The Interpol has yet again sought additional information from the Enforcement Directorate on its money laundering case against former IPL Chairman Lalit Modi as part of the process to issue a Red Corner Notice against him.

Eminent author Vikram Seth today came out in support of the Sahitya Akademi statement denouncing the recent killing of writers, saying it has condemned the "atmosphere of fear" sought to created by such acts and actred as an "independent body".

The Bombay high court has taken a serious view of the stand taken by a Maharashtra minister that he will not be available until January 2016 to hear an appeal filed by a cooperative society.

BJP MP Kirit Somaiya today claimed that the fate of NCP leaders Ajit Pawar and Sunil Tatkare in the irrigation scam would be sealed in the next two to three months

As many as 2,500 passengers were affected today as 30 flights were cancelled to and fro Jammu because of restrictions imposed by the Indian Air Force at the airport there for some technical reasons.

America will give $70 million aid to Pakistan to provide adequate education and health care for some 200,000 adolescent girls in the country, first lady Michelle Obama has announced.

A magistrate court here today extended the judicial custody of Sameer Gaikwad, an activist of right-wing outfit Sanatan Sanstha and prime suspect in the murder of Communist leader Govind Pansare, till November 7.

CBI today filed a charge sheet against Anil Kumar Sahani, a JD-U MP from Bihar where polls are underway, and three others in the alleged LTC scam that broke out in 2013 with the probe agency claiming they caused a loss of Rs 23.71 lakh to the exchequer.

Intensifying crackdown against hoarding, four states including Maharashtra and Karnataka today seized over 15,000 tonnes of pulses, while prices saw a modest dip in some parts of the country. This takes the total seizure of pulses so far to 50,656.79 tonnes, recovered in 3,149 raids carried out in 10 states.

Songs and dances instead of rituals during festivals in public places should be stopped, the Bombay high court said today while refusing permission to a cultural organisation to hold Chhat Puja on suburban Juhu beach.

India's ODI skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Friday took time off to meet former BCCI president N Srinivasan at his residence in Chennai, a move which invited criticism from some quarters.


A top source said that Dhoni met Srinivasan over breakfast and was at the ICC chairman's residence for close to 45 minutes. After he left, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy met Srinivasan. Srinivasan, who was earlier the owner of the IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings, had to detach himself from the Dhoni-led side due to conflict of interest.


The Tamil Nadu strongman was also removed from the BCCI top job after cases of fixing cropped up against his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, and he now serves as ICC chairman only.


CSK and Rajasthan Royals (RR) were suspended for two years by The Board of Control for Cricket in India after the Supreme Court appointed Lodha Committee found both the team owner's, Meiyappan and Raj Kundra (RR) guilty of betting.


Dhoni, who has been the skipper of CSK for the past eight seasons, has refused to comment on his visit.

Amul's take on rising dal prices. Dal prices have touched a record Rs 210 per kg.

Dalit teenager's killing: Two cops suspended. Probe will continue.

Samajwadi Party leader and state cabinet minister Mohammed Azam Khan on the reason behind the atrocities against children. "Two-and-a-half-year olds are getting raped, why? It's because of mobile phones. Even in villages people can download things," the minister told ANI. 


He also compared Union minister V K Singhs dog analogy to Prime Minister Narendra Modis controversial puppy remark that he had made during the run-up to the general elections in 2013, saying he was not surprised by the statement as it was the culture rampant in the BJP.

I dont see anything wrong in what he has said. The Prime Minister had used the word puppy and now the puppy has become a fully grown dog. This is the culture of the BJP and the RSS and it is terribly hurting the nation, Khan said.

You can see the evil taking root in Punjab, then Dadri and then the Dalits, and now it is seeping across the nation, Khan added.

He asserted that in the name of beef the second biggest majority in the nation was being persecuted and that the Muslim community was fearful of what was to come next.

Key statements in the US-Pakistan joint statement (in order of their appearance in the statement) that could raise red flags. Read

India reacts to Pakistan president Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan commitment to  US president Barack Obama to take "effective action against United Nations-designated terrorist individuals and entities, including Lashkar-e-Taiba and its affiliates, as per its international commitments and obligations." 



