PM Narendra Modi makes his first comment on the AgustaWestland scam in his poll speech in Tamil Nadu. Without taking names, the PM said, "Should not those involved in helicopter "chori" be punished? However big a person is, should action be taken against them or not."

The Agusta issue came up in the Lok Sabha today with Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar outlining for Parliament why the government believes the Congress designed a corrupt deal to buy Agusta Westland helicopters, and then ducked taking any real action when it was in power.

In protests, the Congress walked out of the Lok Sabha during a lengthy debate, demanding an investigation on the Agusta deal that will be monitored by the Supreme Court. Before that, the defense of the Congress was presented by Jyotiraditya Scindia, who said of party chief Sonia Gandhi, "She is a sherni (lioness)...they are scared of her".

JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar, who is on a hunger strike, was discharged from AIIMS after his health today improved even as the varsity administration asked students to not invite outsiders saying it might vitiate the academic atmosphere and peace on campus.


While five students yesterday withdrew their fast against the punishment by the university in connection with the February 9 event during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised, 15 others continued with the hunger strike which entered ninth day today.

Kanhaiya, who is out on bail after his arrest in a sedition case, was yesterday admitted to AIIMS in a semi-conscious state. He was discharged today after treatment for mild dehydration and ketosis.

In an aside, Kaname Harada, the last surviving combat pilot who flew for Japan in the attack on Pearl Harbor, died Tuesday at the age of 99.

NYT reports that Harada became a pacifist after the war and expressed significant remorse over the American deaths he caused during his time in combat.

During his time in battle, Harada was credited with shooting down nine Chinese, British, and U.S. planes on his own.

After the Pearl Harbor raid, he trained other pilots for suicide missions against Americans.

Harada farmed after he retired from combat, and spent the rest of his time hiding in fear from Americans and experiencing nightmares about wartime. "The war had turned me into a killer of men,' he had told The New York Times, "and that was not the kind of person I wanted to be." Harada said, "I fought the war from the cockpit of a Zero, and can still remember the faces of those I killed. They were fathers and sons, too. I didn't hate them or even know them.'

Jet Airways tweeted this picture to welcome crew member Nidhi Chaphekar back to Mumbai.

Nidhi, 42, who has not yet recovered from the injuries suffered in the terror attack at Brussels airport, arrived around 7.30 am on Friday on a Paris-Mumbai Jet airways flight and was driven to Breach Candy hospital from the airport.

Airline officials said Nidhi has low immunity and doctors have advised her to avoid contact with people.

Another picture posted by 'Buddha In A Traffic Jam' director Vivek Agniotri at Jadavpur university, Kolkata as students besiege his car protesting against the depiction of Leftist students in his film. 

A day after he was arrested on charges of raping a minor girl, Goa MLA Babush Atanasio Monserrate was sent to a three-day police custody today.

The minor girl, who hails from Nepal, has alleged in her complaint that in March, a couple sent her to Monserrate for a sum of Rs 50 lakh. While she could not recollect the date, the victim alleged that she was confined from 6 pm to 11 am the next day, during which time Monserrate spiked her drink and raped her.

The girls statement was recorded by the Child Welfare Committee, which lodged a police complaint. Monserrate was booked under charges of rape and relevant sections under the Goa Childrens Act and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

Just in: 'Buddha In A Traffic Jam' director Vivek Agniotri faces protests at Jadavpur University, Kolkata. Students gheraoed the director's car  prompting @vivekagnihotri  to post this picture and a few others tweeting, "Massive protest against me and the film. They are breaking the car apart. Help needed."

The director was reportedly gheraoed by the students who raised slogans against the movie, and accused Agnihotri of working on the RSS agenda for portraying communists in a poor light.

Agnihotris political satire Buddha In A Traffic Jam has been cancelled at Jadavpur University due to state elections.

The filmmaker took to Twitter earlier in the day and posted a letter that he received from the university , which states that the screening has been cancelled due to model code of conduct prevailing due to state election.

