LIVE! Part of Sheena jewellery found in Raigad at crime scene

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Mon, 07 September 2015

Part of Sheena jewellery found in Raigad at crime scene

Timeline Refresh

23:45 Dentist who killed Cecil the Lion set to return to work

The Minnesota dentist whose killing of Cecil the lion sparked a global backlash emerged for an interview in which he disputed some accounts of the hunt, expressed agitation at the animosity directed at those close to him and said he would be back at work within days. Walter Palmer, who has spent more than a month out of sight after becoming the target of protests and threats, intends to return to his suburban Minneapolis dental practice on Tuesday.

After the DNA result proved that the body parts found in Raigad belonged to Sheena, Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria also revealed that a piece of jewellery belonging to Sheena was also found. He added that the DNA report stated that Sheena was Indrani's daughter. Additionally, Maria said that a team of investigators were looking into all of Indrani's investments in India and also in other countries like Spain and UK

Images of Syrian refugees stuck at borders and at train stations, not to mention the harrowing picture of three-year-old Alan Kurdi lying dead on a Turkish beach, has spurred on an outcry for more to be done to help those fleeing the war.

Particular anger has focused on the Arab states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and the UAE), who have kept their doors to refugees firmly shut.

Amid the criticism, it is important to remember that the Gulf states have not stood by and done nothing for Syria's refugees.

Read more HERE

22:27 Quebec to take in 3,650 migrants from Syria

Quebec's immigration minister pledged today that the Canadian province would take in 3,650 Syrian refugees by the end of the year. Kathleen Weil said the province would take in an additional 2,450 refugees on top of the already foreseen 1,200 in a move she said reflects demands by Quebecois who want to do more in support of those in need.

Hungary's Defence Minister Csaba Hende resigned after a national security council meeting held to discuss the huge influx of refugees and migrants arriving in the country.

The country, which has seen more than 100,000 people arrive, many fleeing conflict in the Middle East, last week proposed measures that would allow it to deploy the army to its borders in a bid to stem the inflow.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a right-winger who has pushed for a hard line on Europe's immigration crisis, accepted Hende's resignation and offered the job to Istvan Simicsko, also a member of his Fidesz party.

Germany's foreign intelligence agency BND has collected evidence of mustard gas use by the Islamic State group.

German daily Bild reported today that BND intelligence agents collected blood samples from Kurds who were injured in clashes with IS.

21:33 Libya rescues 121 migrants adrift at sea

Libya's coastguard said it rescued more than 100 migrants today after the engine on their rubber dinghy broke down as they tried to reach Europe across the Mediterranean.

"We rescued 121 migrants on a rubber boat which broke down" off the town of Qarabulli, 60 kilometres east of Tripoli, Lieutenant Mohammed Dandi, a coastguard commander, told AFP.

Air India flight 405 made an emergency landing at Delhi Airport after it caught fire mid-air.

Over 100 passengers who were onboard the flight have been evacuated but some of them sustained injuries in the process.

Hydraulic failure is suspected to be the cause of the fire onboard the Varanasi-Delhi flight.

Two British fighters with so-called Islamic State were killed by an RAF drone strike in Syria in an "act of self-defence", Prime Minister David Cameron has said.

Cardiff-born Reyaad Khan was targeted in an attack in Raqqa on 21 August and died alongside two other fighters, one of whom was also British, he told MPs.

Khan, 21, had been plotting "barbaric" attacks on UK soil, including at high-profile public commemorations, he said.

The only issue with Pakistan is to get back parts of Jammu and Kashmir under its illegal occupation, Minister of State in PMO Jitendra Singh said today, hitting back at Pakistan army chief Gen Raheel Sharif's comments that Kashmir is an "unfinished agenda'.

Singh emphasised that Jammu and Kashmir was and will remain the integral part of India. "If there is any subject related to Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan it is how the parts of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir can be again included in India."

Former army chief and Union minister Gen VK Singh said, "Wo Pakistan key army chief hai na, unko Pakistan ke andar rasgulle khaane hain. Unko bolne do jo bolte hain." He described the threat by Pakistan as "faltu shouting".

