Even as reports came in that police lathicharged Jallikattu protesters at some places today, S George, the Chennai Police Commissioner, said that his men didn't use force on the crowd. 

A 30-year-old man who suffered serious injuries during the Jallikattu held in Pudukottai district died at a hospital today, taking the toll in the incident to three, police said.

Karuppiah succumbed to injuries at the government hospital in Tiruchirapalli, they said.

Two persons were killed and 28 suffered minor injuries during jallikattu held at Rapoosal village yesterday, police had said.-- PTI

United States President Donald Trump is likely to sign a decree that effectively ends America's participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the US media reported.

The trans-Pacific free trade agreement was negotiated under former president Barack Obama.

The action would be the Trump's first move to make good on a campaign vow to scrap the TPP, which he denounced as a 'job killer' and a 'rape' of US interests, a CNN report said.

The agreement, seen as a counter to China's rising economic influence, was promoted by Washington, DC and aimed to set trade rules for the 21st century.

It was signed by 12 countries -- Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Brunei -- that together represent 40 per cent of the world economy.

Although signed in 2015, it has not yet gone into effect.

Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah has said that people of Goa must vote keeping in mind that the next government will work under the guidance of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.

Speaking at a public meeting in Vasco, Shah said, "We will decide after the elections where Parrikar ji will work. People of Goa must vote keeping in mind that the (next) government will work under his guidance."

Earlier, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari's remarks on the issue had set off speculation

Gadkari had said that the new CM of Goa 'can either be from the elected representatives or we can even send (someone) from the Centre'.

When asked about Gadkari's remarks, Parrikar had said, "Let us cross the bridge when it comes. Gadkariji has said what we wanted to say."

On the other hand, Union minister Sripad Naik, who also hails from the coastal state, said he was willing to head a government in his home state if the party asked him to do so. -- ANI

A fire has erupted in slums of Narsi Natha Street in Masjid Bunder (East) in Mumbai. Six people, all minors, have sustained burn injuries.

Efforts to douse the fire continue.

All fast locals on Central Line have been stopped due to the fire.

United States President Donald Trump has said he will not tell the press what Barack Obama wrote in the 'beautiful' letter the outgoing president left for him in the Oval Office.

"I just went to the Oval Office and found this beautiful letter from President Obama," Trump said, addressing senior staff members before they were sworn-in.

'It was really very nice of him to do that and we will cherish that. We will keep that and we won't even tell the press what's in that letter,' he was quoted as saying by The Hill.

In the letter President George W Bush left for Obama, Bush said there would be 'trying moments' during his presidency and warned Obama that 'critics will rage' and said your 'friends will disappoint you'.

'But, you will have an Almighty God to comfort you, a family who loves you, and a country that is pulling for you, including me,' Bush wrote.

'No matter what comes, you will be inspired by the character and compassion of the people you now lead,' Bush had written.

In the letter President Bill Clinton wrote to Bush in 2001, Clinton saluted the new president and wished him 'success and much happiness'.

'The burdens you now shoulder are great but often exaggerated. The sheer joy of doing what you believe is right is inexpressible,' Clinton wrote.

JUST IN: A fire breaks out near Masjid station on the central line of Mumbai suburban rail network due to which all fast locals on the central line have been suspended.

The Congress today released its manifesto for the upcoming Goa polls in which it has assured banning all the casinos in the coastal state, including the floating vessels mounted with gambling dens.

'Floating casinos in Goa's river will be closed permanently,' reads the manifesto of Congress that was released today by Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia in Panaji.

'Those on the shore too will be closed at a later stage,' Goa Congress chief Luizinho Faleiro told reporters in Panaji in the presence of Scindia.

He said in the first phase, offshore casinos which are currently in river Mandovi would be shut and in the second phase, onshore casinos would be banned.

Responding to a question, Faleiro ruled out that such an action would affect employment prospects in the state.

"I don't think that there are much Goans working at these casinos,' he said.

