Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray today demanded Bharat Ratna for Veer Savarkar to "shut up the Congress permanently" over the revolutionary leader being targeted by the Opposition party recently. 

 The Air India on Thursday received a bomb threat for its Jeddah-bound flight.The threat for the flight was received at Air India-Bengaluru office, after which Bomb Threat Assessment Committee was convened. The committee, later, declared the threat as "non specific".

Nine rebel Congress MLAs have filed plea in Uttarakhand high court against speaker's decision to disqualify them from the assembly. Court to hear matter on Tuesday.

JUST IN: Pakistani team "cooperative" during meeting on probe into attack on Pathankot air base: NIA Chief

Just in: Pakistan's Joint Investigations Team has not demanded anything so far. As far as JeM involvement in Pathankot is concerned, Pakistan JIT has not denied the evidence given by NIA. Pakistan JIT is going to Pathankot tomorrow and have been given limited access. NIA has given all details of the Pathankot probe to Pakistan. 


A five-member JIT from Pakistan, comprising intelligence and police officials, reached New Delhi on Sunday to carry out its own investigation into the Pathankot airbase attack.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi "has capitulated to Pakistan" by allowing a team, which includes representatives of the powerful military intel agency ISI, to travel to India to investigate the deadly attack on the Pathankot air force base, said Arvind Kejirwal today.


NDTV reports that the Pakistani team's arrival created a strong backlash in the Delhi assembly, where all but three members belong to Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party.


"Go back, ISI," said placards carried by some AAP members at a session where Mr Kejriwal presented his government's budget for the new financial year. Delhi ministers were aggressive, with one alleging that "Mr Modi feeds biryani to the ISI"; another said "before he was elected, the PM used to say for every soldier the Pakistanis kill, we will produce the heads of 10 of theirs -- what happened?"


AAP, which made a strong entry for a newcomer in the general election in Punjab, is campaigning for a much bigger footprint ahead of the state elections, due next year. Delhi has blamed the powerful and notorious ISI for playing key roles in some of the worst terror attacks in India.

The External Affairs Ministry has been asked to extend all possible help to former Navy official Kulbhushan Jadhav, arrested by Pakistan claiming he was a RAW operative, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today said.

"We do agree, to the extent I know, that he is an Indian citizen and we have asked for consular access," Parrikar said, adding that he is concerned about Jadhav since he is a veteran.


Giving details, the Minister said he had "indicated" to the MEA that Jadhav is an ex-officer and should be given all assistance and support required. Praising External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Parrikar said the MEA was doing its best.

Belgian police today released new video footage of the third suspect whose bomb failed to go off at Brussels airport in last week's attack. The footage shows the man wearing a hat and white jacket pushing a trolley with a large bag through the departure hall, next to suicide bombers Ibrahim El Bakraoui and Najim Laachraoui.


"It's a new video which had not previously been released," a spokesman for the federal prosecutor's office told AFP.


A police notice issued with the video - still images from which have previously been released - said that officers "want to identify this man".


Prosecutors are still working on the theory that the so-called "man in the hat" is Faycal Cheffou, who has been charged with terrorist offences in relation to the airport attack, a source close to the inquiry told AFP.


Cheffou is however not cooperating with investigators, the source said. Belgian officials earlier raised the toll from coordinated suicide attacks on Zaventem airport and a metro station in the centre of the city to 35.

Washing his hands off the controversy over a Pakistani Joint Investigation Team's visit to the Pathankot airbase tomorrow, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today said the "crime scene" is under the control of NIA and it is up to the agency to decide who to allow there or not.


Noting that no permission has been given by the Defence Ministry for entry into the airbase, he said that the "crime scene", a "non-sensitive" area, has been completely barricaded, including visually, on his orders and no defence asset would be used to facilitate the visit of the Pakistani team.


"However, an area where the actual crime had taken place had been handed over to NIA long back which is conducting the entire investigation. Who will be taken there, who will probe, depends on the decision of NIA," Parrikar said replying to questions here on the sidelines of Defexpo.


