Angered by the treatment meted out to Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother and wife in Pakistan, a relative of the former Indian Navy officer said today that the family was 'even more depressed' than it had been before the visit.

"We are very disappointed and not in a mood to speak on the family's Pakistan visit," the relative told PTI.

"I can't talk more as this is an international issue and being handled by the Indian government. If we speak something about it, that may hamper the process," he said.

Jadhav's mother Avanti and wife Chetna were in Pakistan yesterday to meet him, but the meeting took place with them being separated by a glass screen.

The treatment received by Kulbhushan's mother and wife from Pakistan was not good at all, the relative said.

"We are even more depressed now than we were before the visit," he added.

The relative said he was 'horrified' on learning that Pakistani officials had removed 'mangal sutra' and bangles of Jadhav's kin before allowing them to meet him.

"Even the 'bindi' on the forehead of Kulbhushan's wife was not seen while they were meeting him," he said. -- PTI


IMAGE: Kulbhushan Jadhav meets his mother and wife, Avanti and Chetankul, at the ministry of foreign affairs in Islambad. Photograph courtesy: Pakistan foreign office

At least 10 people were reported injured after a blast in a supermarket in St Petersburg, Russia.

The supermarket has been evacuated following the blast.

According to an RT report, the blast occurred in a in a storage locker.

'There was a bang. Emergency personnel are already on the scene. The evacuation has been completed, and there was no fire,' a local Emergencies Ministry official was quoted as saying by TASS news agency.

'Footage showed multiple medical and police vehicles parked outside the Gigant Hall leisure center, where the Perekrestok supermarket, in which the incident occurred, is located on the ground floor,' the RT report said.  -- Agencies

Image ONLY for representative purpose. Photograph: Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters

Disqualified All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MLA P Vetrivel has moved the Madras high court, seeking anticipatory bail in a case filed against him for releasing a video, purportedly showing late party chief J Jayalalithaa lying on a hospital bed.

Vetrivel, a staunch loyalist of sidelined AIADMK leader T T V Dinakaran, in his petition, submitted that he apprehended arrest in the case filed by the police and sought the relief.

He moved the high court as the district principal sessions court in Chennai had, last week, rejected his plea for anticipatory bail.

The petition is likely to come up for hearing tomorrow.

Vetrivel had, on December 20, released the video clip which showed a frail looking Jayalalithaa in a night suit and sipping what appeared to be a health drink with a straw.

The release of the video, a day before the RK Nagar Assembly bypoll in Chennai, had triggered a political controversy with the ruling AIADMK objecting to it.

On a complaint from the returning officer that the release of the video violated the poll code and the Representation of the People Act, the city police had registered a case against Vetrivel.

Besides, the one-man commission probing Jayalalithaa's death had also lodged a complaint with the police, seeking action against the AIADMK leader.

Defending his action, Vetrivel has said he released the video as suspicions were raised as regards the circumstances leading to the hospitalisation and subsequent death of Jayalalithaa.  -- PTI

The government today slashed interest rates on small savings schemes, including NSC and PPF, by 0.2 percentage point for the January-March period from the rates applicable in the previous quarter, a move that will prompt banks to lower deposit rates.

At the same time, investments in the five-year Senior Citizens Savings Scheme has been retained at 8.3 per cent.

The interest rate on the senior citizens' scheme is paid quarterly.

A finance ministry notification said rates have been reduced across the board for schemes such as National Savings Certificate (NSC), Sukanya Samriddhi Account, Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) and Public Provident Fund (PPF).

However, interest on savings deposits has been retained at 4 per cent annually. Since April last year, interest rates on all small savings schemes have been recalibrated on a quarterly basis.

As per the notification, PPF and NSC will fetch a lower annual rate of 7.6 per cent while KVP will yield 7.3 per cent and mature in 11 months.

The girl child savings scheme Sukanya Samriddhi Account will offer 8.1 per cent from existing 8.3 per cent annually.

Term deposits of 1-5 years will fetch a lower interest rate of 6.6-7.4 per cent, to be paid quarterly, while the five-year recurring deposit is pegged at 6.9 per cent.

