Sonia Gandhi's roadshow in Varanasi comes to a screeching halt. The Congress president is running a high fever and is now headed back to Delhi. Reports indicate that the Congress president has been put on drip at Varanasi airport.

Gandhi on Tuesday launched her party's campaign for the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly election with a massive roadshow in Varanasi. Thousands of Congress supporters and workers took part in the roadshow from the Circuit House to Englishiya Line, a distance of about eight kilometres.

The march began with Gandhi garlanding the statue of B R Ambedkar at the Circuit House and the marchers crisscrossed lanes and bylanes of the temple town.

Gandhi, who was travelling in a vehicle with a sun roof waved at the crowd which cheered and raised slogans against the Modi government.

She came out of her vehicle several times to accept the greetings of the cheering supporters, including groups of Muslim women. As the road show passed through several localities, rose petals were showered on Gandhi and her cavalcade from adjoining buildings.

The biggest terror threat to Britain emanates from "home-based terrorists", UK's senior-most counter-terrorism police chief said today and advised people to run away as fast as possible if they get caught up in a terrorist attack. 

Here's the good news: Neither his employer nor other media veterans buy Arnab Goswami's fulminations on what can or cannot be said about Kashmir. Read

After Gujarat, Dalits in Lucknow shudder to touch a dead cow to skin it for a living after "gau rakshaks" (vigilantes) thrashed two of their community members on suspicion of cow slaughter here last week.

Scared of being beaten up, some members of the community approached their contractors to take up their case with the Lucknow Municipal Corporation or other authorities after some of them were assaulted in Takrohi area in Indira Nagar here on July 28.


Image: Dalits at a protest rally against the Una incident in Ahmedabad last week.

"Investigation is underway, but there seem to be 6-7 accused in the Bulandshahr incident, Anees Ansari, SSP Bulandshahr says.

Police arrested three persons, Raheesudeen of Sutari village in Bulandshahr, Shahwaiz of Hapur district and Jabar Singh of Gautam Budh Nagar district.

Shahwaiz and Jabar Singh have previous cases of looting against them, police said. Sutari village is around 7 km from Dostpur, where the incident took place. Police have detained two others for questioning Babloo belonging to Faridabad and Naresh of Bathinda.

Five-time world boxing champion and nominated member Mary Kom today expressed concern in Rajya Sabha over the training and the diet provided to players participating in international sporting events.


Making her first intervention in the Upper House during Question Hour after she was nominated as a member in April, Kom expressed concern about proper training for the players as well as quality diet for them.

Stressing that the diet should be given to them on time, she said there were instances when the food had arrived just when the players were about to go for a match. She also extended her best wishes to the Indian Olympic contingent and hoped they would bring back laurels for the country.

Her intervention was lauded by the members with thumping of desks. Minister of State for Sports Vijay Goel, however, said he will look into specific complaints, if any.

He said the government was spending as much as Rs 30 lakh to Rs one crore on training each of the 119 players representing India in the Rio Olympics and preparations for the next Olympics in Tokyo have also already started.

Special customised training was being provided to each of the players representing the country in the Olympics and government will try to provide the best training to budding players, he said.

Pope Francis appoints special commission to examine the role of female deacons in the Catholic Church.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi scored a small victory at a rally in Varanasi today. Much like her late husband and former PM Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia, wanted to reach out to the people especially in PM Modi's constituency and to do so she had to be seen by the thousands who had gathered to watch her drive past. The only way to to do it was to use an open jeep. But the SPG tasked with her security would have none of it and said she would have to give her intention in writing.

Mrs Gandhi did nothing of the kind, yet managed to be seen in the huge crowd of supporters in Varanasi. She used a vehicle with a sun roof. (See the picture alongside). The SPG lost this one.  

The Home Minister Rajnath Singh's trip to Pakistan to attend the SAARC ministerial meeting may turn out to be a wasted opportunity. The visit could have served three purposes.

First and foremost, it would have eased the pressure on the government from Washington if India were to be seen as 'engaging' Pakistan.After all, when India engages Pakistan bilaterally, where is the need for the American Embassy to keep pestering South Block and the PMO?

Read MK Bhadrakumar's column here.

Speculation is still rife on who the next chief minister of Gujarat is going to be. What we can tell you is that the BJP's Gujarat in-charge and Vice President Dinesh Sharma is going to Gujarat tomorrow to meet local leaders to discuss candidates. The likely candidate will be suggested to the BJP Parliamentary board which will take the final decision. The Board is likely to meet tomorrow.

Read: Patel or Rupani: Who will succeed Anandiben?