"We have specifically refused them permission to go anywhere in the airbase," he said. He said that as far as the Defence Ministry is concerned, they have issued clear directions that the "crime scene" should be barricaded -- visually blocked or obstructed -- and that external entry should be given to NIA.

PM Narendra Modi will embark on a three-nation tour of Belgium, US and Saudi Arabia from tomorrow.

Modi will attend the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, India-EU Summit in Brussels and travel to Saudi Arabia, a key partner of India in the sensitive Gulf region.

The government on Tuesday said Brussels will be Modis first stop even as the Belgian capital was rocked by a string of explosions in the which at least 34 people were killed and over 200 injured.

Besides attending the EU-India summit in Brussels, Modi will hold wide-ranging talks with his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel on a variety of issues of mutual interest.

From Brussels, Modi will leave for Washington to attend the 4th Nuclear Security Summit on March 31 and April 1 where he will be making some specific announcements and proposals with regard to nuclear security.

At the summit, India will submit a national progress report on nuclear security, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said, adding New Delhi has contributed constructively during NSS preparatory meetings from 2014-16.

The PM is expected to hold a number of bilateral meetings during his stay in Washington.

From Washington, Modi will travel to Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh on April 2 for a two-day visit at the invitation of King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.     

Dr Prannoy Roy, co-founder and co-chairperson of NDTV, was today presented with the prestigious Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration, Academics and Management-2015. This is the speech he delivered at the ceremony in Delhi. Read

"By the end of this year, Uttarakhand will go to polls," declared a senior BJP leader. "We will not go in for horse-trading, or form the government."


However, the BJP plans to have Dev Bhoomi packages announced before November.


Uttarakhand is considered Dev Bhoomi as the four dhams are located in the state and is on the hot list of every pilgrim.


Thus, the BJP believes it alone can rule this state and not the Congress.


Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Dehradun next month and address two public meetings at which he is expected to announce major programmes and packages for the state.


Soon after the Parliament's Budget session is over, BJP leaders will all focus on Uttarakhand. This is our political strategy, said a top BJP leader.

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Union government for the report of the committee set up to look into personal laws relating to marriage, divorce and custody prevalent in various religious minorities, including Muslims.

A bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice UU Lalit asked Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, to file the report within six weeks in the court.


The bench also asked the Ministry of Minority Affairs to file its response to the petition filed by one Shayara Bano challenging the constitutionality of Muslim practices of polygamy, triple talaq (talaq-e-bidat) and nikah halala. Talaq-e-bidat is a Muslim man divorcing his wife by pronouncing more than one talaq in a single tuhr (the period between two menstruations), or in a tuhr after coitus, or pronouncing an irrevocable instantaneous divorce at one go (unilateral triple-talaq). Meanwhile, the bench directed the apex court registry to make available within six weeks the copy of judicial records of a petition on the issue, which was taken note of as a separate petition by it.


The Supreme Court had earlier this month sought response of the Centre on Bano's plea challenging constitutionality of Section 2 of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, in so far as it seeks to recognise and validate polygamy, triple talaq and nikah halala, and had tagged the matter with a similar suo motu petition.


Bano has said she was subjected to cruelty and dowry demands from her husband and in-laws and was administered drugs that "that caused her memory to fade, kept her unconscious' and made her "critically ill' at which point her husband divorced her by triple talaq.


The petitioner has also challenged the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939, saying that it fails to provide Indian Muslim women with protection from bigamy.

A Hyderabad local court grants bail to all 27 accused (25 students and two faculty members) arrested in connection with vandalism of Hyderabad University Vice Chancellor's office. The court grants bail to all accused on a one-time surety of Rs 5000. They also have to appear before the police station once a week.

Last Tuesday, students broke into Vice-Chancellor Appa Rao Podiles official residence and vandalised the premises. Furious students staged a protest against his resumption of duty after having been on long leave.

Podile, who is embroiled in a controversy over the suicide of research scholar Rohith Vemula, resumed office that day.

