In a direct challenge to the White House, a Senate committee is to vote on a bill that would give Congress a chance to weigh in on any final nuclear agreement that can be reached with Iran. 

Al-Shabab militants have attacked a government complex in a busy area of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, leaving at least 17 people dead, including seven assailants.

A senior IAS officer has been accused of sexually exploiting a woman on the pretext of marrying her, after which the Haryana government tonight asked him to proceed on leave. 

Hillary Rodham Clinton is making her 2016 presidential campaign debut in Iowa at a small-town gathering, part of a concerted effort to tamp down big expectations and hold personal "conversations" with voters. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi todayasked why India, which has "peace in its DNA" and is the landof Mahatma Gandhi and Gautam Buddha, had to wait for 70 yearsfor the permanent seat in the UN Security Council.  

The Kremlin confirmed on Tuesday that an oil-for-goods barter deal between Russia and Iran was being implemented and officials said the road was clear for Moscow to supply an advanced S-300 anti-missile system to Tehran.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced that a mechanism will be established to facilitate investment and business from Germany as the two countries agreed to broaden bilateral economic cooperation. 

BSF and Pakistani Rangers today held a flag meeting along International Border (IB) in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir, a senior official said. 

Air India One, a Boeing 747-400 aircraft that carried Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Delhi to Berlin after halts in Paris, Toulouse and Hannover, developed engine problems and had to be replaced by another plane. 

Indian and Chinese troops today held a ceremonial Border Personal (BP) meeting along Sino-India border in Ladakh sector of Jammu and Kashmir and agreed to uphold peace and tranquillity along the LAC. 

Holding Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's alleged "dictatorial tendency" responsible for the rift within the Aam Aadmi Party, social activist Swami Agnivesh today said the party chief doesn't consider anyone before him. 

Actor-turned-politician Rupa Ganguly on Tuesday alleged that she was assaulted by members of the rival Trinamool Congress while campaigning for municipal elections in Kolkata.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel presented an original first edition print of Max Mueller's 1898 book, 'Ramakrishna- His Life and Sayings' to PM Narendra Modi before he left for Canada.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel presented an original first edition print of Max Mueller's 1898 book, 'Ramakrishna- His Life and Sayings' to PM Narendra Modi before he left for Canada.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi completed the second leg of his three-nation visit as he left for Ottawa, Canada.

I leave Germany with great satisfaction. This visit will strengthen the India-Germany ties. Thank you Germany!: PM Modi tweeted right before he boarded his flight to Canada.

ANI files a complaint with the Delhi Police, Economic Offenses Wing, and the Cyber Cell of the Delhi Police regarding a photoshopped tweet.

A fake tweet about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "love for Germany and German Shepherds" from news agency ANI began trending on Twitter today. 

The PM began his three-nation tour on April 9, beginning with France, Germany and then Canada. His German visit ends today and the PM will leave for Canada later in the day.

So, Asian News International (ANI) tweeted: "My love for Germany goes way back. When I was a small boy in Guj, my only friend was a german shephard: PM #ModiInGermany."

Incredulous journalists asked ANI if the tweet, which in fact, mocks the PM, was genuine, which then responded said it was 'photoshopped'.

ANI then tweeted saying it would take legal action against those responsible for the prank.

Modi on terrorism: "Terrorism has taken new and serious forms, we should devise a comprehensive strategy to tackle it," the PM said at the Joint Press Meet with Germany.

"We should put pressure on governments which provide shelter and support to terrorists," says PM Modi, in an apparent reference to Pakistan.

"Both India and Germany should be permanent members in the UNSC and the world will gain a lot by this," he concluded.

The Prime Minister today gifted the German Chancellor Angela Merkel reproductions of some manuscripts and papers by Sir C V Raman who received the Nobel Prize in physics in 1930 for his work on scattering of light and whose life journey, even though he performed most of his studies and experiments in India, had a strong connection with Germany.

PM Modi at the joint presser with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. This is last public address in Germany before he leaves for Canada later today.

"The Lion and the Eagle will make a very good combination and I am sure of that. I want to thank the Chancellor that we spoke about India -Germany bond so openly. With an open mind we have discussed India-Germany ties.

"Germany is known as a leader in field of skill development, in India we have to bring skill development keeping Germany in mind.

"Renewable energy and energy efficiency are important aspects.

"Germany is helping us in that field.We have also discussed international issues in our meeting."

