incessant rains.

The state authorities asked people living along the banks of river Jhelum and low lying areas to move to safer places.

The owner of an Indian restaurant in suburban Sydney has been ordered to pay almost $200,000 to an illiterate cook who was trafficked to Australia and forced to slave 12 hours a day, seven days a week, until he finally alerted police.  Read

LK Advani reacts after receiving the Padma Vibhushan this morning. "I was very happy, extremely happy, very special honour for my political party," he said.

Advani is one of nine people who were given the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian honour after the Bharat Ratna.

The others are: 2. Amitabh Bachchan- Art- Maharashtra

3 Prakash Singh Badal- Public Affairs- Punjab

4 Dr D Veerendra Heggade- Social Work- Karnataka

5 Mohammad Yusuf Khan alias Dilip Kumar- Art- Maharashtra

6 Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Swami Rambhadracharya- Others- Uttar Pradesh

7 Prof Malur Ramaswamy Srinivasan- Science and Engineering- Tamil Nadu

8 Kottayan K. Venugopal- Public Affairs- Delhi

9 Karim Al Hussaini Aga Khan (Foreigner)- Trade and Industry- France/UK

Mango crop in Gujarat has been hit. So all of you waiting to lick your chops, hang in there till the prices drop. 

Take the face of an angel, add a radiant smile and a generous dash of poise and you get?

Mother Teresa.

Well, unverified, but possible. That's the picture that has gone viral on social media today.

The picture was probably taken in the 1930s, when the mother was in her teens and comes with this post: "This beautiful lady is none other than our very own Mother Teresa at the age of 18. She was what many would have called a raving beauty. How come no man was able to win her heart, that is because... she preferred to help mankind rather than help one man."

The mother was in the news recently when Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Chief Mohan Bhagwat said that conversion to Christianity was the main objective behind Mother Teresa's service to the poor.

Keeping in view of the devastating deluge of last September, the Central government understands the kind of panic among people of Kashmir which is again facing floods and is prepared to deal with the situation, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said today.

He said the Centre and the state government will work together and provide all kinds of help required.

"Whatever is necessary we will do. We will together work for the relief," Rijiju told reporters here. "We understand the kind of panic among people because they have faced such difficulties in September as well. So, we are all prepared. We will not leave any gap and work to the fullest," he said.

He said relief teams were working and would provide whatever help required to the affected people. "We will soon give information on the current situation in Kashmir. Last time also our Home Secretary stayed for four days in Srinagar and personally looked into all works," he said.

Rijiju dismissed the allegations of delay in rehabilitation of the those hit by last year's deluge. "It is not the time for blame game or to make excuses. It is not the time for politics," he said.

Seven months after the devastating floods, Kashmir valley is facing yet another flood following incessant rains with river Jhelum in spate at several places. 16 people were feared trapped after two houses collapsed in Budgam district.


Pic: An army column with JCBs at Baramulla area for flood control operations.

The NIA today filed a charge sheet in a special court in Kolkata against 21 people, including four Bangladeshis, in the Burdwan terror blast case.

The accused, sources said, have been charged for offences relating to terrrorist acts, conspiracy, recruitment, funding and running of terrorist camps, possession of arms and explosives and offences related to forgery, Foreigners Act and Passport Act. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has till now arrested 17 people in this case.

The case pertains to blasts that took place inside a house in West Bengal's Burdwan district on October two last year leaving two persons dead. With international links surfacing, the central probe agency took over the case from state police a few days after the explosion.

Investigators have found that Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) were being fabricated in the house and later smugged to neighbouring Bangladesh.

To bring you up to speed on the Salman Khan case, this is what happened on Friday.

Describing the evidence adduced against him in the hit-and-run case as "false', Bollywood superstar Salman Khan on Friday told the trial court that he was not driving the car which met with an accident in 2002 killing one person and injuring four.

