The Congress leadership appears to be in no hurry on any change of guard in Maharashtra while in Assam, AICC observer Mallikarjun Kharge today urged party members to work unitedly at a time when Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is facing rebellion.        

 

The party has already ruled out replacing Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in Haryana, which was one of the three states where a shake-up was proposed to make the party fighting fit and quell rebellion within state Congress units.        

 

At the AICC briefing, the refrain of party spokesperson Shobha Oza was merely that "everything is under deliberation".        

 

"There is still time for assembly elections in Assam, so it won't be a problem if some changes are made there whereas, in Haryana and Maharashtra, the state elections are just a few months away," another senior party functionary said on the condition of anonymity.        

 

Another leader said that so far no decision has been taken about sending any observer to Maharashtra.

Union Health Minister and Delhi BJP president Harsh Vardhan today said government will not hesitate to replace the four-year under-graduate programme with three year under-graduate course.        

 

Vardhan, in a statement released by the Delhi BJP, said that the government has fulfilled its promise by "scraping" the FYUP.        

 

Former president of Delhi University Student Union and Delhi BJP vice-president Ashish Sood has also welcomed the UGC order to Delhi University and its colleges to scrap the controversial FYUP.        

 

Party also said that students, teachers and University fraternity were constantly against the four-year programme since last year when it was forcefully implemented by the DU authorities, ostensibly under verbal instructions of former HRD Minister Kapil Sibal.  

After reviewing the agriculture and energy sectors, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will tomorrow brainstorm with various ministers as well as officials on issues related to exports, trade pacts and manufacturing.    

 

Secretaries at the departments of commerce, industry, heavy industry and public enterprises will apprise Modi of developments in these sectors. "Secretaries of these departments will give presentation to the Prime Minister. Ministers concerned will also be present in the meeting," a source told PTI.  

 

The Department of Commerce is expected to apprise the PM of issues pertaining to areas such as exports and the steps it is taking to boost trade with other countries, sources said.    

 

Issues related to Free Trade Agreements are also likely to figure in the presentation. The Indian industry has raised concerns over these pacts, saying that FTAs are impacting the country's manufacturing sector.

Defence Minister Arun Jaitley will tomorrow address the top brass of the Navy at its bi-annual commanders' conference where senior officers would discuss issues such as the maintenance and safety of the aging warship fleet and the status of its major projects. 

The last of Syria's declared chemical weapons have been shipped from the war-torn country and are en route for destruction at sea, the world's chemical weapons watchdog said today. 

Poland's prime minister defied expectations today that he would dismiss officials whose compromising conversations were caught on tape in a government scandal the foreign minister says was orchestrated by organised crime. 

Vietnam's aviation authority has suspended the crew of a plane operated by budget airline VietJet Air after a flight bound for the tourist hub of Da Lat landed at another airport more than 100 kilometres away. 

JUST IN: DU admission process deferred for 4-year programme till guidelines are issued by competent authority.

The Bombay High Court today directed Maharashtra DGP Sanjeev Dayal and Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria to file replies to a PIL seeking a stay on the police recruitment drive following the death of four candidates while taking the physical test recently.

The direction was given by a bench headed by Chief Justice Mohit Shah on a PIL filed by All Maharashtra Human Rights Welfare Association.

The PIL also sought compensation to the families of candidates who had died and also to those who fell ill while performing the physical tests conducted by the government.

Pic: Mumbai police commissioner Rakesh Maria

There's always Tunisia. Amid the smoking ruins of the Middle East, there is that one encouraging success story. But unfortunately for the Obama narratives, the president had about as much as to do with Tunisia's turn toward democracy as he did with the World Cup rankings. Where administration policy has had an impact, the story is one of failure and danger. Read more

Pakistan's Supreme Court today overturned a High Court ruling to lift a travel ban slapped on Pervez Musharraf last year, a setback to the former military ruler facing multiple trials including one for high-treason. The Sindh High Court in a judgment of June 12 had allowed 70-year-old Musharraf to leave the country if its decision was not challenged in the superior court within 15 days.

It is significant that Narendra Modi has made Bhutan his first port of call after assuming office. This is quite in consonance with Modi's declared policy of building up cordial relations with neighboring countries. But beneath this diplomatic posture, an apparent tension clearly permeates the corridors of power in New Delhi so far as Bhutan is concerned.  Read

Any lives that are lost in Iraq would reflect adversely against the Modi government. Our emigration recording system is a dinosaur as compared to the technology available and needs an urgent revamp. Read

Britain's premium luxury goods brand East India Company has issued an exclusive legal tender gold coin worth 12,000 pound sterling in honour of Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar. The rare coin has been issued in honour of Tendulkar's remarkable career spanning 24 years.

