Classic Bollywood numbers 'Awaara Hoon' and 'Mera Joota Hai Japani' from movies starring Raj Kapoor received loud applause from leaders attending the Shanghai Cooperation Orgnaistaion Summit in Astana today. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping today told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he watched Aamir Khan- starrer sports drama Bollywood film Dangal and liked it.


Dangal, which was released in China on May 5, has broken several records in the Chinese movie industry and raked up over Rs 1,100 crore. It became only the 33rd film in China to cross a whopping collection of one billion yuan (USD 147 million).


It continues to play in over 7,000 screens across China. Xi said Dangal is doing well in China and he himself watched it, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said after the talks between the two leaders on the sidelines of the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, where India and Pakistan today became full members of the grouping. Dangal has also become the first top-grossing non- Hollywood film in China.


The film is inspired by the real-life story of wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat, who went against a patriarchal society to train his daughters to become champion wrestlers.


Aamir Khan had recently said he hoped the film would be loved in China but never dreamt of such a spectacular success. "I always believe that language is not a barrier when it comes to creative endeavours and its success in China has proved that," Aamir had said.

Theresa May says Conservatives and DUP (Democratic Unionist Party) will 'work together in the interests of the whole of the United Kingdom'. The DUP has won 10 seats, the Tories won 318 seats, eight short of the magic figure needed to form government alone. 

UK PM Theresa May speaks addresses her people outside 10 Downing Street. She says she will form the government. "The country needs certainty more than ever. Theresa May says her government will "provide certainty" and work to keep the country "safe and secure". The original Brexit timetable remains, she said. "Let's get to work," she said in a short statement. The government I lead put fairness at its heart, she said. She said she will continue to work with the DUP.

UK elections: Theresa May has asked the Queen for permission to form a new government. The UK voted for a hung parliament after shock losses for the Conservatives in the 2017 general election. With 649 of 650 seats declared, the Tories had 318 seats - eight short of the figure needed to win outright - with Labour on 261, the SNP on 35 and Liberal Democrats on 12.

The PM is now on her way back to 10 Downing Street after meeting the Queen.

File pic.

Serial killer Charles Sobhraj, 73, a Frenchman of Indian and Vietnamese parentage in Nepal jail, expected to undergo open heart surgery.

Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston has called for Theresa May's special advisers to be sacked following the party's failure to achieve a majority in the general election, reports the Independent. "I cannot see how the inner circle of special advisers can continue in post. Needs to be far more inclusive in future," she tweeted.

The Special Protection Group which guards Prime Minister Narendra Modi also protects former Prime Ministers Dr Manmohan Singh and Atal Bihar Vajpayee, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Cong VP Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.

Sources say that at a security review meeting held at North Block recently it was decided to pare down the level of deployment of SPG guards at Vajpayee's bungalow from 85 to 65 as the former PM is indisposed and does not leave his house.  The security detail of Dr Manmohan Singh is also being reduced from 125 to 95.

As for Congress VP Rahul Gandhi, the SPG has refused to reduce the strength of the security contingent and in fact, is likely to increase it.
The security detail for Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadera will also be reduced.

The SPG has a total strength of 5600 and more than 60 per cent of this is deployed to protect the Prime Minister.

Aadhar update: The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the new law linking Aadhaar to PAN but said it will not be made mandatory for non-Aadhaar holders till pending pleas over the right to privacy is decided by the Constitution Bench. So, even without Aadhar your PAN is still valid.

Donald J. Trump's first tweet after former FBI director James Comey's testimony. @realDonaldTrump Despite so many false statements and lies, total and complete vindication...and WOW, Comey is a leaker!

Union Minister for Textiles Smriti Irani is back in the good books of the BJP. Grapevine had it that she had been kept at bay by the BJP leadership for "reasons" best known to her.

The minister is now on course correction and it is believed she had a long meeting with Prime Minister Modi and apologised for certain remarks she had made against party colleagues. She has been pardoned and will now be the face of Amethi in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

She has been known to work hard during elections and the 2014 polls saw her making serious inroads into Amethi, historically a Gandhi stronghold.