"On the basis of the decision of the government, interest rates for small savings schemes are to be notified on a quarterly basis," the ministry said, while notifying the rates for fourth quarter of financial year 2017-18.

While announcing the quarterly setting of interest rates, the ministry had said that rates of small savings schemes would be linked to government bond yields.

The move is expected to see banks lowering their deposit rates in line with the small savings rate offered by the government.  -- PTI

A major accident was averted today when the pilot of a Saudi Airlines flight applied emergency brakes when the nose wheel developed a technical snag during the take-off, an official said.

The Saudi Airline flight number SV895 from Lucknow to Riyadh carrying 300 passengers developed the technical problem on the runway and the pilot had to apply emergency brakes to avert an accident, the senior airport official said.

As a result, the runway was blocked and all arrivals and departures had to be rescheduled, he said.

Six arrivals from various airports were diverted to IGI aiport Delhi, while three scheduled departures were held up, the official added.  -- PTI

A Bharatiya Janata Party leader has moved a Delhi court seeking registration of a sedition case against suspended Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar for hosting Pakistani officials at his residence that posed a threat to national security.

In his application before a magisterial court in Saket, Ajay Agrawal, a practising lawyer, claimed 'derogatory' words were used against Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the meeting, which was also attended by former premier Manmohan Singh and Ex-Vice President Hamid Ansari.

A court official said the matter has been listed for hearing on January 4.

The petitioner has sought the court's direction to Delhi police to book Aiyar and others present under conspiracy and sedition charges, and investigate the matter.

The plea by Agrawal, who contested the last Lok Sabha election against Sonia Gandhi from Rae Bareli, said the meeting was held at the south Delhi residence of Aiyar which was attended among others by Pakistan's High Commissioner and an ex-foreign minister of that country.

He said the Ministry of External Affairs and the Home Ministry were not informed about the meeting despite India's strained relations with Pakistan.

The petitioner said he had requested the National Investigation Agency and the Delhi police for a probe but in vain.  -- PTI

Update: A special NIA court in Bombay on Wednesday dropped all charges under MCOCA and arms act against Sadhvi Pragya, Lt Colonel Purohit and two others in the 2008 Malegaon blast case. Both Sadhvi Pragya and Purohit, however, will be tried under UAPA section 18 and other charges of the IPC. All the accused are already out on bail and will continue to be on bail. Their previous bonds and sureties will continue.The next date of hearing is on January 15.


Seven accused have been partially discharged, while three accused -- Pravin Takalke, Shyamlal Sahu and Shivnarayan Kalsangra -- were fully discharged by the court. 

The Special NIA court in its order says that Sadhvi Pragya Singh cannot be exonerated of conspiracy charges as she was aware about the motorcycle being used for the conspiracy

Six persons were killed and nearly 100 others injured when a bomb strapped to a motorcycle had exploded in Malegaon town of Nashik district, about 270 km from Mumbai, on September 29, 2008.

Sadhvi Pragya, 44 , was arrested in October that year and Purohit, 44, the next month and both were charged with plotting the blasts as part of what the prosecution said a plan by Hindu right wing group Abhinav Bharat.


In April this year, the Bombay High Court granted bail to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, holding that prima facie no case was made out against her. Four months later, the Supreme Court granted bail to Lt Colonel Purohit.

Malegaon blasts case: Sadhvi Pragya, Ramesh Upadhyay, Ajay Rahikar, Lt Col Purohit discharged under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act and sections 17, 20 and 13 of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the Arms Act. All of them are accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case. Three of the accused have been discharged from the case.

Sadhvi Pragya and Lt Col Purohit will be tried under UAPA section 18 and other sections of the IPC. All accused are already out on bail and will continue to be on bail; all previous bonds and sureties are to continue according to the special NIA Court.


Sadhvi Pragya and Lt Col Purohit to be tried under sections 120 B, 302, 307, 304, 326, 427, 153 A of the IPC, along with section 18 (conspiracy) of the UAPA. Next date of the hearing is January 15 in the special NIA court in Mumbai.