Goa has six offshore casino vessels besides around a dozen of onshore casinos operating in five star resorts.

IMAGE: Casino Royale Goa, an off-shore casino on a ship in the Mandovi river. Photograph: Reuters

JUST IN: Government calls an all-party meeting on January 30 at 11.30 am over budget session of Parliament

Poll candidates and their parties now have to get approval from officials concerned before uploading content online as the Election Commission has called for stricter check of content on social media.

"Candidates, in compliance with the ECs instructions, will have to obtain approval for uploading content on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter or WhatsApp, just like they do in print and electronic media,"  Ravindra Kumar, additional district magistrate of Mathura and in-charge of Media Certification and Monitoring Committee, said.

Kumar also said that candidates will also have to get approval from the MCMC about the content of messages sent by them.

They will have to inform how many messages have been sent and the method used to check these messages.

"Those not following these rules will be considered to be violating the Model Code of Conduct and will be punished as per the law," Kumar said. -- PTI

Image for representation only.

HC stays CIC order asking DU to allow inspection of results of 1978 BA exams which PM Narendra Modi had also cleared. HC issues notice to RTI applicant Neeraj asking him to reply by April 27 on DU's plea challenging the CIC order.

Priyanka Gandhi, the person the Congress party hopes will revive its electoral fortunes, has very effectively handled UP CM Akhilesh Yadav by forging an alliance between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party. In fact, insiders confirm that both Priyanka and Akhilesh exchanged between 10 and 12 text messages that helped strike the deal.


In one of the messages, Priyanka is believed to have written (not verbatim): If you do not align with Congress, it that means the Samajwadi party is supporting the rule of BJP.

It did the trick.

Akhilesh replied saying that situation would never arise so long as Netaji (SP chief Mulayam Singh) is the driving force of the party.

The SP will now contest 298 seats out the total 403; the Congress 105.

The Times of India reported today that the CM's decision to call Priyanka was more proof of the central role played by Rahul Gandhi's sister in recent events. It indicated her political role has become more overt and may signal a more public profile in the coming months, opening the possibility of her contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

However, Akhilesh does not want to appear in Amethi with Rahul Gandhi in poll rallies since Rahul has criticised Akhilesh in a pre-alliance speech, the video of which is doing the rounds on WhatsApp.


Priyanka is trying to organise three poll meetings in Uttar Pradesh with Akhilesh, Rahul, Mulayam Singh, Sonia Gandhi and Dimple. The meetins will take place by the middle of  February.
 
Meanwhile, Akhilesh has announced that he will contest from Mubarakpur, while Mulayam Singh's daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav will contest from the Lucknow Canonment for the Samajwadi Party.   Read:The power bahus of Uttar Pradesh.

Superstar Rajinikanth appeals to protesters to end the protests over Jallikattu. Rajini said miscreants are trying to hijack the protest and bring a bad name to them. The actor has expressed solidarity with protesters at Marina Beach demanding the lifting of the ban on the bull-taming sport of Jallikattu. The biggest stars of Tamil cinema attended a day-long protest organised by the Nadigar Sangam on Friday in Chennai.


In a crackdown, police in Tamil Nadu on Monday started evicting scores of pro-jallikattu demonstrators from protest venues across the state, especially from the Marina Beach, epicentre of the stir for the past one week, amid reports of stone-pelting and lathicharge at a few places.


Image: Rajinikanth's letter asking people to end their protest. 

Rajeev Sharma tells us: Why didn't the Congress party move the Supreme Court against the presentation of the Union Budget on February 1?


Because the Congress, which ruled the country for well over half a century, is well aware of an earlier apex court ruling which ruled that once the Election Commission formally announced election dates, the courts would not adjudicate on the EC's wisdom.


The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation filed by an advocate seeking postponement of the Budget till completion of assembly polls in five states.


The Supreme Court's dismissal of this petition will inevitably become the go-to judgment in the future.


