The sacred portals of Badrinath shrine in the Himalayas will be thrown open to devotees on April 30. 

The Duke and Duchess of York have announced the engagement of Princess Eugenie to her long-time boyfriend Jack Brooksbank, a nightclub manager.

The wedding will take place in the Autumn of 2018 at St George's Chapel in Windsor.

Further details to be announced in due course.

India was today ranked at the 62nd place among emerging economies on an Inclusive Development Index, much below China's 26th position and Pakistan's 47th.

Norway remains the world's most inclusive advanced economy, while Lithuania again tops the list of emerging economies, the World Economic Forum (WEF) said while releasing the yearly index in Davos before the start of its annual meeting, to be attended by several world leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States President Donald Trump.

The index takes into account the 'living standards, environmental sustainability and protection of future generations from further indebtedness', the WEF said.

It urged the leaders to urgently move to a new model of inclusive growth and development, saying reliance on gross domestic product as a measure of economic achievement is fuelling short-termism and inequality.

India was ranked 60th among 79 developing economies last year, as against China's 15th and Pakistan's 52nd position.

The 2018 index, which measures progress of 103 economies on three individual pillars -- growth and development; inclusion; and inter-generational equity -- has been divided into two parts.

The first part covers 29 advanced economies and the second 74 emerging economies.

The index has also classified the countries into five sub-categories in terms of the five-year trend of their overall Inclusive Development Growth score -- receding, slowly receding, stable, slowly advancing and advancing.

Despite its low overall score, India is among the 10 emerging economies with 'advancing' trend.

Only two advanced economies have shown 'advancing' trend.

Among advanced economies, Norway is followed by Ireland, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Denmark in the top five.

Small European economies dominate the top of the index, with Australia (9) the only non-European economy in the top 10.

Of the G7 economies, Germany (12) ranks the highest.

It isfollowed by Canada (17), France (18), the United Kingdom (21), the United States (23), Japan (24) and Italy (27).

The top-five most inclusive emerging economies are Lithuania, Hungary, Azerbaijan, Latvia and Poland.

Performance is mixed among BRICS economies, with the Russian Federation ranking 19th, followed by China (26), Brazil (37), India (62) and South Africa (69).

Of the three pillars that make up the index, India ranks 72nd for inclusion, 66th for growth and development and 44th for inter-generational equity.

The neighbouring countries ranked above India include SriLanka (40), Bangladesh (34) and Nepal (22).

The countries ranked better than India also include Mali, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Ghana, Ukraine, Serbia, Philippines, Indonesia, Iran, Macedonia, Mexico, Thailand and Malaysia.

Although China ranks first among emerging economies in GDP per capita growth (6.8 per cent) and labour productivity growth (6.7 per cent) since 2012, its overall score is brought down by lacklustre performance on inclusion, the WEF said.  -- PTI

Priyanka Chopra, who made waves when she appeared for two consecutive Academy Awards, has now gone beyond the red carpet appearances and will be announcing the Oscar nominations for this year.

The accused girl, who allegedly stabbed a class 1 student of Lucknow's Brightland School, on Monday, said that she is being framed by the school.

"There had been some arguments between me, my father and a few teachers. I suspect that is the reason I am being framed," said the girl who has been accused of attacking the Class 1 student with a knife.

The girl said that she has never met the child before.

"A photo of mine was produced before him. I was told by the school management that he has identified me. I have had short hair since November but they say he identified me in my old pictures," she said.

She then requested the officials to investigate the case thoroughly and find the real culprit.

"I want the case to be investigated thoroughly and the real culprit to be punished. If I am innocent I must be allowed to walk free. I know I am innocent," she said.

The accused girl, a student of Class 6, was granted bail till January 30, after being presented before the Juvenile Justice Board.

The class 1 student, who is admitted in King George's Medical University trauma centre, was allegedly attacked with a kitchen knife by his senior on Tuesday.  -- ANI

The Supreme Court has transferred to itself two petitions from the Bombay high court relating to the alleged mysterious death of special CBI judge B H Loya, reports PTI.   

Marathi actor Praful Bhalerao was today killed in a train accident in Mumbai, the police said. 

Pakistan's former envoy to the United States Husain Haqqani has been booked for allegedly giving hate speeches and writing books and articles defaming the military and the government.

Haqqani was named in first information reports lodged by three people in two police stations in Kohat district of northwest Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, accusing Pakistan of 'maligning' in his books, Dawn News reported.

The three FIRs were registered in Cantonment and Bilitang police stations by Momin, Muhammad Asghar and Shamsul Haq.

The complainants alleged that the former ambassador had caused irreparable loss to the country and defamed it.

Asghar alleged in the FIR that Haqqani was a 'mentor of the Memogate scandal' and had issued visas to 'CIA and Indian agents' while serving as Pakistani ambassador to the US.

He served as ambassador from 2008 to 2011 in US and was removed for alleged role in what is known as Memogate controversy.

The sections of the Pakistan Penal Code applied by police in the FIRs are 120B (hatching a criminal conspiracy) and 121A (waging a war against Pakistan).

