Terming the death of 10 soldiers in an avalanche on the Siachen glacier 'painful', Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today said the decision to deploy troops in the world's highest battlefield was based on security needs, despite the hostile conditions there.

Ten army personnel, including an officer, were buried on Wednesday after they were hit by an avalanche at a high-altitude post on the glacier in Jammu and Kashmir.

"Decision about (deployment of troops in) Siachen is based on the security of the nation. If somebody wants to go there and they have to understand its importance, why we are maintaining it (security presence) in spite of hostile conditions...I think you will understand if you go to that place," he told reporters on the sidelines of an international maritime conference in Visakhapatnam.

"I am disturbed with any loss, particularly of soldiers, who do it for the nation. Now this particular incident (death of 10 soldiers) is absolutely painful to me personally," he said.

"You can yourself understand that the terrain is such that we lost thousands of soldiers to retain control over it' though the loss of human lives on Siachen had come down in recent years due to improved facilities, the defence minister said.

The glaciated area presents temperatures ranging from a minimum of -42C in the night to maximum of -25C during the day.

In a bizarre case, a 42-year-old Italian woman could be jailed for up to six years after her husband took her to court for not doing enough cooking, cleaning at home and chronically neglecting him, media reports said today.

The couple live in the village of Sonnino, in the countryside south of Rome. Her husband, 47, made a formal complaint to the police, saying his wife failed to put meals on the table and left their home in a dreadful mess.

Accusing her of 'bad management of domestic affairs', the man complained that for the past two years, he had been chronically neglected by his wife. She failed to clean their house, refused to cook for him and on occasion kicked him out of the bedroom, The Telegraph reported.

The police decided to send the matter to trial, with the woman facing between two and six years in prison if found guilty of the charge of "mistreatment within the family", the report said.

The Italian penal code 'punishes whoever mistreats a person in their family or a person entrusted to them for reasons of education, care or custody.'

The trial is due to start in the town of Latina on October 12 and will be presided over by a female judge Mara Mattioli.

In the backdrop of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula's suicide case, the Human Resource Development ministry has convened a meeting of vice chancellors of all central universities on February 18 to discuss ways to end discrimination against disadvantaged sections.

The ministry has decided to call all VCs and heads of 46 central universities to Delhi for the meeting days ahead of the Budget session of Parliament where the opposition is likely to vociferously raise the issue to corner the government.

Opposition parties have repeatedly raised questions over the role of Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya and also attacked HRD minister Smriti Irani over the incidents related to Vemula's suicide.

Earlier, after the massive outrage over the Vemula suicide incident at Hyderabad central university, the HRD ministry had said that a programme will be launched for sensitising academic administrators about understanding and handling problems faced by socially, educationally and economically disadvantaged students.

The ministry had also said that all VCs and senior administrators would be sensitised to reach out to such students.

The HRD ministry has also announced that all wardens, administrative staff and registrars would be compulsorily put through an orientation programme for which a special module will be prepared.

It had also declared that a special mechanism would be set up at the ministry for receiving and taking expeditious action on the grievances from students belonging to disadvantaged sections.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday met his ministers at his residence, after his return from Bengaluru to take a stock of the ongoing issues in the national capital.

He discussed issues such as the strike by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi sanitation workers, people's view on the Odd-Even scheme and the death of a six-year-old boy at Ryan International School.

Kejriwal also asked the ministers to prepare a report of its achievements as the Delhi government would complete a year on February 14.

He discussed with the leaders and took cognizance of the party's internal affairs.Delhi witnessed the strike by sanitation workers, teachers and doctors of the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled municipal corporations over non- payment of their salaries while Kejriwal was away in Bengaluru.

Kejriwal had announced that the Aam Aadmi Party government would extend a loan of Rs 551 crore to the north and east municipal corporations for paying salaries to their staff.

A Shiv Sena delegation will meet Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik over Pakistani ghazal maestro's concert in Lucknow and convey to him that the performance was an insult to Indian martyrs.