The court said that election rules do not allow governments to offer giveaways or make any announcements that could skew voters towards the party in power at the Centre or in states.


The SC today said that the Union Budget has "nothing to do with states " and stressed that elections in states are held so often that they cannot impede the work of the Centre.


"Throughout the year, there may be elections in different states, so should the Centre not present the Budget?" judges asked.


The Finance Ministry began printing the budget documents last week, with Arun Jaitley going to the basement of the North Block where the printing press is situated, and participated in the halwa ceremony, a symbolic ritual that hopes to augur a sweet budget. The five state elections begin on February 4 in Punjab and Goa, followed by Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh (which votes on seven days) and Manipur. Results for all will be announced on March 11.


Image: Finance minister Arun Jaitley at the halwa ceremony last year.

No proof of tampering of tracks found, says a preliminary rail ministry probe.


The Bihar police is probing whether the November 21 Kanpur train derailment that killed 148 people was an act of sabotage with possible ties to Pakistani spy agency ISI.


The Indore-Patna Express went off the tracks near Kanpur Dehat in Pukhrayan on November 21.


The Bihar police arrested three persons on Tuesday on charges of involvement in the incident.


"One of three accused has told investigators that they planted a pressure cooker-based improvised explosive device near the railway track in Kanpur which resulted in the derailment. But his confession needed to be verified by independent corroboratory evidence. They claim to have done it for money," said a central counter-terror official who spoke on the condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.


The UP anti-terrorist squad (ATS), Lucknow and the National Investigating Agency (NIA) are likely to quiz the three detainees, since there is the suspicion that their handler, identified as Shamshul Hoda of Nepal, may have ISI links.


The official added that it was being suspected that the accused were hired through a chain of handlers sitting in Nepal and Dubai and the Dubai-based handler was connected to those in Pakistan.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said truth should come out regarding the mysterious disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.


"We celebrate the birth anniversary of Netaji every year but we do not know about his disappearance. This is a tragedy," she said at a programme here on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Netaji.


"We had declassified all Netaji files which were with the state government. Some files were there with the central government. Truth may come out if there was an investigation but unfortunately it did not happen," she said.


"Netaji's birthday is as important for us as Independence Day or Republic Day. Netaji was a leader of the country. A true leader does not discriminate, works for all," she said.


On the occasion, Banerjee made subtle criticism of the abolition of the Planning Commission saying, "Netaji had a very clear vision for the country. He thought of the Planning Commission even before the Independence".


The chief minister said her government has allotted Rs 10 lakh for the renovation of the house where Netaji had stayed in the hills.

SC dismisses PIL seeking postponement of Union Budget on the ground of upcoming Assembly polls in five states. The court said there is no illustration to support that the presentation of Union Budget would influence voters' mind in state elections.


A PIL filed by advocate ML Sharma wants the Centre to present the Budget in the financial year 2017-18, which starts from April 1, as against the proposed date of February 1.


The Narendra Modi government had decided to present the Union Budget for the financial year 2017-18 on February 1.


Breaking away from a 92-year-old practice, the Railway Budget will be presented as part of the Union Budget.


On January 4, the Election Commission announced the dates for Assembly elections in five states--Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and Punjab. While Goa and Punjab will vote on February 4, in Uttar Pradesh election will be held in seven phases from February 11 to March 8. Manipur will vote in two phases on March 4 and March 8, while Uttarakhand will go to polls on February 15.

Rajeev Sharma tells us: Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar is all set to get an extension and the official announcement may happen "any day" considering that his two-year tenure ends on January 28, knowledgeable sources said.

It is not clear if India's top diplomat will get a one year or two year extension.

However, the former scenario -- a one year extension -- seems more likely.

An influential section of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh is understood to have pitched in for elevating Vijay Gokhale, currently India's ambassador in China, as foreign secretary.

In case Jaishankar is given only a one year extension, Gokhale will still be in with a chance to become foreign secretary as he retires on January 24, 2019.

