Nearly three dozen protesters were arrested in London today amid demonstrations against next week's Group of Eight summit in Northern Ireland. An Associated Press photographer reported minor scuffles between police and demonstrators making their way to a "Carnival Against Capitalism" planned by the group StopG8.

North Korea withdrew from talks planned with South Korea in Seoul for Wednesday in a dispute over the makeup of the South's delegation, collapsing the first senior-level dialogue between the nations in years.

Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned that he will not show "any more tolerance" for protests.

Russia's lower house passed a law on Tuesday banning gay "propaganda", a measure that human rights groups say has already fuelled attacks on homosexuals as President Vladimir Putin pursues an increasingly conservative social agenda.

Indian and Pakistani officials today discussed proposals for trade in electricity, including the setting up of a transmission line to supply 500 MW to energy-starved Pakistan. 

Congress is likely to be represented by MP Francisco Sardinha in Delhi tomorrow when an all-party delegation will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding special status to Goa and a financial package for people affected by the ban on mining. 

Team India seamer S Sreesanth, who was released from Delhi's Tihar Jail after getting bail in the IPL betting scam, has said that he would not want to forget about this episode.  

 

"It taught me a lot of things,' he added.   "I played the game in true spirit,' he also said.

The great irony of the government spying controversy is that even America's state-of-the-art spy agency could not keep secret the fact that it might be spying on our secrets.

 

Nobody's secrets are safe. Not spies, not corporations, and certainly not the rest of us regular people, with our clever little passwords, our privacy settings and our restricted friends' lists.

 

Read the full report on CNN

Immigration is a driving force in American economy, US President Barack Obama said today as he called on the Congress to pass the immigration reform bill which would provide pathway to citizenship to millions of undocumented workers from countries like India.        

 

"Immigration isn't just part of our national character; it is a driving force in our economy that creates jobs and prosperity for all of our citizens," Obama said at a White House event on immigration ahead of the Senate consideration of the comprehensive immigration reform bill.        

 

"In recent years one in four of America's new small-business owners were immigrants. One in four high-tech startups in America were founded by immigrants. Forty per cent of Fortune 500 companies were started by a first-or second-generation American. Think about that.        

 

Over the past two decades, Obama said, the immigration system hasn't kept pace with changing times and hasn't matched up with US' most cherished values.

Congress today derided efforts to forge a Third Front by leaders like Naveen Patnaik at a time when the Lok Sabha polls are not far away. "Some parties, as part of their politics, are taking out things from their bag.... We will see it later", was the response of party spokesman Raj Babbar.        

 

He was asked as to how the Congress looks at attempts by leaders like the BJD chief to forge a Third Front which is also referred to as the Federal Front by Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee.        

 

Patnaik is calling for maintaining equidistance from both the Cong-led UPA and BJP-led NDA. His party is a close ally of the AIADMK led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav has also talked of formation of a Third Front.        

 

Congress and BJP often insist that the idea of formation of a "Third Front" is a non-starter.

Cricketer Sreesanth has been released from Delhi's Tihar Jail on bail. In a major setback to the Delhi police, a court, on Monday, indicted them for slapping the stringent provisions of MCOCA on cricketers Shantakumaran Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and 17 others, and granted the accused bail in the IPL spot-fixing case.

An Indian Army unit deployed in peacekeeping missions in Congo has helped in rescuing 12 local students from a rebel group there. "Efforts of peacekeepers of INDBATT 2 (Indian Battery) of North Kivu brigade resulted in rescue of 12 innocent students from M23 rebels at Kiwanja in Rutshuru territory of North Kivu province of Democratic Republic of Congo," An Army statement on Facebook said.        

 

The students were apprehended by the M23 rebels on June 5 on the suspicion of having links with banditry activities in the area, it said. After the students of the Butrande Secondary School, Kiwanja were apprehended, a delegation of local community leaders and Children Parliament-- an NGO, approached Indian Army Company Operating Base, Kiwanja, for the safe release of these innocent people, the statement said.        

 

After receiving the information, "the Indian Army's contingent swung into action and a team was formed to ensure their safe release. The Company Commander incorporated the locality chiefs and other influential people of the area and through them passed a strong message to the armed group for the release of innocent civilians especially the students. "

In a terse reply to BJP, which had described ruling National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir as a party of "father-son" duo, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said today that NC was controlled by the people, "unlike BJP which is remote controlled from Nagpur".        