"The wounds from Pathankot are still fresh and the UP government has rolled out a red carpet to welcome Ghulam Ali. This is an insult to the martyrs and it is hurting the sentiments of the entire Hindu community," Shiv Sena's UP chief Anil Singh said.

He demanded that Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav call off the concert immediately as it was an insult to the faith of crores of Hindus.

"The Shiv Sena leaders will meet the governor tomorrow and protest about this. We will keep protesting against this until he leaves," Singh added.

Meanwhile, Singh has been put under house arrest ahead of Ghulam Ali's concert in Lucknow.

The 39 Indians taken hostage by ISIS more than one-and-a-half-years ago from Mosul in Iraq were alive, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told their families here today, based on her recent meetings with Arab and Palestinian leaders who indicated to this effect.

Swaraj, who had sought a meeting with the families which is the ninth since the abduction of these Indians in June 2014, also assured them that the government was 'fully and continuously engaged' and 'every possible effort' was being made to ensure their release.

According to official sources, the minister told them that during a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the leader informed her that the 'Indians are alive and made to work' in war-torn Iraq as per his government's intelligence information.

Swaraj had travelled to Palestine and Israel on January 17 and 18.

The minister also referred to her visit to Bahrain on January 23 for the first India-Arab League Cooperation Forum and said during the meeting, a declaration was adopted which said, "The two sides expressed concern at the kidnapping of 39 Indian workers in Mosul in Iraq in June 2014 and 3 Indian workers in Sirte in Libya in June 2015."

"The Arab side expressed full solidarity with India in all efforts for their early release from captivity," she said.

The Indians were kidnapped by ISIS from a construction site in Mosul.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday witnessed the operational demonstration by the Indian Navy at the International Fleet Review in Visakhapatnam.

The 30-minute long operational demonstration showcased multi-dimensional operational tasks undertaken by the various arms of the Indian Navy.

Speaking at the event, Modi said that India would host the first ever Global Maritime Summit in April this year.

"My profuse thanks to men and women of Indian Navy for their tireless dedication for making this Fleet Review a truly historic success. For me, personally witnessing the harmony among best of international navies has been a rewarding experience. Your participation is a message of cooperation and friendship that we deeply cherish," the prime minister said.

Announcing that India would host the first ever Global Maritime Summit in April, Modi said, "Threat of sea borne terror, of which India has been a direct victim, continues to endanger the regional and global peace and stability. Given the scale and complexity of modern day challenges international maritime stability cannot be the preserve of a single nation. Navies and maritime agencies of the world need to work together and engineer virtuous cycles of cooperation."

"We must use seas to build peace, friendship and trust and curb conflict. Our approach is evident in our vision of 'Sagar', which means ocean, and stands for Security and Growth for All in the Region. Indian Ocean Region is one of my foremost policy priorities," Modi said.

Several warships, submarines, aircraft as well as Marine Commandos presented an action-packed display of the capabilities of the Indian Navy.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral R.K. Dhowan, were also present on the occasion.

Prime Minister Modi earlier tweeted about the event and said that he would share his thoughts at the Fleet Review later this evening.

The prime minister had earlier reviewed the demonstrations at Maritime Exhibition and the IFR Village at AU Engineering College Ground.

Mediating on the issue of gender bias at Maharashtra's Shani Shingnapur temple, spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on Sunday claimed to have arrived at a solution that allows both men and women to have darshan of the deity some distance away from the sacred 'chabutara' (platform).

Citing two models of facilitating darshan, practised at Kashi Vishwanath and Tirupati Balaji temples, Ravi Shankar said, "It is agreed that no one -- man or woman -- will step on the sacred chabutara at the Shani temple where oil is constantly poured as it can result in possible skidding."

"This contentious issue has been settled. There will not be any discrimination based on gender and all will have equal right of worship," he told a press conference at Balewadi near Pune.

