A women's organisation was today ordered by authorities not to go ahead with its demonstration at the famous Shani Shingnapur temple in Ahmednagar district on January 26 to demand that women be given equal rights for prayers at its sacred platform.

The Ranragini Bhumata Brigade on its part headed for a showdown with the authorities by deciding to book a helicopter from which its chief Trupti Desai was planning to alight by a rope and take darshan just to break an ancient 'custom' that bars women from climbing up to the holy chauthara (sacred platform).

Joint Charity Commissioner of Pune region Shivkumar Dige in his order preventing members of Ranragini Bhumata Brigade from going ahead with its protests said there was apprehension of damage to property if the outfit goes ahead with its demonstration at the chauthara.

The temple trustees should hold a meeting with brigade members and hear what the latter have to say, the order said.

Fearing restrictions on the protests, Desai said she was booking a helicopter and seeking permission for the flight from the district collector and planned to alight (in the temple premises) by a rope from the helicopter.

Saudi Arabia's highest religious cleric has declared chess 'haram' (forbidden) for Muslims, while claiming the game shows 'enmity and hatred'.

Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin-Abdullah al-Sheikh, the Grand Mufti, made the proclamation while taking questions during his weekly television show.

"The game of chess is a waste of time and an opportunity to squander money. It causes enmity and hatred between people," he said.

Read HERE

India was today ranked 22nd on an inaugural list of the world's best countries, which was released here on the sidelines of World Economic Form Annual Meeting and is topped by Germany.

China is ranked 17th on the list, which ranked 60 countries on the basis of sustainability, adventure, cultural influence, entrepreneurship and economic influence.

The survey was conducted among 16,200 business leaders and other high-fliers.

Apart from Germany being in the first position, other countries in the top five are Canada (2), the United Kingdom (3), the United States (4) and Sweden (5).   About India, the report said the country faces its fair share of international and domestic challenges.

'India has a fast-growing, diverse economy with a large, skilled workforce. But because of its population, it's also one of the poorest countries in the world based on income and gross national product per capita,' it said.

'Although agriculture employs the most workers, services are the major source of economic growth. Due to its educated, English-speaking workforce, India has become an important center of information technology services, business outsourcing services and software workers,' it noted.

The report of the two-member fact-finding committee set up by the Union Human Resource and Development ministry to look into the suicide by a Dalit scholar in Hyderabad University is learnt to be in the final stages of preparation and is likely to be submitted tomorrow.

"It is expected that the report would be handed over to HRD Minister Smriti Irani tomorrow," sources said.

It is learnt the panel spoke to a cross section of stakeholders including 70-80 individuals, including students, academicians and others during its Hyderabad visit.

The report, sources said, would dwell on the role of the university authorities, who have been blamed for the suicide, and systemic aspects to ensure such incidents do not recur.

With Modi government under attack over a Hyderabad University student's suicide, the Bharatiya Janat Party today accused the Ambedkar Students Association of being a part of 'Hate-India campaign' chain and alleged ultra-Left bodies have created a 'camouflage' student fora to conceal 'nefarious objectives'.

Rohith Vemula, a Dalit research scholar who committed suicide, belonged to ASA.

The BJP also attacked the Congress for joining Leftists to create an 'orchestrated campaign' against the Modi government and was making Hyderabad varsity a big issue keeping in view Hyderabad corporation elections in mind.   It asked why going to Malda, Kashmir, Pathankot was not a priority for Rahul Gandhi.

BJP general secretary P Muralidhar Rao claimed police investigations have revealed that the caste of both the parents of Vemula was Vaddera, which is an OBC in Telanagana.

'Organising Beef Festival, celebrating Mahisasur, Hiranya Kashyap, conducting prayers for Yakub Memon's death, supporting terrorism in various parts of the country shows for what these organisations stand for. Divisive forces organise these in campuses. Ideologies which want to see India as weak are promoting Divide India Campaigns. ASA in HCU is part of this chain,' Rao said on Twitter.

Kolkata Police on Thursday issued an arrest warrant against Trinamool Congress leader Mohammad Sohrab, the father of Sambia Sohrab, the prime accused in the hit-and-run death of an Indian Air Force corporal during a recent Republic Day rehearsal on Red Road.