Senior DMK leader A Raja today said the people have clearly understood the court verdict in the 2G spectrum scam case, which exonerated him and asserted that it would reflect in the next assembly election in the state. Referring to the 'rousing' reception accorded to him by the party supporters here, he told reporters that it was an indication that people had clearly understood the court verdict in the 2G spectrum allocation case.

"This will definitely reflect in the next Assembly Elections in Tamil Nadu," Raja said. A huge crowd of party cadres welcomed the former Union Minister at the airport in Coimbatore by playing traditional music and performing folk dances.


Raja, Kanimozhi and 15 others accused were on December 21 acquitted in the politically-sensitive 2G spectrum allocation scam cases by a special court in Delhi, which held that the prosecution "miserably failed" to prove the charges. -- PTI

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, who took oath today, joins a rising band of relatively young BJP leaders picked by Prime Minister Narendra Modo and party chief Amit Shah to head their states as they groom a new generation of saffron leaders.


Thakur at 52 joins other second rung party leaders like Devendra Fadnavis (47), Yogi Adityanath (45), Trivendra Singh Rawat (57), Raghubar Das (62), and Manohar Lal Khattar (62), who were elevated as chief minister of their states after the BJP fought assembly polls without projecting a candidate for the top job.


The choice of these chief ministers besides Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal among others underline Modi's and Shah's thrust on grooming a new generation of young saffron leaders while nudging veterans, many in their 80s and older still, to make way. -- PTI

On a cold winter day in Shimla, PM Narendra Modi reflects on a hot cup of coffee. The PM tweeted, "In Shimla, relished coffee at the Indian Coffee House and reminisced old days. The coffee tastes as good as it did two decades ago, when I would frequent Himachal for party work."


The PM was in Shimla on the occasion of Jai Ram Thakur's swearing-in ceremony as the 14th chief minister of Himachal Pradesh along with 11 other ministers. The ceremony took place at the historic Ridge Ground in Shimla.


The ceremony was also attended by BJP chief Amit Shah, BJP veteran L K Advani and a host of union ministers. The cabinet is complete as all 12 berths have been filled while two MLAs would be accommodated as speaker and deputy speaker.

Jai Ram is the first chief minister from the second largest Mandi district and the 14th chief minister and sixth person to adorn the office of the chief minister.

BJP senior leader Subramanian Swamy reacts to Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal's statement on Kulbhushan Jadhav.


"Parliamentary Affairs Minister should introduce resolution seeking Mr Naresh Agrawal's apology to the house and deep regret. If he refuses we should move a motion to examine whether his conduct is not befitting that of an MP and therefore his membership should be terminated," Swamy said.


Agarwal, when asked to comment on the shoddy treatment meted out to Kulbhushan Jadhav's family in Islamabad, replied, "Agar unhone (Pakistan) Kulbhushan Jadhav ko aatankwadi apne desh mein mana hai, to wo uss hisaab se vyavhaar karenge; humare desh mein bhi aatankwadiyon ke saath aisa hi vyavhaar karna chahiye, kada vyavhar karna chahiye. If they believe Kulbhushan Jadhav is a terrorist then they will behave with him accordingly. In our country too, that is the kind of treatment that should be meted out to terrorists. We should be tough with them."


India on Tuesday hit back at Pakistan, accusing it of violating mutual understandings on Kulbhushan Jadhav's meeting with his family, and said the Indian national appeared coerced and under considerable stress during the tightly-controlled interaction.

Pakistan went so far as to have the mangalsutra, bangles and bindi of his mother and wife removed before they could meet him, the external affairs ministry said in a statement.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said on Wednesday that 'NAMO' (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) was the "new Santa" for "new India" who brings good news for the people.


The union minister said, "NAMO is the new Santa who brings good news for a new India. In the last three-and-a-half years, the prime minister has only worked hard for the nation and its people."


