'The Australian' newspaper had uploaded a new set of documents detailing Indian Scorpene submarine's underwater warfare system on its website.

An Air India flight carrying over 300 people from Mumbai to Newark was on Thursday diverted to Kazakhstan after detection of fumes in the cargo hold that triggered a fire alarm.

Turkey sent more tanks into northern Syria on Thursday and demanded Kurdish militia fighters retreat within a week as it seeks to secure the border region and drive back Islamic State with its first major incursion into its neighbor.

China is facing a one-year ban from weightlifting over repeated doping cases in a move which threatens to stop some of the world's top athletes from competing internationally. 

A soldier was injured today as army foiled an infiltration attempt along the Line of Control in Tangdhar sector of north Kashmir's Kupwara district.

A group of terrorists tried to infiltrate in Tangdhar sector on Thursday.

However, alert troops fired at them, forcing them to flee, an army official said.

He said an army jawan was injured in the firing by the militants.

He was shifted to a hospital and his condition is said to be stable, the official said.

A search operation is underway in the area, he added.

JUST IN: Protesters hurl eggs at Actress-Politician Ramya at Mangalore airport for pro-Pak comment.

The former Congress MP, who has been booked for sedition after saying that she did not agree with Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's comments that Pakistan is not hell, was gheraoed at the airport by protesters and eggs were thrown at her car.

Ramya was travelling from Mangalore to Kadri. The protesters are believed to be members of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal.

More details awaited.

JNU student Anmol Ratan, accused of raping a 28-year-old fellow student in the university hostel, was today remanded to 14 days judicial custody by a Delhi court.

A magisterial court at Patiala House courts complex sent Ratan to jail after Delhi Police decided not to seek his custody.

The court also directed jail authorities to provide him proper medical facilities after he submitted that he was suffering from heart ailment. Ratan, accused of raping a first-year Ph.D student on August 20, had surrendered before the police last night, hours after the victim recorded her statement before a magistrate.

The victim in her complaint at Vasant Kunj (North) police station had said she had posted on her Facebook that she wanted to watch a movie and had asked if anyone had its CD. Ratan apparently messaged her saying he had a copy.

Later, he picked her up on August 20 on the pretext of giving her the CD and took her to Brahamputra Hostel, where he stayed. There he allegedly offered her a spiked drink and raped her. Ratan, an AISA activist, was expelled from the association after being accused of rape.

Just in: Gujarat IPS officer Rajkumar Pandiyan discharged by special CBI court in connection with Sohrabuddin fake encounter case.

A war of words has broken out between the UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and BSP president Mayawati. To be precise, over the word, 'bua'.

UP CM Akhilesh Yadav during a speech last October, referred to the BSP chief Mayawati as 'bua' or aunt (father's sister), which irked her.

So the CM today asked a counter question. "If I don't call her bua, what should I call Mayawati? Everyone calls the BSP chief 'behenji', what's wrong if I call her bua," said Akhilesh.

Last year in October, launching an attack on the BSP chief, Akhilesh Yadav had used the word, 'bua'.

Speaking at a function at Dr Ram Manohar Lohia University, he said, "I am not afraid, but fear of bua (aunt) should be in everybody's mind".

At that point of time Akhilesh's comment was construed as an attempt to dilute his father Mulayam Singh Yadav's comment about Mayawati. 

Mulayam Singh had earlier said, "Unko kya kahen yeh samajh mein nahi aata. shrimati kahen, kunwari beti ya behenji kahen (I am at a loss about how to address her. Whether to address her as shrimati, kunwari or behenji)."

Mayawati, for obvious reasons, did not like the comment.

At a public meeting in Roorkee, she retorted by saying that UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav was Mulayam's "lallua" (baby).

She further said that calling Mulayam Singh her brother was below her dignity. "I will feel humiliated and insulted if he is called my brother because he has cheap mentality against our saints, mentors and great leaders," said Mayawati.

Mayawati repeated her reservation over the choice of word to address at a recent rally in Agra. She advised Akhilesh not to show fake affection towards her.

The Supreme Court has dismissed a review petition filed by Telangana against its verdict which had held that the newly carved out state cannot claim "absolute" right over institutions, merely because they are located in its capital Hyderabad which is now being shared by Andhra Pradesh also.