The Kolkata Court had on Tuesday sent Shahnawaz Khan alias Sanu and Johnny, the accused in the IAF officer hit-and-run case, to 12-days of police custody.

Sanu and Johnny were eyewitnesses in the death of IAF officer Corporal Abhimanyu Gaud during a rehearsal of Republic Day parade in Kolkata on January 16.


The police had earlier arrested Sambia Sohrab, who was sent to police custody for 14 days yesterday after being booked under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code.

Against the backdrop of the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula at Hyderabad University, members of Congress student wing, National Students Union of India today allegedly threw stones at an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad office in Bengaluru and reportedly assaulted one of its office-bearers.

"We have arrested five members of the NSUI. They had assembled at the ABVP office and raised slogans. One of them pelted stones at the ABVP office breaking the windowpanes. They have been booked under charges of criminal trespass," DCP (Central) Sandeep Patil said.

The incident took place when ABVP state secretary Basavesh Khore was allegedly assaulted by the NSUI members, after he asked them not to protest in front of the building, Patil said.

NSUI members had gathered in front of the ABVP office to protest against one of the ABVP activist's comments allegedly calling Vemula, a terrorist during a debate on television last evening, police said.

Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu today accused the politicians visiting Hyderabad University after suicide by a Dalit research scholar of vitiating the atmosphere by making political speeches.

"Politicians should not interfere in university affairs. That is my advice to all. Let peace come," Naidu said.

"University is like a temple. When you go to temple, you are supposed to remove your chappals and enter. Similarly, politicians should remove their chappal of politics outside the University. If you go there, offer condolence. Find out quietly what is the situation and then pass it on to the concerned person, rather than making political speeches, accusing and blaming this party and the other, thereby further vitiating the atmosphere," Naidu said.

The statement assumes significance in the wake of visit to the Hyderabad Central University by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi two days ago after suicide by Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemulu.

Naidu denied allegations that Union minister Bandaru Dattatraya had interfered in University affairs and said the minister had only forwarded a petition received by him to the human resource ministry which forwarded it to the vice chancellor.

Four days after she was authorised by her party's core group to take a final call on government formation in Jammu and Kashmir, People's Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti today continued to keep everyone guessing on her next move.

Mehbooba, who is facing demands from opposition National Conference to quickly take over as chief minister or go in for fresh assembly polls, held an informal party meeting at her residence here but did not touch upon government formation in the state.

The meeting, chaired by Mehbooba and attended by several leaders of the PDP, was held soon after special prayers for her father and late chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on the 15th day of his death, sources in the PDP said.

The sources, however, said there was no discussion on government formation. The state was placed under Governor's Rule on January 8, a day after Sayeed's death.

"It was purely a religious function that many Muslims of Kashmir observe for those who have passed away in their family. There was absolutely no political discussion," a PDP leader said.

A 15-year-old student in the US sparked a federal investigation when he allegedly substituted 'ISIS' for the 'United States of America' during the morning Pledge of Allegiance at his school.

The student, who was not identified because he is a minor, is said to have committed the act before Christmas vacation, according to the Connecticut Post. The student from Ansonia, Connecticut is now being educated separately in a Board of Education annex building. Ansonia Police said that their investigation is complete and that it was referred to Homeland Security, per protocol, and that the feds were conducting a probe.

ISIS is the term often used for the Islamic State terrorist group also known as ISIL.

The student's mother spoke at a Board of Education meeting after the incident about her son, asking for some answers as to why the investigation was even initiated.

According to the meeting minutes, the boy's mother said her son "did not breach any of the codes of conduct, he did not misbehave; the thing that he was alleged was not even founded. It was not true." Ansonia Board of Education Vice President Carmen Pitney disagreed with the mother, saying the claims were "verified by other students and this is why the principal and the officer had to take action".

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today exhorted women not to hesitate in destroying the country liquor manufacturing units after April 1, the day prohibition on country liquor will come into force in Bihar.

"Do not hesitate to destroy 'bhattis' (manufacturing units of country liquor) if need arises and complaint to the call centre," Nitish said while launching a campaign to make prohibition a mass movement in the state.

The Chief minister said a designated cell would be set up in Patna for strict monitoring of prohibition decision and its telephone numbers would be advertised so that citizens could inform, if they see illegal trade in liquor after prohibition comes into force.