The 49-year-old actor while stating that his driver was behind the wheel also denied the prosecution's charge that he had taken drinks just before the mishap occurred.

"My driver, Ashok Singh, was driving the car when the mishap occurred,' Khan, attired in a white shirt and blue denim jeans, said in reply to a question posed by Judge D W Deshpande.Khan was summoned to make a statement under Section 313 of CrPc on the evidence adduced against him in the court during the trial. He was asked 418 questions by the judge.

Khan's car had rammed into a bakery shop in Bandra in the early hours of September 28, 2002, killing one person and injuring four others who were sleeping outside on pavement.

According to the prosecution, he was driving the car and he was under the influence of liquor at the relevant time, a charge he denied."I do not want to examine myself but would like to examine defence witnesses,' said the actor when the court asked him what he had to say about the case against him.

Khan further said that the entire evidence placed in the court against him was "false'. The actor denied having taken drinks at a bar where he had gone with his friends and brother Sohail Khan just before the mishap occurred. "I was having a glass of water at the bar,' he said in reply to a question.

The RSS has filed a petition in the Bhiwandi court over a remark made by Rahul Gandhi during a public meeting; the court fixes May 8 as the next date of hearing.

Salman Khan's driver deposes in court. His driver Ashok Singh, tells the court that he and not Salman was driving the SUV on the night of the accident. He also said that he was not given any money to depose before the court.

On Friday, actor Salman Khan told a Mumbai court that he was not driving the SUV that ran over people sleeping on a pavement in 2002, killing one and injuring four others.Salman Khan has told the court that his driver Ashok Singh was driving the car and he had not consumed alcohol. The actor told the court that he sat next to the driver in the SUV which he claimed had two more people.

J Jayalalitha cannot appropriate the moniker amma -- ask union minister Najma Heptulla.

Many BJP ministers especially M Venkaiah Naidu have been addressing Heptulla as amma. Each time, she retorts saying only Jayalalithaa can be called amma, but with Nitin Gadkari and Smriti Irani also calling her amma, Heptulla has gracefully accepted the name. This invariably happens after Cabinet meetings where some union ministers much like college students crack jokes at and with each other.

The party is fine: Arvind Kejriwal when asked about AAP rift.

The Roorkee IIT structural report on the foundation of the Parliament House complex has revealed shocking details. The report is marked 'Secret' and Parliament officials are afraid of sharing it under the RTI.

With reason.

The indepth study reveals that the foundation is weak and a 5.2 magntude earthquake and reduce the building to rubble.

TK Viswanathan who was the Secretary General of the 15th Lok Sabha initiated the study. At least 20 engineers spent a fortnight getting their hands dirty (literally) at the Parliament House complext to study how vulnerable the building was to an earthquake.

Australia's World Cup winning wicketkeeper Brad Haddin has defended his sledging in the World Cup final against New Zealand, saying the Kiwis "deserved it"."They were that nice to us in New Zealand and we were that uncomfortable," Haddin told Triple M in Sydney.  Read more

Taking a dig on Naseeruddin Shah after he expressed regret over the strained relations between India and Pakistan, the Shiv Sena today said the veteran Bollywood actor can seek his answers from those who have been victims of terrorist activities carried out from the soil of the neighbouring country.

Shah, in an interview to an entertainment website, had reportedly expressed regret on the animosity between both the countries and had said that Indians were being brain-washed to believe that Pakistan is an enemy.

He had also reportedly said that he keeps visiting Pakistan because he feels "it is very important to have a person-to-person contact".

"The answer to his (Shah's) question on why is there so much hatred for Pakistan can be given by those who lost their near and dear ones during the 26/11 attacks. Pakistan continues to engage in bloodshed. Not only 26/11, the Delhi Parliament attack and terrorist attacks before that too were masterminded from Pakistan," the Sena said in an edit in its mouthpiece 'Saamana.'

Taking exception to the actor's remarks, it said Shah had "lost" what he earned after years of hard work and that he was "never like this".

