It's the iPad Pro! (Surprise). The most powerful and capable iPad created.

Tim Cook takes the stage to huge applause.

Gurgaon Police tonight sent a detailed report to the external affairs ministry on the alleged confinement and rape of two Nepalese women by a Saudi Arabian diplomat at his flat here. 

Aam Aadmi Party's Lokpal and former IPS officer N Dilip Kumar has quit from the post citing "personal reasons" and other engagements, but ruled out any differences with the party leadership. Kumar, who retired as the Special Commissioner of Delhi Police maintained that he is spearheading another anti-graft movement in Visakhapatnam which gives him little time for the job he was appointed for. "I tendered my resignation in May. I have started an anti-corruption movement in Visakhapatnam because of which it becomes difficult for me to travel to Delhi," Kumar said.

The Punjabi film 'The Mastermind Jinda Sukha', which was set to be released on September 11, has been banned in India. The film, which is based on lives of the assassins of former Army General Arun Kumar Vaidya, was previously granted clearance from the Censor Board on July 24, but has now been banned after the Union home ministry and Intelligence Bureau raised objections. 

US Secretary of State John Kerry says America s committed to increasing the number of refugees it is willing to take in as US allies in Europe struggle to accommodate tens of thousands of refugees from the Middle East and Africa. After closed-door meetings on Capitol Hill, Kerry said US President Barack Obama has made it clear that the US wants to take a leadership role on humanitarian issues.

The National Investigation Agency  opposed the bail application of Lt Col Prasad Purohit, an accused in the 2008 Malegoan blast case. The agency said in its reply that it had sufficient evidence to prove Purohit's involvement in the blasts conspiracy and to justify invocation of stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act against him. Purohit, pleading innocence, has also said in his bail plea that he is behind the bars without trial for the last seven years.

A senior journalist was shot dead in an attack in Pakistan`s port city of Karachi today. Aftab Alam was killed when unidentified assailants opened fire at him near his home in North Karachi, Dawn online reported.

Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan has confirmed he will stand in the upcoming FIFA presidential election. Ali, 39, pushed incumbent president Sepp Blatter to a second round of voting in May's poll, winning 73 votes, before standing aside in the contest. He joins UEFA president Michel Platini in declaring an interest in replacing Blatter to lead football's world governing body. The election is due to be held on 26 February next year. 

The "grand alliance" of JD-U-RJD-Congress is projected to win between 116 and 132 seats in the 243-member Bihar assembly for which elections were announced, according to a opinion poll taken by India TV channel. 

The umbrella organisation leading the agitation for One-Rank, One-Pension split today, just three days ahead of a planned rally, with a key faction dissociating itself from the grouping, citing "lack of cohesiveness" and suggesting politicisation of the movement.  

The Mumbai police investigating the Sheena Bora murder case has asked Enforcement Directorate to look into and probe the financial transactions of the accused in this case and into the business ventures floated by the Mukerjeas -- Indrani and Peter. Sources said the agency has received a communication in this regard from police investigators and ED has deputed a team of officials to study the documents sent by them.

One of the two Indians detained in connection with the Bangkok bombing and subsequently released has been given a clean chit by security agencies while a discreet probe is underway regarding the other person who hails from Kashmir. 

Political acrimony over the ban on meat by civic bodies in Mumbai during the Jain fasting days grew with ruling BJP ally Shiv Sena vowing that it would ensure there is no such restriction. The Sena's stand came in the wake of Opposition Congress and NCP slamming yesterday's order by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation -- ruled by Sena and BJP -- prohibiting meat sale for eight days from September 11 to 18 when the Jain community will observe fasting period 'Paryushan'. 

Etching a special place in history, Queen Elizabeth II today became Britain's longest-reigning monarch after surpassing Queen Victoria's rule of over 63 years, as heart-felt tributes, fanfare and a gun salute marked the momentous occasion.


