The Taliban concealed the "depressing news" of the death of its former leader Mullah Omar for more than two years because the movement was in the final stages of its fight against US-led forces, a detailed biography of the group's new chief has revealed.

India's PM said he wouldn't renew a contentious executive order aimed at making it easier for the state to acquire land for infrastructure and industry -- confirming a reversal on a measure his administration had touted as important for reviving the economy.

Accusing the BJP-led government of being in a "perpetual mode of confrontation", Congress said that talk of a special session of Parliament was "not going to be viable" unless there was a change in its mindset. Even as the Centre has announced that the controversial land Ordinance, a bone of contention with the Opposition, would not be re-promulgated, Congress said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should apologise to the nation as he has "wasted 10 months of development" by enacting the Ordinance.

China has enlisted an elite squad of falcons and monkeys to see off an army of migrating birds which are feared to disrupt its World War Two commemoration parade on Thursday. The huge display will see 12,000 soldiers and 500 pieces of artillery roll through Tiananmen Square to mark 70 years since "Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War," as the superpower describes it.

No-one who attended what turned out to be the final first-class luncheon on the Titanic is likely to have gone away hungry. The meal consisted of corned beef, dumplings, grilled lamb chops, and other delights such as veal and ham pie and a cheese board consisting of eight separate varieties. There was chilled Munich lager to wash it all down.

Investigators may have hit a dead end in their quest to say with certainty whether a piece of airplane debris found in the Indian Ocean comes from a Malaysian passenger jet that disappeared mysteriously in 2014. 

Just in: Violence erupted in Manipur's Churachandpur district this evening over the Inner Line Permit issue.

The houses of three lawmakers have been set on fire, reports NDTV. Mobs have prevented the police and fire engines from reaching the spot.

The Inner Line Permit is an official travel document issued by the Government of India to allow inward travel of an Indian citizen into a protected area for a limited period. It is obligatory for Indian citizens from outside those states to obtain permit for entering into the protected state.

Indian citizens need a Nagaland-issued ILP if entering Manipur by road via Dimapur or Kohima. However, demands by the Manipur government for the introduction of the provision of an Inner Line Permit system to restrict entry of outsiders into the state were refused, according to Wikipedia. 

Details awaited. 

Read: Inner Line Permit: Why Manipur is on the boil again

Ahead of beginning of work on the Budget for 2016-17, the government today designated Ratan P Watal as the new finance secretary even as a new team of officials took charge at the finance ministry.

Shaktikanta Das, 58, took charge as the secretary for department of economic affairs after Rajiv Mehrishi on his last day in office was appointed home secretary for a two-year tenure.

Das, who was the revenue secretary, held discussions at length with his successor Hasmukh Adhia. "Yes, they have taken charge," a ministry official said when asked if Das and Adhia have taken charge.

Adhia, who headed the department of financial services, passed on the baton to Anjuly Chib Duggal. A government statement said, "The prime minister has approved the designation of R P Watal, the senior-most secretary in the ministry of finance, as the finance secretary."

Traditionally, the senior-most bureaucrat in the finance ministry is named the finance secretary. Watal, 59, is a 1978-batch Andhra Pradesh cadre IAS officer while Das belongs to 1980 batch from Tamil Nadu cadre.

Das is an old economic affairs hand, having worked as joint secretary in-charge of budget. He also served as additional secretary in the DEA before moving as fertiliser secretary. In June last year, he was brought back to finance ministry after Rajiv Takru was shunted out.

In yet another reshuffle in the Delhi government, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was given the additional charge of the law ministry, often mired in controversy.

Sisodia will replace Kapil Mishra, who was handling the ministry ever since Jitendra Tomar was arrested in a fake degree case in June. Mishra, however, will continue as minister for water and tourism and Delhi Jal Board vice chairman.

During the AAP government's first tenure, the then Delhi law minister Somnath Bharti had raised a storm after raid in the Khidki extension.

The police probing Thailand's worst attack at a Brahma temple issued arrest warrants against two more suspects, including a woman, after they seized bomb- making materials from an apartment here, widening their hunt for the people involved in the assault.

One arrest warrant was for a woman named Wanna Suansant, 26, who rented a room in Bangkok's Min Buri district, Police spokesman Prawut Thawornsiri said.

