A Good Samaritan, who rushes an accident victim to a hospital, will not be forced to reveal identity and the government has warned of strong action against police personnel and other officials who coerce such a person to disclose personal details.

A circular, re-notified to all states by the Home Ministry, made it clear that a Good Samaritan shall not be liable for any civil and criminal liability.

A bystander or a Good Samaritan, who makes a phone call to inform the police or emergency services for the person lying injured on the road, shall not be compelled to reveal his or her name and personal details on the phone or in person, according to the standard operating procedures  mentioned in the circular.

A person who gratuitously gives help to people in distress is called a Good Samaritan.

A district-level Hindu leader of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was arrested today in connection with the killing of a prominent Sikh politician in the country's restive northwest region, a day after Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

Baldev Kumar, a Swat district councilor and minority leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, was arrested by the law enforcement agencies for his alleged role in the murder of doctor Sardar Swaran Singh, also of the same party.

52-year-old Singh was the Special Assistant to Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Minority Affairs.

The Pakistani Taliban yesterday claimed responsibility for the assassination of Singh who was shot dead on Friday. The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan in a statement said that sharp shooter of Special Task Force of TTP 'successfully' targeted Sardar Swaran Singh in his home district Buner.

Deputy Inspector General Malakand Division Azad Khan while confirming the arrest of Kumar, said that he would give the details about the arrest in a press conference here tomorrow. After the arrest, security forces took Kumar to an undisclosed location for interrogation.

Yesterday, the last rites of Singh were held in Buner district. A large number of people from PTI and other political parties' activists attended the funeral. Singh's murder was widely condemned by fellow politicians and rights activists.

The Uttarakhand high court will tomorrow resume the hearing on nine rebel Congress MLAs' petition challenging their disqualification by the state assembly speaker.

The nine legislators will present their contention before the single bench of Justice U C Dhyani, which had on Saturday recorded the arguments of counsel Kapil Sibal appearing for Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal.

The speaker had on March 27 disqualified the nine, including former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna, who spearheaded the rebellion against Chief Minister Harish Rawat, under the anti-defection law. This had led to a political instability in the state and imposition of President's rule.

Over 700 houses were gutted in a fire in which two elderly persons died due to heart attack and seven others sustained burn injuries in four villages under Hanuman Nagar block in Bihar's Darbhanga district, an official said.

The fire blazed in Khaparpura, Kolhanda, Patori and Ramtol villages razing over 700 houses, mostly thatched structures, District Magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh said.

Two elderly persons, Suresh Chaudhary and Parvati Devi succumbed to heart attack apparently unable to bear loss of their property in the fire, he said adding, seven others sustained injuries.

About half a dozen cattle were also charred to death, Singh said adding, he along with relief and rescue teams were camping at the affected villages.

Food packets were being distributed among the affected people, while damage to properties was assessed for distribution of ex-gratia among them, the DM said.

On the eve of the Budget Session, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad has said the Congress will not disrupt the proceedings in Parliament but oppose the government.

In an exclusive interview to ETV head Jagdish Chandra, Azad said the Congress is ready for dialogue and discussions in Parliament.

"Parliament will not be disrupted beyond a point," he said.During this session, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government hopes to garner the support of opposition parties in passage of key legislations, including the goods and services tax bill.

Besides, the Bill to replace Enemy Property Ordinance, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and Companies Amendment Bill will also be taken up.

The Bharatiya Janata Party lodged a police complaint on Sunday against Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, and party leaders Subrata Bakshi and Derek O'Brien, alleging that they were responsible for the use of a morphed picture of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and demanded their immediate arrest.

BJP state spokesperson Joy Prakash Majumdar, along with other leaders and party workers, met Joint Commissioner (Crime) of Kolkata Police Debasish Boral at the Police Headquarter at Lalbazar and lodged a complaint against the three TMC leaders.

"Today, we have lodged a complaint with the Kolkata Police in connection with the morphed picture showing Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh offering sweets to CPI-M (Communist Party of India-Marxist) leader Prakash Karat.

"In our complaint we have held three -- TMC party chairperson Mamata Banerjee, all India general secretary Subrata Bakshi and national spokesperson Derek O'Brien who held yesterday's press conference responsible for the entire episode and demanded their immediate arrest," Majumdar said.

"Derek O'Brien held yesterday's conference after he was instructed by Mamata Banerjee. So it's clear it was whose brainchild,' Majumdar added describing the incident as 'unprecedented' in the history of the country's politics.

