The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in Goa on Friday disallowed use of its premises for the scheduled release of a book on Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse on occasion of the former's death anniversary on Saturday amid protest by a local political outfit and to possibly avoid a potential controversy.

However, Anup Sardesai, the writer of the book titled Nathuram Godse: The Story of an Assassin, said he would go ahead with its release at a different venue.

In a late evening communication to the state-run Ravindra Bhavan in Margao, the venue of the release, South District Collector Pramod Shinde asked its management not to allow release of the book.

Sardesai said, "I received an e-mail from Ravindra Bhavan stating that the venue will not be allowed to be used for the release of the book due to unavoidable circumstances.'

He said he would proceed with the release at a different venue.

"I will inform about the venue to my audience. I have also informed police about the new venue," Sardesai added.

Earlier in the day, Goa Forward, an outfit recently launched by former state election commissioner Prabhkar Timble, opposed letting of the government premises for the release of the book which it termed as an 'unpatriotic cause'.

Interestingly, BJP leader Damodar Naik, chairman of Ravindra Bhavan, was supposed to release the book.

Naik had said that the venue was booked through a normal procedure and there was no ulterior motive behind holding the function.

"We will hold 'satyagraha' in front of Ravindra Bhavan if the government allows the function to happen,' Goa Forward secretary Mohandas Lolienkar said.

He also claimed that the protest has been supported by various sections of people including independent legislator Vijai Sardesai.

Lolienkar had threatened to block all entrances of Ravindra Bhavan even as the party submitted a memorandum to South Goa district collector requesting cancellation of the function.

"Though the event appears innocuous, it is timed for January 30 which is the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi,' Fatorda legislator Vijai Sardesai said.   He termed the function as a 'veiled celebration of a murder' and a deliberate design to disturb peace and harmony and to provoke and incite people by insulting the memory of Mahatma Gandhi.

Meanwhile, author of the book said he was caught up in a political storm and rivalry between two political parties.

In a dramatic rescue operation, four miners trapped inside a collapsed gypsum mine in east China for over a month were rescued today, state media reported.

The gypsum mine in east China's Shandong province collapsed on Christmas Day, killing one and leaving 17 miners missing, including the four survivors, who were lifted to safety today after spending 36 days trapped inside the mine.

State-run CCTV showed dramatic footage of a miner being lifted to the surface and then taken to the hospital.

Eleven miners had been rescued earlier. Over 400 rescue and emergency workers participated in the operation spread over a month. The workers tunnelled down the collapsed mine, slowly, so that the mine does not cave in completely.

Footage from inside the mine earlier showed the four men sitting together with one of them was saying: "I feel relieved and secure now. We will remember you (rescuers) forever."

The company chairman Ma Congbo, committed suicide a few days after the accident by throwing himself into the mine well. China's mines are considered some of the deadliest in the world and have a long history of industrial accidents.

Twenty-one workers were killed in November last year when a fire engulfed a state-owned coal mine in China's northeast Heilongjiang province.

In August last year, 10 people were killed in two separate accidents at coal mines in China. In October, one person was killed in Shandong province.

The classes at the Hyderabad Central University, which were suspended following Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula's suicide, began today morning after a hiatus of over 10 days.

The students have been protesting and boycotting classes demanding removal of Vice Chancellor Appa Rao Podile and action against those who were responsible for the suicide.

On Wednesday, interim Vice Chancellor Vipin Srivastava's effort to pacify the protesting students went in vain after the students sent him back by shouting slogans of 'go back'.

However, students seemed to have heeded to Srivastava's appeal to attend classes to save a semester of the academic year.

JUST IN: One abandoned baggage found at Bengaluru airport; security teams are verifying the contents of the bag.

Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has received a threat letter purportedly from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria close on the heels of Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain receiving a similar communication.

The matter has been reported to the Delhi Police's top brass, sources said.   Naqvi's staff received the letter at his residence on January 25.

The letter that came by post was typed in Urdu and English and contained 'abusive' words against him and the party in general, the sources said.

After receiving a similar threat letter from the terror group a week ago, Hussain had said, "I had received such threats over social media before'.

In a major headway more than a year after the Church Street blast in Bengaluru, the National Investigation Agency on Friday arrested the prime accused in the case in which a woman was killed and three others were injured.