Urging women to make the liquor ban in Bihar a mass movement, Kumar said he decided to go for it to fulfil his poll promise that if he returned to power, their wish to stop sale of liquor which ruins families would be fulfilled.

Prohibition will be imposed in Bihar in phases as part of which there would be a total ban on country liquor from April 1, he said.

However, India Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) would be available in municipal and town council areas at limited government outlets run by Bihar State Beverages Corporation Limited, which operates under the state excise department.

"After six months, sale of IMFL will also be stopped and there will be a complete ban on liquor," he said. On the criticism by opposition on rationale in allowing sale of IMFL while banning country liquor from April 1, 2016, Nitish said this decision has been taken to make the plan practical and implementable. In an apparent dig at states where prohibition is in place, Nitish said, "We don't want to go like them where there is prohibition on liquor but alcohol is available at home on payment secretly."

Bollywood actor-director Farhan Akhtar and his hairstylist wife Adhuna have "mutually and amicably" decided to end their 15-year-long marriage. The couple, who raises two children Shakya and Akira, issued a joint statement announcing their separation.

"This is to announce that we, Adhuna and Farhan, have mutually and amicably decided to separate. Our children remain our priority and it is immensely important to us, as responsible parents, that they be protected from unwarranted speculation and public glare," the couple said in a statement. The couple requested for privacy.

"We sincerely request that we are given the privacy that is required at this time to move forward in a dignified manner," they said. Farhan, 42 and Adhuna Bhabani, 48, got married in 2000, just a year before the release of his much acclaimed directorial debut "Dil Chahta Hai".

The tourism ministry is considering recruiting brand ambassadors directly for its Incredible India campaign replacing the current practice of hiring them through a private agency amid indication that Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan and actress Priyanka Chopra are the top contenders to be the face of the flagship programme.

The ministry's contract with a creative agency for the campaign featuring Aamir Khan has already come to an end following which it was looking for new faces for the flagship programme to promote tourism.

Khan, who was associated with the campaign for over five years, had come under attack from ruling BJP for his comments on perceived intolerance in the country.

Incredible India is a campaign based on the concept of Atithi Devo Bhava, a Sanskrit verse which means the guest is equivalent to god.

Bachchan had been promoting Gujarat tourism for past few years. "Earlier, the ministry used to hire an agency which in turn would sign the contract with the ambassador but this time Tourism Ministry is considering to directly ink an agreement with the brand ambassador for the campaign," a source said. The agreement would be for three years against the earlier practice of appointing them on campaign basis, the source said.

Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), the publishers of the beleaguered National Herald group of newspapers, has announced after the extraordinary general meeting held in Lucknow today that it will relaunch its newspapers. The publishers have also decided to convert the firm to a non-profit entity. AJL had three newspapers -- National Herald, Navjivan and Quami Awaz -- all of which have shut down.

AJL managing director and veteran Congress leader Motilal Vora has said that the conversion is not linked to the National Herald case.

Making the announcement, Vora said the meeting was held to to seek shareholders' nod for changing the structure of the company from a commercial to a non-profit entity.

AJL had published advertisements in newspapers on December 19 last year announcing the meeting, a day before the Congress top brass was to appear before a trial court in Delhi in the National Herald case.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul had got bail in the National Herald case after a local court rejected complainant Subramanian Swamys opposition to the relief for them on the ground they are influential and can flee the country.

The case is based on a private criminal complaint lodged by Swamy against them of cheating, conspiracy and criminal breach of trust.

Swamy has accused them of cheating and misappropriation of funds in acquiring ownership of the now-defunct daily National Herald.

Annual 48-day Amarnath Yatra to begin from July 2, reports ANI.

India-born former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta - freed early after receiving credit for good behaviour - will stay confined to his apartment until March with an ankle bracelet that will monitor his movements.

Convicted in 2012 on insider trading charges, the IIT and Harvard-educated 67-year-old former McKinsey began serving a two-year prison term in June, 2014.

He was freed from Federal Medical Centre Devens, a federal correctional facility in Ayer, Massachusetts, on January 5 to serve out the rest of the sentence at home after receiving credit for good behaviour, New York Times reported.

"Even though Gupta is no longer at Devens, he will remain a federal inmate until March 13, confined to his apartment and required to wear an ankle bracelet that monitors his movements," the paper said.