But the RSS aversion to Irani has not bode well for her and it is believed to be one of the reasons she was shunted out of the prestigious and important Human Resources Development ministry. Sources say that pet projects of the RSS had not been implemented and the RSS could not take her into confidence and she was soon downgraded to the textiles ministry.

But she has learnt her lessons and her political graph is on the rise.

Paul Nuttall steps down with immediate effect, says the BBC.

Delhi Police's Special Cell has arrested an aide of gangster Chhota Shakeel, who was planning to target Pakistan-born Canadian writer Tarek Fatah. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) P S Kushwah said Junaid Chaudhary (21) was nabbed on the intervening night of June 7 and 8 from Wazirabad road in north-east Delhi. The DCP said Chaudhary was planning to target the writer, known for his controversial remarks. Even though Fatah was not in Delhi, the aide was here to carry out a recce, he said. A pistol and four live cartridges were seized from him, the police officer said.

UK PM Theresa May will visit Buckingham Palace at 12.30 pm to seek permission from the Queen to form a government, a Downing Street spokesman said.

May is expected to address the nation at 10 am (3.30 pm IST).

Update: The top court said the Centre should formulate measures to secure data and the government can't insist on linking Aadhar with PAN card. The court said Pan cards not invalid for those who have not linked it to Aadhar.

Just in: The Supreme Court has said Aadhar is not compulsory for filing income tax returns.

Making amendments in the Finance Bill earlier, the government had proposed to make Aadhar card mandatory for filing income tax return and applying for permanent account number (PAN) while saying the new rule will come into effect on July 1.

The government had earlier informed the apex court that the PAN will be rendered invalid from July 1 and not from when a person had applied for it if a user does not link her Aadhaar card details. 


Defending its decision to make Aadhaar card mandatory in filing I-T return, the government had earlier said the move would help to weed out fake and fraudulent financial accounts.

Theresa May's night of epic failure: How the 2017 election plunged UK and Brexit into uncertainty. Read

Just in: Man with knife holding employees hostage at job centre in Newcastle, northeast England, police say, specialist negotiators at scene.

MDMK chief Vaiko was denied entry into Malaysia on Friday.

He was stopped at the Kuala Lumpur Airport and questioned for several hours on his alleged links with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Vaiko was invited by Malaysian state Penang's Deputy Chief Minister Ramasamy Palanisamy to attend his daughter's wedding on June 10.

Airport authorities stated that Vaiko is a member of LTTE.

He was questioned for several hours on his links with LTTE and was lateral denied permission to enter Malaysia as his name figured in the list of persons who are dangerous.

Vaiko will return to Chennai tonight.

The LTTE, which fought for an independent Tamil state in Sri Lanka, remains outlawed in India.

Paul Nuttall, the leader of Ukip, has failed in his second attempt to win a seat in parliament. Nuttall spent election night crowing about Theresa May's failure, but when the results of Boston and Skegness were announced at 3:35am, Nuttall had failed to be voted in, reports the Telegraph.

He won 3,308 votes.

Talking about the exit polls, Nuttall had said, "If the exit poll is true then Theresa May has put Brexit in jeopardy," he said. "I said at the start this election was wrong. Hubris."

Nuttall's predecessor Nigel Farage also questioned May's position, saying: "Whatever the true result, the Conservative party needs a leader that believes in Brexit.

The defeat marks a disastrous night for Ukip, with the party's vote share having collapsed across the UK.

As of 3.40am on Friday, Mr Nuttalls party had won just 1.9 per cent of the vote a fall of 10.9 per cent on its 2015 share.

The party got less than 5 per cent of the vote in many of the seats declared so far, meaning it will lose the 500 deposit all parties must pay to field a candidate.

The UK has voted for hung parliament after shock losses for the Conservatives in the 2017 general election.

