Just In: ICICI Bank suspends 18 employees, pending inquiry into money laundering charges.

The decision follows an investigation by an independent journalist, who said on Thursday that he had video footage of the lenders' branch employees suggesting to an undercover reporter methods to launder money.

Just In: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi warns of pulling out of Union Cabinet if India does not push for amendments in the US-backed resolution in UNHRC on Sri Lanka calling attention to the government's alleged violations of international human rights law.

A tearful adieu with full state honours was given to martyred CRPF jawan Omprakash Mardaniya today, at his ancestral village of Shahpura, in Icchhawar tehsil of Madhya Pradesh's Sehore district.

Dubbing Italy's stand in the marines' case as "legally, morally and diplomatically" wrong, Minister of State for Human Resources Development Shashi Tharoor today said the best course for it would be to send back to India the duo charged with killing Indian fishermen.  

 

Though he prefaced his comments saying he was not involved in any negotiations on the matter since he was dealing with a different portfolio, he said in reply to reporters' queries that the position of the Italian ambassador to India was "invedious." A former UN diplomat, Tharoor said the Italian ambassador had committed a serious mistake by breach of his assurance given to the apex court of India that the marines would come back after elections in their country.   

 

"His credibility is at stake. His position has become untenable. He has made a legal, moral and diplomatic commitment. He cannot go back on that. This is completely unprecedented," he added. Tharoor said the UPA government at the Centre had taken a "firm and sincere" position in the matter.

The founder and chairman of Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Dr K Anji Reddy, has died. He was 72. 

Vatican rejects claims that Argentine-born Pope Francis stayed silent during military rule in 1970s-80s.  The man who is now Pope Francis was a young Jesuit leader, not long out of seminary, when Argentina's military junta unleashed a reign of terror that became known as the "dirty war." That was more than 30 years ago, but the reaction to the naming of the first Argentine pope shows that the wounds have not yet healed. Read

Days after a suicide attack on a CRPF camp in Bemina locality of central Srinagar which left five jawans and two militants dead, a top Army commander today met Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra in Srinagar and briefed him about the existing security situation in the Valley.

The Army today made it clear to Pakistan that it cannot keep the tap of exporting terrorism to India open and hope for confidence-building measures (CBMs) with it.

"They are bleeding us and you want us to shake hands with you at the military level. I think that is not done. We got to be fair and there has to be level-playing field," Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh said and accused the neighbour of having "double standards" when it says that terrorists were not under its control and conceals them as non-state actors.

"The term CBM has got to be preceded by addressing trust deficit. You cannot talk of these things for endless years the way the things are going on. You cannot afford to keep open this tap of exporting terrorism to India. You have to check that and only then we can move forward," he said.

The Army Chief was answering queries at the India Today conclave about the Army being opposed to the CBMs between India and Pakistan.

The Gujarat High Court today expressed satisfaction about the progress made by CBI in the investigation of Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case, and ordered it to submit the next progress report by May 9.

The CBI, ordered by the HC to take over the probe in December 2011, yesterday submitted a progress report in a sealed cover.

Today, the division bench of Justices Jayant Patel and Abhilasha Kumari said the pace and direction of the probe were satisfactory. "It looks like in past two months CBI has made a substantial progress," the judges said.

At the last hearing in January, when CBI submitted its first report, the court wasn't much happy and decided to monitor the probe.

Ishrat Jahan, who hailed from Mumbra near Mumbai, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Zeeshan Johar and Amjadali Rana were killed by the Gujarat police in an encounter on June 15, 2004 on the outskirts of Ahmedabad.

They were the images that defined the conflict in Iraq: the pain of ordinary Iraqi civilians, the exhaustion of American soldiers. But what became of them? From Fort Polk, Louisiana, USA, to Tal Afar, northern Iraq, Guardian reporters track down the people behind the images and hear their moving stories. Read

Champions League play moves to the quarterfinals after an exciting Round of 16, which featured several marquee matchups. The Last 8 have been announced:  PSG v Barcelona; Malaga v Borussia Dortmund; Real Madrid v Galatasary; Bayern Munich v Juventus. The first legs will be played on either April 2 or 3 and will be followed by the second legs the next week, on either April 9 or 10.