In a statement today, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said "Terrorism naturally comes to mind when talking about Pakistan. The US- Pak joint statement devotes much space to it. Pakistan chooses to use terrorism as an instrument of state policy. India has always desired resolution of all issues bilaterally. We have also read assurances about these two organisations and on terrorism, by Pakistan. I hope they deliver.


"LeT and the Haqqani network were mentioned and these operate out of Pakistan. President Obama also raised concerns about US nationals held hostage. We have also read assurances about these two organisations and on terrorism, by Pakistan.


"Its Pakistan's internal matter who they appoint as their NSA, as far as we are concerned we are open to NSA level talks as decided in Ufa."

Forty-two mostly elderly people died when a bus and a truck collided head-on and caught fire near Bordeaux early on Friday, officials said, in France's worst road crash in decades.


Another five people were injured in the collision on a country road near Puisseguin in the Gironde region about 60km east of Bordeaux.


A spokesman for the interior ministry said that, as far as he could tell, all the passengers were French and from the region.President Francois Hollande, speaking on a visit to Athens, said he had been "plunged into sadness by the tragedy".

--  Reuters.

After studied silence, the Sahitya Akademi finally passes a resolution condemning the increasing number of cases of intolerance and at once, requests writers to take back their awards.


At least 35 writers from across the country had over the past few weeks announced their decision to return their Sahitya Akademi awards and stepped down from official Akademi positions to protest the "rising intolerance" in the country.


In New Delhi today, supporters of the writers who had returned the Akademi awards, held a solidarity march ahead of the Sahitya Akademi emergency meeting to discuss the returning of awards by eminent authors. The awards had been returned in the backdrop MM Kalburgi's killing, the Dalit killings and the Dadri lynching.


Writers from different languages converged for the silent march to the Sahitya Akademi building, where they submitted a memorandum to the Akademi demanding that it pass a resolution pledging to take stern steps to safeguard the freedom of speech and right to dissent of the writers.


Akademi chairman Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari accepted the memorandum and said "it would be considered" in the meeting.


At the meeting, the Akademi passed a resolution condemning the increasing cases of intolerance in India and urged the writers who had returned their awards to accept them.

A court in Sri Lanka today extended till November 6 the custody of 19 Tamil Nadu fishermen, arrested by naval personnel of the island nation on September 10. President of Sri Lanka Vadakku Marachi Fishermen Association T Emiliyan Pillai said that the fishermen were produced at the court at Paruthithurai today and that the magistrate Vijaya Rani extended their custody till November 6. This is the second time their remand is being extended. Earlier, the fishermen had been produced in the same court on October 3 and their remanded extended to Oct 23.


The 19 fishermen were arrested by Lankan naval personnel off Paruthithurai on September 10 and their two boats seized. They were later lodged in a prison at Jaffna.

"Keep both chief ministers -- Chandrababu Naidu and Chandrasekhar Rao -- cheerful and have regular joint meetings."

This is what Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Andhra Pradesh Governor ESL Narasimhan, when he was in the state to lay the foundation stone of Amaravati, the futuristic capital of Andhra Pradesh, at a grand ceremony on Thursday.


The buzz in both chief ministerial camps was that everyone wanted to know why Modi wanted AP governor ESL Narasimhan to accompany him throughout the day during his visits to Vijayawada, Amaravati and Tirumala.


What we understand is that the the PM wanted to keep the CMs of both the states cheerful and get the latest inputs on Telangana and the newly bifurcated state of Andhra Pradesh.


Both chief  ministers are rather puzzled about Narasimhan's precise role in the PM's day-long visit to the state, our sources tell us.

Andhra Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has invited Maharashtra Governor Vidyasagar Rao and Tamil Nadu Governor K Rosaiah to the foundation ceremony of Amaravati, the futuristic capital of Andhra Pradesh.


While Rosiah made an appearance, Rao did not. While Rao had prior engagements, more importantly, when the prime minister attends, Rao has to get a go-ahead from the PMO.

Rosaiah, on the other hand, does not need to attend since he is the senior- most Congress leader after President Pranab Mukherjee and does not need Sonia Gandhi's permission. In any case, there is no vestige of the Congress in Andhra Pradesh after it was completely wiped out in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley and law minister Sadananda Gowda met President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday on the issue of the Supreme Court ruling on the NJAC Act.