In this silly season for chauvinism, we might arrive at a better sense of ourselves by turning from the metaphors that we gesture at to people who we know, which is to say, from Mother India to our Indian mothers.
Read Mukul Kesavan's ode to his mother.

Dr K K Paul, governor of Uttarakhand, was in constant touch with New Delhi on Friday last, after a senior Union minister spoke to him about the possibility of Article 356 being invoked in the state.


Interestingly, government sources had also alerted the secretary to the President, Omita Paul. That was to avoid a misunderstanding not only between the government and the President's secretariat but also between Dr KK Paul and his wife Omita -- who happens to play two roles."Yeh toh ghar khi baat hai," commented a senior BJP functionary.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had authorised Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to assist Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha in drafting the reasons for imposing President's rule in Uttarakhand.


Eight reports from Governor Dr KK Paul were handed over to Jaitley who used his legal prowess to draft a few bullet points that were read out in the Cabinet meeting on Saturday night. A final draft was then prepared to be sent to the President by officials of the Union ministries of home and law around 11 pm on Saturday.


Prime Minister Modi, meanwhile, asked Jaitley drove to Rashtrapati Bhavan at 10.30 pm to brief the President about the Cabinet's decision to impose President's rule in Uttarakhand.


The following day, the Congress leadership was completely taken by surprise at the late-night Cabinet meeting and Pranab Mukherjee clearing the file to impose central rule.


It is now evident that the developments came as a shock to the Congress, which is reflected in the harsh words Veerappa Moily used in a TV interview, where he openly accused Mukherjee of acting as a rubber stamp of the Modi government.


The question arises: Do Rahul and Sonia Gandhi endorse what Moily said on TV? The President only goes by the rule book, and not by the whims and fancies of 10 Janpath, said Vijay Bahuguna, a dissident Congress leader.

Virat Kohli hit out today against fans trolling his former girlfriend Anushka Sharma, tweeting, "Shame on people for trolling @AnushkaSharma non-stop. Have some compassion. She has always only given me positivity."


Yesterday, celebrating and enjoying the spectacular performance by our the Men in Blue, the internet exploded with various memes and images hailing the outstanding performance by Kohli. With everyone from the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi to Sachin Tendulkar, praising the Kohli and his remarkable team, some others targetted Anushka.

Trolls thanked the actress for "giving back Virat Kohli", which started trending minutes after the match ended. The actress, who was in a relationship with the cricketer was subjected to similar trolls when people tried to criticize Kohli's performance in the World Cup finals, same time last year.


According to media reports, Sharma gave a congratulatory call to 'Man of the match' Virat Kohli over India's victory.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today cancelled his visit to Britain following the horrific Easter bombing at a popular park in Lahore that left over 70 people dead. Sharif was scheduled to leave for Britain today but he cancelled his trip after the blast last evening at Gulshan-e- Iqbal Park in Lahore where Christians were celebrating Easter, a spokesman at the prime minister's secretariat said.


Sharif was to meet British prime minister David Cameron and then fly to the US for the Nuclear Security Summit 2016. "He will now travel directly to the US after a couple of days," the spokesman was quoted as saying by The News International.

Belgium charges three people with 'terrorist activities': prosecutor.

Shehla Rashid, Vice-President, JNU Students' Union, tweets: "We just got the news that HCU students and teachers have got bail. Revolutionary greetings to all struggling comrades in HCU."


The Hyderabad Central University continues to remain on the boil, even as classes are set to resume on Monday. A joint action committee has called for nationwide boycott of classes in protest against police brutality on campus.


Five students were arrested on campus last week after protests broke out demanding the ouster of University vice chancellor Apparao. The bail order of the students is slated to come up for hearing on Monday.

"Till such time the President's communique is released let us keep the decision of central rule in Uttarakhand as top secret. Let there be a test today," was the one-line cryptic message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his Cabinet colleagues.

In other words, the decision should come as a surprise for the Congress, and not be leaked to the media. This is how the Modi government functions, declared a senior bureaucrat who was privy to Cabinet decisions.