The NIA said he wanted to plant an Improvised Explosive Device inside the Coconut Grove Bar and Restaurant as per instruction from his handler who had informed him about the probable visit of an Israeli delegation for dinner on December 28, 2014.

"The NIA has today arrested one Mohd. Rafeeq alias Jaweed alias Alam Jeb Afridi, S/o Masukar Ahmad, resident of Ahmedabad, for his involvement in the Church Street Blast Case of Bengaluru," the agency said.

An NIA special court in Bengaluru has remanded Afridi to 10-day NIA custody for his custodial examination, it said.

A blast was triggered by an IED in front of the popular restaurant located on a busy road in the heart of the city in the night.

The NIA said Afridi, a Students' Islamic Movement of India cadre, was also wanted in a case relating to organisation of a terrorist training camp by the group at Waghamon in Kerala.

He had been absconding for more than five years and a reward of Rs 3 lakh had been announced by the NIA for any information leading to his arrest, it said in a release.

Afridi had been residing on outskirts of Bengaluru for nearly three years and was working as a air conditioners mechanic, the NIA said.

During custody, he has confessed to his involvement in the Church Street blast case of Bengaluru, it said.

The case was initially investigated by the city police and later handed over to the NIA.

The probe did not see any headway under the police even after they claimed to have zeroed in on some terror groups and sketches of suspects being drawn.

Datta Padsalgikar will be the new Commissioner of Police of Mumbai. He will replace the current Police Commissioner Ahmed Javed, who will retire on January 31.

Padsalgikar, a 1982 IPS batch officer, has recently been relieved from the post of additional director of the Intelligence Bureau in New Delhi.

Padsalgikar, known for his high integrity and credibility, will be the 40th police commissioner of Mumbai.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis wanted to appoint Padsalgikar as police commissioner choice after Rakesh Maria, but, at that time, the officer preferred to serve in the IB.

Padsalgikar has served in several embassies, including the United States.

A possible tragedy was averted today by the timely detection of an Improvised Explosive Device on board the Mumbai-bound Mahanagri Express train in Chitrakoot district of Uttar Pradesh, police said.

The bomb, wrapped in polythene, was recovered from the toilet of the coach S-3 when the train arrived at the Manikpur railway station, Inspector General (Law and Order) Bhagwan Swarup said.

Bomb disposal squad was summoned from Allahabad which defused the IED, he said.   A letter addressed to Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu was also found along with the bomb in which a demand for Rs 10 crore has been made, Swarup said.

An FIR has been lodged and the explosive has been sent to laboratory for detailed investigations, the IG added.

In a major twist to the case of a Congress member of Bihar legislative assembly allegedly kidnapping a 20-year-old woman, the latter on Friday turned up before the senior superintendent of police, Patna along with the MLA's driver Pankaj, whom she introduced as her boyfriend.

The woman, identified as Nidhi, appeared before Patna SSP Manu Maharaj on Firday afternoon with Pankaj Sharma, the driver of Congress MLA Siddarth Singh.

The SSP confirmed appearance of the woman with her friend and said Nidhi claimed she has been in a relationship with Pankaj for the past two years.   The SSP said the woman further claimed that she had fled with Pankaj and was not abducted, as projected by her father. The two also told the police they had married on Thursday night.

"The police will record statement of the two and send the woman for medical examination," the SSP said.

Talking to mediapersons outside the SSP's office, the woman accused her father of marrying her off to a 50-year-old man against her wish. When she resisted, he lodged a first information report against Bikram MLA Siddarth Singh, she alleged.

Asked about role of the MLA in her escape from home, she told reporters the MLA had no role and she in fact did not know him.

Abhay Singh, a resident of Sonkukra village, complained that the Congress MLA from Bikram constituency had on Thursday morning kidnapped his daughter from their village.

On the basis of the complaint, an FIR has been registered under Section 363 (punishment for kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code at Masaurhi police station.

With the incident triggering a controversy, the Congress MLA is still in hiding and did not take calls.   State Congress chief and minister Ashok Choudhary on Friday said law would take its own course in the case. He said if the MLA was found accused of violating law, police would take action impartially.

A verbal spat between Arunachal Pradesh Governor JP Rajkhowa and former Chief Minister Nabam Tuki show no signs of ending, with the latter on Friday revealing that the former has been repeatedly violating all constitutional and protocol norms since assuming office on June 1, 2015.