Wanna is the first suspect to be identified in the investigation into the August 17 bombing at Erawan Shrine as well as another blast the next day that caused no injuries.

The sketches of the two suspects -- a male and a woman in a head scarf -- were released in a nationwide live telecast. Min Buri is near the district where an unidentified foreigner was arrested on Saturday, allegedly in possession of bomb-making paraphernalia including detonators and ball- bearings as well as dozens of fake passports.

The arrested man was carrying a fake Turkish passport but his identity remained unclear as Turkish diplomats said they did not believe he was a Turk.

During the raid at Wanna's room yesterday, police found urea-based fertiliser, a radio-controlled toy vehicle, components of which could be used to detonate a bomb remotely, bolts that could be used as shrapnel and decorative lights that could be used for ignition.

Items seized from the woman's apartment room were shown on the televised police briefing. The second arrest warrant was for an unidentified man of unknown nationality.

Prawut cautioned owners of apartments frequented by foreigners to keep a close watch on them and report anyone of similar appearance or who was found behaving in a suspicious manner. The two new arrest warrants raised to four the number of people now wanted for involvement in the bombing that killed 20 people and injured 131.

The motive behind the attack is still not clear.

Photograph: Courtesy Thai police

Just in: Outgoing Home Secretary L C Goyal appointed as the chairman and managing director of India Trade Promotion Organisation. 

All central government employees, including officials of Army and paramilitary forces, were on Monday warned of "action" if they raise service matters-related grievances to the Prime Minister, directly.


Warning employees, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said such submission of representations directly to other authorities by-passing the prescribed channel of communication, has to be viewed seriously and appropriate disciplinary action should be taken against those who violate these. Read more

Just in: Fuel price cut: Petrol down by Rs 2 per litre, diesel by 50 p per litre with effect from midnight.  India's economic growth slowed by more than expected in the quarter to June, according to data released on Monday that will worry Prime Minister Narendra Modi and prompt more urgent calls from his aides for interest rate cuts.

Gross domestic product expanded an annual 7 percent rate in the April-June quarter, government figures showed. That was slower than provisional growth of 7.5 percent in the previous quarter.

Analysts polled by Reuters expected growth for the quarter to come in at 7.4 percent, but a weak showing from the services sector acted as a drag on Asia's third-largest economy.

Indrani Mukerjea's daughter Vidhie at the Mumbai Metropolitan Court in Bandra today. Emotional moment for Vidhie in court, when she saw and hugged her mother for the first time since the arrest last week.

The Mumbai Police has detained the contract killer, who was hired by Indrani Mukerjea to eliminate her son Mikhail Bora. The Times of India on Monday quoted a high-ranking bureaucrat as saying that Indrani or her associate had paid Rs 2.5 lakh to a contract killer.


"Our information is that the plan failed to take off. We have detained the contract killer. He has admitted that he was hired by Indrani to eliminate Mikhail," he said.


Mikhail has already told the police how his mother Indrani tried to kill him thrice. Mikhail claimed that even before Sheena's murder on April 24, 2012, Indrani had visited Guwahati twice in order to kill him as she tried to drug him. On the day of Sheena's murder, Mikhail said Indrani had spiked his drinks with a sedative, however he managed to escape from Worli hotel where he had been called on the pretext of straightening out some family issues.

As all three accused in the Sheena Bora murder case are taken to the Khar police station for questioning once again, the prosecution has refused to allow Indrani Mukerjea home food for fear that she may be poisoned. Indrani's laywer had made a plea for home food and a change of clothes, but while the prosecution allowed a fresh set of clothes to the accused, it turned down the plea for a home food. The prosecution argued that many other people could also be involved in the case and it would be unsafe to allow home food for fear that it may be poisoned and Indrani killed. 

The police custody of all three accused has been extended till September 5. Indrani fainted in court after the verdict was announced. TV reports says Vidhie and Indrani were allowed to hug each other and broke down in court. All three accused have been taken to the Khar police station. 

This day, 18 years ago, the Princess of Wales, Lady Diana Windsor, was killed in a car accident in Paris.

Her grave 18 years on from her death has been pictured swathed in flowers and foliage as her resting place becomes "part of the ancient landscape over time".


Althorp Estate, where the late Princess is buried, said the vegetation growing over her memorial site "has always had a full growth of mature trees, which give a rich panoply of foliage in the summer".  Read more

Just in: Sheena Bora case: The Mumbai Metropolitan Court extends police custody of all three accused to September 5.

