Petitions challenging the election of All India Anna Dravida Munetra Kazhagam supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to the assembly in a byelection have been filed in the Madras high court by two independent candidates.

The British Airways today flew the latest version of Boeing 787, with a new first class cabin, to the national capital, the first global destination for the new aircraft since its induction into the English carrier's fleet. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed and inquired about damage caused by the earthquake that originated in Afghanistan and affected parts of Pakistan and India. 

"Chahe jitna bhi kahe ki nahi h, mera daawa hai woh (Geeta) meri beti hai. Usko thoda ghabrahat hai. She may say no, but I believe she (Geeta) is my daughter, she is a little frightened. I am claiming this. DNA test will prove the same," says Janardhan Mahato, the man who Geeta identified as her father.


At the MEA press conference today, foreign minister Sushma Swaraj speaking on Geeta's behalf said the girl had denied that the Mahtos were her family. Earlier, Geeta had identified the Mahtos as her long-lost family from photographs sent by the Indian government.


Sushma Swaraj has said that Geeta can stay in India irrespective of the DNA test result. Geeta's DNA samples were taken today and will be matched with the Mahtos.

Maharashtra to request the Centre to allow Chhota Rajan to be taken to Mumbai after he is deported to India: MoS Home Ram Shinde.

In view of the earthquake in Pakistan and loss of lives, the reception for Geeta at the Pakistan High Commission this evening has been cancelled.

Pakistan today summoned India's Deputy High Commissioner and lodged a protest over alleged ceasefire violations by Indian troops along the border which authorities here claim killed three civilians.


India's Deputy High Commissioner J P Singh was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here by Director General, South Asia and SAARC, Muhammad Faisal, to lodge a protest over the "ceasefire violations by India", a Pakistan Foreign Office statement said. The alleged ceasefire violations took place on the nights of 23rd, 24th and 25th October at Shakargarh and Zafarwal Sectors of the Working Boundary, according to the statement. 

That's what gangster Chhota Rajan who was arrested last night in Bali, Indonesia, looks today. The picture was released by Interpol, Indonesia.
For someone who has been arrested, he looks happy.


Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan was arrested by Indonesian authorities in the popular resort island of Bali, police officials said on Monday.

The Union home ministry has confirmed the arrest of the gangster, who has been on the run for decades and is likely to be deported to India.

Acting on a tip-off from the Australian police, Indonesian authorities detained 55-year-old Rajan on Sunday as he arrived in Bali from Sydney, police spokesman Heri Wiyanto told AFP.

"We received information from police in Canberra (Sunday) about the red notice for a murderer," he said, adding, "We arrested the man at the airport yesterday. What we know is that this man was suspected to have carried out 15 to 20 murders in India."

Interpol's website states Nikalje was born in Mumbai and is wanted for multiple charges, including murder and possession and use of illegal firearms.


Chhota Rajan began his career in crime as a petty thief and bootlegger under the wings of Rajan Nair, who was known as 'Bada Rajan'. He became the head of Nair's gang after the latter's murder.

Just in: 12 dead after quake triggers stampede in girls' school in Afghanistan
40 more have dead in Pakistan, with several injured.

Processed meats - such as bacon, sausages and ham - do cause cancer, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).


Its report said 50g of processed meat a day - less than two slices of bacon - increased the chance of developing colorectal cancer by 18%.


Meanwhile, it said red meats were "probably carcinogenic" but there was limited evidence.


But the WHO said meat did also have health benefits.


Processed meat is meat that has been modified to increase its shelf-life or alter its taste - such as by smoking, curing or adding salt or preservatives.It is these additions which could be increasing the risk of cancer.


"For an individual, the risk of developing colorectal (bowel) cancer because of their consumption of processed meat remains small, but this risk increases with the amount of meat consumed," Dr Kurt Straif from the WHO said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today offered assistance to Afghanistan and Pakistan as a major earthquake struck the region with epicentre in Afghanistan. He said he has asked for urgent assessment of the damage caused by the quake which also hit many parts of India.