A bench of Justices V Gopala Gowda and Arun Mishra rejected the application for open hearing of the review petition and dismissed the plea saying no case of review is made out.

Hat tip to JK Rowling for this tweet: @jk_rowling "So Sarkozy calls the burkini a 'provocation.' Whether women cover or uncover their bodies, seems we're always, always 'asking for it.'"

The celebrity author's comment comes after former French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, branded the full-body burkini swimsuits worn by some Muslim women a provocation that supports radicalised Islam.

The political row in France has intensified after a woman in a headscarf was photographed on a beach in Nice removing a long-sleeved top while surrounded by armed police.

The series of pictures showed a woman dressed in leggings, a long-sleeved tunic and headscarf being approached by four officers. As the police stand around her, she removes her long-sleeved top, revealing a short-sleeved top underneath. It is unclear whether or not the woman was ordered to do so. In another image, a police officer appears to write out a fine.

The Nice mayors office denied that she had been forced to remove clothing, telling Agence France-Presse that the woman was showing police the swimsuit she was wearing under her tunic over a pair of leggings.

The controversy stoked by Rio Olympics marathon runner O P Jaisha took an interesting turn when India's middle and long distance coach Nikolai Snesarev stated that the 33-year-old marathoner had turned down his offer when asked if she would need personalised refreshments during the race at the Rio Games. Read more

Former J-K CM Omar Abdullah tweets this picture of J-K CM Mehbooba Mufti saying, "Yes @MehboobaMufti the people of J&K feel exactly the same way about you & your government now."

Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik wants to meet fiery former opening batsman Virender Sehwag. Malik tweeted, "Good morning sir, I want to meet u , please tell me time, when u feel convenient,today or tomorrow, Sakshi malik."

Sehwag, who has been tweeting magic of late, replied, "Sure ,will let you know the time. Hope you won't start wrestling with me, Sakshi ☺"

Virender Sehwag's classy reply to journalist Piers Morgan's comment "Country with 1.2 billion people wildly celebrates 2 losing medals. How embarrassing is that?" went viral within minutes yesterday.

Sehwag replied, "We cherish every small happiness', But Eng who invented Cricket,&yet2win a WC,still continue to playWC. Embarrassing?"

When Morgan replied back saying had Kevin Pietersen still been playing, England would have won the world cup.

To which Sehwag shot back: KP is a legend no doubt,bt wasnt he born in SA,&by ur logic Eng shd hv won 2007WC. Why hv prblm wid our ppl,celbrtng.

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar replies to his Pakistan counterpart's August 19th re-invitation for talks on Kashmir; says he would talk on cross-border terrorism. 

A day after Rahul Gandhi told the Supreme Court that he had never blamed the RSS as an institution for killing Mahatama Gandhi but persons associated with it were behind the assassination, the Congress VP said he stood by every single word he had said about the RSS.

"I will never stop fighting hateful divisive agenda of the RSS," Gandhi said today.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Congress vice president in the Supreme Court yesterday, cited the affidavit filed before the high court saying he had only accused certain people of the RSS and not the organisation as the killer of Mahatma Gandhi.

"I never made the statement that the RSS killed Mahatma Gandhi but persons associated with the RSS killed him," said the senior advocate, who intervened midway when senior counsel U R Lalit, appearing for the complainant, was justifying intiation of criminal proceedings against Gandhi.

A bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and R F Nariman said if the complainant agrees to the submission, it will take the statement on record and dispose of the petition.

Today the RSS said that Rahul Gandhi needs to publicly accept that he was wrong to have blamed the organisation for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. MG Vaidya of the RSS said the Congress Vice President also should apologise for distorting facts.

3 reasons why the Scorpene leak is a BIG worry. Read

Within 24 hours of launching an investigation, India has concluded that highly classified details of the Scorpene submarines being built in Mumbai were NOT leaked from India.

The Indian Navy put out a statement saying, "We have taken up the Scorpene document leak with the French Directorate General of Armament. We have requested the French Government to investigate this incident with urgency and share their findings with the Indian side. An internal audit of procedures to rule out any security compromise is also being undertaken."

The government has asked French shipbuilder DCNS which designed the six Scorpene submarines for $3.5 billion for a report on the leak, which exposes information including the combat systems of the fleet.



