At least 24 hostages kidnapped by Boko Haram militants on Sunday in Cameroon had been freed by Monday, according to a Cameroon defense ministry spokesman and media reports.

AAP leader Kumar Vishwas today launched a scathing attack on Narendra Modi-led BJP and the party's newest entrant Kiran Bedi, and claimed that only an AAP government could make Delhi corruption-free.

Kiran Bedi is chief ministerial candidate for Delhi assembly polls, BJP President Amit Shah has said. This was decided in the BJP's parliamentary board in the national capital.

At least three soldiers and seven militants were killed today in a fierce gun-battle in Pakistan's restive northwestern tribal belt near the Afghan border.

In a veiled attack on AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi today called upon people of Delhi to vote for the BJP saying it can coordinate with the Centre for the city's overall development instead of sitting on dharna. 

First Vice President of Myanmar Sai Mauk Kham arrived in India today on a five-day visit during which he will hold talks with top leadership here with an aim to further enhancing bilateral ties on a range of areas.

Pahlaj Nihalani, the younger brother of veteran filmmaker Govind Nihlani, is set to be the new Central Board of Film Certification Chief.

Nihlani's appointment comes after the resignation of Leela Samson and twelve others from the Censor Board.

Among the new members who have been brought in to join the CBFC are Mihir Bhuta, Syed Abdul Bari, Ramesh Patange, George Baker, Chandra Prakash Dwivedi, Jeevitha, Vani Tripathi Tikoo, S. Ve Shekhar and Ashoke Pandit.

Britain warns India of possible ISIS terror attack and asks it to take steps. Details given to Indian officials at a counter-terror meet.

British officials have conveyed this to their Indian counterparts at the Indo-UK Counter Terrorism Joint Working Group meeting held in London on January 15-16.

Officials said that during the meeting, India had asked Britain to impress upon Pakistan not to differentiate between "good" and "bad" terrorists in the wake of recent attack on a school in Peshawar and said that it must take a firm stand on why Pakistan had become a nursery of terrorists.

"We have asked Britain to be alert about possible attack by Lashkar-e-Taiba there. Britain in turn has warned us that an attack by ISIS could take place in India," an official said.Britain was more focused on the ISIS threat than from Pakistan-based terror groups.

Kiran Bedi today said she would meet Anna Hazare and explain her decision to join politics. The 77-year-old Gandhian has refused to take Bedi's calls, apparently upset that she did not consult him before joining the BJP.

ICICI Bank launches a money transfer via Twitter facility. Look it up. 

Reflecting the global popularity of Indian food, a number of Indian words like keema and papad have been accepted in the Oxford English dictionary for the first time.

The ninth edition of the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, released here today, has included over 240 words from Indian English. Many of these new words are commonly used in Indian kitchens such as 'keema', 'papad' and cooking ingredients like curry leaf.

"English is a global language and carries influences from all over the world. Indian food is popular all over the world. We did these inclusions in the dictionary to reflect the global usage of words," Patrick White, Head of ELT Dictionaries and Reference Grammar at Oxford University Press, told PTI during the launch.

Over 60 per cent of the new Indian English words come from Hindi.

Delhi police chief BS Bassi says a notice has been issued to Shashi Tharoor.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor may be questioned in a day or two in connection with the mysterious death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar, Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi said earlier in the day.

The police chief maintained that all those people relevant in the case are being examined by the Special Investigation Team so that a consistent story emerges in the high-profile case.

BJP Delhi president Satish Upadhyay welcomes former Congress leader Krishna Tirath to the party HQ.

A mother who travelled to Turkey to bring her son home expresses fear and frustration at a lack of support for radicalised former fighters suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Read

Isis throws 'gay' men off tower, stones woman accused of adultery and crucifies 17 young men in 'retaliatory' wave of executions. Read

It's her first outing as the CM's missus and Amruta Fadnavis looked like a million bucks.

The wife of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis launched a women's security device called ArmHer today.

Geared at making Maharashtra, and subsequently other states in India, safer for women, ArmHer, a one-press alert button for notifying others when stuck in distressing situations.

ArmHer can be connected to any mobile phone via Bluetooth with a small 'panic' switch, which the user can activate without touching her smart phone.