A week earlier, Sandeep Dikshit (Sheila Dikshit's son), when asked about Rahul Gandhi's continued absence for over a month, said, "There have been a lot of discussions going on with regard to whether there will be a change in Congress leadership. Mr Gandhi (Rahul) is a capable leader, but when I have to make a choice at a time that is delicate, Soniaj-i will remain our best general. I sincerely believe that Mrs Gandhi is the only and best leader most capable of leading party." 

Former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit openly questions Rahul Gandhi's ability to lead the floundering Congress party.

Dikshit, a Gandhi family loyalist, says, "There are question marks over Rahul Gandhi's leadership qualities. Sonia should continue to lead the Congress. Sonia does not "run away" from responsibilities and
challenges; Congress can rely on her for its revival."

Rahul Gandhi is expected to return from his sabbatical tomorrow, when his temporary break from political life clocks the 55th day.

Congress sources gave the fresh schedule for Rahul's return after the wait on Monday proved futile. It was earlier indicated that the party vice-president would be back from his sabbatical on April 12-13.

BJP president Amit Shah on Tuesday said that his party will form next government in Bihar and did some math to support his argument.

"BJP is set to form the next government in Bihar. There is no confusion," Shah said in his short speech in Hindi after he launched the party's poll campaign in Patna.

Shah also targeted Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and his ally RJD chief  Lalu Prasad, by saying that whether they go for a grand alliance or grand merger of their parties, it is the BJP which is set to form the next government in the state.

"I want to tell Laluji. Zero plus zero is zero. No matter what alliance you form, nothing is going to happen," Shah said.

"I want to ask Nitish Kumar, just how many sugar mills are being run in Bihar? How many malls have come up in their place? How many roads are in good condition?" the BJP chief said, asserting that the big crowd at the rally "suggests there will be a BJP government in Bihar soon, whatever their alliance."

Shah said that at present there were 90 lakh BJP members in the state and urged the BJP members to reach out to each and every household in rural and urban areas to counter the negative propaganda against the party.

"Opposition parties across the country are creating confusion against Modi's government and the Land Bill. I can assure people that not an inch of land would be handed over to corporate houses. Land will be utilized for the development of rural people and national development," Shah said.
said.

Shah said that last month Nitish Kumar staged a fast to protest against Land Bill. "But Nitish Kumar should explain to people about where is land for 12 sugar mills in Bihar" he said.

This will be the first Assembly election in Bihar that the BJP will contest on its own in a very long time.

MI Khan/Rediff.com.

Congress today accused BJP of trying to "usurp" the legacy of B R Ambedkar for "vote-bank politics" even as the Government came under attack on Dalit issues at a function held under the auspices of National Commission for Scheduled Castes and a Dalit outfit here.

NCSC Chairman P L Punia, who is a Congress MP, charged that the NDA government has brought down the budget of a number of schemes meant for Dalits by half in the Union Budget "as if it has some enmity (towards these communities). He lauded the previous UPA government for launching a number of schemes to benefit Dalits.

A number of AAP leaders and prominent individuals today stayed away from the convention of party rebels Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan and chose to express solidarity through written statements instead.

AAP's Patiala MP Dharamvira Gandhi, who had earlier faced the leadership's ire for taking stand in favour of the dissidents, in a letter stressed the need to work towards strengthening the party's core ideals.

"The need of these challenging times is to stay true to the party's founding ideals and foundational principles and to dispassionately debate all the ideological and organisational issues to prevent the deviation of AAP which has become a symbol of alternative politics," he said.

In the letter, addressed to the volunteers, he also sought to remind them that it was their "right" to act as a watchdog over the party's decisions emphasising that they were in AAP not for any individual but for its principles.

Gandhi alleged that his effigies were burnt and a negative publicity was unleashed against him including labelling him as a "traitor".

Australia Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has assured External Affairs Sushma Swaraj that a Special Task Force would be constituted for the expeditious investigation of Bengaluru techie Prabha Arun Kumar. She was stabbed to death while returning home in Sydney. A month later, the Sydney police are still struggling to solve the murder mystery.

Siddharth @svaradarajan Germany's way of respecting Sanskrit was to have a news bulletin in our language. Modi's way is to stop teaching German in KV schools!

Narendra Modi's Instagram tweet: "Chancellor Merkel & I marvelling at the wonders of technology."

In fact, the picture, which was posted an hour ago, was taken yesterday at Hannover Messe. Modi is in Berlin today and will leave for Canada this evening.  The PM and Chancellor Merkel hold up bionic creepy crawlies.