More than 22,000 pages of top secret data on the capabilities of six highly advanced submarines being built for the Indian Navy in Mumbai in collaboration with a French company have been leaked, ringing alarm bells on Wednesday in the security establishment.

The combat capability of the Scorpene submarines being built at Mazagon dock at a cost of $3.5 billion (over Rs 23,495 core) by French shipbuilder DCNS, went public when an Australian newspaper, "The Australian", put the details on the website.

Reacting with alacrity to the development, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who learnt about the leak at midnight, ordered Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lamba to go into the 'entire issue". A detailed report is also being sought by the Indian government from DCNS.

"What I understand is there is a hacking. So we will find out all this," Parrikar told media persons in Delhi.

Booker Prize-winning author Aravind Adiga's new novel talks of cricket and is about two brothers in a Mumbai slum raised by their obsessive father who want them to become stars in the game. "Selection Day", published by HarperCollins imprint Fourth Estate, comes five years after Adiga's second novel "Last Man in Tower" hit book stores. His debut novel "The White Tiger" won him the Man Booker prize in 2008.

World-class performances by India's female athletes has created a new generation of national icons. Read more

An APJ Abdul Kalam memorial spread over six acres in Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu built at a cost of Rs 60 crore is coming up. The DRDO has been entrusted with the work of building this memorial. The site is situated near the place Kalam was buried.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has suggested that the entrance should have a rocket-shaped design.

This memorial will have an auditorium and exhibition of Kalam's  belongings. A huge statute is also being planned in front of this memorial.

DRDO officials recently went to Tamil Nadu from New Delhi to take measurements of the six-acre area and come up with a proper design with the approval of the Defence Minister and the PMO. The deadline for the memorial is October 15, 2017, Dr Kalam's birth anniversary. 

US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker will arrive in New Delhi next week to attend the second US-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue (S&CD).

During her India visit, from August 29 to 31, she will also attend the US-India CEO Forum, a statement of the US Department of Commerce said.

"Secretary Pritzker will co-chair the S&CD with US Secretary of State John Kerry, India's Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Minister of Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman," it said.

In January 2015, US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to elevate the existing US-India "Strategic Dialogue" to the "Strategic and Commercial Dialogue" to reflect the growing significance of the economic relationship between the two countries.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh indicated in Kashmir today that the government is ready to talk to separatists and also said an alternative to pellet guns would be announced soon.

Asked whether the government would talk to the separatist Hurriyat leaders, Singh said: "We are willing to talk to anyone in the ambit of Kashmiriyat, Jamooriyat and Insaniyat."


Singh also said that an all-party delegation would visit Kashmir, where 69 people have been killed and 10,000 injured in clashes after the July 8 killing of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who was also at the press conference, said "95 per cent of the people want an end to the crisis."

The Mazagon Dock Limited, where the Scorpene submarines are being built, today said the data leak did not take place from its end and that it was assisting the navy in the probe. 

If electroconvulsive therapy has a variant in politics, the former Jammu & Kashmir deputy chief minister and eminent parliamentarian Muzaffar Hussain Beg has just administered it when he said in New Delhi that there is a danger that the Islamic State "might penetrate into the minds and hearts in Kashmir unless we do something farsighted and effective".

The joint press conference with Home Minister Rajnath Singh didn't go too smoothly for Jammu-Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti. Faced with tough questions, Mufti storms off from the press conference. 

Home Minister Rajnath Singh met with Jammu-Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti to discuss the situation in the violent valley. Kashmir has witnessed 48 days of curfew. Rajnath, who is on a two-day visit to the valley addressed the media after his meeting with the CM. 

'Aayiye, aayiye naav savari ke liye aajayiye (Please come, please come, come for a boat ride),' Bharat Nishad called out to the tourists. But there was hardly a response, apart from a few disconcerting and impassive faces. Nishad's face reflected a deep sense of dejection. He knew it was going to be another day when he would have to spend all day jobless, without earning a penny.

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh today dismissed suggestions that Rahul Gandhi has done a U turn in the Supreme Court on the RSS and said the party Vice President stands by his assertion that the person who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi was from the organisation.