The letter received from Alumni Association of the university to Agnihotri states: I regret to inform you that due to model code of conduct prevailing due to state election, we are unable to allow you to screen the movie on Buddha In A Traffic Jam. Please bear with us. I instruct the office to refund the booking money. Thankyou.

Agnihotri who was here for the screening posted the letter with a caption saying: I reached Kolkata in the morning for the screening of #BuddhaInATrafficJam at Jadavpur Univerdity but they cancelled it

The cancellation of letter for the screening of Buddha In A Traffic Jam at Jadavpur Univ. What a lame excuse, he added in the tweet.

Inspired from Agnihotris own life, Buddha In A Traffic Jam deals with corruption and Maoism in a business school. It features actors like Mahie Gill, Aanchal Dwivedi, Pallavi Joshi, Anupam Kher, Arunoday Singh and Vivek Vaswani.

The film will release on May 13.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today slammed the Congress-led UDF in Kerala over the solar scam and the brutal rape and murder of a Dalit woman saying, there seemed to be "no government" in the state.


"I am afraid to use the word solar in Kerala as it would create a 'big dhamaka' (explosion)," he said referring to the solar scam which has rocked UDF government with charges being made even against Chief Minister Ommen Chandy.


He was addressing an election rally of NDA at the Fort Maidan, his first in the series of four lined up in the coming days for the May 16 assembly polls, as BJP goes all out to make its maiden entry in the assembly.


Modi also criticised the state government's "failure" to rise to the occasion while handling the rape case.


"A Dalit sister was raped and killed. We don't see a government anywhere," Modi said. The statement assumes significance as even after nine days, police was yet to nab the culprits involved in the brutal rape and murder of the 30-year old woman in Perumbavoor near Kochi.


The Prime Minister also targeted the CPI-M in the state, saying it was following the "politics of violence". Several innocent BJP workers lost their life in the attack over the years by CPI-M, he said charging they were physically annihilated as they did not agree to the Marxist ideology. Modi also mentioned about the insult meted out by CPI-M student wing to a retired principal of a government college here. Some activists of SFI, students wing of the CPI(M), had prepared a "grave" for her as a retirement gift. "Do you want to vote for such people? Whether you will pardon those who committed this insult?" Modi asked.


Stating that development and creation of more jobs was the only way to save Kerala from the present situation, he said, educated youths should get jobs in the state instead of going out leaving their aged parents behind.


The Prime Minister said though the people of Kerala were well educated and knowledgeable, they failed to understand that they had been 'looted' in the past 60 years by the UDF and CPI(M)-led LDF governments which ruled the state alternately.


"It is an adjustment rule by the two fronts. Five year Congress-led UDF rules, then next five years CPI(M) headed LDF rules...They decide among themselves we will loot for five years, then you loot for five years," he charged.

"Those who ruled the God's own country for the last 60 years have only destroyed it...There seems to be a scientific arrangement to ruin Kerala. Both Congress and Left have mutually decided to loot turn by turn," he said.


Stating that there was no umpire in the state assembly now, he said adding: "If Kerala has to be saved, there is need for a strong umpire--BJP. I assure you that we will not allow Kerala to be destroyed by the two fronts." Modi said this time "a third decisive strength is emerging in Kerala and I am seeing this", thanking the thousands of people who stood braving the scorching heat outside the huge pandal in this town, which had been recording about 40 degrees Celsius since the past few days. 

Members of the Swaraj Mahila Sangathan to enter Mumbai's Haji Ali Dargah, security tightened outside the shrine.

Sonia Gandhi is a "sherni" (lioness), said the Congress' Jyotiraditya Scindia in speech in the Lok Sabha today as he took on the BJP in a debate on the AgustaWestland scam. 