"My grandmother is the kind of grandmother that people write about. She was the only woman in her school in India in the 1940s; in the photograph of her graduating class, she stands alone to the left of the headmaster while dozens of her male classmates stand to his right. She had an arranged marriage when she was 17 and fell in love with my grandfather and his family immediately. My grandparents had four daughters, and while the world saw misfortune -- no boys -- she raised four strong, feminist, well-educated women."

A must-read that many of us would identify with.

Pakistani Taliban today said the horrific suicide bombing at a popular park here was targeted at Christians celebrating Easter, even as the death toll in the massacre rose to 72 including 29 children.


"Three more people today succumbed to their injuries raising the death toll to 72," Punjab Emergency Services Rescue team spokesperson Deeba Shahnaz said.


She said the condition of 26 out of the over 300 injured was very critical. Most of the injured are children. At least 29 children and eight women are among the dead, according to the data released by different city hospitals. At least 20 Christians are also among the dead.


A large number of people were present at the crowded Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park of Allama Iqbal Town when a powerful blast took place last evening. A large number of Christian families were present in the park due to Easter Sunday.


The brutal attack by a suicide bomber -- believed to be in his 20s -- was claimed by the Jamaatul Ahrar, a splinter group of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).


"It was targeted at Christians celebrating Easter," Ehsanullah Ehsan, a spokesman for the group, said. "We have carried out this attack to target the Christians who were celebrating Easter. Also this is a message to the Pakistani Prime Minister that we have arrived in Punjab," he said.

India and Pakistan today began formal discussions on investigations into theterror attack at the Pathankot IAF base, making it the first-ever visit of a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) from the neighbouring country that included an ISI official.


The five-member Pakistani JIT is headed by Chief of Punjab's Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) Muhammad Tahir Rai and comprises Lahore's Deputy Director General, Intelligence Bureau, Mohammad Azim Arshad, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) official Lt Col Tanvir Ahmed, Military Intelligence official Lt Col Irfan Mirza and Gujaranwala CTD Investigating Officer, Shahid Tanveer.


The team was received at the headquarters of National Investigation Agency by Inspector General Sanjiv Kumar Singh. They are being given a detailed presentation on the probe done by Indian agencies so far and evidences that show that the attack was planned in Pakistan, official sources said.


The team, which arrived yesterday, will on Tuesday visit Pathankot for the probe into the attack carried out by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group on January 2, which left seven security personnel dead.


In the post-lunch session, the Pakistani team would be raising questions to clear their doubts, if any, before they fly to Pathankot in a special plane on Tuesday morning, the sources said. The IAF base will be visually barricaded by NIA to prevent any view of critical areas.


The NIA team would show some of the areas where the Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists were engaged in an 80-hour-long gun battle with security personnel. India plans to provide the Pakistani team access to all witnesses in the case, but not to the security personnel from National Security Guard or BSF.


The witnesses include Punjab Police Superintendent of Police Salwinder Singh, his jeweller friend Rajesh Verma, cook Madan Gopal and 17 injured persons.


The sources said that cooperation to the Pakistani team would be based on the principle of reciprocity hoping that an Indian team would be allowed to travel to Pakistan at a later date.In the 26/11 Mumbai attack case, Pakistan had sent a judicial commission to cross-examine some of the witnesses in the case.

The Uttarakhand state budget and its passage could turn out to be a major constitutional crisis for the Modi government, as the assembly speaker had not certified that it has been passed before the House was dissolved and the state brought under President's rule.


Before emplaning for Sydney, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley instructed Finance Secretary Rajan Wattal to ensure that the state budget is prepared by the Union government, and authorised his MoS Jayanta Sinha to sign the budget papers.


After the Union Cabinet approves it in its meeting on Wednesday, Governor Dr KK Paul's salary and that of the state government employees will be released. A formal communique will also be put up to the President for his assent to the Uttarakhand budget.