With 647 of 650 seats declared, the Tories had 316 seats - 10 short of the figure needed to win outright - with Labour on 261, the SNP on 35 and Liberal Democrats on 12.

Jeremy Corbyn's party increase its share of the vote by 9.6 per cent, while Theresa May's Tories were up 5.5 per cent, the Liberal Democrats, Greens and SNP saw small loses and Ukip's vote collapsed.

Ben Goldsmith @BenGoldsmith Kudos to my sister @Jemima_Khan for calling it all along. I was predicting 378 Tory seats!

America will continue to lead the world on environmental protection but would not be dictated by others on this issue, President Donald Trump has said as he justified his decision to withdraw from the landmark Paris climate deal.


"From now on, we will follow a very simple rule: Every day I am president, we are going to make America first, not somebody else, not some other country. We are going to make America first," Trump said.


"America will continue to lead the world on environmental protection. We're going to have clean water, crystal clean. We're going to have clean air. But what we won't do is let other countries take advantage of the United States anymore, and dictate what we are doing and dictate our future," he said in his address at the Faith and Freedom Coalitions Road to Majority Conference.


No federal worker, he stressed, should be censoring sermons or targeting pastors. "As long as I'm president, no one is going to stop you from practicing your faith or from preaching what is in your heart, and from preaching -- and really this is so important, from the bottom of my heart, from preaching from the people that you most want to hear and that you so respect, so we have taken a very, very strong position, and you picked a winner," Trump said.


File pic: A coal miner worker shakes hands with US President Donald Trump as he prepares to sign Resolution 38, which nullifies the ''stream protection rule''. Pic: Reuters

Labour is forecasted to win 261 seats in the general election, despite all odds.

It seemed everything was against the party; from newspaper front pages begging the public to keep their vote as far away from leader Jeremy Corbyn as possible to abysmal polling numbers.

The Sun urged readers not to "chuck Britain in the Cor-bin,' while The Daily Mail offered readers a guide to tactical voting in order to keep the Tories in power. But many are calling the results a victory for Corbyn against the "Murdoch machine". Read more

After an extremely tight race, Zac Goldsmith beat Lib Dem Sarah Olney to win the Richmond Park election by 45 votes. He lost his seat shortly after Brexit, as his Remain-voting constituency appeared to oust him out of spite. 

Goldsmith is Imran Khan's ex-wife Jemima Goldsmith's brother.

The Islamic State terror group has claimed responsibility for the killing of two Chinese nationals, including a woman, who were abducted by armed gunmen from Pakistan's restive northwest Balochistan province recently.

The Chinese pair was studying Urdu language at a local teaching center in the provincial capital of Quetta when it was forcibly kidnapped by unknown gunmen last month.

Another Chinese woman had escaped the abduction. Islamic State on its 'Amaq News Agency' uploaded a statement in Arabic yesterday, saying it had killed the two abducted Chinese nationals.

The Pakistani officials are yet to comment on the ISIS' confirmation, which came a day after army claimed that it had carried out an operation against ISIS in Balochistan. At least 12 ISIS militants were killed in a three-day operation at the start of June in the mountains of Mastung district of Balochistan.

UK PM Theresa May will address the nation at 10 am (3.30 pm IST), and while the assumption is that she will be announcing her resignation, three senior journalists say, she will stay PM.

Robert Peston from ITV, @Peston tweeted: Scoop: @theresa_may not resigning; talking to senior colleagues about how to form government

Laura Kuenssberg from the BBC, @bbclaurak tweeted, "Break - PM has no intention of resigning - working to form a govt based on being largest party in seats and votes."

Beth Rigby from Sky News, @BethRigby said, "BREAK: told PM has no intention of resigning."

May came under fire from her party colleagues after the debacle in the polls with her future as Prime Minister and leader of the Conservatives being openly questioned.

Even as Britain faces a hung parliament, May pledged to offer "stability" as Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn urged her to resign.
 