This action sends 5 SMSes and 5 emails to her preselected family members with the message, "Help me I'm in trouble' along with the Google map location. 

Shiv Aroor tweets: Kiran Bedi deserves at least a second Magsaysay for thinking up the idea of blaming 'mass media influence' for her earlier anti-Modi tweets.

BJP president Amit Shah's son Jay is getting married to Hrishita Patel in Gandhinagar next month. The couple (pictured) were engaged in July 2014.

And so, the shopping begins for a wedding which is likely to be graced the PM and every top politician in this country.

Shah and his family spent two days in Varanasi shopping for the wedding trousseau, but what is interesting is that every guest at the wedding (and there will be thousands) will be given a 'return' gift.

It is believed that the family has asked Varanasi weavers to embellish 'Jay weds Hrishita' on thousands of silk saris that will be a memento of the occasion.

While the engagement will be in Gandhinagar, the reception will be in New Delhi where the Delhi durbar and the BJP governments of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra will be in attendance.

Shah's wife performed a special puja at 10 Akbar Road today. 

Nitin Gokhale tweets: Sri Lanka foreign minister says PM Modi has agreed to visit Colombo. When it happens in March will be 1st State visit of Indian PM since 1987.

Uttarakhand police has traced as many as 87 children, who were missing for the last 14 years, from different parts of Haridwar district in a span of 18 days as part of a special drive launched in the New Year.

The children, including 43 girls and 44 boys, were traced in different locations of Haridwar, Roorkee, Manglaur and Luksar and reunited with their parents, Haridwar SSP Sweetie Aggrawal said.

As per official data, 146 minors were missing from the district since the year 2000, including 88 boys and 58 girls, out of which 87 have already been traced, she said adding that it was a major achievement considering the short span of time in which it was done.

After finance minister Arun Jaitley's meeting with AIADMK chief J Jayalalitha on Sunday, it is now the turn of Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N Chandrababu Naidu to meet the former Tamil Nadu CM at her Poes Garden residence next week.

In early February, a grand presentation of the Ganga Action Plan will be shown to Jayalalitha by Water resources minister Uma Bharti at Poes Garden. Bharti, is is believed, has already got her power point presentation ready.

Flights from Delhi to Chennai were delayed because of heavy fog in the national capital so, Jaitley spoke to Jayalalitha from the airport asking her if they could reschedule the appointment to today (Monday). The flight was supposed to land in Chennai at 8:30 pm.

But Jayalalitha politely told Jaitley that she would wait for him and said she wanted to meet him that evening (Sunday) itself.

An AIADMK release said the meeting AIADMK said Jayalalithaa received Jaitley warmly and the meeting lasted for 40 minutes.

The annual congregation of the global elite for the World Economic Forum this week will have a strong India presence with senior union ministers Arun Jaitley and Piyush Goyal, along with over 100 top corporate leaders, set to leave for the Swiss ski resort town of Davos.

Goyal will reach on Wednesday, Jaitley on Thursday. Goyal will showcase a special 3-minute video presentation on the BJP and Narendra Modi to the delegates. At least 184 top industrialists from India are set to gather in Davos.

Other prominent names from India would include Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian, as also Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh Chief Ministers -- Devendra Fadnavis and Chandra Babu Naidu, respectively. Among other engagements, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is expected to talk at WEF on how new leadership is transforming the business, political and social landscape of India.


Pic: Make in India posters across shopfronts in Davos

Continuing its rising streak for the third consecutive day, gold crossed the Rs 28,000 level after over four months by gaining Rs 100 at the bullion market in the national capital today.

Fasten your seat belts for this news rollercoaster. Our sources tell us that TMC MP Dinesh Trivedi has plans to join the BJP.

The rumors began after Trivedi, in an interview to a Gujarati daily, praised PM Narendra Modi. A Gujarati settled in  Kolkata, it is believed he has always been soft on Modi.

But the TMC is not overly worried about the move with some MPs saying the party has been well rid of him. Sources told us that MPs have said that they were willing for the TMC to be weak, but unwanted elements should be weeded out.