Taking a lesson from incidents on Beas river in Himachal Pradesh and Damodar river in Jharkhand, the Chhattisgarh government has directed the administration to alert people and give them time to move to safe places before opening the floodgates of dams across the state.

In an advisory, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh has directed district authorities not to open the gates of dams without issuing prior alert.

He ordered that officials should ensure that sufficient time was given to people in low lying areas to shift to safe places before releasing water from reservoirs.

The CM strictly instructed collectors to keep a close vigil on rising water level in rivers, canals and dams during the monsoon through the water resources department.

Singh has instructed that people in low lying areas and officers of the neighbouring state should be informed 12 hours in advance, if water has to be released from a dam.

During this period, gates should not be suddenly opened, he has directed. In case of any emergency, some arrangements should be made to inform people at the earliest so that they can move to safe places, the official said, quoting the CM.

The directives have been issued following the incident in Himachal Pradesh where 24 engineering students from Andhra Pradesh were washed away in the Beas river after authorities opened the floodgates of a dam for a power project.

Similarly, in Jharkhand, 10 boys had a miraculous escape after they were trapped in the Damodar river after floodgates of Tenughat dam were opened. The boys took shelter on a concrete platform and were rescued after nearly eight hours.

JUST IN: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said not a good start for 'acche din', people shocked over rail fare hike. After political rivals, the Narendra Modi government has come under fire from Shiv Sena over the rail fare hike with its oldest ally terming the move as akin to the common man being run over by train.

"Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda has in the first instance brought a steep fare hike and has run the train over the common man," an editorial in Shiv Sena mouthpiece 'Saamna' said today.

Noting that people had voted Narendra Modi to power to save them from inflation, the editorial said, "However, the Railway Minister increased passenger fares by 14 per cent and freight charges by 6.5 per cent. The Mumbai suburban commuters have to face a 100 per cent rise in fares."

Wary of the adverse fallout of the government's decision in election-bound Maharashtra, the Sena said the Centre had given the opposition "a tool to attack us".

"Former gangster' Abdul Wahab who was a close aide of slain gangster Abdul Latif and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim suffered a heart attack in Jeddah where he has been put on a ventilator. He was on a pilgrimage in Mecca. Read

Many ministers and legislators in the Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra are eager to join the BJP, party's state unit president Devendra Fadnavis said today.

"Many ministers, legislators and front ranking state leaders in Congress-NCP are willing to join BJP. However, only those who are willing to work for people and national interest will be admitted," Fadnavis said.

He was speaking at the city BJP office in Dadar after former NCP legislator Manda Mhatre joined BJP with her supporters.

Former envoy to the US, Nirupama Rao tweets: Congrats, Anu! @RediffSongbuzz: anu bhagwati: india abroad publisher 's award for special excellence".

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Here's a look at Winners' Gallery: India Abroad Person of the Year 2013.

Home minister Rajnath Singh today met former army chief VK Singh today. Singh is a Minister of State of External Affairs and Minister of state for North East Region in the NDA government.

Just in: Clash between ABVP and NSUI supporters over the FYUP tussle. Earlier in the day, several students under the banner of All India Students' Association on Monday staged a protest outside the Human Resource Development Ministry against the four-year undergraduate programme. Protests, which went on more than an hour-and-a-half, began at 9.30 am with a group of students raising slogans against Delhi University and demanding that FYUP be immediately rolled back.

Three days after the five accused in the gang rape and killing of two Dalit girls in Uttar Pradesh's Badaun district last month will undergo a brain mapping and narco test, the CBI now wants the girls' families to undergo the test as well. The CBI had sought the POCSO (Protection Of Children From Sexual Offences Act) court's permission to conduct the tests.

MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin: We are working to ensure that rest of the Indian nationals in conflict zones moved out of there. Basra is not a conflict zone, Indians there are safe. We have received 120 requests in Baghdad and 300 in our control room in New Delhi for assistance of various types.

Syed Akbaruddin, MEA spokesperson on the Iraq crisis: Safety and security of Indian nationals in Iraq remain to be a concern for the government of India. We are proceeding systematically, various doors are open now. We can reconfirm, Indian nationals in captivity remain unharmed, 46 nurses are safe and we are in contact.

RBI directs banks and financial institutions to provide all information/ documents sought by SIT on black money.

Just in: A fire breaks out on the seventh floor of the Maharashtra state secretariat, Mantralaya. The secretariat has been evacuated and the fire is under control. A short circuit is believed to have caused the fire.