A police official said that under due procedure, Haqqani should surrender himself to them or he would be declared an absconder.

Haqqani was criticised by parliament for his column in The Washington Post in which he had written that he had helped the US forces in eliminating Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden when the government and the Inter-Services Intelligence had been kept in the dark about the secret operation.

It was about a memo sent to former Admiral Mike Mullen apparently seeking help of the then Obama administration to avert a military takeover in the wake of raid at the hideout of Osama in May 2011.

Haqqani has also served as ambassador to Sri Lanka from 1992 to 1993.  -- PTI

There was no respite from cold wave conditions in Kashmir division today, with the minimum temperature remaining several degrees below freezing point.

Kargil town, in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, shivered at a low of -18.8C last night, an official of the Meteorological Department (MeT) said in Srinagar.

The nearby Leh town was the second coldest region in the state as the mercury settled at a low of -14.3C, marginally up from -14.6C last night.

Srinagar, summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, recorded a minimum temperature of -4.4C last night, the MeT said.

The night temperature in Qazigund in south Kashmir settled at a low of -4.4C, while the neighbouring Kokernag town registered a minimum of 0.9C, the official said.

He said Kupwara in north Kashmir recorded a low of -4.9C.

The official said the night temperature in Pahalgam -- the famous health resort which also serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath Yatra -- settled at a low of -5.7C compared to the low of -6.1C the previous night.

Gulmarg, the famous ski-resort in north Kashmir, recorded the minimum temperature of -4.5C, the official said.

The MeT office has forecast light rain or snowfall at isolated places in the state tomorrow.

Kashmir is under the grip of 'Chillai-Kalan', a 40-day harshest period of winter when chances of snowfall are most frequent and maximum, and the temperature drops considerably.

However, a month into the period, the weather has largely remained dry, especially in the plains. This period is followed by 20-day long 'Chillai-Khurd' (small cold) and 10-day long 'Chillai-Bachha' (baby cold).  -- PTI

Representative image.

Delhi Police on Monday arrested the founder of Indian Mujahideen Abdul Subhan Qureshi, a 'most wanted terrorist', who was involved in 2008 serial blasts in Gujarat.

According to police, Qureshi was in the national capital to execute a big conspiracy ahead of the Republic Day.

"We have arrested India's most wanted terrorist Abdul Subhan Qureshi, who is also the founder of Indian Mujahideen. He was again trying to revive Indian Mujahideen," DCP Pramod Kushwaha of Delhi Police's Special Cell said.

"Qureshi was living with forged documents in Nepal. He came back to India to revive Indian Mujahideen," Kushwaha said.

Qureshi is a software engineer.

On July 26, 2008, a series of 21 bomb blasts hit Ahmedabad within a span of 70 minutes. 56 people were killed and over 200 people were injured in the attack. -- ANI

Image only for representation.

A woman carrying 20 live bullets has been apprehended from a Delhi Metro station, officials said today.   

Indian-origin actor Aziz Ansari skipped the SAG Awards ceremony amid the allegations of sexual misconduct levelled against him by a woman with whom he went on a date last year.   

Pakistani troops opened fire and lobbed mortars at Indian positions along the International border and LoC in three sectors of Jammu and Rajouri districts overnight, a BSF officer said today.

Yesterday, a civilian was killed and two persons were injured in the Pakistani shelling along the IB in Kanachak belt of Jammu district, raising the death toll in the ceasefire violations since Thursday last to 12 and injuries to over 60.

Schools continue to remain closed along the LoC and IB in Jammu region.

"There was night-long firing along the IB in Pargwal, Math, R S Pura, Arnia and Ramgarh sectors (of Jammu and Samba districts). It stopped at 0545 hours today," the officer said.

"Pakistan Rangers resumed shelling along the IB in Kanachak sector of Jammu last night," he said.

Pakistan troops also resumed heavy shelling along the LoC in Bhawani, Karali, Said, Numb and Sher Makri areas of Rajouri district last evening, officials said.

Seven civilians, three Armymen and two BSF personnel have so far been killed in the ceasefire violations.

While a BSF jawan and a teenage girl were killed on Thursday, four persons including two civilians and one BSF jawan and an Army jawan were killed and over 40 others injured in the Pakistani firing on Friday.

Three civilians and an Army jawan were killed and 16 others injured in the ceasefire violations on Saturday.

BSF officials said authorities were keeping a close eye on the situation and have rushed police teams to affected areas to ensure prompt assistance to the people.

People have been asked to stay indoors and not to touch any suspicious object in their area as it could be an unexploded mortar shell, he said.

Firing from across the border started on Thursday last and has forced 40,000 people to flee their homes and take shelter in rehabilitation camps or with their relatives.  -- PTI

IMAGE: Villagers looking at their damaged house after heavy shelling by Pakistani forces, at border village Jora Farm in R S Pura Sector, about 35 km from Jammu on Sunday. Photograph: PTI Photo

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's interviews to two leading TV networks over the weekend may have drawn everyone's attention, but says Churimuri, 'hacks and flacks from Government-run Doordarshan and Press Information Bureau should be blushing at the mild and innocuous questioning given the state of the country, the economy, and institutions.'   

