Timeline Refresh
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent on Monday, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party has called Savarkar a "staunch supporter for a Hindu India" and has requested Modi to undo the "injustice" done to his legacy by conferring a Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour, on him.
"The nation wants that the Bharat Ratna ceremony be held at the historic Cellular Jail in Andaman and Nicobar Islands," the letter to Modi sent by Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said. Savarkar was jailed by the British at the Cellular Jail, a sentence then known as Kaala Pani.
"Dear Prime Minister, the previous governments deliberately mocked the legacy of Savarkar, who was a supporter of a Hindu India and so persecuted for the same reason," the letter says, hoping Modi, who Raut describes as "a leader who considers Hindutva as Indianness", would heed to his appeal.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott lost the leadership ballot by members of his party, who voted 54 to 44 to replace him with former Liberal Party leader and Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Turnbull had called for a leadership ballot earlier Monday amid flagging opinion polls for the 2-year-old conservative coalition government.
The change in leadership continues an extraordinarily volatile period in Australian politics. Turnbull becomes Australias fourth Prime Minister in just over two years.
Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh are the remaining states in the top five.While poll-bound Bihar placed 21st, Arunachal Pradesh came last with a rank of 32.
Earlier in 2012, the now derecognised Indian Pilots Guild (IPG), which is the wide-body pilots union, had stopped work for 58 days against the Air India management's move to train pilots from the erstwhile Indian Airlines in the merged entity on Boeing-787 Dreamliners.
As the pilots had refused to budge, the Air India management sacked all 13 IPG core committee members, besides withdrawing its recognition. The IPG remains derecognised till date. Air India and Indian Airlines merged into a single entity in 2007.
"The role of the pilot in command at Air India is of a managerial and administrative nature and so may not fall under the definition of workmen," the Labour Ministry notification had said, thereby barring commanders working with the airline from being part of any union and taking part in any strike.
According to sources, the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) is likely to serve a strike notice to the Air India management in the next two days. "We would like to inform you (ICPA members) that we are overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and support shown by our members by participating in the secret ballot and all the four regions have voted in favour of strike," ICPA general secretary Praveen K Keerthi said in a communication to its members.
The Association represents around 670 pilots of the erstwhile Indian Airlines, most of whom is deployed on carrier's narrow-body fleet.
"If it is a question of practice of non-violence by the Jain community, then why only mutton and chicken have been included in the ban and not fish and eggs?" the court asked about the ban, an issue which has kicked up a political storm with questions being raised on intrusion into eating habits of people.
In a brilliant, but gruesome assault, what he and his men achieved that September 50 years ago, had never been seen before.
Archana Masih/Rediff.com salutes the maverick soldier's soldier. Read
A multi-institutional team led by Sowdhamini Ramanathan from the National Centre of Biological Science, Bengaluru revisited the age-old knowledge of the plant and its medicinal effects in their laboratories.
The plant synthesises a wide range of bioactive compounds, known for their anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-pyretic and anti-cancer properties.These compounds are metabolites, compounds that are a by-product of plant metabolism, typically used for plant self-defence. These metabolites are very poorly understood because of lack of genomic information.
According to bollywoodlife.com, a source has revealed, "The channel has approached a lot of people this time. Mia also is one of them. Talks are on with her and she too has shown interest." Has she already given a nod? "The modalities need to be worked out first," the source adds. Read more
The role of men in gender sensitisation was the most critical since "all the violence is male-generated. We have introduced (the concept of) 'Gender Champions' in schools, under which boys who have been respectful and helpful to girls will be rewarded", the minister said in reply to a question while interacting live with users on Facebook, as part of the ministry's '#100Women' initiative launched in July.
Under the initiative, the ministry has collaborated with the social media platform, Facebook, to identify 100 women across the country who made a difference to their communities.
During the time she spent on live chat in the digital space, Gandhi was asked many questions on children's education, health and safety, crimes against women and other political issues, though she answered only some questions.
As for the alleged rape of two Nepalese maids by a Saudi diplomat in Gurgaon in Haryana, Gandhi said the case was an "eye-opener" and added that the central government would see what safeguards could be put in place to prevent such incidents in future.
On the implementation of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, the minister said, "We get periodic reports from the states and work with the National Commission for Women and the police."
The ministry was also setting up 'One Stop Centres' called 'Sakhi', which would play an active role in helping women in trouble, she added.
Those held guilty in the case by Special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court judge Yatin D Shinde include Kamal Ahamed Ansari (37), Tanvir Ahmed Ansari (37), Mohd Faisal Shaikh (36), Ehtesham Siddiqui (30), Mohammad Majid Shafi (32), Shaikh Alam Shaikh (41), Mohd Sajid Ansari (34), Muzzammil Shaikh (27), Soheil Mehmood Shaikh (43), Zamir Ahmad Shaikh (36), Naveed Hussain Khan (30) and Asif Khan (38).
