Tamil Nadu deputy chief minister O Paneerselvam is in New Delhi. On Monday night, OPS had a lengthy discussion with Bhupender Yadav, senior General Secretary of the BJP. As for the language barrier, MP Dr V Maitreyan has been acting as the translator. 

In the Central Hall of Parliament, AIADMK MPs were speculating that OPS tried to meet BJP Chief Amit Shah, but the meeting was not green-signalled.

Six MPs belonging to the OPS camp have been accompanying him in Delhi. Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha Thambidurai, who who belongs to the the camp of Chief Minister E Palaniswami went to Tamil Nadu house on Tuesday morning to meet OPS. Thambidurai claimed it was just a courtesy call.


File pic.

Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi moves to Antigua; gets local passport, says officials. 

Another BJP minister speaks in support of the lynch mob. Jaswant Yadav, Rajasthan Minister on the Alwar lynching case: I appeal to Muslims to understand the sentiments of Hindus and stop smuggling cows. They must stop this business. As far as his death is concerned, I express condolence and I stand against those who take law in their hands."

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Tuesday clearly stated they will forge an alliance with the Congress party only if they are offered a respectable number of seats.


Mayawati's reaction came amid reports that she asked the Congress party to forge an alliance in election-bound states including Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan.


"The BSP will contest elections as a part of coalition government only if it gets a respectable number of seats," Mayawati said in a press briefing. Mayawati also cornered the Centre over the Alwar lynching incident and said, "Mob lynching is a deed of the narrow-minded BJP members and supporters, but they consider it patriotism. I condemn the Alwar lynching incident but think that BJP would not be able to take appropriate action in the case. Therefore, I request Court to intervene," she said.


Highlighting the rise in lynching incidents in the country, she said the BJP government will always be remembered for taking immature decisions.
-- ANI

India has achieved remarkable feat in arresting maternal and infant mortality rates and would surpass SDG goals of reducing maternal mortality to 70 per lakh live births by 2025 instead of the target of 2030, Union Health Minister J P Nadda said today. The maternal mortality rate per lakh live births has reduced to 130 in the country while there has been significant improvement in checking infant mortality rate deaths, the minister said during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha.


"I am happy to share with the House that our MMR, our IMR and under five mortality has declined faster than the world pace. If we talk about MDGs, according to the 2014-15 records, the decline has been 77 per cent as against global 43 per cent," Nadda said.

Children in traditionally Buddhist Tibet have been banned from taking part in religious activities over the summer holidays, an official Chinese Communist Party newspaper has reported. Read more

The Supreme Court continues to hear the case barring the entry of women into the Sabarimala Temple in Kerala. This is the fourth day of the hearing. The case is being heard by a bench presided by Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Rohinton Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra. Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi is making arguments for Travancore Devaswom Board.


The Temple board claims Hindus are being targetted. It says women not allowed inside mosques either. The SC asks, "Is banning women in temples a part of tradition, and if yes, prove that the ban is a part of religious belief?"


Justice Rohinton Nariman referring to the stand of the Devaswom Board in High Court of allowing women for five days in a month said, "The deity cannot suddenly disappear for five days only to reappear later."


Devaswom Board lawyer AM Singhvi said that the object was not to exclude women but due to physiological reasons they get excluded. Anybody with same physiological reasons will be excluded. The test is not how and why women are excluded; The test is whether those who believe in Ayyappa denomination has practiced this for a considerable time in history. This is subject however to whether it is barbaric and illegal.


Justice Nariman asks AM Singhvi how the Travancore Devswom Board how it can justify its contradictory stance.


The top court has earlier maintained that there is no concept of a private temple, and that the Supreme Court will not allow third-party control over the entry of women inside the temple's inner sanctum,


The CJI made the observations a day after the Supreme Court began to hear pleas on the contentious subject of the ban on the entry of women between the age of 10 and 50 years inside the Sabarimala temple.

Over 370,000 troops have been deployed across Pakistan for tomorrow's general election, the largest military deployment on a polling day in the nation's history, at the end of a campaign marred by a string of terror attacks.


The countrywide election campaign, marred by a string of terrorist attacks, came to an end at midnight last night, as political parties culminated their poll campaigns.


The Pakistan Army has said it would deploy 371,388 troops at 85,000 polling stations for the July 25 election. This would be the largest deployment for any election in the country's history.


Armed soldiers stood guard as election officials in the capital distributed ballot boxes and voting material at polling stations across the city.


"Deployment of troops completed across the country," the military said in a statement, adding that the troops along with local security agencies will provide "a safe and secure environment" for voting. The military has ruled Pakistan through various coups for nearly half of the country's history since independence in 1947. -- PTI


Image: Supporters of the Imran Khan-led Tehreek-e-Insaaf party at a rally recently.