NDTV reports that Scindia said the Congress President's name does not appear in any authenticated document related to the Rs. 3,600 crore AgustaWestland helicopter deal and pointed to the government benches as he added, "Sonia Gandhi is a sherni who they are afraid of."


The 44-year-old Congress lawmaker referred to a letter from Peter Hullet, an Italian officer in AgustaWestland's India office, and said, "Hullet had written, Mrs Gandhi and her closest set of advisers are the people the high commissioner should value... Does this government imply that high-commissioners and diplomatic heads of different countries wish to meet our leaders in cases of corruption?"


The documents that the BJP has based its accusations against Mrs Gandhi on, Mr Scindia said, was "an unverified piece of paper that does not contain anyone's signature."


Last month, an Italian court convicted Agusta officials for paying bribes in India. In his order the judge referred to documents seized from middlemen and Agusta executives which mentioned Sonia Gandhi and other Congress leaders.


The BJP alleges that Congress leaders colluded in corruption with Agusta officials.


Jyotiraditya Scindia quoted the judgment passed by the Milan court where the Judge, Marco Maiga, had said: "We have no evidence against Sonia Gandhi. Only a mention of her in the facts, Mrs Gandhi has only been indicated as someone who will fly in the VVIP helicopters."

India has decided to open a consulate in the Kurdish-dominated northern Iraqi city of Erbil on the edge of see-saw battles two separate coalitions are waging against the Islamic State, in a rare wartime diplomatic expansion.


The move signals a foray into a conflict New Delhi has largely shunned, and represents preparations for a post-war scenario where India expects the Kurdish minority of Iraq to play a crucial role, senior officials have told The Telegraph.


A consulate in Erbil would in the short run allow India to quietly revive diplomatic attempts to rescue 39 Indians abducted by the IS in July 2014 in Mosul, now a key hub for the terror group. Erbil is the nearest large city that is not under IS control. Read more

Beating all odds, 36-year-old Sunil Yadav, a street sweeper employed with the BMC today swept his way to success by securing an MPhil degree from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) here.

Yadav, who is deployed at Nana Chowk in Central Mumbai for the cleaning job, now aims to pursue a PhD degree to understand the problems plaguing the sweeper class and wants to find solutions to it.


"I am elated on securing my MPhil. By doing PhD, I want to deeply study the social system that has marginalised our (sweeper) class in the society," Yadav, who secured seventh rank in his post masters' degree with 'Globalisation and Labour' as the subject told PTI after the convocation ceremony today.

Even after securing a good rank, Yadav wants to continue with his job as a sweeper.

"I am not going to leave this job. Rather I will continue to work for the BMC. I am not interested in any corporate job. Instead, I want to empower my fraternity in understanding their rights and fight for it. I want to be the voice of the down-trodden to wipe out all sort of discrimination within the society," he said.

As the Upper House awaits the authentication of the documents submitted by Subramanian Swamy (the deadline is 6 pm), Congress senior leader Jairam Ramesh says lying is in Subramanian Swamy's nature.

Ramesh's statement is in response to the Rajya Sabha chairman asking Swamy to authenticate his documents before 6 pm. If that doesn't happen, the chair said, his remarks made on Wednesday, would be struck off.

As the Upper House adjourned for an hour, Subramanian tweeted: Met Parriker and congratulated him for a smashing speech in LS. Will meet him again after satisfying Chm RS on docs authentication done.

Swamy, who debuted as a Rajya Sabha member last week, led the ruling BJP's attack on the opposition Congress on the chopper deal in which bribes were allegedly paid by Anglo-Italian company AgustaWestland in India when the Congress was in power.

The Congress hit back at Swamy calling him "diabolical and twisted".
"He suffers from an obsession...that's why he keeps quoting the wrong country. It reveals your twisted mindset. It is diabolical. I cannot come down to your level," Congress leader Anand Sharma said, speaking right after Swamy during a debate on alleged bribes by defence manufacturer AgustaWestland to swing a contract for the supply of 12 helicopters to India.