Only one accused, Abdul Wahid Shaikh (34), was acquitted by the court.
Twelve people were convicted on Friday by a special court in Mumbai in the 7/11 serial bombings that ripped through Mumbai trains.
The convicts were allegedly linked to the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
The accused were found guilty of charges under IPC, Explosives Act, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and Indian Railway Act and those under MCOCA.
The trial in the 7/11 Mumbai train blasts case was concluded on August 19 last year, eight years after the attack in which seven RDX bombs kept in Mumbai local trains went off in a span of few minutes.
The seven RDX laden bombs went off in trains at Matunga Road, Mahim, Bandra, Khar Road, Jogeshwari, Borivali and Mira Road stations spanning Mumbai and Thane districts.
The Anti-Terrorist Squad had claimed that the suspects belong to Pakistan's ISI, Lashkar-e-Toiba and the banned SIMI.
"Ranvir and I have mutually decided to separate, but continue to be friends and co-parent our son. Will appreciate your support. Thank you," Konkona, 35, posted on twitter.
Ranvir's statement read, "Konkona and I have mutually decided to separate, but continue to be friends and co-parent our son. Will appreciate your support. Thank you."
Konkona and Ranvir, 43, started dating in 2007. The couple got married in 2010 in a private ceremony. They have starred together in films like "Traffic Signal", "Mixed Doubles", "Aaja Nachle" and "Gour Hari Daastan."
Jain stressed that people should get admitted to hospital only after consulting a doctor and not out of panic. In a today's meeting with district magistrates, all chief district medical officers (CDMOs) and regional health directors along with heath secretary and director general of health services, the minister said the priority was to ensure that there is no panic about dengue in the capital.
When questioned on Manjhi, he said it was up to him to decide if he wants to contest the polls.
Once again taking a dig at Nitish, Shah said, "Nitish considers himself as Bihar, but Bihar's public doesn't believe so."
"We believe in 'Sabka sath sabka vikaas'. We are committed to Bihar's development," he added.
Shah said, "The BJP and our three alliance partners discussed seat sharing and decided on it today."
The BJP is allying with Hindustani Awam Morcha headed by Manjhi, Lok Janshakti Party and Rashtriya Lok Samta Party.
Taking a dig at the rival Janata Dal-United, he said, "The alliance under Nitish Kumar is promising corruption free Bihar when they are responsible for corruption, jungle raj. The statistics of development that Nitish is giving is from the time when BJP was with him. Ever since the BJP has exited the Bihar government, the state has seen jungle rule," he said
The top court issued a notice to Common Cause and Centre for Public Interest Litigation, the NGO on whose petition it had ruled that only the photos of the President, Prime Minister and Chief Justice of India could be used in government ads.
The Supreme Court is set to take up the case on October 1, reports NDTV.
Four states -- Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Assam -- want the top court to reconsider its decision, and allow them to use photos of the chief minister on government ads.
The apex court also issued notice to social activist Jayakumar Hiremath, who had filed the case against Dhoni. The complainant had alleged that the cricketer had outraged religious sentiments.
The apex court, which posted the matter for hearing on October 1, directed the complainant to file his response before that. Dhoni had earlier approached the apex court seeking quashing of a criminal case against him in the Karnataka high court for allegedly outraging religious sentiments for his portrayal of Lord Vishnu on a magazine cover.
The high court, however, refused to quash the case, prompting Dhoni to file an appeal in the apex court.
The wholesale fuel prices tumbled 16.50 per cent from a year ago, while food prices dropped 1.13 per cent year-on-year. Prices of manufactured goods declined 1.92 per cent on year last month, Reuters reports.
The fall is likely to add pressure on the Reserve Bank of India to cut interest rates again at its policy review later this month to spur economic growth.
CPI inflation, also expected later today, likely eased to 3.6 per cent in August due to lower fuel prices, from a record low of 3.78 per cent in July, according to analysts polled by Reuters.
Under fire for its decision to ban slaughter and sale of meat in Mumbai for two days during Jain festival 'Paryushan', the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation on Friday had told HC that it has decided to withdraw its decision The BMC had informed the court of its decision during the hearing of a petition filed by meat-sellers challenging the four-day ban on meat sales, which included a two-day ban by the state government.
Maran had moved the Supreme Court and obtained a stay and sought more time to file response on the government's reply on his petition.
The CBI had sought to arrest Maran in connection with the illegal telephone exchange scam. In August, the court had stayed the Madras high court's order cancelling bail and had given the CBI two weeks to respond to Maran's challenge.