"Just a couple of days back, there was a terrorist attack at Kathua police check-post in Kashmir which killed an Indian soldier. Ask the soldier's parents why do they have so much hatred for Pakistan," the Sena said.

It added that Pakistan's intentions are for everyone to see when Pakistan Ambassador Abdul Basit invited separatists for dinner to celebrate Pakistan Day in the national capital.

Just in: NIA files charge sheet against 21 people, including four Bangladeshis, in the Burdwan blast case.

Two of the three men who carried out the attack on the blogger have been caught, said Biplob Kumar Sarkar, deputy commissioner of DMP (Tejgaon Zone).  The two men wielding machetes were caught from the scene of crime.

The 27-year-old blogger was killed following a conflict over "ideological differences', a police official said.

Police identified the detained persons as Jikul and Ariful Islam, students of Hathazari Madrasa in Chittagong and Darus Ulum Madrasa in Dhaka's Mirpur area respectively. Another attacker named Taher managed to escape the scene, the police officer told the media. -- Daily Star.

An in increasingly intolerant Bangladesh, another blogger has been hacked to death in the capital Dhaka. Local police chief, Wahidul Islam, told AFP that the victim has been identified as Washiqur Rahman. "He was brutally hacked to death this morning with big knives just 460 metres from his home at Dhaka's Begunbari area."

Just last month, a prominent American blogger of Bangladeshi origin, known for his writing against religious fundamentalism, was hacked to death by unidentified assailants in Dhaka, according to the police.

Avijit Roy, 40, was attacked with machetes when he was returning from a book fair at Dhaka University late on Thursday night along with his wife Rafida Ahmed. Read more

Read more: Blogger Avijit's wife, father battle for justice

@taslimanasreen  tweets: Another blogger Washikur Rahman Babu was hacked to death today in Bangladesh by Muslim fanatics. Bangladesh is not a place for freethinker

BJP patriarch L.K. Advani, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and actors Amitabh Bachchan and Dilip Kumar received the Padma Vibhushan awards, the second highest civilian award of the country. President Pranab Mukherjee conferred the awards at Rashtrapati Bhavan today.

Details in a bit.

A new political problem for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is emerging with 10 MLAs and 2 MPs likely to dump Arvind Kejriwal. Or at least they are waiting for the right moment to dump the Delhi CM.

These MLAs are indirectly threatening the AAP leadership as key rivals of these MLAs have been accommodated as Parliamentary secretaries in Delhi with Minister of State status.

So, as Parliamentary secretaries they get a vehicle, one personal assistant, office space in their assembly consituency with a rental of Rs 10000 from the Delhi government.

Wait and watch this space for more details.

Lieutenants of Rahul Gandhi at the 2, Tughlaq Lane office are justifiably exasperated.

Rahul's men are confused and upset about how they will continue to convince people especially family loyalists about his long absence and repeated postponements of return.

They say they are tired of planting breaking news stories about Rahul's possible return only to have the date go by without the Congress vice-president turning up.

A former Andhra Pradesh cadre IAS officer who is part of Rahul's staff is believed to be in direct touch with him and it is this person who gives Rahul updates about AICC matters, what's happening in the opposition and the news from Parliament.

But even this officer is unable to confirm the the date of Rahul Gandhi's return.

Questions about whether Rahul will return with a 'entrant' in the Gandhi family remain unanswered.

Rahul's office has been dismissing and denying these rumours as mere speculation floated by BJP and RSS camps.