Two years ago, on June 21, a fire ravaged Mantralaya. The blaze which started on the afternoon of June 21, 2012 with a short circuit on the fourth floor spread to fifth, sixth and seventh floor, claiming five lives.

Around 5,000 employees and visitors were evacuated from the building. Apart from the furniture and fittings, hundreds of files were gutted in the fire. The renovation bill is estimated to be around Rs 230 crore, against Rs 138 crore as approved initially.

Image: File pic of the 2012 Mantralaya fire

Actor Aamir Khan met PM Narendra Modi today. Here's what Aamir tweeted: "Just came out of my meeting with Honorable Prime Minister of India Shree Narendra Modiji. Was very kind of him to spare his valuable time. Shared with him the overwhelming support that we got from people across the country through Vote for Change Campaign... On SMJ (Satyamev Jayate) the various issues that we tackled in our show. He has assured me that he will look into all the matters."

The PMO said it was a courtesy call, on the meeting that took place in the PM's office in South Block.

More on the Al-Jazeera journalists sentenced to seven years in jail.

A court in Cairo convicted Peter Greste, Mohammed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed of spreading false news and supporting the now banned Islamist group. The trio had denied the charges. Nine defendants tried in absentia, including three foreign journalists, received 10-year sentences.

Brother of jailed al-Jazeera journalist Peter Greste, says he is gutted, devastated, dumbfounded, shattered."

The trial has caused an international outcry amid claims it was politicised.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told reporters on Monday she was "bitterly disappointed" by the outcome.

Greste, a former BBC journalist, is an Australian citizen."I simply cannot understand how a court could come to this conclusion," she said.

Correspondents say evidence put forward earlier in court did nothing to support the serious charges brought.

The delayed onset of India's monsoon rains has been attracting attention from commodity market participants. Sugar prices are already reacting to these fears and woes could even hit gold demand, say analysts. So what is happening? And why does it matter? Read

When I first heard that a nine-year-old boy had been found tied to a bus stop in Mumbai, I was surprised. He can't have been, I thought. In Mumbai?

When I found out where the bus stop in question was, I was even more surprised. I pass by that area often. I'd never seen a young boy chained to a pole.

Had I passed by and just not noticed?

Like me, thousands of Mumbaikars didn't see Lakhan Kale, who suffers from cerebral palsy, on the pavement. Read

How has ISIS become one of the richest ever militant groups? Read

US Secretary of State John Kerry has arrived in Iraq's capital, Baghdad, as Sunni insurgents expand their control of towns across north-western Iraq. Read

The world's most dangerous man Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi leads Islamic State of Iraq and Syria's attempts to carve out a caliphate in the Middle East. After Iraq, will ISIS make a foray in neighbouring Afghanistan?  Read

The Maharaja must be replaced by the aam admi as the mascot of Indian aviation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is learnt to have conveyed this to aviation minister P Ashok Gajapathi Raju when the latter briefed him about the critical condition of the debt-laden sector on Saturday. Read

The benchmark BSE Sensex dipped below the 25,000 mark for the first time since June 5 by losing nearly 210 points during mid session on sellIng by funds by retail investors on weak global cues amid concerns over rising crude prices on continued violence in Iraq.

Three al-Jazeera journalists accused of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood have been sentenced to seven years in jail in Egypt.

A court in Cairo convicted Peter Greste, Mohammed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed of spreading false news and supporting the banned Islamist group.

The trio had denied the charges.Three other foreign journalists tried in absentia received 10-year sentences.The case has caused an international outcry amid claims it is politicised.-- BBC

BJP backer Madhu Kishwar tweets: Would have been much happier if Irani had proved me wrong about her capabilities. Lawlessness of what she is egging UGC to do is astounding. I didn't say Irani is Leftist. Time being serving Leftist agenda. She is neither Leftist nor Rightist. She's self driven. Hence " SELFIST".  Instead of dealing with needless mess created by HRD minister by launching war against DU VC, Irani supporters abusing me wont help her.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley says the government will formally write to Switzerland seeking details of Indians having accounts in Swiss banks. India will seek 'expeditious' sharing of banking details from Swiss authorities, said Jaitley today.

India's efforts to crack down on black money stashed abroad got a major boost on Sunday, with Switzerland readying a list of Indians suspected to have un-taxed money in Swiss banks, while the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by Indian government promised action if any illegality was found.

The names of certain Indian individuals and entities came under the scanner of the Swiss authorities during an ongoing exercise to identify the real beneficiary owners of funds held in various banks operating in Switzerland, a senior Swiss government official said. 

Filmstar Salman Khan is appearing in a Mumbai court today in connection with a 2002 hit-and-run case.

One more witness testified in the case today.

