Timeline Refresh
Khobragade has got the UN badge which states that she is a delegate and counsellor at the Indian mission to the UN and that identity card will enable her to enter the UN premises, sources told PTI.
"As of now the UN badge has been issued and the relevant papers for her to get a State Department Identity card have been sent by the UN to the state department as per the normal procedure," a source said.
Sai, accused of hatching a conspiracy after his arrest to give bribes to weaken the rape case filed against him, was produced before Additional Session Judge M R Mengeda.
The prosecution sought 14-day police remand for Sai but the Judge granted only nine days custody. Public prosecutor Nayan Sukhadwala sought remand of Sai to find out how sitting in a jail he planned and tried to execute the conspiracy of bribing police officers, doctors and judicial officers.
The police also wanted to know which officers were contacted by Sai to weaken the rape case against him. During Sai's earlier remand, Surat Crime Branch had unearthed a plan to bribe policemen, doctors and judicial officers to weaken the rape case against him.
The police had arrested six persons, including Sub-Inspector C K Kumbhani, in the bribery case.
The automatic rifle he designed became one of the world's most familiar and widely used weapons.
"Given the past track record of the Congress party, I don't expect that our government will survive for long... one month, four months or six months, it is to be seen," said AAP leader Prashant Bhushan, soon after party chief Arvind Kejriwal met Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Nadeem Jung to stake claim to form government in Delhi.
The Centre today launched a platform with about 241 applications for the public after completing pilot project of mobile governance with about 100 departments and testing proof of concepts.
The applications relate to services covering areas such as Right to Information, health, Aadhaar, education, directory services and so on.
"Defence constructions, border incidents and trans-border crimes like drug trafficking, infiltration, smuggling of arms/ammunition and fake Indian currency, inadvertent border crossings and other matters of mutual interest will be discussed for effective border management," said DIG Punjab Frontier, BSF, R P S Jaswal.
BJP leaders, preferring anonymity, said with the Congress losing support in the wake of corruption cases and scams against the United Progressive Alliance government, the party is now banking on the AAP to build a credible counter to the right-wing party.
Cooperation between China and Pakistan on nuclear energy is exclusively for peaceful purposes and in the interests of the local people, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.
The two countries have cooperated on civilian nuclear energy for years, she told a daily news briefing when asked to comment on reports about the construction of the mega nuclear power plant in the Pakistani port city of Karachi.
"I would like to wish him luck Also, I would like him to fulfill all his promises including, claim to take against corruption. I would like him to take action against corruption involved in the Commonwealth scam," he said.
"I hope Kejriwal as a chief minister, taking the support of Congress, would show the courage to take action. Otherwise it would prove, as apprehended earlier, that the AAP is team B of the Congress," he added.
"We will be very tough on the public servants who do not comply and Arvind is there to crack the whip. There will be complete transparency and less scope for mischief," said Shazia Ilmi.
"There is a lot to manage; our task is daunting .For instance, we have to set the Delhi equation right. It is a tough one and quite unstable. We are going to remove all the ''MLA-giri'' and turn it into ''Sevagiri,'' she said.
She added that AAP had a long way to go. "This may seem like a small step but it is a giant leap for democracy. I am glad this fight has reached this point. We have come a long way but we have an equally long way to go," said Ilmi.
"AAP is going to focus on basic governance, implementing policies to start with which would make a lot of difference," she added.
The letter addressed to the Kejriwal's secretary says since Arvind Kejriwal is going to take over as the Chief Minister of Delhi, he should be given Z category protection. The letter which comes from the additional commissioner of security, asks where the security personnel should report.
Kerjiwal had has replied to the letter thanking the police for their offer of security, but said he does not need it. He says God is his biggest security. All he has asked for is some security arrangement for crowd control since he tends to get mobbed.
In October too, Kejriwal had refused security cover from the Ghaziabad police saying it was against the party's ideology.
AAP has pledged that none of its MLAs, including the CM, would take red beacon cars, bungalows or security cover.
This is the Delhi police's letter to Kejriwal.
This is Kejriwal's reply
A reflection on the 30 years of his life and how a "close friend" tipped off the intelligence agencies, leading to his arrest. The prisoner is top Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative Yasin Bhatkal, arrested on August 29 for his alleged role in bomb blasts across the country.
Read the full story here.
Read: Kumar Sangakkara's ode to his father.
