Chinese Premier Li Keqiang today pledged assistance to Nigeria to fight Islamic militant group Boko Haram, which recently kidnapped over 200 schoolgirls, as part of a rare joint anti-terror operation in which the US and European powers are also expected to take part.

NATO today said it had yet to see "any indications" that Russia has withdrawn its troops from the Ukraine border, a day after President Vladimir Putin claimed to have done so. 

The Indian Embassy in the US has awarded a new contract to a company for its passport and visa related services in all its diplomatic missions in America following complaints against the current service provider. 

Lawyers in Pakistan's Multan district today observed a strike to protest the killing of a senior colleague who was shot dead for defending a blasphemy accused. 

The European Union today defended the ban it has imposed on Alphonso mangoes but said it was open to reviewing the decision if all issues related to quality control are addressed even as it dubbed the controversy over its move "a fallout of electoral politics". 

The Election Commission is yet to decide on repoll in any of the booths in West Bengal which went to the polls on April 30 in the third phase or on May 7 in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections. 

Russia today test-launched several ballistic missiles during planned exercises overseen by President Vladimir Putin, media reports said, as a crisis raged in neighbouring Ukraine. 

The pro-Russia insurgency in eastern Ukraine decided today to go ahead with Sunday's referendum on autonomy despite a call from Russian President Vladimir Putin to delay it. 

Update on the Goa explosion. Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa reports: Initial reports suggests that it was a cylinder blast. However the police are checking are investigating the case. 

Just in: Explosion reported in Madgaon in Goa: 1 dead, four injured. Details awaited. 

The Election Commissioner rules out immediate transfer of the returning officer in Varanasi. The EC will be fair not only to the Returning Officer but also to the complainant. EC is not contesting but conducting the elections, says CEC Sampath.

"We have asked for factual report, when its received further action will be taken," Sampath on Rahul Gandhi visiting EVM enclosure in Amethi.

Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath holding a press conference. He is expected to respond to charges made by the BJP that the EC has been unfair in stopping two rallies to be held by Narendra Modi in Varanasi today.

Sampath says that the EC is disappointed at the BJP's response. "We have discharged our duty with impartiality and neutrality," he says. "Many parties have questioned the  integrity of the EC and its neutrality. We appeal to parties and senior leaders to show maturity when referring to the EC. We are not scared of any party or entity.  We are disappointed that a national party should embark on such a protest," says Sampath.

VS Sampath, CEC, adds, "Over 3000 public meetings have been conducted successfully all over the country. Political parties must understand that issues relating to permission for campaign purposes should be asked for with due notice. EC would also like to point that we have delivered free and fair elections in 63 years. Credibility and neutrality of Indian elections is now a national heritage and a matter of admiration for the whole world."

No better time to read this: Gujarat's "development" -- the centrepiece of the campaign by the Bharatiya Janata Party and its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi -- hardly stands on firm ground.

This is particularly evident when analysing other States with comparable growth rates. In this special essay, Martha C. Nussbaum points out that the Modi-model of growth and governance has led to Gujarat lagging behind other Indian States on critical indicators, and this may prove inadequate for India's future as well. Read

At his rally in Rohaniya on the outskirts of Varanasi, Narendra Modi touches feet of Col Nizamuddin, a veteran of the Azad Hind Fauj. "He says he has only one agenda and that is development," says Modi. The EC has banned Modi from addressing a rally in Varanasi city citing security concerns.  

Delhi Police files chargesheet against Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal in 2010 Jama Masjid blast case. 

A clash broke out between BJP and AAP supporters at Lanka Chowk outside Banaras Hindu University where the saffron party staged a protest over the refusal of permission for Narendra Modi's rally here.

The scuffle took place when some AAP supporters holding brooms came to the protest site raising slogans in favour of Arvind Kejriwal.

Immediately, several BJP supporters tried to block their way by pushing them. Police and paramilitary forces soon swung into action and pacified both the groups and prevented the situation from escalating. After some time, AAP supporters also left the place.

Rahul Gandhi addressing a rally in Ghatal in West Bengal. "BJP waale Maharashtra mein UP ke logon ko ladate hain, Bangalore mein mahilao ko maartey hain," he says.

Sonia Gandhi addresses a rally in Kushinagar, UP.  She says that the BJP is threatening to stop pro-poor schemes if they come to power.  "Rajiv-ji ki shahadat ke 23 saal baad jis tarah Narendra Modi ne unki ninda ki ussey ochha nahi kahengey toh aur kya kahengey?  (There have been several PMs,  but what can one say about aspirant Narendra Modi who insulted the martyrdom of Rajiv Gandhi).