Speculation is ripe about a possible ordinance to bring a new legislation in the winter session of Parliament. Jaitley, on the direction of the prime minister has held two rounds of meetings with law officers on Sunday at his house before the meeting with President Pranab Mukherjee.


Supreme Court on Friday rejected the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act and the 99th Constitutional Amendment which sought to give politicians and civil society a final say in the appointment of judges to the highest courts.

The BJP is taking the National Herald case very seriously. The BJP is confident that the shenanigans in the Congress leadership will be fully exposed in a year's time.


The BJP wants to know how a huge sum of Rs 90 crore was overnight handed over to National Herald.
They want to know whose money was paid and to whom? And why.


If these questions are answered, the BJP feels black money transactions can be proved.  The Congress cadre was duped by the Congress Working Committee, says the BJP leadership, and it is time the truth is revealed about the leadership.


BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had earlier filed a complaint, saying that Congress leaders were involved in cheating and breach of trust in the acquisition of Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) by Young Indian Pvt Ltd (YIL).


A trial court had on June 26 last year directed Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Congress treasurer Moti Lal Vora, Congress leader Oscar Fernandes along with several others to appear before it on August 7, 2014, on Swamy's complaint.

The BJP will be the single largest party in Bihar with 105 MLAs, say  party projections. All other political parties, whether JDU, RJD or NDA, will all make it to just two-digit figures, says party sources.


That's how the BJP sees its future in 243-seat Bihar assembly polls.


It's still wait and watch as the third, fourth and fifth phase are still to end, but the party feels that the 'Modi wave' will submerge all opponents in the state.

A sessions court here on Friday deferred sentencing of Uber rape case accused Shiv Kumar Yadav till November 3, as it couldn't hear arguments on the quantum of punishment to be given to the latter for raping a woman last December. The accused was not present in the court during the hearing. Yadav was held guilty for the offences under Sections 376 (2)(m) (while committing rape causes grievous bodily harm or disfigures or endangers life of a woman), 366 (abducting with an intent to compel her for marriage), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 323 (causing hurt) of the IPC. In all, 28 prosecution witnesses deposed in the case. The victim identified the accused while recording her evidence.

What's with the BJP and their dog analogies?

Remember PM Narendra Modi's interview to Reuters in 2013, where as the Gujarat chief minister used a puppy analogy while referring to the deaths in his state in the 2002 riots.


In an interview to the Reuters news agency, Modi said: "Even If I am in the back seat of a car and a puppy (kutte ka bachcha) comes under the wheels, isn't it painful? It is. Whether I am a chief minister or not, I am a human being - I will be sad if something bad happens anywhere."

BSP supremo Mayawati today demanded the immediate sacking of Union minister V K Singh for his dog remark on the Dalit killings in Faridabad and said he should be sent to jail for his "petty, mean and low-level mentality".


"Prime Minister Narendra Modi should immediately dismiss him. He should be sent to jail for harbouring such petty and low-level mentality towards Dalits," Mayawati told reporters at a hurriedly convened press conference in Lucknow.


Her outburst came after Singh's controversial remarks that "government cannot be held responsible if somebody stones a dog". "The comment is against the self-respect and honour of Dalits all over the country. Our party not only condemns it, but also demands from the Prime Minister that he should immediately dismiss him for having such petty, mean and low- level mentality and send him to jail," an angry Mayawati said.


"If Modi does not do the same, it will be taken that he has nothing to do with the pride of Dalits and his recent announcement of building memorial in the name of Ambedkar is merely aimed at taking advantage of their votes," she said.


At the press meet, the BSP leader and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister accused the BJP government in Haryana of being "insensitive" towards Dalits and termed as shameful the killing of two children who were burnt alive three days ago in Faridabad. "It clearly indicates that BJP is not at all concerned or sensitive towards Dalits. It shows insensitivity of the Haryana government."


She said the incident is more shocking because it happened despite the police deployment in the area. "Despite police presence, four dalits were burnt alive. What was their fault. It was because they (Dalits) wanted to live with self-respect," she said.

Union minister General VK Singh's much publicised remark reportedly comparing the burning of Dalit children with stone being thrown at some stray dog could not have come at a worse time for the NDA in Bihar.