Humans in Iceland are standing up for the rights of elves -- and not because Father Christmas works them too hard. Elf advocates have joined forces with environmentalists to urge the Icelandic Road and Coastal Commission and local authorities to abandon a highway project because it might disturb the creatures' habitat. Read more
Raja (70), fondly addressed as 'maestro,' complained of uneasiness this morning, sources said, adding, he was said to be stable. He was expected to be discharged soon,they added.
The AAP also chipped away roughly three per cent of the BJP's vote, and reduced the BSP, which held great promise, with 14 per cent of Delhi's vote in 2008, to insignificance.
With less money than the Congress or the BJP, and driven by volunteer energy, the AAP has stolen the thunder from an otherwise quite impressive BJP performance.
It has rattled the Congress and planted doubts in the BJP's mind, making it unsure of what lies ahead. Read more
The highly-secretive Indian Embassy in Washington hushed up the matter from the media and is believed to have registered a formal complaint with police and the State Department, in addition to cancelling the maid's official passport.
The woman domestic worker, who served the Ambassador quite well during her tenure of more than two years in Washington, is still untraceable and believed to be living illegally in the US. And she is not the only Indian maid - officially called "India-Based Domestic Assistant" - to have fled from the homes of senior Indian diplomats in the past few years.
Sources familiar with such incidents said that the number of such maids or India-Based Domestic Assistants (IBDAs) from the Indian Embassy in Washington - one of the largest Indian diplomatic missions - could be at least a dozen in the past decade.
"As a part of the procedure we arrested Asaram's wife Laxmi and daughter Bharti yesterday as their names appear in the FIR filed in the rape case," a police official said.
The victim, one of the two Surat-based sisters, had in her complaint also named wife and daughter of Asaram as co-accused, alleging that they were hand-in-glove with the godman in exploitation of girls like her.
The two sisters had lodged complaints against Asaram's son Narayan Sai and the godman of rape, sexual assault, illegal confinement and other charges.
The elder sister, in her complaint against Asaram, had accused him of repeated sexual assaults between 1997 and 2006 during the time she was living at his ashram on the outskirts of Ahmedabad.
The younger sister had accused Sai of repeated sexual assault between 2002 and 2005 when she was living at the Surat ashram. Sai is at present in Surat police custody.
Asaram (72) is currently lodged in a Jodhpur jail after being arrested in September for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor girl at his Jodhpur ashram.
"I asked for a copy of hearing before the Supreme Court committee but denied on the ground of the confidentiality. In normal law a person whose reputation is at stake should be given the affidavit to respond, I had asked for it but denied," he said.
"I wish to make it clear that I never harassed nor did I make any unwelcome advances to any female intern."
He adds, "I have been distressed by some recent happenings. I am anguished that Supreme Court did not address me correctly."
The Central Campaign Committee will meet tomorrow to chalk out a new strategy for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls after the AAP's shocker win in Delhi.
The big winners of the state legislative polls -- MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Chhattisgarh CM Dr Raman Singh, apart from Goa CM Manohar Parrikar are already members of the poll committee.
Though Scindia is not a member of the CECC, there is a likelihood of her being inducted into the all-powerful body. As many as 20 sub-committees of the BJP poll panel have been constituted under the campaign committee including the one for preparing the party's 'Vision Document' headed by Nitin Gadkari.
The UPA leadership has decided that a special session of Parliament should be convened to pass all the pending bills including Rahul Gandhi's six anti-corruption bills. Sonia Gandhi also wants her Women's Reservation Bill to be passed during this special session. After these bills are passed, Sonia Gandhi is likely to declare at the AICC session on January 17/18 that the party has fulfilled the promises in its manifesto.
Read the full blog here.
In a shake up ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan resigned on Saturday from the Union Council of Ministers and more may be in line for being drafted into party work.
Ganguly is accused of sexually harassing a law intern. Attorney General of India on Friday found Ganguly prima facie guilty and sent his opinion Union Law Minister Kapil Sibal.
The government had indicated that Ganguly may be sacked as chairman of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission.
Also read: Justice Ganguly asked me to share his room
Earlier, three children had also died due to cold in the camp. Yesterday, Rahul Gandhi made an unannounced visit to the riot-hit areas of Muzaffarnagar district during which he hit out at Uttar Pradesh government alleging the conditions in relief camps were "very bad".
More than 60 persons were killed and over 40,000 displaced in communal violence that had broken out in Muzaffarnagar and adjoining areas in September this year.
This is what Rahul Gandhi said yesterday. Read
The UN ID card is likely to be issued after Christmas.
