The Rashtrapati Bhavan has written to Chief Election Commissioner Dr Nasim Zaidi regarding the use of the President's photos for political purposes.

The letter says that 'the President is above party politics and neither his photo nor anything related to him in his capacity as the President can or should be used for any political purposes'.

'This has reference to a news item that appeared today in two national dailies captioned 'Pranab pictures on Cong posters under EC scanner'. The news items also reported that the photo of the President in hoardings alongwith other leaders of a political party is being looked into by the Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner and the District Election Officer for any possible violation of any law,' the letter says.
 
'All political parties should desist from ever linking the President to any political party in any manner for political goals,' it says.
 
'It is requested that necessary steps may be taken to ensure this neutrality of the Office of the President of India is not breached in any manner,' the letter read.

United States President Donald Trump sought divine blessings for his new administration on Saturday as the forces of resistance to his presidency gathered in mass rallies in Washington and around the world.

The President left the White House with his family for an interfaith prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral on his first full day in office following Friday's pageantry and parties, the CNN reported.

Trump attended the 58th Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service at the National Cathedral.

He was accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Pence's wife, Karen.

With the decks getting cleared for the bull taming festival of Jallikattu in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, there is a growing chorus for organising Kambala, a traditional annual buffalo race in marshy fields, held in the coastal districts of Karnataka.

Spurred by the Jallikattu agitation in Tamil Nadu, Kambala Committees have decided to meet in Mangaluru tomorrow to strategise their agitation.

"By coming Wednesday or Thursday we are also planning an agitation in this region. By organising a large-scale agitation in Mangaluru we want to attract the attention of  politicians and the whole nation."

"Kambala lovers from Udupi and Mangaluru regions and 150-200 pairs of buffaloes will participate in it," Kamabala Committee President Ashok Rai said.

He said 'when Jallikattu has got permission, Kambala should also get it, because no violence is involved in it. It is part of our cultural heritage'.

Karnataka high court's division bench, headed by Chief Justice S K Mukherjee in an interim order in November 2016 had stayed holding of Kambala on a petition by People for Ethical Treatment of Animals challenging it in view of orders passed by the Supreme Court on Jallikattu.

Kambala Committees have filed an interim application, seeking vacation of the stay.

The ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Saturday evening tweeted that Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao has approved the Jallikattu ordinance, but deleted the tweet after sometime.

Heres the reason.

Kerala Governor and former Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam had telephoned Rao that there are a few clauses in the ordinance which are wrongly stated and may entail legal impediments, a Thiruvananthapuram Raj Bhavan source said.

Consequently, Rao talked to Delhi and even the Prime Ministers Office was in doubt for sometime.

However, later it was clarified to Rao by the government that the apprehensions of the Kerala governor were wrong.

Once a clarification was provided, Rao signed the ordinance.

Hence, there was a delay of a few hours in signing of the ordinance. R Rajagopalan

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took to Twitter to say that he would challenge in court Election Commission's order censuring him

'EC order against me completely wrong. Lower court gave order in my favor. EC ignored court's order. Will challenge EC's latest order in court (sic),' he tweeted.

Earlier this month, while addressing an election rally in Goa's Benaulim, Kejriwal said that voters in Goa should accept money from the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress but cast their votes for the Aam Aadmi Party.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has released a list of its 'star campaigners' for the upcoming state polls.

The list has, obviously, names of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president Amit Shah, Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Venkaiah Naidu, Arun Jaitley, Nitin Gadkari, Smriti Irani and Piyush Goyal among others.

However, there is no mention of Varun Gandhi, Vinay Katiyar, Murli Manohar Joshi and LK Advani in the list.

The list also has names of Yogi Adityanath, Sanjeev Balyan and Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti.

Photograph: ANI

The Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance has failed over seat sharing issue. The SP offered 99 seats to the Congress while the latter demanded at least 115, ANI quoted SP sources as saying.