"Heard about strong earthquake in Afghanistan-Pakistan region whose tremors have been felt in parts of India. I pray for everyone's safety," Modi tweeted. "I have asked for an urgent assessment and we stand ready for assistance where required, including Afghanistan & Pakistan," the Prime Minister added.


A powerful 7.5 magnitude quake, epicentred about 250 kms from the capital Kabul in Jarm in Afghanistan's northeast, also shook Pakistan and India. The quake lasted about one minute.

CBI says Chhota Rajan was arrested on its request, putting to rest rumours of a mistaken identity in the arrest. 

The government should stay away from putting any curbs on freedom of expression as the "age of bans is over", Information and Broadcasting minister Arun Jaitley said today, but maintained that restrictions imposed in the Constitution play an important role in the larger interest.


Delivering the Sardar Patel lecture organised by All India Radio (AIR) here, the Union minister noted that while the right to freedom of expression has expanded in India through successive judicial verdicts and technological advances, its misuse also continue to happen.


"Many believe, and I am one of those who do believe, that the age of bans is now over. It is literally impossible if not very difficult to implement them," he said. Reiterating that the government should not step into curbing the right to freedom of expression, Jaitley said, "Should the state step in? As far as possible, no".

13 dead in Pakistan in the 7.5 earthquake that shook north India, Afghanistan, Pakistan and even Uzbekistan and Kazakhistan. The intensity was earlier reported to be 7.7.

More from that press conference on Geeta's return:


-- External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj says: Even if we find Geeta's parents then too will request them to let her stay in Indore institution for 2 years so her sign language improves.


-- We are very grateful that the foundation helped her keep her traditions alive. Geeta never even ate non-veg food: Swaraj


-- Bilquis Edhi, the person who take care of her in Karachi: "She would fold her hands and cry when we named her Fatima and would ask for a ghanti. She would fall at my feet and ask for puja bell, so we realized she's a Hindu from India.

A press conference with external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, Geeta and Bilquis Edhi (who took care of Geeta in Karachi) is on right now in New Delhi.

Highlights...


-- Today is like Eid for me, I am very happy: Bilquis Edhi (who took care of Geeta in Karachi)


"I am not married, I have no kids. I was very young when I crossed over to Pak," says EAM for Geeta.


-- Sushma Swaraj says Geeta smiling since she has come here, quite evident she is happy. Swaraj has been answering the questions on Geeta's behalf since she is speech and hearing impaired. 


-- I am very happy to be here, I used to be sad but they gave me love when I was in Pakistan: Geeta


-- Geeta has said that she is not married as claimed by the Mahto family: EAM


-- Geeta says the Mahto family is not hers: Sushma Swaraj informs in a press conference.


-- The members of Edhi foundation are our honored guests and we will show them around Delhi: EAM


-- We will take them (members of Edhi foundation) to Ajmer Sharif, to Nizamuddin Auliya, wherever they want to go: EAM


The 23-year-old will soon meet Janardhan Mahato from Bihar, who she had earlier this month identified as her father from one of many photographs sent to her by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.

Mahato claims the young woman is his first born Heera, lost in a fair in 2004. A DNA test will be conducted to establish whether Geeta is indeed his daughter.

PM Modi says India stands ready for assistance to Pakistan and Afghanistan for quake relief. The PM has sought urgent assessment of quake damage. 

Afghanistan news channel Tolonews tweets:  7.7 magnitude quake jolts countries across the region including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, India & Pakistan.

Following the earthquake two benches of the Supreme Court which were hearing a case were adjourned, with the judges rushing out.

Epicentre of the earthquake 45 km south-south West of Jarm in Afghanistan and 256 km north of Kabul; 7.7 on Richter scale, 190 Km Depth: USGS

Indian Army and Indian Air Force, NDRF teams placed on scramble alert for possible relief and rescue ops.


Pic: Cracks appear in a building in Gilgit, Baltistan, in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir

The intensity of the earthquake is reported to between 7.5 to 7.7 on the Richter scale. States affected are Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Bihar.

Tremors were felt close to 2 minutes.

The epicentre of the earthquake is the Hindu Kush region near the Af-Pak border. 

Phone lines down in Srinagar following the earthquake. 

