Amid suspense over next government formation, late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's family has vacated the Chief Minister's official bungalow in Jammu, the winter capital of the state, leading to questions as to what his daughter and expected successor Mehbooba Mufti could be up to. 

Strongly backing the 'odd-even' vehicle rationing scheme in the capital, US Ambassador Richard Verma said the US would share the "sacrifice" that others have to endure to tackle pollution, asserting "we will be a good neighbour". 

The Islamic State is making millions of dollars by selling a banned drug, that makes fighters feel 'fearless', to different parts of the Middle East, according to the United Nations. The amphetamine, known as Captagon, has been available since the 1960s and was used to treat attention deficit disorder. 

In her quest for the parents of Geeta, the hearing and speech impediment  girl who was brought back to India from Pakistan last year, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has written to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar seeking his help. 

The BJP has just declared Sarbananda Sonowal as CM candidate for the upcoming Assam assembly elections. Earlier, Sarbananda Sonowal, union minister of state for sports and youth welfare, was appointed the new state BJP president. 

Officials from the World Health Organization said that the Zika virus was "spreading explosively" in the Americas. "The level of alarm is extremely high," said Dr Margaret Chan, the director general of the WHO, in a speech in Geneva. Marcos Espinal, an infectious disease expert at the WHO's Americas regional office, said: "We can expect 3 to 4 million cases of Zika virus disease". He gave no time frame.

In a latest development in the Udhampur terror attack probe, the National Investigation Agency has filed a chargesheet against nine people under several sections including the Foreigners act, the Arms Act and the Explosives Act. 

Saudi Arabia is a dry country. Use of intoxicants, be it in any form, is prohibited in Islam. Saudi Arabia follows the Sharia law derived from the Quran and therefore it follows that alcohol is illegal.

In fact any product that contains alcohol even in trace amounts is banned in the country. But does that mean people in Saudi Arabia don't drink? They do and most try a better technique.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's customs department's official Twitter handle posted this photo saying how this man tried to smuggle 10-odd Red Label bottles in to the country and was busted. The story was first published in India Today

Update on the Gujarat anti-terror bill. The President has returned the bill seeking additional information.

The controversial Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime (GCTOC) Bill, 2015 was withdrawn by the Centre today. The bill which was to become law as the home ministry had cleared it had been sent it to the President for approval in September 2015.

The GUJCOC Bill, which was on the lines of the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, was rejected in 2004 and 2008 by then President AJP Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil respectively.

The Bill, passed by the Gujarat Assembly, was twice rejected by the previous UPA government.

It was first introduced in the Assembly in 2003 when PM Narendra Modi was the Gujarat chief minister.

The Bill provides for admissibility of evidence collected through interception of mobile calls of an accused or through confessions made before an investigating officer in a court of law.


Read more on the anti-terror bill here. 

HRD Ministry appoints Retd Justice Ashok K Roopanwal as a one-member commission to probe the suicide of Hyderabad University scholar, Rohith Vemula. The HRD ministry has ministry asked the ex-judge to inquire into what led to the research student's suicide in Hyderabad

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke his silence and expressed his grief over the death of  the dalit scholar, seven students continued their indefinite hunger strike demanding the removal of Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Bandaru Dattatreya and the Vice Chancellor.

HRD Minister Smriti Irani sought to reach out to the family of the deceased student by speaking to Rohith's mother over phone and assured her that justice will be done on the basis of a judicial inquiry. On its part, the University sought to reach out to the agitating students when it announced an ex-gratia of Rs eight lakh to the grieving family of Rohith.

Housing sales fell by 4 per cent to 2,63,720 units last year, lowest since 2010, in the eight major cities of the country on account of demand slowdown in the real estate market despite interest rate cut by the RBI.

The National Capital Region (NCR) continued to be the worst performing market in India with sales and launches at six year low, property consultant Knight Frank said in its report released today.

Launches of new homes fell by 21 per cent in 2015 at 2,44,944 units in the primary market of eight major cities - NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. The unsold inventories have declined marginally to 6.91 lakh units from nearly 7.15 lakh units in 2014.