Joel Sickler, the founder of the Justice Advocacy Group, a company that advises inmates on prison stays, said that an inmate in good standing is eligible for home confinement for 10 per cent of a sentence, up to six months.

"Many white-collar inmates like Gupta argue for an early release so they can go back to work and pay off the mounting financial obligations they face in the form of fines and restitution," the paper said.

Gupta last year applied to corrections officers for an early discharge from Devens. Under the rules governing home confinement, Gupta can go to work, visit a doctor's office or attend religious services, Sickler said.

"With permission, you can go shopping or get a haircut," he said. In June 2012, a Manhattan jury found Gupta guilty of tipping Raj Rajaratnam, a onetime business associate and founder of a New York hedge fund known as the Galleon Group, to corporate secrets that he had gleaned in his position as a director of companies like Goldman Sachs and Procter & Gamble.

Since returning to his Manhattan apartment, Gupta has been fielding calls from former associates who say he is in good spirits and looks back on his spell in prison philosophically, the NYT said.

Gupta's March 13 release date falls on a Sunday, so "they will release him on Friday," the paper quoted Sickler as saying. "He will turn his bracelet in that Friday afternoon."

At the age of 45, Gupta became the first Indian CEO of the consulting giant McKinsey. He co-founded the prestigious Indian School of Business with fellow McKinsey executive Anil Kumar, who had pleaded guilty to insider trading and testified as a government witness against Gupta in his trial. Gupta had filed several appeals, including to the US Supreme Court, to overturn his conviction and prison term but the courts rejected his arguments and affirmed his sentence.

Also read:Rajat Gupta's remarkable rise and inexplicable fall

The Maharashtra Govt says in the Bombay High Court that 1000 farmers committed suicide in 2015. The court had earlier issued a notice to the govt to file an affidavit. Details awaited.

However, according to media reports in just 10 months last year, around 2,590 farmers across Mahrashtra committed suicide in the months from January to October the highest number of suicides since 2001.

The Delhi Police today claimed in court that all evidence proved the guilt of film-maker Mahmood Farooqui in a case in which he is facing trial for allegedly raping an American researcher.

Concluding its final arguments before Additional Sessions Judge Sanjiv Jain, the police explained the reason for delay in lodging the FIR in the case, saying the woman had returned to the US on expiry of her research visa to be with her family.

Advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for the complainant, submitted before the court that the 30-year-old US native had to wait for her research visa to get renewed so that she could return to India and lodge the FIR.

The court will begin hearing the defence counsel's final arguments in the case tomorrow. Farooqui, whose interim bail was also extended till the next date of hearing, had earlier denied the allegations levelled against him.

The court had commenced hearing final arguments in the case on last week when the police had said the testimony of the alleged victim, who had trusted Farooqui and considered him a friend, nailed the accused.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar dismissed talk of any threat from the Islamic State to his life or that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Last week, an anonymous postcard claimed to have been sent by IS, threatening Prime Minister Modi and Parrikar, was received at the Goa Secretariat.

Parrikar was dismissive about any threat to him or Modi, saying "It [the threat] was [issued] on a 50 paise postcard."

The letter was handed over to the Anti-Terror Squad and the North Goa district police.


Pic: ISIS supporters wave the terror group's flag in Kashmir. Photograph: Umar Ganie/Rediff.com

This is why Mr B's legion of fans believe there is no superstar as humble.

‏@SrBachchan tweets: A street wall in Ahmedabad .. !! That guy in the middle should not be there, among the 2 greats !!


Mr Bachchan's picture is flanked by Lata Mangeshkar and Sachin Tendulkar.

This hilariously confused tweet is all you need to know about Subramanian Swamy fandom. Read

Supreme Court rejects plea seeking review of its order banning #Jallikattu

Just in: PM calls meeting of council of ministers on January 27. Reports say it could be a precursor to a cabinet reshuffle. 

Hyderabad Central University (HCU) has revoked the suspension of the five research scholars, including Rohith Vemula who committed suicide on Sunday, with immediate effect.

Sources in the university administration have told The Indian Express that the decision was taken in an emergency meeting of the Executive Council (highest decision-making body) of the university and will be communicated soon to the agitating students on campus.

This, HCU officials added, has been done to calm rising tempers on the university campus, which has virtually stopped functioning for the last four days.