Even as the political situation in Arunachal Pradesh remains infractious and the matter has been placed before the Supreme Court for a possible ruling on February 1, an upset and angry Tuki recalled the abusive treatment meted out to him when he met Governor Rajkhowa at the Raj Bhawan in Itanagar.

The incident took place when then Chief Minister Tuki along with his Cabinet ministers went to meet Governor at the Raj Bhawan.

The chief minister as per the Order of Precedence firmed up by the union home ministry is the elected head of government in each of twenty-nine states and two union territories (Delhi and Puducherry).

According to the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's de jure head, but the de facto executive authority rests with the chief minister, and therefore, he is accorded specific privileges in tune with the office he occupies. This includes rules related to security and interaction with other official representatives.

In an exclusive interview to ANI, he claimed that he was 'threatened, frisked,abused and video-graphed before and during the meeting'.

Tuki further stated that the videographing of his arrival and his meetings were made without his knowledge, and added that the video released in the public domain before both sides approached the court, was an edited version.

The former CM maintained that the part where he was abused and violated in terms of established protocol had been edited.

"We had sought an appointment, and they had planned for it. There were security checks and there were cameras in the room where we held meeting. We tried to hold discussions with them in a normal manner. They tried to threaten me, took my name and provoked me. They even abused me. There was an argument, and the video footage shows only one side of the entire episode. The footage has been edited, some part of it has been deleted," Tuki told ANI.

Tuki's broadside came a couple of days after Governor Rajkhowa had claimed in his report to President Pranab Mukherjee that Nabam Tuki and his council of ministers had threatened him and were practicing a communal brand of politics and administration.

The jury is still out on whether Pope Francis got starry eyed when he met Leonardo DiCaprio. The actor and environmental activist, who recently won an award for his efforts for environmental protection at the World Economic Forum, had a 15-minute meeting with the Pope.

There was just enough time for DiCaprio to hand the Pope a book of art from Dutch Renaissance painter Hieronymus Bosch, according to Vatican Radio.

Francis' gift to the actor was likely a copy of his encyclical "Laudato Si' and a medal -- lately he's been giving one to presidents and heads of state who have come to the Vatican that bears the image of St. Martin cutting his cloak in two for a poor man.

The Supreme Court will hear in open court on February 2 a curative petition of gay activists challenging its verdict criminalising homosexuality in the country.


A bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur agreed to hear the curative petition filed by gay rights activists and NGO Naz Foundation against the apex court's December 11, 2013 judgement upholding validity of section 377 (unnatural sexual offences) of IPC and the January 2014 order, by which it had dismissed a bunch of review petitions.


A curative petition is the last judicial resort available for redressal of grievances in court which is normally decided by judges in-chamber. In rare cases, such petitions are given an open court hearing.


The petitioners, including the NGO, which has been spearheading the legal battle on behalf of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community, contended that there was an error in the judgement delivered on December 11 last year as it was based on an old law.


"The judgement was reserved on March 27, 2012 but the verdict was delivered after around 21 months and during this period lots of changes took place including amendment in laws which were not considered by the bench which delivered the judgement," the plea had said.The gay rights activists had said thousands from the LGBT community became open about their sexual identity during the past four years after high court decriminalised gay sex and they were now facing the threat of being prosecuted.

The crowd cheers as all the majestic buildings at Raisina Hill light up. The ceremony ends with the national anthem.

The haunting melody, Last Post, plays signalling the end of the Beating Retreat ceremony. The tricolour is brought down as is norm, before sundown. The melody is followed by the timeless Sare Jahan se Achcha.
Buglers sound the Retreat, everybody rises as the tricolour is brought down at Rajpath and on all buildings on Raisina Hill.

As the ceremony ends Raisina Hill lights up!

The ceremony traces its origins to the early 1950s when Major Roberts of the Indian Army indigenously developed the unique ceremony of display by the massed bands. Beating Retreat marks a centuries old military tradition, when the troops ceased fighting, sheathed their arms and withdrew from the battlefield and returned to the camps at sunset at the sounding of the Retreat. Colours and Standards are cased and flags lowered. The ceremony creates a nostalgia for the times gone by.

PM Modi and Dr Manmohan Singh at the ceremony.

The three chiefs of staff at the ceremony.