Hundreds of people are missing and an unknown number believed dead after the collapse of a hydropower dam in southeast Laos, state media reported Tuesday. Read more

The alleged rape and murder of a girl at a government-funded shelter home in Bihar figured in Rajya Sabha today with the RJD demanding an investigation in the matter.


Raising the issue during the Zero Houri, RJD member Manoj Kumar Jha said "a chilling incident" occurred in Muzaffarpur where more than 40 'Nirbhayas' (victims named after the girl who was brutally raped and murdered in Delhi in December 2012) have been abused.


Expressing anguish over the incident, he alleged that the shelter home was being run by a person, while the contract was in the name of another person.


The RJD member also expressed concern over reports of sexual assaults against women being reported from different parts of the country. As Jha demanded probe into the Muzaffarpur case, a JD(U) member said the Bihar government has already started an investigation.


Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu termed the incident as "very serious". Medical reports have suggested that more than half of the 40 girls, lodged at the shelter home, may have had sexual intercourse at some point of time, police had said earlier.


The inmates of the shelter home have also alleged that one of the girls was beaten to death and buried at the premises of the facility, while several others were raped. Following the allegations, the Bihar Police has launched a probe and dug up the ground of the shelter home in search of the body.
-- PTI


Image: The Bihar police has launched a probe and dug up the grounds of the shelter home, but are yet to find the body. Photograph: ANI

Nick Drnaso's Sabrina, which explores the disappearance of a young woman, 'does just what good fiction should do' -- and will compete with Michael Ondaatje's Warligh. Here's who are on the list.

Rwanda: PM Narendra Modi gifts cows to 200 households in Rweru model village in Bugesera, under the Rwandan Government's Girinka Programme. Girinka describes a centuries-old cultural practice in Rwanda whereby a cow was given by one person to another, as a sign of respect and gratitude.

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray today claimed that had his party not supported the BJP to form the government in Maharashtra in 2014, the latter would have come to power by breaking the Opposition Congress and NCP. In the 2nd part of his interview to his party's newspaper, Saamna, Thackeray said sarcastically that people did not make a mistake by voting for the BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, but alleged that they were "duped".


He needled the BJP over its allegations of corruption against the UPA dispensation, on the back of which it came to power, but could not prove any charges.


"Had we not participated in the government, the BJP, like it goes on winning states through all possible means...Like it broke the Congress and Trinamool Congress in Tripura, the BJP would have broken the Congress and NCP to come to power in Maharashtra," Thackeray said. "Instead of letting that happen, I let my people gain experience of working in the government," he said.


Asked what did he gain from being in power for four years in Maharashtra, Thackeray, whose party is an ally of the ruling BJP in the state and at the Centre, said the Sena ministers in the government got an experience of the administrative work.


"This was in a way a rehearsal of running the government. What should be done, what should not be done. Also, how to implement schemes," he said.


He said people of Maharashtra have experienced the governance of all parties, except the Sena. "Power will come (in hands of the Sena) when people decide so. I am sure that people have experienced all other parties till now. But, they have not experienced Sena being the only party in power. That is why I got my people to experience being in power," he said.


In the first part of the interview yesterday, Thackeray had taken a jibe at the BJP-led government over incidents of mob lynching, saying cows were safer than women in the country. "We are a part of the government, but if something is wrong, we will definitely talk about it. We are friends of the Bharatiya Janata, not of any party," he had said, taking a dig at Bhartiya Janata Party's name. -- PTI

As many as 50 lakh individual household toilets have been constructed and another 7.62 lakh toilets are under construction under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban, Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said today.


Puri said in the Lok Sabha that the SBM-U mainly aims at making urban India free from open defecation and achieving 100 per cent scientific management of municipal solid waste in all 4,041 statutory towns of the country.


"Under SBM-U, 50,04,098 units of individual household toilets have been constructed and another 7,62,556 units are under construction," he said during Question Hour. The minister said the number of community and public toilets constructed was 3,78,444 seats while another 35,599 such seats were under construction. He said most of the beneficiaries of the IHHT and nearly 100 per cent beneficiaries of community toilets were residents of slum area. -- PTI

Acting finance minister Piyush Goyal's statement in the Rajya Sabha on black money.

Goyal says that news reports have been Swiss Banks annual statistics that showed an increase of 50% in its total liabilities towards India in 2016-17. He said the data is misinterpreted as it includes non-deposit liabilities, business of Swiss branches in India, inter-bank transactions and fiduciary liability.

"After the Modi govt came to power in 2014, the amount deposited in the Swiss National Bank has reduced by 80% between 2014 and 2017.


"According to data released by Swiss National Bank, loans and deposits of individual Indians in the bank decreased by 34.5% in the last year compared to the previous year.