Left Front chairman Biman Bose also demanded that Derek O'Brien should be arrested in connection with the morphed photograph incident.

Stating that if Jadavpur University Prof Ambikesh Mohapatra could be arrested for circulating one spoof on Mamata Banerjee and the then Railway Minister Mukul Roy then 'why will not Derek O'Brien be arrested in this case?' Bose questioned.

Arunachal Pradesh Governor J P Rajkhowa today mourned the death of two senior citizens in landslides at Thongleng village under Lumla sub-division of Tawang district yesterday.

The Governor announced an amount of Rs one lakh as ex gratia to the nearest kin of each of the deceased and Rs 25,000 each to the seriously injured from his relief fund, a Raj Bhawan statement said.

"All injured persons should be given free treatment by the state government," he said.

Reiterating his appeal to the people and advice to the state government amid heavy rainfall resulting in landslides and floods, Rajkhowa said to avoid more such tragedies, the district authorities should shift people from all vulnerable areas and temporarily put them into suitable shelter homes till the situation improves and risk elements ruled out.

A major fire has broken out at Pearls Business Park building in Netaji Subhash Place area of West Delhi.

20 fire tenders have been rushed to the spot.

Details are awaited.

Mumbai police has contradicted the claims of Jawaharlal Nehru Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar, who alleged in the morning that a Bharatiya Janata Party supporter tried to strangle him on board a Jet Airways flight from Mumbai to Pune.

Cops say that, prima facie, there are no evidences of a strangulation attempt made on Kanhaiya by the accused and the fight was over seating, CNN News 18 reported.

Police said that a scuffle broke out between two groups over seating on board the aircraft and Kanhaiya was a part of one of the groups.

In a series of tweets on Sunday morning, Kanhaiya had alleged that a BJP supporter tried to strangle him inside a Jet Airways flight, following which the airline deplaned him.

The alleged attacker was later detained and an FIR was registered.

Liquor baron Vijay Mallya appears on the electoral rolls in the United Kingdom with his country home in Britain as his recorded address, a media report said today.

The 60-year-old, who strongly rejects any suggestion of wrongdoing and denies that he has deliberately absconded from India, has been living at a three-storey mansion called Ladywalk in the village of Tewin in Hertfordshire, just over a one-hour drive north of London.

According to The Sunday Times, Mallya confirmed that 'my official address in the UK is at Ladywalk', adding that he had supplied this information to the Indian authorities.

The 11.5-million-pound mansion was bought from the father of British Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton by a company with offshore links.

'The ownership structure of Ladywalk is perfectly legal,'  the newspaper quoted Mallya as saying.

Mallya told the newspaper there was no 'concealment or tax avoidance involved' and said that he has been a 'British resident' since 1992.

The report notes that official documents list the owner of Ladywalk as a limited liability partnership called Ladywalk LLP. It has two members, including a company called Continental Administration Services, which is registered in St. Kitts and Nevis, a Commonwealth country in the Caribbean regarded as a tax haven.

A loan to finance the property purchase in July 2015 was made by the Edmond de Rothschild private bank in Switzerland. Official papers name the borrower as Ladywalk Investments, a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, another tax haven.

Mallya has described an arrest warrant against him as 'erroneous and unjustified' and has recently tweeted: 'I fully respect and will comply with the law of the land.'

His passport, which had been suspended earlier, was also revoked today.

Prime Minister Modi is addressing Panchayati Raj Sammelan on the Occasion of National Panchayati Raj Day in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand.

Here are a few quotes from his ongoing speech:

• Normally, Panchayati Raj Day is observed at Vigyaan Bhawan in New Delhi. We are trying to get out of the notion that Delhi is India. India is a big country. We're making efforts to organise various events for social development at places outside Delhi so that more people can be connected.
• Mahatma Gandhi used to say 'Bharat gaaon mein basa hai' (India dwells in its villages) but we see that distance between urban and rural India is only increasing. Therefore for the first time, we have focused on rural development in our budget.
• From this land of Bhagwan Birsa Munda, I have the opportunity to talk to people across India.
• I want to congratulate the state governments that despite scorching heat, authorities went to villages to spread awareness on development.
• People in villages have shown trust on me for 5 years. As their representative, I'm determined to do something for them.
• So many women are serving in Panchayats. They can show tremendous leadership in matters affecting the villages. I request women representatives in villages to take a resolution to build toilets so that no mother or woman is forced to defecate in open.
• The women representatives in Panchayats should ensure that there are adequate toilets in villages. It is such a shame that despite so much development, women and girls are forced to defecate in open in villages.