Swamy's debut speech in Parliament was full of indirect attacks at Congress president Sonia Gandhi. "Before even Dr Manmohan Singh, she should be interrogated first by the CBI," he said. Without taking her name, Swamy referred to her as "a super cabinet" and a "higher authority than then PM Dr Singh".

Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy tweets: Met Parriker and congratulated him for a smashing speech in LS. Will meet him again after satisfying Chm RS on docs authentication done.

The Rajya Sabha chairperson has given Swamy time till 6 pm to authenticate his documents or his remarks will be struck off.

Swamy, who debuted as a Rajya Sabha member last week, led the ruling BJP's attack on the opposition Congress on the chopper deal in which bribes were allegedly paid by Anglo-Italian company AgustaWestland in India when the Congress was in power.

The Congress hit back at Swamy calling him "diabolical and twisted".
"He suffers from an obsession...that's why he keeps quoting the wrong country. It reveals your twisted mindset. It is diabolical. I cannot come down to your level," Congress leader Anand Sharma said, speaking right after Swamy during a debate on alleged bribes by defence manufacturer AgustaWestland to swing a contract for the supply of 12 helicopters to India.

Swamy's debut speech in Parliament was full of indirect attacks at Congress president Sonia Gandhi. "Before even Dr Manmohan Singh, she should be interrogated first by the CBI," he said. Without taking her name, Swamy referred to her as "a super cabinet" and a "higher authority than then PM Dr Singh".

Bollywood director Yash Chopra, who shot most of his romantic dramas in the lush mountains of Switzerland, has been honoured with a special statue by the government.


The bronze statue of the late filmmaker, which weighs about 250 kilos, was inaugurated on Wednesday by his wife Pamela and daughter-in-law Rani Mukerjee, said a statement from Yash Raj Films.Chopra, who opened a legacy of South Asian tourists flocking to Switzerland, and loved to spend time in the country besides shooting his movies.


This statue is installed at the heart of Interlaken, inside the Kursaal area, near the Congress Centre which is a prime, popular spot with tourists.


Ministers and senior bureaucrats from the Swiss government attended the inauguration event that was organised by Interlaken Tourism and Jungfrau Railways.This is not the first time the filmmaker has been honoured in this way.


The government of Interlaken awarded him the honorary title of 'Ambassador of Interlaken' in 2011, and Jungfrau Railways named a train after him -- an honour shared only with the railway's founder, Adolf Guyer.


Pic: Rani Mukherjee and Pam Chopra with Yash Chopra's statue in Interlaken

On behalf of the government, Defence Minister Maonhar Parrikar today listed for parliament the alleged proof that the Congress designed a corrupt deal to buy AgustaWestland helicopters, and then ducked taking any real action.

"What we could not do in Bofors, may be we can do it in AgustaWestland. Ex-Air Chief got chillar for changing chopper criteria," Parrikar said. 




"The Agusta scam could have been stopped in 2012," the minister alleged in the Lok Sabha, where Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul were present.  


The Defence Minister suggested there's no great mystery. "The Congress made money, took chances with national security," he said in a lengthy debate.

Highlights of what the defence minister said...

-- Manohar Parrikar says that Christian Michel writes to the PM that Jyotiraditya Scindiya has all the information.

-- Behti Ganga main haath dhone walon ke piche inquiry chal rahi hai.

-- I can't reveal everything CBI has found, it will impede investigation. But they are very serious.

-- Though ED and CBI doesn't come under me, I am monitoring the progressof the investigation personally.

-- Jyotiraditya Scindia took total liberties with the truth by saying that the Rafael deal that they were doing cost 10 billion dollars. No deal had taken place.

-- I don't know where they get the money from?


-- President's security was jeopardised. I won't let nation's security come under jeopardy'

-- We have put all the contracts in the pipeline with Finmeccanica on hold. We are not buying anything from them.
   