His comments came after the Pakistan army chief called Kashmir an unfinished agenda and warned of unbearable damage in case of a long or short misadventure.

If the enemy ever resorts to any misadventure, regardless of its size and scale short or long it will have to pay an unbearable cost, he said in his address at a special event in Rawalpindi to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1965 war with India.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has said the "breathtaking" flow of migrants into Germany will "occupy and change" the country in the coming years.

She said Germany would speed up asylum procedures and build extra housing, but called on other EU states to help, reports BBC.

French President Francois Hollande said France would take 24,000 refugees and that quotas for EU states to relocate 120,000 migrants were being planned.

Meanwhile, the flow of migrants across Europe shows no sign of easing.

Read the latest on the migrant crisis here

Just in: Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria has reached the Khar police station to interrogate former star CEO Peter Mukherjea in the Sheena Bora murder case.

Maria along with Joint CP Deven Bharti will question Peter.

Peter is married to Indrani, who has been accused of murdering her daughter Sheena. Last week, Peter was quizzed for three consecutive days in the case for around 12 hours on each day.

Peter reportedly told the police last week that is marriage was over after Indrani confessed to the crime.

Indrani, along with her former husband Sanjeev Khanna and her drive Shyam Rai, allegedly murdered Sheena. Sheena is Indrani and her former husband Siddhart Das's daughter.

19:17 PAC to submit its report on 2G scam

The 2G allocation scam is set to hog the limelight again as Public Accounts Committee has decided to submit its report on the controversial issue to Parliament based on the "in depth" discussions held by the panel then headed by Murli Manohar Joshi.

The PAC also plans to table reports on the Commonwealth Games scam and 'KG Basin -- Hydrocarbaon Production Sharing Contracts'.

These two issues were also taken by the PAC then headed by Joshi. Joshi's draft report on 2G scam in the previous Lok Sabha had strongly indicted former Telecom Minister A Raja and had come down heavily on the then PMO and the Cabinet Secretariat for not taking "corrective action" while not sparing even the Prime Minister for "some unfortunate omissions".

Present PAC Chairman K V Thomas (Congress) said today that he strives to submit the report in the Winter session of Parliament by looking into all the issues "impartially". He said if need be a sub-committee could be formed to study the previous draft report and draft the present Committee's own recommendations.

"The (full) Committee will then have a look at it. It will then be submitted to Parliament," Thomas said. It is to be seen how different will be the new report from the draft report submitted by Joshi to then Speaker Meira Kumar.

Mexican drug lord Joaqun 'El Chapo' Guzmn may be in hiding in Costa Rica, after the fugitive's son appeared to reveal his location on Twitter by accident, The Independent reports.

Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar tweeted a photo of himself and his father eating at a restaurant, but seemed to forget about Twitter's location function which automatically tags where an image is taken.

Guzmans son, who regularly writes about his father on social media, posted the picture today with the caption August here, you already know with whom.

Photograph: ‏@AlfreditoGuzma/Twitter

Read the report here

BSNL will offer a minimum broadband speed of 2 mega bit per second (Mbps) from October 1 onwards to its customers, at no extra cost.

The company currently offers a minimum speed of 512 Kbps and the move is part of its efforts for revival.

BSNL is loosing customers in mobile as well as landline to private operators. The company lost about 1.78 crore wireless and over 20 lakh wireline subscribers between March 2014 and March 2015.

It's time for the 'sleeping giant' to wake up from its slumber as the King of football Pele will grace India in October, adding to the festive mood in the country that hosted him 38 years ago.

Widely regarded as the greatest footballer to have played the game, Edson Arantes do Nascimento will be in the capital on October as a special ambassador at the 56th edition of Subroto Cup 2015 final match. The last time the 74-year-old Brazilian was in the country was way back in 1977 with New York Cosmos for an exhibition match with Mohun Bagan.

Confirming his visit through a video message, the legend said, "I am looking forward to meeting the young footballers participating in the Subroto Cup and celebrating the world's greatest sport with the children of India. "I am impressed with the hard work that the Indian Air Force has put in to nurture such a big football tournament that brings the youth together. I hope my visit will inspire these champions of tomorrow."

