Mumbai traders have called off their strike against move to bring in Local Body Tax, CNN IBN reports.  

 

Image: Traders in Mumbai protest against LBT   Photograph: Sahil Salve

BJP President Rajnath Singh today demanded the immediate dissolution of the Jharkhand assembly to give the people an opportunity for a fresh mandate.        

BJP state president Vasundhara Raje today expressed confidence that Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan Assembly Gulabchand Kataria is innocent and he will come out clean in the Sohrabuddin encounter case. 

The Enforcement Directorate and the income tax department will soon join the police probing spot-fixing in the IPL. 

Coming down heavily on doctors carrying out sex determination tests, the Allahabad high court has said the law against it has not been effectively enforced in states like Uttar Pradesh. 

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai was today conferred an honourary doctorate degree by President Pranab Mukherjee at a professional university in Phagwara in Punjab. 

Spot fixing and match fixing would fall in the category of criminal offences under the new law being contemplated by the government, Law Minister Kapil Sibal said today.     

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today asked Afghanistan government to stop the smuggling of heroin into Punjab.        

Vidarbha region in Maharashtra continues to reel under intense heat wave conditions, with Chandrapur today recording 47.9 degree Celsius, the highest maximum temperature in the region this season.        

The Gujarat high court today directed the Special Investigation Team to file its reply by May 24 on the bail petitions of two convicts who were awarded the life sentence in the 2002 Naroda Patiya riot case by a trial court.        

The sixth IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa) summit, to be held in Delhi in the first week of June, has been postponed due to "scheduling issues", official sources said today.        

India deserves a rating upgrade in view of the improvement in the macro-economic situation, the conservative outlook of Standard & Poor's notwithstanding, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said today.     

A wave of car bombs and shootings killed at least 70 people in Shiite and Sunni areas of Iraq today, officials said, escalating fears of a return to widespread sectarian bloodletting in the country. 

Rescuers have recovered three more bodies from a collapsed underground room at a giant US-owned gold and copper mine in Indonesia, bringing the confirmed death toll to 17. 

Veteran journalists Kuldip Nayar and N Ram would be conferred with life-time achievement awards instituted by the Mumbai Press Club at a function in Mumbai on May 25. 

If polls were held today, the United Progressive Alliance will get a mere 136 Lok Sabha seats, according to a countrywide survey done by ABP News-Nielsen. 

In an article titled, Him Against the World, a former colleague describes the years when he was perhaps S Sreesanth's only confidant in the media. It speaks of a sense of alienation that bordered on a persecution complex, and also of his poor choice of associates. Read

A cricket fan here today filed a complaint with the city police seeking action against three Rajasthan Royal players, arrested by Delhi police on charges of spot-fixing in the ongoing Indian Premier League.

In his complaint, K P Ramakrishnan, referred to the recent arrest of S Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila and sought action against them, police said. He further sought a case be registered against them under Sections IPC 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating).

Police said they have not yet filed an FIR on the complaint. Besides the three IPL players, police have also arrested one former Ranji cricketer and several bookies bringing to light the spot-fixing scandal in the ongoing Indian Premier League.

There was no respite for Delhiites from heatwave conditions with the mercury soaring to over 44 degree Celsius and the minimum temperature too nearing the 30 degree mark. The maximum temperature was recorded five notches above normal at 44.5 degrees Celsius, while the minimum was three degrees above normal at 29.3 deg C. 

The Bollywood casting director who was allegedly in touch with tainted cricketer S Sreesanth and had emailed photographs of models, says Sreesanth wanted to select the models for his clothing brand. The casting director was questioned by investigators today.

Investigators have also found a photograph of the cricketer with a bookie named Jupiter and a list of contacts with all the names saved in codes.

On the Sun: I've had so much plastic surgery I can't smile at my baby. Read

Yahoo Inc. has approved a deal to buy New York-based blogging service Tumblr for 1.1 billion dollars. The acquisition is expected to be announced as early as Monday.