"It's assumed that assets held by Indian residents in Switzerland are undeclared. BIS data shows non-bank loans and deposits (constituting individual and corporate deposits used as black money have in the past and  exclude inter-bank transactions) fell by 34.5% in '17 compared to '16.

"Bank of International settlements data shows a decrease of 34.5% in assets held by Indian residents in Switzerland in 2017, as compared to 2016. Earlier data claiming 50% increase misinterpreted."

More details awaited.

Waseem Rizvi, Shia Waqf Board: "Muslims should stop eating beef. Killing of cows should stop. Meat of cows is 'haram' in Islam as well. You can't stop mob lynching, security can't be deployed everywhere. So a law should be made awarding strict punishment to those killing cows. I think Indreshji's statement has a point. Religious sentiments should not be hurt. If law is made to stop killing of cows, lynching will stop. You can't kill someone who is given the status of mother by a community."


Indresh Kumar, a senior leader of the RSS had said, Jesus was born in a cowshed and that is why in Christianity they talk of mother cow. In Mecca and Medina killing cows is a crime. Can't we vow not to kill cows, to free humanity of this sin? If this happens then our problem of mob lynching will be solved."

Home Minister Rajnath Singh speaking in Parliament on the lynchings. The lynching of a Muslim man on the suspicion of cow smuggling in Rajasthan's Alwar district was today raised in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

In the Lok Sabha, the Congress has said that the government is supporting lynchings. The opposition accused the government of hate politics.

This is what Home Minister Rajnath said in response:


"A high-level panel has been set up to probe lynchings and if needed a law against lynchings can also be considered. We are worried about this. However, lynchings did not begin recently; the incidents of lynching have been going on since years. I have said this earlier too, the biggest mob lynching is, what happened in 1984 (the anti-Sikh riots)."


A group of men on Saturday thrashed 28-year-old Akbar to death in Alwar district on suspicion of cow smuggling. In the same district in April last year, Pehlu Khan, a cattle farmer was lynched by a mob as he rode home from a market with two cows and two calves in the back of his truck.


File pic.

The lynching of a Muslim man on the suspicion of cow smuggling in Rajasthan's Alwar district was today raised in the Rajya Sabha, with the opposition TMC demanding an a law to prevent killings by vigilantes. Raising the issue through a zero hour mention, Shanta Chhetri of the All India Trinamool Congress cited media reports to say that "88 precious lives have been lost (in lynching incidents) since this government came to power."


Noting that the Supreme Court had last week asked for a law banning mob lynching, she asked what the government has done to check such incidents. She wanted to know the steps initiated to check such attacks and the government action on framing the anti-lynching law. She found support in several opposition parties, whose members rose their hands to 'associate' themselves with the issue raised.


A group of men on Saturday thrashed 28-year-old Akbar to death in Alwar district on suspicion of cow smuggling. In the same district in April last year, Pehlu Khan, a cattle farmer was lynched by a mob as he rode home from a market with two cows and two calves in the back of his truck. Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu hoped the government will take note of the issue raised.
-- PTI 

The Uttar Pradesh government files its first draft of the vision document on the protection and preservation of the Taj Mahal in the Supreme Court.


This document, prepared by the Delhi School of Planning and Architecture, was put together after the apex court came down heavily on the government while hearing a petition filed by environmentalist MC Mehta.


First takes of the draft:

1. Entire Taj precinct should be declared a no-plastic zone, use of bottled water should also be prohibited, the UP govt tells the SC.

2. Comprehensive traffic management plan needed to promote pedestrian movement in the Taj heritage precinct.

3. Roads along the Yamuna riverfront should be planned so traffic is limited and pedestrian movement encouraged.

4. There should be no construction on the Yamuna floodplain, riverbank should only have natural plantations.

Further details awaited.

Faisal Hussain, the 29-year-old shooter responsible for the rampage in Toronto's Greektown neighbourhood, was from Pakistan's Jhelum.


Files, being reviewed by the police, include concerns that Hussain expressed "support" for a website that was seen as "pro-ISIL," says a law enforcement source.


Sources say Toronto police and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) officials in Ottawa, as well as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), are looking into his past, which sources say, include his residence in Afghanistan and Pakistan.


Hussain apparently had been spoken-to by authorities about his online activities. Sources say Toronto Police, the Ontario Provincial Police and the RCMP have all had an interest in the now-deceased alleged shooter.


What law enforcement agencies are saying is that the attack was planned, and Hussain was "well known to Toronto Police" for investigations into past crimes "involving weapons and violence."According to sources quoted by the Canadian media house Global News, Hussain's family had been going through major challenges.


Hussain lost his sister to a car accident, while his brother was hospitalised following a stroke. He also struggled with mental health issues since 2010, as confirmed by Hussain's parents."We are at a terrible loss for words but we must speak out to express our deepest condolences to the families who are now suffering on account of our son's horrific actions. Our hearts are in pieces for the victims and for our city as we all come to grips with this terrible tragedy. We will mourn those who were lost for the rest of our lives," a statement from the Hussain family, quoted by Global News, read.