Just in: The Law commission recommends abolishment of death penalty except in cases of terrorism and war against India. Death penalty does not serve penological  goal of deterrence any more than life imprisonment, Law Commission's says. The notion - an eye for an eye tooth for a tooth has no place in our Constitutionally mediated criminal justice system. In 1962, the Law Commission in its 35th report had recommended retention of death penalty.

Mumbai metropolitan court to announce custody verdict for all three accused shortly.

The Mumbai police add charges of culpable homicide & causing hurt by means of poison against Indrani, Rai and Khanna in FIR. Indrani and Khanna have also been charged with attempt to murder.


Indrani Mukerjea's lawyer says she has been interrogated for close to 100 hours and not even a single minute was given to the lawyers to consult Indrani Mukerjea privately, which they say is her fundamental right. The defence teams says the media knows more about the case than the investigation team.


Sanjeev Khanna's lawyer says only forensic report is awaited so no need for further police custody. His lawyer says that Khanna should be sent to judicial custody now.

If Khanna is sent to judicial custody he can apply for bail.

The police says they need to more time in custody to probe the money trail and say more people are likely to be involved.

Sheena Bora murder: All three accused -- Indrani Mukerjea, Sanjeev Khanna and Shyam Rai brought to the Mumbai Metropolitan court.   Mumbai cops slap attempt to murder charge (Section 307) on Indrani and her ex-husband on the basis of Mikhail Bora's claims.  Indrani's lawyer allowed to meet her only in the presence of the police. Bora has said Indrani had attempted to kill him on April 24, 21012, the same day that Sheena was murdered. The police will ask for an extension of custody.  Indrani's lawyers say that she has already been in police custody for a week and has been interrogated for at least 80 hours and should be sent to judicial custody so that she can apply for bail. The magistrate has ordered that all three accused be unmasked. The police say that Indrani has been uncooperative in custody.

Meanwhile, former BJP leader Ram Jethmalani today visited the ex-servicemen protesting at Jantar Mantar in Delhi seeking One Rank One Pension (OROP) and launched a sharp attack on Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.


Saying he was there to support the veterans, Jethmalani said the finance minister was an "enemy" of the veterans as well as the  nation.


"Throughout the campaign (for Lok Sabha election), I went round the country and said Modi is a gift of god. I am ashamed to say that Modi has frustrated my dream, and every day I get more and more evidence that he has no intention of fulfilling this promise," Jethmalani said.

Peter Mukerjea distances himself from his wife Indrani by ensuring a separate legal team for himself, reports India Today TV.


 Peter has said that he will separate his lawyers from Indrani's and said he was shocked at reports that Indrani wanted to kill Mikhail as well. He is also believed to have told a friend that he had been living with a psycopath.


He has also said he will not involve himself directly in any way in the case. He had earlier wanted to be a part of the defence team and had even kept legal counsels for Indrani on standby.

Indrani Mukerjea was arrested a week ago for the 2012 murder of her daughter Sheena Bora. She will be brought to a Mumbai court today. Sources in her legal team say Mukerjea has been physically abused by the police, a complaint that has been shared in a call with Mumbai police chief Rakesh Maria.


Indrani Mukherjea's counsel has complained to Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria that his officials are forcibly extracting a confession from Indrani. The counsel said that she was not allowed to meet her client late on Saturday night and that Indrani's face was bruised and swollen.

#Sheena Bora murder case: Indrani Mukerjea's family (daughter Vidhie and others) at Bandra Court.

The resentment built slowly in Hardik Patel. It took root when he watched his younger sister lose out on a college scholarship because of India's version of affirmative action, a system of strict quotas that reserves nearly half of government jobs and public college slots for those who come from disadvantaged castes or tribes. Read more

Caste-related violence involving an influential community in India's Gujarat state left eight people dead earlier this week. The Patel community is demanding quotas in educational institutions and government jobs. Politician and writer Shashi Tharoor explains why India needs a new debate on affirmative action. Read more

Springing a surprise and a rude shock to much of Delhi babudom, the Narendra Modi government today appointed Rajiv Mehrishi as the new home secretary. Mehrishi replaces LC Goyal as the home secretary.


