Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu today favoured taking a relook at the anti-defection law.

The suggestion came against the backdrop of a large number of MLAs from opposition parties joining the ruling parties in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

"Everybody has a right to change party. But, after changing the party, by evening, one should respectably quit the position that came because of the party. But that is not happening in most of the states in the country," the Bharatiya Janata Party leader said.

The senior BJP Minister was quick to add he is not talking about any particular party.

"So, there is a need to relook at the law on party defections. Earlier, it is said in the law that it would apply if you change individually and does not apply if changes are wholesale.

"Now people have started changing wholesale. It would help if a rule is made that (your) position would go if party is changed, either individually or wholesale. I am not saying this with any party in view. Because I am Parliamentary Affairs Minister, I am talking about the entire country," he said.

Twenty-four people were killed when Boko Haram fighters opened fire on mourners, a local community leader said today, in the second attack in northeast Nigeria this week after a relative lull.

The attack happened at about 8 pm (local time) in Kuda village near the town of Gulak, in Adamawa state, according to Maina Ularamu, a former local government chairman in nearby Madagali.

Adamawa police spokesman Othman Abubakar, based in the state capital Yola, 255 kilometres away, confirmed the attack. But he gave a lower death toll of 18 and said 'many others were injured'.

Ularamu said the attack occurred during a 'mourning celebration' to mark the death of a local community leader.

"They came on motorcycles and opened fire on the crowd, killing 24. Most of the victims were women. They looted food supplies and burnt homes and they left almost an hour later," he told AFP.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has ordered the state police to probe Narada sting operation and act according to law.

"The state government will conduct a probe in the matter. I want the truth to come out," Banerjee said.

Narada News, led by its editor-in-chief Matthew Samuel, released several videos of a sting operation showing senior Trinamool Congress, including some ministers, accepting money for getting works done.

The ruling party had dismissed the tapes as 'doctored' and said the dirty tricks departments of its political opponents were behind the 'smear' campaign.

Some of the senior Trinamool leaders who were caught in the sting operation include the then state cabinet ministers Subrata Mukherjee and Farhad Hakim. Senior party leaders Sultan Ahmed, Suvendu Adhikari, Sugata Roy, Iqbal Ahmed, Madan Mitra and Mukul Roy also featured in the sting video.

The city of London will mark the International Day of Yoga on June 21 with a series of events near the iconic Tower Bridge and on the river Thames over the next few days, the Indian High Commission said today.

The high commission announced that the main event to mark the day will be held at the Potters Fields Park, near the iconic Tower Bridge on Sunday and is expected to be attended by hundreds of people.

"The event is for British friends to enjoy and benefit from the life changing experience of yoga," a high commission statement said.

Some of the other key events include a floating yoga event on board a barge named 'Avontuur' on the River Thames on Monday morning, to be attended by Indian envoy to the UK Navtej Sarna among others.

Another on the 73rd floor of The Shard -- London's famous skyscraper and the tallest building in the UK, on Tuesday -- the official UN designated date for IDY.

The conversion to Islam of a 14- year-old girl from Kalasha community, Pakistans smallest religious minority, has sparked clashes between majority Muslims and a few thousand remaining members of the animist tribe.

Nestled in the picturesque Chitral valley, the Kalasha people, who follow an ancient animistic religion and number only around 3,000, had claimed that the teenage girl was lured to convert to Islam.

However, a district official today said that the girl has recorded her statement before the court that she converted out of her own free will.

Yesterday, clashes were reported between Muslims and the Kalasha people after the girl returned back to her family amid reports that she was lured and coerced to convert to Islam.

According to eye witnesses, a mob of few hundred Muslim men attacked a house in the Kalash tribes valley of Bumburate in the northern district of Chitral after the girl returned and police had to fire tear gas to disperse the crowd.

Chitral Deputy Commissioner Usama Waraich said that the situation was now under control and the issue has been resolved as both local Muslims and Kalasha people have agreed to respect the girls decision.


However, some elders of the Kalasha community still claim that the girl was forcefully converted and demand an impartial probe into the matter.