Developers will take more than 2.5 years to exhaust this unsold stock. Commenting on the report, Knight Frank India CMD Shishir Baijal said: "2015 for Indian real estate had both the good and bad news. While the office market grew from strength to strength, residential did not perform as expected."

Residential segment continued to face slowdown with launches at a five year low, despite the festive season. "Sales in 2015 were lower than 2014 levels. Despite the 125 bps rate cut by RBI, demand did not see an uptake. Our outlook for 2016 remains muted. To further revive the demand, it is important to transmit the benefits of the rate cuts to consumers," Baijal said.

In the Delhi-NCR market, housing sales fell marginally to 48,503 units in 2015 from 48,630 units in the previous year. However, launches of new homes fell by 20 per cent to 63,458 units in NCR. The unsold inventory in NCR stands at 2.06 lakh units at the end of 2015.

On housing prices, Knight Frank India National Director (Residential Agency) Mudassir Zaidi said the prices grew by an average 3 per cent last year. However, he said the rate of growth has come down from 9 per cent to 3 per cent in the last 36 months. In contrast to the housing segment, Knight Frank India's Executive Director (North and Capital Markets) Rajeev Bairathi said the office space absorption stood at 40.4 million sq ft, highest since 2012, in six cities - Mumbai, NCR, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune. Delhi-NCR witnessed absorption of 7.4 million sq ft of office space last year.

The CBI has initiated an inquiry against two serving Major Generals of the Indian Army in connection with the disproportionate assets and bribe for securing their promotions, reports CNN IBN.

The Army officers who are under the CBI scanner are: Major General Ashok Kumar and Major General SS Lamba. This is for the first time when a CBI probe was ordered against serving Army officers.

Sources said, the CBI was reportedly asked by the Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to probe the allegations against the officers. The probe agency was asked to submit its report at the earliest.

It was found that the MoD received complaints against the officers for paying bribe to secure their promotions to the rank of Lt. General.

"There promotions were approved during the tenure of former Military Secretary Lt. General R. Bhalla (now retired). If required Bhalla will also be examined by the CBI," ministry sources said.

Meanwhile, the CBI is investigating all movable and immovable assets earned by these officers.

The controversial Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime (GCTOC) Bill, 2015, has been withdrawn by the Centre. The bill which was to become law as the home ministry had cleared it had been sent it to the President for approval in September 2015. Details awaited.

The Bill, passed by the Gujarat Assembly, was twice rejected by the previous UPA government.

It was first introduced in the Assembly in 2003 when PM Narendra Modi was the Gujarat chief minister.

The Bill provides for admissibility of evidence collected through interception of mobile calls of an accused or through confessions made before an investigating officer in a court of law.

Just in: Umar Draz, a Pakistani die-hard fan of swashbuckling Indian batsman Virat Kohli faces a 10-year jail term for hoisting the Indian tri-colour atop his home in the Punjab Province of Pakistan.

Draz, who is from Okara district of the Punjab province, about 200 km from Lahore, was arrested on a complaint that he hoisted the Indian flag on the rooftop of his house as police raided his home on Tuesday.

"We raided the house of Umar Draz and seized the Indian flag from his rooftop," Muhammad Jamil, a police official, said.

He said the police have arrested Draz and registered a case under the Maintenance of Public Order. He was presented in court the same day and was remanded into police custody.

Draz turned out to be a big fan of India's Test Cricket team captain Virat Kohli.

"I am a big fan of Virat Kohli. I support the Indian team because of Kohli. Hoisting of Indian flag on the rooftop of house only shows my love for the Indian cricketer," Draz told reporters.

Draz said he had no idea that he committed a crime and urged authorities to pardon him. He said he should be seen as "an Indian cricketer's fan and not as a spy".

Poster size photographs of Kohli were also found pasted on the walls of his house.

The parliament, which has an impressive library, is unable to provide the documents pertaining to the 1920 act of Parliament on the Aligarh Muslim University for Vice President Hamid Ansari's reference. The only available copy is in poor condition and cannot just be taken down from the book shelf or for that matter lent.

