A 32-year-old model today filed a complaint of molestation against Mika Singh even as the Bollywood singer lodged a counter-complaint alleging extortion. 

The Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari said that as the moon could not be sighted today, Eid will be celebrated on July 7. 

These are the changes announced in the portfolios of the Union Council of Ministers today.   

D V Sadananda Gowda shifted from Law Ministry to Statistics and Programme Implementation

Prakash Javadekar to replace Smriti Irani as HRD minister. Irani to get Textile Ministry. 

Retired IPS officer D G Vanzara's son Arjun Vanzara, who is a government officer, was today caught red-handed by the Gujarat anti-corruption bureau while accepting bribe from a farmer, police said.

FIR registered against singer Mika Singh at Mumbai's Versova police station for allegedly molesting, assaulting a designer.

JUST IN: Telangana lower court judges call off their mass leave "protest", to join duty tomorrow.

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has called the reports of Priyanka Gandhi taking reigns of party's election campaign in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh as 'false'.   

JUST IN: In view of last week's terrorist attack in the Bangladeshi capital, the Dhaka-Kolkata Maitree Express train services have been suspended for now.

The pound has fallen below $1.31 for the first time in 31 years amid growing concerns about the financial stability of the UK after the decision to leave the EU.

The Independent reports that The Bank of England's twice-yearly stability report had earlier confirmed that the financial stability of the UK had already been affected by Brexit, helping to push the pound lower.

"There is evidence that some risks have begun to crystallise. The current outlook for UK financial stability is challenging,' the Bank of England said.

Iraq interior minister submits resignation after deadly blast, reports AFP.

The death toll from Saturday's suicide bombing in Baghdad has risen to 200, the deputy head of the security committee of the Baghdad Provincial Council, Mohamed al-Rubaye‎, said in a televised phone interview Monday.

A suicide truck bomb ripped through a busy shopping district in Baghdad over the weekend, killing more than 100 in what was the deadliest single attack in the war-weary country in years.

A reported sex attack at an Austrian swimming pool that sparked a ban on refugees was made up by a 13-year-old girl, police have said.

The teenager reported the alleged assault at a leisure centre in Mistelbach, Lower Austria, last month claiming she had been forced to perform oral sex in the women's changing room.

Following descriptions of the suspect as a "dark-skinned' foreign man, managers held an emergency meeting and temporarily suspended access to the pool for asylum seekers. Read more

French lawmakers say a parliamentary investigation found multiple intelligence failures before Islamic extremist attacks that killed 147 people in Paris last year, and are urging the creation of a US-style counter-terrorism agency.

Conservative legislator Georges Fenech, who headed the investigation commission, said all the attackers involved in the 2015 violence had been known to authorities.

Some had past convictions or were under judicial surveillance. Fenech said intelligence authorities questioned in the inquiry acknowledged failures. He recommended a national counterterrorism agency like that created in the US after the September 11 attacks.

The lawmakers also recommended better European intelligence cooperation. The attacks targeted a kosher market, Charlie Hebdo newspaper, the Bataclan concert hall, the national stadium and Parisian cafes.

A FIR has been filed and two police teams sent to arrest the men responsible for killing a puppy by dropping it from the roof of a five-storey building in Chennai.

The man in the video has been identified as Gautam S, a final year student from Madha medical college in Chennai. Students from the college sent the details about Gautam and the person who shot the video to the NewsMinute.

Shravan Krishnan, founder of the Chennai based Hotel for Dogs and an animals right activist posted on his Facebook account that the parents of them students responsible for killing the puppy have been told to get their wards to surrender at the Kundrathur police station in Chennai.

Krishnan writes that the chairman of the college has also spoken to their parents and told them they wouldn't be allowed to write their exams if they don't surrender.  Krishnan has been posting continuous updates about the investigation on his Facebook page.

The suspect's parents have promised to bring them in tonight.

Shocked by the brutality, the Humane Society International has also announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh to any one who provides information about the person that could lead to his arrest and conviction.

A news report states that when the police went to nab the two, they escaped.

Delhi CM's Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar and four others sent to 5-day CBI's custody by special court in a graft case.

Arvind Kejriwal's Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar was among five persons arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday in a graft case, sparking a vicious attack by a livid the Aam Aadmi Party on the Centre, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of taking revenge for Delhi poll loss.


As the arrests over allegedly showing undue favours to a private company in award of government contracts worth over Rs 50 crore triggered a full-blown confrontation between the Centre and the AAP, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said never has any central government "stooped to such low level".