-- But the Armed Forces have raised questions about the equipment they have need parts produced by subsidaries of Finmeccanica.
  

-- Should our ships be without weapons? Should our helicopters not fly because one or more parts are manufactured by the company?


-- Congress walkout in Parliament as Defence Minister continues with allegations on the UPA government in the AgustaWestland case

-- The airport office, where all the files are kept. That place mysteriously caught fire. The reason what caused the fire will be known after an investigation. But the people who had kept the files under a lock and key, three files were saved. And all the three files are related to AW101.

Sahara chief Subrata Roy has been granted parole to participate in the last rites of his mother Chabbi Roy, who passed away on Thursday night. Roy had moved the Supreme Court, seeking a three-week parole. The court has granted him a four-week parole.


Chabbi Roy, 95, passed away in Lucknow at around 1:30am after a prolonged illness.

Bereaved Subrata Roy is in Tihar jail for over two years now over non-payment of money to Sahara investors.

On 29 March, the Supreme Court had asked capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to initiate the sale of Sahara's properties.

Sebi had maintained that it would not be easy to sell these properties, based on a preliminary scrutiny of the titles of the properties.

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis on the Bombay HC order today which allowed the consumption and storage of beef from outside the state, but stayed the ban on beef and cattle slaughter.

Fadnavis said, "We've always taken a stand that this act (Maha Animal Preservation Amendment Act) is constitutional act, is mostly vindicated by the High Court. 1 of 2 provisions have been struck down by the HC pertains to interstate transportation. On this issue, we'll consult our lawyers, if need be we'll approach SC."


So before you clink your beef kabab skewers, remember this may be a short-lived victory -- the government is likely to approach the Supreme Court and the court could overturn today's HC ruling.


The Bombay high court on Friday upheld the state governments ban on slaughter of cows and bullocks in Maharashtra, but struck down a statute that sought to criminalise possession of beef, saying possession would not attract charges if brought from outside the state.


In February last year, the Maharashtra government enforced a beef ban after President Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act.

The man popularly called India's 'damaad', Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law featured in posters at the party's Loktantra Bachao rally in the national capital today.


Vadra, who is married to Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka (and remains the party's final hope for a comeback) has campaigned for his brother-in-law and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and party chief Sonia Gandhi but he has never addressed a rally, nor has he been part of posters.


So today's poster with Vadra firmly ensconced between Sonia and Rahul raises the question whether this is Vadra's tacit push into politics by the party high command. Apparently not so. NDTV reports that Vadra's picture was added to the poster without sanction by a Congress worker and Gandhi loyalist named Jagdish Sharma.

This comes even as Enforcement Directorate conducted searches in Bikaner related to the probe into a land deal pertaining to Robert Vadra. In January Rajasthan home minister Gulab Chand Kataria had said that the Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law has not been given any clean chit in the Bikaner "land grab" case. The state home minister said investigations into the case are still underway. 

The state government had on December 31, 2014 cancelled 18 mutations (transfer of ownership) found to be illegal in private persons' name.

According to Bikaner administration sources, the 374.44 hectares of land was illegally allotted or possessed in 2006-7 by some villagers, who were "wrongfully" shown as farmers displaced by Mahajan Field Firing Range of the Army.

It was alleged that Vadra's company also purchased chunks of land.

But clearly Vadra harbours political ambitions. In 2012 Vadra, 46, had chosen Rae Bareli, Sonia Gandhi's bastion in UP, to announce his ambitions. Astride a motorcycle, he had declared: "If people want, I can join politics."

When the people and the party maintained a stoic silence, and the NDA government upped the ante on his land deals, Vadra remained in the sidelines.

Then last month, Vadra in an interview to ANI said he didn't need Priyanka Gandhi to enhance his life. "I did not need Priyanka to enhance my life, I think I had enough. My parents gave me enough.

"I am born and brought up here, would never leave my country, no pressure, even if I am humiliated. No matter what the government says, I have the ability to sustain and to absorb. I have a very strong and good family which gives me strength."