So, the vice president will be spending time at the library taking notes.  An attempt was made to get micro filming done, but the text is illegible. Librarians we are told are up against a real battle on how to satisfy the Dr Ansari.

President Pranab Mukherjee has sent out an emotional message to the Congress not to disrupt Parliament proceedings during the upcoming budget session. The message was sent when the president received the first copy of the second part of his autobiography from Vice President Hamid Ansari today.

The president, meanwhile, has said that he has willed his daughter Sushmitha Mukherjee to be the custodian of his diary. The diary which is at least 8200 pages was written over 10 years. Some of the entries are believed to be top secret and he has instructed his daughter not to make it public. The president is bound by secrecy laws.

The President hosted high tea at the Mughal Gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan for dignitaries who attended the book release. Senior BJP leader L K Advani and the president spent over 15 minutes talking about the book.

The Supreme Court has extended interim protection for Teesta Setalvad & her husband from arrest till March 18 in cases of alleged misuse of funds. The SC also tells the couple to cooperate in a probe otherwise be ready for arrest.

Setalvad and her husband were apprehending arrest by the Economic Offences Wing of the CBI on allegations of embezzlement.

Delhi High Court today sought the response of police on a plea alleging that TERI Chief R K Pachauri was "exercising influence" on other officials of the organisation to settle the sexual harassment case lodged against him by a former woman colleague.

Justice S P Garg also asked Pachauri, Director General of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), to explain his stand on a fresh application moved by the complainant alleging that he had even instructed one of her colleagues to persuade her for an out-of-court settlement.

"File a response to it (application)," the court said and fixed the matter for further hearing on February 11. The 29-year-old female research analyst, who has now quit the organisation, moved the application a day before the court is to pronounce its verdict on her plea seeking cancellation of the anticipatory bail granted to Pachauri by a lower court on March 21 last year. Taking note of her fresh application, the court has now deferred pronouncement of the order.

The government has announced its list of first 20 cities to be developed as Smart cities. Making the announcement Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said there are 97 cities in the Smart City Challenge, and the names of the first 20 winners of the competition were announced.

The 20 cities are Bhubaneswar, Pune, Jaipur, Surat,  Kochi, Ahmedabad, Jabalpur, Vishakhapatnam, Solapur, Davangere, Indore,  New Delhi,  Coimbatore,  Kakinada, Belagavi,  Udaipur, Guwahati,  Chennai, Ludhiana and Bhopal.

These cities will be developed to have basic infrastructure through assured water and power supply, sanitation and solid waste management, efficient urban mobility and public transport, IT connectivity, e-governance and citizen participation.

Naidu was addressing about 100 senior officers of Army, Navy, Air Force and civil service, including 25 foreign officials, participating in a course on 'National Security and Strategic Studies' at the National Defence College here

The Maharashtra government has decided not to go ahead with its controversial decision to amend the Maharashtra Rent Control Act (1999), which would have excluded all commercial establishments occupying over 500 sq ft from protection under the Act that prohibits landlords from levying market rents.

State Housing Minister Prakash Mehta has clarified that no proposal will be moved for amending the Act, BJP Mumbai president Ashish Shelar said today.

The amendment would have deprived protection to those who have taken commercial establishments on rent and also those living as tenants in residential homes bigger than 862 sq ft, under the Rent Control Act. They would have also been required to pay market rates that are demanded by the landlord or could be evicted.

Actor Salman Khan today moved the Supreme Court, saying he should also be heard while the appeal of the Maharashtra government, challenging his acquittal by the Bombay High Court in the 2002 hit-and-run case, is being heard.


It is likely that senior advocate Harish Salve will appear for the actor. Salve had handled the case and saved Khan from having to spend time in jail after he was convicted of culpable homicide.  


Attorney General of India, Mukul Rohatgi, will be issued notification to appear for the Maharashtra government, though there has not been any formal statement issued by Khan or his lawyers.

The Indian cricket team will start its Asia Cup campaign against Bangladesh on February 24 before taking on arch-rivals Pakistan, in what promises to be a high-voltage encounter on February 27.