Dressed in turquoise with her trusty black handbag at her side, the Queen smiled and waved to those gathered at the Waverley Station on the day she passes the record set by her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria to board the new Borders Railway.


The 89-year-old, who is also the nation's oldest ever monarch, has met most of the major figures of recent decades, from India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to Japanese emperor Hirohito.


She will officially become the longest-serving monarch in British history at 1730 (local time) when her reign would have completed 63 years and seven months -- calculated at 23,226 days, 16 hours and approximately 30 minutes.


British Prime Minister David Cameron led the tributes to the Queen Elizabeth as he described the 89-year-old ruler as a "rock of stability" and her service to the nation as "truly humbling" in an era when so much had changed.


"The reign of Queen Elizabeth has been a golden thread running through three post-war generations, and she's presided over more than two-thirds of our history as a full democracy with everyone being able to vote," he said in the House of Commons, where usual business was postponed for the special tributes.


"Her selfless sense of service and duty have earned her unparalleled respect and admiration not only in Britain but around the world. The Queen is our Queen and we could not be more proud of her. She has served this country with an unerring grace, dignity and decency and long may she continue to do so," Cameron said.


The Queen and Prince Philip travelled by train to Tweedbank, in the Borders region, with Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. They stopped off in Newtongrange where the Queen accepted flowers from well-wishers and opened the new railway station.


The Queen paid a personal tribute to her great-great grandmother by wearing a diamond brooch owned by Queen Victoria and passed down to her by Queen Mary. The brooch is one of a set of three ordered by Queen Victoria from the royal jeweller Garrard, made with 506 diamonds she supplied.


The Queen took time out from her traditional summer break at this time of year at her private Scottish home, Balmoral Castle, to open the new railway but overall had wanted today to be business as usual. HMS Belfast docked on river Thames sounded a four gun salute to mark the occasion.

Actress Reese Witherspoon was named People magazine's best-dressed person of 2015 on Wednesday, reports Reuters.


Witherspoon, the Oscar-winning star of Johnny Cash movie "Walk the Line," headed a list that includes Hollywood stars Julianne Moore, Kate Hudson, and 15-year-old "Mad Men" actress Kiernan Shipka.


Witherspoon, 39, has clear ideas about what she likes (bright hues and clean lines) and what she doesn't (crop tops and puffy dresses).


"I'd look like a mushroom," she told People magazine of such styles, saying her height, at 5 ft 2 in (1.58 meters), is a fashion liability. "I always tell my stylist that it's hard to dress short girls."


Witherspoon ironically was one of the women leading an #AskHerMore campaign at the 2015 Oscars ceremony in which reporters were encouraged to ask actresses on the red carpet more about their work in movies than their style choices.


The actress is often a fashion favorite on red carpets, opting for a pale blue fitted off-the-shoulder Tom Ford gown to this year's Oscars, a silver beaded strapless Calvin Klein dress for the Golden Globes and a one-shouldered Giorgio Armani gown for the SAG awards.

Just in: Pakistan Rangers fire at two BSF jawans critically injuring them. The indiscriminate firing took place in the Kieran sector of Kupwara, Jammu and Kashmir. The jawans have been rushed to hospital.


This comes even as a 16-member high-level delegation of Pakistan Rangers reaches Delhi now to hold the much-anticipated bilateral talks with their counterparts in the Border Security Force (BSF).


The meeting is one of three key talks agreed upon between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif during their meeting in Ufa in July.

Ceasefire violations at the International Border, sniper attacks on BSF personnel, issue of intrusions in Rann of Kutch, contraband smuggling will be some of the top issues on agenda in the meeting.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address 12 'Parivartan' rallies to seek votes for the BJP-led NDA during the campaign trail in the run up to the Bihar assembly polls.


A senior BJP leader told MI Khan/Rediff.com today that Modi has already addressed four 'Parivartan' rallies in Muzaffarpur, Gaya, Saharsa and Bhagalpur districts, last week, even as the Election Commission announced dates for the five-phase Bihar polls today.