 

"Look who is getting all touchy. At least my party is controlled by people who fight elections not by remote control from Nagpur," Omar said today on microblogging site Twitter in reaction to the statement of BJP spokesman.        

 

Omar further said, "and clearly you (BJP) don't have a problem with father-son combinations as long as they are in the BJP or allied to you".        

 

Earlier today, BJP had attacked Omar for his remarks on developments within the party saying that unlike others, theirs was not a "father-son" or "mother-son" party.

AFP: Afghanistan's Taliban insurgents today claimed a suicide car bombing that targeted staff of the Supreme Court and killed 14 civilians in Kabul. The militants said the attack was carried out to punish Afghan judges for sentencing to death Taliban prisoners held by the Afghan government.  

 

"Today's attack was a warning should they (judges) continue to give tyrannical verdicts and intimidate (our) countrymen," said a copy of their statement sent to AFP.        

 

A suicide car bomber rammed a bus packed with staff of Afghanistan's top court, killing 14 and wounding 38 in the second attack in two days in the heavily fortified capital, police said.

Southwest Airlines flight bound for Texas from Los Angeles with 143 passengers aboard was forced to land in Phoenix on Monday after a telephoned bomb threat.  US fighter jets were diverted to monitor the situation, authorities said.

 

Southwest Airlines flight 2675 landed safely in Phoenix, the state capital of Arizona and all passengers on board were taken off without incident, the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and Southwest said.

 

The Austin-bound flight was diverted at the request of the Los Angeles Police Department after an unidentified caller made a bomb threat against a commercial flight from Los Angeles to Texas, according to Southwest and the FBI.

 

Read the full report on eNews Channel Africa

Expelled BJP MP Ram Jethmalani says Advani destroyed the BJP in Karnataka and will destroy the party at the national level too. "Advani wants to be PM and he will do anything to get it." he said.

 

On Monday, following Advani's resignation, Jethmalani had said the senior BJP leader was senile.

Meanwhile, our correspondent in Delhi writes that the government today said that it has been informed by the Saudi government that they intend to bring about a reduction of 50 per cent in pilgrims coming from Saudi Arabia for the Haj and 20 per cent from pilgrims overseas.

Given the fact that the processes for the Haj pilgrimage have already been initiated, the government has requested the Saudi authorities both in Delhi and in Riyadh to reconsider their decision taking into account the advanced stage of preparations.  

First look: Suraj Pancholi, son of actor Aditya Pancholi, appeared at the Andheri court today in the Jiah Khan suicide case. He was today remanded in police custody till June 13 after the prosecution said his interrogation was necessary following allegations of threat, assault and rape against him by the actress in a note discovered three days after her suicide.

Pic: Sahil Salvi

Narendra Modi tweets within seconds of the press conference ending.

@narendramodi: I had said yesterday that Advani ji will not disappoint lakhs of Karyakartas. Today, I whole heartedly welcome his decision!

All through the very short press conference, only party president Rajnath Singh spoke, while Advani remained absent. The presser was held at Advani's residence.

Rajnath Singh, who read out from a statement, said Advani had accepted RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's advice that he should not step down from his party posts. RSS chief spoke to Advani and asked him to respect the
party decision and continue to guide it, says Rajnath Singh. Singh also said Advani will be consulted at all levels.

This is what the Advani had written in his resignation letter addressed to Rajnath Singh. Read

BJP president Rajnath Singh begins the meet. Says that the BJP Parliamentary Board has rejected LK Advani's resignation. "Rejecting Advani-ji's decision was an unanimous decision," says Rajnath Singh. He says Advani has accepted the Board's decision and has decided that whatever the party decides will be accepted by him. Which means Advani has accepted the party's decision to make Narendra Modi the poll campaign chief and will continue to be a member of the all the three posts he had resigned from the national executive, parliamentary board and the election committee.

"Advanji's concerns about the running of the party will be addressed by him personally and at an appropriate level," says Rajnath Singh.

Uma Bharti, Sushma Swaraj, Nitin Gadkari and Rajnath Singh at the presser at LK Advani's residence. No sign of Advani yet.  