President Mukherjee at the ceremony. 

The band playing the haunting Aye mere pyare watan... from the Balraj Sahani starrer, Kabuliwallah.

The ceremony at the Vijay Chowk on January 29th every year marks the culmination of the four-day-long Republic Day celebrations. This year, 15 Military Bands, 18 Pipes and Drums Bands from Regimental Centres and Battalions are participating in Beating the Retreat ceremony. Besides one each of Indian Navy and Indian Air Force band will also form part of the event.

The principal conductor of the Beating Retreat ceremony will be Cdr VC DCruz while military bands conductor will be Subedar Major Ramesh Singh and the Navy and Air Force bands commander will be Master Chief Petty Officer (Musician-I) Ramesh Chand and Junior Warrant Officer Ashok Kumar respectively. Buglers will perform under the leadership of Nb Sub Jagdish Giri and pipes and drums bands will play under the instructions of Sub Maj EV Vijayan.


Pic: Vice president Hamid Ansari, his wife, Salma, PM Modi and former PM Dr Manmohan Singh.

Another picture of the ceremony. The Tri-Services Military Band, Indian classical instruments Sinfonietta and Jazz Symphonic Orchestra playing the tune Agyat Youvana and the Indian Classical Instruments Sinfonietta playing the tune Bharat Humko Jaan Se Pyara Hai add flavour to the ceremony. As many as 20 out of 26 performances have been composed by Indian musicians.

For the first time in the history of the beating the retreat ceremony since it began in 1954, sitar, santoor and tabla players accompany the military bands.

A bird's eye view of the beating the retreat ceremony at Vijay Chowk

The bands of BSF, Indo-Tibet Border Police and Delhi Police will play the tunes 'Samvidhan', 'Abhinandan' & Carriappa.

India Gate lit up in the colours of the national flag. 

The majestic Beating the Retreat ceremony begins at Vijay Chowk in New Delhi marking the end of the four-day Republic Day ceremony. Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament complex, India Gate and other important government buildings have been completely decked up in lights and tricolors ahead of the Beating Retreat ceremony.

This year, 15 Military Bands, 18 Pipes and Drums Bands from Regimental Centres and Battalions are participating in the ceremony.

Besides one each of Indian Navy and Indian Air Force band will also form part of the event and for the first time, bands from the State Police and Central Armed Police Force will also perform at the ceremony.

Delhi Traffic Police has made elaborate arrangements keeping the ceremony in mind. According to an advisoryVijay Chowk will remain closed today for general traffic from 3.30 to 9.30 PM.

The traffic will not be allowed on the stretches on Rafi Marg and Raisina Road and the entry and exit at Udyog Bhawan and Central Secretariat Metro Stations will remain closed from 2 pm to 6.30 pm.

Does Masood Azhar's 'protective custody' reflect a new policy at the top of the Pakistan army? Read

Are your investments bleeding? Finally, here's some reason to cheer.

The benchmark BSE Sensex surged over 401 points today to log its first weekly gain this year and closed at 24,870.69 as investors built fresh long positions in the new derivatives series amid a firming global trend after Bank of Japan adopted a negative interest rate policy.


On a weekly basis, the Sensex recovered 435.03 points, or 1.78 per cent, and the NSE Nifty rose 141.10 points, or 1.90 per cent, snapping three straight weekly losses.

Covering up of positions by speculators, fearing a further run-up in coming sessions, also helped the key indices rise. A firming trend at other Asian markets, led by Japan, after the Bank of Japan surprised markets by announcing a negative interest rate policy, buoyed sentiment here too, brokers said.

Kerala judge who ordered FIR against Chief Minister Chandy offers to resign after high court overruled him

Tom Hanks is officially America's favourite movie star. Read more

Photographer Rohit Chawla for India Today depicts Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei in Lesbos, Greece, in the manner of the little Syrian boy Aylan Kurdi whose body was washed ashore in Greece. He became a symbol of the hundreds of migrants who have died trying to reach Europe.

Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei paid a holiday visit to refugees and migrants flocking to the Greek island of Lesbos, sharing pictures and videos in appeals for their plight.

In a major relief to Congress-led UDF government, Kerala High Court today stayed a Vigilance Court order to register an FIR against Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Power Minister Arayadan Mohammed in the solar scam case.