Prof Amit Nathwani, a blood consultant, was a key member of Alexander Litvinenko's medical team. "His vital organs were being destroyed in a sequential pattern. It started with his liver, and then was followed very rapidly by his kidneys and then his heart. We were in a race, trying to work out the cause before some of the other organs were picked-off."

Read what Polonium 210 did to Litivinenko.

All that you wanted to know about the Litivinenko murder. Read

The murder of ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 was "probably" approved by President Vladimir Putin, a public inquiry has concluded.

The BBC reports that Litvinenko died aged 43 in London days after being poisoned with radioactive polonium-210, which he is believed to have drunk in a cup of green tea.

Chairman Sir Robert Owen said it was likely Putin signed off the killing following a long-running feud. Litvinenko's widow Marina said she was "very pleased" with the report.

Speaking outside London's High Court, she said: "The words my husband spoke on his deathbed when he accused Mr Putin have been proved by an English court."Home Secretary Theresa May is due to give the UK government's response to the findings in a statement to the House of Commons later.


Two Russian men, Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun, have been accused of his murder. They deny killing him.
Sir Robert said the two suspects were probably acting under the direction of Moscow's FSB intelligence service.

Singling out then-FSB chief Nikolai Patrushev, alongside Mr Putin, Sir Robert wrote in the 300 page report: "Taking full account of all the evidence and analysis available to me I find that the FSB operation to kill Litvinenko was probably approved by Mr Patrushev and also by President Putin."

"My age? It keeps changing every year. I can't remember it. I don't like ageing at all," the legendary dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai, who passed into the ages today, says in this 2004 interview. Read

Aam Aadmi Party leaders across Maharastra today expressed their displeasure over Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal not meeting them while he was on a visit to the city yesterday. Kejriwal had appeared before a local court in connection with a case for allegedly holding a rally without required permission during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

 He had left shortly after the hearing. Local Aam Aadmi Party leaders said its chief has "no vision" for party's expansion in Maharashtra. Suspended party leader and a former key face of AAP in Maharashtra, Mayank Gandhi accused Kejriwal of "demolishing party's base" in the state.

"Kejriwal wants its Delhi team to be kept intact while he wants no challenge from its leaders of other states. This is why he deliberately destroyed party's base in Maharashtra and Mumbai," he said. Only party leaders Preeti Sharma Menon, Meera Sanyal along with a handful of supporters were present outside the Kurla court.

A senior state leader on condition of anonymity said, "Volunteers in the state and Mumbai are extremely discouraged because Kejriwal has ruined party's base in Maharashtra. Volunteers now feel that it is a wastage of time being associated with the party." He said it has happened for the first time that there was no strong supporters' base behind the party chief during his visit to Mumbai.

Hours after the assault on Bacha Khan University, Asad Munir, a former ISI official-turned-columnist, surprised many by tweeting that Pakistanis would do well to look for the attackers among themselves instead of blaming India.

Munir, a retired brigadier with long experience of serving with the Inter-Services Intelligence agency in Pakistan's volatile northwest, blamed the terrorism afflicting his country squarely on Islamabad's policy of using jihadis for issues such as the war in Afghanistan and the move to "liberate' Kashmir.

In an unusually blunt article in The Nation daily, Islamabad-based journalist Umer Ali stated the time had come to ask the Pakistan Army "some hard questions' why the anti-terror National Action Plan framed after the 2014 Peshawar school massacre had failed to prevent the university attack.

In many ways, Munir's tweets and Ali's article -- though limited to the English language media and social networks that are probably inaccessible to the Urdu-speaking majority -- reflect the churning that began after the Taliban brutally killed more than 130 children in an army-run school in Peshawar in 2014.

For far too long, it has been the trend in India and Pakistan to blame the other country for any unsavoury development, be it a terrorist attack or even floods (blamed by some in the Pakistani Urdu media on excess river waters being released by India).

But such narratives have worn thin, with more people across the Western border now asking tough questions of Pakistan's civil and military leadership about the steps being taken to counter or eliminate the jihadi groups which enjoyed a free rein since northwest Pakistan became the staging ground for the "holy war' to liberate Afghanistan from Soviet occupation.

Munir even want so far as to tweet that Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan leaders such as Mullah Fazlullah, now believed to be ensconced in Afghanistan, would be "happy that RAW is being blamed by some morons for an incident that TTP planned and executed'.