The 11-match tournament, which will be played in the Twenty20 format this year. It will be held in Mirpur from February 24 to March 6.India will play its third match on March 3 against a yet-to-be-decided qualifier, 'ESPNCricinfo' reported.

The last Indo-Pak cricket clash happened in 2015 during the ODI World Cup and efforts to revive bilateral cricket between the two sides have not worked out so far.

After the preliminary Asia Cup clash, India and Pakistan could come face-to-face for the second time in the tournament if they make the March 6 final.Sri Lanka is the most consistent performer in the event, which has traditionally been played in the ODI format.

The islanders have clinched the trophy five times, winning 34 of their 48 matches.Along with India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and hosts Bangladesh in the main event, the upcoming edition will also have Afghanistan, Oman, Hong Kong and UAE playing a qualifying tournament from February 19.Each team will play three matches and the top side will get entry into the main draw.

A Kolkata court has pronounced its verdict in the 2013 Kamduni gang-rape and murder case. Six of the eight accused have been found guilty, with the quantum of punishment to be decided to tomorrow.

A medical college student was gang-raped and murdered in June 2013 triggering nation-wide protest. Demanding capital punishment for the accused, various organizations have started agitation inside the court complex from the morning.

Tight security has been arranged inside the court complex fearing further agitations.

The case was shifted to city sessions court from Barasat, as there were chances of attack on the accused.

Out of the nine accused, one died in custody.

The accused were charged with Indian Penal Code Section 302 (murder), Section 376 D (gang-rape), Section 120B (conspiracy) and destroying evidence.Following the incident, a village in Barasat area of North 24 Parganas was brought under the jurisdiction of Bidhannagar police commissionerate.

The death of Rohith Vemula raises the question of fraternity in the life of this republic in the starkest possible way. India borrowed France's republican motto - liberty, equality and fraternity - and incorporated it into its Constitution.

Liberty, rooted in individual rights, and equality, defined as equal access to these rights, are ideas that have become part of everyday democratic discourse, but fraternity remains a vague good intention. What can brotherhood mean in political terms? How can it be expressed in policy or legislation? And how is the value of community to be reconciled with the rights-bearing individual citizen, central to modern democracy? 


Read Mukul Kesavan's column here

Everyone knows about the 1965 and 1971 wars between India and Pakistan. But only a handful of folk are aware of a unique war between the two countries which took place in 1975.

Alas, fresh evidence is emerging confirming that indeed, this war did take place, but was kept a secret by the governments of both the countries.

Famous Indian scientist, Professor Narayan G. Harikishan, has claimed that the 1975 war was neither won by India nor Pakistan, but by Cambodia.

And, this is why it was kept secret.

Read more

Suspended BJP MP Kirti Azad today dragged the Modi government into his campaign against alleged corruption in DDCA and said he will move court against it besides Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, claiming that the CBI remains a "caged parrot".


At a press conference, he also released a letter written by him to Jaitley in September last in which he alleged that the senior BJP leader played a "nefarious role" in messing up the DDCA and Hockey India.


"The day is not far when you will have to be answerable for all the loot that took place right under your charge... While cricket went to the dogs in your regime, only your trusted friends prospered," he wrote on September 13.


Jaitley has denied all the charges and filed a civil and criminal defamation case against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and other AAP leaders for their similar accusations against him. Keeping up his attack on Jaitley, Azad today suggested his role in a "mysterious" mail sent to the Delhi and District Cricket Association(DDCA) office-bearers about re-appointing a "favourite" auditor and filing of a defamation case against him and Kejriwal.

Actor Salman Khan, who ruled the box-office in 2015, is likely to be the highest paid actor in Bollywood this year. The Bajrangi Bhaijaan star beats Airlift actor Akshay Kumar by paying the highest advance tax this fiscal, reports India Today.

According to Income Tax department's advance tax payment data released for the year 2015, Salman has paid Rs 20 crore as advance tax, overtaking last year's topper Akshay Kumar, who has paid a tax of Rs 16 crore rupees.