As for his entry into politics, Vadra said, "I would not say never, let's see what future has in store for me."

Just in: the Uttarakhand floor test will be held on Tuesday. The morning, the Centre agreed to a floor test which will take place under the Supreme Court's supervision. The Supreme Court has banned nine rebel Congress MLAs from the Floor Test.

Attorney General Mukuk Rohatgi said the floor test will be held in a few days after modalities are worked out. Uttarakhand is under President's Rule for the last two months and the floor test could possibly end the deadlock that has put the state in disarray.

Accepting the suggestion made by the Attorney General, the division bench said that if the government does decide to hold a floor test, it would subserve the cause of democracy.

The Centre has asked the state governments to adopt Yoga as part of their school syllabus so that willing students can take it as a subject. Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Yesso Naik said in Lok Sabha the letter to the states favouring adoption of Yoga as part of the school syllabus was sent by the HRD Ministry so that those students who wished to enroll themselves could take it, though it will not be a compulsory subject.

Naik said Yoga has been made compulsory for police personnel and plans are afoot to make it compulsory also for defence personnel.

Kerala student's rape and murder: Centre ready for CBI probe, says Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

While on Syria, do read MK Bhadrakumar's blog on Aleppo, where he writes, "In a message on Thursday addressed to Vladimir Putin felicitating Russia on its Victory Day in World War II, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad compared the fighting around the city of Aleppo to Stalingrad in World War II. It's a powerful metaphor for the Russian psyche, driving home that winning the Syrian war in Aleppo's battle fields is a must and there is no scope for compromise. (Sputnik)"

Read 

Fighting between Syrian regime forces and Al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadists and their allies has left more than 70 dead south of the battleground city of Aleppo, a monitor said today.


Al-Nusra Front and allied Islamists seized Khan Tuman and surrounding villages after less than 24 hours of clashes, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.


"At least 43 Al-Nusra and allied fighters, including a local commander, and 30 on the side of the regime and allied militia were killed in the battle," said the British-based Observatory, which relies on a network of sources in Syria. Pro-regime troops had driven the jihadists out of Khan Tuman, located about 10 kilometres southwest of Aleppo, in December.

MoS finance Jayant Sinha @jayantsinha tweets: For the first time, strict action taken against defaulting & nonperforming Revenue officials.72 dismissed, 33 retired prematurely!


What Mr Sinha is referring to is this: The Centre has ordered 33 senior officials of the revenue department to take premature retirement. Over the last two years, 72 officials have also been dismissed following departmental and disciplinary action. But this was the first time that action was taken against such a large group. All 105 officers were Class 1 officers and are above 50.

"Britain owes us. But, instead of returning the evidence of their rapacity to their rightful owners, the British are flaunting the Kohinoor on the Queen Mother's crown in the Tower of London. It is a stark reminder of what colonialism truly was: shameless subjugation, coercion, and misappropriation. Perhaps that is the best argument for leaving the Kohinoor in Britain, where it emphatically does not belong."


The definitive read on the repatriation of the Kohinoor by Shashi Tharoor.

Just in: Centre agrees for a floor test in Uttarakhand. The floor test will take place under the Supreme Court's supervision. Attorney General Mukuk Rohatgi (pictured) says the floor test will be held in a few days after modalities are worked out. Uttarakhand is under President's Rule for the last two months and the floor test could possibly end the deadlock that has put the state in disarray.

Accepting the suggestion made by the Attorney General, the division bench said that if the government does decide to hold a floor test, it would subserve the cause of democracy.

Shifting its stand on the Supreme Court's suggestion for an immediate floor test in the Uttarakhand Assembly, the Centre on Wednesday said it was "seriously considering" it for serving the cause of democracy.

Today, the attorney general asked the Supreme Court to appoint an observer and tells the SC that there should be one agenda and observer should be the retired Chief Election Commissioner.