President's Rule has been imposed in the State of Uttarakhand. Article 356 of the Constitution can be invoked only if the President is satisfied that there are grounds for believing that the governance of the State cannot be carried on in accordance with the Constitution.


The Congress party in the State of Uttarakhand split after a section of the leadership alleged that they were dis-satisfied both with the Chief Minister and the central leadership of the Congress party. The split was on account of reasons internal to the Congress party. Nine Members of the Congress party in the Legislative Assembly decided to vote against the Appropriation Bill which provides for the budget of the State.


On 18th March 2016, it appears that 35 Members voted against the Appropriation Bill and 32 in favour. These 35 Members comprised of 27 from the BJP and 9 rebel Congress men. There is documentary evidence both prior and subsequent to the Assembly Session to suggest that these 35 Members asked for a Division of Votes. The proceedings of the Assembly circulated in writing establishes the charge that a Division was asked for and yet it was claimed that the Appropriation Bill has been passed without a vote.


There are strong facts to suggest that the Appropriation Bill was actually defeated. As a consequence, the Government had to resign. Two further consequences flow out of this. Firstly, the Appropriation Bill sanctioning expenditure from 1st April 2016 was not approved and, secondly, if the Appropriation Bill was defeated, the continuation of the Government subsequent to 18th March 2016 is unconstitutional. It is to be noted that till today, neither the Chief Minister nor the Speaker have forwarded a certified copy of the Appropriation Bill to the Governor.


Obviously, there is no assent of the Governor to the Appropriation Bill.In any case, all facts surrounding the alleged discussion and passage of the Appropriation Bill clearly indicate its non-passage. There is a cloud and a serious doubt about the Appropriation Bill. There is a complete breakdown of the Constitutional machinery in as much as the Government, which should have resigned on the 18th of March with the failure of Appropriation Bill, has decided to continue.


As of today there is no Appropriation Bill certified by the Speaker which has received assent of the Governor. If it is Speaker's case that the rebels voted in favour of the Appropriation Bill and, hence, it has been passed, then the rebels could not have been disqualified.Having plunged the State into a serious Constitutional crisis by continuing a Government which should have quit after the failure of the Appropriation Bill, and further complicating the crisis the Chief Minister started allurement, horse-trading and disqualification with a view to altering the composition of the House. After the Assembly has been put under suspended animation and the decision has been made public, the Speaker has decided to disqualify some Members. The Constitutional breakdown has been compounded further by this action.


On 18th March the majority was declared to be a minority and vice versa, and on 27th March the composition of the House was attempted to be changed in violation of the Constitution to convert a minority into a majority.


This is an unprecedented case of a Speaker declaring a failed Appropriation Bill as passed and then failing to certify falsehood. This leaves the State without any approved financial expenditure with effect from 1st April 2016. What better evidence do we need of a breakdown of Constitution?


The Congress Government of Uttarakhand was murdering democracy every day from the 18th of March till the 27th of March. It is now incumbent upon the Central Government to ensure that steps are taken under Article 357 to authorise expenditure of the State with effect from 1st April 2016.

India need not press the panic button or employ ill-conceived diplomatic moves in response to Nepal's so-called flashing of the China card. Nor should it make an unethical compromise with Kathmandu on the legitimate interests of Madhesis and other marginalised groups. Read more

Narendra Modi should be described as a pragmatic modernizer of the government's role in the economy. Read

President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday honoured 56 eminent personalities with Padma awards at the Civil Investiture Ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The President presented five Padma Vibhushan, eight Padma Bhushan and 43 Padma Shri awards at the function.
The Padma Vibhushan went to: Dhirubhai Ambani (posthumous), Former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Jagmohan, Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Indian-American economist Avinash Kamalakar Dixit
Renowned dancer Yamini Krishnamurti.

Here is the complete list of recipients:

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi has revealed that he does not believe in Lord Ram but has faith in Lord Shiv, Guru Nanak and Gautama the Buddha.

Gandhi stated this last week when he met 23 senior 'input editors' from TV channels for over an hour. At the meeting, he appeared very confident and his body language was relaxed.