Trivedi does not share a great relationship with TMC chief Mamata Banerjee after she sacked him as the railway minister for a nominal hike in passenger fares in the 2012 rail budget.

Today, Congress leader Krishna Tirath also joined the BJP.

Commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman is in London, and tweets this: "In grey,cold & frosty London for the 10th Joint Economic & Trade Committee(JETCO) meeting. Manufacturing, Tech, smart cities& Edn on agenda."

ISRO chairman AS Kiran Kumar talks to CNN-IBN about the road ahead in his first interview after taking charge. Excerpts...

Q. On the priorities as the new chairman of ISRO
A. The first priority is to find my priority. Because in each position unless you sit in that position many issues you'll not know. You will become aware of the various complexities and issues only when you occupy the chair.

Full interview on Rediff.com shortly.

The Bharatiya Janata Party is merely replicating our agenda, which shows the bankruptcy of ideas, credibility and leadership in the party, Aam Aadmi Party leader Ashutosh tells Rediff.com. Read

Shiv Aroor tweets: There should be a cable car from Congress & AAP offices to Ashok Road

The BJP today cautioned party MP Manoj Tiwari for his statement criticizing Kiran Bedi after the party announced her candidature on Friday. Tiwari went public with his objection to Bedi, saying that she is "just a party worker" and must conduct herself like one.

"We don't need someone like a thanedar (policeman). We need a leader who can take everyone along. I didn't like the way she spoke to BJP workers a few days ago.. I wasn't there...but this is the feedback I've got from workers. She is not the Chief Ministerial candidate so far," he said.

The BJP has now asked Tiwari to explain his remarks.

Ajay Maken reacts to news that Krishna Tirath joins the BJP, saying, "Humein jaankari nahiin hai."

Tirath, a former UPA Cabinet minister and Congress leader joined the BJP on Monday, in a move that may help the party gain support of dalits in the coming assembly elections.

Tirath, who served as women child and development minister in the UPA Cabinet, met BJP chief Amit Shah and joined the party.

Randeep Surjewala (Congress) reacts saying, "Opportunist leaders BJP ko hi mubarak."

Congress sources claim that Tirath's decision came after she was denied a ticket in the Delhi polls.

In the latter part of 2014, four members of Parliament made provocative statements.

Yogi Adityanath, the MP from Gorakhpur, claimed that young Muslim men had launched a "lovejihad" to entrap Hindu women, by marrying and converting them to Islam. Sakshi Maharaj, the MP from Unnao, said that the murderer of Mahatma Gandhi, Nathuram Godse, was a true patriot. Sadhvi Jyoti Niranjana, MP from Fatehpur (and who had been recently inducted into the council of ministers), said that all those who did not worship Lord Rama or vote for her party were " haramzadon" (a term that we can politely translate as 'rascals', although the original Hindustani admits of more pejorative connotations). Satish Gautam, the MP from Aligarh, proclaimed his support to a programme of converting Muslims and Christians to Hinduism.

Ramchandra Guha takes on Amit Shah. Read

Among Rajni Kothari's many books are: Caste in Indian Politics (1973), Footsteps into the Future: Diagnosis of the Present World and a Design for an Alternative (1975), Politics in India (1982), Rethinking Development: In Search of Humane Alternatives (1989), State against Democracy: In Search of Humane Governance (1989), Transformation and Survival: In Search of Humane World Order (1989), Poverty: Human Consciousness and the Amnesia of Development (1995), Communalism in Indian Politics (1998), Memoirs: Uneasy is the Life of the Mind (2002), Rethinking Democracy (2008) and Writings of Rajni Kothari (2009).

Kothari is credited with radically changing the contours of the discipline of political science in India.

Indian political scientist, political theorist, academic and writer, Rajni Kothari, has passed away.

Kothari founded the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) in 1963, a social sciences and humanities research institute, based in Delhi and the Lokayan (Dialogue of the People) in 1980, as a forum for interaction between activists and intellectuals.

He has also been associated with Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), International Foundation for Development Alternatives and People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL).