Khobragade's attorney had said that her diplomatic status provides her with immunity irrespective of whether she has been reassigned to the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations.
"Our position has always been that she always has that diplomatic immunity. All of the charges should be dropped because she has diplomatic immunity. If her transfer to the permanent mission makes that fact clearer to the prosecutor's office, then perhaps they would agree more rapidly (to drop charges). The case needs to be dismissed. She has always enjoyed immunity and I can tell you that," he asserted.
In India's first innings Steyn ended with figures of 1 for 61 in 26 overs as India were bowled out for 280. The real shock for Steyn was to come in the second innings as he went wicket-less, conceding 104 runs in 30 overs. It was the first time in a stellar Test career that Steyn leaked hundred runs in an innings without taking a wicket. It was also the first time that he went 30 overs without success.
"There is no court appearance Monday as has been reported in newspapers. The date has been Monday but it has been cancelled. She will appear before the magistrate judge Debra Freeman for pre-trial proceedings on Jan 13,' her lawyer Daniel Arshack told Rediff.com's Suman Guha Mozumder.
Read the full story here.
Khobragade, posted as Deputy Consul General in New York, was arrested on December 12 over allegations that she paid her domestic help a small fraction of New York's minimum wage and lied about the latter's salary in a visa application.
Jaishankar, who till recently was India's Ambassador to China, arrives in Washington at a time when bilateral ties threatens to hit a low in more than a decade now in the aftermath of the arrest of Khobragade.
In protest against her arrest and her mistreatment by US Marshals, India has demanded an apology and withdrawal of charges against the 39-year-old Deputy Consul General at the Indian consulate in New York. New Delhi has retaliated by withdrawing a slew of privileges being provided to American diplomats in India for decades.
But, the US has refused to drop charges and tender an apology.
A doctor at Malda Medical College Hospital, where the schoolgirl is admitted, said her vocal cord had been damaged. The brutality has some parallels with the Delhi gang rape on a bus last year that triggered a nationwide uproar. Read more
She says the ball of stability is in their (AAP's) court. "They are ones who will have to fulfill the promises. Stability comes from them. How can we provide a stable government to Delhi?" she asked.
She added that people have got carried away by AAP's promises.
In a departure from tradition, the oath-taking ceremony will be held at the Ram Lila Maidan.
The Aam Admi Party which is now forming the government in Delhi on December 26, had contested the polls on an anti-Congress, anti-BJP plank, anti-corruption platform.
The decision to form the government with Congress support, even from the outside, exposes it to attack from the BJP. The BJP itself, though the party with the single-largest votes in the Delhi polls had refused to form government by horse trading. And it is there for being made to sit out in the opposition.
For the Congress itself, it will be wait and watch -- to see how soon Kejriwal falls. Sheila Dikshit had said earlier that AAP must fulfill the promises it made to the public of Delhi.
"It is between AAP and the Delhi Congress. I congratulate him. I appreciate his courage. He needs to fulfill his promises. By entering politics, he has strengthened democracy."
The party produced a separate manifesto for each of the 70 constituencies. The candidates were being screened for potential criminal backgrounds and the party claimed to have selected honest candidates.
The AAP's central manifesto had promised to implement the Jan Lokapal Bill within 15 days of coming to power.
Pic: That's a picture of Arvind Kejriwal on his way to meet Lt Gov Najeeb Jung.
"There were rumours about who will be the chief minister. AAP had said earlier that the party would contest election with Arvind Kejriwal as CM candidate. Then in our manifesto also we have reiterated this. After the election results were out, he was elected as the leader of the legislative party. So Arvind Kejriwal will be the Chief Minister," Sisodia said.
Jantar Mantar, is the place where Arvind Kerjiwal's journey from a supporter and chief aide to Anna Hazare to the next chief minister of Delhi, began. A journey from an activist to a neta.
Pic: The AAP headquarters at Ghaziabad where the announcement to form the government was made. Pic/Sheela Bhatt
Sheila Dikshit: We have supported AAP only for its programmes and policies for the public. The support is NOT unconditional and it is only an outside support.
Former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit says the Congress wishes AAP good luck and hopes it can fulfill its promises to the people. She said some of the promises he has made to the people are impossible to fulfill.
Sisodia says 74 per cent of the people who have voted on the referendum through text messages want AAP to form the government in Delhi.
Nearly seven lakh people responded to the referendum on whether AAP should form the government.
Kejriwal announces that on the basis of the referendum, AAP is ready to from the government in Delhi. "I am going to the L-G to inform him that AAP is ready to form the government," says Kejriwal.
