Coal industry employees across the country today went on a five-day strike, halting production at over 60 per cent of state-run Coal India units that may also severely hit fuel supply to power plants, while talks failed late tonight to end the industrial action. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is will be arriving in Ahmedabad tomorrow to participate in the three-day Pravasi Bharatiya Divas which is schedule to begin from January 8, Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel said. 

Twenty-one of the 77 Indian labourers who had accused an Indian company of mistreatment in Sri Lanka have returned from the country after intervention by the government.

Indira Gandhi International Airport here has emerged as transit point for trafficking of Nepalese girls to Dubai for alleged prostitution, a CBI inquiry has said prompting the agency to alert the External Affairs Ministry and the Home Ministry in this regard. 

South Korea says rival North Korea has a 6,000-member cyber army dedicated to disrupting the South's military and government. 

Two New York City plainclothes policemen were shot and wounded while responding to an armed robbery on Monday night, officials said.

The first Papal visit to Sri Lanka in nearly two decades will take place as scheduled, local church said today, amid concerns that the trip by Pope Francis might be cancelled due to any violence erupting after Thursday's crucial presidential election.

A 27-year-old woman was forcibly tonsured allegedly on the orders of a kangaroo court and paraded on a village roads in Malda in West Bengal along with a man with whom she had eloped last month with an intention to marry him after deserting her husband. 

Pakistan's parliament today overwhelmingly passed two key bills aimed at setting up military courts for the speedy trial of "hardcore terrorists" in the aftermath of the Peshawar school massacre by Taliban. 

A live bomb was recovered in the Hiranagar sector of Jammu & Kashmir earlier today.

The area which is already under heavy firing from the Pakistani side has witnessed mass migrations in the last two days. 

The BSF is continually engaged with the Pakistani forces even as rampant ceasefire violations continue.

Politicians and celebrities in Germany have joined a media campaign against Pegida, a group protesting against what it sees as the "Islamisation" of Europe. 

Buoyed by the rapid increase in its membership since wresting power at the Centre, the BJP has set out on a mission to become the world's numero uno political party with the largest number of registered members, a senior party leader said here today.

Hitting out at Congress for raising doubts over the Pakistani boat incident, BJP President Amit Shah on Tuesday asked the opposition party whether it was fighting elections in India or Pakistan.

On his maiden visit to Odisha, Shah said it should be the 'duty' of the Congress to boost the morale of the defence personnel instead of finding faults with NDA government's determined efforts to curb terror.

"I will like to ask the Congress from where (do) they fight elections? In India or Pakistan ?' Shah asked while addressing BJP's 'Mahasangram' rally in the state.

Congress has raised doubts over government's version of Pakistani boat incident near Porbandar last week and asked it to "come clean' and explain "which terrorist organisation' was behind the episode that unfolded on the high seas.

The Congress stand triggered a war of words with the BJP which accused the opposition party of touching a "new low' and doing politics over terror.

Pakistan foreign ministry's statement on the 'terror' boat: "The ministry is opposed to terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Pakistan has been the biggest victim of terrorism. The people and government of Pakistan are determined to eradicate this menace from our territory.

"Our brave armed forces are successfully conducting an across the board operation -- Zarb-e-Azb -- to root out terrorism. The people of Pakistan see escalation of tension by India on the LoC and the Working Boundary, through continuous unprovoked firing and targeting of civilians, as an attempt to distract our armed forces from its valiant mission against all terrorists.

"The baseless and preposterous Indian allegations regarding the so called terror boat from Pakistan are also in the same vein. Indian Spox made baseless and malicious allegations regarding citings of Punjabi/Urdu speaking terrorist elements in Afghanistan. India is reminded to refrain from attempts to create misunderstanding between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the two brotherly nations. These efforts are also in violation of all international norms."

Imran Khan has confirmed last night that he has secretly married a former BBC weather girl days after his family said he had denied it - provoking a furious reaction from his sister, the Daily Mail reports.

The 62-year-old Pakistan cricketer-turned-politician, who divorced heiress Jemima Goldsmith in 2004, has wed 41-year-old divorced mother-of-three Reham Khan.

Yograj Singh, the father of Yuvraj Singh who is not a part of the 15-member squad for the World Cup reacts: "There is nothing to be disheartened. BCCI shouldn't be condemned. I salute Yuvraj Singh, a person who hs survived cancer is playing this well; it is commendable."

