The White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer is addressing the media following reports that the US dropped the 'mother of all bombs' on Afghanistan to target Islamic State militants. 

This was a reunion all TV fans were waiting for! 

PM Narendra Modi says women need not change their names in passport after marriage anymore: PTI.

The CRPF said today that a video clip showing some youths beating its jawans during bypoll to the Srinagar parliamentary constituency on April 9 was "authentic" and that it has started investigations and will "strongly" deal with the issue.


"During investigation, we found that the video is authentic. We have identified the company of the force involved and the location of the incident," Inspector General of CRPF Ravideep Singh Sahi told PTI.


Sahi said the incident happened in Kralpora area in the Chadoora assembly segment in central Kashmir's Budgam district.


"We have gathered all the facts and officially intimated the Chadoora police station. We will also register an FIR," he said. The officer said the force would follow the case in a "strong way". "We will legally deal with those who did that to our jawans. We will follow it up in a strong way," he said, refusing to share further details.

Cricketer Gautam Gambhir had also reacted to the video, tweeting: "Anti-Indians have forgotten that our flag also stands 4: saffron - fire of our anger, white - shroud for jihadis, green - hatred 4 terror.

Virender Sehwag @virendersehwag reacts to the video showing Kashmiri youths heckling and abusing jawans on poll duty. "This is Unacceptable! Cant do this to our CRPF jawaans .This rot has to stop. Badtameezi ki hadd hai."

In a major setback to controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, a non-bailable arrest warrant has been issued against him on Thursday in a money laundering case.

A special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court on Thursday issued an open dated non-bailable arrest warrant against Zakir Naik in money laundering case in Mumbai.

The money laundering case was registered against him by Enforcement Directorate.

The central agency said it had sent summons four times since January to Naik, who is at present in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), but he didn't appear before it.

The ED registered a criminal case for money laundering against Naik and others last December after taking cognisance of a complaint registered against him by the National Investigation Agency under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Hiten Venegaonkar, ED's lawyer, said Naik laid down conditions for appearance and tried to dictate terms to the agency. He demanded time, and once asked the agency to record his statement through a video link, the lawyer claimed.

Under section 15 of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), a person against whom summons is issued has to appear before the agency in person to record his or her statement, Venegaonkar said.
  

A Non-Bailable warrant has been issued against Zakir Naik. The warrant will first go to the Ministry of External Affairs and from there it will go to UAE.

Manjinder Singh Sirsa, BJP-SAD's winning candidate for Delhi's Rajouri Garden bypoll meets BJP president Amit Shah.

India asks for consular access, for the 14th time, to Kulbhushan Jadhav.

Press briefing by the ministry of external affairs on former naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav who is on death row in Pakistan.

MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay, first lays out the facts.
 
The MEA says Kulbhushan Jadhav is a kidnapped, innocent Indian. He was a retired officer of the Indian navy.

Both these facts were told to Pakistan a year ago, when his custody, his illegal custody, came to our knowledge.

He was kidnapped and taken to Pakistan in March last year and has been there since.

We have made 13 requests for consular access to Pakistan, but has been denied each time.

We don't know where he is being held, we don't know his condition. Pakistan has not informed us of any of these.

The government sent a demarche to the Pakistan envoy. The demarche said, "The proceedings that have led to the sentence against Shri Jadhav are farcical in the absence of any credible evidence against him. It is significant that our High Commission was not even informed that Shri Jadhav was being brought to trial."

Some points made by Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj in her statement to Parliament on April 11, needs to be repeated here.

swaraj said the charges against Jadhav, who was doing business in Iran and was kidnapped and taken to Pakistan, are "concocted" and the trial against him was "farcical", leading to an "indefensible verdict".

The government considers this to be a premeditated murder because of the lack o consular access despite 13 attempts.

The foreign minister has said she is in touch with his parents and family.

His name his Kul (family) bhushan (ornament), but the sentiments of the entire nation is behind him. The govt has said it will do everything possible to get him back.