Did this man suffer from Pentheraphobia (fear of your mother-in-law)?

In a freak incident, a US man trying to shoot an armadillo accidentally hit his mother-in-law after the bullet bounced off the creature's armour.

Larry McElroy was outside his home in Lee County, Georgia when he fired his 9 mm pistol at the armadillo over the weekend.

The armadillo died from the shot, but the bullet ricocheted off the animal, hit a fence and went into the back door of his mother-in-law's mobile home - a distance of about 100 yards.

Then the bullet went through the recliner where the 74-year-old Carol Johnson was sitting and into her back, 'WALB TV' reported.

Johnson was fortunately not severely injured. She was taken to a nearby hospital and is expected to recover. 

Just in: ICICI Bank cuts home loan rate by 0.25 per cent for new and existing borrowers.

Separatist leaders Yasin Malik and Masarat Alam were detained by police while they were on their way to Tral, according to news reports on Tuesday. The two leaders were en route to Tral a day after a suspected militant was killed by the Army in the forests of the area in south Kashmir's Pulwana district.

At least six persons were injured today in clashes with police in Tral area of Pulwama district during protests over the killing of a youth in an army operation with the locals claiming that the deceased was a civilian and security forces maintaining he was a militant.

Hundreds of people started pelting stones on the personnel of law enforcing agencies in Tral area after the funeral of Khalid Muzaffar, who was killed allegedly in the army operation in forest area near Buchoo village of Tral, police officials said.

Security forces fired tear smoke shells and pellet guns to chase away the protesters, resulting in minor injuries to six persons, the officials said.

They said all the six injured were given first aid at a local hospital and discharged. The clashes were going on till reports last came in, the officials said.

The protesters have alleged that the youth was not involved in militancy and was killed by the army in a fake encounter. The army, however, has claimed that the slain youth was a militant.

File picture

Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj meets her counterpart from Australia, Julie Bishop, at the India-Australia Framework Dialogue in New Delhi. Swaraj asked Bishop to ensure that the perpetrators of the tragic murder of Prabha Arun Kumar are caught and brought to book. 

Angry and unhappy over being sidelined in the BJP,  Bollywood actor-turned-politician and Lok Sabha MP from Patna Sahib, Shatrughan Sinha. has decided to boycott BJP president Amit Shah's rally on Tuesday.

"Shatrughan Sinha will not attend Amit Shah's much-publicised rally in Patna to express his displeasure for being repeatedly ignored in the party after he won from Patna Sahib seat last year," a BJP leader considered close to Sinha said.

Shah's meet will be attended by six union ministers, the party's national spokesperson, the Bihar in-charge Bhupendra Yadav and former ministers and legislators.

"Shatrughan Sinha was here on Monday during his two-day visit to his constituency after a gap of a few months. But he left for Delhi and he will be in Delhi on Tuesday," said another BJP leader close to him.

However, BJP state president Mangal Pandey said that he was not aware that Sinha was unhappy and angry. "There may be some personal engagement because of which he will be missing the rally," Pandey said.

Another senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi downplayed the issue by saying that all MPs were invited for the rally. "Shatrughan Sinha was also invited for the rally. We have no information that he will not be attending it," he said.

According to party leaders who were in regular touch with Sinha, the Bollywood star was not comfortable with the present leadership of the party that has continued to ignore him.

Interestingly, union minister and the BJP MP from the Patliputra seat Ram Kirpal Yadav, is not only participating in the rally, but will also make a speech.

Amit Shah is set to launch the party's poll campaign at the rally for the Bihar assembly polls later this year.

Sinha was one of the notable absentees, along with LK Advani, at the Goa conclave of the BJP in June 2013, where Narendra Modi was chosen to head BJP's national campaign.

-- MI Khan/Rediff.com

Pakistan's Punjab government today challenged the Lahore High Court's decision to suspend the detention of LeT operations commander and 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi in the Supreme Court, saying his release has created problems for it.

The Punjab government in its petition pleaded the apex court that the LHC had suspended the detention of Mumbai attack case accused Lakhvi under Maintenance of Public Ordinance despite seeing "sensitive documents" against him. The government said the release of 55-year-old Lakhvi had created problems for it.

The controversial 'Mangalsutra (Thaali) removal function', organised by the Dravidar Kazhagam, was held early this morning before the Madras High Court ordered a stay on organising of the event.

"The function was held in accordance with the permission granted (by a single judge of the High Court yesterday)," DK President K Veeramani said.