In one year, two home secretaries and one foreign secretary have been shunted out. Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami was given his marching orders in February for allegedly trying to stall the arrest of Saradha scam accused and former Minister Matang Sinh.


He is the third top ranking bureaucrat to have been shunted out since the Modi government took charge. Earlier, in January, the tenures of Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh and Defence Research and Development Organisation chief Avinash Chander were cut short.


Congress leaders who are familiar with transfers in babudom smell something fishy and our sources say they will reveal all in two days.


Since 10:30 am today, New Delhi is agog with speculation, that the PMO is unhappy over Goyal's handling of the Naga peace accord and the Hardik Patel episode.


Joint secretary level officials are wondering about the shape of things to come in another three years.


A Congress leader apparently got wind of the sudden change and say IAS officers believe it will create a wedge between the government and babudom over the 'use and throw' method of the PMO.


Rajasthan Congress leaders are also up in arms against the government as Rajiv Mehrishi was pet official of CM Vasundhara Scindia.


Mehrishi was finance secretary (replacing Arvind Mayaram) and takes over from incumbent home secretary L C Goyal. The PMO said Goyal has sought VRS which has been approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Mehrishi's appointment as home secretary comes on the day he is due to retire. He will hold the portfolio for two years.



Possibilities of what is next on his platter has been talked about since Mehrishi, a 1978 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the Rajasthan cadre, turns 60 in August and is therefore due for retirement. 

Fire breaks out in a building in Malad (Mumbai). Six fire tenders at the spot. No reports of casualties. 

The Chinese military, the Peoples Liberation Army, is reportedly developing a new liquid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile designed to strike targets anywhere on Earth. Read more

The Karnataka state government has now issued orders handing over the probe into the murder of Kannada scholar MM Kalburagi to the CID.Kalburagi was shot dead at point blank range by an unidentified assailant at his house in kalyan nagar on Sunday morning. While there have been rumours of a property dispute, the family has alleged that he was killed for speaking the truth. Kalburagi had drawn the ire of rightwing hardliners and was even given police security till a month ago.

Manipur passes three bills to implement inner line permit. 

High-society incidents like this one inevitably give rise to questions about the morality and ethics of the high and mighty. Unfortunately, they also deepen prejudices and reinforce stereotypes, writes Malavika Sangghvi. Read

The government has appointed Rajiv Mehrishi as the new home secretary.  Mehrishi was finance secretary (replacing Arvind Mayaram) and takes over from incumbent home secretary L C Goyal. The PMO said Goyal  has sought VRS which has been approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.


Mehrishi's appointment as home secretary comes on the day he is due to retire. He will hold the portfolio for two years.


Mehrishi was earlier Rajasthan's chief secretary since December 2013 and spearheaded many reforms initiated by the Vasundhara Raje government.

He led the economic affairs department of the finance ministry and was the seniormost among the secretaries heading the five departments of the ministry which also makes him finance secretary.


Possibilities of what is next on his platter has been talked about since Mehrishi, a 1978 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the Rajasthan cadre, turns 60 in August and is therefore due for retirement.

The 71 people found dead in an abandoned refrigeration lorry in Austria had been crammed in, (five to a space of 10 sq ft), police said on Sunday, as initial forensic tests indicated they had suffocated.


A baby girl and three other children were among the dead in truck discovered on Thursday on a highway from the Hungarian border to Vienna, where it had been left 24 hours earlier.


The victims are thought to be refugees from Syria or possibly Afghanistan, part of an huge wave of migrants pushing through Europe that is sorely testing the European Union's ability to cope. Read more

In a blunt message, the US has asked Pakistan to intensify efforts to counter terrorist sanctuaries inside its borders and take concrete steps against the dreaded Haqqani network responsible for major attacks on American installations in Afghanistan.


The tough message was conveyed by US National Security Advisor Susan Rice to the top Pakistani leadership including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and army chief Gen Raheel Sharif during her day-long visit to the country yesterday.

Last known to have been in Australia, intelligence officials on his trail, he supposedly has a job in Turkey and his family in Srinagar insists he is in touch with them regularly. The family of another youth, meanwhile, haven't heard from him since he went missing after the Batla House encounter seven years ago. A militant outfit declared him killed in Syria earlier this year but his family in Azamgarh isn't convinced.  Read more

Indrani Mukerjea's lawyers complain to Mumbai CP Rakesh Maria that the police are trying to take a confessional statement of Indrani during remand and they are pressurising her.