In the event of Jaishankar getting a one year extension, many senior diplomats would lose the chance of being considered for the top  post in the ministry of external affairs.

These include Anil Wadhwa, India's ambassador to Italy and currently the senior most diplomat in the MEA, Sujata Mehta, secretary (West), Navtej Sarna, India's ambassador to the United States, Amar Sinha, secretary (economic relations), Ranjit Rae, dean, Foreign Service Institute, and Amrendra Khatua, director general, Indian Council of Cultural Research.

The Supreme Cout today ordered investigation against former CBI Director Ranjit Sinha for his alleged involvement in the coal scam case. The SC has ordered the setting up of a special investigation team to look into prima facie charges against former CBI chief Ranjit Sinha's attempt to influence Coal scam probe. It has been alleged that Sinha abused his position as CBI chief to favour the accused in the Coal scam. 

A 59-year-old man was allegedly assaulted in a movie theatre in Mumbai for not standing up when the National Anthem tune was played on screen in a scene of a film, police said on Monday.


The incident took place at a theatre in suburban Goregaon on Wednesday evening, they said.


The victim, Amalraj Dasan, was allegedly hit on his face by a person for not standing up while the National Anthem was being played in a scene during the screening of film "Dangal'.


The particular scene pertained to depiction of winning of a gold medal by daughter of Mahavir Phogat (enacted by Aamir Khan).


The accused, identified as Shirish Madhukar, has been booked under IPC section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to broke peace), police said adding that a probe into the matter is on,

Not the Siberian Tundra, that's the Kashmir Valley. Cold wave continues in the Valley and other areas; night temperatures remaining below freezing point.

"Our tank took a direct bull's eye hit. When I came to my senses I called for the driver, loader, subedar -- nobody answered. Three men from my tank died that night."

Wing Commander Kuldip Shiva (retd) tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih about days spent along the Ravi river on the border with Pakistan as a forward air controller attached to an armoured brigade.  Do read

R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja rested for T20Is against England. Amit Mishra and Parvez Rasool named as replacements.

69 caveat petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court in the Jallikattu matter till now over a period of three day, and more may be filed.

A caveat means that if a petition against Jallikattu is filed before the Supreme Court, it will hear all parties before delivering any verdict.

Earlier, the Tamil Nadu government had filed a caveat in the Supreme Court following the promulgation of the Jallikattu ordinance.

The apex court in its 2014 judgement had said that bulls cannot be used as performing animals, either for Jallikattu events or bullock-cart races in the states of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra or elsewhere in the country, and had banned their use across the country.

The Centre, yesterday passed the ordinance on Jallikattu, proposed it by the Tamil Nadu Government.

The ordinance was placed before the Law, Environment and Culture Ministries before it was passed.

Just in: The government to move a bill to replace the Jallikattu ordinance in the TN Assembly this evening, says Speaker P Dhanapal.


This morning, observing that a "mass movement' and "spontaneous outpouring of emotion" paved the way for lifting of the ban on jallikattu, Tamil Nadu Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao on Monday said a Bill to replace the ordinance would be "placed' by the State Government in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.


"The unprecedented and spontaneous outpouring of emotion and sentiment in a completely orderly and peaceful manner by lakhs of youth, supported by common people across the State, has received the solidarity of Tamil people across the globe to conduct jallikattu and preserve Tamil cultural heritage," he said, even as the opposition DMK staged a walkout.


In his maiden address to the Assembly in its first session this calendar year, Rao said, "This mass movement has paved the way for lifting the ban on Jallikattu."


The State Government, after receiving the Centre's assurance on its support for efforts to conduct the sport, had followed the constitutional route and issued an ordinance amending the relevant provisions of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, he said. He expressed happiness over the sport being held on Sunday in the State.


The traditional sport, which was banned by the Supreme Court in 2014, was organised in several parts of the State yesterday, following promulgation of the ordinance on Saturday for conducting the bull taming sport.