Around 140 seats for the first and second phase cleared by the Congress Central Election Committee meeting today, the report said.

However, SP leader Naresh Agrawal said, "The alliance is almost over. The chief minister (Akhilesh Yadav) was giving them (the Congress) 100 seats but they did not want anything below 120."

"We told them that we can't contest in less than 300 seats but the Congress was adamant as if they are a very influential party in UP," he said. -- ANI

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam thanks Prime Minister Narendra Modi for 'supporting Jallikattu'.

"On behalf of government and people of Tamil Nadu, thank you for your support in enabling Jallikattu to be held in Tamil Nadu once again," the CM said.

He also said that the ordinance promulgated today by the state government, Jallikattu is to be conducted with customary fervour with all necessary safeguards. -- ANI

JUST IN: All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Sasikala Natarajan thanks Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ensuring conduct of Jallikattu.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam will inaugurate Jallikattu at Alanganallur at 10 am tomorrow after Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao gave his assent to the ordinance in this regard.

Tamil Nadu State Ministers will inaugurate Jallikattu in their respective districts tomorrow at 11 am.

The Bill to replace todays ordinance on Jallikattu will be tabled in the state assembly on January 23 when the first session begins.

Earlier in the day, the Madurai district administration had said it is fully prepared to hold the bull-taming sport at Alanganallur, which is famous for conducting Jallikattu events.

District Collector K Veera Raghava Rao said everything is ready and they are waiting for the green signal from the government. -- ANI, PTI

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam says Tamil Nadu Governor Ch Vidya Sagar Rao has given his concurrence for the emergency ordinance to hold Jallikattu.

According to NDTV, arrangements to hold Jallikattu in Madurai will begin soon after the state ordinance is cleared, and that ministers will be present in Madurai tomorrow.

The government is also considering holding Jallikattu in Coimbatore near Pollachi tomorrow, the NDTV report said quoting sources.

The state government is also exploring legal avenues to ban animal rights organisation PETA in Tamil Nadu, which has lobbied against the festival.

Image for representation only.

JUST IN: Election Commission censures Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for violation of model code of conduct during his January 8 speech in Goa in which he asked voters to 'take money from other parties if they offer but vote fro the Aam Aadmi Party'.

Pakistan hands over Sepoy Chandu Babulal Chavan, who inadvertently crossed the Line of Control on 29 September 2016, to Indian authorities at 2.30 pm. -- ANI

Pakistan to hand over today soldier Chandu Chavan, who strayed across the Line of Control hours after the surgical strike in September last year, to Indian authorities at Wagah.

Last week, Union Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre had said that Pakistan military authorities have committed to the release of Chavan.

"They (Pakistan) have admitted that Chavan is alive, and that they will soon release him after inquiry, which is nearing completion," Bhamre had said.

On September 30 last year, Chavan had inadvertently crossed over to the other side of the Line of Control.

Six Communist Party of India-Marxit workers were arrested today in connection with hacking to death of a Bharatiya Janata Party worker at Andaloor in nearby Dharmadam a few days ago.

Police said the accused, aged between 25-31, were Marxist party workers and sympathisers hailing from Andaloor, from were the victim also belonged.

While the CPI-M leaders had earlier claimed that the attack on 53-year-old Santosh was a fallout of a property dispute between his relatives, police said it was due to some political rivalry.

The incident was said to be in retaliation to the attack by alleged Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh workers on some Student Federation of India students who had gone on an excursion earlier.

Santosh was attacked inside his house and had 21 injuries, mostly on hands and legs. His wife and children were away at the time of the incident on January 18 at around 11 pm.

The BJP had observed a hartal the next day protesting against the attack.

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MPs leave Rashtrapati Bhavan House after meeting President Pranab Mukherjee over Jallikattu ordinance issue.