"Modi is our star campaigner and we are contesting polls under his leadership and seeking votes in his name. Modi will address at least 12 rallies to counter the grand alliance of JD-U, RJD and Congress propaganda," another BJP leader said.


BJP leaders added that party workers are happy with the response of Modi's four rallies. "So far, the rallies were very successful. Modi is the most popular leader in Bihar and we are sure that his rallies in the coming days will create a favourable situation for the BJP-led NDA in the polls".


According to sources at the BJP office in Patna, the PM is likely to address a few rallies in semi-urban pockets or in sub-divisional towns to woo voters.


"So far, top leaders used to address rallies in district headquarters or big towns. But Modi will address some rallies in semi-urban areas," BJP leaders said.


The high-tech 'Parivartan Rath' campaign has already touched base with most of the 243 assembly constituencies in the state. BJP party president Amit Shah in July flagged off 160 GPS-fitted raths (chariots) to reach out to people in all villages across the state.


However, the BJP is yet to finalise the seat sharing with allies and reports coming in indicate that LJP, RLSP and HAM are staking claim for more seats. This has put the BJP in trouble as the EC has announced the dates for the polls. On the other hand the JD-U, RJD and Congress have finalised their seat sharing and are likely to announce names of their candidates soon.

Watch this space.

The Saudi embassy in New Delhi backs its diplomat booked on rape charges. The embassy said that the media reports are unwarranted especially before the probe is over and added that false allegations were made against its diplomat. The Nepalese embassy in Delhi has also approached the Indian government in the case. 

Gurgaon police commissioner NS Virk says the probe is on and that residents in the apartment had diplomatic immunity. The MEA has sought a report from the police on the case.

Two Nepalese women have alleged that they were abducted and raped by the Saudi diplomat repeatedly in a flat in Gurgaon on the outskirts of the national capital after which local police filed an FIR in the matter.


"The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in New Delhi has noted reports in Indian media concerning allegations against a Saudi diplomat and his family residing at Gurgaon, based on alleged briefings by the Haryana police to members of the media.


"The embassy strongly stresses that these allegations are false and have not been proven," a statement from the embassy said. It further said the embassy has also brought to the notice of the concerned officials in the MEA the "unwarranted media briefings before investigations are complete, and has protested the police intrusion into a diplomat's house against all diplomatic conventions."

If prima facie a case is made out, the government usually asks the country  involved to withdraw diplomatic immunity of the diplomat or official concerned or declares the individual persona non grata.

The two Nepalese women on Wednesday recounted their ordeal saying their tormentors had also threatened to kill them. The mother-daughter, who were brought to India with the lure of a better future, claimed they were not being paid wages for the last four months and now wish to go "home" as soon as possible.

There were days when seven to eight men -- all from Saudi Arabia -- would assault us. If we resisted, the diplomat and his family would threaten to kill us and dispose of our bodies in the sewer, said the older woman.

"They used to keep us in locked rooms and did not let us make any sound. They showed knives and threatened to kill us otherwise," the older victim said while showing her wounds.

"We were told they he's a good man with a big house. But we did not know what he does. We were brought for handling domestic chores... but he did horrific things with us," said the woman.

"We want to go back to Nepal and these people should be jailed as soon as possible," she added.

Members of an NGO, who assisted Gurgaon Police during the rescue operation, said the victims were sold to an Indian agent for Rs 1 lakh each.

"They were brought to India in the aftermath of the Nepal earthquake. The victims were in misery and were offered Rs 30,000 and good food by an agent named Kaplana.

Godman-turned-actor Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan, who is all set for a sequel to the 2015 film "MSG - the Messenger", confirms that he has been approached by the makers of reality show "Bigg Boss 9", but has put forth certain conditions to enter the show.


The Dera Saccha Sauda chief was present at a music launch of his film "MSG 2 - The Messenger", at an event here on Wednesday. The film is releasing on September 18.