According to the BBC, the deal will be CEO Marissa Mayer's largest deal since taking Yahoo's command in July 2012. Neither Yahoo nor Tumblr responded immediately to requests for comment. Under the terms of the acquisition, Tumblr would continue to operate as an independent business, which is currently run by David Karp, a 26-year-old New Yorker, who is expected to remain in his role.

With fresh details of alleged spot fixing hitting headlines almost everyday, advertisers and sponsors of the IPL hope the scandal would not affect viewership of the tournament and impact its brand value. Multi Screen Media (MSM), official broadcaster of the T20 format, said fixing of matches by players of a particular team would not impact the brand value and viewership of IPL matches.

MSM President-Network Sales Rohit Gupta said IPL is now a big brand, which would not be impacted by the spot fixing incident for too long. "It is only three players who have been caught. There are 300 other players who are playing, so we do not believe this spot fixing is going on in all the matches. This will not have any impact on viewership as was vindicated by the turn out of people at the stadium," said Gupta.

BJP Parliamentary Board meets tomorrow. Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi will be in attendance. Following its humiliating defeat in the Karnataka Assembly elections, the BJP will seek to put its house in order and keep its organisation fighting fit for a slew of Assembly elections and likely early general elections at its upcoming national executive meet in Goa next month.

Targeting USD 100 billion in bilateral commerce by 2015, India and China today agreed to take steps for addressing the issue of trade imbalance through greater cooperation in areas like pharmaceutical and IT.

A joint statement issued after the meeting of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said: "While striving to realise the trade turnover target of USD 100 billion by 2015, the two countries agreed to take measures to address the issue of the trade imbalance.

"These include cooperation on pharmaceutical supervision including registration, stronger links between Chinese enterprises and Indian IT industry, and completion of phytosanitary negotiations on agro-products."

Sharif Dada Parkar and Zebunissa Kazi, whose convictions in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case have been upheld by the Supreme Court, today surrendered before the special TADA court here.

Parkar, who is over 80, was brought to the court on a stretcher from a hospital in Byculla, while 75-year-old Zebunisa, suffering from cancer, came on a wheel-chair. They were slated to surrender on May 17, but failed to give themselves up because of ill-health.

While Parkar had been admitted to hospital last Thursday for chest pain, Zebunisa had been advised to undergo certain medical tests.

Today, when Judge G A Sanap saw Parkar on the stretcher, he suggested that he may be taken outside awhile to breathe some fresh air. The judge then asked the court staff and police to take both into custody and send them to jail to serve the emainders of their sentences.

Fellow convict, actor Sanjay Dutt, for whom May 16 deadline had been set by Supreme Court, has already rrendered. Earlier, Parkar and Kazi had sought more time to surrender citing medical grounds, but the TADA court rejected their applications, saying that it could not tinker with the Supreme Court-set deadline.

Read: Rajat Gupta's Lust for Zeros. Gupta was indicted in the largest insider trading case in United States history.

As political parties get battle ready for the 2014 general elections, the great Indian middle class is again in the spotlight. Every political party wants the biggest pie of this vote bank, whose tilt can decide who will form the next government at the Centre. Read more

The Coca Cola ad that everyone's talking about. Awesome

All eight UP zonal heads of the Congress, including Union Ministers RPN Singh and Jitin Prasada, removed from their posts.

This was expected since Rahul Gandhi wanted to wind up his much touted experiment of appointing eight zonal presidents including two Union Ministers in Uttar Pradesh.

The scheme is barely six months old now, and was scrapped in the wake of 'non-performance' of several senior leaders including Union Ministers, in reaching out to the people.

Delhi police say that a Ranji Trophy player, Baburao Yadav has been detained in Delhi. Interrogation is on. Yadav had introduced a fixer to Ajit Chandila. The Delhi Police say they have found Rs. 20 lakh in cash, stacked up ironically in a cricket kit, at the Faridabad home of a relative of cricketer Ajit Chandila, who was arrested last week on allegations of spot-fixing.
Meanwhile, Chandila and bookie Jiju Janardhan have been sent to the CFSL to give their voice samples.