Ramashray Pandey, the owner of a dairy near the site of the accident, told the court that he was not sure that the actor was driving the car as his view was obstructed by people.

"When Salman got down from the car I saw the car and did not see anybody in the front seat," he said in court, adding, "The driver's side of the car was already open."  Read more

Campa Cola demoliton: Deputy Municipal Commissioner Anand Waghralkar today said that the residents had finally cooperated with the civic body today. "Our teams have started work of cutting off the supply of electricity, water and piped gas of the residents and have formed 12 teams for the process," he said.

The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), that started work at 11 am, will continue with it till sunset today, he said.

"We have once again assured residents that we have only come to cut off the essential supplies peacefully as per the orders of the Supreme Court and will do nothing more than this," the MCGM official said.

After backing out from their stand of prohibiting the entry of MCGM officials in the compound, the residents, following the intervention of Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, had yesterday apologised to the civic body for the inconvenience caused to them.

The residents of the complex, located in the plush Worli area of south Mumbai, also decided to let the MCGM officials cut the water and power supply to illegal flats.

Bursts of gunfire punctuate the eerie silence around them. The packets of biscuits supplied by NGOs are running out. They haven't been paid for two months. Yet two-thirds of the 46 Kerala nurses holed up in their hospital in civil war-torn Iraq's Tikrit town would rather not return home if evacuated. Conditions are so bad back in Kerala that they want to stay on in Iraq if some sort of security is assured, they have said. Read 

The Preity Zinta-Ness Wadia episode has understandably evoked tremendous interest, with newspapers, television channels, social media and the film fraternity doing all they can to ensure that it remains in the limelight.

There are accusations and counter-accusations, even revelations of alleged underworld involvement, as speculation on whether the actor was indeed abused by Mr. Wadia in public during an IPL match or is out to "seek attention' is rife.  Read

After a face-off with BMC officials for three consecutive days, the residents of Campa Cola compound today allowed the utilities in the building to be disconnected. The BMC has finally disconnected power to all the illegal 102 flats.

For the last three days, the residents have been protesting against civic officials by shouting slogans and folding their hands in front of them. They had also closed the newly-fitted iron gates leading to the compound and fitted it with bamboo poles to prevent the civic body from entering the compound.

Keep your date: Economic Survey to be tabled on July 9. Railway Budget July 8. Union Budget July 10.

The UPA government had presented an interim budget for 2014-15 on February 17, ahead of national elections to cover expenditure until a new administration was installed.

The regular budget must be passed in Parliament by July 31, the day when the interim budget expires.

Expectations of a reform-oriented budget have gone up after the new government raised rail fares on Friday. Jaitley termed the rail fare hike as a "difficult but a correct decision".

There aren't too many people taking long, leisurely lunches at Delhi Gymkhana Club these days. And fewer out on the greens at Delhi Golf Club, even allowing for the blistering summer heat. Life for government servants has become a little harder under the Narendra Modi government -- they're expected to clock in on time, stay late when needed and even give up holidays, besides cutting out the little pleasures in life such as lunches at Delhi Gymkhana and Golf Club.  Read

In an indication of tougher decisions to come, the BJP-led NDA government has acted to raise resources for the Indian Railways. Railway Minister DV Sadananda Gowda has announced a 14.2 per cent increase in passenger fares and 6.5 per cent rise in freight rates. These include a flat rate increase and a fuel adjustment component. Read

Just in: The budget session of Parliament will be held from July 7 to August 14. The railway budget will be presented on July 8, while the general budget will be presented on July 10.

Narendra Modi's government will face challenges from many as he introduces dramatic changes rapidly in Indian governance.

The changes will impinge on all aspects of institutions, policies and implementation.

After 13 years as an effective chief minister he will recognize the tricks played by vested interests among bureaucrats, political opponents and colleagues, businessmen and other groups.

Misleading information, implementation bottlenecks, tittle-tattle are their weapons. On the canvas of India, can he deal with all of them? Read

Signalling the continuity of policy, the new government has ratified the Additional Protocol, a commitment given under Indo-US nuclear deal by the previous dispensation to grant greater ease to IAEA to monitor India's civilian atomic programme. Read

Ajit Doval clearly believes that national security begins at home. Reflecting his career in the field, his writings are marked by a consistent emphasis on the primacy of domestic problems over foreign ones. Read

Also read: Doval, former director of the Intelligence Bureau and the likely NSA, has an enviable record for courage under fire

And another day in the life of the Campa Cola residents. BMC officials have arrived at the gates if the society. The residents have said that they will allow BMC officials to enter their compound to cut off the gas, electricity and water supplies to the 102 illegal flats.