As the BJP-led coalition is fighting the election, with what many observers of the Bihar scene regard as a 'back to wall' kind of electoral battle, Singh's 'words of wisdom' in all likelihood would further strengthen the apprehensions of the marginalised groups towards the NDA in general and BJP in particular, says Shivanand Tiwari, a former member of the Rajya Sabha and keen observer of the Bihar political scene.


BJP had never been known for its love towards the Dalits, said Tiwari. But in recent past, the party had been aggressively wooing the Dalits and uncharacteristically, BJP pampered Dalit leader and former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi, even compromising with the party's self esteem.


Not only Manjhi, BJP also cultivated Ram Bilas Paswan just to win over the Dalits and allay their apprehensions. Read more

Home minister Rajnath Singh reacts to union minister VK Singh's remark on the Dalit killings. Singh has drawn flak across parties for his that the the government cannot be held responsible if a stone is thrown at a dog - in the context of the murder of two Dalit children in Faridabad.


Rajnath Singh said today that leaders have to be careful while expressing their views. "You cannot get away by saying the statement was misinterpreted," the home minister said.


Though Singh tried to initially defend his remarks, by late evening yesterday, he apologized for them. "I will be very clear on this that in case, because of this mixing up of two things, which someone else has done, if somebody's feelings have been hurt, I am apologizing for it. Because some people have created a totally different picture altogether, which was never there. I had no intention of hurting anybody. Because of this imaginative linking of somebody if somebody's feelings have been hurt, I apologize whole-heartedly," Singh told ANI before flying to Thailand on a ministerial assignment.

The Aam Aadmi Party has filed a FIR against Union Minister VK Singh over his controversial comments on the Faridabad Dalit killing.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal also demanded that the minister be sacked and said the comment was shameful and prosecutable under the SC/ST Act.


In Ghaziabad, a parliamentary constituency that VK Singh represents, the minister kicked up a storm with his comments that the Centre cannot be blamed if somebody throws a stone at a dog to shield it from criticism for the incident in which a Dalit household was set on fire in Faridabad.

"See, the thing is, never associate local incidents with the Central government (sarkar). There is an inquiry going on. There was a dispute between families. The disputehow did it turn outwhere did the administration fail, after these it comes to the Centre," Singh said.

"For everythinglike if somebody throws a stone at a dog, then the government is responsibleit is not like that," he added.

The US has welcomed Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's commitment to take action against Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) responsible for the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, describing it a very significant development.


"This is indeed something very new. And it is very significant that the President (Barack Obama) and the Prime Minister discussed Pakistan's efforts to take action against LeT and its affiliates," a senior Obama administration official told Indian reporters


"We welcome Pakistan's commitment as part of the National Action Plan not to commit to targeting the complete wide range of terrorist groups in its country," the official said after the Obama-Sharif meeting at the Oval Office. In a joint statement issued thereafter Pakistan committed itself to taking action against LeT and its affiliates.


"The Prime Minister apprised the President about Pakistan's resolve to take effective action against United Nations-designated terrorist individuals and entities, including Lashkar-e-Taiba and its affiliates, as per its international commitments and obligations under UN Security Council resolutions and the Financial Action Task Force," the joint statement said.


According to officials, the issue of action against LeT was raised by none other than Obama himself who pressed Sharif to commit for taking action against this terrorist group, which among others has been responsible for the Mumbai terrorist attack.

"There was a very mixed message that emanated from the Dadri killing and its aftermath. While there was all-round condemnation of vigilantes who take matters into their own hands and enforce lynch-mob justice, most sensible people felt that diet was too sensitive a subject to be exposed to the whims of either a stubborn religious orthodoxy or insolent libertarians."

Read Swapan Dasgupta's column for the Telegraph.

The murder of two children of a Dalit family in Faridabad is part of a disturbing pattern of violence against the Scheduled Castes in Haryana. National Crime Records Bureau data put the number of incidents of crimes against Dalits in Haryana in 2014 at 830. The corresponding figure for 2013 was 493; for 2012 it was 252. Read more

Bollywood playback singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya has been booked for allegedly misbehaving with a a woman at a cultural event during Durga puja, police said today.