Asked whether he had been approached to appear in Bigg Boss 9, he said: Yes, I've been approached to appear on the show. But I asked them if they allow me to exit the house for 2-3 hours every day to meet my followers then I can think for it. Still nothing is finalised.

"Bigg Boss 9", to be hosted by superstar Salman Khan, is an Indian version of internationally acclaimed reality format "Celebrity Big Brother".

The show involves celebrity contestants locked inside a purpose-built house for three months under constant camera surveillance.

Coming down heavily on BJP MPs who are urging Hindus to increase their numbers for strengthening the religion, ruling alliance partner Shiv Sena reminded the government that excess population was a factor behind India's "misery" and said that such views cannot be supported. Some seers and BJP MPs "advocate four marriages for Hindus and maximum possible children to give a tough fight to Muslims.


"Instead of we making comments on such statements, either senior BJP leaders or the government should make their stand clear on the issue. Strength cannot be enhanced merely by increasing population," the Sena today said in an editorial in its mouthpiece, 'Saamana'. It also said that RSS should prevail upon the government to make family planning laws stricter. 

Flying Officer Dilip K Parulkar won a gallantry medal in the 1965 War. Five years later, he spent more than a year as a prisoner of war in Pakistan after the 1971 war. He escaped, but was recaptured on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Sitting in his home office in Pune, with a framed citation for his distinguished service and a model of the Hunter aircraft he flew in the '65 war, the flying ace looks back at those heady days 50 years ago. Read the interview with Archana Masih/Rediff.com.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on the Bihar poll dates:

"I wish the polls were wrapped up in a single phase though, but we are totally prepared. Intezaar tha is ghadi ka, is imtihaan mein hum paraajit karenge BJP aur NDA ko. We were waiting for this, we will be victorious over the BJP and the NDA. We will decide on seat sharing and proceed accordingly," the RJD chief said. "Yeh Bihar ka chunaav nahi, desh ka chunaav hai. This is not an election for Bihar, it's an election for India," Lalu said.


The Janata Parivar experiment was conceived last year with six parties SP, RJD, JD(U), INLD, JD(S) and SJP - joining hands under the leadership of Mulayam. However, on September 7, the Samajwadi Party announced that it would contest all the 243 Assembly seats in Bihar alone, exiting the grand alliance.

Though JD(U) president Sharad Yadav tried to woo SP back to the Grand Alliance, Mulayam had reportedly made it clear that politics and relationship Mulayams grand nephew is married to Lalus daughter were separate things.

Government today decided not to hold special session of Parliament to pass the constitution amendment bill for rolling out GST and will recommend to the President to prorogue the Monsoon Session.


In view of the unrelenting attitude of the Congress on the GST issue, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, "keeping this political reality in mind, Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) decided to recommend to President to prorogue Monsoon Session".


The government was keen on special session to obtain Parliament's nod for the constitution amendment bill on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) but opted against it "for the time being" as talks with the Congress did not yield results, he said.


Efforts to reach an agreement on the GST Bill, which it had proposed to roll out from April 1, 2016, would continue, he added.


"We will keep trying. We are in contact with all political parties. And nearly all parties except Congress are in favour of this bill. In Lok Sabha, except Congress all political parties had voted in favour of the bill. Congress has walked out, they (other parties) had not walked out. If situation changes then cabinet will again reconsider the matter," he added.


On whether the government will be able to stick to the deadline of April 1, 2016 for rolling out the GST, Jaitley said, "your guess is as good as mine".


The GST bill, which has been passed by Lok Sabha, got stuck in political logjam in the Rajya Sabha where the ruling NDA does not have a majority.


As per the procedure, after approval by the Rajya Sabha the constitution amendment bill on GST will have to be approved by 50 per cent of the state legislatures.


Jaitley said that once the bill is approved by the Rajya Sabha, other steps would not take much time as the government is ready with supporting legislations, of which one has to be passed by the Centre and two by states.