"Vikaas ki jhoothi tasveer dikha kar siyasat nahi ho sakti. unkii neech rajnitik soch aur batein unko aur desh ko shobha nahi detii (on Narendra Modi's speech). They are alleging we are weak in fighting terrorism, when the NDA govt was in power, thousands were killed in terrorist attacks."  

All three election commissioners meeting in Delhi, I am sure they will take cognizance of e-mailed complaints by Dr KumarVishwas and order mass repoll in Amethi, tweets AAP's Pankaj Shukla. 

AAP's North West Delhi candidate Ashutosh tweets: "Local intelligence has just told me Jaitley is sitting in TV Today OB van to avoid heat. Mr. Jaitley has realised not easy to be anarchist. Kashi has just seen a nautanki, a farce by Arun Jaitley and Amit Shah. They could not bear heat of Varanasi."

Retweeted by AAP: And the "Biggest Bhagoda" award to Arun Jaitley! Ran away from the dharna in less than 3 hours!

Seeking to debunk Narendra Modi's 'lofty' assertions about fighting terrorism, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi today alleged that the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate was triggering anger by "telling lies".

"Official figures show that 22,000 people died due to terrorism during the five year rule of NDA which was 800 during the five year period of Congress-led UPA," Gandhi told an election rally in Gopalganj in Bihar.

Accusing Modi and BJP of 'triggering anger' by telling "lies", Gandhi said "They criticize us for failing to fight terrorism and protect the honor of soldiers and say they will show how to fight against terrorism."

The Congress vice president claimed that ever since he 'exposed the myth' of the Gujarat model of development, Modi had stopped talking about it.

While the Congress, he said, thought about all classes of people, for the BJP "the nation belongs to one religion, caste or two-three businessmen." Gandhi said that Modi's 'tall promises' of empowering women and laying the blueprint for economic development of the country was no better than the NDA government's 'Indian Shining' slogan.

The Supreme Court should uphold the Presidential proclamation as it satisfies judicial standards established by previous constitution benches and avoid confusing political with legal accountability. Read

Tavleen Singh tweets: How amusing that Kejriwal, master of dharna politics,should object to the BJP doing its own dharna politics in Benares.

Terming Narendra Modi's rally being denied in the temple town and the ensuing protests from the saffron party leaders in Varanasi as a "new drama", BSP supremo Mayawati has alleged that BJP in connivance with SP were "doing" this to influence the elections on the remaining seats in the state.

"The elections in 18 seats are left in which BJP and SP stalwarts Narendra Modi and Mulayam Singh are contesting from Varanasi and Azamgarh seats.

"Despite playing caste and communal cards, the position of these parties were getting worse, and so they have started enacting a new drama and conspiracy in Varanasi from yesterday," Mayawati said.

Itanagar-based journalist Tongam Rina has been honoured by the 'Reporters Without Borders' (Reporters Sans Frontier-RSF), the international organisation that works for freedom of the press and information.

Rina, the associate editor of The Arunachal Times, is the only Indian journalist to find place in the list of '100 information heroes' released by the Paris-based body on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day on May 3, the newspaper said today.

The Kerala State Higher Education Council has proposed the idea of setting up an Arabic university considering the state's historic, cultural and academic ambience for such a centre of learning.

A detailed project report drawn up by KSHEC on the project was submitted to the state government yesterday.

The Delhi Police today imposed prohibitory orders around the Election Commission complex as BJP workers sought to hold a protest against the denial of permission for Narendra Modi to hold rally at a venue of his choice in Varanasi.

Section 144 of the CrPC restricting gathering of people was imposed as BJP activists were stopped around the nearby All India Radio building and prevented from going towards the Commission.

Meanwhile, a delegation of party leaders led by M Venkaiah Naidu and Ravi Shankar Prasad met officials of the Election Commission over the refusal of permission by the Returning Officer of Varanasi constituency of which Modi is a candidate. Naidu said that EC had called party leaders for a meeting over the refusal of Modi's rally.

Amit Shah, who is in Varanasi, says that he will be sitting on dharna at the BHU gates till 2 pm. Modi is expected to arrive at the helipad at BHU at 4.30 pm.

In other news: A teacher, who allegedly taught the 2008 Mumbai attack convict Ajmal Kasab, on Thursday told a Pakistani court that the Ajmal he knew is alive and was not the one hanged in India.