Press conference at LK Advani's residence in minutes. BJP spokesperson Prakash Javdekar waits at the venue for Rajnath Singh to arrive.

The BJP Parliamentary Board may be called to a meeting soon to discuss the crisis in the wake of the LK Advani's resignation and address the issues he has raised.

The BJP is likely to issue a statement from Advani's residence shortly, reports CNN IBN.

BJP senior leaders may state that the PM candidate will not be decided without Advani's consent, which is what Advani has always insisted upon. Advani or Rajnath Singh may read out a statement saying that since the BJP Parliamentary Board has rejected his resignation, he would stand by it.

Sushma Swaraj and Rajnath Singh have promised Advani that the choice of PM candidate will be his.

The sex ratio in Delhi has shown an improvement with the female population being grown by 24.9 per cent while the male population grew at a lesser rate of 18.1 per cent. According to the Primary Census Abstract 2011 released here today, of the overall 21.2 per cent population growth registered during 2001-2011, female population grew by 24.9 per cent while male population grew at 18.1 per cent.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat speaks to LK Advani.  The ongoing crisis in the Bharatiya Janata Party revolving around the resignation of veteran leader Lal Krishna Advani from party posts may be resolved within hours.

A close confidante of the 85-year-old leader told rediff.com that the current crisis in the BJP will be resolved by tonight or by early Wednesday morning. The source said that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh General Secretary Bhayyaji Joshi and the outfit's representative S Gurumurthy are trying to diffuse the situation and find a final solution.

As a storm around his promotion rages in Delhi, Narendra Modi seems to be already settling into his role as chairman of the BJP's election campaign committee. At a function in Gandhinagar today, he coined a new slogan - "Ek Bharat Shresht Bharat (One India, best India)."  Read

Pakistan today said it had scrambled warplanes after two Indian jets allegedly entered three nautical miles into the country's airspace over Punjab province. Officials said the incident occurred over Pakpattan district, 200 km from Lahore, the capital of Punjab.

They alleged the jets remained in Pakistani airspace for about two minutes. "Two high-speed Indian aircraft violated Pakistani airspace by three nautical miles at about 10:40 hours in Attari, Fazilka sector.

The aircraft stayed inside Pakistani airspace for about two minutes," the Pakistan Air Force spokesperson said in a statement. "Pakistan Air Force initiated prompt tactical actions and scrambled two fighter aircraft to challenge the intruders.

Upon PAF actions, Indian aircraft exited the Pakistani airspace," the statement said. In Delhi, an IAF official clarified that the fighter jets, on a routine flying training sortie, seem to have flown close to the border.

Top BJP leaders make a last ditch effort to placate Advani. They are likely to meet the 'Bhishma Pitamah' this evening. This is the second time in two days that the senior BJP leadership has tried to make Advani come around.

The suicide of 25-year-old Bollywood actor Jiah Khan last week was greeted with shock in India, a country where suicide is the second-most common cause of death among people aged 15 to 29, according to a study in The Lancet. Read

The BSE benchmark Sensex today fell by a staggering 298.07 points to close at its lowest level in nearly two months, mainly led by drop in interest rate sensitive stocks as rupee slumped to new lows dashing hopes of a rate cut by RBI next week.

Also, Jindal Steel logged the day's biggest loss as Naveen Jindal and the company were named as accused in the fresh FIR filed by CBI in connection with the coal allocation scam. The 30-share index started the day on a weak note and continued its downward march throughout the day as rupee kept tumbling. It settled 298.07 points lower, or 1.53 per cent, at 19,143, a level last seen on April 22.

Just in: BJP president Rajnath Singh is to meet LK Advani as soon as he is back from Rajasthan. 

If you're in Gurgaon, avoid this restaurant like the plague. Here's why.

The Emergency (1975-77) saw VC Shukla at the height of his power, thanks to his closeness with Sanjay Gandhi. He imposed Press censorship with an unnatural zeal, cutting electric supply to presses and monitoring almost every story printed.

But his most famous (or infamous) act had nothing to do with the Indian Press, but with Bollywood. Shukla banned songs of Kishore Kumar from AIR and Doordarshan from May 4, 1976 till the end of the Emergency. Reason: Kishore had refused to sing at a Congress rally in Mumbai.
More on the Hindustan Times.