"Our draft legislations are almost ready. We will require meeting of empowered committee to clear them and they can be passed. We need the IT backbone, and those handling the IT infrastructure inform us they are in position to put it in place by April 1, 2016 comfortably...we are keeping ourself in readiness," Jaitley said.


Accusing the Congress of delaying the GST, he said, "the only veto is right to disturb the Rajya Sabha so that the chairman can adjourn it".


He further said that Congress had raised certain demands which were not there in the GST bill prepared by the UPA's Finance Minister in 2011. Jaitley said it was not possible for the government to put a cap of 18 per cent on the GST rate in the constitution bill, as was being suggested by Congress.


It is for the proposed GST council to decided the tax rates, he said, adding, "suppose tomorrow states agree and alcohol comes under GST then should medicine and alcohol be taxed at same rate. This wisdom has dawned on Congress party only after it lost power!" the minister said.

-- I feel that five phases are a little too much: Sharad Yadav, JDU on the Bihar Polls.

-- I welcome ECI's announcement, but the timing of hiking DA by 6% is questionable: KC Tyagi, JDU


-- We welcome EC's announcement on Bihar Polls: Shahnawaz Hussain, BJP 

First reactions on the Bihar polls: The Lalu Prasad Yadav led-RJD says, "We welcome the arrangements made by the EC for the Bihar polls."

The Election Commission today announced the schedule for the Bihar assembly polls. The term of the 243-member state assembly comes to an end on November 29. The elections will be held in five phases, which goes like this:

1st phase: 12th October, Monday
2nd phase: 16th October, Friday
3rd phase: 28th October, Wednesday
4th phase: 1st November, Sunday
5th phase: 5th November, Thursday

Counting: November 8

Election ends on November 12.

Bihar polls:

-- EVMs to have candidate's photos to prevent namesake candidates. 

-- Special vigilance in sensitive areas.

Poll dates for the high-voltage Bihar Assembly elections have been announced by the Election Commission today.  Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi announced that Election Commission of India has asked everyone to work according to the law and guidelines of the ECI. Zaidi said the EC was committed to ensure conducive and peaceful atmosphere from the standpoint of law and order. 

"We have devoted a lot of preparations to Bihar election. People have been advised to check their names on the electoral list. Single window system for all political parties comes into effect today so that all political parties can requisition choppers etc required for campaigning," said CEC Zaidi. 


The term of the 243-member Bihar assembly comes to an end on November 29. Over 6 crore people are expected to vote.


All political parties in Bihar have demanded CRPF, CISF and BSF forces for the polls. At least 85 to 100 assembly segments are categorised as left-wing extremist areas and securing these segments is priority on the agenda.


After ruling the state for ten years, chief minister Nitish Kumar is seeking a third term this time in alliance with Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress after he walked out of NDA in June, 2013 snapping 17-year-old ties with the BJP.

The government on Wednesday approved telecom spectrum trading norms, allowing mobile operators to buy and sell unused spectrum from one another. What this means is call drops may end.  


Call drops have doubled in the last one year, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), and the figure is four times higher than the permissible limit. 



Presently, spectrum can be acquired only through the government conducted auctions. Spectrum trading would allow operators to trade their unutilised radio waves, resulting in efficient use of scarce resource and improved quality services to consumers.


Spectrum trading guidelines are a pre-requisite for consolidation in the sector as these will provide an exit route to struggling operators.

Telecom stocks soared on the Cabinet approval - Reliance Communication soared over 15 per cent, while Bharti Airtel and Idea shot up over 5 per cent.

Monsoon rains revive in southern peninsula and central India: IMD.

Tata will be advising IDG Ventures India and portfolio entrepreneurs on business strategy and will strengthen organizational leadership. Read more

@DharmeshASampat  Suit by NSE against @suchetadalal & @Moneylifers has been dismissed by Hon'ble High Court with Huge Costs. Unprecedented! #NSEWar

Former Mumbai police commissioner Rakesh Maria has not received written orders to monitor the Sheena murder probe. TV reports suggest that Maria may be unwilling to monitor the probe.