Tihar Jail authorities were today directed by a Delhi court today to produce before it tomorrow the two arrested Indian Mujahideen operatives whose roles are under investigation in connection with the February 21 Hyderabad twin blasts case which claimed 16 lives and left 79 injured.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has moved an application seeking further custodial interrogation of Syed Maqbool and Imram Khan during which they would be confronted with another alleged IM operative Obaid-Ur-Rehman, who has been brought from Bangalore Central Jail and is presently in NIA's custody till March 20 in connection with the case.

More than 40,000 JD(U) activists are expected to attend the March 17 rally of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Delhi's Ram Lila Maidan, demanding special-category status for Bihar. More than 10,000 people reached Delhi today to take part in the rally, senior JD (U) leader Sanjay Jha said.

"We expect at least 30,000 more will be there from across the state tomorrow," said Jha, a close confidante of Nitish Kumar, who has been associated with organising the rally for nearly a month. All Delhi bound trains from Bihar are full with JD(U) activists leaving for Delhi to attend the rally. Party sources said, JD(U) ministers, parliamentarians and legislators are touring different parts of Delhi and NCR to mobilise support for Sunday's rally.

Days after Ram Singh, one of five men accused in a Delhi gang rape case, was found dead in his prison cell, Tihar Jail authorities say there's been another suicide in the prison.A 30-year-old woman was found dead on Thursday in her cell in jail number six of the prison's women's ward. Read

As we await the results of a probe by the CBDT on money laundering sting on private banks, the BSE benchmark Sensex today fell by nearly 143 points on heavy selling in private banks, including ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank, following government's promise that action will be taken if any person is found.

High-level visits also bring out the commonality in culture. Veena Ramgoolam, the Mauritian PM's wife is a well-known belly dancer. The Indian delegation was suitably impressed, but more so, Sharmistha Mukherjee, the president's daughter, who is an accomplished kathak dancer. 

More on the president's visit to Mauritius. Our source said that Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam didn't just have a sharp mind, he was interesting personality.

When a newsman asked whether he felt Mauritius was being maligned as tax haven, Ramgoolam said, yes, it was being maligned. "We are the best administered country, and we believe in transparency. We shall never allow the financial markets to misuse our innocence," he said.

His comment hogged the headlines in India and Mauritius.

Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt says that Sri Lanka has released 34 Indian fishermen, who had been captured off the Delft Islands in northern Lanka. Though 19 fishermen are yet to be freed, diplomatic efforts by India seem to have yielded results. The credit goes to the Indian High Commission in Colombo and the consulate in Jaffna. They are now being brought to Jaffna, pending repatriation through Indian Consulate General and the Sri Lankan navy.

The Union Minster of state for Home, RPN Singh was the minister-in-waiting for President Pranab Mukherjee, during his just-concluded three-day Mauritius visit.

Singh told the President that the stay in Port Louis should have been for a few more days, as Mauritius is a strategic location for India, which meant the President should have stayed longer.

The president's reply was that he was invited by the host country to be the Chief Guest for 45th Independence Day, on Tuesday, March 12 and once that was done, he should have returned to India. However, there were bilateral agreements and a ceremony the following day.

Singh said he was concerned that it would entail a travel of eight hours from New Delhi to Port Louis. His daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee intervened, but the President interjected angrily saying he was a principled man and he believed that once the business was done, he should not outstay his welcome. The President left Mauritius on Wednesday. 

Pope Francis faces a formidable task. First, he must clear out Rome's careerists. Read

Don't dismiss chickens as bird-brained -- they really do have personalities. Read

Seven centuries after their demise, the skeletons of 12 plague victims have been unearthed in the City of London, a find which archaeologists believe to be just the tip of a long-lost Black Death mass burial ground. Read

After examining the records of Alwar jail, a team of Kerala Police today arrived in Jaipur with German woman rape case convict Bitti Mohanty to establish his identity.

The team from Kunnur district of Kerala along with the convict Mohanty arrived by a train from Alwar and went to Transport Nagar Police Station for a halt, police sources said.

The team will go to Jaipur jail to carry out its investigation. Additional Commissioner of Jaipur police Biju George Joseph said that the Kunnur police will carry out its course of investigation.

The team had yesterday visited Alwar jail and examined its record to verify the identity of Mohanty who was arrested in Kerala last week.

Ravishankar Prasad (BJP) demanded a "structured response" from the government on the issue and termed the resolution passed by Pakistan National Assembly as a "very sinister" resolution.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India moves the Supreme Court seeking the arrest and detention of Sahara chief Subrato Roy.  Sebi had ordered Sahara to refund Rs 24,000 crore to subscribers. The plea is to be heard this month.  Sebi also seeks the attachment of passports of Roy and two directors of the group.