Just in: West Bengal name change: State cabinet okays renaming to 'Bengal' in English and 'Bangla' or 'Banga' in Bengali. State CM Mamata Banerjee wants the word 'West' dropped from the state's name and had asked that the state be called either 'Bangla' or 'Banga', while Bengal could remain as the English name. A special session of the assembly will be called soon on this, says Partha Chatterjee, WB Minister.


The demand for changing the state's name due to alphabetical reasons is not new. In 2011, a consensus to rename West Bengal as Paschimbanga was reached at an all-party meeting and a decision was taken in the assembly "to raise the state's position alphabetically'.


Apart from the Trinamool Congress government, the Opposition parties, led by the CPM, at the time had also supported the move. Prior to that, the previous Left Front government led by Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, had also raised the issue.


The reason, officials explained, was that at every state-level conclave, speakers from West Bengal were inevitably the last. "The speakers at the end tend to get less time to present their views. By the time our speakers actually get the opportunity to talk, every one is tired and the event gets wrapped up. quickly. This has been an issue faced by us for a long time,' said a state government official.

Bhagwant Mann, the Aam Aadmi Party MP who kicked off a controversy by live streaming the security arrangements at the Parliament, should be sent to a rehab centre for drug and alcohol de-addiction, some of his Lok Sabha colleagues have suggested.

Some MPs, including Shiromani Akali Dal's Prem Singh Chandumajra, BJP's Maheish Girri and suspended AAP MP Harinder Singh Khalsa have written to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, urging her to send Mann+ to rehab at the Lok Sabha's expense, reported new agency ANI.

The MPs urged the Speaker to ensure that Mann is allowed to take part in Lok Sabha proceedings only after completing rehab.

The move comes even as Punjab heads to Assembly elections in 2017. The BJP and SAD combine is set to take on an AAP that seems to be growing in the state. Also among the MPs who called for Mann to be sent to rehab was Harinder Khalsa, who was elected to the Lok Sabha on an AAP ticket, but has since been suspended from the party.

A singer-turned-politician, Mann is already facing a storm after he live streamed his entry into the Parliament. He has faced intense criticism for allegedly exposing the security arrangements. He is presently facing an inquiry for a breach of privileges granted to him as an MP. 

Remittances from Saudi Arabia had shrunk by January. The layoffs increased soon after. By March, Riyadh's appetite for imported goods from India had dropped visibly.But it took a public message from a starving Indian worker to trigger New Delhi's latest relief and rescue effort. Read more

"I must say I was surprised to read that Kaushik Basu, once my friend and neighbour, had been succeeded as chief economist of the World Bank by Paul Romer, whom I admire as an inventive economist. I do not mean that the World Bank is no place for inventive economists. But it is a sort of cooperative of countries, responsible to its members and financiers.

"It has to be careful with its money; hence it is rather conservative. A job with it would be lucrative; but it would not call for brilliance. Paul Romer is always roaming across the intellectual world looking for new ideas and new applications. I did not think that bank lending policies would interest him. True, he could roam the entire world, in person, and discover all kinds of fascinating facts and correlations; but that would be a side benefit. Most of the time he would have to read boring reports and sit in boring meetings. Why on earth did he take such a job?"

Read Ashok V Desai's column for the Telegraph.

Police in a Baltimore-area community have shot and killed a woman after a standoff at an apartment complex, police said.

A child was injured in the shootout, and a male suspect apprehended, CNN reports.

Early Monday morning, police had gone to serve several arrest warrants on two suspects, a man and a woman, at Sulky Court in Randallstown, in Baltimore County, Maryland. Officers heard male, female and children's voices inside the apartment.

They waited outside the door for around 10 minutes, Police Chief Jim Johnson said during a press conference Monday, and one officer obtained a key to the apartment.

Upon opening the door, they saw the female suspect, identified as 23-year-old Korryn Shandawn Gaines, aiming a shotgun at them. The officers retreated and called for tactical backup.

"My personnel showed great firearms restraint during this dialogue," Johnson said.

At around 3 p.m., after several hours of a standoff, the woman threatened officers verbally and with the weapon, according to the police version of events.

One police officer fired a single shot, to which the suspect fired back. Officers responded with further shots and the woman, as well as a 5-year-old child who had remained in the apartment, were struck.
It is not clear, police say, if it was a shot from Gaines' weapon or a police firearm that struck the child.

Representational picture.

The Centre can help state governments on the issue of imposing prohibition in their respective states but as of now it has no plans to impose ban on liquor consumption across the country, the Lok Sabha was informed today.

Minister of State for Home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, while replying to questions, said 2927 people had died due to consumption of illicit/spurious liquor between 2012 and 2014. Of these, 731 died in 2012, 497 in 2013 and 1699 in 2014. The central government can help states but it has no plans so far for a national level prohibition on liquor, he said.