The Delhi high court will hear Aam Aadmi Party's appeal against the disqualifcation of 20 of its MLAs at 4 pm today, reports NDTV.

If the HC rejects the appeal, the party will move the Supreme Court.

However, even as party chief Arvind Kejriwal takes the legal route, he is prepping for bypolls, as the opposition has already sounded the election bugle.

The AAP has a simple strategy for bypolls -- appealing to Delhi voters that the party is being singled out and is the victim of a giant conspiracy.

At the Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party office, names are being discussed of likely candidates for bypolls to the 20 seats that will be vacated if the AAP legislators are disqualified.

The AAP has also decided to hold a day-long bandh in Delhi on Tuesday to protest against the sealing drive and the centre's move to allow 100 per cent foreign direct investment in retail.

Read more.

Just In: The special cell of the Delhi police has arrested Abdul Subhan Qureshi of SIMI-IM, after a brief exchange of fire. He was allegedly involved in the 2008 serial blasts in Gujarat.   Details soon.

Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh today moved the Supreme Court seeking recall of its January 18 order by which controversial Bollywood movie Padmaavat was allowed to be released in theatres across India on January 25.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud agreed to hear tomorrow the interim applications of both the states seeking a modification of the apex court order allowing exhibition of the movie. 

The states claimed that section 6 of the Cinematograph Act empowers them to stop exhibition of any controversial movie on the grounds of possible violation of law and order. 

Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Viacom 18, the producers of the Deepika Padukone-starrer, opposed urgent hearing on any such interim applications. 

The court, however, agreed to hear the applications tomorrow. 

The Supreme Court had on January 25 paved the way for the nationwide release of Padmaavat by staying the ban on its screening in Gujarat and Rajasthan. 

The apex court also restrained other states from issuing any such notification or order banning the screening of the movie. 

The film, starring Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh in lead roles, is based on the saga of the historic battle of 13th century between Maharaja Ratan Singh and his army of Mewar and Sultan Alauddin Khilji of Delhi. 

The Haryana and Madhya Pradesh governments have not issued any formal order but had stated that they would not allow the exhibition of the film. 

Maintaining that states were under a constitutional obligation to maintain law and order, the apex court had said that this duty also includes providing police protection to persons who are involved in the film, its exhibition and the audience watching it.

A massive fire broke out in an industrial area in suburban Andheri early today, leaving two fire men injured and gutting a part of the premises, a fire brigade official said.   

Rebel Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha have come out in support of the Aam Aadmi Party over disqualification of its 20 MLAs with the former calling the President's decision a 'tughluqshahi' (dictatorial) order.

In a major setback to the ruling AAP in Delhi, President Ram Nath Kovind has disqualified 20 of its MLAs for holding offices of profit, a decision the party said showed that the constitutional authorities were behaving like "handmaidens of the central government".

Kovind gave his assent on Saturday to the recommendation in this regard by the Election Commission.

'The president's order is a complete miscarriage of natural justice. No hearing, no waiting for high court's order. It is Tughluqshahi of the worst order,' Yashwant Sinha tweeted.

BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha said the 'politics of vendetta' against the AAP would not last long.

'Politics of vendetta or politics of vested interests just don't last long. Don't worry, be happy!,' he said on Twitter.

'Hope, wish & pray that you get divine justice soon, sooner the better. 'AAP' ki team aur khaas kar 'AAP' ko bahut bahut badhaai. Remember, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Satyameva Jayate! Jai Hind!' he said in a series of tweets.

Both the leaders, who were part of the Atal Behari Vajpayee cabinet, have openly aired their displeasure against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government's policies.  -- PTI

JUST IN: Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves for Davos, Switzerland to attend the 48th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The last Indian prime minister to attend the summit was H D Deve Gowda in 1997.

Photograph: ANI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Monday leave for Davos, Switzerland to attend the 48th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.

The Prime Minister will be accompanied by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu among others.

He is scheduled to deliver a keynote address on the opening day of the meeting on Tuesday.

The Prime Minister will also hold bilateral talks with the President of Swiss Confederation, Alain Berset, besides holding a series of meetings with business leaders and addressing the international business council.

Under the theme 'Creating a shared future in a Fractured World', the meeting aims to set an agenda to address political, economic and Social challenges of recent times.

This year, over 3,000 global leaders from business, government, politics, academia and social sectors are participating at the Summit which will conclude on January 26.  -- ANI

The Supreme Court will hear on Monday pleas filed by three petitioners seeking a Special Investigation Team probe into the alleged mysterious death of Central Bureau of Investigation judge Justice B H Loya.

A bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, will hear the petitions.

The top court had asked the Maharashtra government earlier in the month to submit the post-mortem report of the CBI judge, who had died in alleged suspicious circumstances in 2014, citing that the 'matter was very serious'.

According to reports, Maharashtra-based journalist B S Lone and  Congress leader Tehseen Poonawala had filed independent pleas seeking a fair probe into the death of Justice Loya, who was hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, involving various police officers and Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah. -- ANI