It is being speculated that he will also be a guest of honour in Atletico de Kolkata's opening game in Indian Super League and meet former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly at a function in the eastern metropolis.

He may have galvanised his Patel castemen by the quota stir, but Hardik Patel today dismissed speculations about his political ambitions and said neither he nor anybody involved in the agitation will contest elections.

Hardik's clarification came a day after some Patel leaders announced they were planning to contest the upcoming local bodies polls. "P C Patel is not with us. He announced yesterday about his own party Bharatiya Rashtravadi Party (that it will contest local bodies polls). As far as I know, the name of this party was registered by him in 2003. This might be his attempt to gain political advantage from the ongoing agitation," the 22-year-old Patel community leade alleged.

Hardik is the convener of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti, while P C Patel belongs to Sardar Patel Group (SPG - a parallel organisation working for Patel quota), which had earlier supported PAAS in its bid to get the influential Patels included in the OBC category.

A team of four Mumbai Police officers today brought Sanjeev Khanna, accused Indrani Mukherjea's former husband and co-accused in the murder of Sheena Bora, to Kolkata for another round of search for evidence.

According to a Kolkata police source, the Mumbai Police officers, along with Khanna, reached the city early this morning and "conducted search operations and collected evidence" connected to their investigation into the case.

The team conducted search operations on their own and have not "asked" for any help from Kolkata police as done earlier, the source said. Marathon search operations were conducted at Khanna's Chapel Road residence in the Hastings area besides in his friend flat's at upmarket Alipore, he said. Khanna, the source said, would be taken back to Mumbai tonight.

M I Khan/Rediff.com reports from Patna: For the first time, six left parties have joined hands and decided to contest the upcoming Bihar assembly polls as one 'block'to take on the BJP-led NDA and the grand alliance of JD-U,RJD and Congress.

On Monday ,these left parties have made it clear that they will neither join hands with Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party nor the NCP of Sharad Pawar in Bihar polls as they are sure that they are set to provide an alternative as third political force.

The left parties will contest from all 243 assembly seats in Bihar.

South Korea used pop songs in its propaganda broadcasts that forcedNorth Korea to the negotiating table as cross-border tensions threatened to escalate into open warfare in late August.

Songs by groups such as Girls' Generation '" and lyrics such as "Dance, dance, dance till we run this town, Oppa Oppa I'll be, I'll be down, down, down" '" were sufficient to convince Pyongyang that it was going to lose the war of words, Yonhap news reported.

Read this interesting story HERE

17:38 SC refuses to entertain PIL on FTII row

The Supreme Court today declined to entertain a PIL seeking its intervention to end the ongoing stir at Film and Television Institute of India opposing the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as Chairman.

"We decline," a bench comprising Chief Justice H L Dattu and Justice Amitava Roy said. The court was hearing a PIL, filed by Supreme Court lawyer Vineet Dhanda alleging that the Centre was not taking effective steps to bring back normalcy in the the FTII at Pune which has been witnessing the students' agitation for almost three months now.

"The more disturbing part besides the strike, started by students almost 82 days ago, is the dragging of students into politics by various political parties, thereby complicating the simple issue into an unsolvable problem at present.

"The present situation has worsened to an extent that there have been various incidents of violence on the premises and students were arrested," the plea alleged.

17:35

The two Indians, whose names were withheld, were taken away for questioning after Assistant Police Commissioner General Prawut Thawornsiri led a team to search the Maimuna Garden Home apartment in Minburi at 9 pm last night.

The two Indians were staying in the room next to the one where the police found bomb making materials, the paper said. A foreigner who lived at the room and a Thai woman who rented the room for him are now wanted in the case.

17:35

Two Indian nationals reportedly seen talking often with Erawan bomb suspect Yusufu Mieraili were detained when a team of police and soldiers again raided the Maimuna Garden Home Apartment building in Min Buri district on Sunday.

Another foreign national believed to be the main suspect in the country's worst bombing at a Brahma temple in Bangkok that claimed 20 lives was arrested near the Cambodian border last week.

"Nothing is really known so far about the Indians and it is not clear what the questioning is about," sources told PTI.