Not that there aren't others in Pakistan -- such as status quoist reporters and TV anchors such as Ansar Abbasi and Moeed Pirzada -- who were happy to trot out clichd and well-worn arguments of an "Indian hand' in the attack on the university named after the messenger of peace, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan or the "Frontier Gandhi'.

That the tide may slowly be turning at least as far as public opinion among the Pakistani elite and liberals is concerned is perhaps evident from this: Munirs tweets got far more retweets than the two tweets quoted here from Abbasi and Pirzada.


Pic: Relatives and friends surround the coffin of a student, who was killed in the attack.

As a journalist, he used to spend entire weeks in the jungles to get a sound bite or two from leaders of Left Wing Extremist groups. Years later, he still ventures into the woods, albeit for a different reason -- nabbing the very people he once interviewed.Meet 29-year-old Parvin Tiwari, a home guard jawan with the Gumla police who has played an active role in the arrest of at least 153 Leftist rebels.

Ever since he joined the police in 2009, Tiwari has been a part of fearless raids in Maoist hotbeds to arrest at least a dozen sub-zonal and zonal commanders -- the most recent among them being zonal commander Prasad alias Ashok Lakra, who carried a Rs 10 lakh reward on his head.Left extremists are active in no less than 16 of Jharkhand's 24 districts.  Read more

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday charged Union minister Smriti Irani of dishing out "lie after lie" in the Dalit scholar's suicide case and described as shameful her defence of the NDA government in the incident.

Kejriwal met protesting students at the University of Hyderabad Kejriwal campus which has turned into the nerve-centre of protests against alleged anti-Dalit policies of the NDA government following the suicide by research scholar Rohith Vemula.

"The death of Rohith is a shame on the nation... on the society," Kejriwal said while addressing the students. He also met Rohith's mother, who has been protesting on campus demanding justice for her 26-year-old son.

Launching a stinging criticism of Irani for her comments that there were "malicious attempts" to turn the incident into a Dalit versus non-Dalit confrontation, the Aam Aadmi Party leader said that instead of trying to create controversy, she should have been trying to ensure justice for Rohith.

Kejriwal is the latest in a long list of Opposition leaders to visit the campus to show solidarity with students seeking justice for Rohith, who allegedly took his own life after he was suspended along with four others.

Kejriwal had earlier termed the death as murder and sought an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is yet to speak on the issue.

The Congress also stepped up the ante on Thursday, accused Union minister Smriti Irani of lying in the case as it picked holes in the Centre's defence in the incident.


Pic: The condolence message by Arvind Kejriwal -- "It is not a suicide but a murder of Rohith. We all have to fight together."

The Ahmedabad Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) on Thursday picked up Suresh Langdo, a convict serving life imprisonment in 2002 Naroda Patiya massacre, for allegedly assaulting a woman journalist when she went to his house for an interview on Wednesday evening.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Deepan Bhadran said that Landgo was picked up from his residence after the case of alleged assault was transferred to DCB. Officials said that Landgo is being questioned based on the complaint filed by the journalist Revati Laul.

She first lodged the complaint at Vejalpur police station which was then transferred to DCB. Laul is said to have been living in Ahmedabad for the past one year researching for her upcoming book based on 2002 riots.

A British website, set up to catalogue the last days of Subhas Chandra Bose, has released the evidence given by a Taiwanese official who claimed to have prepared Netaji's body for cremation after his death in a plane crash in 1945.

The testimony, contained in UK Foreign Office file No FC1852/6 and dating back to 1956, is among the last few documents to be released bywww.bosefiles.info set up to establish that the Indian freedom fighter died in the crash on the outskirts of an airfield in Taipei on August 18, 1945.

"Taiwanese official Tan Ti-Ti, who was in charge of issuing cremation permits in Taipei, together with that of other local officials, put to rest any controversy about the last rites performed on Subhas Bose's body," the website said.

There has been controversy for decades as to whether the account of the plane crash is true, despite two Indian government investigations concluding that is how Bose met his end.