UP Lokayukta submits report on memorial scam, indicts 199 including two ex-BSP ministers.

A Pakistani court on Monday granted bail to former army chief and president Pervez Musharraf who has been under house arrest on charges of failing to provide adequate security for former prime minister Benazir Bhutto before her 2007 assassination. Read

As Nawaz Sharif prepares to take over as Pakistan's prime minister for the third time, here is a revelation from former BJP president Nitin Gadkari. Reliance Industries chairman Dhirubhai Ambani saved his life, claims Gadkari. Read

CNN: 6.8 magnitude earthquake rattles coast of southern Chile early Monday, US Geological Survey reports. The powerful quake was centered about 626 kilometers (388 mi) west of Puerto Aisen, Chile. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. No tsunami warning was issued.

As Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived to a red carpet welcome in New Delhi, a new poll released here today found Indians were "deeply apprehensive" of China's ambitions in Asia and its policy towards the country.

A large majority of 83 per cent Indians considered China a security threat, said the poll, jointly conducted by the Lowy Institute and Australia India Institute (AII). The poll was supported by MacArthur Foundation.

The poll found that multiple reasons for this mistrust, including China's possession of nuclear weapons, competition for resources in third countries, China's efforts to strengthen its relations with other countries in the Indian Ocean region and the China-India border dispute.

The almost-forgotten double murder case of Aarushi Talwar and domestic help Hemraj.

Dentist Rajesh Talwar today claimed in the court that he was asleep on the fateful night when his daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj were murdered and internet activity recorded from his room might not be correct.

Talwar's statement is being recorded under section 313 of CrPC where the judge poses questions directly to the accused to explain his version of the circumstances.

So far, Special CBI Judge S Lal has posed over 200 questions to Talwar in which he is given a chance to put forward his defence, Talwar's counsel Manoj Sisodia told reporters here.

Talwar was today asked about the recurrent internet activity recorded from his router on May 15 night when the murders took place. CBI had claimed that he had used the internet at regular intervals which show he was awake and knew about happenings in Aarushi's room.

Talwar told the court today that he was asleep after 11.30 pm and did not use internet. Sisodia claimed that router was showing activity on May 16 between 6 am to 1 pm as well after all the police and investigators had reached crime scene and the computers were switched off.

The router activity on May 16 shows that there was error in its recording hence it cannot be claimed since internet activity was there so Dr Talwar would have been awake, Sisodia told PTI adding that he did not know whether Talwar explained these details to the court or not.

CBI had presented an Airtel Executive as its witness to buttress its claim that internet activity was recorded on May 15 which belies Talwars claim that he was asleep and did not know about happenings in Aarushi's adjoining room.

Talwar was also asked about post-mortem conducted on the body of Hemraj where CBI claimed that his swollen private parts indicated that the servant was indulging or about to indulge in sex just before his death.

Raj had claimed that he had not formed any opinion about swollen parts of the servant on the day of postmorten as he had thought he would tell reasons when asked about it. He had also agreed with the defence counsel's view that swelling could also be result of decomposition of the body.

The MEA posts the joint statement on the State Visit of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to India. Read 

Meanwhile, the police have raided Ajit Chandila's relative's house and recovered Rs 20 lakh. Chandila is one of three Rajasthan Royal cricketers arrested in the spot-fixing scandal. 

Our sources in Delhi tell us that BJP President Rajnath Singh's meeting with Om Prakash Chautala and other leaders of the Indian National Lok Dal has created a flutter in Haryana politics. The BJP estimates it would win at least three or four seats if the alliance between the two are worked out. Efforts are on to achieve large numbers from smaller parties and increase the numbers of the BJP alone from 160 to 180 or may be even 190.

CNN IBN reports that S Sreesanth, one of the three cricketers arrested in the spot-fixing scandal, will seek bail.

When he was arrested, Sreesanth began shouting and claimed he had close connections with the Kerala and Maharashtra chief ministers after he was accosted by police for alleged spot-fixing.