Kumar's remark came after Congress leader and former Union minister Manish Tewari took a swipe at the prime minister on Tuesday by linking him with Santa Claus, who instead of giving gifts has stolen the money of common man.


He tweeted, "an old man with a white beard who entered the homes of the people through TV has 'stolen' their money."


It was a veiled attack against the BJP-led central government for taking demonetisation step and hurriedly rolling out Goods and Services Tax, which had caused distressed among small and medium enterprises and traders. -- ANI


Representational image.

Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to make a statement in the Lok Sabha tomorrow on Kulbhushan Jadhav.

Indrani Bagchi' @horror06 Why was Kulbhushan Jadhav not allowed to chat with mother in Marathi? Either 1) Pak has no Marathi translators or 2)Jadhav does not know Marathi. Ergo, Jadhav not Jadhav?

BJP leader Jai Ram Thakur today took oath as the new Himachal Pradesh chief minister. Ten ministers also took oath along with the 52-year-old Thakur. The swearing in ceremony of the five-time BJP MLA Thakur took place at the historic Ridge Maidan in Shimla the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.


Home Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP president Amit Shah and several Union ministers were present at the swearing in ceremony. The Ridge Ground turned saffron with BJP flags fluttering all around and cut outs of Modi, Amit Shah and Jai Ram Thakur dominating the scene. The BJP has won 44 seats in the 68-member house. -- PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the swearing-in ceremony of Himachal CM elect JairamThakur and others, in Shimla.

Pakistani troops today targeted forward posts along the Line of Control in Noushera sector in Jammu and Kashmir for nearly an hour, police said.


The small arms firing from across the border targeting forward posts in Noushera sector started around 9 am.


Indian troops retaliated and the exchange of fire between the two sides continued till 10 am, a police official said. There was no report of any casualty in the incident, the official said.


The latest ceasefire violation by Pakistan comes five days after Pakistani troops opened fire from across the border, leaving four Army personnel dead and another soldier injured in Keri sector of Rajouri on December 23. Indian troops also killed three Pakistani troops and injured another in retaliatory action at Rukh Chakri sector in Rawlakot on December 25.


On December 24, Pakistani troops had targeted forward posts and villages in Shahpur sector of Poonch district. Jammu and Kashmir witnessed a total of 881 ceasefire violations this year, highest in the past seven years, along the LoC and the International Border, resulting in the death of 34 people.


According to officials, Pakistan violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir 771 times till December 10, and 110 times along the IB till November-end. In these incidents of firing from across the border, 30 people -- 14 Army personnel, 12 civilians and four BSF personnel -- were killed.


The truce between India and Pakistan along the International Border, the Line of Control and the Actual Ground Position Line in Jammu and Kashmir came into force in November 2003. India shares a 3,323-km-long border with Pakistan of which 221 km of the IB and 740 km of the LoC fall in Jammu and Kashmir. -- PTI

Shimla: Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh and UP CM Yogi Adityanath for the oath-taking ceremony of Himachal Pradesh CM elect JairamThakur. PM Narendra Modi has already reached Shimla, but is yet to arrive at the venue. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Chandigarh to attend the swearing in ceremony of Himachal CM elect Jairam Thakur and others at the Ridge ground in Shimla.

For the first time since the disqualification of former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif on July 28, the Sharif family publicly said on Tuesday that initiation of a treason case against former dictator retired Gen Pervez Musharraf by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government was the reason behind his ouster. Read the full report on the Dawn.

The benchmark Sensex today achieved yet another record by scaling 34,087 on the back of a rally in healthcare, power and oil stocks. Oil prices surged to the highest level since mid-2015, breaching above the USD 60 a barrel, after a pipeline blast in Libya restricted Opec production.


The 30-share Sensex was up 76.71 points, or 0.22 per cent, to scale a new high of 34,087.32, breaching its previous intra-day record of 34,061.88 hit yesterday. The gauge had gained 254.33 points in the previous two sessions. The broader Nifty was however flat, up 1.75 points, or 0.01 per cent, at 10,533.25. -- PTI

Pakistani journalists on Monday heckled and harassed former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother and wife in Islamabad.