"About 25 women removed their thaali voluntarily," he said, adding, they had donated the gold to the DK. A woman participant said she felt "relieved" as she saw it as only as a "symbol of insult."

"There will be no problem for me if there is no thaali tied around my neck," she said.

Several participants attired in black were seen at the function. However, the High Court, which took up hearing of the state government appeal against the single judge order, ordered stay on the 'Mangalsutra removal and beef banquet' function.

Yuva Sena chief Aditya Thackeray has urged the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to stall attempts to axe net neutrality which according to him will draw public ire and do lasting damage to the nation which is on the threshold of moving forward digitally.

Net neutrality is the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) should treat all traffic on their networks equally.

That means users should be able to access all websites at the same speed and cost. No website should be given preferential treatment over another.

Nigeria today marks the first anniversary of Boko Haram's abduction of 219 schoolgirls from the northeastern town of Chibok, as part of a series of events planned around the world.

The commemoration and renewed calls for their release came as Amnesty International said the Islamists had kidnapped at least 2,000 women and girls since the beginning of last year.

The UN and African rights groups also called for an end to the targeting of boys and girls in the conflict, which has left at least 15,000 dead and some 1.5 million people homeless, 800,000 of them children.

And this is the list given to Indian journalists where Adani's name goes missing. 

On the first leg of his tri-nation tour, the Prime Minister, as we may be aware, was in France. In Paris, he met several CEOs from India as well as France with the focus on infrastructure and defence. Among the guests were RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani, Adani Groups Gautam Adani and Rajan Mittal of Bharti Airtel among a host of others.

Nothing surprising in that, except for a tiny detail that did not go unnoticed by the journalists who were there.

While the guest list issued for French journalists included the name of Gautam Adani, it was missing from the list given to Indian media.

Take a look. This is the list given to French journalists where Adani's name appears. Click on the picture for a larger image.

While the PM delivers his secular spiel in Berlin, back home in Ahmedabad, the Municipal Corporation's Shahpur Public School and Dani Limda Public School have saffron uniforms for Hindu kids and a green uniform for Muslim kids. Read

In a major boost to net neutrality in India, e-commerce major Flipkart has announced that it has pulled out of its partnership with Bharti Airtel on its platform, Airtel Zero.

The company said it is committed to the larger cause of net neutrality in India and will be internally discussing over the next few days, the details of "actions we will take to support the cause".

There was a massive backlash against Flipkart for supporting Bharti Airtel's platform, with users downrating the e-commerce major's app on various app stores.

Below is the full statement released by company:

"We at Flipkart have always strongly believed in the concept of net neutrality, for we exist because of the Internet. Over the past few days, there has been a great amount of debate, both internally and externally, on the topic of zero rating, and we have a deeper understanding of the implications. Based on this, we have decided on the following:

- We will be walking away from the ongoing discussions with Airtel for their platform Airtel Zero

- We will be committing ourselves to the larger cause of Net Neutrality in India. We will be internally discussing over the next few days, the details of actions we will take to support the cause

- We will be working towards ensuring that the spirit of net neutrality is upheld and applied equally to all companies in India irrespective of the size or the service being offered and there is absolutely no discrimination whatsoever."

-- Business Today

India's secularism is not so weak that it will be "shaken" just because of a language, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said in the backdrop of a row over Sanskrit replacing German in government-run schools in India.

Addressing a reception for the Indian community in Berlin last night, Modi referred to a time decades ago when German radio used to have a news bulletin in Sanskrit.

"In India, there was no news bulletin in Sanskrit at that time because perhaps it was thought that secularism would be endangered," the Prime Minister said.

"India's secularism is not so weak that it will be shaken just because of a language. One should have self-confidence. Self-confidence should not be shaken," he said.

Modi did not elaborate but his veiled comments assume significance as these came months after a row over replacing of German as third language in government-run Kendirya Vidyalaya schools with Sanskrit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have been voted among the 100 most influential people in the world in an online poll by readers of Time magazine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin emerged the winner of this year's Time 100 readers' poll.

He edged out rapper-singer CL (of the South Korean girl-group 2NE1) to claim the number one spot with 6.95 per cent of the votes in the final tally. Pop stars Lady Gaga (2.6 per cent), Rihanna (1.9 per cent) and Taylor Swift (1.8 per cent) rounded out the top five.