Latching on to the Mahabharta analogy used by L K Advani, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh today took potshots at BJP over the turmoil in the party after Narendra Modi's elevation and subsequent resignation of senior leader Advani from key posts.

"If Advani is Bhishma Pitamah, who would be Dhritrashtra, Shakuni, Duryodhan and other characters of BJP Mahabharata," Singh wrote on Twitter. In another tweet, he said, "...BJP certainly has its own "chaal" it's own "charitra" and it's own "chehra". Now guess who is what."


In his blog, Advani had on Sunday made a reference to a wounded Bhishma Pitamah lying on a bed of arrows in a scene in Mahabharata. The reference was made by the sulking BJP veteran, who, citing ill-health, had stayed away from the party executive meet that elevated Modi the same day, anointing him as Chief of BJP's Election Campaign Committee for 2014 general elections.

Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed also took a jibe at Opposition party
leaders for speaking about Advani's virtues after he resigned from key party posts yesterday.


"BJP leaders say Advani is a father figure for us, but in place of son, they are trying to send the hapless father to Banwas. What a shame?" he tweeted.

Suraj Pancholi, the boyfriend of Jiah Khan, was today remanded in police custody till June 13 by a Mumbai court after prosecution said his interrogation was necessary following allegations of threat, assault and rape against him by the actress in a note discovered three days after her suicide.

Suraj, son of actor couple Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab, was yesterday arrested after being booked under IPC Section 306 for allegedly abetting Jiah's suicide, a week after she ended her life at her Juhu home.

Seeking his custody, police told the court that they have recovered five love letters exchanged between Suraj and Jiah and they wanted to verify the contents. The CCTV footage of the hotel and the house where the two went the day Jiah ended her life has also been recovered, Public Prosecutor A K Pacharane told the court and added there were serious allegations of threat, assault and rape against Suraj.

A distressed Jiah had aborted their baby and this aspect too needed to be probed, the prosecution said in its remand application.

Read: The note that got Suraj in trouble

Dr Manmohan Singh @PMOIndia Prime Minister extends condolences on passing away of Congress leader Shri VC Shukla who was injured in Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh.

As the tourism industry in India attempts to shore up its image internationally, a series of high-profile attacks on women since December has raised concerns about the safety of foreign tourists in India. However, whether or not overseas tourism in India has actually slowed down in response depends on whom you ask. Read

In other news: With the rupee falling to an all-time-low of 58.15 to a dollar Monday afternoon, there is a growing view that the emerging market currency could face tougher times ahead. Many analysts are now focusing on 60 to the dollar in the medium term. Read

VC Shukla was 84. Doctors had performed an exploratory laparotomy surgery (a diagnostic tool that allows physicians to examine the abdominal area) on June 1, when he was admitted to the super-speciality Medanta hospital. Shukla's father, Ravishankar Shukla, was the first chief minister of Madhya Pradesh and Shukla himself became I&B minister and had been inducted into the union cabinet in 1966 by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi.

Heavily-armed Maoists had ambushed a convoy of Congress leaders in Bastar district, killing 27 people including PCC chief Nand Kumar Patel, his son Dinesh, Congress leader Mahendra Karma and ex-MLA Uday Mudliyar and injuring 32 others.

Congress leader Vidya Charan Shukla passes away. The condition of the senior Congress leader, who was admitted to Medanta Hospital at Gurgaon, was critical. Shukla was injured in the Maoist attack on May 25 sustaining three bullets in his body.

According to the doctors at Medanta, Shukla was unable to breathe easily and has been kept on ventilator. His kidneys have stopped functioning and he was undergoing dialysis. Shukla has already undergone two surgeries after which he showed signs of improvement and remained stable for more than a week.

French court dismisses a case against disgraced former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn related to a prostitution ring.  The influential head of no less influential IMF has been accused of raping a maid in a hotel in the U.S. followed by the accusations of organizing an underground network of sex services. But the charges were later dropped. So who is he, Dominique Strauss-Kahn - a dangerous offender or a victim of foreign intelligence agencies? Read

JD-U general secretary KC Tyagi says it will be difficult for the party to continue in NDA if LK Advani is not at the helm of affairs. 