Pakistan MET office is reporting the quake as 8.1 while the USGS has reported is as a 7.7 on the Richter scale

The Dawn, Pakistan, reports that an earthquake has rocked the northern areas, including the capital city, Islamabad.


Reuters reported a 7.7 magnitude quake in Pakistan's northern areas citing United States Geological Survey. It is unclear how severe the quake was, but citizens took to social media to post reports of "massive quake".

An 7.7 earthquake has hit north India, including Delhi and Srinagar, a few minutes ago. Early reports say the tremors were severe and lasted for a minute at least. People were evacuated from buildings after strong tremors were felt in New Delhi. Confirmed tremors felt in Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Rajasthan.  Delhi metro services have been discontinued. The quake epicentre is believed to be the Hindukush range.


Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman tweets: Where was the epicentre? Was so strongly felt - as if someone, with a firm hand, was moving the chair. Could have lasted 30-45 seconds?


Pic: People evacuated from buildings in New Delhi.

Reports of a earthquake in Srinagar, as well.    

Former J-K CM tweets Omar Abdullah tweets: First time I've rushed out after the earthquake of 2005. 

Just in: Tremors felt in New Delhi/NCR. Quakes hit almost all of north India, say early reports. The tremors felt for more than a minute. Details awaited.

India will now try and get Rajan extradited. India and Indonesia signed a extradition treaty in 2011. Early reports say Indonesia is making arrangements to deport him.

Gangster Chhota Rajan arrested in Bali, reports AFP.


Rajan (55), whose real name is Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje, is wanted over a series of murders in India. He has been on the run for over 20 years. Rajan has also been named in the chargesheet in the murder of veteran journalist J Dey, who was shot dead in 2011.


AFP reports that acting on a tip-off from the Australian police, Indonesian authorities detained Rajan on Sunday as he arrived in the popular resort island of Bali from Sydney, police spokesperson Heri Wiyanto told AFP.


The 1993 Mumbai serial blasts mastermind, gangster Dawood Ibrahim had made several attempts to kill Rajan, a one-time aide. The two fell out after the 1993 Mumbai blasts.


A spokesperson for Australian Federal Police told AFP that Interpol in Canberra had alerted Indonesian authorities "who apprehended Nikalje at the request of Indian authorities".


The police confirmed last month that Nikalje was living in Australia under another identity and had been in discussions with Indian authorities, the spokesperson said, but would not provide further details.

Returning to the Geeta story, the young woman who reached New Delhi this morning, and meet External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj thereafter told her, "My heart has always been in India."   Geeta will be in the care of the government till her DNA matches that of her Indian family. Shortly after she reached the hotel in Delhi where she is staying, officials from AIIMS took her DNA samples, which will then be matched with her family.


Shashi Tharoor ‏and Omar Abdullah tweet in quick succession.


@ShashiTharoor  In all the euphoria over the return of #Geeta let us not forget to thank Bilqees Edhi, the real-life Pakistani Bajrangi Bhaijaan,&her family.


@abdullah_omar:  Credit where due, well done script writers of #BajrangiBhaijaan without whom "our daughter" #Geeta would have spent many more yrs forgotten.


Pic: EAM Sushma Swaraj and Geeta greet each other in New Delhi.

Vicky Toppo is a young man who transforms into a woman each time he takes to the stage to dance to Bhojpuri or Bollywood songs. He tells Archana Masih about life as an entertainer in Bihar's villages. As Bihar goes to the polls, Rediff.com looks at the state through the lives of its diverse people. Read more

Just in: Geeta's DNA sample taken to be matched with her family in India.  Geeta who arrived in New Delhi this morning, met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. She will also attend a dinner hosted by the Pakistan High Commission today.


External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said, "For conclusive proof we will conduct a DNA test. Geeta will be brought back to India. It is our duty to bring her back."


Ministry of External Affairs has written to AIIMS asking the hospital to collect the samples for the DNA test to confirm if the man believed to be Geeta's father, Janardhan Mahato, is indeed so.