Conservative former minister Anna Soubry said she should "consider her position" and take personal responsibility for a "dreadful" campaign and a "deeply flawed" manifesto after choosing to go to the country three years early in the hope of extending her majority.

Quick roundup: The UK general election ends in a hung Parliament. Conservatives set to win 318 seats. Labour predicted to get 262. Theresa May promises 'period of stability', but Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn urges her to quit.

Conservative MP Anna Soubry tells the BBC that the election results were "dreadful" and a "disaster", and questioned whether Theresa May should remain as leader. "She has to consider whether she will remain as our prime minister and leader of the party because this has been a disaster. The results are dreadful," said Soubry, who was re-elected in Broxtowe.

Adnan Khashoggi, the flamboyant Saudi arms trader who rose to spectacular wealth in the 1970s and 1980s while treating the world to displays of decadence breathtaking even by the standards of that era, died on Tuesday in London, reports the New York Times. He was 81. His family announced his death in a statement. He had been undergoing treatment for Parkinson's disease.

If Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn becomes PM, interesting tidbits about the man...

-- He has been vegetarian since the age of 20, following a stint working on a pig farm in Jamaica.

-- In 2013, Corbyn was awarded the Gandhi International Peace Award for his "consistent efforts over a 30-year parliamentary career to uphold the Gandhian values of social justice and non-violence.

Conservative MP Nigel Evans tells @bbc5live: "We didn't shoot ourselves in the foot, we shot ourselves in the head."

British politics and Brexit are in disarray as it became clear on Friday that Theresa May's election gamble has gone catastrophically wrong.

At the final count the country was bogged down in a hung parliament, with Tories admitting the result blows the Prime Minister's Brexit strategy to pieces.

May's position was also in doubt with Labour calling for her to quit and senior Conservatives questioning her position and distancing themselves from the leader, amid reports of potential successors jockeying for position. Read more

It's a hung parliament. Conservatives cannot reach the 326 seats they need to form a majority government.

The Independent: John Curtice, the UK's most prominent psephologist and the man behind the general election exit poll, says there is not now "any way at all that the Conservatives can get to the 326 mark" and win an outright majority.It's looking increasingly likely that May will step down as Tory party leader.

Conservatives cannot reach the 326 seats they need to form a majority government. It's looking increasingly likely that May will step down as Tory party leader.


The former Labour leader Ed Miliband says Theresa Mays authority has been destroyed. He tweeted, "We know Theresa May can't now negotiate Brexit for Britain because she told us losing majority would destroy her authority---and it has."


Trends: Conservative (318, - 13), Labour (262 seats, +30), Liberal Democrats (13 seats, +5).

Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesman has claimed that his country is of the view that a "belligerent" India is seeking to escalate tensions to the point of there being the possibility of a conflict between the two countries.

Nafees Zakaria was quoted by the Dawn, as saying in a statement that tensions between India and Pakistan are at an all time high due to sharp increase in ceasefire violations along the Line of Control.

Zakaria said Pakistan has been cautioned India against engaging in any kind of "strategic miscalculation".

The Foreign Office spokesman was further quoted by the Dawn, as saying, "We have no desire to escalate the situation. Pakistani armed forces would respond effectively to any unprovoked violations. The Indian belligerence is a threat to regional peace and security."

Zakaria's statement comes days after a hotline conversation between the Directors General of Military Operations of India and Pakistan - Lt. Gen. A K Bhatt and Major General Sahir Shamshad Mirza - on the prevailing situation along the LoC. Lt. Gen.

Bhatt is believed to have told his Pakistani counterpart India will not refrain from retaliating if Pakistan continues to resort to unprovoked ceasefire violations and or supports infiltration bids.

If tonight's shock exit poll bears out it will have dealt a severe knock to Theresa May's credibility, but also left a major question mark over Brexit.

May's entire reason for calling the election was to give her a strong majority with which her party could confidently negotiate with Brussels and pass necessary legislation.But instead the result indicated in the exit poll -- leaving the Tories 12 short of the required number of Commons seats -- would embolden anti-Brexit parties potentially needed in any coalition.