"No U Turn by Rahul Gandhi on RSS. He stands by what he said. Person who killed was from RSS. It is the Ideology of hate and violence which killed Mahatma Gandhi", the Congress General Secretary said in a series of tweets.

Rahul Gandhi yesterday told the Supreme Court that he had never blamed RSS as an institution for killing Mahatama Gandhi but persons associated with it were behind the assassination.

He had buttressed his stand by citing paragraphs from his affidavit filed in the Bombay High Court, while challenging the summons issued to him as an accused for his alleged defamatory statement in a 2015 election rally in Maharashtra.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh meets Jammu and Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti to discuss security situation.

President Pranab Mukherjee called up Sonia Gandhi and asked after her health on Tuesday. There is a proposal for Sonia to have another round of check-ups in the US but before that , the President is likely to visit her at 10 Janpath early next month to cheer her up.

The AICC session in Bengaluru and Rahul Gandhi's elevation as Congress president have both been postponed to December due to the sudden ill health of Sonia Gandhi. Senior Congress leaders are concerned about her condition and few had a chance to interact with her.

Seeing her with a bandage around her shoulder and looking weak, they had suggested that she focus on her health first. Programmes scheduled over the next month have been either cancelled or rescheduled on her doctor's advice. Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi are also keeping a constant watch on her health.

Sonia Gandhi is undergoing treatment at Sir Ganga Ram hospital in New Delhi after taking ill during a roadshow in Varanasi. She was admitted on August 3 with fever, dehydration and a shoulder injury.

Govindas in Dadar make a 20-ft+ pyramid lying on ground to express their  displeasure over the Supreme Court ruling setting a cap on the height of the human pyramids.

"The SC put a ban on 20+ feet pyramids, so this is our symbolic way of expressing our displeasure," said Amar, a Govinda.

The court has refused to relax conditions put by the high court like barring youths below 18 years of age from participating in the Dahi Handi festival in Maharashtra and capping the height of the human pyramid at 20 feet.

At the outset, the bench did not agree with the contention that the festival had the colour of popular sport and there should be no cap on the height of the pyramid in view of the fact that the court has already barred youth below 18 years of age from taking part in it.

"Has it (festival) brought any medal in the Olympic? I belong to the city (Mumbai). I would have been happy if it had brought any medal," Justice Dave said, adding that this ritual sometimes caused serious injuries to participants, particulary the spine.

The counsel for Jogeshwari-based 'Jai Jawan Krida Mandal Govinda Pathak' said the highest height of the human pyramid at 43.79 feet has found mention in the Guinness Book of World Records and capping it would be "unfair".  More than 1500 organisations are looking in anticipation at this court as the capping of the height would take away the competitiveness from the sport, he said.

Update on the Air India flight diversion to Kazakhastan.


A Newark-bound Air India flight, carrying around 300 passengers, from Mumbai was today diverted to Kazakhstan due to technical issues.

The Boeing 777-300 ER plane landed at an international airport in Kazakhstan at around 0800 hours after "some alarm went off".

Air India is dispatching a relief aircraft from New Delhi to ferry the stranded passengers from Kazakhstan to Newark.

An airline spokesperson said the flight was diverted due to technical reasons. There was some alarm that went off and the engineers are inspecting the flight, he added.

In a tweet, the airline said the flight has been diverted on account of operational reasons and that all passengers are being taken care of. Generally, Boeing 777-300 ER has seating capacity for around 350 people.

Curfew was today extended to Pulwama district while it remained in force in some areas of Srinagar and Anantnag town, while restrictions on the assembly of people in the rest of the Valley continued for the 48th consecutive day in the wake of violence following killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.


Curfew is in force in five police station areas of downtown city and Batamaloo and Maisuma areas in uptown, a police official said. In south Kashmir, curfew was imposed in Pulwama district while it continued in Anantnag town as well today to maintain law and order.


Curfew was imposed in Pulwama in view of killing of a youth in security forces action in the district yesterday during clashes. The authorities on Tuesday had lifted curfew from most areas of Srinagar - the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir - in view of the improving situation.


The lifting of the curbs allowed movement of people in the city as there was increased traffic of private cars and auto-rickshaws in and around Lal Chowk city centre over the past two days. However, the official said, restrictions on the assembly of four or more people under Section 144 Crpc will continue to remain imposed in the rest of the Valley to maintain law and order.