Former UPA minister and Congress leader Krishna Tirath joins BJP: reports

Ahead of the 2015-16 Budget, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said there was a need to rationalise all subsidies and ensure stability in policies to attract investment and drive growth. "From January 1 LPG subsidy is going though banks. . .We have to gradually rationalise all possible subsidies," the Minister said while addressing a Confederation of Indian Industry function in Chennai. Read

One of the main functions of intelligence services is to prevent surprises. To the extent that the induction of Kiran Bedi into the BJP as the de-facto chief ministerial candidate for Delhi took both the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (and, by implication, its formidable support systems in the media) by complete surprise, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah can be said to have scored an important tactical victory.

Read Swapan Dasgupta's column here.

Delhi police commissioner BS Bassi confirms that Congress MP Shashi Tharoor will be questioned maybe tommorow or the day after in the Sunanda Pushkar death case. Tharoor will be questioned by the Special Investigation Team which is probing the mysterious death case of his wife Sunanda Pushkar.

Bassi had said last week that a definitive decision over where the viscera will be sent will be taken in the next couple of days.

Police may send the exhibits to labs in the US or UK.

Sunanda (51) was found dead in her suite at a five-star hotel in south Delhi on the night of January 17, 2014.

Jacked in and booted up, resilient Kashmiri migrants still long to return to their homeland. It is 25 years to the day when they were stampeded out of their home and hearth in the Valley.  Read

In a city where political power determines social power, ceremonial banquets are the arbiter of your place in the food chain. The president's banquet or the PM's lunch or dinner always has Delhi's Lutyensland working the phones and scurrying to the dry cleaners in case the prized invitation card lands at your doorstep.

Delhi is jostling for an invite to the Obama banquet, writes Sagarika Ghose. Read

There's cool and then there's this. Tehreek-e-Insaaf chief Imran Khan wears his reading glasses over his sunglasses.

The visit of United States President Barack Obama to India, as the first American leader to be chief guest at the Republic Day parade, has raised high expectations.

Perhaps too high, as the difficulties that bedevil the United States-India bilateral relationship are difficult indeed to overcome.

While the two countries retain a common view of the world in many ways, and the desire to balance a rising China remains the unspoken lynchpin of ever stronger co-operation between New Delhi and Washington, the many roadblocks in the path cannot be wished away -- especially since these obstacles are essentially a product of bureaucratic slowness and contradictions that are inherent to both capitals.

Read more

26/11 plotter Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi's detention in Pakistan extended by one month. The Pakistan government had extended the confining period from January 27 to a month.

Lakhvi was detained by the Islamabad administration on January 18 under Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) after he was granted post-arrest bail by an Anti-terrorism Court (ATC). An official close to the development said that the objective behind keeping Lakhvi behind bars is to prevent him from attending meetings or potentially regrouping. According to sources in the administration, Lakhvi is being kept in detention due to pressure exerted by the Indian government.

Also read: Rahul Pandita's powerful account of Kashmiri Pandits driven from their homes 25 years ago. 

A first-hand account of how a family of Pandits left Kashmir and were unable to return home. January 19 marks the 25th anniversary of the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley. Read more

The benchmark BSE Sensex today rose by over 145 points in early trade, extending its winning streak for the third straight session on sustained overseas fund inflows and better-than-expected quarterly earnings. Besides, a mixed trend at other Asian markets influenced trading sentiments here. The 30-share index rose by 145.92 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 28,267.81 points. The gauge had gained 775.07 points in the previous two sessions.

Amid controversy over a street child being thrown out of a McDonald's restaurant in Pune, the Shiv Sena, which is a part of BJP-led government in Maharashtra, today wondered as to when will 'Acche Din' (good days) arrive for the poor in the country.

"This (Mc Donalds) incident depicts the gap between the rich and the poor in this country. Discussions on such incidents will continue, but mere discussions will not solve the problem of the poor children," the Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamana.'

"We will continue to find poor children standing on roads, below flyovers, near signals on railway stations and outside restaurants with hands on their stomach. What will happen to these children ? When will 'Acche Din' (good days) really come for them," it asked, referring to BJP's election slogan.

"There is no law that prohibits a street child from entering an expensive restaurant. But such restaurants are not made for the poor, which is why the underprivileged need to satisfy their hunger by eating cheap food items like 'vada paav'," the Sena said.

