A thwarted attack on a French naval site that was to include the beheading of the base's chief officer followed a direct order from a Syria-based member of Islamic State to "hit France", the Paris prosecutor said on Friday.

Eid-ul-Fitr, which marks the culmination of the fasting month of Ramzan, will be celebrated across the country tomorrow. 

The EU approved a short-term loan of USD 7.8 billion to Greece allowing it to meet a huge payment to the ECB and repay the IMF while a new bailout is still being ratified, the EU's top official for the euro said today. 

Passengers booking tatkal train tickets would not be required to produce identity proof anymore as Railways have decided to discontinue with this provision. The modified provision could come into effect by September 1.

All 11 persons who were abducted by Maoists from Mahupadar village in Odisha's Malkangiri district were released today, the police said. All of them were safe, Inspector In-Charge of Mathili police station P K Mallick said today. 

A Delhi court today framed murder charges against all 21 accused including sacked Uttarakhand minorities panel chief Sukhdev Singh Namdhari, in the 2012 shootout that claimed the lives of liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his younger brother Hardeep.

Political exchanges between Congress and BJP today hit a low with the latter asking Rahul Gandhi to "grow out of diapers" after he took jibes at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying people will reduce his 56-inch chest to 5.6 inches. 

A criminal damage case against the wife of India-born billionaire entrepreneur Gautam Thapar, accused of "keying" a neighbour's car over an alleged parking rage incident in the UK has been dropped due to lack of evidence. 

The All India Railway Helpline number 1512, which will help train passengers to register their complaints with police while travelling anywhere in the country, was today launched here by Union Minister Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary.

Charging that West Bengal has become a "jihadi hub" under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, BJP today decided to send a three-member team to the state to look into the abduction of a teenaged girl, alleging that the accused are being patronised by a the ruling party.

CBI today carried out surprise checks at Indian Naval Hospital (INHS) in Mumbai's Colaba and Armed Forces Medical Stores Depot in Kandivali after receiving information that drugs were being allegedly purchased in violation of the 'Stock Policy'.


The action of the agency took place in coordination with Naval and Army authorities. CBI sources said they had received inputs that medicines are allegedly being procured from local dealers at exorbitant rates instead of purchasing these stocks at approved rates from contract dealers or original manufacturers in accordance with "Stock Policy".

Master strategist Amit Shah will be seen in a new avatar. The BJP president will train party MPs in the thrust and parry of politics and the art of defending themselves and the party from opposition attacks.


Shah will guide BJP spokespersons and a few select MPs just ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament which begins Monday.


On the curriculum is defending the party from attacks leveled against External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje Scindia, who are both involved in the Lalit Modi mess. Shah will also teach them how to rebut the offensives by the Congress and what to say. 


Those who are likely to attend Shah's classes are Commerce and industries minister Nirmala Sitharaman, HRD minister Smriti Irani and Power anc coal minister Piyush Goyal -- all chosen for being articulate and good debaters.


The classes will be held on Sunday, July 19, between 2 pm and 7 pm, a day ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament, at Amit Shah's residence at Akbar Road in New Delhi.

Remains to be seen whether the pupils better the master. Watch this space on Monday.  

Expelled AAP leader Prashant Bhushan today lashed out at Arvind Kejriwal, calling him "shameless" and "hypocrite", after the Delhi chief minister said he would be happy if the activist-lawyer, along with Yogendra Yadav, return to the party fold.


In a tweet, Bhushan said that "after abusing" and "orchestrating" a physical attack by his MLAs in the NC meeting, Kejriwal wants them "back!, Hypocrite Shameless!" Bhushan, one of the founder leaders of AAP, rebelled against the party leadership, raising questions over an array of issues in the organisation and questioning Kejriwal's leadership.


This included giving tickets to controversial figures. Bhushan and Yadav had also cautioned the party over giving ticket to arrested law minister Jitendra Singh Tomar over the allegations of fake degree.


They had also alleged of orchestrating physical assault in the controversial National Council meeting on March 28. The duo was later expelled from the party in April this year for "anti-party" activities.


Later, they formed the 'Swaraj Abhiyan.' In an interview to a news channel Kejriwal had said he would be happy if the duo return to the party. "Agar aisa hua to bahut achcha hoga (If it happens, it will be very good). Their return will be good for the party," the AAP chief said, denying allegations that his dictatorial attitude prevents their return.