Youngsters Axar Patel, Stuart Binny and Ambati Rayudu got the nod but veteran Yuvraj Singh failed to make the cut in India's 15-member squad for the forthcoming ICC ODI World Cup, starting next month in Australia-New Zealand.

Yuvraj had made his case for a comeback with three consecutive centuries for Punjab in the Ranji Trophy but the Indian selectors, who met in Mumbai, decided against recalling the left-hander, who had played a big role in India's World Cup triumph in 2011.

India will begin its title defence against traditional rivals Pakistan in a high-voltage clash in Adelaide on February 15.

Finally! '@MurtazaGeoNews Imran Khan says he met his sons in London and has taken them into confidence 'will share good news within this week about my marriage'

Read: Imran Khan marries former BBC weather girl.

Bihar government is planning to rope in actress Rekha as the brand ambassador of the state. State's Tourism Minister Javed Ahmed Ansari said he would talk to her regarding this. Ansari said he had planned to approach Rekha as she had been a well-known actress and was a Member of Parliament.

Tharoor also tweeted, "Never thought of any foul play in the death of my wife."

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor reacts to the murder case filed in the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar. "Stunned to hear Delhi Police has filed a case of murder against unknwn persons in the demise of my late wife. Anxious to see this case is investigated thoroughly, continue to assure the police of my full co-operation," he said.

"I join all members of Sunanda's family in asking for full information about the basis on which the police have come to this conclusion. All want that comprehensive investigation be conducted and that the unvarnished truth should come out.We have not been provided with copies of the postmortem report and other reports of inquiry like the CFSL report till date," he said.

In October 2014, a team of three doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, headed by Dr Sudhir Gupta, had said that Sunanda Puskhar had been poisoned. Their report however did not name the specific poison or chemical that caused the death. Instead, it listed a number of poisons that cannot be detected in Indian labs.

These include thallium, polonium 210 (a radioactive substance of which a few milligrams is lethal), nerium oleander, snake venom, photolabile poisons and heroin. Polonium 210 is the same substance that was used on Kremlin critic and ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko and possibly Yasser Arafat and is extremely hard to detect.

Today, Delhi police commissioner BS Bassi said Pushkar's viscera will be sent abroad for a probe since some of these substances cannot be detected in Indian labs.

The Border Security Force today said Pakistani troops were not accepting protest notes from India over ceasefire violations and that there was "no communication" between the two sides.

"We want to restore normalcy along the border but we are forced to retaliate because Pakistan Rangers resort to firing on us," Director General of BSF, D K Pathak said.

"Pakistan Rangers are not accepting protest notes over ceasefire violations. There is no communication between the two sides," Pathak said.

He said that the ceasefire violation by Pakistan could be an attempt to divert attention of its public from the Peshawar incident.

In October last year, when the AIIMS post-mortem report had said that Sunanda Pushkar died to poisoning, Ashok Kumar, the cousin of Sunanda Pushkar, had told the media that he suspected Tharoor's involvement in the case. Kumar said that Pushkar was very upset about the closeness her husband shared with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar. Sunanda could never commit suicide as she used to tell others how to lead their lives, Kumar had said.

Kumar told a news agency that that the family knew it wasn't a natural death, but was planned. Raising questions over Tharoor, Kumar asked why would the Congress leader go out for a meeting when his wife was unwell. Kumar had demanded a CBI probe into the incident.

Ashok Kumar, Sunanda Pushkar's cousin reacts to the murder case: We always knew that this was a case of murder, this decision was delayed.

And of course, a reaction from Subramanian Swamy who as always, does not mince words: "Shashi Tharoor is a liar, the more he opens his mouth the more trouble he is going to get into. Happy that police hs finally developed the nerve to regster FIR, this was a murder of involving money. I want to establish a principle, no matter who it is. There is a right to life. No one can deprive it. Only crime Sunanda committed was that she wanted to tell the truth, even the hotel has to be investigated."

Congress reacts to the murder charge in the death of Sunanda Pushkar: Rashid Alvi says, "So many questions arise as to why police registered an FIR now.  Police should look into this without bias."

In July 2014, seven months after Sunanda Pushkar's death, senior BJP leader and noted lawyer Subramanian Swamy claimed that the death of former Union Minister and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor`s wife could be linked with money laundering in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Talking to a news channel Swamy said that days before her death Pushkar had wanted to call a press conference to reveal certain details regarding IPL`s Kochi Tuskers Kerala franchise. These revelations, he felt, could have hurt the interests of many high and mighty who then wanted her eliminated.