The alleged incident took place last night during the programme at Lokhandwala in Mumbai's Andheri suburb where Abhijeet was present as one of the event organisers while the victim was an invitee, they said.

"While the programme was going on, a woman stood up in between (the rows of the audience) that blocked the view of stage for the people sitting behind. People started shouting at her and when she did not listen, Abhijeet himself asked her to sit down," Oshiwara police station's senior inspector Subhash Khanvilkar said. "While trying to move the victim from where she stood up, Abhijeet allegedly touched and caught her inappropriately," the police said quoting a complaint filed by the victim.

On the basis of the victim's complaint, an offence under IPC sections of 354 (a) (sexual harassment), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 34 was registered against the singer in the wee hours today, he said.

"We have started an investigation into the case," the police officer said. Khanvilkar, however, said there is no need to summon to the singer immediately before the police complete the preliminary investigation.


When contacted, Abhijeet in a text message said filing of the complaint against him was "handiwork of anti-Hindu forces" which he was well aware of. "It's crowd management. Police and security do their job. Gate crash and nuisance is the main factor," he said. "Everyone is so happy with us because we entertain every one in our Puja. But the main point is we were aware of anti Hindu forces/ terrorist threats and sabotage of this Hindu Durga Puja and that is working well for them," the singer said.


Earlier, Abhijeet had courted controversy in May this year when, in a series of tweets, he said that roads are meant for cars and dogs and not for people to sleep on, while coming out in support of superstar Salman Khan after the latter's conviction in the 2002 hit-and-run case.

A senior Obama administration official, who was in on the summit between President Barack Obama and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the White House on Thursday, October 22, has strongly refuted the swirling rumours on an India-type civilian nuclear agreement with Pakistan that Islamabad has been imploring Washington to enter into.

Pakistan on Thursday committed to take "effective action against United Nations-designated terrorist individuals and entities, including Lashkar-e-Taiba and its affiliates, as per its international commitments and obligations," after Washington held its feet to the fire on the terrorism issue affecting India, while backing Islamabad's efforts to re-engage New Delhi.


The commitment, contained in a joint statement issued at the end of a meeting between President Obama and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, came after Islamabad persuaded Washington to press India for talks, including on border tensions.



Any confidence-building measures and mechanisms to address these tensions should be on terms mutually acceptable to India and Pakistan, the statement said, effectively sticking to Washington's bilateral approach that abjures third party intervention or mediation.


Pakistan has long been trying to internationalize the issue while seeking to blame India for the more recent incidents which New Delhi says is a result of Pakistan trying to infiltrate terrorists into India. Read more

An article about the real-life experiences of a suicide survivor that was to be published in IIT Madras' official student journal was censored and toned down because of 'concerns raised by faculty'. The latest version of the piece, however, doesn't contain any such descriptor and only mentions it as having undergone "very minor edits." 

Ahead of the crucial meeting of the board of members of the Sahitya Akademi, writers, novelists and eminent litterateurs  have come together and have begun a silent march to protest the growing intolerance in the country and the murder of MM Kalburgi. 

When litterateurs are returning their awards in protest against the Dadri lynching incident, Urdu poet and Sahitya Akademi awardee Munawwar Rana seems to have decided to use the opportunity to get closer to PM Narendra Modi. 

Bajrang Dal has kicked off drives to engage 10 lakh new volunteers to ramp up its cow protection programmes across states. The right-wing outfit is already re-training three lakh of what it claims as an existing 15 lakh-strong volunteer base to radically build a notion of Hindu identity around cows and mobilise dominant caste groups into the Hindutva fold. 

As the executive board of the Sahitya Akademi gears up to meet today to take stock of the situation after the mass resignation of writers to protest curbs on free speech, some board members have dismissed the dissent as 'ho halla' (empty noise). 

Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton vigorously defended her record before the special House panel investigating the 2012 fatal attacks on Americans in Libya, rejecting Republican accusations that she neglected a deteriorating security situation and then mischaracterized the nature of the violence.

Close on the heels of two Dalitchildren being burnt alive at Sunped village in Faridabad, a15-year-old Dalit boy, who was charged with theft of a pigeon,was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Haryana's Gohana town. According to police, the teenager was found dead at his home in Gohana town in Sonepat district, though the boy's family approached the police alleging that he died while in police custody.