We have not seen his passport. But What type of a spy would carry his own passport on an espionage mission, which is what Pakistan claims he is. There is no truth behind these claims.

To put any condition on consular access is to deny consular access.

MEA briefing on Kulbhushan Jadhav. 

Known for his aggression on field, Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir lashes out at stone pelters in Kashmir.

Referring to the video clips of security personnel being roughed up, abused and jeered by mobs in Kashmir, which went viral on social media, Gambhir tweeted, "For every slap on my army's Jawan lay down at least a 100 jihadi lives. Whoever wants Azadi LEAVE NOW! Kashmir is ours."

In one of the videos a man hits the paramilitary jawan, probably from the CRPF in the head, while in another video, a man kicks the helmet a security man is carrying in his hand. The third video shows a group of men jeering, hurling abuses at armymen. None of the jawans react.

Gambhir followed it up with another tweet, "Anti-Indians hav forgotten dat our flag also stands 4: saffron - fire of our anger, white - shroud for jihadis, green - hatred 4 terror."

Reports say that the video clips were shot in Budgam on April9 and that the jawans were returning from poll duty.

The voter turnout in the first three hours of re-polling in 38 polling stations of Srinagar Lok Sabah constituency on Thursday has been an abysmal one per cent.

JUST IN: President Pranab Mukherjee gives nod to four supporting legislation related to Goods and Services Tax.

On March 29, the Lok Sabha passed the four (supplementary) GST Bills that were tabled by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. It came in the wake of an over 8-hour marathon session in the House that was marked by a lot of tug and pull as the Opposition tried to catch the government off guard as well as point out weaknesses that have been overlooked in its various proposals.

The Finance Minister said he is reasonably optimistic about meeting the July deadline for rolling out GST.

GST has been called the biggest reform in India's tax laws since Independence. The new law will subsume central excise, service tax, VAT and other local levies to create a uniform market across India. The biggest benefit GST is likely to be the adding of about 2 per cent GDP growth to India, plus also ensure tax evasion is reduced.

"He was an extremely capable and disciplined actor who perhaps did not actively promote himself. He was very particular that he did good work, but wasn't in the rat race at all."


Siddharth Kak, shares his memories of British actor Tim Pigott-Smith during the filming of the beloved television series Jewel in the Crown, in an interview with Rediff.com's Archana Masih. Do read

Sri Sri questions NGT panel report on destruction of Yamuna floodplains, says he doesn't trust the NGT panel.

The Supreme Court on Thursday slammed the Tamil Nadu government for 'not taking enough measures' to prevent farmer suicides in the state.


According to ANI, the Supreme Court said it was "painful to hear farmers are committing suicide and the state government is not taking enough steps". It directed the Edappadi Palanisamy government in Tamil Nadu to file a detailed reply in the case.


In a significant order, the Madras High Court had on April 4 directed the Tamil Nadu government to waive loans of all drought-hit farmers and restrained cooperative societies and banks from recovering their dues.


It noted that the state's financial situation was grim and it was single-handedly shouldering the debt burden in a drought year in which farmers were committing suicide and suggested that the Centre come forward to extend financial help to Tamil Nadu "during this difficult situation."


A division bench comprising Justices S Nagamuthu and M V Muralidaran gave the order of waiving the loans while allowing a petition by National South Indian River Interlinking Agriculturists Association.The bench heard the petition even as Tamil Nadu farmers continued their protests at Jantar Mantar in Delhi into the third week.


"We are aware that the state's financial situation is grim. The Chief Secretary in her letter to the Advocate General also reiterated the same. The government is already single handedly shouldering the burden of Rs 5,780 crore and it will be an additional burden to bear Rs 1,980.33 crore."

The Supreme court bench says it is 'painful to hear farmers are committing suicide and the state government is not taking enough steps."


The Supreme Court directs the Centre to include Urdu as a language in the NEET exam from academic session 2018-19 onwards.