Taking a dig at Kejriwal over Tomar, the Swaraj Abhiyan leader said Kejriwal was lying. "After HC issued notice on Tomar's fake degrees on Feb 4, and both Universities had declared them fake, Kejriwal says he didn't know! Liar!" Bhushan tweeted.

President Barack Obama won't be visiting his Kenyan relatives in their home village in the west of the country during his trip to Kenya later this month, the US ambassador said.


"I can confirm that unfortunately President Barack Obama will not travel to Kogelo during his visit to Kenya," Robert Godec told Kenya's KTN news channel in an interview late yesterday.


Obama is scheduled to give a speech to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in Nairobi, which opens on July 24. He is due to continue his Africa tour with a visit to neighbouring Ethiopia, which is also the seat of the African Union. Obama's visit will be his fourth to Africa since becoming US president, but his first to Kenya, his father's birthplace, since taking office in 2009. He has already made personal visits to Kogelo, the home of many of his Kenyan relatives, most recently in 2006.


Security is a major concern for the visit, with the Somali-led and Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shebab rebels carrying out frequent attacks in Kenya.

World-renowned climate scientist Dr Rajendra Pachauri, has expressed his delight at being allowed by a Delhi court to resume his duties as Teri chief.

"Teri has been my life's woprk. I remain deeply committed to Teri and its people and I'm delighted to rejoin my Teri colleagues and resume my duties," he said in a statement.  

Dr Pachauri, who has been accused of obstructing  a police investigation into a sexual harassment case against him, has been permitted today to return to work at the  think-tank he founded, Teri.

Dr Pachauri was sent on long-term leave from the Energy and Resources Institute where the complainant still works. In February, he had been asked to stay away from the offices of TERI to ensure witnesses and the complainant were not intimidated or influenced.

The Delhi court today amended that order stating that Dr Pachuri, can visit all but two branches of TERI, including one where the complainant works.

Spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravishankar receives threats allegedly from terror group Tehreek-e-Taliban. The spiritual guru had also received some threats in the name of ISIS and other Taliban groups, but those threats were found to be fake.

Open letter to NR Narayana Murthy: Want innovation? Why not start with Infosys? Read

Attacking Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi over his statement today on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP said the 56-inch chest contains the self esteem of the farmers and the poor.


"He talks about 56-inches, we congratulate him for acquiring 'Darjee ka feeta' (tailor's measuring tape), let him go around measuring chests. This 56-inch chest is not because of them (Congress)," BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh told media persons.


Addressing a meeting of party workers in Jaipur today, Rahul Gandhi said, "Ek inch zameen nahin denge, chhappan inch ki chhaati 5.6 inch ki chhati ban jayegi, dekh lena aap. Hindustan ke kisaan, Cong aur humari janata us 56 inch ki chhaati ko 5.6 ki chhaati bana degi dekh lena aap." Alluding to the PM's 56 inch chest, Rahul says, the Congress and the people will change his (Modi's) 56 inch chest to 5.6 inches.

Delhi Court allows R K Pachauri to enter any TERI office in India or abroad, barring its headquarters and another branch.

'Maha Kumbh Akhand Jyot', a one-of-its-kind lamp which has the longest wick of 3,617-km, the same as the distance from Kashmir to Kanykumari, was illuminated on the opening day of the Simhastha Kumbh in Nashik and will continue to burn for all the 108 days.


According to the Kumbh organisers, the lotus-shape lamp, lit on July 14 by Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray during the flag hoisting (dharma dhwaja rohan) ceremony, is 8-ft high and will hold the Akhand Jyot up to October 10 as a symbol of India's unity and diversity. This unique bronze lamp, with a radius of 8 metres, is fed with hundreds of litres of Til (sesame) oil every day and its 4-inch thick wick is driven by hand-held machines, former cabinet minister of Maharashtra and Sena leader Babanrao Gholap said.


The wick, prepared by cotton threads woven together has been bundled into a half-kilometre long ball kept nearby. Describing the importance of this gigantic Diya, erected adjacent to the Sadhugram, Shri Ramanujacharya Himalay Baba, under whose guidance the lamp was set up said, "This is a unique way to unify devotees spiritually."


"Our country is spread from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and this is why we have chosen to keep the wick of the lamp akin to the distance between them (two destinations) to unite the country forever culturally," he said.


"Whosoever comes here and gets the Darshan of this Diya, is bestowed with all sorts of blessings of health, wealth and spirituality," he added. Many devotees visiting the Kumbh were seen overwhelmed by the size and structure of this lamp.