"In the case of the Pune restaurant, the child did not have money to buy food in McDonald's. But there was someone willing to pay money to buy happiness for that child. But the restaurant threw him out stating that their outlet is not meant for such (poor) people. This shows the prevailing divide between the two classes in the society," the Sena added.

According to media reports, a street child was thrown out of the restaurant in Pune by a staff member on January 10, after allegedly saying that "these kind of people are not allowed here".

Ahead of President Barack Obama's visit to India, the US has asked Pakistan to ensure that there is no cross-border terror incident during the trip and subtly warned of "consequences" if any such attack is traced back to the country, sources said.

The warning has been issued keeping the track record of Pakistan-based militant groups that have carried out attacks in India that have coincided with high-profile visits from the US.

The BJP will hold crucial meetings today to finalise the names of the candidates it will field for the Delhi elections with former cop and new entrant Kiran Bedi being the frontrunner for the party's CM candidate. 

Most leaders have reportedly welcomed her entry into the party, but insiders said not everyone is quite convinced that it would be a politically canny move, reports NDTV.

Sources said the panel is expected to announce a campaign committee for Delhi, which could be headed by Bedi. It is also said to be looking for sure-shot seat for Bedi.

Dense fog continues to inconvenience Delhi. Fog hit flight schedules at the airport. 70 flights were affected, out of which 46 were delayed and 24 cancelled.

The movement of trains were affected as well, with more than 60 of them running late and 12 having to be rescheduled, reports NDTV. 

Aam Aadmi Party's Ashutosh defends Arvind Kejriwal after his comment urging voters to 'take bribe' triggered a row.

"Arvindji only meant that buying people's votes with alcohol and money is not right and should be stopped for fair polls," Ashutosh said.

Kejriwal asked voters "bribes" from the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress but to vote for his party in the upcoming Delhi polls yesterday.

He asked the voters to "fool" the BJP and Congress by voting for AAP even after accepting "bribe money" from them while accusing the parties of "deceiving" the people for years.

See the complete list of Oscar nominees and pick your winners here   

Multiple gunshots were fired from a moving vehicle outside the Delaware residence of US Vice President Joe Biden, the Secret Service said today as it launched an investigation into the incident.   

Biden and his family were not at home when the firing happened last night at around 8.25 pm local time. According to Secret Service spokesman, Robert Hoback, at 8.25 pm residents of the Biden's neighbourhood saw a vehicle drive past at a high speed, fleeing the scene.   

About 30 minutes later, a vehicle tried to pass a New Castle County police officer securing the outer perimeter of Biden's residence, which resulted in the driver being arresteda nd charged with resisting arrest, officials said.     The driver is being questioned.

Former home minister RR Patil, 57, is battling for life at the intensive care unit of Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital. The senior Nationalist Congress Party leader, who has been hospitalised for over a fortnight at the Bandra hospital, is on ventilator support, The Times of India reports.

Patil has been undergoing treatment for malignancy for the past two weeks. His condition is said to have rapidly deteriorated over the last four days when the doctors decided to move him to the ICU.

The hospital has refused to divulge any details about his medical condition.

Read the full report here

Eminent cartoonist RK Laxman is in a critical condition in a hospital, where he was admitted on Saturday, hospital sources said.

Laxman, 94, was admitted to the intensive care unit of Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital for urinary infection. He underwent dialysis  and was recovering, as precautionary measures, doctors have shifted him to the intensive care unit, said a close family member of Mr Laxman.

Ten people have been arrested in connection with an attack on a minority community in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district in which three people were burnt alive, reports NDTV.  

A mob attacked a village in Muzaffarpur on Sunday afternoon, torching as many as 25 huts. Two people, who sustained serious burns, are at the local government hospital.

The incident was one of revenge killing, police said.

Read the full report here

Kejriwal triggers a row; asks voters to take 'bribes' from BJP, Congress

BJP has Modi who has 'world's most beautiful face': Kiran Bedi

US warns Pak of 'consequences' if there's terror attack during Obama's India trip

Now it's the Obamas' turn to say 'Wah Taj'

R-Day parade: Rajpath fortified to keep Obama safe

Yesterday's live commentary