Considering pleas filed by Chandy and Mohammed, Justice P Ubaid observed that the Inquiry Commissioner and Special Judge (Vigilance), Thrissur, acted mechanically without knowing the nature and extent of its powers.

Suspending the Vigilance Court orders for two months, the High Court also directed its administrative section to consider action against the Vigilance Court judge.

"The Vigilance Court suffers jurisdiction errors," the High Court said. In his petition, Chandy said the Vigilance Court proceeded to act upon newspaper reports to pass "the impugned order" and it has "committed a grave error of jurisdiction".

The Vigilance Court judge, who ordered the vigilance director to register an FIR against Chandy and Mohammed and six others in the case, had observed that everyone was equal before law, "be it a village man or a chief minister." Judge S S Vassan in the order had stated that he was not making any comments on the merits of the case.

Sania Mirza and her mixed doubles partner Ivan Dodig fell to Bruno Soares and Elena Vesnina in two sets -- 5-7, 6-7 (4) -- in the semi-finals of the Australian Open. 

A T20 match between India and Sri Lanka scheduled for February 12 is unlikely to held at Ferozshah Kotla stadium in New Delhi with the Delhi high court today refusing to direct the South Delhi Municipal Corporation to issue a provisional occupancy certificate to DDCA for it. 

The Madras high court on Friday directed the police to inquire into a complaint against DMDK leader Vijayakanth for allegedly spitting at journalists at a press meet in Chennai last month and proceed as per law. 

In a clear relief to Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and minister Arayadan Mohammed in what's known as the solar scam, the Kerala high court on Friday suspended the vigilance court order to register an FIR against the duo. 

A Saudi prince may have just beaten Donald Trump at a game of Twitter trolling.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said on Twitter that he's bailed the billionaire out twice -- and suggested the GOP presidential frontrunner might need his help a third time.

The exchange was initiated by Trump, who had retweeted a badly Photoshopped image showing the prince with Fox News host Megyn Kelly, calling him a co-owner of the network.  Read more

Just in: Kerala HC puts stay on FIR against Kerala CM Oomen Chandy for two months in the solar scam case.

In a matter of a few days, Tamil Nadu will begin in right earnest its preliminaries ahead of the assembly polls in May. Top leaders are headed to the state -- especially Chennai, Madurai and Trichy.

Here's a tentative agenda of the state's political calendar for February.

February 2: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Coimbatore to address BJP workers

February 5: DMDK's Vijayakant will reach New Delhi to meet BJP president Amit Shah.

February 14: PMK Dr S Ramadoss will convene a state-level workers' conference in Vandalur.

February 20: DMDK's Vijayakant has convened a meeting with his cadres at Vedal near Sriperumbudur.

February 22: DMK chief M Karunanidhi to begin interviewing candidates for the polls.

February 24: AIADMK workers will meet at the party Office to to greet their leader and Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalitha on her 68th birthday. They will also use the occasion to file nomination papers.

February 26: Rahul and Sonia are likely to visit Trichy.


In February the full bench of the Election Commission is expected to be in Chennai and tour two or three districts to assess the situation in the aftermath of the devastating December floods and also interact with political parties and the state administration.


Tamil Nadu political observers without mincing words say that that the 2016 TN assembly polls will be the testing ground for both the AIADMK and the DMK for obvious reasons. 

Two BSF jawans of 161 Battalion killed and five injured due to mortar shell bursting during an exercise at a firing range in Kishangarh, near Jaisalmer

A two-day governors' conference presided over by President Pranab Mukherjee will be held on February 9.

On the agenda, primarily, will be a discussion on national security issues in the backdrop of the Pathankot terror attacks. The other topics to be discussed are Prime Minister Modi's flagship programmes like Make in India, Start up, Digital India and the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

A discusson on the roles of governors in a situation like Arunachal Pradesh and stemming criticism about the alleged overreach of governors in a few states is likely to take place.

The detailed agenda has been circulated to all Raj Bhavans.

President Pranab Mukherjee is expected to sit through both the days, while Prime Minister Modi will drop by.

For the first time, all Union Ministers are expected to make video presentations about their achievements - which in turn will be an eye opener for state governments.

President Mukherjee has appointed Andhra Governor ESL Narasimhan as the doyen of governors to conduct the proceedings - a position Narasimhan is holding for the past four conferences. After all he is the senior-most governor among all the appointees. 

Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan has dismissed dating rumours, saying the possibility of him having an affair with Pope is more than the names that media was suggesting.

The 42-year-old "Bang Bang" star took to Twitter to share his response. "There are more chances of me having had an affair with the Pope then any of the (I'm sure wonderful) women the media has been naming. Thanks but no thanks," Hrithik posted.

There were rumours that Hrithik and Kangana dated though the duo never publicly acknowledged the relationship. Kangana and Hrithik have worked together in "Kites" and "Krrish 3".

Fans of conniving Frank Underwood can delight as the hit political drama "House of Cards" has been renewed for a fifth season by Netflix. The renewal comes ahead of the season four debut of the show on March 4. The streaming service also announced that showrunner Beau Willimon will not return, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "Prior to its fourth-season premiere, Netflix and (producers) Media Rights Capital are thrilled to announce that House of Cards will return for a fifth season in 2017. Concurrent with the renewal, creator and showrunner Beau Willimon is departing the critically acclaimed series," Netflix said Thursday in a statement.

In 1995, when T. P. Sreenivasan was Indian High Commissioner , an armed gang bored a hole through a solid masonry wall to gain access to his home. Then, despite 24-hour guards, the gangsters broke through locks and bars and entered the envoy's home, beating him and his wife senseless and plundering the house.

Students Federation of India (SFI) activists on Friday manhandled vice- chairman of the Kerala State Higher Education Council T.P. Sreenivasan on the sidelines of an educational event in Kovalam, Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.

In a video published by Asianet News, an SFI activist is clearly seen slapping Sreenivasan and  later other supporters are seen pushing and shoving him as he was walking towards his car during the Global Education Meet in Kovalam.Sreenivasan has alleged that the police on the spot did not react promptly to save him from the ordeal.


It is evident from the video that as he was pushed out of the venue, there were no police officers who came to his rescue.


The officers seem to have come only later.Condemning the attack, Congress MLA Hibi Eden said, "This shows the fascist nature of the CPI(M) and SFI. It is an insult to Kerala's student politics that a man renowned all over the world for his contribution to education has been attacked on our soil.


"The SFI activists were protesting against the event alleging that it was just a ruse to commercialize education and open up the education sector to more foreign players. Sreenivasan was attacked as he came out to recieve few guests. Following the assault, the former diplomat went to a resort in Kovalam.Meanwhile, some leaders of the CPI (M), have tendered an apology for the unruly behaviour. Sreenivasan is a former diplomat who has served in Indian missions in multiple nations including Austria, US, Kenya, Slovenia and several South Pacific Island States in his 37 years of service in the Indian Foreign Services. He has served as an Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, Vienna and Governor for India of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna.

AAP MLA Mahinder Yadav arrested by Delhi Police for allegedly assaulting government official.

Mumbai metro fare hike issue: Stay extended till February 11 by Bombay HC.

Telecom Secretary Rakesh Garg shunted out to Minority Affairs Ministry. J S Deepak to be the new Telecom Secretary.

@Iamtssudhir tweets to say that Rohith Vemula's mother along with others are likely to sit on a fast at Hyderabad University. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi likely to come and spend the night protesting with the family.

A former Allahabad high court judge Ashok Kumar Roopanwal was appointed by the Centre to probe circumstances leading to suicide of Dalit scholar of HyderabadCentralUniversity even as its teachers went on a hunger strike on Thursday backing the protesting students.

The appointment of the judge to head the one-man Judicial Commission was announced at a time when the Joint Action Committee for Social Justice spearheading the agitation over Rohith Vemulas suicide on January 17 said that students would intensify the struggle till all their demands are met.

Senior Union Human Resources Development ministry officials said in Delhi that Justice (retd) Roopanwal will review the entire sequence of events, the circumstances and to establish facts and correctives in the context of the incident in an university.

The Commission has been asked to submit its report within 3 months, it is learnt.

Earlier, a Fact Finding Committee constituted by the HRD ministry had submitted its report on the events in the University after which it was decided that Judicial Commission will be set up to look into the matter.

In Hyderabad, three teachers of the HCU sat on a one-day hunger strike demanding that Vice-Chancellor Appa Rao Podile be removed and in-charge VC Vipin Srivastava step down, in order to resume academic and administrative activities.