Salman Rushdie pays tribute to German novelist and Nobel prize winner Guenter Grass, who passed away yesterday, aged 87. Read

CPI leader D Raja's column on Ambedkar: Today the nation celebrates the 125th birth anniversary of B.R. Ambedkar. In spite of being one of the worst victims of untouchability and having been denied basic human rights, Ambedkar rose as a colossus -- a jurist, a Constitution-maker and, above all, a defender of the unity of India. In the words of the late President K.R. Narayanan, he was a "compassionate rebel'.

Read

On the 125th birth anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, on April 14, India still finds itself unable to induct him into the pantheon of greats unquestioningly.

His statue, with its ubiquitous electric blue suit, may be a common sight at bus stands, bastis and universities, but it hardly brings out the fact that his life is one that was overshadowed by iconography and idolatry.

We forget that Ambedkar was one of modern India's first great economic thinkers, its constitutional draftsman and its first law minister who ensured the codification of Hindu law.

Read more

Pic: President Pranab Mukherjee pays tribute to BR Ambedkar on his 125th birth anniversary.

As the net neutrality debate hots up, Amul's take.

Why Congress is on a mission to own Ambedkar. Read

As India tightens its security in the wake of a terror threat, Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, who was released from a jail in Pakistan, was back with his family, his lawyer told The Indian Express.

After Lakhvi was released from Adiala jail in Rawalpindi on Saturday, where he was lodged for the past seven years, he was taken to an undisclosed location by his supporters.

Lakhvi's lawyer Raza Rizwan Abbasi said, "He is very much with his family now."

Lakhvi has four wives and over a dozen children.

Abbasi refused to share Lakhvi's location.After being detained in 2009 by the Pakistan authorities for allegedly plotting the 26/11Mumbai attacks, Lakhvi obtained bail in the case from an anti-terrorism court in December 2014.

After an uproar by India, the Pakistan government booked him under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Act and he remained in prison thereafter.

The Islamabad High Court has quashed the detention order and ordered Lakhvi's release.Abbasi said Lakhvi was released as there was no evidence against him.

"The case against him was built on the information provided by India. It was only information and not evidence," he said.

He added that it was India's responsibility to link the evidence pertaining to Lakhvi's involvement in the attack.

"The evidence India has given is not enough, the part linking to his involvement in the attack is not there," he added.

The brother of China's last emperor - who was pushed off the throne in 1912, ending the Qing dynasty - has died in Beijing at the age of 96, state media reported.Puren was the youngest sibling of the final Qing monarch Puyi, a child-ruler portrayed in the Bernardo Bertolucci film -- The Last Emperor".

Puren died on Friday (Apr 10), the state-run China News Service cited family members as saying.

Sometimes known as "The Last Imperial Younger Brother", Puren was taken to hospital because of pneumonia in February, it said.

Puren - who took the Chinese name Jin Youzhi - was born six years after the rule of his brother Puyi was ended by the "Xinhai Revolution". Read

For a country that is so dependent on overseas contract workers, the Nepali state seems to be capable of neither protecting its citizens abroad nor maximising the benefits of remittances to the national economy.

This is a disgraceful and outrageous lapse, but not surprising given the political disarray and absence of accountability among elected officials.

Read

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's grand-nephew, Surya Kumar Bose, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Berlin on Monday evening and is understood to have raised the issue of declassification of all secret files related to the freedom fighter amid a row over snooping on the leader's close relatives.

Surya Kumar Bose met the PM after attending a reception hosted in Mr Modi's honour by India's Ambassador to Germany Vijay Gokhale.

"Subhas Bose did not belong just to his direct family. He had himself said that the whole country is his family. I do not think it's just the duty of the family to raise this issue (of declassification of Netaji files)," Surya had said.

Intelligence agencies have warned of a possible terror strike in the next few months and issued an alert to all states.

In a letter earlier this month, the Mumbai railway police have said that the terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayiba is planning to attack hotels and railway stations in the city in two to three months, in what could be a 26/11-style strike, reports NDTV. 

The letter warns that eight to 10 terrorists may take the sea route and enter Mumbai.

The alert comes at a time Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, a top commander of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, has been released from prison.

Read the full report here

There was much buzz about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande's 'naav pe charcha' on the La Seine river. 

Hollande was seen giving details to Modi, probably in French, about various areas as the boat cruised through the river, as the PM listened intently.

Incidentally, Modi had joined Alliance Francaise class in Ahmedabad in 1981, tweets the MEA. Here's proof.

Photograph: @MEAIndia/Twitter   

Just in: It's definitely not a happy Bihu for this Congress lawmaker. The Assam police arrested MLA Rumi Nath arrested for her alleged links with pan-India car theft racket.