Amid the rupee touching a record low of 58.96 to a dollar, the Finance Ministry today said it is "not unduly disturbed" by the fall, and the domestic currency will stabilise in the next 3-4 days with large foreign fund flows.

"This is a temporary phase. This is simply a correction. Our indication is some of the FIIs are now poised to bring in large funds. In next 3-4 days, we will see a mid-course correction," Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram said.

A pool at a disused Derbyshire quarry, known locally as the Blue Lagoon, has been dyed black in a bid to deter people from swimming in it.Despite the water at the quarry at Harpur Hill, near Buxton, having a pH level of 11.3 dozens of people still swim there.Bleach has a pH level of 12.3 and signs warn swimmers the water could cause skin complaints. Swimmers are also warned the water contains rubbish and dead animals. Read

Turkish riot police have moved into Istanbul's Taksim Square, which has been occupied by anti-government protesters for close to two weeks.Officers fired tear gas and rubber bullets, leading many protesters to flee the square into adjoining Gezi Park, where many have been camping. Read

The death toll in the building collapse at Central Mumbai in the metropolis has risen to seven as more bodies have been recovered from the debris today, civic officials said. Six people were also injured in the collapse, BMC sources said.

Debris removal operations are still on at the collapse site of the four-storey building, located on Cadell Road, they said. A portion of the 'Altaf' building located near the Mahim dargah had collapsed last night.

Locals have blamed it on structural changes made to a car showroom on the ground floor. As the rescue operations began, another portion of building gave away.

The injured were admitted in Bhabha Hospital at suburban Bandra, KEM and Sion Hospital. The deceased have been identified as - Zaibunissa Abdul Sattar Laakha (76), Mhaisani Baatliwala (75), Halima Sheikh (50), Mobin Lakha (18), Faraz Rizwan Merchant (13), Asifa Rizwan Merchant (50) and Sahira Ghulam Merchant (78).

Sushma Swaraj who has come out of her meeting with LK Advani, a day after he quit all party posts in the BJP, says Advani is not angry. "The resignation has not been accepted, so there's no question of Advani withdrawing it," she said.

The party's vice president Prabhat Jha said that, "Advani remains the BJP's tallest leader, but politics will continue and the national executive's decision on Narendra Modi cannot be reversed. The party will move on." 

David Berg's law career began thanks to two men, one a famous lawyer and the other his murdered brother, who was killed by actor Woody Harrelson's father. In an excerpt from his new memoir, 'Run, Brother, Run,' he describes how it all began. Read

With the CBI registering a fresh case against Jindal Steel and Power Limited, Gagan Sponge and two other companies in the coal scam, the BJP on Tuesday reiterated its demand for the resignation of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, who had direct charge of the Coal Ministry for some of the years under scrutiny.

BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said the raids being conducted by the CBI are very important, and added that the investigating agency must take these raids to a logical conclusion.

"They must go after the money trail. After all, out of 10 or 12 applicants why somebody was chosen, in what consideration and how much money he gave to whom that money trail is the important aspect of this scam and that must come through because government is trying to hinder the probe in the coal scam to save the Prime Minister because Prime Minister was the Coal Minister, under his signature the coal blocks are allocated. Now, all those blocks are being probed into," he added.

RJD leaders and workers today celebrated the 66th birthday of party president Lalu Prasad here and took a pledge to defeat communal forces in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. A 66-pound (approximately 30 kilo) special cake with a lantern (RJD symbol) designed on it was cut at the party office by the Leader of the Opposition in state assembly Abdul Bari Siddiqui among others.

Lalu's eldest daughter Misa Bharti was also present on the occasion. The RJD chief is in Delhi and could not attend the celebration. RJD spokesman Randhir Yadav said that party leaders and workers took a pledge on the occasion to defeat communal forces in the parliamentary elections in 2014 under the leadership of Prasad.

Life has not moved forward for Dey's mother and sister, who still make a cup of tea for him everyday; they have shelved their lives, ignored health and the world outside, hoping only that the murderers would see justice, but that hope is getting dimmer by the day.  Read the report on Mid Day.

J Dey headed the investigative reporting section at the paper in Mumbai and today marks two years since he was shot dead.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar today brushed aside criticism that "tainted" ministers have been retained in the reshuffle.