Udta Punjab, the drug-themed Bollywood film that was embroiled in a censorship row and multiple legal battles, was released across the country today as scheduled without any incident being reported, barring protests by Shiv Sena activists in Ludhiana.

Police took 30 activists of Shiv Sena (Hindustan) into preventive custody in Ludhiana after they tried to create ruckus when the movie screening was going on in a multiplex there even as tight security arrangements were put in place at various places across Punjab.

They were later released.

The Police said that security at cinema halls and multiplexes, especially in prominent shopping malls at various cities including Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar, was beefed up.

In Ludhiana, Shiv Sena (Hindustan) leader Rajiv Tandon demanded that the film should be banned because it was defaming Punjab.

The activists of the outfit tried to forcibly enter Goverdan Mall where the Abhishek Chaubey-directed film was being screened. Police, however,prevented their entry.

No other untoward incident has been reported.

Meanwhile, Union Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal today said the controversy surrounding Udta Punjab is an attempt to malign the image of Punjab and its people.

Drug abuse is not the only problem coming from the other side of the border. We have also faced problem of infiltration from the border region, Badal, an MP of the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab, said.

She alleged that it (Udta Punjab controversy) was a clearcut attempt to vilify the state and spread false views about it and said, One knows who has funded the film.

On Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi claiming that seven out of 10 youths in Punjab were drug addicts, she said, If this was the case, why did Congress-led governments not check the menace for so many years?

On drug menace, the Union minister said it was a worldwide phenomenon and even the US cannot control the problem.

A 65-year-old man, with a history of cardiac ailment, collapsed and died of heart attack while watching a horror film at a theatre Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, police said today.

The man hailing from Kadapa district in Andhra Pradesh was watching Hollywood horror flick The Conjuring 2 with his friend yesterday when he complained of uneasiness and fainted, they said.

He was taken to a private hospital, but declared brought dead. Doctors said the man died of heart attack, police said. The man had suffered heart attack in the past too, they said, adding, his family did not prefer to file a case and the body was taken to Andhra Pradesh for last rites.

In a passionate letter to Hillary Clinton, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Friday said that the Democratic presidential nominee continued to be a 'role model' for women across the globe and lauded her on making history by becoming the first woman presumptive presidential nominee.

'Kindly accept my heartiest congratulations on clinching the nomination as the Democratic Party's candidate for the election of the President of the United States of America. It is a matter of immense pride and satisfaction for all the women in the world and in particular, women in democratic electoral politics that you have become the first woman to be a candidate of one of the two major political parties in the United States for the Presidency,' the letter stated.

Asserting that in creating history, Hillary has given voice and hope to the cause of women empowerment across the world, the chief minister added that she had no doubts that she will continue to be a role model for women across the world, as her political career peaks.

'I have fond memories of your visit to Chennai on 20th July, 2011, as secretary of State, and our warm and cordial interaction on the occasion on a range of issues of mutual interest,' Jayalalithaa added.

The letter concludes with the chief minister wishing Hillary for the further stages of the campaign and for the Presidential Election in November this year.

Chronology of the Gulberg society massacre

Reaching out to the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with president Maithripala Sirisena will inaugurate the renovated Duraiappah Stadium in the Tamil heartland of Jaffna via video conferencing tomorrow. While Modi will speak from India, Sirisena will be at Jaffna, where he will be the chief guest at the opening ceremony.

The Duraiappah Stadium has been renovated by the Government of India at a cost of over Rs 7 crore. 

Market benchmark Sensex rebounded by 100 points to finish at 26,625.91 on gains in FMCG, auto and realty stocks, driven by a lower current account deficit and trade gap coupled with revival in global cues.

For the week, the BSE Sensex shed 9.84 points while the NSE Nifty moved up by 0.15 points. HDFC Ltd surged 2.21 per cent to Rs 1,227.80 after HDFC Standard Life Insurance said it had agreed with Max Financial Services and subsidiary Max Life Insurance to open merger talks. Max Financial jumped 10.29 per cent to Rs 472.80.

Image: KBK Graphics

A former guard at Nazi death camp Auschwitz has been found guilty on 170,000 counts of accessory to murder and sentenced to 5 years. Details awaited.