Journalists in North Korea have been told to expect a 'big and important event' on Thursday.

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev receives Padma Vibhushan from President Pranab Mukherjee in Delhi.

Celebrations outside the counting centre at Rajouri as the BJP scored a massive win in the bypoll in west Delhi defeating its nearest rival Congress. BJP candidate Manjinder Singh Sirsa won by a margin of over 51 per cent.


The bypoll, which is being seen as a precursor to the MCD polls scheduled for April 23, comes as a  huge blow for AAP which could only get 10,000 votes securing a distant third position.

The AAP candidate secured only 14% the votes polled and even lost his deposit.

BJP's winning candidate Majinder Singh Sirsa said the results showed that people had rejected AAP. "This is the end of AAP-led government in Delhi," Sirsa said.

AAP, however, denied that the result could have an impact on the MCD polls. "AAP loss in Rajouri bypoll won't impact MCD elections. Performance of our govt will ensure AAP's victory in civic polls," Manish Sisodia said on Thursday. He added that the party had lost the bypoll as people were unhappy with Jarnail Singh's decision to go to Punjab and contest election.

The seat was held by AAP's Jarnail Singh, who resigned to fight elections in Punjab. The party had swept Delhi with 67 out of 70 seats in the assembly elections in 2012 and is attempting to wrest all three municipal councils in the Capital from the BJP.

President Pranab Mukherjee gives out the Padma Awards.

First up, wrestler Sakshi Mallik being honoured with the Padmashri.

Even as the Opposition has presented a united front over the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) tampering issue in the past few days, there seems to be infighting and disunity amongst the Congress party members with some being against their use, while others apparently not.

A day after Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh came out in defence of the EVMs, citing had there been any possibility of tampering with the EVMs, he would have not won the Punjab Assembly elections, Congress leader Manish Tewari on Thursday said Singh had himself demonstrated as to how the EVMs could be manipulated, when he was the Punjab Congress Committee (PCC) president in 2001.

"The Chief Minister of Punjab is a respected leader, but few years back in 2010 and even in 2001, when he was the PCC president, he had himself demonstrated as to how the EVMs can be gerrymandered," Tewari told ANI.

Capt. Amarinder Singh's reaction came following his landslide victory in the Punjab Assembly elections, in which the Congress secured 77 out of 117 seats making a strong comeback after a decade.

While reacting on the open challenge thrown by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to the opposition to hack the EVMs, Tewari said the poll-watchdog should not act as an advocate for the voting machines.

"It's extremely unfortunate that the Election Commission has taken upon itself the role of being the lawyer for the EVMs. Democracy is based upon public trust. It is based upon confidence which elected representatives have in the process. So, therefore, if there is a lack of confidence in the EVMs, why is the Election Commission holding itself as the advocate of the EVMs? What is the difficulty if the ECI agrees to hold elections by paper ballot?" said Tewari.

The Congress leader further said that if the stakeholders were unhappy with a particular process, then a revised decision was needed.

"Democracy is a process which is an in interplay between various stakeholders and if, therefore, the stakeholders are unhappy with a particular process, then I am afraid the EC needs to reconsider its stand," he said.

A Congress-led delegation led by party president Sonia Gandhi had submitted a memorandum on the alleged irregularities in EVMs to President Pranab Mukherjee earlier on Wednesday.

The delegation included several popular Congress leaders including party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Satyavrat Chaturvedi, and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad among others.

Post meeting with President Mukherjee, Azad said that the alleged tampering of EVMs and the backdoor entry by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form the governments in Goa and Manipur, have raised questions on the electoral process in the country.

Azad said that the united Opposition sought the President's intervention to maintain the constitutional safeguards in India.

Madhya Pradesh bypolls: BJP's Shivnarayan Singh wins from Bandhavgarh

BJP's Ranoj Pegu wins Assam's Dhemaji assembly by-poll by a margin of 9,285 votes

Rajouri Garden bypoll: Celebrations outside the counting centre by BJP & SAD workers.