Jadhav's mother Avanti and wife Chetankul were harassed after meeting him in heavily guarded foreign ministry office in Islamabad.


As they saw Chetankul, journalists shouted what would you say on your husband killing thousands of innocent Pakistanis? ('aapke patidev ne hazaron begunah Pakistaniyo ke khoon se Holi kheli ispar kya kahengi?) They asked his mother what are your feeling after meeting your killer son? (aapke kya jazbaat hain apne kaatil bete se milne ke baad?).


India has already taken strong note of the meeting that came after two-year-long wait in which Jadhav was separated from his family by a glass screen. The communication for a little over 40 minutes between them was through an intercom device.


The Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday said Pakistan had disregarded the cultural and religious sensibilities of Jadhav's family.


Jadhav's wife and mother were asked to remove their mangalsutras, bangles and bindis. They had to also change their clothes attire before meeting Jadhav, which Pakistan says is a security measure.


"Under the pretext of security precautions, the cultural and religious sensibilities of family members were disregarded. This included the removal of mangal sutra, bangles and bindi, as well as a change in attire that was not warranted by security," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.


Kumar added the Pakistani press, despite prior agreement that the media would not be allowed close access, was allowed on multiple occasions to approach the family members closely, harass and hector them and hurl false and motivated accusations about Jadhav.


"For some inexplicable reason, despite her repeated requests, the shoes of the wife of Jadhav were not returned to her after the meeting. We would caution against any mischievous intent in this regard," he said.


Raveesh Kumar concluded by saying that the manner in which the meeting was conducted and its aftermath seemed clearly to be an attempt to bolster a false and unsubstantiated narrative of Jadhav's alleged activities, adding the exercise lacked credibility.


The Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) clarified that the screen was placed due to security reasons and that Jadhav already knew this would be the setting. It substantiated his stance by adding that Islamabad considered Jadhav as "the face of Indian terrorism, especially in Pakistan.


"In addition to this, the MoFA released another 'confessional' video of Jadhav's, in which the convicted alleged spy was seen confessing that he did cross from Iran to Pakistan two years back. -- ANI

Just in: Ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Baba Khori in Nowshera sector of J&K's Rajouri district.

Jairam Thakur, set to take oath as the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, today, says, "people have shown faith in us, will try to meet their expectations. Bohot khushi hoti agar pitaji aaj saath hote, ek saal pehle wo humein chhodkar chale gaye. Mataji aswasth hain, par unka aashirwaad hai aur ye mere liye bohot badi baat hai."

He will be sworn in at the Ridge ground in Shimla. 

Syed Akbaruddin @AkbaruddinIndia @UN scheduled for 2017 over. R cup of joy @IndiaUNNewYork is full too.

The Congress party on Wednesday said that the meeting between Kulbhushan Jadhav and his family was distressing and disturbing.Speaking to ANI, Congress leader Salman Khurshid said, "It's a good thing that the family of Jadhav at least got to see him once. On the other hand, looking at it dispassionately I would believe that it's somewhat distressing and disturbing that an access given to a family should not be conducted in this deplorable manner, in which Pakistan has conducted it. They did not need to do this business of security and putting up conditions. I am surprised. We expected better from Pakistan, the situation is unfortunately very very grave," added Khurshid.


Salman Khurshid further expressed his hope that India can present a clear record of everything that has happened. before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).


"Pakistan will off course tom-tom when we go back before the ICJ and I hope the government of India will have a clear record to establish when that happens," said Khurshid.


However, Congress leader KTS Tulsi termed the meeting as a victory for India. "All I can say is that it is a victory for India, although we were asking for consular access. I don't think we should overreact. It is a major success for the government," said KTS Tulsi.


Earlier on Tuesday, the Ministry of External Affairs said Pakistan had disregarded the cultural and religious sensibilities of former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav's family, who met him on Monday in Islamabad.


The wife and the mother of Jadhav were asked to remove mangalsutra, bangles and bindi, besides having been asked to change the attire, citing it as a security measure.