British astronaut Tim Peake will end his six-month trip into space when he returns to earth tomorrow but his health may be affected for much longer.

Major Tim will eject with two fellow astronauts in a Russian-built Soyuz space capsule which is expected which will hit the earth 'like a ton of bricks'.

His return to earth is the most dangerous part of the mission -- even more perilous than blast off.  Read more

UK Prime Minister @Number10gov  As a mark of respect for Jo Cox MP our flag is flying at half-mast over Number 10 today.

Jo Cox, a 41-year-old British woman MP from the opposition Labour Party was killed on Thursday after being shot and stabbed in her constituency in northern England by a man who shouted "put Britain first" twice before attacking her, a week before the crucial referendum on UK's EU membership.

Building an airstrip on the Spratly Islands is, as one Chinese diplomat reassuringly informs Anja Manuel in her new book, "like building a fountain in your own backyard.' China's expanding appetite for water-features has undoubtedly been one of the driving forces behind deepening U.S.-India ties in recent years. In This Brave New World, however, Manuel pushes back against the urge to make counterbalancing China the foundation of America's relationship with India. Read more


Also read another piece by Andrew Small on Rediff.com: China-Pakistan axis: 'The best may be yet to come'

Orlando ISIS gunman was embedded in expatriate US-backed Afghan jihad network. Read more

Migration by a section of Kairana populace including Hindus and Muslims over the years was due to socio-economic issues and criminalisation and not because of communalisation, a CPI(M) leader said today, and demanded an apology from BJP for its "Hindu exodus" claims.

"This migration is taking place not because of communalisation. Both Hindus and Muslims are migrating. People there complain of lack of facilities like modern education, healthcare and governance.

"So, it is in search of peace and facilities for their children and elders that some people have migrated. It is a socio-economic issue...BJP should apologise for its claims," CPI(M) MP Mohammad Salim demanded.

Political candidates opposed to free trade say Apple should make phones in the United States. Let's see what that would look like. Read more

External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj is well and truly back in action.

On Sunday, June 19, Swaraj will hold a press conference where she is likely to reveal the future plan of action in the Foreign Office.

It may be recalled that the foreign minister had been admitted to AIIMS, New Delhi, in April, after she complained of severe chest congestion. Our sources tell us that she has fully recovered from the brief bout of ill  health and is ready to resume office and the press meet will be held to show as much.

On Wednesday, at the Union Cabinet meeting which Swaraj attended, she was received with a bear hug by Parliamentary Affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu. PM Modi also wished her.


Swaraj's last official tour was to Iran in April, where she went to boost overall ties with a major focus on raising Indias oil imports and enhancing trade.


Image: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj with Rasul Islami, Director General (South Asia) Iran, in Tehran in April.

A tigress was killed in the Soopkhar range of the famous Kanha Tiger Reserve in a suspected territorial fight with another feline, a forest official said on Friday.

The carcass of the tigress, aged between seven and nine years, was spotted by the beat guard following which he informed the senior forest officials about it, Kanha Tiger Reserve field director J.S. Chouhan said.

"Possibly, the tigress was killed by a male tiger in a territorial fight," he said and added that after she was killed, the carnivores completely ate her flesh.

However, the other parts like bone structure, nails, teeth and moustache hairs among others were found intact and after necessary examination, it was consigned to flames in the presence of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and World Wide Fund (WWF) officials, he added.

File pic.

Around 5,000 police personnel will keep a hawk-eye vigil on the International Yoga Day event on June 21 in Chandigarh, to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The security around the main venue has also been increased ahead of the event. The UT Police has asked for additional police force from Punjab and Haryana apart from the paramilitary forces, a senior police official said.

A team of the Special Protection Group (SPG) will land in the city to review the security arrangements, he said. The main event, which is being held at Capitol Complex, is likely to be attended by around 30,000 people out of the total 1,20,000 who have registered themselves, UT Chandigarh's Home Secretary Anurag Aggarwal said today. "The Prime Minister is likely to arrive here on June 20," he said.