Shotputter Inderjeet Singh fails second dope test after claiming that the first one was a conspiracy. The 28-year-old athlete's A-sample had returned a positive result in a test conducted by the National Anti-Doping Agency on June 22.

Ambassador T P Sreenivasan relives the moment when his celebrated son, Sree Sreenivasan was appointed  Chief Digital Officer of New York City.  This is a must read,folks.


Image: Sreenath Srinivasan, the newly appointed Chief Digital Officer of New York City.

Seventy-eight villages in Thane and Palghar districts of Maharashtra have been put on alert after two reservoirs supplying water to Mumbai have started overflowing, officials said today.


The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) has alerted disaster management cells of Thane and Palghar districts about overflowing of two reservoirs, Modak Sagar and Tansa, due to continues downpour in the catchment areas, officials said. Assistant Engineer of MCGM's Water Supplies Department GB Chitrawanshi said the Mumbai civic body has alerted disaster management cells of both the districts.

Accordingly, 78 villagers were put on alert by the concerned cells, officials said. According to the officials from Palghar District Collectorate, the actual rainfall in the district till today was 1863.80 mm as compared to the average rainfall of 1514.80 mm.

Trump prepares to lose. From his close adviser...

"If theres voter fraud, this election will be illegitimate, the election of the winner will be illegitimate, we will have a constitutional crisis, widespread civil disobedience, and the government will no longer be the government," Stone said. He also promised a "bloodbath" if the Democrats attempt to "steal" the election.
Hmm. I wonder which party last "stole" a presidential election?"

JUST IN: The BJP demands a CBI Probe in the Bulandshahr gang-rape case. Reacting to SP MLA Azam Khan's comments that the incident could be  a political conspiracy, the BJP said Khan is known for these comments, but today he had crossed all limits.

"He is doing politics on gang rape now, it's matter of shame," the BJP said.

The party said that the law and order situation in UP had worsened with  6015 cases of loot and dacoity being reported in the Akhilesh regime.The party said a delegation would visit the victims.

Malini Gaur @GaurMalini wearing a Kantha work sari from Bengal tweeted: #IWearHandloom A great initiative by Hon. Min. @smritiirani ji & @TexMinIndia to support Indian Handloom sector.

Kiran Bedi '@thekiranbedi  tweeted: I support Indian weavers. Here's my #IWearHandloom look. Share your look & tag 5 people. @smritiirani @SushmaSwaraj

apra kuchhal @aprakuchhal tweeted a picture with Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje Scindia: #IWearHandloom #WeWearHandloom our CM @VasundharaBJP thanx @smritiirani @TexMinIndia @narendramodi great initiative

Maith Iyengar @maith_i  tweeted: #IWearHandloom cotton, from Co-optex so has a handy tag with the weaver's details too.

Union Cabinet Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani trended through the day yesterday with a new initiative: promoting and encouraging weavers by sharing a picture wearing a handloom outfit. The minister shared a picture of herself dressed in a handwoven silk sari from Bihar, hashtagged #IWearHandloom.

She urged people to follow suit and share pictures of themselves in handloom textiles, tagging five others.  "Indian handlooms symbolise India's heritage & culture. Wear it to carry on our rich tradition and support 43 lakh weavers & their families," Irani tweeted, before sharing her photo.


She tagged Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi.


At the time of writing this, the tweet has got over 7000 likes. Kiran Bedi and Fadnavis tweeted their pictures in handloom followed by a host of other celebrities and non celebrities.  

A Melbourne street artist who was threatened with a council fine over a provocative mural he painted of US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has responded by covering her image with a niqab.

Maribyrnong council took issue with the original mural, which depicted Clinton wearing a revealing swimsuit with $100 notes tucked into it.

The council said residents complained about the piece, which was painted on to the side wall of a scooter shop in Footscray, 5km west of Melbourne.

In a statement, the council said the mural contravened its gender equity policy. Read the story here.


Image: A mural painted in Footscray by street artist Lushsux -- which depicted Hillary Clinton in a stars-and-stripes swimsuit -- contravened Maribyrnong council's gender equity policy. Photograph: Reuters 

Aurangabad arms haul case: Seven out of 12 convicts including Abu Jundal sentenced to life imprisonment. Two convicts sentenced to 14 years of jail, rest 3 sentenced to 8 years of jail.

Ten years after the Anti-Terrorism Squad recovered a huge haul of arms near Aurangabad, a special court last week held Abu Jundal, the key plotter of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, and 11 others guilty but dropped the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act charge against them.

Out of total 22 accused in the case, the court acquitted eight others while trial of two accused has been separated as one of them was declared hostile after he turned approver, while another accused is absconding.