17:22 Officer who found drowned Syrian toddler: I thought of my own son

A Turkish police officer who found the lifeless body of three-year-old Syrian refugee Aylan Kurdi '" whose picture then flooded the world '" said that he thought of his own son when he saw the toddler on the beach.

Speaking to Turkey's Dogan news agency, Mehmet Ciplak recounted how he prayed the little boy was still alive as he walked towards him and scooped him up from the water's edge.

Read this story HERE

The Bombay High Court today sought to know from the Maharashtra government under which law it allows Ganpati and Navratri processions on private roads leading to immersion points, even when residents along private roads have raised objections.

A division bench of justices A S Oka and V L Achliya asked the government to inform by September 14 under what provisions of law does it allow processions on private property.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Abhinav Nagar Cooperative Housing Society, a private residential complex having gates, located in suburban Borivali.

The society has challenged a notice issued to it by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation directing it to keep the society gates open so that the road, which leads to the Dahisar river, can be used for immersion procession.

On the warpath over the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as FTII chairman, students of the premier institute today threatened to launch a hunger strike for his ouster as the fast by a faculty member for "immediate resolution" of the crisis entered its third day today.

"The students will be sitting on an indefinite hunger strike if our demands are not met by the government which has put us in this situation. There is no option left," FTII Students' Association representative Vikas Urs told journalists. The FSA, however, did not set a date to start the hunger strike.

The massive flood of refugees in Europe is pushing Germany and Austria to a tipping point.

Thousands of refugees have poured into the two countries in just the past two days, trying to escape the bombings, terrorists and dire conditions ravaging their homelands.

More than 16,000 have streamed into Austria since Saturday, Burgenland state police spokesman Wolfgang Bachkoenig said Monday.

Read this story HERE

Flaying the decision of PDP-BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir to levy service tax on pilgrims availing of chopper service to Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine, the Congress today questioned whether it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi's version of 'Jizya tax'.

Jizya tax was imposed on Hindus during the reigns of Mughal emperor Aurangazeb. "Is this Mr Modi's definition of Jizya tax on pilgrims to Vaishno Devi? Is it BJP-PDP's version of Jizya tax to pilgrims of Vaishno Devi?" party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi told reporters here while slamming the state government's decision.

The PDP-BJP government has levied 12.5 per cent service tax on Vaishno Devi pilgrims traveling from Katra to the revered cave shrine nestled in Trikuta Hills by chopper.

Due to this, pilgrims will have to shell out Rs 2,340 in place of Rs 2,078 for the two-way journey, according reports. Singhvi accused the government of "trying to control" the pilgrimage and said,"you have hurt the faith of people."

16:49 Remains were of Sheena: DNA report confirms

JUST IN: A DNA report has confirmed that the skeletal remains that were found a few days ago in Pen tehsil of Raigad are indeed of Sheena Bora.

Earlier, two of the main accused in the case -- Indrani Mukerjea and her driver Shyamvar Rai -- were sent to judicial custody for 14 days.They were produced before a court in Mumbai's suburban Bandra on Monday after their police custody in the case ended today.

16:41

Our correspondent from New Delhi reports that the Election Commission is all set to announce the Bihar Poll schedule at 4 pm on Tuesday in New Delhi. All formalities and modalities have been worked out according to sources.

16:40 Militants hurl grenade at railway police post in J-K

JUST IN: Mukhtar Ahmad/Rediff.com reports from Srinagar: Militants hurled a grenade at a railway police post in south Kashmir's Phulwama district. No casualties have been reported yet.

More details are awaited.

Silicon Valley imports its brains.

But do you know where they come from? Check this infographic on Bloomberg

Calling Kashmir an 'unfinished agenda', Pakistan army chief General Raheel Sharif has warned India of 'unbearable damage' in case of a 'long or short' misadventure by the 'enemy'.

Though he did not name India in a speech at the army headquarters on Sunday, the reference was obvious as his remarks came against a statement by Indian army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag who said last week that Indian army was prepared for 'swift, short nature of future wars'.

'Let me reiterate that our armed forces stand fully capable to defeat all sorts of external aggression. If the enemy ever resorts to any misadventure, regardless of its size and scale -- short or long -- it will have to pay an unbearable cost,' he said in his address at a special event in Rawalpindi to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1965 war with India.