Sebi, last month, had ordered the freezing of bank accounts and attachment of all properties of two group firms and top executives, including Subrata Roy. Sebi's action follows directions from the Supreme Court, which had said that the market regulator was free to freeze accounts and attach properties if Sahara group companies were not depositing the money with it for refund to investors.

Passing two separate orders against Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Ltd (SHICL) and Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Ltd (SIRECL), Sebi said that the two companies had raised Rs 6,380 crore and Rs 19,400 crore respectively from bondholders and "various illegalities" were committed in raising of these funds.

The resolution against Pakistan is being read out in the Rajya Sabha by chairman Hamid Ansari. The resolution is adopted unanimously.

The Lok Sabha passed a resolution asserting that the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir, including the territory under illegal occupation of Pakistan, "is and shall always be an integral part of India".

It said that any attempt from any quarter to interfere in India's internal affairs will be met "resolutely and with complete unity" of the nation.

"This House totally rejects the Resolution passed by the National Assembly of Pakistan on March 14,2013," said the Lok Sabha resolution read out by Speaker Meira Kumar after concern was raised over the development. Pakistan's National Assembly yesterday passed a resolution condemning the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and demanded that his body be returned to his family.

"The House rejects interference in the internal affairs of India and calls upon the National Assembly of Pakistan to desist from such acts of support for extremist and terrorist elements," the Lok Sabha resolution said.

The first Latin American Pope may have been a Latin Lover first it emerged last night after a childhood sweetheart claimed she may have driven him into the church. Amalia Damonte, 76, who grew up in the same Flores neighbourhood of Buenos Aires as Bergoglio said she was shocked when he became Pope.
Read more 

Barely two weeks after it was officially unveiled in gthe general Budget, there's been a rush to stake ownership of the Nirbhaya Fund, created by the UPA government in the memory of the Delhi gang-rape victim.Eyeing the Rs 1,000 crore corpus set aside for the fund, the cash-strapped ministry of women and child development (WCD) has already started working towards securing its ownership. Read more

Mara Elena Bergoglio, the sole surviving sibling of the former cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, said she had prayed fervently for her brother not to be made pope when he was a frontrunner in the 2005 conclave that followed the death of John Paul II. "He didn't want to be Pope and when we chatted privately about it, we joked at the prospect and he would say 'no, please no'." Read

Airports across the country have been alerted to prevent Italian Ambassador Daniele Mancini from leaving the country.

The decision was taken by the Union Home Ministry a day after the Supreme Court restrained the Italian Ambassador from leaving India without its permission, official sources said.

The Apex court had taken exception to Italian government's refusal to send back two marines charged with the killing of two fishermen.

The two marines were allowed by the court to go to Italy to cast their vote in the elections there after the Italian Ambassador had given an assurance to send them back.

Lok Sabha tells Pakistan's National Assembly to desist from acts of support for extremists and terrorist elements.

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar moves a resolution against Pakistan's resolution condemning the execution of Afzal Guru. The Speaker said Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and Pakistan had no right to interfere. "We reject any interference in the matter," said the Speaker. The resolution is to be passed by all parties.  

BSP supremo Mayawati on Friday made it clear that her party will support the new anti-rape bill and not oppose it.

"I would like to make it very clear about this that our party will support the anti-rape bill being brought by the Central Government, be it any form and shape. Our party will support it and not oppose it," Mayawati said. 

"If we have to give any suggestions, we will give in the all-party meeting, but we will not oppose this bill," she added.

A bill providing for stringent punishment for crimes against women, including rape, and also defining acid attack, stalking and voyeurism as criminal offences, was cleared by the Union Cabinet yesterday.

Kate Middleton carried a bag made by Manojna J. Tarin on her skiing trip to the Swiss Alps. The Hindu catches up with the designer who also makes home dcor products. Read

The completion of a five-year term by the Pakistan government and a peaceful transition from one democratic set-up to another would be another major achievement of the current dispensation, President Asif Ali Zardari has said.

Zardari made the remarks during a dinner he hosted last night for outgoing Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani and some ministers and parliamentarians.

"The completion of the tenure of the present government and a peaceful transition from one democracy to another would be another major achievement of the present dispensation," Zardari was quoted as saying in an official statement.