India's antiquated rail network is earmarked for an overhaul -- but what would travellers lose and gain if high-speed trains were to reach the subcontinent? Read

Padma Vibhushan

1 LK Advani- Public Affairs- Gujarat

2 Amitabh Bachchan- Art- Maharashtra

3 Prakash Singh Badal- Public Affairs- Punjab

4 Dr D Veerendra Heggade- Social Work- Karnataka

5 Mohammad Yusuf Khan alias Dilip Kumar- Art- Maharashtra

6 Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Swami Rambhadracharya- Others- Uttar Pradesh

7 Prof Malur Ramaswamy Srinivasan- Science and Engineering- Tamil Nadu

8 Kottayan K. Venugopal- Public Affairs- Delhi

9 Karim Al Hussaini Aga Khan (Foreigner)- Trade and Industry- France/UK

Padma Bhushan:

1 Jahnu Barua- Art- Assam

2 Dr Vijay Bhatkar- Science and Engineering- Maharashtra

3 Shri Swapan Dasgupta- Literature and Education- Delhi

4 Swami Satyamitranand Giri- Others- Uttar Pradesh

5 N Gopalaswami- Civil Service- Tamil Nadu

6 Dr Subhash C Kashyap- Public Affairs- Delhi

7 Dr (Pandit) Gokulotsavji Maharaj- Art- Madhya Pradesh

8 Dr Ambrish Mithal- Medicine - Delhi

9 Sudha Ragunathan- Art- Tamil Nadu

10 Shri Harish Salve- Public Affairs- Delhi

11 Dr Ashok Seth- Medicine- Delhi

12 Rajat Sharma- Literature and Education- Delhi

13 Satpal- Sports- Delhi

14 Shivakumara Swami- Others- Karnataka

15 Dr Kharag Singh Valdiya- Science and Engineering- Karnataka

16 Prof Manjul Bhargava (NRI/PIO)- Science and Engineering- USA

17 David Frawley (Vamadeva) (Foreigner)- Others- USA

18 Bill Gates (Foreigner)- Social Work- USA

19 Melinda Gates (Foreigner)- Social Work- USA

20 Saichiro Misumi (Foreigner)- Others- Japan

Padma Shri

1 Dr Manjula Anagani- Medicine- Telangana

2 S Arunan- Science and Engineering- Karnataka

3 Kanyakumari Avasarala- Art- Tamil Nadu

4 Dr Bettina Sharada Baumer- Literature and Education- Jammu and Kashmir

5 Naresh Bedi- Art- Delhi

6 Ashok Bhagat- Social Work- Jharkhand

7 Sanjay Leela Bhansali- Art- Maharashtra

8 Dr Lakshmi Nandan Bora- Literature and Education- Assam

9 Dr Gyan Chaturvedi- Literature and Education- Madhya Pradesh

10 Prof (Dr) Yogesh Kumar Chawla- Medicine- Chandigarh

11 Jayakumari Chikkala- Medicine- Delhi

12 Bibek Debroy- Literature and Education- Delhi

13 Dr Sarungbam Bimola Kumari Devi- Medicine- Manipur

14 Dr Ashok Gulati- Public Affairs- Delhi

15 Dr Randeep Guleria- Medicine- Delhi

16 Dr KP Haridas- Medicine- Kerala

17 Rahul Jain- Art- Delhi

18 Ravindra Jain- Art- Maharashtra

19 Dr Sunil Jogi- Literature and Education- Delhi

20 Prasoon Joshi- Art- Maharashtra

21 Dr Prafulla Kar- Art- Odisha

22 Saba Anjum- Sports- Chhattisgarh

23 Ushakiran Khan- Literature and Education- Bihar

24 Dr Rajesh Kotecha- Medicine- Rajasthan

25 Prof Alka Kriplani- Medicine Delhi

26 Dr Harsh Kumar- Medicine- Delhi

27 Narayana Purushothama Mallaya- Literature & Education- Kerala

28 Lambert Mascarenhas- Literature and Education- Goa

29 Dr Janak Palta McGilligan- Social Work- Madhya Pradesh

30 Veerendra Raj Mehta- Social Work- Delhi

31 Tarak Mehta- Art- Gujarat

32 Neil Herbert Nongkynrih (Art), Meghalaya

33 Chewang Norphel- Others- Jammu and Kashmir

34 TV Mohandas Pai- Trade and Industry- Karnataka

35 Dr Tejas Patel- Medicine- Gujarat

36 Jadav Molai Peyang- Others- Assam

37 Bimla Poddar- Others- Uttar Pradesh

38 Dr N Prabhakar- Science and Engg- Delhi