The Centre was also accused of "political vendetta" and "paralyzing" governance in Delhi. "Mr Modi, even if you only leave us with just peons, we will run the government with them," Sisodia said. Kumar, a 1989 IAS officer of UT cadre, was called along with Tarun Sharma, a Deputy Secretary in Kejriwal's office, besides three other private persons for questioning at the CBI headquarters.

After being questioned for half a day, the CBI decided to place the two officers under arrest along with a close aide of Kumar, Ashok Kumar and owners of a private firm Sandeep Kumar and Dinesh Gupta.

Thrity-four people, facing stone-pelting charges, will get amnesty on the occasion of Eid, with the Jammu and Kashmir government today approving withdrawal of 104 cases against them.

The decision of the Home Department, approving withdrawal of the cases, came after Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti gave instructions for reviewing such cases pertaining to the period between 2008 and 2014 and set up a three-member committee for this purpose.

Significantly, the Chief Minister herself is in-charge of the Home Department.

"The Committee had taken up for review the cases pertaining to the period between 2008 and 2009 in the first phase and has accordingly recommended that 104 cases registered during this period involving 634 persons be withdrawn," an official spokesman said.

"The parents of the accused persons and the accused youth themselves, against whom the cases are to be withdrawn, shall have to give an undertaking that they will not indulge in any such activities in future," the spokesman added.

The recommendations of the Committee have been forwarded to the Police for immediate follow-up action. The Committee has, however, made it clear that the persons involved in heinous crimes and offences will be excluded from the review, he said. The Committee has sought three weeks time for review of the cases pertaining to the period between 2010 and 2014.

Gulbarga ragging case: Gulbarga court postpones bail plea order till July 8th. Three accused students are currently in Kalburgi central jail.

Dubbing the Cabinet expansion as a 'bankruptcy of vision', the Congress on Tuesday said the incompetent and non-performing ministers have not been punished or dropped.

"An important facet of this Cabinet expansion is the incompetent and non-performing ministers of Union Cabinet have not been punished or dropped, nor has anybody been rewarded. This according to us reflects a bankruptcy of vision and creation of futuristic leadership," Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also utterly failed to address the issues of governance and delivery. "No attention has been paid towards fixing runaway inflation or creation of jobs by infusion of innovative leadership in the Cabinet. Modi ji appears to be completely oblivious to the gloom in trade and business..to successive contractors in core sector industry, to falling exports for now 17 months, crisis in the banking sector and a devaluing rupee," he added.

Surjewala alleged that the hate mongers and those propagating the agenda of division and deception have been given protection in the Cabinet.

BJP leader S S Ahluwalia, after taking the oath today, touched the feet of President Pranab Mukherjee. When Mukherjee was the finance minister in the UPA government, Ahluwalia and current Finance Minister Arun Jaitley used to regularly meet him on a variety of issues during Parliament sessions. 

JUST IN: Calcutta high court will now be known as Kolkata high court, Bombay HC as Mumbai HC and Madras HC as Chennai HC, said Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

The decision on who will replace RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan will take place after Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns from his trip to Africa on July 11. The PM is embarking on a five-day visit to Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya beginning July 7. 

Bangladeshi police said on Tuesday that security forces may have shot dead a hostage by mistake during a siege of a Dhaka cafe on the weekend, believing he was one of the attackers, reports Reuters.

A senior police official in Dhaka, said Saiful Islam Chowkidar, a pizza maker at the Holey Artisan restaurant, was among six men who were killed by the police on Saturday when officers stormed the eatery to end a 12-hour siege.

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the killing of the 20 hostages and two police officers during the 12-hour siege that ended after the army stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery popular with expats in the diplomatic zone in Dhaka, killing six attackers and capturing one alive.

Hostages who were killed include Tarishi Jain, 19. Nine Italians, 7 Japanese, one American of Bangladeshi origin, and two Bangladeshis were also among the people who were killed.

"You have seen the pictures of the slain militants supplied to the media, we have found out the background of four of them," a senior police officer, familiar with the investigation, told PTI, preferring anonymity.

The official added that all the attackers were in their 20s. Four of them came from wealthy families and studied at elite schools and universities in Dhaka and abroad.

One of the slain assaulters was studying in a Malaysian university while his family said they had no idea that he returned home and took part in the attack. He said the fifth youth who hailed from a village in northwestern Bogra and studied in a madrassa there led the attackers during the Friday night's massacre.

"This Khairul (of Bogra) was wanted by police for the past seven months for three deadly militant attacks in northwestern region...We understand it is him who led the Holey Artisan restaurant attack on that night," the official said.

According to mass circulation Prothom Alo Khairul was missing for the past several months. Bogra police had detained his parents for questioning.