Indonesian warships have detained a Chinese trawler allegedly operating illegally in Indonesian waters, just weeks after a confrontation between vessels from the two countries caused tensions, the navy said today.

The trawler was intercepted by two navy ships on Friday after receiving information that a ship wanted by Interpol in Argentina had been spotted in Aceh, in the northwest of Sumatra, navy spokesman Edi Sucipto told AFP.

The boat has been taken to a naval base in Belawan, North Sumatra for investigation.

"We are currently questioning the crew to find out more about the case," Sucipto said, adding that one of them had a gunshot wound to his leg.

"It was not our officers who shot him, he was probably shot by the Argentinian authorities," he said.

The Chinese trawler was previously reported to have been fishing illegally in Argentine waters in late February.

Bangladesh police today detained a student and an alleged activist of an Islamist organisation in connection with the murder of a liberal university professor who was brutally hacked to death by machete-wielding militants.

Hafizur Rahman was detained earlier this morning over the murder of 58-year-old Rajshahi University Professor AFM Rezaul Karim Siddiquee in Rajshahi city in northwestern Bangladesh yesterday, the latest in a series of similar attacks on intellectuals and bloggers by the dreaded group in the Muslim-majority country.

Rahman, an alleged activist of Islami Chhatra Shibir, was detained from a Shibir dominated student mess at Chhoto Bongram, Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP) Commissioner Md Shamsuddin said.

The External Affairs Minister Sushma Swarajs forthcoming visit to Myanmar (Burma) on May 1 comes not a day too soon. There is a new dawn in Myanmar (Burma).

Foreign Minister (and state counsellor and de facto ruler) Aung San Suu Kyi put it nicely at her first meeting with the diplomatic corps yesterday when she left it to the world community to choose how to call her country Its up to you, because there is nothing in the constitution of our country that says you must use any term in particular.

What disarming candour and directness! For an uptight nation such as India which is tying itself in a million knots, where everyone is being hustled to chant Bharat Mata ki jai in misplaced patriotism, Suu Kyis relaxed approach to nationalism and patriotism must come as shock and awe to our powers that be.

Indeed, the change to Myanmar from Burma was a nationalistic gesture by the military. But Suu Kyi now asks disarmingly, Whats in a name? Not much. To be sure, Swaraj will be in her elements with Suu Kyi.

Her visit to Myanmar comes 3 weeks after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yis trip. These are extraordinary times when we are obsessed with the China bug biting us all over on knee cap, armpit, elbow, earlobe and so on. But, for heavens sake, Swaraj should not be burdened with a China-centric Myanmar visit.

Read HERE

Defending the decision to appoint Bollywood actor Salman Khan as the Indian contingents goodwill ambassador for the Rio Olympics 2016, Indian Olympic Associations vice president Tarlochan Singh has said that the youth look towards such film celebrities and there is no harm in utilizing them.

When celebrities who appeal to public come forward to help, naturally we get more publicity, which is good for sports, Singh said.

Trend among youth is that they look towards such film celebrities. If we utilise them, theres no harm. Were getting his (Salman Khan) help and not giving him anything. The IOA is not paying him a penny, he said, responding to the criticism by several former Indian Olympians over Salmans appointment.

Former Indian sprinter Milkha Singh has strongly opposed Bollywood actor Salman Khan's appointment as the Indian Olympic contingent's goodwill ambassador, saying the Indian Olympic Association has taken a wrong decision.

"We don't need any ambassador. Sportsmen representing nation in Rio Olympics 2016 are our ambassadors," Singh said, seeking government intervention into the matter.

"The IOA shouldn't have made a Bollywood person (Salman Khan) ambassador for sports event. Will they make a sportsperson an ambassador for a Bollywood function? The IOA must reconsider its decision," he said.

"If at all there is a need to send an ambassador, I think P T Usha, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Ajit Pal etc. can be better choices," Singh said.

The toll in the Puttingal Devi temple tragedy has gone up to 109, with one more person succumbing to injuries.

Biju, 35, who passed away at a hospital in Kollam on Saturday night, was in coma since April 10, the day of the accident, district hospital sources said.

He had severe injuries on the head, chest and lower limbs and was not responding to treatment, the sources said.

The condition of around 40 persons in various hospitals in Kollam is said to be stable.