Gandhi told the editors that he was ready to become party president whenever the decision is taken. But he doesn't believe in designations and hierarchies which can deter him from doing what he believes
is good for the party.

About his belief in Lord Shiv, Guru Nanak and Buddha, Rahul said it was because they were more practical.

Rahul Gandhi also called the 2014 election verdict, in which the Congress plunged to its lowest ever tally of 44 seats, was the best gift he has got because a lot of undesirable things got washed away.

On Narendra Modi

Rahul said Modi was a one-man show and that the people in his government were feeling
powerless to do things.

On Prashant Kishor Pandey

Commenting on election whizkid Prashant Kishors appointment by the Congress party, Rahul stated that he has a specific task, and nothing beyond that. He told the journalists, We know the issues we must raise, but Prashant is good at
packaging and marketing those issues.

On UP assembly polls

About the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections due in 2017, Rahul said the Congress cannot go with the Samajwadi Party. However, the
Bahujan Samaj Party may not give us the number of seats we want. If it agrees to give us what we want, like the Left in West Bengal, then we will work together.

On the JNU row

Rahul told the editors that many of his party colleagues, including
Randeep Surjewala, advised him not to go to JNU following the students arrest but nevertheless he decided to go there. Interestingly,
Surjewala sat in on the meeting with the input editors throughout and smiled when Rahul
mentioned this.

On Tamil Nadu

Rahul seemed surprised at Vijayakanths alliance with the People's Welfare Front.

Rahul Gandhi was confident till the last minute that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam will get Vijayakanth on
board and that was why the AICC let Ghulam Nabi Azad go in for a deal
with Karunanidhi.

Sources in AICC now feel the sudden shift by Vijayakanth to the PWF came as a jolt to the DMK-led front.

Though AICC expects Karunanidhi to allot 65 to 80 seats for the Congress, it wants the Tamil Nadu unit to consider nothing less than 65 seats.

Why is Rahul holding off the record meetings with media?

Is he not confident about exposing his views and thinking process before
the 2019 elections? No one is ready to answer these questions.

Usually these interactions take place at the 12 Tughlak Road, Rahuls official bungalow. He spends two to three hours with the media in a relaxed manner, and selects some 10-15 topics on which he takes questions.

Surjewala, the AICC media cell incharge, sits in on these meetings while a few MBA students from foreign universities take notes by rotation.

The media is attracted by the free-flowing conversation which comes with the caveat: purely not for publication, which line Rahul keeps repeating during the course of his interactions.

So what is the purpose of Rahul meeting media-persons?

Since the 2014 Lok Sabha defeat Rahul Gandhi has been meeting media-persons for off-the-record conversations. So far there have been around 25 interactions at various levels, as in with editors, chiefs of bureaus, political editors, cartoonists, editorial writers, special correspondents, etc. In all, say sources, he would have met around 600 to 700 media-persons.

Through this exercise Rahul is said to have collected 50-60 major political issues.

Some media observers who have had a second round of meeting with Rahul Gandhi do not agree that he has graduated into a tall political leader. He repeats everything but does not have a focus, is what they feel.

So, will Rahul lead the 2019 campaign against Narendra Modi? Will he become a formidable force by then?

Certainly. according to a few top Congress leaders who confirm that Rahul has picked up issues. But in the next two or three years, if he concentrates on the Congress organisation, there will support for him from the ground level as the party does not currently have an organisation in 20-25 states. And where it does, it is ridden with groupism.

From Liaquat Bagh to Parliament House, the supporters of Mumtaz Qadri left a trail of smoke and debris in their wake as they marched on the capital.Citizens of the twin cities, meanwhile, were confined to their homes in the absence of up-to-date information about the movement of the protesters due to a lack of coverage on electronic media. Read more


(Police bodyguard Qadri murdered his boss, Punjab governor Salman Taseer, in 2011, after Taseer called for reform of Pakistan's strict blasphemy laws.)