Swamy also claimed that though Tharoor was aware of the murder, the Thiruvananthapuram MP wasn`t involved in it.

Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar could also be questioned in the murder of Sunanda Puskhar. Remember, Tarar was at the centre of a raging controversy involving Shashi Tharoor. On the night Pushkar was found dead, Tarar had tweeted: "What the hell. Sunanda. Oh my God!"

Tarar, a 45-year-old Lahore-based journalist, in another tweet said, "I just woke up and read this. I'm absolutely shocked. This is too awful for words. So tragic I don't know what to say. Rest in peace, Sunanda."

Pushkar, upset over an alleged extra-marital affair between Tharoor and Tarar, was found dead in a five-star hotel in what police believe is a case of suicide.

 Pushkar and Tharoor were at the centre of a row in the past two days when reports emerged that she was upset over reported text and tweet messages between her husband and Tarar.

Tarar, the mother of a 13-year-old son, had denied having an affair with the suave thrice-married Tharoor.

She also shot off uncharitable barbs at Pushkar and defended herself. Asked if she knew Tharoor, Tarar said on Thursday, "I met him in April last year for an interview in India. Then I met him in June in Dubai in a social gathering. Yes, I have been in touch with him once in a while on Twitter and email."

"Joh hona hota hai woh hokay rahega'. Hastay huay jayengey (whatever is destined to happen will happen. will go smiling)", were the among the last tweets of Sunanda Pushkar, wife of Union Minister Shashi Tharoor, who was found dead in a five-star hotel room in New Delhi on January 17. Sunanda spent the early hours tweeting.

Her tweet at 5.27 am said "a close frn of mine got, so made she did it but as v Hindus say joh hona hota hai who hokay rahey ga."This was followed by another tweet three minutes later in which she replied to one of her friend enquiring about her health. "Will try, got so many issues diagnosed in KIMS (Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences) that now who knows when I got 2 go with joy hastay huey jayengey."

Delhi top cop BS Bassi says a case has been registered under section 302 of the IPC (murder). Congress Rajya Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor is likely to be questioned in the case. Bassi says according to the AIIMS report, Pushkar was poisoned, but whether the poison was administered orally or injected, has not been confirmed. Pushkar's viscera has been sent abroad for testing.

This is what Shashi Tharoor, had said days after Sunanda's death: "I have been cooperating with the police from the first day itself. I have sought a report in the beginning itself and I am awaiting it. I have not heard anything from the police yet."

On 17 January 2014, Sunanda was found dead in room number 345 of the Leela Palace hotel in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi. Shashi Tharoor discovered her body, when she did not wake up from her sleep in the evening. He informed the Delhi Police, who recovered the body from the hotel and sent it for postmortem. According to initial reports, Sunanda was suspected to have committed suicide. Later reports stated that the cause of death was unnatural; the doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences gave a preliminary autopsy report that revealed injury marks on her body. They said that these injuries may or may not be the cause of death.

Delhi police BS Bassi says the medical report says she was poisoned. "Oral or injected we do not know, it is being investigated," Bassi said. 

Murder case registered in Sunanda Pushkar's death case: BS Bassi, Delhi Police Commissioner.

Pushkar, wife of former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor, was found dead under mysterious circumstances in suite no 345 of Hotel Leela Palace in New Delhi.

While police suspected she might have committed suicide, the possibility of medicine overdose was not ruled out since Pushkar was undergoing medical treatment.

Inquest proceedings under Section 174 CrPC were initiated in the Sunanda case according to which a sub-divisional magistrate inquires into the death of a woman if she dies within seven years of her marriage.

As the fast unto death of Jadavpur University students entered second day today, Vice-chancellor Abhijit Chakrabarti appealed the protesters to come to the negotiating table.

Eleven students from different departments of the university are sitting on an indefinite hunger strike inside the campus since last night with a five-point charter of demands including resignation of the VC.

"The VC is responsible for police crackdown on us when we were protesting peacefully on the night of September 17. We have been demanding his resignation since then but he is adamant and so we are launching this hunger strike," Arunima Mitra, one of the fasting students said.