Sisodia says Keriwal will be the chief minister.
Cryptic and non-committal.
Protesting the manner in which India's Deputy Consul General was arrested on December 12 in New York, the online petition said there was perceptible animus in handling the arrest.
No AAP minister will ride in a lal batti car, or stay in the traditional bungalows allotted to ministers, he has reportedly said.
Kejriwal's pledge to reduce water and electricity bills has been described as impractical by the outgoing Congress, which is supporting the AAP.
The fledgling party vowed to halve the power bills and conduct an audit of discoms, or electricity distribution companies, accused of overcharging consumers.
AAP has vowed to provide 700 litres of free water to every household in Delhi. According to some estimates, that would cost the state some 340 crores a year.
The party has also promised "swaraj" or self-rule. To translate its idea of direct democracy into action, it has planned "mohalla sabhas" or neighbourhood meetings to decide on policies.
The 272 meetings held across Delhi last week to invite public opinion on whether the AAP should form a government with Congress support, offered a preview of these mohalla sabhas.
The party promised to bring in a strong law for a Lokpal or an anti-corruption ombudsman within 15 days. -- NDTV
The Political Affairs Committee meeting of the Aam Aadmi Party has begun in Delhi and a final announcement is expected in 11 am. "We are going in for political affairs meeting now. At 11 am we will announce whether we will form government or not," said AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal. "We will not ally with the Congress party or the BJP. We will go to the Lt Governor and say the public has asked us to form the government. When our majority will be tested, those who wish to serve the people of Delhi will support us. If we form the government, we will deliver on all promises," said AAP leader Kumar Vishwas.
However, sources say AAP is likely to take the support of the Congress on conditional grounds to form the next government. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal dropped enough hints on Sunday that AAP would finally lead the next government in Delhi.
The benchmark BSE Sensex rose by almost 105 points in early trade today on sustained buying by funds and retail investors amid a firming trend in other Asian markets.
Extending its rising streak for the second straight session, the 30-share index was up by 104.82 points, or 0.50 per cent, to 21,184.54 with all the sectoral indices, led by capital goods and oil and gas, trading in positive territory, rising up to 1.11 per cent.
The Sensex had gained 371.10 points in the previous session. The wide-based NSE Nifty also moved up by 31.55 points, or 0.50 per cent, to 6,305.80. Brokers said continued buying by funds and retail investors amid a firming trend on other Asian bourses after Friday's gain in the US markets, as economic growth figures came in well above expectations, influenced the trading sentiment here.
In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 0.68 per cent in the morning trade today, while Japan's Tokyo stock exchange remained closed for a public holiday.
The US Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.26 per cent to close at fresh record highs in Friday's trade.
Anti-government demonstrators in Thailand have surrounded the stadium where candidates were due to register to stand in February's elections.
They say political reform is needed before elections take place. On Sunday, tens of thousands took to the streets of Bangkok, calling on the government to step down. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who called the polls in December try to end the rallies, urged protesters to respect the "democratic system".
The main opposition Democrat Party has said it would boycott February's elections. Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, who was previously a senior Democrat Party politician, said on Sunday: "We disagree with the election. We want the country to be reformed before the election."
NDTV: Former cricketer Salil Ankola's wife, Pariniti, has been found dead at her parents' house in Pune, according to reports.
The police said that they have found a suicide note, which says she has grown tired of her life. The 46-year-old was staying with her parents at their Pune residence.Pariniti has two sons with Salil.
The US has deployed 46 additional military personnel in S Sudan and may take further military action to support the security of its citizens in the violence-wracked country, President Barack Obama has said.
"As I monitor the situation in South Sudan, I may take further action to support the security of US citizens, personnel, and property, including our Embassy, in South Sudan," Obama said in a communique to the Congress as released by the White House.
Obama said on December 21, 46 US military personnel deployed by military aircraft to the area of Bor, South Sudan, to conduct an operation to evacuate US citizens and personnel.
After the aircraft came under fire as they approached Bor, the operation was curtailed due to security considerations, and the aircraft and all military personnel onboard departed South Sudan without completing the evacuation, he said adding that the purpose of this operation was to protect US citizens, personnel, and property.
Obama said this action has been directed consistent with his responsibility to protect US citizens both at home and abroad, and in furtherance of US national security and foreign policy interests.
Earlier in the day, Obama, who is spending his year end vacation in Hawaii, was updated on the situation in South Sudan.