Senior BJP leader L K Advani today likened Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a batsman who becomes a Captain in the very first Test he plays and scores a triple century. 

Modi's comparison to a cricketer was made by Advani when he showered praises on the Prime Minister for leading the party and the NDA to a thumping victory with over 300 seats in the recent Lok Sabha elections.

"In test cricket we have heard of players who score a century or a double century on their debut. But I do not know of any batsman who becomes a captain in the very first test he plays and scores a triple century! This is Narendrabhai's unique achievement," Advani said.

Advani was delivering the valedictory address on the second and final day of an orientation workshop for first time party MPs in Surajkund, Haryana

A listless Ishant Sharma was heckled by Indian fans on the third day of the drawn warm-up game against Leicestershire when the gangling paceman struggled to contain his wayward bowling. 

Ishant, who is the only bowler in the current line-up with the experience of bowling in English conditions, began with a flurry of no balls and ended up leaking 64 runs in nine over even as he got two wickets in the fag end of the contest.

In his first spell of four overs, he conceded 41 runs and sent down six no balls.

According to a report in Cricinfo, as Ishant walked towards his fielding position at long leg, Indian fans peppered him with verbal volleys. 

"Put some effort. Bend down," one fan shouted.

As he lined up to deliver another over, Ishant would not have missed the annoying scream coming from the crowd: "How many fours are you going to give this over?', the report said. 

In India's touring party, Ishant (55 Tests) is second most capped player after skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has played 83 matches in the longer-format. 

Over ten lakh devotees witnessed the world famous annual Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath held in Puri on Sunday with fanfare, religious fervour and enthusiasm amid tight security as the practice of people climbing the chariots was stopped in a major reform initiative. 

However, Puri Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati did not visit the chariots before they were pulled accusing the Odisha government of interfering in religious matters by asking him to ascend the raths (chariots) alone without his disciples. 

"The state government has dared to dictate terms to the Shankaracharya of Puri. I will not visit the chariots before they are pulled for Rath Yatra," Saraswati had told reporters at the Govardhan Peeth in Puri on Saturday.

Devotees from across the country and abroad descended on the pilgrim town of Puri in Odisha for a glimpse of the presiding deities of the 12th century shrine of Sri Jagannath and mingled with the sea of humanity during the annual festival of chariots. 

"The festival was held peacefully in a smooth manner. There was no untoward incident as elaborate security measures were taken," a senior police officer said.

State gas utility GAIL today suspended two senior company officials of its Andhra Pradesh office after a fire caused by a possible leakage in an underground gas pipeline killed 19 persons and injured several others.

A massive fire on Friday morning in Nagaram village of East Godavari district in AP left 19 people dead and several others injured. 

The fire was suspected to have been sparked when a tea vendor lit a stove in the vicinity of what was a leaking pipeline running 4 meters below the ground. 

"Pending the outcome of the inquiry set up both by the government as well as the company, two senior officials in-charge of regional operations and maintenance of the pipeline network have been suspended," GAIL said in a statement here.

In his first trip to the south after he assumed office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Chennai today on a special aircraft enroute to Sriharikota to witness the launch of ISRO's PSLV C-23 rocket.

The Prime Minister's special aircraft landed after a delay of 40 minutes following bad weather, after which Modi was welcomed by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka Governor K Rosaiah and Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in the VIP lounge, airport sources said.

Later, Modi left for the spaceport of Sriharikota, about 100 kilometres from here, where he is set to witness the launch of ISRO's PSLV C23 carrying five foreign satellites tomorrow. 

PSLV C23 is scheduled to lift off at 9.52 am tomorrow with 714 kg weighing French Earth Observation Satellite SPOT-7, 14 kg AISAT of Germany, NLS7.1 (CAN-X4) & NLS7.2 (CAN-X5) of Canada each weighing 15 kg and the 7 kg VELOX-1 of Singapore. 

Stressing that India is lagging behind in defending itself in cyber warfare, senior BJP leader and former union minister Arun Shourie today said India must firewall all its strategic establishments. 

"The sad part is that the government's initiative to firewall important establishments is still lingering where it was ten years ago," Shourie said at a programme in Kolkata. 

He said Chinese hackers had intruded upon the personal computer of the Dalai Lama and there have been cyber attacks targeted upon the US and European countries besides India. 

"Their confidence was shaken. But in India it didn't even create a ripple," Shourie said. 

He said that with the click of a button our enemies can paralyse our important and strategic establishments or even the country.

India has made a fresh request to Switzerland seeking bank details and names of Indians having unaccounted money in Swiss banks, as the government expands  its efforts to combat the menace of black money.

The latest request has been made by the Finance Ministry after a Swiss government official recently said that Switzerland was ready to cooperate proactively with India to share details on a 'spontaneous' basis about persons and entities suspected to have untaxed assets in Swiss banks.