One of slain attackers, private BRAC university student Rohan Imtiaz, was the son of a leader of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Awami League while his mother was a teacher Dhaka's posh Scholastica School.

The family reported him missing in December last year. Of the five pictures of five bodies provided by police, four appeared to be the ones seen in the photos published by SITE in which the youths were seen smiling in front of an IS black flag.

Image: Policemen stand guard along a road leading to the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

Terrible news.

Reuters reports that a Bangladesh police official says they may have shot dead a hostage at Dhaka cafe by mistake, believing he was an attacker.

Details awaited.  

BSP chief Mayawati reacts to the reshuffle: "Giving ordinary ministerial berths to 2-3 leaders from weaker sections after two years of government will not do any good. Modi's inclusion of faces from weaker sections is to cover up his neglect of these communities. Inclusion of faces from weaker sections is to also cover up Modi's favour to big corporates like Adani," the former UP CM said.

The Council of ministers expansion focuses on more representation for backward castes and Dalits. Anupriya Patel is a leader of the Kurmi caste. Jasvantsinh Bhabhor is a member of Parliament from the Dahod constituency in Gujara and is a member of Scheduled Tribe. Faggan Singh Kulaste is also from the Scheduled Tribes, while Ajay Tamta, Ramdas Athalwale, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Ramesh Chandappa Jigajinagi and Krishna Raj, a BJP leader from UP, are members of Scheduled Castes.


Pic: Minister Anupriya Patel is from the Kurmi caste.

Haaretz reports: Two Swiss Air Force jets were scrambled to escort an Israeli passenger plane en route from New York to Tel Aviv due to a bomb alert on Tuesday, according to Skyguide, a company that monitors Swiss airspace.

El Al said it had received an anonymous tip about a bomb on board flight LY002. Although it added that the plane was continuing on its way to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport, it however would not say whether it was a false alarm. The company gave no further details.

There was no emergency declared at Ben Gurion.

The two Swiss fighter jets were scrambled to escort the El Al Boeing 747 airliner and to establish visual contact with the pilot, as it flew over Switzerland, Skyguide spokesman Vladi Barrosa told dpa. Barrosa said the alarm was likely triggered by the pilots. The airplane has since left Swiss airspace.

Representational image

Mumbai court adjourns hearing on application by defence lawyer in 26/11 case to recall Headley for cross examination. Next hearing on July 26.

The Election Commission is prepared to simultaneously hold general and state assembly polls provided there is a consensus among all political parties and constitutional amendments to this effect, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi has said.

"As a commission, this is our recommendation to the Law Ministry that elections in the country can be held together for both state assemblies as well as Lok Sabha," Zaidi said.

"To conduct these elections simultaneously we would need certain logistic arrangements in terms of procurement of more electronic machines, hiring of temporary workers, and staggering the election dates," said Zaid, who was here to attend the International Election Visitors programme on the invitation of the Australian Election Commission.

First reactions from the Shiv Sena. Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut on the reshuffle: "All the faces are from BJP, not NDA. This is a PM's decision," said Raut.


No confirmations yet whether the ally Shiv Sena did finally attend PM Modis Cabinet Expansion and the oath ceremony, but reports did say that Sena MP and Union Minister Anant Geete would attend.

Yesterday, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray had said the BJP central leadership did not have any discussion with him on the Union Cabinet expansion and that his party will not stand on anybodys doors seeking favours.

Uddhav had said that even during 2014 when the NDA swept to power, his party did not get its due. Thackeray said getting ministerial berths was a secondary issue for him and that he would put forward his views if discussions were to take place.

Thackeray said that the Sena will never stand helplessly on anybodys doors asking for anything.

MJ Akbar's debut as a minister caps a remarkable political turnaround for the journalist and author who made a dashing foray into politics as a Congress MP in 1989, thanks to his proximity to the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, before a long spell in wilderness.

65-year-old Akbar, who was recently elected to Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh, is seen as an articulate and modern Muslim voice in BJP who can also be trusted to defend it at times on the strident Hindutva pitch with his eloquent evocation of Modi's developmental agenda.

A party spokesperson, he has often spoken on the government's foreign policies. An eminent editor and author of several well-received books, including a biography of Jawaharlal Nehru, he debuted in politics in 80s as he came close to the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and wielded considerable influence.

He contested Lok Sabha election in 1989 from Kishanganj in Bihar and won but Congress lost badly. He drifted apart from the party after Gandhi's death in 1991 and he soon returned to full time journalism.