While the temple trustees present at the meeting agreed with Ravi Shankar's formula based on the Tirupati Balaji darshan model, Trupti Desai, who led the recent agitation of the Bhoomata Brigade seeking women's entry into the temple's inner sanctum, said, "If nobody is to be allowed on the chabutara, the priests who perform pooja of the deity at the sacred platform should include women."

Desai said if both men and women are going to be banned from stepping on the chabutara, activists of Bhoomata Brigade should be given an opportunity to perform the 'last pooja' on the sacred platform in the temple in Ahmednagar district, in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

She also said that it was wrong to disallow men to perpetuate ban on women.   Ravi Shankar said, "It is not that you do not get blessings of god if you have a darshan from some distance."

According to the spiritual guru, all men and women could have darshan of the Shani deity from a distance of three feet without any gender discrimination.

He also supported the Bhoomata Brigade's demand for women priests.

Desai claimed the trustees were still insisting on a 'male mindset' in supporting the proposal to ban men from stepping on the chabutara in order to perpetuate the tradition prohibiting women from doing so.

She said she had told Ravi Shankar that it was wrong to say that the tradition banning women from stepping on the chabutara was 400-year-old.

A trustee of the temple said it would not be possible to allow women to perform 'last pooja' before implementing uniform ban on both the sexes.

Asked what was her future plan since she was not happy with the solution as proposed by the spiritual guru, Desai said she was looking forward to her meeting with the chief minister next week and hoped that Fadnavis would take a 'proper decision' backing women's rights.

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Sunday arrested Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax Nitin Garg and one other in a bribery case of Rs 2 lakh from Sirsa.

A case was registered on a complaint. The Complainant (a proprietor of a private firm based at Sirsa) alleged that Garg had issued a notice in his name seeking certain information under Income Tax Act for the assessment year 2013-14 and demanded bribe of Rs 2 lakh for not imposing heavy penalties.

It was further alleged that the complainant was threatened that in case the bribe was not paid, heavy penalties will be imposed on him following which Garg instructed his worker to accept the money.

The CBI then laid a trap in which Garg and the other person from Bhatinda were caught while accepting the bribe.

Searches were conducted at the residential and official premises of the accused, which led to recovery of cash Rs15.60 lakh, gold of 1,620 grams with diamond stones of around Rs. 60 lakh, silver amounting to Rs 5 lakh and around 26 bank accounts in his name, including family members and also two lockers. Both the accused are being produced today in the competent court.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today denied reports that Bollywood actors Akshay Kumar and Kangana Ranaut were brand ambassadors of the ongoing International Fleet Review, hosted by Indian Navy.

"Brand ambassadors have to sell brand right from the beginning. I don't think that there is any selling by these two (Akshay Kumar and Kangana)," Parrikar said.

"They were definitely invited (to the opening ceremony)...but no contract or nothing has been paid to them," he told reporters.

Earlier, there were some reports in a section of media that the two film actors had been roped-in as brand ambassadors of IFR 2016. Kumar and Ranaut had taken part in the opening ceremony of IFR on Friday.

Hitting out at Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan for his 'PM met Dawood' claim, the Bharatiya Janata Party today asked Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to either prove his cabinet colleague's charges or apologise for the 'baseless remark'.

The BJP also targeted Azam Khan over the Muzaffarnagar riots and slammed him for 'touching new low in his practice of vote bank politics', saying his remarks are a 'desperate attempt to hide the failures of Akhilesh government and divide people'.

"Azam Khan should either prove his charges or Akhilesh Yadav should apologise for levelling such malicious and baseless charges against the PM,' BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said.

"Mufazzarnagar riots are Azam Khan's creation. It was under his pressure that UP police failed to act against molesters in Muzaffarnagar. This inaction sowed the seeds of riots which took a communal colour."