Participants at the International Yoga Day event will be issued special radio frequency tags in order to track their attendance and secure the venue. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) cards will have details including name, Aadhaar number, photo, gender and age of each of the participants. There will also be a selfie zone at the venue, which is in line with the local administration's effort to impart a tech-savvy feel to the event.

Russia and China have reached a level of cooperation and coordination in regional policies, which has no parallel in their history. This calls for an extraordinary degree of mutual accommodation of each other's core interests and vital concerns. So far there has been no hiccup.On the other hand, as each passing day adds to China's economic might, Russia may find itself coping with an unequal partnership.Newer and more ingenious methods will have to be found to ensure a balanced trade and investment partnership. Read MK Bhadrakumar's column here.

Final picture of Jo Cox giving lecture to schoolchildren before being shot dead 24 hours later. Take a look.

On Tuesday night Yorkshire's women of 2015 gathered on Jo Cox's houseboat on the River Thames for a party. These feisty ladies from West Yorkshire were brought together by the MP for Batley and Spen to celebrate and reflect on their first year in Parliament. Read more

Rise in tomato prices is a "temporary phenomenon" and rates in the national capital region have started to cool down with increase in supply from Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, a top Agriculture Ministry official said today.

Wholesale prices of tomato, which were ruling as high as Rs 60/kg in Azadpur Mandi two days back, today fell by up to Rs 20 per kg to Rs 40/kg, although retail prices are still ruling at Rs 50-80/kg depending on the quality and locality.


"This is a lean season for tomato. The price rise is a temporary phenomenon and it will phase out soon. In Delhi, there is no issue as tomatoes from hilly areas have started arriving," Agriculture Secretary Shobhana K Pattanayak told PTI.

Finally some grace under fire from censor board chief Pahlaj Nihalani. As Udta Punjab released across India (to rave reviews, read Raja Sen's review on Rediff.com here)Nihalani said, "Want to congratulate makers and cast of the film. I hope it goes on to be a huge success."

The film has been at the cross hairs of the CBFC, which had asked for 89 cuts, which included removal of all references to Punjab including the word in the title.

Yesterday, after reports of the film being leaked online, Nihalani said only Anurag (Kashyap) and the Bhatts have always faced trouble with their films, starting from their debuts, at a time when he wasnt heading the CBFC. "They are habitual of taking on the censors and use it as a publicity stunt, he said.

Nihalani further said that a good film doesnt need cuss words, like Sholay, which was a super-duper hit. The film releases tomorrow, lets see if the audience enjoys the film or rejects it. We will find out soon.

From Phiillip Collins' tribute to the slaiin British MP Jo Cox in the London Times

"Not long ago I chaired an event at the Commons for Save the Children, which Brendan Cox, its policy director, attended. I opened with the story from the Hindu epic Bhagavadgita, which TS Eliot borrowed in Burnt Norton.
On the eve of battle the invincible warrior Arjuna expresses doubts about an impending fight to the death. He is told by Krishna that he must march forward to do his duty. Do not think of the fruit of action, writes Eliot. Fare forward. Not fare well but fare forward, voyagers. It is sad beyond words to have to say of Jo Cox: not fare forward but farewell."

BBC reports: Iraqi forces retake Falluja town hall from so-called Islamic State, Iraqi commanders say.

JKLF chairman Yasin Malik arrested by J&K police Pampore on way to Anantnag where he was to address an election boycott rally, reports ANI.

Defying prohibitory orders, and even instructions from the BJP's senior leadership, controversial lawmaker Sangeet Som today held a Nirbhay Yatra in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut city over the party's allegations of mass Hindu exodus from Kairana in neighbouring Shamli district.

The controversial march was, however, stopped by the district administration, which has also halted a counter march called by the ruling Samajwadi Party.

"We have given a 15-day notice to the state government to bring back families who have migrated or we will be forced to come out on the streets," a defiant Som told reporters in Meerut.

"Senior officials have stopped us saying Section 144 is imposed, so we are stopping our yatra here," the BJP MLA, also an accused in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, said.The Meerut administration has also denied permission to a march organised by the Samajwadi Party as politics ahead of crucial Uttar Pradesh election intensifies.