Dr Sudhir Gupta, Head of AIIMS Forensics Division, said, "We received a letter from MEA to assist in the DNA test. My team will be collecting the samples from Geeta and her family. This is to determine the parentage. We are fast tracking this test and the results will be out in 15-20 days."


Pic: Geeta meets External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj

The Supreme Court issues a notice to Himachal Pradesh CM Virbhadra Singh on CBI's plea against HC order granting relief to him in DA case.

The AIIMS team reaches the Delhi hotel where Geeta is at the moment. 

That's what we call a limp handshake.


King Mswati III of Swaziland with Union culture minister Dr Mahesh Sharma at the India Africa summit in New Delhi being held now.


The polygamous king has an estimated 24 children and 14 wives in 13 lavish palaces.

In a humanitarian gesture, India has issued a visa to a five-year-old Pakistani girl suffering from chronic liver disease to undergo transplant operation in the country.


Basma Mohammad Faisal is currently admitted in Royal Hospital in Oman and is scheduled to undergo a liver transplant operation at the Global Health City in Chennai.


External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted on Wednesday, "We have issued a visa for Basma's surgery in India. We wish her a speedy recovery."


"She has become very weak, as she has not taken food for many days. We'll fly to India once the doctors give her the fit-for-flying certificate. Right now, she is being fed directly into her bloodstream through a drip IV lodged in her vein," her father Mohammad Faisal Raza said.


A spokesperson at the Global Hospital said that hospital staff has been in touch with the family to plan their travel to India.

While all airtime goes to Geeta's return, underway in Delhi, is the historic 54-nation African summit. That's Union culture minister Dr Mahesh Sharma welcoming the King of Swaziland Mswati III.


The 3rd India-Africa Forum Summit kicked off in New Delhi on Monday with a meeting among the senior officials of the host nation and 54 countries from the African continent.


"A moment for the cameras. IAFS formally begins with senior officials meeting," India's foreign office spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted, soon after a photo session at the venue, the Indira Gandhi Nation Stadium in New Delhi.


According to Indian officials, this will, perhaps, be the first time that all the 54 African countries are coming together outside the continent for such a meeting, with 40 of them expected to be represented by their heads of state or government.

Geeta will be under the care of the external affairs ministry till the DNA tests are conducted and the results available. Geeta, who has lived in Pakistan ever since she accidentally crossed the border as a child 14 years ago, identified her father, step-mother and siblings from one of many photographs sent to her by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, last month. External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted her welcome to
Geeta, saying, "Geeta - Welcome home our daughter."


Her brother and brother-in-law were at the airport to receive her, but is unlikely to have met her since she was cocooned by Indian and Pakistani officials at the Delhi airport.

External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj tweets: Geeta - Welcome home our daughter.


Geeta, dressed in a red and white salwar kameez, her head covered with a dupatta, arrived at the Delhi airport this morning from Karachi to be re-united with her family after 14 years. The 23-year-old is hearing and speech impaired.


Geeta, who has lived in Pakistan ever since she accidentally crossed the border as a child, identified her father, step-mother and siblings from one of many photographs sent to her by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, last month.


Accompanied by members of the charitable Edhi Foundation which has taken care of Geeta all these years, the young woman smiled and waved as she was welcomed by Indian and Pakistani officials at Delhi airport.  

That's Geeta at the Delhi airport today. She was presented a bouquet of flowers as she smiled and waved to the crowd who had come to welcome her back to India.  

Pakistan uses militants as proxies to counter India's growing influence in Afghanistan, according to a set of documents released by WikiLeaks from the hacked personal email account of CIA Director John Brennan.


The documents, released by the whistle-blower website and deemed classified by the CIA, contained reports on Afghanistan and Pakistan, and also ideas for US policy towards Iran. Brennan, three days after Barack Obama was elected US President in November 2008, wrote to him in a position-cum- strategy paper that Pakistan uses the Taliban to counter India in Afghanistan.


"Pakistan's desire to counter India's growing influence in Afghanistan and concerns about US long-term commitments to Afghanistan increase Pakistan's interest in hedging its bets by ensuring that it will be able to have a working relationship with the Taliban to balance Indian and Iranian interests if the US withdraws," Brennan wrote on November 7 in 2008.