Last evening, the Maharashtra government said Maria would continue to head the Sheena Bora murder probe till investigations are completed. This came hours after the Devendra Fadnavis government yesterday transferred Maria as DG Home Guards and replaced him with Ahmed Javed as the Mumbai police commissioner.

The government said Maria will be the in charge till the chargesheet stage. Maharashtra Home Secretary KP Bakshi said, "Government has decided that Rakesh Maria will continue to head the investigation in Sheena Bora case. This was a normal transfer. It was wrongly interpreted in the media."

Rae Bareli: Congress President Sonia Gandhi unveils Rajiv Gandhi's statue at the Panchayat Bhawan.

Cabinet approves 6 per cent hike in Dearness Allowance for central government employees. This comes hours before the model code of conduct comes into effect as the EC is set to announce the election dates for the Bihar polls at 2:30 pm today.


Earlier in April, the government had hiked DA by 6 per cent to 113 per cent of their basic pay with effect from January. DA is paid as proportion of the basic pay.


The DA hike will take effect from July 1. As per the agreed formula, the DA rate increase is an average of 12-month consumer price index-industrial workers from July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015.

The proposed hike is in accordance with the accepted formula based on the recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission, which will benefit 48 lakh government employees and 55 lakh pensioners.

However, president of Confederation of Central Government Employees' and Workers K K N Kutty said: "The government should have given interim relief and merged DA with basic pay in view of the extension of term of the 7th Pay Commission by four months till December 31, 2015."

Elaborating, Kutty added: "The government assured employees that the 7th Pay Commission will submit its report in 18 months. It's delaying submission of the report by the commission because it doesn't want to increase its salaries bill this fiscal."

He further said that keeping in view the real rate of price rise, DA should have been 185 per cent of the basic pay.
     
Last month, the Cabinet had given approval for the extension of the term of the 7th Central Pay Commission by four months up to December 31.

Trolltunga, an austere rock outcropping on a Norwegian mountainside that has tempted daredevil photographers for years, became the scene of a tragedy on Saturday.Australian student Kristi Kafcaloudis, 24, apparently lost her balance while taking a photo at the cliff's edge, and plummeted more than 980 feet into a gorge, according to the Herald Sun.


A Red Cross team found her body late Sunday night, according to TV 2 Norway. Kafcaloudis was part of a 30-person tour group visiting Trolltunga -- "the troll's tongue" -- where it's customary for tourists to snap risky-looking photographs.


The rock platform is the capstone of a 10.5-mile hike that's popular with visitors to Odda, in western Norway. HuffPost Travel called Trolltunga the "scariest Instagram spot on Earth" in 2013.  Read more

After floods ravaged the state last month, Manipur has been hit by a steep rise in the prices of essential items.


A litre of petrol, for instance, sells at Rs 160-190 on the grey market in the state capital, Imphal. A litre of petrol costs around Rs 67 in Mumbai. And prices of essential items like onion, potato, pulses and vegetables have doubled.


This is primarily because the Imphal-Dimapur highway, which is used to ferry goods, is blocked after there was a heavy landslisde in mid-August in Nagaland's Phesama area. Repair work is still on.

Both the Imphal-Dimapur and Imphal-Silchar highways, key supply routes to the land-locked state, have been blocked by the landslide. A bridge has also been damaged.


Consequently, the state consumer affairs, food and public distribution department has begun rationing petrol from select outlets in Imphal with people queing up for at least six hours for a few litres of fuel.

:No matter who forms the government, BJP will emerge as the pre-eminent political force in Bihar. This is a major shift from what Bihar used to be. Remember, BJP used to be the number 3 or number 4 party in Bihar. We cannot be sure of the outcome, that's a guessing game. But the manner in which the game is being played is BJP vs the rest, all major political formations coming up against the BJP. What this does, is it makes the BJP the number 1 political force in Bihar. In a way this is a tragedy ..."