Ranbir Kapoor, Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan are the other top tax payers in the list, who have paid Rs 15 crore, Rs 14 crore and Rs 8.75 crore tax respectively.

However, these are the figures released by Mumbai's IT department till third quarter (December 31) of this fiscal year. The last quarter (Jan to March) will decide who will pay he highest income tax for the entire fiscal year. The last quarter is quite crucial for the department as maximum income tax is paid by individuals across the country, in this quarter only.
 
Normally, advance tax is paid by individuals if the total tax liability on their estimated income is likely to exceed Rs 10,000 during the financial year. The tax liability is calculated after considering tax deducted at source (TDS).

Sania Mirza/Ivan Dodig defeat Leander Paes/Martina Hingis in quarter finals of mixed doubles at the Australian Open.

Just in: Kerala court orders FIR against CM Oommen Chandy in solar scam case.

Deposing before a judicial commission probing the 'solar scam', prime accused in the case Saritha S Nair Wednesday alleged that she had paid a bribe of Rs 1.90 crore to Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy through his personal aides to set up mega power projects in the state, the Indian Express reported.


Nair also claimed she had paid a bribe of Rs 40 lakh to Power Minister and senior Congress leader Aryadan Muhammed.


Denying the allegations, Chandy said, "For what purpose would she have bribed me? Did she get any advantage or financial benefit from the state government that requires payment of bribe?


Nair and her company Team Solar had not gained the benefit of a single paisa from the government. Nor had the government incurred any loss in the fraud.' Nair's allegations come a day after Chandy refused to undergo a lie-detector test while deposing before the judicial commission.

Observing that it was "closely monitoring" the global economic and financial developments, the US Federal Reserve said it has kept the interest rates unchanged, following which the Dow fell about 223 points.

The Federal Reserve yesterday said it was "closely monitoring global economic and financial developments and is assessing their implications for the labour market and inflation, and for the balance of risks to the outlook."

Given the economic outlook, the Fed decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 1/4 to 1/2 per cent. The stance of monetary policy remains accommodative, thereby supporting further improvement in the labour market conditions and a return to two per cent inflation, it said in a statement.

The Fed said it currently expects that, with gradual adjustments in the stance of monetary policy, economic activity will expand at a moderate pace and labour market indicators will continue to strengthen.

Mystic Melodies! West Bengal's Tableau on #Baul music tradition has been adjudged the best in the 67th Republic Day Parade.

In the second such instance in 15 days, the Bihar government has withdrawn a case against RJD chief Lalu Prasad. On Wednesday, a Patna court dropped a case registered against Lalu for preventing a government-appointed photographer from shooting a RJD roadshow during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, reports the Indian Express.


Lalu had held the roadshow at Parsa Bajar under the Pataliputra Lok Sabha constituency, from which his daughter Misa Bharti had contested unsuccessfully.


The chargesheet in the case had been filed on May 27, 2015 and it was withdrawn on Wednesday on the request of the public prosecutor.


Before this, on January 19, a Patna court had withdrawn a case against 265 RJD workers, including Lalu and his minister sons Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, related to a bandh called by the party on July 27, 2015.


The quashing of the second case against the RJD chief has the state BJP up in arms, with its leaders demanding that the government either withdraw "frivolous cases' against political activists across party lines, or "not get too selective in case of Lalu Prasad.'BJP legislature party leader and former deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi said, "Thankfully, fodder scam cases are not within the purview of the state government, or Lalu Prasad could have gotten them withdrawn too."

"This is the height of political appeasement by Nitish Kumar,' Modi told The Indian Express.The case quashed on Wednesday was lodged in 2014. Lalu had been booked for obstructing a government official from doing his duty as he allegedly did not allow a photographer appointed by the district administration, on instructions of the Election Commission to shoot a RJD roadshow.

Arunachal Pradesh Governor JP Rajkhowa said in a four-page report to President Pranab Mukherjee on January 15 that three dissident MLAs had accused the former Chief Minister, Nabam Tuki, of "engaging with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang [a terrorist outfit]."