In the face of increasing resistance to eviction from Campa Cola compound residents, the civic body in Mumbai had filed a police complaint against those preventing officials from implementing the Supreme Court order even as its team has decided to try again to convince the occupants to leave the illegal flats on Saturday before opting for use of force.

Denied entry into the Noida-based premises of the India TV channel, a journalist with India TV attempted suicide outside its gates by consuming poison on Sunday morning, police said.

Police said she was taken to hospital and was out of danger.Later, she told police that she tried to end her life because she was being harassed by two employees of the channel. Read

How Raghav Bahl lost control of the media company he started two decades ago to Reliance Industries. Read

President Barack Obama calls him one of his "favourite people". Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the legendary first female Supreme Court Justice in the US, says America is "lucky as a nation to have him now serving as a federal judge.'

Former US Solicitor General Walter Dellinger believes he is "one of the most gifted lawyers of his generation.'

And India Abroad considers him the best of America and India.

For India Abroad the choice of Judge Srikanth Srinivasan as the India Abroad Person of the Year 2013 -- much like his confirmation as a federal judge in the US Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia, America's second highest court -- was unanimous.  Read

Bollywood actor Preity Zinta, who has accused her ex-boyfriend and industrialist Ness Wadia of abuse and molestation, has met her lawyer and is likely to issue a statement tomorrow.

On Sunday, the actor issued a statement on Facebook saying that she would like to apologise to the media but it would not be possible for her to make any comments as the investigation is still on.

The 39-year-old actress had filed a police complaint on June 13, alleging that she had been abused by Wadia, 44, inside Wankhede stadium on May 30 when an IPL match was played between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings.

Zinta and Wadia had broken off their five-year-long relationship a couple of years back but continued to share business interest.

The steep hike in the cost of train travel for passengers has activated a confrontation for the government with not just the Opposition but a key ally.

"The Railways Minister has run a train over the public by increasing fares," said Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, on the 14% hike in passenger fares, in a stinging editorial in his party's paper.

He said a similar move by the Congress, which was voted out in a stunning defeat in last month's national election, would have been excoriated by the BJP, which anchors the new coalition government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Had this happened in the Congress regime, they (the BJP)  would have said that the Congress should be shot with a cannon," said Thackeray.

Madhya Pradesh Health Minister Narottam Mishra has demanded that the Congress apologise for accusing CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan's wife of being a part of the multi-crore Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board admission-recruitment scam. He said the party would slap a defamation suit against the Congress if they did not apologise for their comments. 

Slamming the Congress for dragging his wife into controversy, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan refuted charges that his wife was involved in the multi-crore Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board admission-recruitment scam. Earlier, the state unit of the Congress had alleged that the accused had received 139 phone calls of a lady from CM Chouhan's residence. 

Following the drama after St Stephens and other Delhi University colleges deferred admissions owing to lack of clarity on the four-year undergraduate programme, HRD Minister Smriti Irani has decided to meet authorities from the University Grants Commission. 

On Monday morning, the markets opened in the green. The Sensex is up 50.01 points at 25155.52 and the Nifty is up 2.80 points at 7514.25. However, investors remained cautious ahead of expiry of June month futures and options contract and due to escalating crisis in Iraq. 

A top commander of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba was killed in an encounter in Sopore town of Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district on Monday.  The encounter began when a joint team of the Army and Kashmir police cordoned off Krankshavan colony around 5.15 pm on Sunday. Gunfire continued through the night and officials said that a security personnel was also injured in the attack. 

St Stephens and other Delhi University colleges have deferred admissions over the 4-year undergraduate programme. The University Grants Commission had directed all colleges to admit students only under the three-year undergraduate programme. However, some colleges have refused, leading to a delay in admissions. 

The University Grants Commission directed Delhi University and its colleges to admit students only under the three-year undergraduate programme from the new academic session and not under the controversial four-year one. The UGC said that failure to comply by Monday afternoon would result in punitive action, including freezing of grants. The move comes following DU's defiant behaviour, rejecting the Commission's directive to scrap the controversial four-year undergraduate programme.

CNN-IBN reports that two Indians who worked at a water purification plant 50 kilometre away from Mosul have returned to India. Imran Rajput and Altaf Gandhi said they were stuck at the plant when the militants took over. Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs said that the 39 Indians held in hostage in Iraq's Mosul are safe and that the government has identified the group which has kept them in captivity.

Sunni militants have blitz through vast desert of western Iraq, capturing four towns and three border crossings and deepening Baghdad government's predicament. The militants have taken over Tal Afar airbase in northern Iraq and now have a direct line to the western outskirts of Baghdad.