Nath, the police says, has been arrested for alleged links to Anil Chauhan, who is the kingpin of an auto theft racket that operates in Mumbai and Delhi.

Nath has been under scanner over allegations that she allegedly arranged car passes of the state assembly premises for notorious car-lifter Chauhan, who was arrested by the Guwahati Police recently.

The Congress party had also issued a show-cause notice to her in this connection.

CNN IBN reports:  Even as the debate over free and equal access to the Internet continues, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad assured start ups and young Internet entrepreneurs that government will address their concerns.

"I can assure that the young Internet entrepreneurs, the start-ups and all the creators, that the government stands by their concerns. I assure them that we will work towards a non-discriminatory net regime. Please have patience. Let's await the report," Prasad said.

Throwing its weight behind "non-discriminatory internet access", the government said that an expert panel is looking into the 'net neutrality' issue and will submit its report in May.

The TRAI recommendations have been given to the telecom commission and it will be also handed over to the telecom ministry. The Internet is under threat in India as telecom operators have gone to the TRAI to allow them to block apps and websites and charge money from both consumers and businesses to the detriment of users.

People from a cross section of society including politicians, who are not known for taking any kind of criticism lightly, and celebrities are rallying up to save the Indian Internet.

Net neutrality means when the service provider sells you data they don't get to choose how the data is used.

Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh would attend a party workers convention tomorrow to sound the bugle for assembly elections to be held later this year.

"Our leaders Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh will launch the campaign for Bihar assembly polls at the mega workers' convention. At least three workers from each of the around 62,000 booths in the state will participate in it," state BJP president Mangal Pandey told reporters.

"They will apprise the workers of the steps taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government for the development of Bihar. They will take the message to each and every house in villages. They will ask voters to take a vow to remove jungle raj-2 from the state," Pandey said.

Senior BJP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said as the event was being organised on the occasion of 125th birth anniversary of Dalit icon B R Ambedkar, the workers will take a pledge to avenge the 'insult' to former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, a mahadalit, allegedly by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD President Lalu Prasad.

Did Subhas Chandra Bose really die in that plane crash, asks Adheer Som, a Netaji researcher.

The government, even this government, says that declassifying Netajis files will be detrimental to Indias interests. No one who reveres Netaji can ever wish harm upon Indias interests, and I believe several in this government revere Netaji.

It is your right to not declassify the files. But your duties are threefold: tell the people from the ramparts of Red Fort this 15th August that Netaji did not die in a plane crash, he writes.

Read the blog here

It is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's last day in Germany after which he will head to Canada.

Modi will attend a working lunch hosted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin today. He will take a tour of the Berlin Hauptbahnhof.

Modi will be the first Indian PM to visit Canada in 42 years. He will first stop in Ottawa, then visit Toronto and Vancouver. Indian and Canadian negotiators are rushing to iron out differences in a long-stalled foreign investment protection pact, Reuters reported. 

The Aam Aadmi Party today said that they have not sanctioned the convention to be held today by rebels Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan. "The 'Swaraj Samvad' programme which is being organised is not an authorised event of the party," says AAP leader Sanjay Singh. "The rebels are sending a wrong message to the nation."

"If any MLA or elected representative of party attends the convention we'll decide on further action when PAC and NE members meet next. The party leadership is monitoring the activities and will see as to what is discussed in the meet," he added. 

Aam Aadmi Party's rebel camp of Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav will hold a 'Swaraj Samvad' convention today to discuss the future course of action after their expulsion from the party's top echelons, even as the party warned of action against those attending the event.

Sources close to Yadav and Bhushan said the rebel camp will not announce floating of a new party, but will raise issues of inner-party democracy and transparency in the organisation at the event. However, media reports suggest that formation of a separate political party will be discussed in the meeting and a decision will be taken based on voting.

Yadav said they have received tremendous response from the volunteers across the country and this has compelled them to change the venue.
"We have given an open invitation to everyone about this. We have got an overwhelming response for the event and this has forced us to change the venue. From different corners of country, volunteers and supporters will be attending the event. Some special guests will also attend the meeting," he said.

AAP MLAs Pankaj Pushkar, Soni Sori and Aruna Roy are expected to attend the meet. 

Taking a jibe at the rival camp, Yadav said that the whole event will be transparent, the media will be allowed and even carrying of pens and mobile phones will be permitted.

Seshachalam 'encounter': Witnesses reveal what happened