A dry Gujarat housing Oracle's 10th product development centre in Ahmedabad has its beer-guzzling techies based in Bengaluru in jitters, fearing that they may be shifted to a state where getting non-vegetarian food too is a problem.  Read

A complainant in a sexual harassment case will be allowed three months paid leave and she or the accused government employee can be transferred to another department during the inquiry, according to a fresh set of strict instructions by the Centre in such cases.


The disciplinary authority has been directed not to dispense with the inquiry in complaints of sexual harassment lightly, arbitrarily or with ulterior motive or merely because the case against the government servant is weak.


The committees for checking sexual harassment at work place will have the powers to recommend transfer of the aggrieved woman or the charged officer to any other workplace, and to grant leave to the aggrieved woman up to a period of three months. "The leave will not be deducted from her leave account," it said.


Complaints committees have been set up in all ministries and organisations under them in pursuance to the judgement of the Supreme Court in the Vishakha case.


These committees are to be headed by a woman and at least half of its members should be women. "In case a woman officer of sufficiently senior level is not available in a particular office, an officer from another office may be so appointed.


To prevent the possibility of any undue pressure or influence from senior levels, such complaints committees should involve a third party, either an NGO or some other body which is familiar with the issue of sexual harassment," the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said in its instructions.


The aggrieved woman or complainant is required to make a complaint within three months of the incident and in case there has been a series of incidents, three months of the last incident, it said.


Also read: Pachauri influencing witnesses, cancel bail: Delhi police tells HC

Two Union Ministers in the Manmohan Singh government are penning their memoirs. One book is titled To the Brink and Back: India's 1991 Reforms Story and is written by former environment minister Jairam Ramesh. The other is called 2G Spectrum is not a scam and not surprisingly, it's by former telecom minister A Raja. The books will be released in September.


Jairam Ramesh's first book, Green Signals was on his 25-month eventful tenure as minister of environment and forests and the second book, Legislating for Justice was on the making of the controversial 2013 land acquisition law.

Jairam was a key aide in the PV Narasimha Rao government from June to September 1991 and the book reveals the inside story of how economic reforms and liberalisation came about.


Raja's book will not be as sensational as the title suggests. Penguin is the publisher and a chapter is on a Congress minister who was primarily responsible for converting the 2G spectrum as a scam.  Raja describes the details in cinematographic style. 

The Shiv Sena has demanded the government hold a meeting with NDA constituents ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament due to begin on Monday. The Sena said former PM and senior BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee always consulted the Sena ahead of Parliament sessions, but this government has chosen to ignore allies.


The Sena complained that allies are not consulted as they used to be earlier and reminded the BJP government both at the Centre and Maharashtra that the party has always stayed with the BJP even when it was not in power for 10 years  

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi does not want any leader above the ago of 55 to be in political focus. Which is why the Congress leadership is happy to allow former Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh (73) to remain in the shadows. Singh wants to launch a regional party with the BJP's help, but Rahul Gandhi has chosen to turn a blind eye from such political betrayal.

This is because Rahul has already chosen Ravneet Singh alias Bittoo a 32-year-old two-time Congress MP to head the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee.

-- Delhi Court adjourns matter of 26/11 attacks handler Abu Jundal's production for statement till August 5.


-- Pakistan's Mohammad Hafeez banned from bowling for a year, says ICC. 

Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia today said the issue of Vyapam scam will be raised during the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament as he accused Madhya Pradesh government of "inaction" in probing the massive irregularities, in which many accused and witnesses have lost their lives.


"We believe that the delay has been caused on part of the state government's inaction over all these years. Many lives have been lost. Those who gave bribes, many thousands of them are lying in jails but those who have taken bribes are still roaming around free," Scindia said.


He said quick action on the scam and also with regard to the deaths is very much required. Asked whether the Congress will raise Vyapam scam in the Parliament, the Congress chief whip said, "Absolutely."

Prashant Pathrabe director of PIB has been appointed as director FTII. He will take charge at 3 pm today. He also heads the national film archives.

Meanwhile, Gajendra Chauhan refuses to step down as chairperson of the institute.

The man responsible for the beheading of an Indian soldier in 2013, which became a flashpoint in India-Pakistan ties, was killed by security forces in Jammu and Kashmir this week, NDTV reports.