The ordinance, which establishes the circumstances in which the bull-taming sport should be held, states that the government has "decided to exempt the conduct of Jallikattu from the provisions of the said Central Act 59 (Prevention of Cruelty to Animals)".

Tamil Nadu: Food being distributed to protesters sitting in support of jallikattu in Madurai's Thamukam area.

Whether we agree or otherwise, certainly well said.

Kapil Sibal @KapilSibal The Bicycle will speed away, as the Hand keeps it steady. No Lotus will bloom as the Elephant steps on it. 1917: a year of cheer and hope.

Outgoing US Ambassador to India Richard Verma shared some heart-warming stories in his farewell speech for friends before he left Delhi last week. He recounted his interaction with two Indian prime ministers, reports Business Standard.   

Observing that a "mass movement' and "spontaneous outpouring of emotion' paved the way for lifting of the ban on Jallikattu, Tamil Nadu Governor Vidyasagar Rao today said a bill to replace the ordinance would be "placed' by the state government in the Tamil Nadu Assembly "immediately.'

PM Modi paid homage to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on his birth anniversary in Parliament.

A massive human chain was formed by locals at Chennai's Marina Beach who demanding complete freedom to perform Jallikattu.The Chennai city police had earlier requested the protesters to leave Marina Beach in a peaceful manner as "that their purpose has been fully achieved" after the state government promulgated an ordinance on Saturday.


"It's wrong that ordinance will dissolve after 6 months, fact is that after introduction of ordinance, it will be introduced in assembly. It will be introduced and regularised and now itself the law is in act. Ordinance is for Jallikattu permanent solution. SC stayed Jallikattu so lawmakers got ordinance," the police said in a statement.


They further appealed to the protesters to end their agitation as their goal of conducting the sport had been achieved.


BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Monday asserted that the protests were pointless now as all their demands were to be conceded.

"I welcome it. This was to be done. After all their demand was to be conceded and Jallikattu is going to be legitimised by an act that is to be passed today by the Tamil Nadu Assembly and so what is the point in protesting?," Swamy told ANI.

Clash between protesters and police (pictured alongside) in Madurai's Alanganallur, which is where Jallikattu takes place. An injured protester is being taken to hospital after police lathicharged protesters pelting stones. As per the police report to state government, protests have been called off in Salem, Trichy, Nellai, Ariyalur, Perambalur and Virudhunagar.


ANI reports more than 100 protesters have been detained by police in Coimbatore from near Meenakshi Hall. There are reports of road blockades, clashes between police and protesters from different parts of the state. The police resorted to use of tear gas shells in at least one of the cases. Both  police and protesters have sustained minor injuries.


The advisory, released to the media, said that tens of thousands of youth, students and general public had been protesting in Marina since January 17 urging to lift the ban on the conduct of Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu and that it had been "staged in a disciplined and peaceful manner without causing inconvenience to the general public and hindrance to the traffic."

The Jallikattu protests in Chennai turn grim. Protesters at Triplicane, close to Marina Beach set police vehicles on fire and the Ice House police station near the beach is also believed to be on fire.

Sources in Chennai tell us that there are no train plying from south Chennai into the city. There is heavy police bandobast, traffic jams on the roads leading to the protest site at Marina Beach.

Protesters standing in a chain edged closer to the sea and threw stones at the police, who used batons and tear gas to control the crowd.


Hundreds resisted the police who arrived at 5 am in large numbers and physically removed protesters. Some people were injured in clashes with the police in and around the beach. The protesters had yesterday threatened to block Republic Day celebrations despite the state government's ordinance or special order bypassing a Supreme Court ban on Jallikattu.

All routes leading to Marina Beach have been closed, and barricades have been put up by the police to prevent people from assembling there.

Violence has also broken out in Alanganallur in Madurai district. Yesterday, protesters in Alanganallur did not allow Chief Minister O Panneerselvam to inaugurate the Alanganallur jallikattu which was cancelled.