Indrani Mukerjea, her former husband Sanjeev Khanna and her driver Shyam Rai will be produced before a local Mumbai court today where the police probing the sensational Sheena Bora murder case are likely to seek extension of their police custody.

Police will slap fresh charges of attempt to murder against Indrani, Sanjeev and the driver for allegedly trying to kill Mikhail Bora, officials in the investigating team said on condition of anonymity.


The Sheena Bora murder case has entered a phase where police work is complemented by conspiracy theories that inevitably seek to fill the information vacuum.

A section of Mumbai police officers has been saying that Indrani Mukerjea has stopped being "cooperative" for the past two days.

The Twitter account of Bollywood's biggest superstar may have been hacked into. A tweet from Amitabh Bachchan's official Twitter account @SrBachchan says, "WHOA !..My Twitter handle hacked ! Sex sites planted as 'following' ! Whoever did this, try someone else, buddy, I don't need this !"


Mr Bachchan follows 984 Twitter handles, but as of this moment, there are no offending "sex sites".

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition seeking cancellation of bail of film star Salman Khan who was convicted and sentenced in a hit and run case.


The apex court bench headed by Chief Justice H.L. Dattu declined the plea by one of the alleged victims associated with the case and belonging to Mumbai Police.


The petitioner had challenged the Bombay High Court order granting bail to Salman. Salman was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on the very day he was convicted and sentenced by the sessions court.


On May 6, Khan was found guilty in the September 28, 2002 hit and run case and sentenced to five years' jail for various charges, including 'culpable homicide not amounting to murder'. One person was killed and four injured when the actor's car ran over them while they were sleeping on a pavement.

The investigation team reaches the spot where Sheena Bora's remains were allegedly disposed off. 

Jain tradition of Santhara or fasting unto death allowed by Supreme Court. In effect, the SC has stayed the Rajasthan High Court order banning Santhara.

The Rajasthan High Court on August 10 had banned the Jain ritual of 'Santhara' making it punishable under section 306 and 309 IPC (Abetment of Suicide).

"Santhara or fast unto death not essential tenet of Jainism, " the court said. A Public Interest Litigation(PIL) challenging the legality of 'Santhara' was filed in the high court in 2006.

The petitioner's lawyer had said 'Santhara' which is fast unto death by giving up food and water is in violation of the Right to Life. If euthanasia is not allowed, the practice of Sati is banned and suicide is illegal, 'Santhara' cannot be allowed either.

The community lawyers had argued that 'Santhara' is a spiritual practice since times immemorial which the court must not interfere with.

It is also known Sallekhana Vruta. According to the Press Trust of India, on average 240 Jains practice sallekhana until death each year in India.

The Supreme Court today dismissed a petition filed by Sri Rama Sene chief Pramod Muthalik seeking permission to enter Goa. The SC rejects the plea of Sri Ram Sene Chief against an order restraining him from going to Goa.


The Sri Ram Sene chief had moved the Supreme Court against the Goa governments decision to ban his entry into the state, saying such directions are orchestrated by an invisible hand operating from Goa or New Delhi.


Muthalik has said that repeated prohibitory orders issued against him since last year violated his fundamental rights as he wanted to visit the BJP-ruled state for religious purpose in exercise of his Constitutional right. The 52-year-old chief of Sri Ram Sene came into limelight after he led a group of men to attack women visiting a Mangalore pub in 2009.

Also read: Muthalik and the Pink Chaddi campaign.

Indrani, her driver Shyam Rai and Khanna were interrogated at Khar Police Station on Saturday.


During the course of the grilling, they blamed each other for the crime, a police official said. Police said Khanna and Indrani were giving evasive replies during interrogation.


Indrani's son and Sheena's brother Mikhail Bora was also questioned at a hotel in Bandra on Saturday.Police are also probing Mikhail's claim that just hours before Indrani and Sanjeev met Sheena on April 24, 2012 and took her for what would be the last drive of her life, Indrani had also allegedly drugged him.


By the time they came back, the suspicious, groggy Mikhail had fled. Meanwhile, the car in which Sheena Bora was allegedly killed was yesterday traced, while questions cropped up about a cover-up by police in not registering a case of murder or accidental death three years back when a partially-burnt body, believed to be hers, was found.