Read former AAP member Yogendra Yadav's interview to the Economic Times.

Syrian artist Tammam Azzam has found his own way of speaking out against the Syrian crisis. Using famous paintings from the Western world projected against bombed buildings, Azzam aims to "draw attention to the tragedy of Syria'.


His most popular work, "Freedom Graffiti', shows Gustav Klimt's well-known painting "The Kiss' superimposed onto a bombed Syrian building.


"I chose it as an icon of love, a way of looking for the stories of love behind this wall that was completely obliterated by the machinery of war,' he said.  Read more

The external affairs ministry on Wednesday sought for a detailed report from the Gurgaon Police on the alleged sexual assault on Nepalese women at a Saudi diplomat's residence in the locality.


The police rescued the girls on Tuesday evening after an NGO registered a case of trafficking of two Nepalese girls. A diplomat at the Saudi Arabia embassy in New Delhi has been booked for rape while his wife and daughter have been booked for torturing domestic helps in Gurgaon.


The women, aged around 30, were alleged that they were abducted and raped by the diplomat repeatedly in his flat on the outskirts of Delhi.


The victims have alleged that they were first taken to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia where they were made to perform household chores and were raped there, ACP Rajesh said.  Read more

More on the Yemen air strike: Vikas Swarup, MEA Spokesperson, says:  "We've seen media reports about the death of Indian nationals in Yemen. The  Indian embassy in Djibouti is in touch with local contacts. We have ascertained that two boats came under aerial bombardment, boats were carrying a total of 20 Indian crew members. Out of the 20 crew members, 13 are alive and 7 are reported to be missing."

"The talk in police circles is that Maria was about to crack the money transaction trail in the Sheena Bora case," says Neeta Kolhatkar/Rediff.com.

Read

Derek Doneen, a 28-year-old documentary filmmaker from Los Angeles, spent a year saving for an engagement ring before he told his parents about his plan to propose. His mom mentioned that there was a diamond in the family that he could use for his girlfriend Jenna's ring instead.


Derek didn't know it at the time, but the stone was part of an heirloom necklace that had been passed down in his family for generations, starting with his great-grandparents -- Jews that escaped Nazi Germany in the 1930s -- and continuing on to his grandma, his mom and finally to him.

Read more

The Election Commission will announce the dates for the Bihar elections at 2:30 pm today. 

News that 20 Indians have been killed by a Saudi-led alliance in air strikes on fuel smugglers at a Yemeni port yesterday, is untrue, says the ministry of external affairs. NDTV quoting the foreign ministry says 13 of the 20 Indians are alive, while seven are believed to be missing.

This is an easy win for the Ripley's Believe it or Not!


A woman told police of her disbelief when she discovered that her "boyfriend" of two years was a female friend, a jury has heard. The complainant said she thought she was having sex with a man called Kye Fortune, who was recovering from a brain tumour and did not want her to see his scars. But she claims she eventually discovered it was in fact her 25-year-old friend Gayle Newland, who had persuaded her to wear a blindfold throughout their sexual encounters in which a prosthetic was used.  Read more

A camerawoman who was caught kicking and tripping over migrants as they escaped from police has been sacked.


The woman, who was working for Hungarian news site N1TV, was filming the crowds of Syrian refugees as they fled across a field from Roszke camp on the Hungarian-Serbian border.Shocking footage showed her deliberately sticking her leg out as a desperate man carrying a crying child ran past her.  Full story here.

The Congress has decided to amend its constitution and give Sonia Gandhi another year in office, triggering suggestions that the move is aimed at protecting the senior leaders Rahul Gandhi had intended to weed out.


The decision to extend Sonia's term was taken " unanimously" by the Congress Working Committee whose term has already expired. All members - some had found a slot as early as 1998 and before - of the party's apex body were handpicked by Sonia. She has already completed 17 years as Congress president, the longest serving chief in the party's 130-year-old history. Read more