"Our son had severe mental health challenges, struggling with psychosis and depression his entire life. The interventions of professionals were unsuccessful. Medications and therapy were unable to treat him. While we did our best to seek help for him throughout his life of struggle and pain, we could never imagine that this would be his devastating and destructive end," the statement added.


Toronto Chief of Police, Mark Saunders said a girl aged 10-years and a young woman of 18-years were killed in the shooting that took place at Greektown (Danforth) neighbourhood in the city, while at least 13 others were left injured. -- ANI


Image: People leave the site of the mass shooting in Toronto. Reuters/Chris Helgren.

India has extended USD 200 million lines of credit to Rwanda for its economic development, signed a defence cooperation agreement and will soon open a High Commission here as part of New Delhi's efforts to bolster the strategic partnership with the fast-developing East African country.


The announcements came during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Rwanda, the first by an Indian prime minister to the country. After his one-on-one talks with Rwanda's President Paul Kagame, Modi announced that India will soon open its mission in Rwanda.


"We are going to open a High Commission in Rwanda. This will not only establish communication between our respective governments but also enable facilities for consular, passport, visa," Modi said at a joint press statement.


He noted that India and Rwanda relationships have stood the test of time. "It is a matter of honour for us that India has stood with Rwanda in their economic development journey," Modi said, adding that India will continue to back Rwanda's development.-- PTI

An unidentified militant in Kashmir Valley today surrendered before security forces and returned to his family, the police said. "With the help of community one more joins his family and shuns the path of violence," Kashmir Zone Police said on Twitter.


However, the details of the surrendered militant have been kept a secret in order to ensure the security of the youth. More than a dozen militants have laid down their arms in Kashmir since last year when police announced that they will accept offer to surrender of local militants even during ongoing encounters. Most of these militants have surrendered after appeals by their families to shun the path of violence and return home. -- PTI

"What is required is to make Pakistan less war-like and more modest in its ambitions. To normalise with India and to reduce the State's fondness for religion. It is pragmatism and not charisma that it required and it is by being boring and not heroic that this can be achieved. This is the moment of realisation which brings the Pakistani leader into conflict with the army. Imran Khan will learn the lesson in time," says Aakar Patel. Read the column here

From an Olympic medallist to an aunt... PV Sindhu's latest avatar.

Sindhu posted this cute picture with her nephew saying, "I used to just be the cool sister . Now Im also the cool aunt. #nephew#cutiepie#babyboy#"

The war-of-words on Twitter between Iran and United States President Donald Trump saw no signs of abating, as Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday hit back at the latter, asking him to 'be cautious'.


This came after Trump earlier warned his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, to "never ever threaten the US."


"COLOR US UNIMPRESSED: The world heard even harsher bluster a few months ago. And Iranians have heard them -albeit more civilized ones-for 40 yrs. We've been around for millennia & seen fall of empires, incl our own, which lasted more than the life of some countries. BE CAUTIOUS!" Zarif tweeted.


On Monday, Trump had cautioned Rouhani to not threaten the United States."To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!" he tweeted.


According to Iran's state-run news agency IRNA, while addressing diplomats in Tehran on Sunday, Rouhani said, "Americans must understand that war with Iran is the mother of all wars," reported CNN.


He, however, did not rule out the possibility of a peace agreement and said that "peace with Iran is the mother of all peace".


"Do not play with the lion's tail, because you will regret it eternally," Rouhani added.


These comments came after Trump in May announced the US' withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) or the Iran nuclear deal, which limited the country's uranium enrichment in exchange for sanctions relief. -- ANI

Extending yesterday's rally, the benchmark BSE Sensex jumped over 150 points to record a new high of 36,869.34 in early trade today on strong Asian cues amid buying by domestic institutional investors. The market rally was driven by strong activity on the metal, oil and gas, PSU, infrastructure, banking, FMCG and capital goods counters, rising up to 0.88 per cent.


The 30-share BSE index spurted by 150.74 points, or 0.41 per cent, to hit a new high of 36,869.34, surpassing its previous record of 36,749.69 clocked yesterday.


The gauge has gained 367.37 points in the past two sessions. The 50-share NSE Nifty also rose 41.15 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 11,125.90. Major gainers include Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, HUL, M&M, Tata Steel, Adani Ports, L&T, ICICI Bank, Coal India, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank, Infosys, Power Grid, Kotak Bank, SBI, Asian Paints, HDFC, Axis Bank, Sun Pharma and ITC, rising up to 1.42 per cent. -- PTI

BSE Sensex rises over 90 points to trade at a new all-time high and NSE's Nifty 50 rises above 11,100 on Tuesday following positive leads from global equities.