"All probes have highlighted Azam Khan's role in Muzaffarnagar riots....            His latest remarks make up yet another attempt to divide the society for appeasement and vote bank politics, and to cover up for Akhilesh government's governance failures in UP," Sharma said.

Training the guns on Akhilesh Yadav, the BJP leader said despite his young age and engineering education, the UP chief minister has been 'unable to break free from the appeasement brand of his father Mulayam Singh and fundamentalist Azam Khan'.

BJP alleged that all UP leaders be it Mayawati, Mulayam Singh or those from Congress have ruined the state and are now trying to create an atmosphere of negativity and hurdles in the path of PM Modi.

"UP citizens don't have to access to even basic power, water, health and education facilities. Law and order situation is deteriorating with each passing day. The state is being run by Azam Khan which is why its crime graph is rising. Akhilesh Yadav has no control left over the UP administration nor can he rein in Azam Khan, known for his controversial remarks," Sharma said.

The government had yesterday rubbished as 'false and baseless' the allegation of Azam Khan, who plumbed new depths to claim that the Prime Minister had met underworld don Dawood Ibrahim in Lahore at the residence of his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif during his Christmas Day visit.

The charred body of a 20-year-old student of Delhi University's Laxmi Bai College has been found from the residence of her boyfriend in Rajpura Gurmandi area in New Delhi.

Arzoo was abducted and murdered by her boyfriend Naveen Khatri and his family on February 2 -- two days before his marriage to another girl on February 4 -- alleged the victim's kin, who lodged a complaint with the Model Town Police after she did not returned from the college on February 2.

The Model Town Police has arrested Khatri in this connection.

"Arzoo went to college on February 2 like any other day. Usually she returns home by 4-5 pm. but when she did not return in the night, we immediately lodged a report with the police. Police found her charred body stashed in an almirah in Khatri's house on Saturday night and called us to the police station for identification," Paayal, the victim's elder sister, said.

"Khatri and my sister were friends and wanted to get married. However, my sister was abducted two days before Khatri's marriage with some other girl on February 4. And, today we got the news that she was murdered. They were afraid that she could create some problem during his marriage and that's why they killed her," she alleged.

Akanksha, the victim's cousin, said that they lodged a police complaint on February 2 when Arzoo did not return.

"The next morning, we went to her college where we came to know that she used to meet Khatri, who lives in our neighbourhood, even after the talks of their marriage failed four months back," she said.

"Khatri's family (Jat) had said that they would not marry their son in the same village and community. But, her friends at the college told us that Arzoo (Rajput) used to meet Khatri, and had gone with him, which created a suspicion and we informed the police," she said.

"They carried out a search of Khatri's house and found her charred body inside an almirah. Police informed us about the body today (Sunday) morning and called us to the police station for identification. They killed her on February 2 and set her body on fire," she added.Kavita, the mother of the victim, said,

"Considering that she was late, I gave a call on her mobile phone, which responded switched off. One of her friends told us over phone that Arzoo could not disappear like this, and it is the work of Khatri. When I called Khatri, her sister responded badly. However, we got a call from Khatri's elder brother."

"Khatri's brother told us to reach a compromise -- you take care of our reputation and we will take care of yours," she said, adding that he threatened me that he could go to nay extent to save his reputation.

"I told him that we don't want anything from them except our daughter, but they killed her. If they feared some disruption by Arzoo during the marriage, they should have told us, and we would have ensured a peaceful marriage," said the mother.Naveen Khatri has been booked in connection with this case.

The police is also investigating into the role of his family members.

Pakistan Frontier Corps and the police personnel killed two suspected militants and arrested 35 suspects during an exchange of fire today.

The law enforcement agencies were conducting raids in various parts of the city following yesterday's suicide attack in Quetta.

The arrested suspects will be interrogated by the security personnel with regard to their alleged links to outlawed militant groups, reported The Express Tribune.

Frontier Corps spokesman Khan Wasey claimed two Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan members were killed during an encounter with the security forces.