"I taught Ajmal but he was not the one hanged in India in connection with the Mumbai attacks,' said the teacher of a primary school Faridkot, Deplapur, Okara district of Punjab province, some 120 kilometres from Lahore.

"Ajmal Kasab whom I taught is alive and one hanged in India was not enrolled in this school,' the teacher said and submitted the school record of the student.

Atishi Marlena, a AAP worker tweets: BJP workers attack Aam Aadmi Party auto, slap driver, manhandle volunteers. Is this how BJP protests?

Arvind Kejriwal tweets that he and his wife will perform Ganga aarti today in Kashi. Hitting out at what he believes is the BJP'S desperate efforts at politicizing an event, Kejriwal says the EC has given Narendra Modi permission to perform a Ganga aarti, but Modi is simply drawing political mileage by refusing to do it.

Here's what Kejriwal tweets: BJP top brass landed in Kashi. Shows their nervousness. Will they be able to save Modi ji from defeat? Modi ji given permission of Ganga arti. Yet rather than performing arti, he is trying to draw political mileage. Sad. I went alone one day and performed arti. No one stopped me. I will again go with my wife today and do arti. Neeyat saaf honi chahiye. Agar apko kewal arti aur pujan karna ho to EC ki permission nahi chahiye hoti. U need EC permission for political activities... Here is EC's Permission to Modi ji for Ganga Arti. Then why doesn't he just go and perform arti? Why politicise it?"

File pic of Arvind Kejriwal taking a dip in the Ganga in March.

BJP workers in saffron caps are out on the streets at the Banaras Hindu University. Amit Shah and Arun Jaitley are in the city. The workers are heading to the Election Commission office in Varanasi, which is expected to be a massive road show in protest over the EC's refusal to allow Narendra Modi to hold a large rally in the city. Modi, Cong's Ajay Rai and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal face each other in the polls. Modi has called off the Ganga Aarti in Varanasi this morning. 

Modi is expected to reach Varanasi at 2:30 pm.  BJP leaders Venkaiah Naidu, Ravi Shankar Prasad and VK Malhotra begin their protest march from the party office in New Delhi to the Election Commission in protests against denial of permission for Narendra Modi's rally in Varanasi.

"Rahul Gandhi gets permission but Modiji doesn't, shows Returning Officer's partial behaviour under Govt's pressure," Ravi Shankar Prasad on the EC's refusal to allow a Modi rally in Varanasi. 

Hitting out at the Election Commission, BJP today said "timid men can dwarf high offices" as the party protested against the refusal of permission for Narendra Modi's rally in Varanasi.

"I cannot conceal my disappointment with the Election Commission. Men in constitutional offices need to be bolder. Timid men can dwarf high offices," BJP leader Arun Jaitley wrote on his blog.

He also accused the EC of being "out of depth" in preventing instances of booth capturing during the latest round of polling.

"The Election Commission scrutinises us all the time. They are extremely vigilant in tackling the side shows in the elections. They are concerned with what adjectives are used by whom. But when it comes to preventing booth capturing which has reappeared after a decade in elections 2014 they are out of their depth," he said.

Jaitley alleged that by condoning the Returning Officer's stand on 'No-Modi rally' in Varanasi city the Commission has used the security card to prevent the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate's right to campaign in his constituency.

What do candidates carry in their dabbas when hit the road? Nandan Nilekani carries buttermilk, Kamal Nath swigs on diet Coke, while Nitish Kumar chews on sprouts. Read

Political manifestoes that list 'economy and ecology' in the same breath give an indication of how little the 'environment,' that umbrella term for everything good-and-green, means to our parties. Read

Prime ministerial hopeful Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party got more than a third of all prime-time television coverage during this Lok Sabha election, significantly higher than any other politician and party. Read

Top United Nations officials have expressed deep concern about the fate of the 230 girls violently abducted from their school by Boko Haram militants in Nigeria and deplored claims made by the group that it plans to sell them in the market and marry them off.

The UN human rights office lashed out at the militant group for referring to the girls as "slaves" and warned the perpetrators that there is an absolute prohibition against slavery and sexual slavery in international law.

Right now, as the Indian elections progress towards their finale, there's a mood of celebration among the supporters of the BJP, though results are still some way from being declared. The market decided some time ago that India will have a BJP government in a month's time, and has, since then, stabilized, and is on an upswing. Read

The Delhi HC has agreed to hear a plea against the grant of a flying licence to AirAsia India by the DGCA.