Udta Punjab truly soars when being its own madcap beast, profane and powerful and preening, says Raja Sen. Read more

Voicing dissatisfaction over the court verdict in the Gulberg massacre case, Zakia Jafri, the wife of slain Congress leader Ehsan Jafri, today said life sentence should have been awarded to all the convicts. However, her son Tanvi Jafri said there was definitely "some sense of closure" at the convictions but it would have to be seen why some of the accused were not convicted. "We will definitely contest in the High Court some of the acquittals," he said.

Zakia, the wife of the former MP, clearly expressed her "dissatisfaction" with the verdict saying that she had seen the violent crime and felt that "life sentence should have been awarded to all the accused and not some of them."

Tanvi said a message should go out to the nation that the law will not tolerate such things. "We all know, the massacre was one of the harshest things that happened to the victims. The message should go to the nation that this country, the legal system, will not tolerate such things, he added.

Tanvi also felt that there was strong evidence in favour of a conspiracy angle in the Gulberg case like the incident at Naroda Patiya. Former SIT chief R K Raghavan who had probed the incident, welcomed the judgement.

However, he said he was yet to see the copy of the order.

Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai said Pakistan does not want good relations between India and Afghanistan and wants "no bilateral trade and no access to Central Asia for India" which is unacceptable for Afghanistan.

In an interview with BBC Urdu on Thursday, Karzai claimed that India is helping Afghanistan build its infrastructure and health facilities and has "filled Afghanistan with money despite being a poor country"."India wants to truly befriend Afghanistan and we want Pakistan to do the same," said the former Afghan president. Read more

The family of the 2-year-old boy snatched by an alligator at a Disney resort said Thursday that they were "devastated" by the child's death and asked "for privacy during this extremely difficult time," the Washington Post reports.

"Words cannot describe the shock and grief our family is experiencing over the loss of our son," the Graves family said in a statement, reported ABC News.

"To all of the local authorities and staff who worked tirelessly these past 24 hours, we express our deepest gratitude." The desperate search that began as a rescue operation eventually became a grim recovery effort on Wednesday when divers discovered the boy's body underwater, officials in Florida said.Divers found the boy's body "completely intact" about six feet beneath the surface of the massive, man-made lagoon, not far from the area where he was attacked the previous night, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said Wednesday afternoon.

The sheriff identified the toddler as Lane Graves of Elkhorn, Nebraska. Although a formal identification is pending, "there is no reason to believe that the body that was recovered is not that of Lane Graves," Demings said.

Lane's parents watched Tuesday night as the alligator grabbed their son in the shallows of the lake and dragged him deeper into the water, officials said.

The father, Matt Graves, rushed into the water and grabbed desperately for the boy; Graves cut his hand while attempting to wrestle Lane away from the gator but was unable to save his son. Although an autopsy still has to be completed, the sheriff said it is likely that the boy drowned.

Pic courtesy: Facebook

In a freak incident, a man watching a horror movie died in the cinema hall in Thiruvannmalai on Thursday. The deceased, who has not been identified by the police so far, was believed to be of about 60-years-old.

According to The Hindu, the man was from Andhra Pradesh and was staying at an ashram in Thiruvannmalai.

He was watching the horror movie 'Conjuring-2' at Balasubramaniyar theatre, when he complained of chest pain.

Though 108-ambulance was called for immediately, the man breathed his last before the ambulance arrived. The report say that someone who had accompanied him took the body to the place where he was staying. The police is awaiting further details about the deceased.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will "most likely" shuffle his ministry before the month ends but the topmost ministers are unlikely to be touched, BJP and government sources have said.

A high-level BJP source quashed the suggestions that defence minister Manohar Parrikar would return to Goa as chief minister ahead of state elections next year.

Reports from Panaji had fuelled such speculation claiming the BJP did not expect Laxmikant Parsekar, who became Goa chief minister after Parrikar was inducted into Modi's cabinet, to be able to deliver a win.