UK PM May's Conservatives no longer able to win outright majority in parliament after 633 seats declared, says Reuters. 

In 11 days' time someone has to begin negotiations in Brussels on behalf of the United Kingdom, and as we go to press it is unclear who that will be. One person it suddenly looks unlikely to be, unless in the most temporary of capacities, is Theresa May.

The collapse of a Prime Minister who called an election when she looked as if she dominated the nation continues an extraordinary spate of self-inflicted mayhem among the big beasts of the Conservatives.

Her predecessor held a referendum when he need not have done and destroyed his political career and that of his Chancellor. Michael Gove then denied Boris Johnson's hopes of leadership, and his own, in a spectacular act of disloyalty.

If, or when, Ms May steps down, who will step forward '" David Davis, Philip Hammond, Amber Rudd, or Mr Johnson all over again?  Read more

The Independent on the possibility of a hung parliament in the UK 

Theresa Mays position as Conservative leader is under pressure after her gamble on an early election appeared to have backfired spectacularly, reports the Guardian.
 
Tory MPs were shocked and furious after the party lost much of its 20-point lead in the polls during the course of the campaign.

They pinned the blame not only on the badly received Conservative manifesto, but on the performance of May personally, after she made it a presidential-style contest by putting her strong and stable leadership at the centre.

Anger was also directed at Mays close circle of aides, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, who ran a campaign excluding senior cabinet ministers and oversaw the writing of the manifesto.

At her count in Maidenhead, May suggested the Conservatives would try to hang on as a minority government if they won the most seats but any failure to match David Camerons 330 seats in 2015 could be fatal for her leadership.

The former chancellor George Osborne, who was sacked by May last year, was one of the first senior party figures to react to the result, saying if the exit poll were correct it would be catastrophic for the Tories and the prime minister personally.

British Prime Minister Theresa May's decision to call an early election in a bid to strengthen her grip on power appeared early Friday to have spectacularly backfired, with her Conservative Party at the risk of losing its parliamentary majority, according to exit poll and partial official results, writes the Washington Post.

The outcome - an astonishing turn following a campaign that began with predictions that May would win in a historic landslide - immediately raised questions about whether she could maintain her hold on Downing Street. It also threw into doubt the country's plans for leaving the European Union.

The Labour Party was forecast to win 261 seats - an unexpected gain of dozens of seats under far-left leader Jeremy Corbyn. The outcome gave him at least a chance, albeit a remote one, of becoming prime minister - something virtually no one had thought possible before Thursday's vote.

The Supreme Court will today pronounce its order on mandatory requirements of Aadhar card for Income Tax Return at 2 p.m.

The Income Tax Department has stepped up its efforts to encourage people to link their Permanent Account Number with Aadhaar.

In the recent days, while many taxpayers have received emails on how to do the PAN-Aadhaar linking online, advertisements in leading national dailies have described how it can be done via SMS.

Urging the taxpayers to link Aadhaar with PAN as soon as possible, an email from the Income Tax Department's e-filing team reads: "This (linking of Aadhaar and PAN) will be useful for E-Verification of Income Tax returns using Aadhaar OTP (One-Time Password)."

The government had earlier decided to lower the limit on cash transactionfrom Rs. 3 lakh to Rs. 2 lakh, and make Aadhaar number mandatory for filing income tax returns and applying for a PAN card.

The decisions were part of amendments moved to the finance bill, which puts into effect the Budget proposals.

Forget Brexit, class and education. This election has pitted the young against the old. Read the report on the Economist. 

Just in: Japan's parliament has passed a law allowing Emperor Akihito to become its 1st monarch to abdicate in 200 years. 