Sources told that Sreesanth was with a woman companion in an SUV outside a five-star hotel on Carter Road, Mumbai, when a team of Delhi Police intercepted them.

"When a police officer showed him his identity card, initially he kept silent. But suddenly he started shouting and said that he knew the chief ministers of Maharashtra and Kerala. How can they arrest him, he demanded," a source said.

He also handed over his mobile phone to the police officers asking them to call the chief ministers. Police sources said Sreesanth was drunk at the time of his arrest and he mistakenly thought he was being detained for drunkenness.

Update on the IPL spot-fixing scandal. BCCI officials are meeting the Delhi police commissioner over the issue. his comes as the role of other cricketers is also coming to light in the case.

On Sunday, former Ranji Trophy player Manish Gundevar was arrested and the Delhi Police is now on the lookout for a sixth cricketer - Ranji Trophy player Babu Rao Yadav. The police say he is a former railways player.

Meanwhile, the arrested cricketers are being taken to another location to record their voice samples so that they can be matched with that of the samples the police already have speaking to bookies.

The Telegraph, Kolkata, reports that Chinese PM Li, who last visited India 27 years ago as a youth leader, invoked Rabindranath Tagore in several interactions with Indian officials.

The two governments are expected to sign during his current visit a pact on translating Chinese literary classics into Indian languages, and vice versa.

Tagore visited China in 1924, 11 years after winning the Nobel prize.The trip was controversial and he wrote and spoke extensively about a great Asian internationalist perspective that India and China together could portray.

Tagore had established a China Bhavan in Santiniketan after being deeply influenced by its literature.But in invoking Tagore today, soon after the tent tiff, Li may have been keeping up with a tradition: successive Indian leaders have invoked Tagore while visiting China. So have Chinese dignitaries on trips to India. Read more

The joint presser concluded without the PM using the word incursion. What the PM said on the border dispute is this: "We took stock of lessons learnt from the recent incident in the western sector. Special Representatives of India and China to consider further measures that may be needed to ensure peace and tranquility along the border."

Premier Li says both the countries need to improve border management. "Without a common development of India and China the world and Asia won't grow. India is my first overseas stop after I became PM," he says.  

Li continues, "We have far more shared interests than differences. But we remain friendly neighbours and won't do anything to jeopardise each others interests. 

The PM says there is need to share more information on trans-border rivers. "Both the countries will try to work with Myanmar and other south-east Asian countries. We have reached strategic consensus and trust on most issues," he says.


Premier Li speaking now: He also says the discussions with his Indian counterpart were candid. "We cannot deny that there are problems between China and India. But India and China remain strategic partners and good friends. The boundary issue is a remnant of history," says Li. .  

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh sspeaking. The PM says he had a candid discussion with Premier Li. "I thank Li for coming to India after becoming premier. India and China have had difference over the last 25, but have built bridges and maintained peace and tranquility over the years. There are many areas of convergence between the two countries and the ties between the two countries is important. We both need to ensure cooperation for regional growth and stability," says Dr Singh. "While seeking early resolution of the border, peace must be preserved," adds the PM.

Agreements signed include those on trade, water resources, food, travel.

A total of eight agreements have been signed between India and China. The joint statement is to be issued shortly. 

The media meet begins with PM Dr Manmohan Singh and Chinese premier Li Keqiang at the podium. The external affairs ministers of both the countries exchange sign documents. The presser is being held at Hyderabad House in New Delhi.  

Chinese premier Li Keqiang pledged on Monday to build trust with India and declared that ties between the Asian giants were key to world peace as he visited New Delhi only weeks after a border spat. Speaking alongside his counterpart Manmohan Singh, Li said China wanted to increase cooperation with India, saying his choice of destination for his first foreign visit showed the importance that Beijing attached to ties with Delhi. -- AFP

A joint presser is expected now.

Gujarat chief minister NarendraModi was the star attraction at a public meeting in Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh's constituency here on Sunday and he didn't disappoint with his Congress bashing.With the temperature at a sweltering 45.3 degrees, the rally was scheduled for 4 pm and a shamiana gave shade to the over 20,000 people, a good many of them women, in attendance.  Read the full story here.