Anwar Faiz, a divisional commander of the terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, was reportedly killed on Monday, July 13, at Rajauri in Jammu and Kashmir. Sources say he was trying to sneak into India along with a group of terrorists.


Army sources say Faiz was involved in the killing of two Indian soldiers. Lance Naik Hemraj Singh was beheaded and another soldier, Sudhakar Singh, was killed on January 8, 2013, in the Mendhar sector of Jammu and Kashmir.


That incident and a series of ceasefire violations plunged India-Pakistan ties to a new low. Later that year, five Indian soldiers were killed in an ambush in the same sector, in a joint attack by Pakistani Special Forces and terrorists.

Vyapam scam: CBI registers murder case in death of medical student Namrata Damor whose body was found dead on railway track. This is the fourth case the CBI has registered. 

The BJP Parliamentary board is pragmatic enough to know that the monsoon session of Parliament will be a washout. So seniors in the party are focusing on Bihar because the BJP, quite cleverly, has got the the land bill pushed to early next year and if they can manage to push the GST Bill through this monsoon session, it will be a major hurdle crossed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed two of his senior Union Ministers to contact the Congress leadership and discuss the various pending legislations ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament to begin on Monday.

Every government sends envoys to the opposition ahead of a Parliament session and the Modi govt is no different, except for the fact that the government expects major disruptions in the session thanks to the Lalit Modi-Vasundhara Raje-Sushma Swaraj controversies.

Whispers getting louder...

Doordarshan's Kisan Channel was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 26, at a time of distress when debt-ridden farmers were committing suicide. Yet, months before the launch, officials in the public-funded channel were involved in a serious backchannel exercise to get Bollywood stars to endorse it. Their search stopped with Amitabh Bachchan, who was roped in for Rs. 6.31 crore, which is said to be the most expensive endorsement ever by the actor. Read more

Bajrangi Bhaijaan is an over-earnest, oversimplified, sweet and frequently schlocky film, which works because of a finely picked supporting cast, some sharp lines of dialogue and, most crucially, its overall heart, writes Raja Sen.
Read

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi interacts with party workers in Jaipur. Here's a gist of the speech:

-- Many of you walked with me yesterday, in the heat. Thank you. Yesterday for the first time I understood the practical side to wearing a "pagdi", when I was preparing to walk in the heat for 10 km.


-- On Lalit Modi: I liked the film Lagaan. In that the farmers were disunited, then they got together and protested against tax. One British officer in the movie realized that he couldn't help the farmers because his remote control was in London. British thought that these dhoti-clad farmers don't know anything. But then the farmers won, not just in the film, in reality too. Today as well, this govt's remote control is in London. He presses a button there and the reaction is seen here. Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje is all about helping a "bhagoda" but she doesn't want it known in our nation. Rajasthan's remote control is in London. So here it's not Vasundhara Raje govt in action but Lalit Modi's govt. Yeh rishtey puraaney hain....kab say chaley aa rahein hain.


-- Land Bill: Kisan kii do ma hoti hain, ek jo usko janam detii hai, ek uskii zameen. (A farmer has two mothers-- the one who gives birth to him and the other, his land). Yesterday, eating at farmer's house, Sachin (Pilot) turned to me saying he had eaten at many restaurants, but never had dal, roti this amazing. Now that he (Modi) has become PM, why should he be concerned with farmers? He made several promises, empty ones.



On corruption: It is Lalit Modi sarkar in Rajasthan, Vyapam sarkar in MP, Munde sarkar in Maharashtra. Rahul Gandhi is not saying this, the people of this country is saying this. For the first time we have a govt which wants to help the opposition.


-- Land Bill: Ek inch zameen nahin denge, chhappan inch ki chhaati 5.6 inch ki chhati ban jayegi, dekh lena aap. Hindustan ke kisaan, Cong aur humari janata us 56 inch ki chhaati ko 5.6 ki chhaati bana degi dekh lena aap. Alluding to the PM's 56 inch chest, Rahul says, the Congress and the people will change his 56 inch chest to 5.6 inches."

Delhi Govt offers journalist Akshay Singh's sister Pakhi Singh a job as an Assistant Manager of legal cell of DSIIDC.


Akshay Singh was in Meghnagar in Jhabua to talk to the family members of scam-accused Namrata Damor, who herself was found dead under mysterious circumstances.


Jhabua Superintendent of Police Abid Khan said that Singh and his two colleagues interviewed the family for around an hour, after which the journalist suddenly fell ill. He was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared him dead.