Read General Raheel's full speech HERE

Just In: Two of the main accused in the Sheena Bora murder case -- Indrani Mukerjea and her driver Shyamvar Rai -- have been sent to judicial custody for 14 days.

They were produced before a court in Mumbai's suburban Bandra on Monday after their police custody in the case ended today.

The third accused -- Indrani's ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna -- was not presented before the court as he was being taken to Kolkata for further investigation.

Indrani was taken to her Worli residence yesterday by Mumbai Police for the first time since her arrest where the crime scene was recreated.

It has been reported that after murdering Sheena, the three accused kept the body in the car in Indrani's Worli's residence during the night before dumping it in Raigad the next day.

15:30 Sensex crashes below 25,000-level in pre-close

The benchmark BSE Sensex crashed below the psychologically significant 25,000-mark -- its lowest level in about 14 months -- in the pre-close session as intense selling remained unabated on global growth worries.

A sharp fall in rupee value against the dollar as well as fears about a slowdown in China and growth concerns continued to rattle investors sentiment.

The domestic currency was trading fresh two-year low at 66.83 per dollar.

The Sensex dropped by 296.39 points or 1.18 per cent to trade at 24,905.51 at 1515hrs.

15:00 Hollande says France will take 24,000 refugees

French President Francois Hollande says his country will welcome 24,000 Syrian refugees.

In a speech ahead of a wide-ranging press conference, the Socialist says taking in those fleeing war is a duty that France is ready to shoulder.

He said he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had agreed upon a mechanism to distribute refugees across Europe.

Merkel said Germany will ensure that those who need protection receive it, but that those who stand no chance of getting asylum will have to return to their homes swiftly.

She also stressed that Europe's biggest economy isn't willing to shoulder the whole refugee burden alone, saying that "Germany is a country willing to take people in, but refugees can be received in all countries of the European Union in such a way that they can find refuge from civil war and from persecution."

The Northern Command chief has confirmed life sentence awarded to six armymen, including two officers by a court-martial in 2010 Machil fake encounter case.

Six army personnel including a colonel, a major and four soldiers have already been awarded life sentences after court martial proceedings in the Machil fake encounter that rocked the Kashmir Valley following massive public outrage.

Three youths belonging to Naidihal village of Baramulla district were lured with promises of jobs with the army in 2010 and were taken to Machil sector along the Line of Control in Kupwara district where they were killed.

The army officers later claimed that the three youths were militants who tried to infiltrate into the valley on April 30, 2010 and were killed during a shootout.

It later allegedly turned out to be an encounter staged for medals and rewards by the army personnel. Weapons were kept with the youths' bodies to prove that they were militants.

The three youths were identified by their families after reports were published with their pictures.

Representative Image

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the petition seeking its intervention to end the FTII crisis, triggered by the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as the chairman of the premier institute.

The apex court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed which sought its intervention on deadlock in FTII between students & the management over appointment of the Chairman.

The FTII students are on a strike demanding the removal of TV actor and BJP member Gajendra Chauhan as the chairman.

Academic activity at the FTII is at a standstill with students being adamant over Chauhan's removal.

Five people died in the Assam floods taking the toll in the current wave to 41 even as the situation in the state today remained grim with an estimated 18 lakh people affected.

Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said in a release that two persons died at Mayong and Laharighat in Morigaon district, while another two died at Lakhipur in Goalpara.

One person lost his life at Barkhetri in Nalbari district yesterday, it said.

With this, the current wave of floods has claimed 41 lives as an estimated 18 lakh people reeled under flood waters in 1,880 villages across the state.

Five people had been washed away in floods late last month, taking the total death toll in two waves of floods this year to 46 in the state, according to ASDMA.

The affected villages were located in Dhemaji, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Sonitpur, Barpeta, Morigaon, Cachar, Lakhimpur, Jorhat, Tinsukia, Darrang, Nalbari, Kamrup, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Golaghat, Nagaon, Dhubri, Kamrup Metropolitan and Goalpara districts.

The worst-hit is Dhubri district with nearly 4.5 lakh people affected.