The proof contained in the Taiwanese police report sent to the British Foreign Office was, the file indicates, forwarded by the British high commission in Delhi to the Indian government in July 1956. Read more

They're one of the most commercially successful music groups in history, with hits that have survived five decades. But ABBA haven't been glimpsed as a group together for over seven years. That all changed last night, when the Swedish pop foursome got together for the opening of a new restaurant in Stockholm '" where people can eat while watching a show based on the group's song.  Read more

This couldn't come at a worse time for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
As the Sensex gave up its Modi momentum and fell to 2014 levels yesterday, Modi and the BJP's credibility to lead India to achche din is at stake.

The PM has always tom-tommed his humble 'chaiwalla' origins and used it to leverage the BJP as the right choice as against the family-run Congress and the 'privileged' Gandhis.

Now, an RTI report threatens to downsize whatever little support remains of Modi.

In 2014, a photograph of Modi sweeping the floors for a living went viral. The internet and his followers, who are popularly called Modi Bhakts, went on a mission to showcase his humble background.

This black-and-white photo of Modi holding a broom and cleaning a floor was in fact used in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls as a part of the party's election campaign.

While some did question the authenticity, no one could trace the origins and most left it at that.

Except for an Ahmedabad-based activist, whose RTI has revealed that the image was photoshopped. See the original picture in the image.

The RTI reply said, "It is stated while the information sought does not form part of records, it may be noted that the said photograph is morphed and the person in the photo is not Mr Narendra Modi."

More ammo for the opposition.

The Conference of Chief Electoral Officers of 29 states is being held at the Election Commission for a routine review of pending issues. Focus is being given to Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, West Bengal and Assam -- the five states which are going to the polls this year --  for the the deployment of central forces and to ensure vigilance over black money power in these states.

Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu is keen to hold the state budget session in a remote resort near the sea in Vizag or in a huge official building. Naidu wants to try different locations in the state for holding assembly sessions till such time the AP Assembly complex is constructed in Amaravati. Jagan Reddy of the YSR Congress is opposed to this idea, but the BJP supports a change of venue.

Just in: Kerala Hummer Case: Court gives Beedi tycoon Mohammed Nisham a life sentence and Rs 71 lakh fine for te murder of security guard Chandrabose.

A Kerala court yesterday convicted beedi tycoon Mohammed Nisham, who had crushed to death a security guard with his luxury vehicle Hummer over delay in opening the gates of a posh residential complex in Thrissur on January 29 last year.

The prosecution on Wednesday argued for maximum punishment of death sentence and a compensation of Rs 5 crore to the family of the 51-year-old security guard Chandrabose.

Public Prosecutor C P Udayabhanu submitted that the "society wanted the maximum punishment meted out to the accused, who was a threat to the society".

Pic: Mohammed Nisham 

Just in: Three students, two women cooks killed as a bus carrying students of a Surat school on a educational tour overturns in Junagadh, Gujarat. 

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday told Tamil Nadu Congress leaders to contest all 234 assembly seats alone instead of tagging along with the DMK. Congress leaders P Chidambaram and EVKS Elangovan are not on the same page on this alliance, but the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee will meet in early February to take stock of local issues. If insiders are to be believed Rahul Gandhi is not yet convinced that TNCC should have an electoral pact with the DMK. Interestingly, Rahul also asked the TNCC leaders about how reliabile and trustworthy DMDK's Vijaykant was. Even in the event of Vijaykant and Karunanidhi getting closer, Rahul felt that Congress should increase its voter base and get more foot soldiers before forging an alliance with the DMK.

A letter warning against the upcoming visit of French President Francois Hollande to India was delivered to the French consulate in Bengaluru, according to news agency ANI.

The letter was reportedly mailed from Chennai.

President Hollande arrives in India on January 24 for a three-day visit.

He will land in Chandigarh where he will be received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The French leader is the Chief Guest for the massive Republic Day parade in Delhi on Tuesday.

A recent review of security, customary ahead of Republic Day, was led by Home Minister Rajnath Singh and officials concluded that an ISIS threat "is very real".

Four men were arrested in Uttarakahand last night for alleged ISIS links. A senior Delhi Police officer has alleged they were planning a large attack on Delhi.  In November, ISIS gunmen devastated Paris, leaving 130 people dead after firing at a cafe, a rock concert, and other public places.  