Meanwhile, 27 persons have been arrested in connection with the temple tragedy. Two more persons-- Shibu and Ashok, relatives of fireworks contractor Krishnankutty, were arrested on Saturday, police said.

'Manas Deka, works in TCS (Tata Consultancy Services), a strong BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) supporter assaulted me inside the aircraft. Is assault the only tool you have, to fight dissent? (sic)' tweeted Kanhaiya Kumar on Sunday morning, after alleging that he was assaulted inside a Jet Airways aircraft from Mumbai to Pune.

Mumbai police has arrested one person in connection with the case. It is, however, not confirmed that the person under arrest is Deka.

Kanhaiya Kumar and his assaulter were reportedly offloaded at the Mumbai airport after the incident.

JUST IN: Police detains one person at Mumbai domestic airport for allegedly trying to attack JNU Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar.

Music icon Prince's body had been cremated and a private memorial service was held. The late singer's publicist Yvette Noel-Schure said family, friends and fellow musicians attended the small service held on April 23 evening.

"A few hours ago, Prince was celebrated by a small group of his most beloved: family, friends and his musicians, in a private, beautiful ceremony to say a loving goodbye," Noel-Schure said.

"Prince's remains have been cremated and their final storage will remain private. We ask for your blessings and prayers of comfort for his family and close friends at this time."

The publicist added, "The cause of death remains unknown and it will be at least four weeks before we receive the results of the autopsy. An announcement will be made at a future date for a musical celebration."

No more details were released but it was suspected that the memorial service was held at Paisley Park, Chanhassen, Minnesota.

Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar has alleged that a fellow passenger tried to strangle him inside a Jet Airways flight from Mumbai to Pune.

In a series of tweets on Sunday morning, Kanhaiya alleged that Jet Airways staff refused to take any action against the man who assaulted him. 'Yet again, this time inside the aircraft, a man tries to strangulate me (sic),' Kanhaiya tweeted.

'After the incident @jetairways staff completely refuses to take any action against the man who assaulted me (sic),' he wrote.

Apparently suggesting that he was deplaned by the crew after the incident, Kanhaiya tweeted, 'Basically @jetairways sees no difference between someone who assaults nd d person who is assaulted. They will deplane you, if you complain (sic).'

Responding to the allegation, Jet Airways said, 'Some guests on board this morning's flight from Mumbai to Pune were offloaded at Mumbai airport in interest of operational safety. At Jet Airways, the safety and security of our guests and crew is always of prime importance.'

The Ministry of External Affairs on Sunday revoked the passport of liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who is embroiled in a money laundering case, after considering the facts put forth by the Enforcement Directorate.

'Having considered the replies furnished by Vijay Mallya to the show cause notice, facts brought by enforcement directorate and non-bailable warrant under the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act), 2002 issued by special judge, Mumbai, the MEA revoked the passport of Vijay Mallya under section 10 (3) (c) and 10 (3)(h) of the Passports Act, 1967,' MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.

Earlier, the ED had written to the MEA seeking assistance in bringing back Mallya to India through diplomatic channels.

Sources said the agency had written that the ministry should take the initiative in this regard.

The PMLA court had directed the ED to execute the non-bailable warrant against Mallya in a case of laundering Rs 900 crore.

The ED has alleged that Mallya diverted Rs 430 crores for purchase of a property abroad from the Rs 950 crores IDBI loan for his Kingfisher Airlines.

The MEA had earlier while acting on the Enforcement Directorate's request suspended Mallya's diplomatic passport with immediate effect for a period of four weeks under Section 10-A of the Passports Act.

An Indian-origin doctor at a Miami hospital in the US has been fired after a video that showed her attacking an Uber driver and his vehicle went viral.   

One youth sustained injuries when two groups of students clashed at a college in Pune following a dispute over changing the subject line on a WhatsApp group, the police said.   

Army sources have confirmed the deaths of three jawans during their two-month long exercise Shatrujeet, which concluded today in presence of Chief of Army Staff General Dalbir Singh in Bikaner in Rajasthan.

Kanhaiya's event venue changed under 'pressure from Sangh parivar'
Sikh parliamentary secretary for minority affairs shot dead in Pakistan
SC order stops BJP from forming 'illegitimate' government: Rawat
10 charred to death in Bihar fire mishap
Hindu country, secular Constitution
Brussels bomber identified as guard of foreign IS hostages
Blow to Rawat: SC restores Prez rule in Uttarakhand till April 27