Union Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore, quoted in an interview on "covert operations" to catch most wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, on Monday clarified in tweets.

"Incorrect vers of my stmnts allegedly on Dawood attributed to me (sic)," Rathore tweeted this morning.

He also attached a link to his interview and said he had spoken about "dossier diplomacy."

On the weekend, Rathore was quoted as saying in an interview to the India Today that the government would explore every possible means, including a covert or a special operation, to neutralize Dawood Ibrahim as well as 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed.

He said: "India's enemies, like Dawood Ibrahim and LeT chief Hafiz Saeed, should not believe that India is not thinking about them. We always remain ready to neutralise our enemy."

The Supreme Court on Monday stayed three criminal defamation cases against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy for commenting on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on the micro-blogging site Twitter.

Swamy had sought the quashing of six criminal defamation complaints lodged against him for allegedly making comments against the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister.

Earlier, a Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Deepak Misra had stayed the proceedings against Swamy.

Swamy had challenged the constitutional validity of Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code (relating to criminal defamation), contending that these provisions violated the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution.

12:42 J&K government appoints new chief secretary

Mukhtar Ahmad reports from Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Monday appointed senior IAS officer B R Sharma as the new chief secretary.

The state cabinet which met this morning appointed Sharma, principal secretary planning and development department, as the chief secretary to fill the vacancy created by the voluntary retirement of Mohammad Iqbal Khanday who had demitted office last month.

Khanday sought premature retirement, three months ahead of his due date following serious differences with the state government.

The differences cropped up after Khanday said he was not being consulted in administrative matters and was being bypassed.

Sharma, a 1984 batch IAS officer has held top positions in the various departments of the administration, including home and the planning and development departments.

All the three accused in Sheena Bora murder case -- former CEO of INX Media, Indrani Mukerjea, her former husband Sanjeev Khanna and her driver Shyam Rai will be produced in a Mumbai court on Monday as the police custody of the trio ends today.

The Mumbai police is expected to seek another extension of their custody to further unravel the murder mystery.

Earlier, Indrani's lawyer had said that further custody would lead to Indrani's humiliation and she should be sent to judicial custody.

On Sunday, cops took Indrani to her Worli residence in Mumbai to recreate the crime scene.

She was also seen gesturing to the accompanying policemen in the direction of a garage in the residential premises, which, according to police is the place where Sheena's body was kept on the day she was killed.

The custody of the three accused was extended till today during the last court appearance on September 5 after Mumbai Police said that Indrani was not cooperating in the probe with the investigators.

Special Public Prosecutor Vaibhav Bagade had said that she was a hard nut to crack.

One person has been killed and seven others injured in the latest ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Pakistani Army has been firing and using mortars and rocket propelled grenades since late Sunday night.

Indian troops are retaliating to the firing by the other side.

Pakistani troops fired mortars, rocket-projectile grenades (RPGs) and automatic weapons targeting forward posts in violation of ceasefire, a Defence spokesman said.

Pakistani troops have violated the ceasefire eight times in September this year ahead of Director General-level talks between the border guarding forces of India and Pakistan from September 9.

Ceasefire violations in Jammu and Kashmir, including sniper attacks, and infiltration are among the key issues India is expected to raise with Pakistan during the five-day talks.

The leaders of three major trade organisations in Jammu and Kashmir were arrested in early Monday in morning police raids after they called for a bandh or shut-down to protest against what they say is the state government's failure to provide relief for last year's devastating floods.

The police said these are "preventive arrests" to stop them from leading protest marches in capital Srinagar. The floods had struck one year ago today, months before elections were held in the state.

Monday's bandh call is being supported by separatists and the opposition National Conference. They allege the Mufi Mohammad Sayeed government has failed to rehabilitate the Valley's people.

"We left no stone unturned to represent the case of victims but now we are disheartened. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, during a meeting in Delhi assured us that a package will be announced in a short span of time. Is one year not enough time?" said Sheikh Ashiq, the head of a trade body.

In yet another incident showing the plight of drought-hit farmers and their families in Maharashtra, a 40-year-old woman in the Marathwada region was forced to commit suicide after she was unable to feed her five children.