The protest by teachers came a day after a second batch of students on an indefinite fast demanding justice for Vemula were shifted to hospital following concerns over their health condition.

The sangh parivar has been a subject of probably greater distortion than any other group in the country. Read more

Kerala CM Oommen Chandy moves petition in HC seeking quashing of FIR ordered against him by Thrissur court. 

Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis take the first 7-6 (1) against the seventh seeded pair of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka in the finals of the women's doubles at the Australian Open.

It's been a tight first set with an exchange of breaks, which finally led to a tiebreaker.

The Indo-Swiss pair who are on an incredible winning streak, will be eyeing their maiden Australian Open title.

Sania and Hingis entered the finals after a record 35th successive match win and will be looking to earn their eighth title on the trot.

"One November night in 2001, Salman reached Aishwarya's apartment in a fit of anger. Eyewitnesses say he kept banging the door of her 17th floor apartment for hours. Some say he even threatened to jump off the roof if Aishwarya did not let him in."

Read excerpts from the book Being Salman.

The newly-formed Goa Forward party has opposed the release of a book on Mahatma Gandhi's killer Nathuram Godse scheduled for Saturday on the death anniversary of the Father of the Nation.

The book, titled 'Nathuram Godse -- The Story of an Assassin' and written by Anup Ashok Sardesai, is scheduled for release Saturday at the government-owned Ravindra Bhavan in Margao by BJP leader and the bhavan's chairman Damodar Naik.

"The use of government premises for such an unpatriotic cause should be stopped. We will hold 'satyagraha' in front of Ravindra Bhavan if the government allows the function to happen,' Goa Forward's secretary Mohandas Lolienkar told PTI.

The head of a powerful religious body said on Thursday he is willing to review Pakistan's harsh blasphemy laws that critics say are regularly misused and have led to the deaths of hundreds, to decide if they are Islamic.

Pakistan's religious and political elites almost universally keep clear of debating blasphemy laws in a country where criticism of Islam is a highly sensitive subject.

Even rumours of blasphemy have sparked rampaging mobs and deadly riots. But Muhammad Khan Sherani, chairman of a body that advises the government on the compatibility of laws with Islam, told Reuters he was willing to reopen the debate and see whether sentences as harsh as the death penalty were fair.  Read more

American Airlines Flight 109, traveling to Los Angeles from London, was more than two hours into its journey and close to Keflavik, Iceland, when several passengers and crew members suddenly and mysteriously became ill.

Those aboard were startled, news reports said, and the pilot decided to fly back to London. The plane landed safely. But on Thursday, the mystery of what happened on the plane, which captured headlines in Britain and beyond, remained unclear.

The Daily Telegraph in Britain, citing a passenger on the flight, reported that one crew member had fainted. American Airlines said in an emailed statement that two passengers and several flight attendants had complained of feeling lightheaded during the flight on Wednesday, prompting the captain to return to Heathrow Airport near London.

It said there were 172 passengers and 16 crew members on the Boeing 777, which landed at 5:05 p.m. News reports said the plane had been met by paramedics, police cars and firefighters.

Passengers and crew members were evaluated by health officials, American Airlines said, but none requested further medical attention. Luggage was removed for inspection, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The aircraft was inspected by maintenance workers upon arrival, the company said, but it declined to elaborate. "We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience," it said. The London Ambulance Service wrote on Twitter that it had been called to Heathrow on Wednesday, although it did not specify whether the intervention was in connection with the American Airlines flight.

"We checked over six patients who were feeling unwell," it wrote. "They were discharged on scene." Although it remained unclear what had caused people on board to become ill, dizziness and loss of consciousness are among a range of symptoms that have been associated in the past with jet engine fumes leaking into the cabin.

Modern commercial jets are designed to siphon heated air, drawn from the engines, for use in cabin pressurization and air conditioning systems. Occasionally, that air can become contaminated with traces of engine oil or hydraulic fluid, provoking acute symptoms, sometimes called aerotoxic syndrome, that later subside.

Airlines and regulators closely monitor such risks, but some pilots' and flight attendants' unions worry about the health risks of repeated exposure to toxic substances.