Three cops were wounded, one critically, in a powerful grenade blast in the central Kashmir town of Chadoora in Budgam district late Friday morning.


A senior police officer said militants lobbed a hand grenade at a police party near the main bus stand. "The grenade exploded injuring three cops. They were evacuated to hospital and the condition of one is critical," the officer said and added that the area has been cordoned off for searches, while reinforcements from security forces have been rushed there. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.


Mukhtar Ahmed in Srinagar/Rediff.com.

The Urban Poverty You Haven't Noticed: Twentysomethings Who Are Broke, Hungry, But On Trend. Do read

In a huge U-turn of the February 2015 order, the Bombay High Court today de-criminalised the possession of beef if slaughtered outside Maharashtra. However, the court upheld the Maharashtra government's decision to ban slaughter of bullocks in the state.


The high court today struck down a section in the  Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act which criminalises possession of beef brought from outside Maharashtra.

Even possession of cow, bull, bullock meat, even if it is slaughtered outside the state was considered an offence This particular provision was challenged in the petitions.

In February 2015, the President had granted assent to the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act. While the original 1976 Act banned slaughter of cows, the amendment prohibited, in addition, slaughter of bulls and bullocks and possession and consumption of their meat.

As per the Act, slaughter attracts a five-year jail-term and Rs. 10,000 fine while possession of meat of bull or bullock attracts one-year in jail and Rs 2,000 fine.

The decriminalisation of the order happened on the basis of petitions filed by Arif Kapadia, a Mumbai resident, and lawyer Harish Jagtiani, who  challenged the provision which says mere possession of beef anywhere in the state is a crime. This is arbitrary and undermines the cosmopolitan nature of the city which houses people from all religions and communities, they contend.

Energised Congress workers outside the Parliament House police station where the Gandhis and Dr Manmohan Singh had been briefly detained.

Just in: So, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and Dr Manmohan Singh released after courting arrest at the #MarchForDemocracy in New Delhi. The Gandhis have got into their cars and are now heading to Parliament where they will face discussions on the Agusta debate. Dr Singh is still at the police station, as his security detail is being worked out.   AK Antony, Ghulam Nabi Azad also released by the police.

Bombay High Court upholds beef ban in Maharashtra, but says "offences" for possession of beef has been struck down and decriminalised it. What this means is that the HC struck down that section in the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act which criminalises possession of beef brought from outside Maharashtra. 

Congress leader Renuka Chowdhury at the barricades outside the Parliament Street police station. 

Just in: Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, AK Antony, Ghulam Nabi Azad detained by the police at the Parliament Street police station. At the Congress's 'Loktantra bachao' protest march, party workers climb police barricades at Parliament street police station.

Ahead of courting arrest, Congress vice-president Sonia Gandhi launched a blistering attack on Prime Minster Narendra Modi and said the BJP government days were numbered.


"Don't think Congress is weak. We won't succumb to your politics of vendetta and threats. We will fight you and continue to be an awakened opposition which will protect democracy," Sonia told the Prime Minister at a rally in Jantar Mantar.


"We are gathered at Jantar Mantar to send our message not just to Raising Hill but also to people in Nagpur, who run Modi's government," Sonia said in a jibe at the RSS.


"Modi government used pressure, money, incitement to destabilise our Governments in Arunachal, Uttarakhand. They may try to character assassinate us to deflect attention from their own failures. Character assassination is BJP'S old habit but I want to warn them: We won't bow to politics of intimidation. We won't cow down to their tactics of scaring, intimidating us. Enough is enough," she said.


"My life has taught me to struggle. They don't know what Congress is made of,' Sonia said.


File pic of a Congress protest march.

Congress begins its 'Loktantra Bachaao' march from Jantar Mantar to Parliament. Ahead of the march, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, vice-president Rahul Gandhi and former PM Dr Manmohan Singh addressed crowds talking about the willful crushing of democracy under the Modi government. The three leaders said the government was murdering democracy and was turning a blind eye to the condition of the poor, especially farmers.