Manzoor Memon, media head, Pakistan High Commission who accompanied on Geeta to New Delhi says he hopes that India will release the over 400 Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails. 

India has stated that Geeta will be allowed to be adopted only after a DNA test is conducted of the couple she believes is her parents. The MEA has also selected two organisations, working with special people, which can host Geeta in case the DNA test fails to prove her ties with the family from Bihar. Geeta's brother and brother-in-law are at the airport to greet her. Both Pakistani and Indian officials are at the airport as well.


According to the Edhi Foundation, Geeta will be handed over by Bilquis Edhi to External Affaris minister Sushma Swaraj. "My mother Bilquis Edhi has taken care of Geeta all these years and she will return after ensuring Geeta's care in India," Faisal Edhi, managing trustee of the foundation, told The Hindu from Karachi.


Following the press conference by the External Affairs Minister, the High Commissioner of Pakistan will felicitate members of the Edhi Foundation and Geeta on the High Commission premises.


Pic: Geeta (centre) with members of the Edhi Foundation in New Delhi. Photo: Twitter/@MEAIndia

Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Pravin Togadia announced expansion of Hindu helpline and healthline network by roping in more and more prominent doctors and advocates. Speaking at the end of the review meet for assessing the functioning and achievements of Hindu Helpline at Sadaphal Ashram in Jhunsi on Sunday, the VHP leader informed the helpline had catered to nearly one lakh callers from different parts of the country in its four years of existence.

Geeta, the deaf and mute girl who was stuck in Pakistan for over 10 years, has finally made it home to India. Her plane from Karachi has landed at Delhi. Geeta was reportedly just 7 or 8 years old when she was found sitting alone on the Samjhauta Express by the Pakistan Rangers 15 years ago at the Lahore railway station.Geeta, 23, was adopted by the Edhi Foundation's Bilquees Edhi and was living with them in Karachi. Geeta has identified her father, step-mother and siblings from a photograph sent to her by the Indian high commission in Islamabad.

Bhagwant Mann, the Aam Aadmi Party's MP from Punjab's Sangrur, was forced to leave a religious ceremony held for the two men killed in police firing after he was allegedly found drunk by a former granthi. 

The landmark India Africa Forum Summit began on Monday. Leaders of 54 African countries and Unions will take part in the 3-day meet. Ahead of the India-Africa Forum Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said it is for the first time that an event of such a big scale is being held in India and assumes significance considering the historic linkages between the two sides.

The Dadri lynching was the result of a personal dispute, with one of Mohammad Ikhlaq's two sons having a love affair with a Hindu girl, and that politicians wrongly projected it as a fallout of beef consumption, RSS students' wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad is to claim at its state-level convention. 

The Centre has been asked to consider castration as punishment for child abusers and rapists, in a strongly-worded order of the Madras high court released on Sunday. "The court cannot be a silent spectator, unmoved and oblivious of the horrible blood curdling gang-rapes of children in various parts of India," the court said. 

India and the US have quietly decided to sever Jawaharlal Nehru's name from new initiatives under one of the world's best-known public diplomacy projects, pressed by the Narendra Modi government just before the PMtravelled to New York in September. Scholarships for India under Washington's Fulbright programme were named the "Fulbright-Nehru" fellowships under a 2008 agreement after the then Manmohan Singh government decided to match America's bilateral contribution. 

In  good news for defence veterans, the defence ministry will issue a long awaited notification to clarify the modalities of One Rank One Pension scheme after Bihar Assembly elections, said sources today. The notification is set to be issued before Diwali. The notification was scuttled by the Election Commission keeping in mind the five-phased Bihar polls.

AMID HEAVY protests for his remarks regarding the incident in which a Dalit family was set on fire in Haryana's Faridabad, leading to the death of two children, Union Minister V K Singh said "his opinions were his own". "My opinions are my opinions. That's it," he said. Singh also took a dig at the media, saying it had the habit of misquoting people to make news more palatable. 

Pakistan targeted thirty Indian border outposts and in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district in overnight firing. The Border Security Forces or BSF strongly retaliated to the Pakistani firing, sources said.