He also accused Mr. Tuki of "encouraging indiscipline, lawlessness and politicking by government officials by inciting, provoking and funding Nyishi Elite Society, an apex communal organisation of Nyishis, mainly comprising government officials." Read more

The Punjab government is on holiday today to mark the 150 birth anniversary of Lala Lajpat Rai. According to an official spokesman of the government, all Punjab government offices, boards, corporations and educational institutions would remain closed.

The Supreme Court today recalled its December 16 order appointing controversial Justice Virendra Singh, a former judge of Allahabad High Court as Lokayukta of Uttar Pradesh, and named another retired judge as the new ombudsman.

While taking back its decision, the apex court appointed Justice Sanjay Mishra, a retired judge of the Allahabad High Court as new Lokayukta of UP.

Referring to the objections raised by the Chief Justice of the High Court on the name of Justice Singh, the bench said, "We are now left with serious doubts with regard to the suitability of Justice Singh as Lokayukta."

The bench comprising justices Rajan Gogoi and P C Panta termed as "unfortunate" the inability of constitutional functionaries like the Chief Minister and Chief Justice of HC to arrive at a consensual name for the post of the Lokayukta.


The bench, while recalling its order, referred to an earlier apex court judgment holding that the views of the HC Chief Justice should be accorded primacy in such appointments.


Earlier on December 16 last year, in an unusual order, the apex court had exercised its constitutional authority and appointed Justice Singh as Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta, while expressing dismay that its several orders directing to make appointment to the post had not been "heeded" by the constitutional functionaries -- the chief minister, the leader of opposition and the chief justice of the Allahabad high court.

A secret intelligence report has claimed that both the grandmother and mother of Rohith Vemula, a Hyderabad Central University research scholar who recently committed suicide, have declared the family's caste as Vaddera, which is a backward caste and not part of the 'Dalit' fold.

In a report forwarded to national security adviser Ajit Doval, the agencies have cited the statement of Rohith's grandmother Raghavamma claiming that both her son (Rohith's father V Mani Kumar) and daughter-in-law (Rohith's mother V Radhika) belong to the Vaddera community.

The video clipping of Raghavamma stating this in Telugu is attached with the report. Read more

Scores of municipal sanitation workers today staged a protest outside Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's official residence in New Delhi demanding "immediate" release of funds for their salaries.

They also threatened to suspend work for an "indefinite" period if their demands are not met. "It has been two-three months that the workers have not received their salaries. Despite repeated requests, our demands have gone unheard.

"Hence, we have staged a protest here. We will call off work for an indefinite period if our demands are not met," Sanjay Gehlot, president of Mazdoor Vikas Samyukta Morcha, said.

Gehlot claimed that employees from all the three civic bodies have taken part in the strike. Besides salaries, the employees are seeking payment of arrears, regularisation of contract-based employees and unification of the three corporations.

Workers with the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) had gone on strike making similar demands in October last year. But the strike was called off in the wake of a High Court order.

The Supreme Court has appointed Justice Sanjay Mishra, another former judge of Allahabad HC, as UP Lokayukta. 

The Times of India's managing editor, Arindam Sen Gupta, passed away early on Thursday after a brief battle with cancer.   

It was a cold morning in the national today with the minimum temperature settling at 9 degrees Celsius, even as fog resulted in cancellation of 37 trains. 

The Chief Electoral Office of Goa has proposed that the State Legislative Assembly elections can be held from December 11 to 18 as the current term gets over in March next year.

Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan is celebrating four decades of his film 'Kabhi Kabhie.'

Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu will on Thursday announce the list of first 20 cities to be developed as Smart Cities. 

An adult male rhino was killed at Kaziranga National Park in Assam and its horn was taken away by poachers.

The Pentagon has named Lieutenant General John "Mick" Nicholson as the new commander of international forces in Afghanistan, amid concerns about setbacks in the fight against Taliban in the war-torn nation.

At least seven policemen were killed and six others were injured in a Maoist land-mine blast in Chattarpur area of Palamu in Jharkhand.

Taking strong exception to complaints and grievances of people concerning the customs and excise sectors, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said strict action would be taken against erring officials.