We strongly believe by today evening the ordinance on Jallikattu will come into effect, AIADMK leader M Thambidurai said after the meeting. Photograph: ANI

Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, who holds additional charge of Tamil Nadu, is reaching Chennai today in the backdrop of the Centre clearing the state governments proposal to promulgate an ordinance to hold Jallikattu, the bull-taming sport banned by the Supreme Court.

Rao will land at Chennai around 4 pm, a Raj Bhavan official said.

The Tamil Nadu Cabinet is expected to clear the ordinance and recommend it to the Governor for promulgation.

The TN government had proposed to issue an ordinance to allow Jallikattu.

Since the subject falls in the concurrent list of the Constitution, it is mandatory to get a nod from the Centre. --PTI

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Rashtriya Janata Dal Chief Lalu Yadav and others take part in the formation of 'world's longest human chain' to spread awareness on de-addiction and prohibition of liquor in Patna on Saturday. Photograph: ANI

Once again asking the minorities to vote for her party, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati has said that this is the only way to check the Bharatiya Janata Party in the upcoming state elections.

Targeting the Samajwadi Party, she said Mulayam Singh Yadav made his brother Shivpal a scapegoat to divert attention from son Akhilesh's 'failures'.

She also said that the rift in SP was faked by Mulayam and Akhilesh.

Taking a dig at the hiccups in SP-Congress alliance, she said both the parties are like sinking boats.

"The Congress and S P are sinking boats. It is difficult for the SP to return to power," she said in Lucknow.

The BSP supremo said the news of alliance has exposed selfish motive of the Congress.

Mayawati reiterated that the people of UP would not vote for the SP and that she will ensure that victory is marked by the BSP in the elections.

Taking a jibe at the two factions of the Samajwadi Party, Mayawati said the groups will lead to the defeat of each other.

Meanwhile, Mulayam loyalist SP leader Ambika Chaudhary joined the BSP in Mayawati's presence on Saturday.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Yadav, his wife and former CM Rabri Devi and their two sons -- Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav and health minister Tej Pratap Yadav -- will join the human chain at Gandhi Maidan in Patna, in support of prohibition today.

People of Bihar will form the 'world's longest human chain' to support liquor ban in the state on Saturday. A team from the Limca Book of Records has already arrived in Patna to take note of the world record set to be made.

Five satellites, Indian and foreign, will capture the unique spectacle of men, women and children of all age holding hands for a cause. Besides, four trainer aircraft, two helicopters and over 40 drones will also capture the images of the human chain.

Nearly 2 crore people, including school and college students, will join hands across the state from 12.15 pm to 1 pm.

The state government has already engaged its entire machinery in preparation for the worlds longest human chain, which will spread across 11,292 km in the state to demonstrate public support for prohibition. It will probably be first of its kind event in the country.

"The proposed human chain will be from east to west and from north to south Bihar that will cover all panchayats, blocks and districts," officials said.

The Nitish Kumar government had imposed a total ban on liquor in the state on April 5 last year. Since then, more than 16,000 people have been arrested on charges of either consuming or transporting liquor in the state.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has also decided to join the human chain after Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised Kumar for imposing prohibition in Bihar.

Later, BJP's ally Lok Janshakti Party of Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan also announced to join it. From M I Khan in Patna

As fight over seats torpedos the proposed alliance between the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, Priyanka Gandhi jumped in and sent a personal emissary to UP CM Akhilesh Yadav. 

The pro-jallikattu protests continued for the fifth day today across Tamil Nadu with the youth and students continuing to stay put at the venues, including the Marina, the epicentre of the statewide stir.

US President Donald Trump has thanked his defeated Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and former president Bill Clinton for attending his inauguration saying he was "honoured" by their presence, and urged the attendees to give them a standing ovation. 

After the parade and swearing-in, it was time for the US First President and his First Lady to let loose a bit at the Liberty Ball. 

The First Family have finally got out of the 'Beast' and are taking a brief walk down the parade route

Moving on! President Trump shakes hands with Hillary Clinton as he arrived for the joint congressional inaugural committee luncheon.