Narendra Modi has set the tone for another day of confrontation in Varanasi with early morning tweets that questioned the "neutrality" of the Election Commission and offered "profound apologies to Ganga Maa for not being able to perform Aarti today."

"It is unfortunate that EC is not concerned about the institution's neutrality & that is why our Karyakartas have to embark on a Satyagraha," the BJP's prime ministerial candidate tweeted.

At 11 am, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley will lead a party protest at the gates of the Banares Hindu University or BHU in Varanasi, from where Modi is contesting his first parliamentary election.

The party is protesting against Modi being denied permission yesterday for prayers at the river Ganga and two other events, including a rally, in the city. -- NDTV

Arvind Kejriwal has challenged Narendra Modi to an open debate. "I invite Mr Modi for an open discussion on a public platform. Let Kashi people ask straight questions from both of us. Time place his choice," Kejriwal said.

Kejriwal also took a dig at Modi for not performing aarti, saying, 'neeyat saaf honi chahiye. I went alone one day and performed arti. No one stopped me. I will again go with my wife today and do arti. Neeyat saaf honi chahiye," says Arvind Kejriwal.

A Narendra Modi-led government could "end up severing Jammu and Kashmir from the rest of the country," Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah warned in an exclusive interview with The Hindu. Read

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's daughter wanted her father to quit after Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi at a press conference in Delhi tore up the Cabinet decision allowing convicted persons to contest elections and described it as nonsense. Read

In the last lap of the general elections, Mamata Banerjee's charges against Narendra Modi, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, are getting more graphic. She has now compared him to Hanuman with his tail on fire. Read

The dawn-to-dusk hartal called by the Mullaperiyar Protection Council in the wake of the Supreme Court order in the Mullaperiyar Dam case hit normal life in Idukki district but evoked little response in other districts across Kerala.  

 

The hartal was called to express apprehensions of the people over the apex court order yesterday which rejected most of the contentions of Kerala including the demand for construction of a new dam in the long-drawn dispute with Tamil Nadu.        

 

Local agitators group had for long been demanding construction of a new dam in place of the 119-year-old structure, holding that it posed a grave threat to life and property of people in Idukki, where the dam is located, and four other districts in the Central Travancore region.        

 

Shops remained closed in towns like Kumali and Chappath close to the dam area where the protesters had gathered in large numbers since yesterday.         Police said security had been stepped in border towns, especially at the road entry points through which inter-state buses and trucks pass through.         While major political parties refrained from backing the hartal, the ruling UDF had extended limited support to it within the Idukki district.

The Congress has now hit back at Narendra Modi's decision to call off the Ganga aarti and questioning Election Commission's neutrality. The Congress has said, "It's a shame that Narendra Modi finds it so difficult to follow the laws of the land. The BJP has time and again showed that it has scant respect for constitutional authorities.'  

 

The EC had denied permission to Modi to hold a rally at Varanasi's Beniya Bagh locality citing security reasons. However, the EC had allowed him to conduct a Ganga aarti.  

 

Meanwhile, the BJP workers are planning to organise protests in Varanasi and New Delhi against EC's denial of permission.   Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley has remarked that "EC uses the security card only selectively'.

BJP's prime ministerial candidate and Varanasi contestant Narendra Modi has called off his ganga aarti.   Modi tweeted that he regrets that the Election Commission isn't concerned about the institution's neutrality, while appealing to BJP workers to main calm.

 

In the wake of massive uproar from the BJP leaders against the denial of permission to Narendra Modi to hold a rally in Varanasi's Beniya Bagh, the Election Commission had allowed him to conduct a Ganga aarti in the holy city.

 

He was also allowed to hold a conference in his hotel room but no permission was granted to Modi to hold a rally in Beniya Bagh due to security reasons.

Savera R Someshwar reports from Varanasi: The intensive campaign in Varanasi has taken a toll on AAP contestant Arvind Kejriwal's health. Dr Abhishek Chandra, Kejriwal's family doctor, has been called in from Kaushambi to check on his health.    

 

"He is suffering from a respiratory tract infection, sore throat and infection since 2-3 days. But he is better now,' said the doctor who had dropped in for an early morning visit at the Durgakund apartment where Kejriwal is staying.  

 

Kejriwal's scheduled programme for the morning has been cancelled, and according to an AAP volunteer who is staying with him, the former Delhi chief minister will not be stepping out for the next few hours. He will be resting between a few meetings that will include close associate Manish Sisodia.