In politics, Opposition levels all kinds of allegations, but until proved legally, they have no meaning, Pawar said.

"In the UPA government, allegations have been made against ministers and even in 1995, allegations were made against Sharad Pawar," he said.

When asked if the NCP list of ministers has his stamp, Ajit said it is wrong to presume like that. "I was not aware of the new entrants till late last night. Pawar Saheb informed me last night to forward the names of ministers whose resignations have been accepted and the new list of those to be sworn-in," he said. No particular MLA is close to me. All decisions are taken by (NCP chief) Sharad Pawar, he said.

Maharashtra NCP President Madhukar Pichad and three party MLAs will today take oath as ministers in the Maharashtra government as part of the cabinet reshuffle.

Dilip Sopal, an independent legislator and former NCP leader will also take oath of office and secrecy. He has earlier served as minister of State for Law and Judiciary.

The three new faces to be inducted into the cabinet are Sanjay Savkhare, Uday Samant and Shashikant Shinde. Pichad (who was tribal minister in Vilasrao Deshmukh government), Shinde and Sopal will be cabinet ministers while Savkhare and Samant will be Ministers of State.

The new ministers come in place of Ramraje Nimbalkar (Water Resources-Krishna Valley development), Babanrao Pachpute (Tribal Development), Laxman Dhobale (Water Supply) and Minister of State for Urban development Bhaskar Jadhav and Minister of State for Transport Gulabrao Devkar.

Just in: Aditya Pancholi's son, Suraj (21), has been produced in court in connection with the suicide of his girlfriend, Jiah Khan. 

Suraj Pancholi, son of an actor couple, was on Monday arrested for allegedly driving his girlfriend and Bollywood actress Jiah Khan to suicide, on the basis of a note left behind by her which mentioned that she was "heartbroken" in her relationship with Suraj and fed up with his "womanising".

"Suraj was booked under the Indian Penal Code section 306 of Indian Penal Code and placed under arrest in connection with Jiah Khan suicide case," Additional Police Commissioner Vishwas Nangre Patil said.

Passengers travelling on a Delhi Metro train were evacuated this morning after a train stopped on the track between the Central Secretariat station and Udyog Bhawan following some technical snag. Delhi Metro officials said all passengers are safe and train services are expected to normalize soon on the section

As the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara has prosecuted high-profile political corruption and terrorism cases. But he's best known for going after some of the world's biggest hedge funds in his pursuit of corporate criminals. Read

Also see: Preet Bharara is India Abroad Person of the Year 2011

As the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara has prosecuted high-profile political corruption and terrorism cases. But he's best known for going after some of the world's biggest hedge funds in his pursuit of corporate criminals. Read

Also see: Preet Bharara is India Abroad Person of the Year 2011

Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi's appointment on Sunday as BJP's campaign head for 2014 polls remained beyond the scope of re-negotiation a day later as the party's parliamentary board appealed to patriarch LK Advani to withdraw his resignation.There appeared to be no compromise offer or a face saver till late on Monday to Advani -- other than an appeal read out by party chief Rajnath Singh that his services as a guide and mentor were "needed more than ever before'. Read

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today expressed surprise over the projection of L K Advani, who quit all BJP posts yesterday, as a symbol of secularism in NDA by some quarters.

"L K Advani as the NDA's mascot of secularism. Who would have imagined!!!!!!"

Omar, whose National Conference was a constituent of the alliance from 1999-2003, Tweeted.

Although Omar did not specify who he was referring to, the comment seems to be in response to JD-U's stand on reconsidering its ties with the NDA in the wake of elevation of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as BJP's poll panel chief for next year's Lok Sabha elections.

Janata Dal (United) president Sharad Yadav had termed Advani's resignation as a "serious issue" and "not good for NDA health." "I am deeply saddened by the resignation of Advaniji. Because the NDA was forged with the efforts of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Advaniji. He (Advani) is also the working president and Atalji is not keeping well," Yadav had said.

JDU national spokesperson Shivanand Tiwari had said yesterday that "It is a matter of great concern that Advani, who had built BJP brick by brick is being treated shabbily by his own party leaders who ran roughshod over him and went ahead with their decision to anoint Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the BJP poll campaign panel chief."