The Supreme Court today allowed R K Raghavan, who was heading the apex-court appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe 2002 Gujarat riots cases, to be relieved from the duty of heading the team. A bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justices D Y Chandrachud and S K Kaul considered the submission of senior advocate Harish Salve, who is assisting the court as an amicus curiae, that Raghavan be relieved from the duty of heading the SIT.


The bench hailed the work done so far by the SIT and allowed the request of Salve while asking A K Malhotra, another member of SIT, to oversee the functioning of the probe team. It also relieved another member K Venkatesam from the SIT and asked Malhotra to continue filing quarterly status report about the progress in the riots cases in the apex court.


The top court-appointed SIT has been probing nine major post-Godhra riots cases including the Naroda Gam riots case pertaining to the killing of eleven members of a community.

Not a single vote has been cast in Budgam as yet. Repolling in 38 polling booths in Budgam. This is for the Lok Sabha seat from Srinagar. 

Re-polling at 38 polling stations in Budgam district in Srinagar parliamentary constituency began on Thursday, election officials said.

Re-poll was ordered in 38 polling stations of Chadoora, Chrar-e-Sharief, Khansahib and Beerwah tehsils of Budgam district where violence had disrupted the process on Sunday. Voting process started at 7 a.m. and will end at 4 p.m.

Image: Protesters hurl large wooden logs towards police personnel after clashes erupted over the killing of a youth in Narbal, Srinagar on Saturday. Photograph: S Irfan/ PTI

In J&K, broadband internet services have been suspended in Kashmir again after the services were restored on Tuesday.

The voter turnout in the first three hours of re-polling in 38 polling stations of Srinagar Lok Sabah constituency on Thursday has been an abysmal one per cent. Only 344 voters of the 34,169 eligible persons cast their votes across all polling stations till 10 am, officials said in Srinagar. No votes -- not a single person went out to vote -- were polled in Budgam and Khansahib assembly segments while only two votes were polled in Chrar-e-Sharief segment of the Lok Sabha constituency in the corresponding period, they said.

Chadoora, which was worst hit by violence during Sunday's polling, recorded 200 votes while Beerwah assembly segment saw 142 people turn up to vote, the officials said.


Eight persons were killed in security forces firing on rampaging protestors on Sunday.


The Election Commission ordered a re-poll on 38 worst affected polling stations. All these polling stations are located in central Kashmir's Budgam district, the worst-hit by violence during polling on Sunday.


Seven of the eight deaths in security forces firing during Sunday's polling took place in Budgam district, especially in the areas where the Election Commission ordered to hold a re-poll on Tuesday.


Security forces have been deployed in strength in and around the polling stations to ensure that the events of Sunday are not repeated on Wednesday.

President Pranab Mukherjee to present the Padma Awards at Rashtrapati Bhavan shortly.

In the Bhoranj seat, Himachal Pradesh, Dr Anil Dhiman of the BJP defeats the INC's Parmila Devi by 8290 votes.

Himachal Pradesh by-polls: BJP's Anil Dhiman wins from Bhoranj seat by 8433 votes.

The eight states, 10 seats up for grabs today.

Delhi: Rajouri Garden.

Madhya Pradesh: Bandhavgarh and Ater.

Himachal Pradesh: Bhoranj.

West Bengal: Kanthi Dakshin.

Assam: Dhemaji.

Rajasthan: Dholpur.

Karnataka: Nanjangud and Gundlupet.

Jharkhand: Litiparah.

So the BJP is leading from Ater in Madhya Pradesh, Bhoranj seat in Himachal Pradesh, Dhemaji seat in Assam, Dholpur seat in Rajasthan and Rajouri Garden seat in Delhi. A polling booth has been captured in Ater, MP.