In India, intolerance undermines Modi's reforms. Read

In a stern warning to willful defaulters like Vijay Mallya, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said they should settle their dues honourably with the banks or else be ready to face "coercive action" by lenders and investigative agencies.


"I don't want to make any comments on individual cases but I think it's a responsibility of large groups like his (Vijay Mallya's) to honourably settle their dues with the banks," he said.


He further said that banks have certain collaterals of group companies of Vijay Mallya and will take legal action to recover dues that are in excess of Rs 9,000 crore.


"Banks have some securities. Banks plus other agencies have also coercive methods available with them through legal enforcement...these are all being investigated by relevant agencies," he said.


Mallya, promoter of long-grounded Kingfisher Airlines, had left India on March 2, presumably for London, days before the Supreme Court heard a plea of clutch of state-owned banks seeking recovery from his group firms.

Jeffrey Archer @Jeffrey_Archer tweets: Many congratulations @msdhoni @imVkohli & Indian cricket team in magnificent victory against Australia; look forward to playing you in final.

National Film Awards: Best cinematography to Sudeep Chatterjee for Bajirao Mastani.

Best Screenplay to Juhi Chaturvedi for Piku and Himanshu Sharma for Tanu Weds Manu Returns.

Best Debut film of a Director to Neeraj Ghaywan for Masaan.

Best Film in Wholesome Entertainment category is Bajrangi Bhaijaan.

Afghanistan's Parliament building in Kabul came under a rocket attack this morning from unidentified militants. Smoke was seen coming out from the Parliament complex. The Parliament building, built with Indian aid, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December last year. No casualties reported so far and all Indian engineers still working at the building believed to be safe.

Imtiaz Qureshi, the first chef to win a Padma Shri. 

Just in: The Jat reservation bill has been approved by the Haryana Cabinet. The bill after being approved by the Haryana cabinet is now likely to be tabled in the assembly today.

Ajay Devgn gets the Padma Shri, while Rajinikanth gets the Padma Vibhushan. 

More on the National Film Awards: Remo D'souza wins best Choreography for Bajirao Mastani, while Dum Laga ke Haisha wins Best Hindi film.

Actor and an ardent supporter of the government, Anupam Kher, gets the Padma Bhushan.  

56 Padma Awards being conferred.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar gets the Padma Vibhushan as does the late Dhirubhai Ambani, whose award was collected by his wife Kokilaben Ambani.

Just in: Rocket attack on the New Parliament Complex in Kabul. No casualties reported so far. Details awaited.

After months of speculation over whether they are separated actor Malaika Arora Khan and husband Arbaaz Khan have released a statement confirming  that they have indeed separated. In a joint statement issued to various media houses, the star couple maintained that while they have walked their separate ways, there is no truth to the fact that Malaika is seeing anyone or has approached a divorce lawyer. This is the full statement.

"We have maintained a dignified silence till now but it is causing us too much confusion and is disturbing for our families. To put all of the speculation to rest, we are giving out this statement.

"People claiming to be our friends and sources have been speaking on our behalf giving out wrong, malicious information. They have maligned us for long and we have kept quiet and not said a word as its a personal matter between us. We have got a child and our families are involved, but just because we have not said anything till now, it doesnt give anybody the license to speculate on any rubbish about us.

"We know that there will be speculation, but it is disturbing to read that Malaika has approached a random divorce lawyer she doesnt know at all. Nor has this lawyer got in touch with us ever. Whoever this person is, can lose their licence as its irresponsible to talk about people who are not your clients.

"The truth is, we have taken a break, but that doesnt mean people can presume, assume and speculate things of such malicious nature. We are taking out time to figure out our lives...

"Yes, its true that we are separated, but where our lives go and what transpires between us, it is for us to decide. Wherever it goes from here, we will talk about it when we are ready to.

"We are not separated because of a third random person, like there were stories of a friendship between a businessman and Malaika. Nor was it about his family disapproving of her lifestyle, nor does she feel that her husband is not financially stable. She is not crying on her brother-in-law Salmans shoulders, asking him to help. They are our family, so please dont talk about them like that. We deeply respect each others families.