Pope Francis is a Jesuit, but what does that mean? Read

Update on the Pope Francis. A veteran Vatican journalist gives a glimpse of went on inside the conclave, and the cardinals who entered with high hopes but failed to rise to the top. Read

More news from Parliament: Our sources in Delhi tell us that Sachin Tendulkar has written to the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha on today seeking his to grant him leave for the first half of Union Budget session as he was busy playing cricket.

The house agreed in unison to grant him leave.

Another Rajya Sabha MP S M Krishna, the former Union Minister for external affairs, has written to the the chairman seeking leave. Krishna was also given permission.

India has called off the Indo-Pakistan bilateral hockey series with were to be held from April 5 in India and April 25 to May 2 in Pakistan. This comes after there was anguish and anger in Parliament today over the Pakistan Parliament's resolution condemning the hanging of Afzal Guru. The BJP said there cannot be normalisation of ties with that country after its polity gave stamp of approval on the terror attack on Indian Parliament.  Two suspected Pakistani terrorists, disguised as cricketers had on Wednesday stormed a CRPF camp in Srinagar in a 'fidayeen' (suicide) attack, the first major strike in the city in three years.

Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley asked the government to reconsider its engagements with Pakistan in light of yesterday's resolution. BJP and other Opposition parties demanded a resolution condemning Pakistan's interference in India's internal affairs.

"Besides interfering in India's internal affairs, the resolution is an official statement by the entire polity of Pakistan endorsing the terrorist attacks," Jaitley said raising the issue when the House met for the day. New Delhi, he said, always suspected the hand of Pakistan in the Parliament attack.

"Yesterday's resolution seems to have confirmed our fears," he said. Jaitely said the resolution was "an official stamp of approval on one of the worst terrorist attacks."

"Government of India will have to seriously consider how to deal with Pakistan," he said, adding, "As long as this resolution remains, we should seriously forget normalising ties."

He said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been talking about walking an extra mile in normalising ties with Pakistan but after yesterday's resolution, he should "forget walking even an extra inch."

In the wake of a terror attack in Kashmir that claimed the lives of five Indian security personnel, UN chief Ban Ki-moon has said violence is not the answer to any problem and the killings must stop.

"What he (Ban) has said in cases such as this; violence is not the answer, violence should come to an end and that the killings must stop," Eduardo del Buey, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, told reporters yesterday in response to a question on the current situation in Kashmir. Two terrorists disguised as cricketers stormed a CRPF camp near a school at Bemina, killing five of its personnel on Wednesday in a major suicide attack in Srinagar.

Yesterday, IG CRPF, Kashmir, V S Yadav dismissed suggestions that the CRPF men were unarmed when the attack took place in Bemina in Srinagar. "We have a standard operating procedure and that was followed. One-third of the jawans of the concerned (CRPF) company were armed, one third were carrying the riot gear and one-third had lathis," Yadav said.

BJP senior leader Yashwant Sinha is to move a resolution condemning the Pakistan Parliament's resolution slamming Afzal Guru's execution and the demand for this body to  be returned to his family. All parties likely to join in.

Swapan Dasgupta on how the Italian marines row could damage the countries.

"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has often been mocked for his persistent refusal to speak on issues that warrant interventions at the highest level of government. It is a commentary on the potential consequences of the two Italian marines refusing to return to India for their trial on charges of killing two Indian fishermen on the high seas that he actually spoke on the subject in both Houses of Parliament last Wednesday." Read

Though he courted much controversy during Argentina's Dirty War, Pope Francis's advantage of being a Vatican outsider, his simplicity and compassion towards the poor are expected to help steer the Church to a better future. Read

The Roman Catholic Church has startled the world by electing, after five ballots, the Argentinean Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the 266th Pope.

The new pontiff, who has taken the name Francis, is the first Pope from the Americas, the first from outside Europe in 1,300 years, and is the first member of the Society of Jesus to attain the office; aged 76, he is also the oldest of the likely candidates.  Read the editorial on the Hindu.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar is leaving office this month. She talks to the Dawn on how her government is dismayed with India and sceptical about a resolution of core disputes, including Kashmir. Read

Can this really get worse?After the no-show by J-K chief minister Omar Abdullah at funeral of the slain CRPF jawans yesterday and the union home minister's absence when the house paid tribute to their sacrifice, the government has goofed up again.