"We have written to the Swiss authorities seeking details in this regard. Finance Minister Arun Jaitely had promised that such a step will be taken," a senior Finance Ministry official told PTI. 

The official said that the request letter has cited the existing bilateral treaties and global protocols applicable to the two countries for getting information about bank and other details of Indians holding untaxed funds or hidden wealth. 

Senior officials reporting to the Ministry of Home Affairs have identified 12 individuals who are considered the prime movers in the ongoing all-India campaign by a few NGOs to "slow down and finally stop" thermal power generation in India. 

This is according to those investigating the activities of the dozen principal foreign activists (six from the US, four from the UK and one each from Canada and New Zealand) during their frequent visits to this country. 

Read more HERE

She was 16 when she married a man from Rajasthan. 

Now 20, the case of sexual exploitation she filed against her husband and 16 others, including Union Minister of State Nihal Chand, comes up for hearing in a Jaipur court.

Click HERE to read

Madhya Pradesh Food and Civil Supplies Minister Vijay Shah was today admitted to a hospital in Bhopal after he suffered a suspected snake bite. 

"The Minister was admitted in the Government JP hospital early in the morning with a suspected snake bite," Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) Dr Pankaj Shukla told PTI. 

"It appears that the snake or any other insect that has bit the minister is of non-poisonous nature," Shukla said. 

The incident took place at his official residence at around 3.30 AM today, he said.

Shah was admitted in the ICU and his condition was absolutely normal, the CMHO said. 

Tamil Nadu Governor K Rosaiah was today sworn in as the Governor of Karnataka. 

Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court Justice D H Waghela administered the oath of office and secrecy to Rosaiah in Bangalore.

Rosaiah has been given additional charge after H R Bhardwaj relinquished his office yesterday following the end of his tenure.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and other dignitaries were present at the occasion. 

China has published a new map that has unnerved sentiments among governments ranging from India to those in Southeast Asia. 

As per a report in The Washington Post, the latest map shows the totality of China's territorial claims.

In comparison, earlier maps used to separately denote China's declared claims, including over the South China Sea. 

Chinese state newspaper People's Daily has claimed that Chinese citizens would now be able to "fully, directly know the full map of China".

 

"Readers wont ever think again that Chinas territory has primary and secondary claims," it added. 

The map shows India's Arunachal Pradesh state as Chinese territory. Not just that, a large part of Jammu and Kashmir is also shown as part of China. 

Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal produced a dominating performance to lift her second title of the season, winning the USD 750,000 Star Australian Super Series after beating Spain's Carolina Marin in the summit clash in Sydney today.

The sixth seeded Indian, who had won the India Open Super Series earlier this year, prevailed 21-18 21-11 in a 43-minute contest which left her richer by USD 56,000.

The 24-year-old Saina, who enjoyed a 1-0 head-to-head record against Marin going into today's match, logged the first point and displayed some deft net play against her rival, stroking in some delectably timed volleys to take a 5-2 lead in the opening game. 

But the 21-year-old Marin was not the one to give up easily and showed just why she is considered one of the most feisty players on the circuit. She narrowed the gap to 6-8 but seemed distinctly out of her comfort zone every time Saina dragged her towards the net.

The death toll in the multi-storey building collapse near Chennai today rose to nine as four more bodies were recovered from the rubble, police said.

While the five bodies kept in a private hospital in Porur were identified this morning, another four bodies kept in Royapettah Government Hospital were yet to be identified, police said.

Of the nine killed, three are women, they said, adding, a total of 18 persons have been rescued and are being treated in two government hospitals 17 in a private hospital in Porur and one in Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital. 

Of the five bodies identified, four of them are from Andhra Pradesh, they said. 

However, there is no clarity on the number of people trapped inside the debris. 

"There is no clarity on the number of people trapped. Our initial priority is to rescue trapped people who are known to be inside. Clearing the debris is a big challenge, it would take two to three days," National Disaster Response Force DIG S P Selvan told reporters here.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today greeted people on the occasion of the 137th Rathyatra of Lord Jagannath and prayed for peace, prosperity and rains in the country. 

"We bow to Lord Jagannath on this auspicious day. Today once again he sets out on his chariot, giving blessings to the people...My warm greetings to the people on the occasion of the Rath Yatra that would be held across India today," Modi said on the microblogging site twitter. 

"We pray to Lord Jagannath for peace, prosperity and happiness in India. May Lord Jagannath bless us with good monsoon that will help farmers," Modi said.

The chariot festival 'Rath Yatra' is celebrated on the second day of Shukla Paksha (waxing cycle of moon) in the month of Ashadh, popularly known as 'Ashadhi Bij'. 

On this occasion, Lord Jagannath, his brother Lord Baldev along with their sister Subhadra are placed in the chariots and a procession is taken out in the city.