UK polls, forecast share of vote:
Con 43% +6
Lab 40% +10
Lib Dem 8% N/C
SNP 3% -2
Green 2% -2
UKIP 2% -11
Plaid 1%
Other 1%

Update on the situation at Mandsaur:

Mandsaur District Collector Om Prakash Srivastava has assured that the curfew would be relaxed for longer hours tomorrow in the violence-hit district.

"Curfew would be relaxed for longer hours tomorrow. ATMs will be opened, milk, petrol and diesel availability will also be ensured," Srivastava told ANI.

The collector said that the police are registering an FIR's against the accused who vandalized the public property and created ruckus.

Curfew was relaxed for a few hours on Thursday evening.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has ordered a judicial enquiry into the deaths of five farmers during the recent agitation.

He said he has announced a compensation of Rs. 1 crore to the kin of those killed and Rs. 5 lakh for those injured in the violence.

Internet services in Mandsaur, Ratlam and Ujjain remain suspended following the farmers' protests, and a curfew has also been imposed.

The Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh has been facing a tense situation with farmers protesting over their demands for remunerative prices for their produce and a farm loan waiver not being met.

This unfortunately took an ugly turn on Tuesday when five farmers were killed and eight others were injured in police firing.

Internet services in Mandsaur, Ratlam and Ujjain were also suspended following the farmers' protests and a curfew was reportedly imposed.

The Conservatives are on course to be the largest party but may not have an overall majority, according to the latest BBC general election forecast.

But Theresa May faces the humiliation of ending with fewer seats than when she called the election. The Tories are projected to get 318 seats, Labour 267 and the SNP 32.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called on Theresa May to go - but she said the country needed stability and her party would "ensure" it.

Labour looks set to make 29 gains with the Tories losing nine seats - and the SNP could lose 24 seats in a bad night for Nicola Sturgeon, with her party losing seats to the Tories, Labour and Lib Dems.

The Conservatives are forecast to win 43% of the vote, Labour 40%, the Lib Dems 8%, UKIP 2%, the Greens 2%, the SNP 3%, Plaid Cymru 1% and others 1%.

Results of 518/650 seats are out.

The Conservative Party is leading again with 232 seats. Labour lags behind with 223 seats, making a gain of 25 seats.

SNP is third with 32.

Britain's Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for Prime Minister Theresa May to quit after election losses.

He earlier said the country's political landscape had been upended in a general election forecast to result in a hung parliament.

'Whatever the final result, our positive campaign has changed politics for the better,' Corbyn said in a tweet.

The Labour Party has made unexpected gains in the polls. -- Agencies

Conservatives catching up fast. Latest figures: 474/650 seats
Labour: 209
Conservatives: 208
SNP: 27
Others: 30

Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav at Special Central Bureau of Investigation Court in Ranchi, for hearing in the fodder scam case.Photograph: ANI

UK polls latest figures: Results of 415 of 650 seats
Labour: 188
Conservatives: 174
SNP: 26
UKIP: 0
Others: 27   

The United States is looking forward to host Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington later this month, the State Department has said.

"We look forward to having the (Indian) Prime Minister here in Washington'" I believe it's later this month," State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert told reporters at her daily news conference yesterday.

Modi is expected to travel to Washington at the invitation of US President Donald Trump for a meeting at the White House later this month.

Actual dates of the meeting has not been announced yet.

This would be Modi's first trip to the US under the Trump administration.

The two leaders have spoken over phone for at least three times.

Under the previous Obama Administration, Modi had a record number of eight meetings with Barack Obama. -- PTI

The Labour Party has moved ahead of the Conservatives with 167 seats won as compared to the latter's 154. These are results of 367 of 650 seats.

The Scottish National Party is third with 25 seats, while the UKIP is yet to open its account.

However, predictions put Theresa May's Conservative Party to be the single largest, although it will fall short of the halfway mark. -- Agencies

British Prime Minister Theresa May's ruling Conservative party will lose its parliamentary majority in the crucial general election, according to an official exit poll, which may lead to a hung parliament and delay Brexit talks. 

- Was fired because of Russia investigation: Ex-FBI chief