39 Dr Prahalada- Science and Engg- Maharashtra

40 Dr Narendra Prasad- Medicine- Bihar

41 Ram Bahadur Rai- Literature and Education- Delhi

42 Mithali Raj- Sports- Telangana

43 PV Rajaraman- Civil Service- Tamil Nadu

44 Prof JS Rajput- Literature and Education- Uttar Pradesh

45 Kota Srinivasa Rao- Art- Andhra Pradesh

46 Prof Bimal Roy- Literature and Education- West Bengal

47 Shekhar Sen- Art- Maharashtra

48- Gunvant Shah- Literature and Education- Gujarat

49 Brahmdev Sharma- Literature and Education- Delhi

50 Manu Sharma- Literature and Education- Uttar Pradesh

51 Prof Yog Raj Sharma- Medicine- Delhi

52 Vasant Shastri- Science and Engg- Karnataka

53 SK Shivkumar- Science and Engg- Karnataka

54 PV Sindhu- Sports- Telangana

55 Sardara Singh- Sports- Haryana

56 Arunima Sinha-Sports- Uttar Pradesh

57 Mahesh Raj Soni- Art- Rajasthan

58 Dr Nikhil Tandon- Medicine- Delhi

59 H Thegtse Rinpoche- Social Work- Arunachal Pradesh

60 Dr Hargovind Laxmishanker Trivedi- Medicine- Gujarat

61 Huang Baosheng- Others- China

62 Prof Jacques Blamont- Science and Engg- France

63 Late Syedna Mohammad Burhanuddin- Others- Maharashtra (Posthumous)

64 Jean-Claude Carriere- Literature and Education - France

65 Dr Nandrajan 'Raj' Chetty- Literature and Education- France

66 George L Hart- Others- USA

67 Jagat Guru Amrta Suryananda Maha Raja- Others- Portugal

68 Late Meetha Lal Mehta- Social Work- Rajasthan (Posthumous)

69 Tripti Mukherjee- Art- USA

70 Dr Dattatreyudu Nori- Medicine- USA

71 Dr Raghu Rama Pillarisetti (Medicine), USA

72 Dr Saumitra Rawat- Medicine- UK

73 Prof Annette Schmiedchen (Literature and Education), Germany

74 Late Pran Kumar Sharma alias Pran- Art- Delhi (Posthumous)

75 Late R Vasudevan- Civil Service- Tamil Nadu (Posthumous)

Padma Awards also being conferred now. 

President Pranab Mukherjee has conferred the country's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, on freedom fighter Madan Mohan Malviya  (posthumously) today.

The family of the noted educationist was present at the Rashtrapati Bhavan today to receive the award.

The government had announced the decision to award Bharat Ratna to Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya and to Atal Bihari Vajpayee on December 24 last year.

Born in on December 25, 1861, Pandit Malviya was catapulted into the political arena immediately after his first moving speech at the second Congress session held in Kolkata in 1886.

He was President of INC in 1909 and 1918. His main achievement was the establishment of the Banaras Hindu University.

Meanwhile, India sends two passenger ships to Djibouti Port to evacuate Indian nationals stranded in Yemen, says Cochin Port Trust official.

Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday said India will airlift its nationals from strife-torn Yemen after getting permission from authorities to fly from Sanaa for three hours a day.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today rushed minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi to Kashmir for on-the-spot assessment of the flood situation and to coordinate with state authorities for whatever help is required.

As the flood situation began to turn serious in the Valley, Modi deputed Naqvi, Minister of State for Minority Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs, to visit the state today.