Roger Binny is yet to arrive as his flight was delayed so the selection meeting will be a bit delayed. The Indian squad for World Cup 2015 will be decided today. 

IAF Mi-26 lands at Kedarnath today. The arrival of the chopper establishes an air bridge that will be used to transport up to 150 tons of dismantled machinery and equipment necessary to restore the town that attracts thousands of devotees every year. The town of Kedarnath was devastated in the floods of 2013.

Pic courtesy the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering that was involved in the construction of the landing ground.

BSF pays tribute to Constable Devendra Singh who was martyred in the line of duty in Samba, J&K.

Just in: Charges framed in the October 2014 blasts in Bihar. Five people were killed and 83 injured in eight crude bomb explosions in Patna before Narendra Modi's arrival in the city to address a rally in the city.

Yuvraj Singh not to be named in 15-man squad for World Cup 2015: BCCI Sources tell ANI.

Nazi super cows: British farmer forced to destroy half his murderous herd of bio-engineered Heck cows after they try to kill staff. Read

More than 20 Indian wineries, apart from other renowned spirit brands, are expected to participate in the Grape Escapade, a popular wine festival hosted by the Goa government's tourism department, scheduled to be held later this month, an official statement said Monday.

The event, which is being touted as a "popular gourmet festival" will also be hosting over a dozen restaurants and catering outfits over the four day period from Jan 23-26.

"Last year, we had 40,000 participants and visitors during the four-day Grape Escapade and it was an enthralling experience for one and all. We are sure that this year too it will be a success,' said Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar has been quoted as saying in the release issued by the tourism ministry.

Will Yuvraj make it to the World Cup 2015 squad? Yuvraj, who last played an ODI for India in December 2013, has 8329 runs in 293 ODIs at an average of 36.37 with 13 centuries and 51 fifties to his name. 

As our eminent sportspersons jostle and shove each other for a Padma Award, this is worth a read: Jean-Paul Sartre rejected the Nobel prize in a letter to jury that arrived too late. Read

The 102nd Indian Science Congress being held in Mumbai will be remembered for a very long time to come, but for all the wrong reasons. For the first time, the science congress had a session on "Ancient Sciences through Sanskrit'.

If the Indian Science Congress had long lost its eminence as a forum where results of serious science being done in the country are presented and discussed in most sessions, the inclusion of Ancient Sciences through Sanskrit has only lowered its standing further.

Read more

Vijender Singh says he is not lobbying for the Padma, simply filing an application.

Former Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah on the pushing and shoving for the Padma award... "There is something rather off putting seeing our most accomplished sportspersons jostling each other to jump the "Padma" award queue. It's a great pity that our athletes feel they have to lobby & threaten to receive awards, criteria based on merit should be all that decides," writes Omar. 

On a day when the sports ministry recommended Saina Nehwal's name for the Padma Bhushan award, Olympic and World Championship bronze-medallist boxer Vijender Singh has also forwarded his application to the Boxing India (BI) for the country's third-highest civilian honour.

The last-minute move by Vijender has taken the ministry by surprise as it wasn't expecting any other sportsman to apply for this prestigious award. Vijender submitted his application to the BI on Monday and it has now become a three-way fight between Sushil Kumar, Saina and him.
Read more

US-based cab service provider Uber today withdrew its plea from the  Delhi High Court against the ban on its plying after driver Shiv Kumar Yadav was accused of raping a 27-year-old woman executive.

A Delhi court had taken cognizance of the chargesheet filed against the driver during a court hearing yesterday.

The court also extended the judicial custody of arrested accused Shiv Kumar Yadav, 32, till Wednesday.

Yadav, who was driving the cab, had allegedly raped the woman on the night of December 5, last year when the victim, who works for a finance company in Gurgaon, was headed back to her home in north Delhi's Inderlok area. He was arrested on December 7. 

"There are, broadly speaking, two views on why Narendra Modi led the BJP to such an overwhelming victory in last year's general election. The first is the view of some members of his party and the extended Sangh parivar.

"According to this view, Modi won because India's Hindu majority decided it wanted a leader who broke the secular consensus of old, and was proudly and aggressively Hindu. Modi's victory was the victory of the Hindutva agenda and a manifestation of the desire of India's Hindus to reclaim their country. "

Vir Sanghvi's must-read column for the HT. Take a look

Almost nothing about the stubby exterior of Tata Motors' Nano screams speed, but a group of gearheads in Tamil Nadu wants to change that.