IMAGE: Two militants of the LeT were killed in the gunfight with security forces in June.

USA women's goalkeeper Hope Solo has been slapped with a six-month ban from the national team for her comments in which she called the Swedish players "a bunch of cowards", US Soccer announced.

The 35-year-old Solo made the comments after the Americans were eliminated in a penalty shootout from the Rio Olympics women's soccer tournament on August 12.

"The comments by Hope Solo after the match against Sweden during the 2016 Olympics were unacceptable and do not meet the standard of conduct we require from our National Team players," US Soccer president Sunil Gulati said in a statement Wednesday.

"Beyond the athletic arena, and beyond the results, the Olympics celebrate and represent the ideals of fair play and respect. We expect all of our representatives to honor those principles, with no exceptions." Solo wasn't backing down Wednesday and defended her "coward" comments by saying the suspension wasn't warranted.

Nigel Farage, a key figure in the successful campaign to get Britain out of the European Union, has lent his support to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, saying Trump represented the same type of anti-establishment movement that he masterminded in his own country.

Farage appeared with Trump before a cheering crowd of thousands at a rally in Jackson, Mississippi.

Farage partly based his Brexit drive on opposition to mass immigration to Britain that he said was leading to rapid change in his country.

His appearance came as Trump sought to moderate his own hardline stance against illegal immigration.

In remarks broadcast on Wednesday (local time), Mr Trump backed further away from his vow to deport millions of illegal immigrants, saying he would be willing to work with those who have abided by US laws while living in the country.

Trump summoned Farage on stage in the middle of his appearance, shook his hand and surrendered the microphone to him.

Farage said he would not actually endorse Trump because he did not want to repeat what he called President Barack Obama's meddling in British affairs when Obama urged Britons to vote to stay in the EU.

"I cannot possibly tell you how you should vote in this election. But you know I get it, I get it. I'm hearing you. But I will say this: if I was an American citizen I wouldn't vote for Hillary Clinton if you paid me," Farage said.  Read more

Trinamool MP Derek O'Brien's emotional letter to gymnast Dipa Karmakar will move you to tears. If there's one thing you want to read today, let this be it. Take a look.   

A New Jersey-bound Air India flight from Mumbai was on Wednesday diverted to Kazakhstan due to technical problem. Taking to Twitter, Air India said,"#AI191 #Mumbai - #Newark has been diverted to #Kazakhstan due to operational reasons. All pax are being taken care of."

Reports coming now say the flight engineers are inspecting the aircraft.

Representational image.

"My application for cabin crew position was rejected by Jet Airways, which felt I didn't have a good personality," Union Minister Smriti Irani said today.

At her witty best, the television actress-turned- politician also said that thanks to that rejection, she got a job at McDonalds and the "rest is history".

"I don't know if many people know that one of the first jobs that I wanted and I lined up for was cabin crew at Jet. I was rejected because I was told I don't have a good personality. Thank God for your rejection. After that, I got a job at McDonalds and the rest is history," she said.

Speaking at an awards function organised by the Air Passengers Association of India (APAI), the Textiles Minister also said that she was joining the celebration as a passenger.

Her comments came after she presented an award to a Jet Airways official.

Rescuers worked into the early hours of Thursday in a desperate search for survivors after a powerful earthquake shook central Italy, leaving at least 159 people dead and devastating several mountain villages.

With 368 people injured, some critically, and an unknown number trapped under rubble, the death toll from Wednesday's pre-dawn quake was expected to rise further, officials warned.

Amid scenes of carnage, dozens of emergency services staff and volunteers were determined to attempt to pluck more survivors from the ruins.

The rescue efforts "won't slow down during the night", the head of the civil protection agency Fabrizio Curcio told public broadcaster Rai, giving an updated toll of 159 dead.

He did not say how many people were still thought to be missing.

J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti to address media in Srinagar over ongoing unrest in the state.

Vinay Sharma, one of the convicts sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student on a moving bus in Delhi in December 2012, has attempted suicide in Tihar jail.

A tribal man, along with his 12-year-old daughter, walked around 10 km carrying his wife's body on his shoulder on Wednesday as he failed to get a vehicle to transport it from a government hospital in Odisha's Kalahandi district where she died.