Congress is leading from Nanjangud and Gundlupet seats in Karnataka as the counting began, the Trinamool Congress was leading from Kanthi Dakshin in West Bengal, reported ANI.

In effect, the BJP is leading in Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi; Congress in Karnataka; the TMC in Bengal and the JMM in Jharkhand

File pic.

Karnataka bypolls: Congress leading from both Nanjangud
Madhya Pradesh bypolls: BJP leading from both Ater and Bandhavgarh. Rajouri Garden bypoll: BJP candidate Manjinder Singh Sirsa continues to lead, by a margin of 5928 votes, followed by Congress. 

Counting of votes for bypolls in 10 constituencies in eight states began at 8 am this morning. Delhi, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Assam, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh results will be announced by noon.

So far, the  BJP is leading in MP, Rajasthan, Assam; Cong (2 seats) in Karnataka, Trinamool in West Bengal.

In Delhi's Rajouri Garden, where bypolls for the assembly seat come just weeks before the high-stake civic body elections, the BJP is leading followed by the Congress and AAP at the distant third.

In Karnataka, Congress has taken lead in both assembly constituency - Nanjangud and Gundlupet.

Fresh polling is being held today in parts of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir, where a by-election on Sunday saw huge violence as mobs targeted polling booths amid a poll boycott call by separatists.

Journalist Ahmed Ali Fayyaz tweeted that just 135 votes were cast in the 1st three hours in Budgam district, 133 at Dooniwara, and 2 at Check Mahjundru Chadoura. No votes were cast in the rest of the 36 polling stations.

He says that for the first time after 1989, separatists in Kashmir have completely frozen the democratic exercise, a huge embarrassment for New Delhi. They have asked people to boycott the polls through letters, phone calls, text messages and announcements through masjid loudspeakers

In Karnataka, where the by-polls were held in Nanjangud and Gundlupet assembly seats - results however will not affect the stability of the Congress government, but the elections were key for both the ruling Congress and the BJP to check their voter-base for the assembly elections of 2018.

CNN reports: Sheila Abdus-Salaam, the first African-American woman appointed to the New York Court of Appeals, was found dead in the Hudson River.


She was 65.


Police responded to a 911 call about a woman in the water of the Hudson around 1:45 p.m. Wednesday. They found an unconscious and unresponsive woman, who was later pronounced dead and identified as Abdus-Salaam.


The medical examiner will determine the cause of death and the incident is under investigation, according to a statement from the New York Police Department.


Abdus-Salaam had been an associate justice on the state's Court of Appeals since her confirmation in 2013.


New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who appointed her to the state's highest court, hailed her as a "trailblazing jurist whose life in public service was in pursuit of a more fair and more just New York for all."

Just in: India skipper Virat Kohli declared fit to play. He had hurt his shoulder in the third Test against Australia. He will play his first match in the IPL tomorrow.

Diving to save a boundary, Kohli injured his shoulder during the Test in Ranchi and missed the deciding fourth Test in Dharamsala that saw India regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

He was also ruled out for the opening phase of IPL 2017.

The BCCI had released a statement then saying that he would be assessed by the boards medical team in the second week of the league to determine if he was ready to play.

Kohli himself announced that he would only return to action if he felt that he was 120 per cent fit.

Back in Mumbai, where he acquired a reputation for being an uncompromisingly independent judge with a remarkable grasp of the law, retired Justice Abhay Thipsay, who was suddenly transferred to Allahabad a few month before retirement, talks to Jyoti Punwani about his many controversial orders. Read the interview on Mumbai Mirror.

Early trends show BJP leading on 5 out of 10 assembly constituencies in bypolls in 8 states. Counting underway

This date, 98 years ago, the ghastly Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place on a Baisakhi day. Here's a refresher on the details.

Infosys January-March FY17 results: Consolidated profit rises 6.4% to Rs 14,353 crore from previous fiscal; revenue up 9.7% to Rs 68,484 crore. Infosys expects 2017-18 revenue growth at 6.5-8.5% in constant currency, 6.1-8.1% in US dollar terms. Infosys could pay up to Rs 13,000 crore to shareholders via dividend and/or share buyback.