Naqvi has been tasked to make assessment about the flood situation and coordinate with the state government besides officials of the army involved in rescue efforts.

"The Centre is committed to provide all help required by the state," Naqvi told PTI as he prepared to leave for the flood-hit Valley.

He will make assessment about the requirement of help from the Centre on the basis of losses caused. He will also discuss ways to ensure such a situation does not arise again.

"People have been greatly affected by rainfall and flood. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also worried about the situation and he is ready and committed to help the people," Naqvi said, adding that he will try to submit a report to the PM as soon as possible.

Kashmir has been hit by floods again, just six months after it witnessed unprecedented deluge in which most of Srinagar and some other towns were badly affected.

Shekhar Gupta tweets on the rift in AAP:  Frankly, 2 purged notables, Adm Ramdas, Medha Patkar didn't belong to AAP. Constant disrupters climbed bandwagon with own agenda.

The Aam Aadmi Party yesterday removed the party's internal Lokpal Admiral L Ramdas and Prashant Bhushan as the chief of the National Disciplinary Committee, a day after the latter and senior leader Yogendra Yadav were expelled from the National Executive. Admiral L Ramdas removed as AAP's internal Lokpal.

Veteran social activist Medha Patkar on Saturday resigned from the party. "What happened at the AAP meeting in Delhi is unfortunate," Patkar said in Mumbai

J-K education minister, Nayeem Akhtar, on the flood situation in the state: The administration has declared that it's a flood. The Jhelum is flowing above the danger mark in Sangam and Ram Munshi Bagh. We have tried to learn from last year's disaster, flood control and management regime has been activated, measures being taken and boats and sand bags organised. We have mounted 24 hour vision on bunds all across valley. 

Saina Nehwal tweets this picture with her mother. @NSaina  With mummy and India open medal.

Saina created history on Saturday, becoming the first Indian woman shuttler to attain the world No 1 ranking after her closest challenger for the spot, Spain's Carolina Marin, lost in the India Open Super Series semi-finals in New Delhi.

The ace Indian shuttler made sure of the top ranking even before she got the better of Japan's Yui Hashimoto 21-15, 21-11 in the second semi-final of the $275,000 Yonex Sunrise Super series event at the Siri Fort sports complex.

Though the official rankings will be out only next Thursday, the 25-year-old Indian is assured of her ascent to the top following Marin's defeat. The World and All England champion lost to Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon in the first semi-final.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi deputes Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi to Kashmir for assessment of flood situation.

A day after he was sacked from the Aam Aadmi Party's National Executive, Prashant Bhushan spoke to the media about Kejriwal's behaviour. Speaking to the media, he said, "People who raise a voice of dissent or challenge Arvind's decisions will be shown way out, only people who agree with him can stay."

The Narendra Modi government might witness expansion before the start of second half of the Budget Session scheduled on April 20. While the second expansion of the Cabinet will see new faces, many from allies, including the PDP and the Shiv Sena, sources claimed that a few non-performing ministers may face the axe. The expansion and reshuffle exercise of the Cabinet will take place after the two day national executive meeting of the BJP, starting on April 3 in Bengaluru.

The first paper of the Uttar Pradesh Provincial Civil Services 2015 preliminary examinations was leaked in Lucknow. Much to the shock of the investigating agencies and the police, WhatsApp, an instant mobile messaging app, was used to leak and then eventually sell the question paper of the first paper.

President Pranab Mukherjee will be presenting the Bharat Ratna to the family of Pandit Madan Malaviya today at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Earlier, on Friday, in a private ceremony, the President had conferred India's highest civilian honour on former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. 

The river Jhelum crossed the danger level in Srinagar and Sangam area of South Kashmir. The alert was sounded due to incessant rain over the last 24 hours in the area. The district administration has instructed all the employees involved in flood protection measures to report for duty at their respective beats and rescue camps have been established at EDI Pampore and Marriage Hall Sanat Nagar.