PM Narendra Modi speaking at the centenary celebrations of Girdhari Lal Dogra in Jammu.

Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma plays the santoor during the PM's visit to the state. The PM is attending the centenary celebrations for state leader Girdhari Lal Dogra, who was finance minister several times, in Jammu . He is accompanied by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.


PM Modi is likely to announce a mega development package of around Rs 70,000 crore for the state today. He is also likely to announce an All India Institute for Medical Sciences or AIIMS for the Jammu region.

@news_houndz  tweets:  One journalist dead, two injured in Mira Road in suburban Mumbai in attack by bar goons while covering police raid on illegal dance bars. Deceased journalist identified as Raghvendra Dube; injured reporters Santosh Mishra and Shashi Sharma in hospital

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Jammu to attend the centenary celebrations of former Jammu and Kashmir finance minister Girdhari Lal Dogra.


He was viewing an exhibition on Dogra in the company of Jammu and Kashmir Chief MInister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, besides state governor N.N.Vohra and other dignitaries.


Security has been beefed up in and around Jammu ahead for Modi's day-long visit to the state. According to sources, the Prime Minister is likely to announce a development package of around Rs. 70,000 crore for Jammu and Kashmir during his visit.

A fresh batch of pilgrims today left for the cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas amidst tight security. The batch comprising 1075 men, 214 women, 13 children and 147 others left in a cavalcade of 42 vehicles from Bhagwati Nagar base camp at 08:45 am, a police official said. The convoy has already reached Tikkri on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. With today's batch, as many as 32,689 pilgrims have so far left from the Jammu base camp for the Amarnath shrine.

Stampedes during religious festivals are quite common in India. Over a dozen instances of pilgrims being trampled to death have been recorded in independent India, and the common thread running through every such tragedy is the utter failure of the authorities and the public alike to learn any lesson from previous disasters.  Read more

Security forces confirmed Friday that they had busted a terrorist hideout near the Line of Control (LoC) in North Kashmir. According to a television channel report, arms and ammunition were found dumped in the area. Among the arms recovered were two rifles and 12 grenades. Search operations of the area are underway on the basis of intelligence inputs received. Further details are awaited.

The BJP has suspended a leader in Madhya Pradesh who has been named in an FIR or police complaint by the CBI in the Vyapam scam.


The BJP has only just taken action against Gulab Singh Kirar after the CBI FIR, even though he was also named by the Special Investigation Team of the state police last year. At the time, the party choose not to act against him.


The Supreme Court yesterday agreed to hear on Monday the plea of the Central Bureau of Investigation that the Special Investigation Team be allowed to file chargesheets in the Vyapam scam cases in which the investigation is over.

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu, fixed the plea of the probe agency for hearing on July 20 and asked the CBI to serve the copy of the application to the parties concerned.

Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh, appearing for CBI, said that the transfer of more than 185 Vyapam scam cases from SIT to CBI will take time and the state investigating agency be allowed to file chargesheets in the cases in which the probe is complete.

Otherwise, the accused will get statutory bail on account of default of non-filing of charge sheets within stipulated time period, the ASG said.

Caitlyn Jenner has been slammed by one of the drivers in her fatal car accident, who doesn't think it is right that she is being celebrated for her achievements.


The 65-year-old Olympian was involved in a crash on Malibu's Pacific Coast Highway in February - when she was still known as Bruce Jenner - that killed Kim Howe.


Jessica Steindorff, the driver of a Prius involved in the pile-up, has called on Caitlyn to "do the right thing" while hitting out at the decision to award her the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2015 ESPYs, reported Entertainment Tonight.


The 29-year-old talent manager, who was a guest at the ceremony, said, "I find it difficult to understand how the culture we live in can honour a person who is responsible for taking a life and injuring several others with both an award and a reality show.

The nominations for the 2015 Primetime Emmy Awards have been announced, and "Game of Thrones" has battled its way to the top with a huge haul of 24, including one in the fiercely competitive category of Outstanding Drama Series. The globally popular fantasy series will go up against "Better Call Saul", "Downton Abbey", "Homeland", "House of Cards", "Mad Men" and "Orange is the New Black" for the coveted award. The show has also got 23 other nods, including Best Supporting Actor (Drama) for Peter Dinklage. "GOT" stars Lena Headey and Emilia Clarke are competing against each other in the Supporting Actress arena.

Just in: The BJP suspends Madhya Pradesh party leader named by CBI in Vyapam scam.