JUST IN: Infosys January-March FY17 consolidated net profit rises marginally year-on-year to Rs 3,603 crore; revenue up 3.44 per cent to Rs 17,120 crore.

North Korea is ready to launch a nuclear test at its Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site, the 38 North monitoring group reported.

The 38 North analysis group described the test site as 'primed and ready'.

'Commercial satellite imagery of North Korea's Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site from April 12 shows continued activity around the North Portal, new activity in the Main Administrative Area, and a few personnel around the site's Command Centre,' the North Korea-related analysis website said.

The Voice of America said last night, quoting US government and other sources, that North Korea 'has apparently placed a nuclear device in a tunnel and it could be detonated Saturday AM Korea time'.

On Sunday, the US had sent an aircraft carrier-led strike group toward the Western Pacific Ocean near the Korean Peninsula 'in response to recent North Korean provocations'.

Last week, North Korea launched a Scud extended-range missile, which US officials said exploded in flight.

US intelligence officials say Pyongyang could be less than two years away from developing a nuclear warhead that could reach the continental United States. -- Agencies

The counting of votes for the Rajouri Garden assembly bypolls in New Delhi began today morning.

Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Manjinder Singh Sirsa is leading by 1,011 votes

The bypolls are a litmus test for the ruling Aam Aadmi Party and a victory will be a major boost for it ahead of the civic polls.

However, a loss for the AAP would provide ammunition to the BJP and Congress, which have been accusing the Kejriwal government of having 'failed' in delivering electoral promises.

The bypoll was conducted as this west-Delhi seat fell vacant after AAP legislator Jarnail Singh quit to contest the Punjab assembly elections.

The AAP's candidate was a new Sikh face, Harjeet Singh, while the Congress put its bet on local councillor Meenakshi Chandila, daughter-in-law of former MLA Dayanand Chandila.

Meanwhile, in Himachal Pradesh, BJP's Anil Dhiman is leading on Bhoranj seat by 1,364 votes, while in Jharkhand, Simon Marandi of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha is leading from Litipara.

In Rajasthan, BJP's Shobha Rani Kushavah is leading from Dholpur, while in Karnataka, early trends suggested a lead for the Congress on Gundlupet and Nanjangud seats after first round of counting. -- ANI

The re-polling ordered by Election Commission of India in 38 polling stations of Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency, where the bypoll on April 9 was marred by violence, began today amidst tight security arrangements.

The polling began at 7 am and will end at 4 pm.

All these polling stations are located in central Kashmir's Budgam district, the worst-hit by violence during polling on Sunday.

Seven of the eight deaths in security forces firing during Sunday's polling took place in Budgam district, especially in the areas where the Election Commission ordered to hold a re-poll on Tuesday.

Adequate arrangements of security and videography have been made for re-polling at the 38 polling stations.

The district administration has imposed restrictions under Section 144 Code of Criminal Procedure in the entire Budgam district, except in the areas where polling is taking place.

Chief Electoral Officer J-K, Shantmanu yesterday reviewed the arrangements for the re-poll at a high level meeting convened in Srinagar.

Shantmanu said the poll process at all the polling stations will be videographed and one micro-observer from central government offices will also be deputed for each polling station where repolling is being conducted.

He said all other arrangements mandated by the EC for ensuring free and fair polls have also been put in place.

Only 7.14 per cent of the 12.61 lakh electorate cast their votes during the polling for by-election to Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency on Sunday amidst large scale protests and violence around polling stations at dozens of places across the constituency. -- PTI

Image for representation only.

Amid spiralling Indo-Pak tensions over the death sentence handed down by Pakistan to Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, the United Nations underlined the need for the two countries to engage in dialogue. 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow is open to dialogue with Washington despite tense relations between the countries, after talks with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.