Three suspects -- a Pakistani man and two Malaysians -- were detained a few days ago, Malaysia's Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar told a briefing.
"We are assisting Thai police regarding this probe. We feel these three can assist us in the investigation," he was quoted as saying by The Star.
Khalid, however, said the suspects would not be handed over to the Thai police just yet. "We feel there is no need at present to hand them over to the Thai authorities. We are working together with our Thai counterparts. Let us investigate the matter first," he said.
Thai authorities have arrested two suspects in connection with the twin bombings last month. One of them, Mieraili Yusufu, identified the alleged mastermind as Abdulrahman, also known by the alias Izan.
Izan left Thailand on a Bangladesh-bound flight on August 16, a day before the bombing. Thai police had also sought help from Bangladesh through Interpol to help locate the mastermind behind the country's deadliest bombing at the Erawan Brahma Shrine after investigations indicated that the Chinese man may have fled there.
Days after announcing a meat ban, Rajasthan has ordered schools and colleges to prepare for blood donation camps on September 25, to mark the birth anniversary of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, an icon of the BJP and its ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, reports NDTV.
The day coincides with the Muslim festival of Bakr-Id, which is a holiday. But, the Vasundhara Raje government has instructed colleges not to declare a holiday on the day.
Ahead of the meeting Manji, who launched his Hindustani Avam Morcha-secular after a fallout with the Janata Dal-United said, "There is no confusion; everything's sorted. A seat-sharing formula is likely to be announced."
Manjhi is adamant that 25 seats be allotted to the HAM, but the BJP does not want to allot more than 15 seats, according to TV reports.
The five-phase polling for the 243-member assembly begins from October 12 and concludes on November 5.
The prosecution may seek death sentence for eight of the 12 convicted in the 2006 blasts in Mumbai that had killed 189 and injured 817, as seven bombs ripped through first-class compartments on seven trains during peak hour commute, reports The Times of India.
The maximum punishment is likely to be sought for all five planters and the "more educated'' convicts including key conspirator Dr Tanveer Ansari, Asif Khan Bashir Khan, a civil engineering diploma holder and Mohammed Ali Shaikh, a Unani medicine seller. Sources tell the TOI that leniency maybe shown for convicts who had slightly lesser role.
Read the full report here
Rajendra Kasawa, who the police are looking for, had stocked explosives (nearly 100 gelatine sticks) for his mining business at a shop, adjacent to the restaurant, which triggered off a series of blasts in Petlawad town in Jhabua district, reports NDTV. He reportedly had license to use the explosives but had stored them at the shop illegally. The police have sealed the godwon last evening.
The state government has announced a reward of Rs. one lakh on any information leading to his arrest, according to the report.
Sania, in her response to the tweet said, "Thank you Sir for your wishes."
Sania won the US Open women's doubles with her Swiss partner Hingis yesterday as the top-seeded Indo-Swiss team outplayed the fourth seed team of Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shvedova 6-3 6-3 in the final.
This is Sania's second consecutive Grand Slam title of the season, and fifth overall. Sania's win capped off a memorable US Open for Indians as Leander Paes had won the mixed doubles trophy with Hingis on Friday, in a repeat show of the Wimbledon.
A self-styled godman Om Ji of the Hindu Mahasabha and and woman astrologer Rakhi Bai were seen having sharp exchanges on the TV show 'Aaj Ka Mudda' on IBN 7.
Om Ji was seen engaged in a heated discussion with Rakhi Bai over some controversy related to self-styled god woman Radhe Ma, who is embroiled in a case of alleged domestic violence.
"How can you criticise Radhe Ma, you correct yourself first," Om Ji was heard saying. When Rakhi Bai protested, he said he was talking about another participant on the show Deepa Sharma whom the channel described as 'Dharma Guru' (religious teacher).
He referred to some alleged controversies about the family life of Sharma and criminal cases against her. Sharma, who had looked calm by then, stood up and approached Om Ji from behind and interrupted his harangue by patting on his back.
"Tameez se baat kariye (behave yourself)," she was seen warning the self-styled god man and then slapped him. Om Ji also hurled a slap at her and was seen tightly holding both her hands. "Tu kya maregi?" he said as the two were shown grappling on screen.
The lorry carrying about 35 agricultural labourers tilted at Gandepalli in east Godavari district in the early hours, according to H Arun Kumar, collector, East Godavari district.
The victims had boarded the lorry in neighbouring west Godavari district. The vehicle which was carrying clinker material met with the tragedy after the driver lost control allegedly due to sleepiness, he said. The clinker material fell on the victims and 16 bodies have been taken out so far, he added. The driver was absconding after the incident.
Photograph: @ANI/Twitter