Four Alaska Airlines flight attendants filed a lawsuit against Boeing last year after they fell unconscious when toxic fumes entered the cabin during a flight in 2013, forcing an emergency landing in Chicago. Their lawsuit claims that Boeing was aware of the health risks from contaminated "bleed air," while the company has long maintained that cabin air is safe to breathe.

News reports of the American Airlines flight fit "a classic pattern" suggesting contamination by engine oil, said Susan Michaelis, head of research at the Global Cabin Air Quality Executive, a group representing aviation industry workers.

Low-level contamination of cabin air by oil "happens on all flights," Michaelis said, but in most cases it is not detected by people on board. Aviation regulators acknowledge that engine fuel leaks are the primary cause of cabin air contamination, but they insist that the phenomenon poses a limited risk to passenger safety.

Nonetheless, the International Civil Aviation Organization, based in Montreal, published guidelines last year aimed at raising industry awareness of the problem.

When journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda went missing, police told wife Sandhya 'getting abducted was fashionable' and he would soon return. More than 90 court appearances and a change in government later, she is still searching. Read 

Residents living in parts of Chembur, Wadala and Ghatkopar woke up on Thursday morning to see thick smoke cover large parts of their locality. The smoke was later learned to be on account of a fire which broke out at the Deonar dumping ground at 3am.

Almost 12 hours later, authorities managing it were finding it difficult to bring it under control. The fire was on the Ghatkopar side of the 132-acre dumping ground.

A senior civic official at Deonar said, "From Thursday morning the smoke started to affect residents of Mankhurd, Govandi and Chembur severely. "
Meanwhile, lower night temperatures and higher pollution levels ensured that Mumbaikars woke up to heavy smog on Thursday morning.

The city's air quality index deteriorated to the poor category. When air quality is poor, people with heart or lung diseases, older adults and children should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion.

Here's YOUR chance to chat with the superstar RIGHT HERE before he makes his big screen appearance in Ghayal Once Again on February 5. He will arrive at the Rediff.com office at around 12:30 pm today. Stay with us.

The Supreme Court stays criminal proceedings against MS Dhoni in an AP court over his picture in a magazine as Lord Vishnu.

A court in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh had issued a non-bailable warrant against Mahendra Singh Dhoni for allegedly 'denigrating' a Hindu god by posing as Lord Vishnu on the cover page of a magazine.

Dhoni had been asked to be present in court on February 25th in the controversial cover case.

The Supreme Court had earlier stayed the criminal proceedings against Dhoni and also issued notice to social activist Jayakumar Hiremath, who had filed the case against the cricketer.

Dhoni had earlier approached the apex court seeking quashing of a criminal case against him in the Karnataka High Court for allegedly outraging religious sentiments for his portrayal of Lord Vishnu on a magazine cover.

The Karnataka High Court, however, refused to quash the case, prompting Dhoni to file an appeal in the apex court.

Dhoni is currently in Australia to play five One Day International's and three T20Is against the hosts from January 12th to January 31st.

Eyebrows were raised when actress and BJP MP Hema Malini was alloted land in Andheri for setting up a dance academy. Now in what could add fuel to the fire it transpires that the 2,000 square metre plot in Oshiwara in Andheri was given to her for a pittance, just Rs 70,000. The value of the plot is at least around Rs 40 crores.

Economic Times reports that the actress was alloted another plot of land in 1997 which she could not develop because it came under CRZ, however she did not hand over the plot back to the state government.

The details were revealed in reply to a query by RTI activist Anil Galgali who filed a query before the Mumbai suburban collector seeking details of the land being handed over to the actress and the correspondence with her in that regard. 

The "9 Weeks" star Kim Basinger will play Elena Lincoln, business partner and former lover of the Christian Grey, in "Fifty Shades Darker".

In the second book of EL James' best-selling series, Lincoln sets herself up to be an antagonist for Anastasia Steele, reported Entertainment Weekly.

The 62-year-old actress will join Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan, who are returning to reprise their roles of Steele and Grey, respectively. Filmmaker James Foley will helm the project. He is also directing the next installment, "Fifty Shades Freed". Niall Leonard is penning both the adaptations. "Fifty Shades Darker" is slated for a February 10, 2017 release.

Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba, has been appointed as the Flag Officer Commanding in Chief, Western Naval Command.

BJP departs from practice, names Sonowal as Assam CM candidate

Now, women seek entry into Mumbai's Hali Ali dargah