Jiah Khan's mother Rabia, speaks about her daughter's troubled affair with her boyfriend and the film industry. Read the full interview on Mumbai Mirror

On Rediff.com: In pictures: Friends, family at Jiah Khan's funeral

Almost two years ago, the RSS had told L K Advani he'd have to give up his prime ministerial aspirations. He was to play only a mentor role in the party.Advani has been credited with catapulting the BJP from a two-MP party to one with 185 MPs at one point of time, thanks mainly to his "rathayatras". His last such yatra, the Jan Chetana Yatra in October 2011, became a bone of contention within the party. The RSS had felt it was aimed more at projecting himself as PM nominee. Read the full report on the TOI.

There's an old saying that "statistics don't lie, but liars use statistics'. This is worth keeping in mind as we digest the plethora of polls that profess to take the pulse of the nation as elections approach. The Indian electorate may yet make fools of all of the pollsters, pundits and prognosticators, writes Vivek Dehejia. Read the piece on Rediff.com.

Right now, BJP former president Nitin Gadkari and senior leader Uma Bharti are at LK Advani's residence in Delhi. Almost every senior leader has met Advani since he submitted his resignation yesterday.

Senior party leader Sushma Swaraj has said that there is no crisis and the party will move forward with the blessings of Advani.Sushma Swaraj, who is the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha, tweeted late on Monday night that that party was united.

Sushma Swaraj had earlier in the evening taken part in a meeting of the BJP parliamentary board at party president Rajnath Singh's residence here, where the board rejected Advani's resignation.

Advani has resigned from the posts in BJP election committee, and parliamentary board and the party's national executive, a day after the party appointed Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi as chief of BJP's campaign committee for 2014 elections.

BJP President Rajnath Singh today denied reports that the party was under pressure from the RSS over the crisis triggered by the resignation of senior leader L K Advani from all party positions.

Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, he said that news stories which suggested this were baseless.

"I want to make one thing clear that on some channels news has been telecast that RSS has said this or that. I want to make it absolutely clear that Sangh has not said anything.

"I have inquired from people in Sangh, whether they've made a statement. They told me that there has been no statement from their side, all this news is completely baseless," he added.

There had been reports in a section of the media earlier that RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had called Rajnath Singh to discuss the issue. Sources said that both the BJP and RSS were of the view that there should be no going back on the decision to appoint Gujarat CM Narendra Modi as head of the election campaign committee.

The Delhi police today startled a courtroom by claiming they had the elusive Dawood Ibrahim on tape, but the judge was unimpressed by the prosecution's attempt to link the mafia don to the spot-fixing case.

This is the first time that an Indian security agency has publicly claimed to have intercepted a phone conversation involving India's most-wanted terrorist, a Union home ministry official and a CBI officer separately told The Telegraph. The Delhi police had last week surprised everybody by seeking an arrest warrant against Dawood. Read the transcript here

The ascent of Narendra Modi and the shoddy treatment of L.K. Advani signal the advent of a new politics that India will have to confront. Read

The drum beats had barely died when the fiction of party unity crumbled. Lal Krishna Advani's resignation from important Bharatiya Janata Party posts within hours of Narendra Modi's elevation to chairman of the party's campaign committee is the strongest proof yet that the ceremony was hurriedly pulled off to pre-empt internal resistance from gathering strength. Read

An FIR has been registered against Congress MP Naveen Jindal and his company Jindal Steel and Power for allegedly misrepresenting crucial information to land valuable coal fields from the government. "Coal-Gate" is being investigated by the country's premier investigating agency, the CBI.Jindal has in the past denied allegations of wrong doing. The FIR against his company lists cheating and conspiracy as charges. Searches are underway in 19 places including the Jindal residence in New Delhi and his offices in Delhi, Hyderabad and Kolkata. The FIR also names former Coal MoS Dasari Narayana Rao. -- NDTV

Former South African leader Nelson Mandela remained in intensive care Monday, two days after he was hospitalized with a recurring lung infection

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Sonil Dedhia reports: Authorities have rescued five people so far from under the debris of 'Altaf'. The Mahim building collapsed a few hours ago.

Locals say that at least 20 people, mostly elderly and children are still trapped.

Photograph: Abhishek Mande