One of the 12 persons found guilty today was Faizal Ataur Rehman Sheikh who is on death row in the July 11, 2006 Mumbai train bombings case.

Six persons are shown wanted in the case.

Special MCOCA Judge Shrikant Anekar delivered the ruling, days after conclusion of final arguments in the case, following a ten-year-long wait.

The court convicted Jundal under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Explosives Act, Explosive Substance Act and Indian Penal Code, while others under varying charges. Charges against them under the MCOCA were, however, dropped.

The court accepted the prosecution's contention that the cache of arms and ammunitions that the ATS had intercepted from two cars had originally been procured from Pakistan.

While convicting Lashkar-e-Tayyaba operative, Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, and 11 others, the court observed that ATS could not substantiate the charges of MCOCA against them, even as it accepted direct and substantial evidence presented by the agency in the case.

On May 8, 2006, a Maharashtra ATS team chased a Tata Sumo and an Indica car on Chandwad-Manmad Highway near Aurangabad and arrested three terror suspects and seized 30kg of RDX, 10 AK-47 assault rifles and 3,200 bullets.

Jundal, allegedly driving the Indica, managed to give police the slip.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered additional compensation to the victims of the 2008 anti-Christian violence in Kandhamal district in Odisha, reports IANS.

The bench of Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit ordered additional compensation, holding that what was paid to the victims of the violence was not adequate.

The court verdict pronounced by Justice Lalit came on a petition by Archbishop Rachel Cheenath.

Read: What the EXPLOSIVE Kandhamal tribunal report says

Congress President Sonia Gandhi began her road show in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh today. The event follows a road show and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's rally in that state, marking the beginning of the party's election campaign ahead of Assembly elections scheduled in 2017.

This is her first visit to Varansi in a decade. Congress' social media team has also been running a campaign called 'Dard-e-Banaras' trying to highlight problems faced by various communities even after two years of Modi's rule. This is also seen as an attempt to target BJP's face in UP elections as the party has not yet declared any chief ministerial candidate.

The roadshow will begin from Kachahari at 12 noon after party leaders garland the statue of BR Ambedkar and will cover a distance of around eight kilometers in three hours.

It will conclude at Englishiyaline where Sonia is expected to deliver a short speech and garland the statue of former Union minister and Uttar Pradesh chief minister late Kamlapati Tripathi.

This is what J&K Minister Naeem Akhtar's house looks like after protesters threw a petrol bomb at it. He was not present in his house during the incident.

A Sydney bicycle rider, who says he was severely burnt when his iPhone exploded after a minor fall, is now on a mission to make people aware of the potential dangers of using such devices. Bondi management consultant Gareth Clear, 36, said his iPhone was in his back pocket and ignited after he had a fall from his bike while riding on Sunday afternoon. Read more

A petrol bomb was hurled at the house of Jammu and Kashmir Education Minister Naeem Akhtar in Parraypora area of the city on Monday night, police said. No one was hurt in the attack that was carried out by unidentified persons.


"A petrol bomb was hurled at the residence of the education minister at Parraypora late last night, causing damage to the main gate of the house," a police official said. 

In a shockingly insensitive comment, Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan on Monday said the brutal gang rape of a mother-daughter duo in Bulandshahr could be a political conspiracy. He said the elections are near and a desperate opposition can stoop to any level to defame the government.

Discrimination and atrocities against Dalits are a national shame. They constitute a major social challenge for all Indians, irrespective of region, religion, caste and political affiliation. 

JNU student union leader Kanhaiya Kumar on Monday alleged that US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were speaking in one language against "Muslims and other minorities".

The father of the teenage gang-rape survivor said that the rapists should be given exemplary punishment so that no one commits such a crime again. "Papa!" was what the girl had cried out when her attackers tried to catch her," the tearful father said. Talking of the most unfortunate experience of his life, the father of the rape survivor said he wouldn't be able to look his daughter in the eye.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is likely to take over the Bandra-Worli sea link, effectively making it toll free seven years after it was constructed, as part of the arrangement for a coastal freeway from South Mumbai to Bandra.

A day after Anandiben Patel resigned from the post of chief minister of Gujarat, Rahul Gandhi took a potshot at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Twitter. The Congress vice president wrote, "13 years of Modi rule, not 2 years of Anandiben are responsible for Gujarat burning. Sacrificing the scapegoat won't save the BJP."

In flood-hit Assam, at least 13 one-horned rhinoceros have died due to drowning in the last 10 days as 80 per cent of Kaziranga National Park, home to the rare animal, is submerged under water. 

BJP state president Vijay Rupani is close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah and hence the natural choice to succeed Anandiben Patel under the prevailing circumstances, as he can play a balancing role in the state polity, said BJP insiders.