More shocking details are tumbling out in the spot-fixing scandal. Mumbai Police sources are now telling CNN-IBN that the examination of Sreesanth's laptop and notebook points to his e-mail interactions with a suspected Bollywood casting director, who sent him pictures of models.

Sources say that some e-mails, possibly Sreesanth's conversations with Jiju and a bookie Jupiter, have been deleted and now the cyber cell will be asked to retrieve all the mails. 

Police sources have also found a photograph of Sreesanth and the bookie Jupiter saved in the laptop. Police sources add that they have also retrieved a list of contact numbers saved in a folder in the laptop, and all were saved under code names. Read the full report here.

Delhi police have arrested a bookie from the Panchvati colony in Bhopal for allegedly being involved in betting on IPL matches.

Soon after the arrest last night, the unidentified young bookie was taken by road to the national capital for further interrogation, they said. Delhi police did not give any information to their Bhopal counterparts about the arrest, police said.

The arrest has been made as part of the Delhi police's crackdown against bookies all over the country, sources added. On Friday night, Madhya Pradesh police busted an IPL betting syndicate in Ujjain and arrested four persons who they suspect were wagering on the direction of their "bosses" based in Mumbai and Bangalore.

Traffic updates in Mumbai: Traffic snarls on the Western Express Highway and neat the Dahisar check naka. Traffic is slow towards Borivilli because of the queue for octroi payment heavy vehicles, according to traffline.com.

CNN-IBN reports:  Board of Control for Cricket in India officials are expected to meet Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar on Monday over the Indian Premier League spot-fixing scandal, according to source

NDTV reports: Tibetan organisations said they will stage protests for the next two days against the visit of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to New Delhi. The Delhi police has beefed up security in the national capital with several routes, including ones near the Chinese embassy, shut.

Four metro stations, including the Racecourse station near the PM's house, will also be closed for a few hours today.

Read the full story here

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, who is on a three-day visit to India, spoke to reporters outside Rashtrapati Bhavan this morning. "Had productive talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday. I hope India and China increase mutual strategic trust."

At 10.15 am today External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid will call on Li. At 11.30 am delegation level talks will be held at Hyderabad House.

Around 4.30 pm Li is expected to meet UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.    

CNN-IBN reports: Further interrogation of the three arrested players in the spot-fixing scandal has revealed that domestic and first class cricketers were allegedly acting as conduits for the top bookies and the players.

Police claim to have arrested a first class cricketer, Manish, and are on the look out for a former railways player, Baburao Yadav.

Read the full report on CNN-IBN

In a firm message to China, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday night voiced India's serious concern over the recent Chinese incursion in Ladakh and told his counterpart Li Keqiang that in the absence of peace and tranquility along the border, bilateral ties will suffer as the two leaders held hour-long cordial but candid talks.   

57-year-old Li, on his first foreign trip since becoming prime minister two months ago, met Dr Singh at his official residence along with select number of aides from both sides when they exchanged views on the contentious boundary dispute,trans-border rivers and trade deficit.   

Given that the meeting took place about a month after a 19 km deep incursion by the Chinese troops in Depsang valley in Ladakh which was resolved only two weeks ago, the focus was on the stand-off there and Dr Singh conveyed India's serious concerns over the breach of status quo by China.   

He emphasised that maintaining peace and tranquility along the Line of actual Control was essential for good bilateral ties, a point with which Li agreed.

PM, Li Keqiang hold talks on crucial issues

Spot-fixing: Ex Ranji player, three bookies arrested

IPL: Delhi Daredevils lose to Pune Warriors, finish last

IPL: Hyderabad qualify for play-offs, knock Bangalore out

CBI framing Jagan at the behest of Congress: Wife

IN PHOTOS: Chinese premier's three-day India visit begins

Oppn acting against the interests of poor, says Rahul

Yesterday's live commentary