Though he was critical of Modi, the then Gujarat Chief Minister, following 2002 riots, he gradually came closer to the saffron party as he assailed the Gandhi family over its leadership of Congress. BJP expects that Akbar will provide it what the party has often lacked -- an eloquent English-speaking Muslim voice.

Image: PM Modi with his new council of ministers

So long, Nigel Farage, the latest rat to jump from the sinking Brexit ship. Read

Shekhar Gupta @ShekharGupta The #ModiCabinet changes fully reflect the Modi-Shah approach to governance purely through expansion of political power. Talent can follow

At a press conference this morning, former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit said she was willing to do whatever the party asked of her. "If the party wants me to do something I will do it. But let there be an announcement first," she said. "I am UP's bahu, will do what I'm asked to do," Dikshit said.

Dikshit, a Congress veteran, who had refused to be the chief ministerial candidate for the UP polls, has bowed to the pressure from the high command and reportedly given her nod to party's wishes, a NDTV report said. She is likely to be named as the presumptive chief minister of Uttar Pradesh by the Congress.

On being asked to confirm reports about Priyanka Gandhi being roped in to campaign for the party across UP and not just the family bastions of Amethi and Rae Bareli, Dikshit said Priyanka would be an asset. "Priyanka is familiar with UP, she will be an great asset," the former Delhi CM said.

Asked about the arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's principal secretary, Dikshit said that the CBI must have some information and that the arrest  was not politically motivated.

PM Narendra Modi invites the newly inducted ministers for tea at 2:30 pm today. 

Vijay Goel's inclusion in the Union Council of Ministers marks a comeback of sorts for the leader after BJP virtually removed him from Delhi, where he once hoped to be the chief ministerial face, and sent him to the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan.

The three-time Lok Sabha MP, who was a minister in the PMO in the first NDA government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, remained a prominent party leader in the national capital before being sidelined in the last two Assembly polls.

A skillful and media savvy politician, Goel may be used, a section in the party believes, to counter AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, whose consistent attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi often force the top BJP brass into damage control mode with the state leadership being seen as largely ineffectual.

As a minister of state, he had also earlier held the charges of youth affairs and sports and parliamentary affairs. The 62-year-old leader entered the Rajya Sabha for the first time in 2014. His Rajya Sabha biodata says that he also led a country- wide campaign for banning lottery and a movement for prohibition of smoking in public places.

With Modi often exhorting his ministers to do the extra bit to spread the word about his government's work among the masses, Goel's knack of publicity over public issues is likely to come in handy.


A file pic of Vijay Goel when he was given a rose for violating the Odd-Even rule in New Delhi

The portfolis that the ministries had are: Sanwar Lal Jat: Water resources and river development, Ganga rejuvenation (reporting to Uma Bharti; M K Kundariya: Agriculture; Nihalchand: Panchayati Raj; Mansukbhai Vasva: Tribal Affairs; Ram Shankar Katheria: HRD (pictured).

The five names dropped from PM Modi's Council of ministers. Nihalchand, Ram Shankar Katheria, Sanwar Lal Jat, Manuskhbhai D Vasva and M K Kundariya. A few of those who are on their way out, especially Katheria, may be drafted in the BJP organisation which is due for a recast.

The expansion of the Union Cabinet, with the induction of 19 ministers of state, reflects PM Narendra Modi 's economic and development priorities outlined in the Budget as well as political goals such as reaching out to Dalits ahead of crucial assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh due early next year.

The Hindu reports: Article 72 of the Constitution prescribes that the total number of Ministers, including the Prime Minister, in the Council of Ministers shall not exceed 15 per cent of the number of members of the House of the People.

Prior to January 1, 2004 (effective date of 91st Amendment of the Constitution) the Prime Minister had the discretion to appoint any number in his council of ministers.

But the Constitution (Ninety-first Amendment) Act in 2003 made a drastic change in curbing such power of the Prime Minister.'

This Amendment added clause (1A) in this Article which made a specific provision that, the total number of Ministers, including the Prime Minister, in no case can exceed 15 per cent of the total number of Lok Sabha members.

Among the 19 inductees, three MPs each from Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh took oath while four from Rajasthan were also sworn in. At least three ministers of state are likely to be dropped

The PM and President pose with some of the new inductees.

So Prime Minister Narendra Modi today carried out a major expansion of his Council of Ministers, inducting 19 new faces, including several dalit and OBC leaders as well as from poll-bound states like UP.

Prakash Javadekar, who held the independent charge of environment, was the lone minister promoted to the cabinet rank while all new inductees took oath as ministers of state.

Today's exercise underlines BJP's attempts at wooing dalits and OBCs, whose votes would be crucial to its fortunes in key states like UP and Gujarat.