J A Motorsport in Coimbatore has produced what they call the Super Nano, a souped-up version of the world's cheapest car, with the acceleration of a sports coupe.

Instead of the low buzz produced by the standard Nano's pint-sized 37-hp engine, the Super Nano emits a banshee-like wail from a 230-hp engine more commonly found on racing motorcycles.

As a result, the Super Nano goes from 0-100 kilometers an hour in six-and-a-half seconds and its top speed is around 190 kph, said Joseph Chandy, who oversees the Super Nano project.

That means the speedier Nano could possibly surprise a few German-made cars in a drag race.  Read

While attacking the UPA government ahead of last year's Lok Sabha polls, Narendra Modi fleshed out his public speeches by alleging the Congress-led Centre promoted a "pink revolution' in subsiding slaughterhouses and promoting meat exports through tax breaks. 

However, once in power, the new prime minister and his BJP-led government chose pragmatism over politics, or so it seems from the official data on meat exports showing a spurt in the first eight months of this fiscal. Read more

"On waking up at 5:55 on (Christian) new year's day, the prime minister got a brainwave. It drowned the Planning Commission. Painters from the public works department were summoned; they erased the commission's name from its portico, and renamed it Niti Aayog. Fifty-five is not too old for an institution, let alone a human. The prime minister is going strong at 65, and the aeroplane is still flying 5555 years after its invention by Swamy Kashtacharya. But institutions must reinvent themselves from time to time to stay relevant; unless they do, they fall off the screen like the Congress."

Ashok V Desai writes on the Niti Aayog... Read

Just in: Bomb scare in a bus travelling to Jalpaiguri, West Bengal. Passengers noticed an unclaimed tiffin box and raised an alarm after which the bus was evacuated. The bus has been parked in a field and a bomb disposal squad is at the site. Details awaited.

Pic: Representational picture

The Supreme Court has declined the urgent hearing of a plea seeking the quashing of the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act for the appointment of judges in the higher judiciary. "There is no urgency. This will come in usual course," says the SC.

This comes after a PIL was filed in the Supreme Court on Monday, challenging the recently enacted laws that granted constitutional status to the National Judicial Appointments Commission that would replace the collegium system of judges appointing judges.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has released a video with its head, Maulana Fazlullah threatening a "more spectacular" attack than the massacre on December 16 in the Army Public School in Peshawar.

NDTV reports that while the veracity of the video or when it was filmed cannot be verified, it was released to journalists yesterday via email links by Umar Media - the known media arm of the TTP. The Peshawar massacre, described as the worst terrorist attack in Pakistan, saw the Taliban kill over 140 people, most of them school-children.

Read more

Pakistan Rangers continued mortar shelling and firing at Border Security Force (BSF) positions in Kathua and Samba districts throughout Monday night, the Times of India reports.

A BSF jawan was killed and a woman critically injured on Monday in mortar shelling by Pakistan on the international border in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir.

The BSF constable - identified as Davinder Kumar of the 9th battalion - was killed in shelling by the Pakistan Rangers on Khawada post, a police official said.

The number of people abandoning their homes in border villages of Jammu and Kashmir crossed 10,000 on Tuesday amid heightened tension following Pakistan shelling on the international border that killed a trooper on Monday.

"Following indiscriminate targeting of civilian areas along the international border by Pakistan yesterday (Monday), more people have abandoned their homes close to the border in Samba and Kathua districts," a senior official said.

"The number of villagers lodged in makeshift accommodations at safer places has crossed 10,000 and their migration is continuing today (Tuesday)," the official added.

Indian-American economist Arvind Panagariya has said that he is "honoured" to be appointed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the first vice chairman of the newly created NITI Aayog, which replaces the 65-year-old Planning Commission.

"I am honoured by this appointment, and I look forward to working with Prime Minister Modi and policymakers across India," Panagariya was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Columbia University.

Panagariya is the professor of economics and the Jagdish Bhagwati Professor of Indian Political Economy in the Department of International and Public Affairs. He will take a leave of absence from Columbia to accept his position at the National Institution for Transforming India Aayog.

In a major breakthrough, former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh's assassin Jagtar Singh alias Tara has been arrested in Thailand.