"We want to put to rest all these articles which are complete rubbish. Till then, please respect our privacy and do not drag our respective families and our child into it.

"Everything that has been carried till now is completely baseless.. Everyone is taking our silence as a sign of weakness. When we are ready to talk, we will. Its a tough and difficult time for us and we will appreciate it if you can please give us our space. We have and hold immense respect for each other and hold each other in the highest regard. Ultimately we will do whats best for our child, us and our family.

"Please understand what we are going through. We urge the media not to speculate and kindly do not believe whoever your said sources are, unless you hear from the people concerned."

Indian and Pakistani probe teams hold talks on the investigation into the Pathankot airbase terror attack.

Just in: 63rd National Awards being announced now.

Kangana Ranaut wins the Best Actress award for Tanu Weds Manu Returns. This is her third National Award.
Baahubali wins Best Film
Amitabh Bachchan wins Best Actor award for Piku.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali wins Best Director award for Bajirao Mastani.

Details awaited.

The Congress feared losing itsGhar but Rekha came to its rescue by giving her Ijaazat.When the Rajya Sabha house committee allotted 15 Gurdwara Rakabganj Road in Lutyens Delhi to the actress-turned-MP last week, the Congress was worried.


The party had been using the bungalow for a decade as a war room where its brains trusts chalked out electoral strategies, from Lok Sabha elections to last year's Bihar polls. Currently, it houses the office of the Congress's new adviser, Prashant Kishor.


"We approached Rekhaji and she agreed to allow the party to continue to use it," Ananda Bhaskar Rapolu, Congress Rajya Sabha member from Telangana, toldThe Telegraph. Read more

Satellite imagery specialist Mandyam Rajani recalls almost flinching when her senior colleague Dilip Ahuja proposed she might find a flaw in one of India's most treasured architectural showpieces, the Taj Mahal.Ahuja, unable to dismiss something he had sensed nearly three decades ago during his second visit to the Taj, asked Rajani whether she could apply her skills in analysing images to measurements of the monument's central dome. Read more

A special court convicted Jharkhand Ispat Pvt Ltd and its two directors R S Rungta and R C Rungta in a case pertaining to irregularities in allotment of a coal block in the state to the firm, the first judgement in the coal scam. 

A special court is likely to pronounce today its first judgment in the coal scam in which Jharkhand Ispat Pvt Ltd and its two directors are facing trial in a case of allotment of a coal block in Jharkhand. 

'Misinterpreting nationalism -- BJP's swing to jingoism does not augur well,' said a headline earlier this week in the Business Standard, one of India's leading newspapers. It reflected concern in India and abroad over what the paper called the governing BJP's "disturbing drift towards hyper-nationalism."

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat is likely to meet Governor KK Paul on Monday while the Congress will challenge the order in the Uttarakhand High Court on Monday, a day after the Centre brought the state under President's rule citing a Constitutional breakdown in the wake of a rebellion in the ruling Congress.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat said to instill the feeling of patriotism, everyone should chant 'Bharat Mata ki jai'. "We want the whole world to chant Bharat Mata ki jai. We want to make Bharat rich, free from exploitation and full of self-respect. For that we will have to live that Bharat in our lives," Bhagwat said.

A breakaway Pakistani faction of the militant Taliban group called the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar claimed responsibility for the blast, which killed 65 people in a park in the eastern city of Lahore that was crowded with Christians, including many children. 

The President of India Pranab Mukherjee will present five Padma Vibhushan, eight Padma Bhushan and forty-three Padma Shri awards today at a Civil Investiture Ceremony to be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan. 

Security has been heightened at Delhi's  Indira Gandhi International airport with bomb squad officials at the site. Earlier, on Sunday, a bomb scare was received by the airport authorities through an anonymous caller. At least six flights, including Air India and Jet Airways aircraft were feared to be planted with explosives.