Four security personnel and a 13-year-old girl were among those who lost their lives in the attack targeting a Frontier Corps convoy.

Around 35 people, including 15 Frontier Corps personnel, were injured in the attack.

Pakistan marine security on Sunday detained 30 Indian fishermen for allegedly violating its territorial waters in Gujarat coastal area.

Five boats belonging to the Indian fishermen were also seized by Pakistan.   Earlier in January, Pakistan had detained around 50 Indian fishermen.

Pakistan and India regularly arrest fishermen who venture into each other's waters due to poorly marked maritime boundary.

Disappointed with the Delhi Police's refusal to provide data on crimes against women, the Delhi Commission for Women on Sunday wrote a letter to Police Commissioner B S Bassi and said that it was not a 'battle of supremacy'.

The DCW has summoned Bassi on Monday and issued a warning, saying it would exercise its powers of a civil court if the data on crimes against women is not provided.

The police had earlier refused to give the data putting forward the argument that giving information to the DCW on crimes against women will create a law and order problem in Delhi.

DCW chief Swati Maliwal had earlier alleged that the Delhi Police was not cooperating with the judicial body with its rigid stand of not sharing the data regarding crime against women in the national capital.ANI

JUST IN: Delhi University student who was missing from last two days, found dead at her friend's residence in Delhi's model town area.

The Delhi government today said thatit will recommend a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the death of a Ryan International School student following his father's allegations that he was sexually assaulted and then killed.

A magisterial probe ordered by the Delhi government into the case said that 'deliberate' inaction by the school authorities amounted to 'gross criminal negligence' which led to the death of the child.

"We will definitely recommend a CBI probe into the death of Devansh. We can see shortcomings in the ongoing probe.Devansh's parents levelled serious allegation," Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia said today.

Sisodia, who has the education portfolio, had said yesterday that the magisterial probe into Devansh's death indicated towards a 'heinous crime' and that the investigation so far has 'ignored' the observations of the child's parents.

He also claimed that no police official has met the parents of Devansh so far.

A senior government official said, "Once Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal comes back from Bengaluru, which is scheduled today, the CBI probe will be recommended after proper consultations."

Father of the boy, Ramheet Meena had yesterday alleged that injury marks were seen on his body including on private parts.

Meena said he saw cotton swabs on the child's private parts and alleged that the principal of the school has threatened the family to keep quiet over the issue. He reiterated his demand for a CBI probe into the case.

"I saw the body. There were some injury marks and cotton on his private parts. The principal has been threatening me since the beginning saying that keeping quiet will be good for me," he said, demanding cancellation of the school's licence.

However, a senior police officer, handling the probe, had ruled out sexual assault on the basis of the initial post-mortem report and investigation so far.

Devansh was found dead in the reservoir under the amphitheatre of the school located in South Delhi, on January30.

The initial post-mortem report suggested he died of drowning and no external injuries were found, police had said.

JUST IN: Pakistan Marine Security detains 5 Indian boats and 30 fishermen in Gujarat coastal area. ANI

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today denounced North Korea's launch of a long-range rocket and asked the country to halt its 'provocative actions' and return to compliance with its international obligations.

Condemning the launch as 'deeply deplorable', the UN chief said it was in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

'It is deeply deplorable that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has conducted a launch using ballistic missile technology in violation of relevant Security Council resolutions despite the united plea of the international community against such an act,' Ban said in a statement.

Ban reiterated his call on North Korea to halt its 'provocative actions' and return to compliance with its international obligations. He reaffirmed his commitment to working with all sides in reducing tensions and achieving the verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, the UN statement said.

Meanwhile, United Nations Security Council has convened an an emergency meeting today over North Korea's launch of a long-range rocket. North Korea today said it had successfully put a satellite into orbit, with a rocket launch widely condemned as a ballistic missile test for a weapons delivery system to strike the US mainland.

It is already subject to numerous UN sanctions over previous rocket launches and three nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013.