Top industrialist Ratan Tata has invested in baby care eCommerce platform FirstCry, continuing the slew of investments he has made in various startups globally. The Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons and Senior Advisor to IDG Ventures India, has invested an undisclosed amount in his personal capacity into Brainbees Solutions, which owns the FirstCry.com brand, the company said in a statement. FirstCry is omni-channel player with presence across desktop, mobile and offline routes offering baby and maternity products in India. It started operations in 2010 and has over 2 million customers. It has over 150 FirstCry branded franchisee offline stores across 100 cities in the country.

A suspicious bag, which was found at the gate of Haridwar Railway Station, created panic on Thursday, reports said. A police investigation team and bomb disposal squad have reached the spot.

Four persons with suspected ISIS links were arrested from Manglour in Uttarakhand and according to Delhi Police the terrorists had plans to target the Ardh Kumbh Mela in Haridwar and some strategic locations in Delhi and NCR.

"The four suspects were tracked down with inputs from a central intelligence agency. They had planned to carry out terror attacks at the Ardh Kumbh mela, trains heading towards Haridwar passing through Roorkie and some strategic locations in Delhi," Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Arvind Deep said.

The suspects have been identified as Akhlaq ur-Rehman, Mohammed Osama, Mohammed Azim Shah and Mehroz.

Just in: French Consulate in Bengaluru receives threat letter warning against French President Franois Hollande's visit to India. 

Eminent danseuse Mrinalini Sarabhai, who was admitted to an Ahmedabad hospital on Wednesday morning following age-related complications, died this morning. She was 97 years old.   

NIA conducts searches at 5 places in Punjab including residence of senior police officer Salwinder Singh.

3 infiltrators from Pakistan attempt to cross the Indian border through Sehjra bulge area. BSF shot down one, two fled the scene: ANI

Tirupati court rejects bail of YSR MP Mithun Reddy in case of assaulting an Air India official

British citizen Will Pike, who was paralysed during the 26/11 terror strike in Mumbai and had sued the Taj Hotel for not doing enough, settles for undisclosed sum in compensation

Home Minister Rajnath Singh to address a public rally in North 24 Parganas (West Bengal) today.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi today held deliberations with Congress leaders from Tamil Nadu on the strategy to be adopted in the poll-bound state where the issue of forging an alliance holds the key to prospects of the party.

"Everyone gave ideas and opinions to the leadership on how to face the elections," TN Congress Committee chief E V K S Elangovan said after the parleys with the Congress vice president.

Congress had contested the last Lok Sabha elections on its own and had drawn a blank. It had contested the last assembly elections alongwith Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam but secured just five seats. Assembly strength in the state is 234.

Elangovan, however, refused to elaborate on the stand of the state unit on the alliance issue, insisting that it was for the party high command to decide whether the Congress should fight as part of a tie-up with other like minded parties or go it alone.

A United States Navy SEAL, who helped kill Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011, allegedly kept an unauthorised photo of the corpse of the world's most wanted terrorist, a US news site reported.

Matthew Bissonnette turned over a hard drive that contained the photo to US investigators in exchange for an agreement that he would not be prosecuted for unlawfully possessing classified material, The Intercept reported.

The Obama administration has never released images of bin Laden's body, fearing that the photos would trigger a backlash. It has maintained that the al-Qaeda leader was buried at sea shortly after the raid.

Bissonnette, who reportedly shot bin Laden during the raid on the al-Qaeda leader's compound in the garrison city of Abbottabad in Pakistan, had been under investigation for allegedly making public classified information in his book about the 2011 incident, No Easy Day.

Bissonnette's lawyer, Robert Luskin, declined to comment to CNN on the contents of The Intercept article, the specifics of the information in question and whether there has been any ongoing contact between the Pentagon and Bissonnette's legal representation.

He did, however, said that previously a 'government investigation into alleged mishandling or improper disclosure of classified information by Matthew Bissonnette was closed in August 2015 with a declination'.

Blistering heat blanketed the Earth last year like never before, making 2015 by far the hottest year in modern times and raising new concerns about the accelerating pace of climate change.

Not only was 2015 the warmest worldwide since 1880, it shattered the previous record held in 2014 by the widest margin ever observed, said the report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

'During 2015, the average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 0.90C above the 20th century average,' said the NOAA report

'This was the highest among all years in the 1880-2015 record,' it added.

The US space agency NASA, which monitors global climate using a fleet of satellites and weather stations, confirmed that last year broke records for heat in contemporary times.

NASA said that the temperature changes are largely driven by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere.AFP

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