Before the 2012 Assembly elections, Parrikar had succeeded in "softening" the BJP's hard-line image and even win over a section of Goa's Christians. The BJP doubts Parsekar's ability to project similar "inclusiveness".  Read more

On learning that Finance minister Arun Jaitley has been running a high fever and has been down with a bout of food poisoning PM Narendra Modi Prime Minister has asked him not to exert himself.

This happened yesterday at the Central Board of Direct Taxes at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi. Jaitley is said to have conveyed to the PM that he over ate on Wednesday after the GST meeting in Kolkata.

To this Modi jocularly said that GST was on Jaitley's mind 24x7and that he exerts himself too much.

Today, the PM has been told that Jaitley is better. 

BJP President Amit Shah has made it a practice to interact with correspondents covering the BJP beat, at least once a week. This gives newsmen a free flow of information but the real gain is Shah's as he gets feedback about other political parties as well. There are also inputs about chief ministers and BJP state units.

From the Hindi heartland alone, there are 30-40 senior media persons representing at least 50 dailies whom Amit Shah can call by their first name. Such is the level of intimacy between the BJP chief and the Hindi media.

The monsoon session of Parliament is likely to be held on July 25, according to sources in the ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. A cabinet note is being prepared for the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs after ascertaining the dates of when the Vice President Hamid Ansari,  Prime MInister Narendra Modi and the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge would be free. Once the cabinet note is approved, a formal notification will be sent to the President of India to to convene the two houses.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was taken aback to know that AIADMK leader M Thambidurai was in the reception area of his 7 Race Course Road residence on Tuesday, for he had no prior information that the deputy speaker of the Lok Sabba was coming to meet him.

Modi was perplexed about protocol. Should he go to the portico to receive Thambidurai, strike up a conversation with him, or wait?

Later he was told by PMO Officials that Thambidurai's presence was as part of the advance security team of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa who was coming to meet him later in the day.

But the Tamil Nadu politician stayed put in the portico, to be among the first to greet the 'Puratchi Thalaivi' as she reached 7 RCR, and Modi was spared further anxiety.

Rashtrapati Bhavan has partnered with IBM to transform the Presidential Estate into a smart township . IBM has setup an Intelligent Operations Center (IOC) to monitor and enhance the efficiency of critical infrastructure and utilities at Presidential Estate spread across 330 acres of land.

Among the several projects that have been undertaken by President Pranab Mukherjee, the most prominent may perhaps be the Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum Phase-II, which along with Phase-I will form the Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum Complex.

It is expected to be a world class museum, displaying the important events in the Constitutional history of India and showcasing various Presidencies.

The Museum will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister on 25 July 2016 which also happens to be the 4th anniversary of Pranab Mukherjee's presidency.

The President will grace the inaugural ceremony which will begin at 6:30 pm on the occasion. The other functions would be the inauguration of a micro site promoting Rashtrapati Bhavan as a tourist destination and the launch of five books titled Kitchen, Dining and Entertainment, Interiors and Artwork, Landscape and Architecture, Flora and Fauna and a children's book.

A militant was killed today in an ongoing encounter with security forces in Sopore town of north Kashmir's Baramulla district, police said. Security forces launched an anti-militancy operation in Bomai area of Sopore this morning following information about presence of militants in the area, a police official said.

He said militants opened fire on the advancing security forces, who retaliated. In the ensuing gunfight, one militant has been killed. The official said the operation was in progress when reports last came in

First reactions from Teesta Setalvad, activist on the Gulberg massacre "We welcome the judgement but are very disappointed. We will appeal against the lesser sentence for those who haven't been awarded life imprisonment."

Just in: The Special Investigation Team court on Friday pronounced the quantum of sentence for 24 convicts in the Gulberg Society massacre in which 69 people, including former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, were killed.

If Radia tapes made you think the republic was put on sale by the UPA, these tapes will tell you the sale was on even before that, during the Vajpayee years. Read

Sopore encounter: 1 terrorist killed in gunfight between security forces & terrorists in Bomai (Kashmir)

A group of English fans in France for the Euro 2016 soccer championship have been caught on video taunting begging children in the street, apparently throwing coins at boys, forcing them to scramble and race each other for the pickings.