Reports on Monday said that Manisha Gatkal, a farmer in Marathwada's Osmanabad district, set herself on fire in her own house on Saturday -- the day India was celebrating Raksha Bandhan.

Days after her death, Gatkal's house in Ambi village, continues to suffer from lack of grain or food items. With nothing to eat, her children can only stare at the empty vessels around.

"We are really very poor. There was no food. I had no work When I got some work I went out. She latched the door and killed herself," Gatkal's husband Laxman was quoted as saying by a news channel.

One of her relatives said, "Ration is just too little -- 18 kg of wheat and 12 kg of rice. That's not enough for seven people. Just lasts 12 days."

What is even worse the villagers here have no work even under the central government employment schemes, which guarantee them jobs.

The benchmark BSE Sensex rebounded over 148 points and the NSE Nifty regained the 7,700-mark in early trade today on value-buying by investors in select blue-chips.

Besides, covering-up of short positions by speculators supported the recovery, brokers said.

The 30-share index was trading higher by 148.11 points, or 0.59 per cent, at 25,350.01, with consumer durables, realty, auto, banking, IT and FMCG sector stocks leading the recovery.

The gauge had lost 562.88 points in the previous session to close at nearly 14-month lows amid lacklustre global cues following caution over US payrolls data.

On similar lines, the NSE Nifty reclaimed the 7,700-mark by recovering 50.00 points, or 0.65 per cent, at 7,705.05 in early trade.

Brokers said value-buying in recently beaten down select blue-chip stocks along with covering-up of short positions by speculators influenced trading sentiments.

Furthermore, a moderate recovery in Chinese shares on the first day of trade after an extended holiday weekend, influenced trading sentiments, they said.

10:09 Sania-Martina through to US Open quarters

Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis stormed into the US Open quarterfinals with a straight-set triumph in their third-round match in New York.

The top-seeded Indo-Swiss pair eased past 13th seeded Dutch-Czech combination of Michaella Krajicek and Barbora Strycova 6-3 6-0 in a contest which lasted 59 minutes.

Sania and Martina put up a throughly dominating performance by holding their serve all through.

In the opening set, the top seeds broke their rivals once and sent down 14 winners as compared to the 8 by Krajicek and Strycova to grab the advantage in 33 minutes.

Krajicek and Strycova were even more erratic in the second set and conceded six break points, three of which were converted by Sania and Martina.

With 9 unforced errors, Krajicek and Strycova literally served the match on a platter for Sania and Martina, who wrapped up the second set in just 26 minutes to march ahead.

Indian Express reports: The Mumbai Police probing the Sheena Bora murder case have learnt from the Forensic Science Laboratory that eight of the 10 codes from DNA extracted from the skeletal remains found at Pen and accused Indrani Mukerjea's blood samples have matched.

To conclude that the skeletal remains belong to Sheena, police sources said, the FSL would have to complete the tests on another eight codes. The police are expecting a report from the FSL on Monday.

The police had sent the skeletal remains found at Pen, along with blood samples of Indrani and Sheena's brother Mekhail Bora, to the state FSL last week.

The forensic report will play an important part for the police to prove the charges against the accused Indrani, her former husband Sanjeev Khanna and former driver Shyamvar Rai.

Meanwhile, a day before her police custody ends (on September 7), the police took Indrani to her fourth-floor residence in Worli in connection with the probe.

A World Bank assessment of Swachch Bharat Mission has highlighted some possible environmental and social risks in its implementation, but expresses hope of good results if gaps are addressed.

World Bank, which is lending support to PM Narendra Modi's dream project, conducted its assessment in the five states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Odisha.

The overall environmental impact of the project is likely to be positive.

But likely risks include contamination of groundwater supplies due to poor sanitation facilities, institutional sanitation facilities may pose general environmental and health problems and there could be potential impact on natural resources, and natural and cultural heritage.

Read more HERE

CNN-IBN reports: Getting hold of former Indian Premier League chief Lalit Modi may not be that easy a nut to crack.

Interpol has sought answers from the Enforcement Directorate in India about the evidence against the former IPL chief and the need for a red corner notice against him.