President Pranab Mukherjee and PM Modi with the newly inducted Ministers after the cabinet expansion. 

PP Chaudhary, BJP, Lok Sabha, Rajasthan takes oath as Minister followed by Dr Subhash Ramrao Bhamre (pictured). A surgeon by training, he has worked at J J Hospital Mumbai and Tata Cancer Hospital Mumbai in the past.

The oath-taking ceremony ends the way it began, with the National Anthem.

That's the other MP sworn in today, Krishna Raj, who represents the Shahjahanpur Lok Sabha constituency. 

Anupriya Patel sworn in. She is the only other woman sworn in today.  Patel, leader of BJP's Uttar Pradesh ally Apna Dal, takes oath as minister of state.

Chhotu Ram Chaudhary sworn in. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and has won the Indian general elections, 2014 from the Nagaur.

Mansukh Mandaviya sworn in. 

Krishna Raj, sworn in. She represents the Shahjahanpur Lok Sabha constituency. She has been a member on the committee on petitions and energy as well as a member of the joint Parliament committee on land acquisition bill.

Arjun Meghwal, MP from Bikaner (and chief whip of the party in the Lok Sabha) take oath followed by Jaswant Singh Bahabhor,  MP from Dahod in Gujarat and Mahendranath Pandey. Ajay Tamta sworn in; he represents the represents the Almora constituency.

PM Modi watches.

Ramesh Chandappa, Lok Sabha MP from Karnataka, sworn in as MoS, eminent journalist MJ Akbar takes oath. Akbar takes the oath in English. 

Anil Madhav Dave, Rajen Gohain, Parshottam Rupala take oath as a ministers in the new Modi Cabinet at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

Ramesh Jigajinagi and Viay Goel take oath as ministers at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.  Followed by Ramdas Athavale. Athavale begins the oath without taking his name and is asked to repeat the oath. All of them have been sworn in as Ministers of State.

The rare smile on Arun Jaitley's face as he and Defence minister Manohar Parrikar share a light moment.

Faggan Singh Kulaste takes oath as Cabinet Minister, followed by SS Ahluwalia takes oath. Ahluwalia is the BJP vice president and the MP from Darjeeling. 

President Pranab Mukherjee arrives amid fanfare at the Durbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan for the Modi government's Cabinet reshuffle.

BJP lawmaker Arjun Ram Meghwal set off on his bicycle this morning for Rashtrapati Bhavan where he will take oath along with 18 other leaders in a crucial expansion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's council of ministers on Tuesday morning. A total of 19 ministers will be inducted into the Cabinet today.

Sources said all those inducted today will be junior ministers or ministers of state and not of cabinet rank, though some may be given independent charge of their ministries. There will be no change in the top four portfolios - Defence, Home, Finance and External Affairs, they said.

In the front row at Durbar Hall are VP Hamid Ansari, Arun Jaitley, Manohar Parrikar, Maneka Gandhi.

Amit Shah, straddled by PM Modi and Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari.

Set for ministerial jobs in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet expansion, three politicians are planning to make a grand entry to the Rashtrapati Bhavan -- on their bicycles. Arjun Ram Meghwal was on Tuesday morning asking for permission to ride into the presidential palace grounds on his cycle. Two others, Mansukhbhai Mandavia and Anil Dave, may also do the same. 

They haven't been on the best of terms and it seems the alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena will worsen further after the latter, sources say, has decided to boycott the Modi Cabinet reshuffle ceremony, which is to be held today at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Sources say the Sena is upset with BJP as it was not consulted or informed about the expansion. 

The Enforcement Directorate has issued summons to Karti Chidambaram, son of former Finance Minister P Chidamabram, in connection with its money laundering probe in the Aircel-Maxis deal of the 2G scam. 

"Success! Engine burn complete. Juno is now orbiting Jupiter, poised to unlock the planet's secrets," tweeted @NASA. NASA scientists have confirmed that Juno, a football-field-sized spacecraft designed to unlock some of the secrets of our solar system, successfully entered an orbit around Jupiter. 

Even as everyone waits to see the new faces being inducted into the Cabinet today, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted that she will be unable to attend the swearing-in ceremony, as she has a meeting with the foreign minister of Hungary. 

Sheila Dikshit, 78, has finally succumbed to her party's wishes and will be named the presumptive chief minister of Uttar Pradesh by the Congress today. 

On the eve of the cabinet reshuffle, the second of his 25-month-old government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the exercise would reinforce his government's focus as outlined in the Budget this year -- the Budget had focused on the agriculture sector and development of women and weaker sections.