Sonia, Rahul and Dr Singh court arrest at Parliament Street police station. They were stopped at the barricade and courted arrest after they were stopped from walking towards Parliament as they had violated prohibitory orders.

The BJP has been protesting at the Gandhi statue outside Parliament House.

A day after former minister Atanasio Monserratte was arrested for allegedly raping a minor girl after "buying" her from her mother for Rs 50 lakh, the Goa Police Crime Branch has launched a search for another woman who is accused of being involved in human trafficking.


The 16-year-old girl's mother was arrested yesterday on the charge of human trafficking.


"We have launched search to arrest the third accused, Rosy Ferros. She is wanted in connection with the offence of human trafficking," Superintendent of Police (Crime Branch) Karthik Kashyap told PTI today.


Monserratte, an expelled Congress MLA, appeared before the crime branch officials at 3.10 PM yesterday, and was placed under arrest at 8.30 PM. He has been booked under IPC sections 376 (rape), 328 (poisoning), 342 (wrongful confinement), 370 (A) (trafficking), the provisions of Goa Children Act and the Protection of Children From Sexual Offences Act.


The girl's mother is accused of "selling" the victim to the legislator for Rs 50 lakh. During police investigation, the role of the third woman, who is absconding, also came to light. Meanwhile, Monserratte was taken for a medical examination to Goa Medical College at around midnight.


Police sources said that the MLA and the girl's mother were kept in different lock-ups in the Crime Branch headquarters located at Ribander, near here. Monserratte's wife Jeniffer, who is an MLA from Taleigao constituency, met him in the lock up at night. The police would seek his remand in a court today.


A senior police official yesterday said that police had examined ten witnesses and also recorded the girl's statement before a magistrate. According to the girl's complaint, her mother and another woman hatched a conspiracy and sold her for Rs 50 lakh to Monserratte in March this year for sexual exploitation.


"Monserratte kept her in confinement, administered some stupefying substance and had sexual intercourse with her several times without her consent," it alleged. However, the legislator denied the allegations. "I have not done anything wrong. The complaint is totally false and bogus. This is just to frame me," he had told reporters yesterday before entering the Crime Branch office.


Pic: Goa MLA Atanasio Monserratte was arrested for allegedly raping a minor girl after "buying" her.

Milind Deora @milinddeora  tweets: Good to see #MarchForDemocracy snowballing into a national movement against subversion, constitutional manipulation, lies & deceit.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also takes a chance to attack the Modi sarkar during the event:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend a dinner hosted by the US India Business Council on June 7 that will bring together around 400 CEOs, investors and business leaders during his two-day visit to the US capital. 

Bharatiya Janata Party MP Sakshi Maharaj triggered a fresh controversy after a video, purportedly showing him asking a young woman to unbutton her jeans so that she could reveal the wounds suffered by her during a recent police raid at her house, went viral. 

The Congress party will take to the streets today, in a protest against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government and its alleged "squashing of democracy' in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh.

The D-Company, led by underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, "wanted to spread communal tension in the country by attacking religious leaders, Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh leaders and churches," the National Investigation Agency has claimed. 

Jet crew member Nidhi Chaphekar, who was injured in the Brussels attack in March returns to Mumbai. The 42-year-old had suffered from 15 per cent burns on her body and a fractured foot during the bomb blast at Zaventem International Airport. She had been in a medically-induced coma for almost a month at the Grande Hospital de Charleroi, Brussels.

Three people have been arrested for allegedly raping a 19-year-old nursing student in an autorickshaw in Kerala's Varkala, near capital Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday. 

A source told the Minneapolis StarTribune that the autopsy would confirm that Prince had the painkiller Percocet in his system, although the local medical examiner's office that conducted the examination of the singer has declined to confirm the reports.

Kanhaiya critical after week-long hunger strike, hospitalised