The ED reportedly received the query from the Interpol on August 20. Interpol has asked to know if there is ample evidence is available against Lalit Modi to arrest him.

They have also sought the details of the other accused in the case and the offence under which the case has been registered. It has also demanded to know why there was a delay in the investigation.

A red corner notice may enable Interpol to detain and bring Modi back to India from Malta, where he is said to be staying right now.

Read more HERE

08:45 Lightning strikes kill 20 in Andhra Pradesh

At least 20 people were killed after lightning struck different parts of Andhra Pradesh as heavy rains lashed the state of Sunday.

The incidents occurred in Krishna, Guntur, East Godavari, Prakasam and Nellore districts.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu announced ex-gratia of Rs. 4 lakh to each of the victim killed in lightning.

Six persons were killed in Prakasam district, five in Nellore district, four in Krishna district, two each in Guntur and East Godavari districts.

In Guntur, women cricketers of Andhra Pradesh and Tripura had a miraculous escape when lightning struck ACA stadium in afternoon where they were playing a match.

The cricketers rushed out from the ground and took shelter in the ACA Academy building. A tree outside the building caught fire after it was hit by bolt.

The Congress Working Committee is likely to extend party President Sonia Gandhi's term by another year when it meets in Delhi on Tuesday. Gandhi, at the helm for 18 years, will end her term in December.

Rahul Gandhi, who was elevated as vice-president in January 2013, is not yet ready to take charge.

Following Rahul's return from a sabbatical a few months ago, the party was abuzz with talk about his likely elevation to the top post.

However, the Congress' central election authority had abruptly cancelled the election of the Congress president, scheduled sometime in September-October. A proposal for extending Sonia's term by a year could be moved at the CWC.

Hitting back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over OROP, Congress today accused him of "diluting" the UPA's proposal on the scheme for retired servicemen and also "deliberately" distorting facts.

Questioning the Prime Minister's claim that governments in the last 40 years did nothing to implement one rank one pension, the party asked if he was also attacking former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who also ruled during the period.

"Prime Minister has mastered the art of distorting the facts and misrepresenting. He either suffers from a selective amnesia or is deliberately telling untruth to confuse and mislead the masses," senior Congress leader Anand Sharma today said.

"The Prime Minister is not telling the truth. Is he also accusing besides the Congress, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of not doing anything? Because let's remind Narendra Modi that in the last 40 years Congress was not in office for 10 years," Sharma asked.

He further said that the decision on OROP was the fallout of public pressure and anguish among people.

"Even now, his decision is linked to public pressure. There was anguish in the country to see day after day the veterans, soldiers, who have defended our frontiers demanding and agitating," Sharma said.

China has revised its annual economic growth rate in 2014 to 7.3 percent from the previously released figure of 7.4 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday.

Gross domestic product stood at 63.6 trillion yuan ($10.00 trillion) last year, down by 32.4 billion yuan from the initial estimate, the bureau said in a statement on its website.

The bureau has revised down 2014 growth of the services sector by 0.3 percentage points to 7.8 percent, which helped drag down estimated GDP growth rate, it said.

The primary sector -- the agriculture sector -- grew 4.1 percent last year, while growth of the secondary sector, which includes manufacturing and construction, rose 7.3 percent.

After the revision, the services sector accounted for 48.1 percent of GDP last year, down from the previously announced 48.2 percent, the bureau said.

08:33 Anish Kapoor's sculpture damaged in France

Vandals have damaged British-Indian sculptor Anish Kapoor's controversial "Dirty Corner" installation at the Palace of Versailles near Paris on Sunday in the second attack against the artwork in three months.

A series of sentences, some of which were anti-Semitic, were painted on Kapoor's 60 metre steel and rock abstract sculpture, which he has described as "the vagina of the queen coming into power".

It was not clear how the anti-Semitic element could relate to the artwork, but there has been a general increase in such acts over recent years in France, which has the biggest Jewish community in Europe.

French Culture Minister Fleur Pellerin condemned the incident.

"To attack the work of artists is to attack the universal values of culture -- that is freedom and human dignity," she said in a statement. "This is an act that simply shows a facist vision of culture."

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