Acting on the tip-off, a secret operation was conducted by Indian central agencies in tandem with the Thai authorities that led to the arrest of the self-styled chief of the Khalistan Tiger Force. He was arrested from the house of one Khalat Bari, who had been sheltering Tara at the behest of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence, sources told The Hindustan Times.

Tara, the long-time fugitive, was on the run since 2004 when he along with other assassins of Beant Singh, namely Jagtar Singh Hawara, Paramjit Singh Bheora and their accomplice Dev Singh, had made a sensational escape from the high-security Burail Model Jail in Chandigarh after digging a tunnel. 

Image: Beant Singh's assassin Jagtar Singh alias Tara

Read the full report here

BSE Sensex fell over 500 points today as a sharp fall in oil prices roiled global markets.

The Sensex fell to 27,330 at its day's low as Asian shares tumbled as sliding oil prices and political uncertainty in Greece forced investors out of risk assets and into the safety of government bonds, reports NDTV.

US crude crashed below $50 a barrel on Monday while benchmark Brent tumbled under $53 after data showed Russian oil output at post-Soviet era highs and Iraqi oil exports near 35-year peaks.

Although Indians had the tradition of analytical thinking, Indian mathematicians also learnt from the work done in Babylon, Greece and Rome, economist Amartya Sen said.

"To be sure, there was an Indian tradition of analytical thinking. The golden age of Indian mathematics changed the face of mathematics in the world. And later, Indian mathematicians was directly inspired from the work done in Babylon, Greece and Rome," Sen said at the Infosys Science Foundation in Kolkata yesterday.

The Nobel laureate said that with stellar outbursts of mathematical work in India, Indians also learnt a lot of theorems, proofs and rigorous mathematical reasoning from the Greeks, the Romans and Babylonians.

BBC reports: The US oil price fell below the symbolic threshold of $50 a barrel for the first time since April 2009, before finishing the day at $50.05.

The price of Brent crude also fell on Monday, dipping 6 per cent to $53 a barrel.

The price of both Brent crude and US oil, known as West Texas Intermediate crude, have now lost more than half of their value since mid-2014.

Investors are worried that combination of a global supply glut and weak demand could cause prices to tumble further.

The Pakistan government's appeal against the bail to 26/11 plotter Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi will be heard by a court in Islamabad today.

"The Islamabad high court has fixed January 6 for hearing of the government's plea against Lakhvi's bail on its request. A division bench has been constituted to take up the matter," an official told PTI.

He said the government had requested the high court to consider the matter "urgent" and fix the date of hearing at earliest.

"The court has also issued a notice to respondent Lakhvi for Tuesday's hearing," the official said.

Yesterday, the Pakistan government challenged Lashkar-e-Tayiba operations commander Lakhvi's bail in the HC, saying an anti-terrorism court ignored testimony in the 26/11 case while granting bail to him.

CNN-IBN reports: Though Yuvraj Singh's name could come up for discussion at the selection meeting on Tuesday, the southpaw won't make it to India's final squad of 15 for the World Cup.

With there being a question mark over Ravindra Jadeja, undergoing rehabilitation for his throwing shoulder currently, rumours of Yuvraj's inclusion in the team are doing the rounds.

The national selection panel will pick India's squad for the 2015 World Cup today. 

Observing that it is monitoring the steep drop in oil prices, the White House has said that the falling oil price is good for the American economy and the middle class.

"This is something that we're always monitoring. I believe we talked about this a little bit at the end of last year. But we're always monitoring the impact that any sort of policy area would have on the economy, so it's certainly something that we're watching," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said yesterday.

"I think that as a general matter, speaking broadly, the impact of falling energy prices has been good for the US economy," he said in response to a question.

One of the two constables accused of raping a minor girl in Uttar Pradesh's Badaun arrested from Bareilly railway station.

Constable Avanish Yadav was arrested when he was about to board a train for Delhi.

Avanish, along with constable Veer Pal Singh Yadav, had allegedly kidnapped and gang-raped a 14-year old girl in the Musajhag police station in Badaun district on New Year's eve and was on the run since then. Pal is yet to be traced. Both the constables have been suspended.

Men on boat were 'suspected terrorists' in touch with Pak army: Parrikar

Sunk Pakistani boat was no ordinary fishing vessel

Attacker of Mamata's nephew in critical condition

Arvind Panagariya appointed vice-chairman of NITI Aayog

The man Modi chose to revive Indian economy

Sydney Test: Time for Pujara, Dhawan, Ashwin to deliver