In an embarrassing lapse, the portrait of the brother of CRPF soldier N Satish, who was killed in the militant attack in Srinagar, was taken in his funeral procession here today with relatives and district authorities blaming each other for it.

According to Satish's uncle, the portrait was that of the slain soldier's brother, who is also serving in the CRPF in Madhya Pradesh. But, the Deputy Commissioner B N Krishnaiah maintained that the portrait was provided by Satish's family and there was no lapse on the part of the district administration. The portrait was later changed as the funeral procession proceeded.

As expected there was bloodshed in Parliament over the Pakistan's Parliament passing a resolution condemning the hanging of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and demanded that his body be handed over to his family.

The BJP today wants all dialogue with Pakistan suspended, with party senior leader Arun Jaitley saying the resolution passed by Pakistan is in fact a stamp of approval for the attack on the Indian parliament. Jaitley said there were no end to Pakistan's mischief with beheadings, bombings, killings of CRPF men and now the resolution.

MoS Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla says the house condemns the resolution and that the government is ready for a debate on it.

Four months after the Taliban's failed assassination attempt of 15-year-old Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, the two girls injured in the same attack are struggling to regain a normal life. Read

Curfew continued in Srinagar district for the second consecutive day today following the death of a youth in alleged firing by CRPF personnel here on Wednesday.

Police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed in large numbers across the city to ensure that there are no attempts to violate prohibitory orders, police said.

Police vehicles fitted with public address systems made appeals to residents not to venture out of their homes in view of the curfew. Barbed wires have been laid at all exit points in the interiors of the city and civil lines area. Curfew was imposed on Wednesday night after a 22-year-old youth was killed when CRPF personnel allegedly opened fire after coming under attack by a group of stone pelters in Zoonimar area.

Multi Screen Media (MSM), the official broadcaster of Indian Premier League (IPL) has brought on board a total of eight sponsors for the sixth edition of the Twenty20 tournament, which would help it rake in Rs 200 crore more over last year, after lowering its ad rates by 10-15%. Three more sponsors are expected to join over the next two weeks. Read

While on Italy, Sadanand Dhume's piece on Sonia Gandhi, who marks 15 years at the helm of India's ruling Congress Party. In the Wall Street Journal today, Dhume argues that opposing her for her Italian origins is both unfair and misguided.
Read why.

India on Thursday toughened its stand over Italy's refusal to send back two marines accused of killing Kerala fishermen to face trial by stopping its new ambassador to Rome from joining duty. Read

India has reacted strongly to a resolution passed by the Pakistani Parliament condemning Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's execution and demanding that his body be returned to his family.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said that Pakistan has no jurisdiction over action taken by the Government of India against terror activities committed on Indian soil, reports CNN-IBN.

"It's a matter within the jurisdiction of India. It just seems that this unwholesome interest in something that is a sordid tale of terrorist activities on our country is not a very pleasant thing and I don't think we should be reacting more than that. In their Assembly they should address matters of their country and they should let our Assembly address matters of our country," Khurshid said.

A second arrest has been made in Wednesday's attack on a Central Reserve Police Force camp in the Benima area of Srinagar. The police are currently questioning a resident of Uri in the case, reports Times NOW.

A Pakistani terrorist, suspected to be involved in the attack, was arrested from Chattabal area in the city yesterday. On a tip off about presence of two terrorists in Chattabal, the special operation group cordoned off the area and nabbed Abu Talib, a resident of Multan, sources said.   

Odisha's Law Minister Raghunath Mohanty resigned today after a dowry case was filed against him by his daughter-in-law Barsa Swony Choudhary. Barsa has filed the complaint against her husband, mother-in-law and sister-in-law as well, reports CNN-IBN.

In her complaint, Barsa has alleged that she was physically and mentally abused by her in-laws for dowry a few days after her marriage in June 2012.

United States President Barack Obama has said America will keep "all options on the table" to stop Iran from going nuclear, noting that Tehran is "over a year or so" away from developing an atom bomb, if it has any such plans.   

Six days before his forthcoming trip to Israel, Obama, in an interview to Israel's Channel 2, asserted that the US did not want to go down to the deadline with the Iranians.   

"Obviously we don't want to cut it too close," the US president said. He also rebuffed the notion that part of his message to Israel's hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be to try and reign in any possible Israeli military action.

Li Keqiang was named China's premier today, the No 2 position in the Chinese government. He replaces Wen Jiabao.

Yesterday, Xi Jinping took over as China's new president.