Later talking to media persons, the Chief Minister said that even though jallikattu was not held at Alanganallur, it was organised smoothly in many places all over the state.

The Bill to replace Sunday's ordinance passed by the Governor on Jallikattu, will be tabled in the state assembly when the first assembly session begins on January 23.


Image: Smoke rises from the Ice House Police Station near Marina Beach which was set on fire by the protesters.


 

Several hundred Tamil-Americans have gathered at the Gandhi statue in Washington to hold a rally in support of the ongoing Jallikattu movement demanding lifting of the ban on bull-taming sport which is an integral part of Tamilian culture. Several dozens of them also held a protest demonstration outside the PETA headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia.


Armed with posters and banners, Tamil-Americans including a large number of children and women raised slogans in support of Jallikattu and vented out their anger against animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which is leading in supporting the ban on the grounds that it is a torture to animal.


"We love our animals. We know how to treat our animal. This is part of our tradition and culture," said Babu Vinayagam, one of the anti-PETA protestors at the Gandhi Statue in front of the Indian Embassy in Washington.


"Today's rally is to show our solidarity with our people back home fighting against ban on Jallikattu," he said. Majority of the slogans were in Tamil, but at times they shouted "Down Down PETA," venting their anger at the animal rights group.

In Uttar Pradesh, the electioneering process has started gaining momentum with every passing day, as for the first phase of election, for which polling is scheduled on 11th February, a total of 168 candidates filed nominations till 21st January.


In this phase 73 seats are at stake for which nominations can be filed till tomorrow. Whereas for the 67 seats of second phase, the last date of nomination filing is January 27 and only 16 candidates filed their nomination so far.Including today and tomorrow, only two working days are available for the filing of nomination of 1st phase.


After the announcement of poll coalition between Samajwadi Party and Congress, a rush into nomination filing is expected in these two days. Mayawati has said that she will initiate her poll campaigning from 1st of February whereas Akhilesh Yadav is slated to start his campaigning blitzkrieg from 24th January.


The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has also announced its list of star campaigners whereas in the Congress, people are expecting Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi to announce their campaigning schedule soon.

In his book, Army and the Nation: The Military and Indian Democracy since Independence (2015), Steven I. Wilkinson of Yale University draws on uniquely comprehensive data to explore how and why India has succeeded in keeping the military out of politics, when so many other countries have failed. As 2016 draws to a close, one is tempted to revisit Wilkinson's study as, of late, one sees a determined effort by domestic forces across the political spectrum to prove these broad conclusions to be somewhat premature. Read more

Two naxals were gunned down in an exchange of fire with security forces in a dense forest of Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh, police said today. The skirmish took place late last evening in the jungles near Padmetta village under Bedre police station limits when a joint team of security personnel were out on a counter-insurgency operation in the region, Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) SRP Kalluri told PTI.

Just In: The Supreme Court asks the Centre to appoint within a week the director general of National Human Rights Commission, and grants it 4 weeks time for appointing other members to the human rights body.

Former Congress MLA Krishna Hegde and Bollywood actor Dalip Tahil have joined the BJP ahead of the Bombay municipal corporation elections slated for February 21. 

Queen of Pop Madonna, who managed to raise eyebrows after she delivered a fiery speech at Saturday's women's march in Washington, DC, took to social media to "clarify some very important things'.  

Oscar-winner James Cameron, the man behind the first two Terminator movies, might team up with Deadpool helmer Tim Miller for the popular franchise's reboot.   

In an early morning crackdown, the police in Chennai started removing scores of protesters who were demonstrating at the Marina beach for the past one week, demanding a permanent solution for holding Jallikattu.   

Jallikattu protestors threaten police, saying that they will commit suicide at Marina beach if forcefully removed from the site.

PETA, go ban bull riding rodeos in US. You are not qualified to tackle our bulls. Empires have been made to quit India, says actor Kamal Haasan.