The United States Central Intelligence Agency has been involved in a "multi-year effort' to break through Apple's security code, according to a new report from the Intercept.

Afghanistan's historic struggles against British imperialism and Soviet invasion will have been in vain if the country succumbs to pressure from neighbouring Pakistan, Hamid Karzai has warned in an interview with the Guardian.

The latest weapon in the arsenal of devices to keep women safe in India is a collapsible baton that combines a Samurai sword design, stun gun, pepper spray, panic button, pen knife, oh and a sewing kit and mirror. The Samiidha Bhavani '" named after the Indian Hindu goddess of valour is tthe brain child of Pune-based orthopedic doctor Pavan Kohli and according to him is the "first fully-legal and complete self-defense device for women."

A German professor who rejected a male Indian student's application for an internship because of India's 'rape problem' has apologised. 

The Star Wars universe is set to get its first lesbian character.Moff Mors has been named as the sci-fi series first official LGBT character, although her role in the franchise is yet to be explained. Mors is thought to be an Imperial -- working alongside the likes of Darth Vader and the evil Emperor -- in a bid to conquer the galaxy and destroy the beloved Jedi Knights. The character will feature in the expanded universe series, in a new book written by Paul S Kemp called Lords of the Sith.

Rewind: Gandhi is arrested and charged with sedition on this day in 1922.

In the middle of a raging political row over the release of Kashmiri separatist Masarat Alam from jail, the ruling BJP has reportedly warned its Jammu and Kashmir ally Mufti Mohammad Sayeed: "Mend your ways or we will end the alliance." BJP president Amit Shah summoned party leader Nirmal Singh, who is the state's Deputy chief minister, and asked him to deliver a stern message to  ayeed and his PDP, say sources.

A social activist said he had been detained by police and had his computer equipment impounded after organising a public screening of the banned BBC documentary about the savage Delhi gang rape. Ketan Dixit, an activist and film-maker who has campaigned extensively against acid attacks on women, decided to put on a screening in a village in Agra on Sunday evening as an act of defiance. Dixit was subsequently arrested by police and questioned for several hours before being finally released without charge.

The Lok Sabha passed the land bill in a voice vote with 9 amendments even as the Congress and regional parties like the BJD and the TRS walked out as their amendments were not passed. 

Pakistan is to resume executions for all capital offences, after earlier lifting a moratorium on the death penalty for terrorism offences only. All condemned prisoners who have exhausted the appeals process and whose pleas for clemency are rejected, now face execution, officials say. The partial lifting for terror offences followed a massacre at a school in Peshawar in December. More than 8,000 people are on death row in Pakistan, human rights groups say.

Delhi police has launched a Facebook page to address grievances of Christian institutions and individuals in the wake of a series of attacks on Christian institutions in the city. The new Facebook page 'Delhi Police Minority Brethren' was created on February 22 and it can can be used for posting problems related to any institution or school.

Jammu and Kashmir Home Secretary Suresh Kumar has said that no further release of militants or political prisoners will take place.

The swine flu toll in the country has swelled to 1,482 while the number of affected persons crossed the 26,000-mark today even as a minister in the Rajasthan government tested positive for the disease.             

Jammu and Kashmir deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh summoned by BJP chief Amit Shah amid row over separatist Masarat Alam's release.

The release of the separatist by PDP chief and J&K CM Mufti Mohammed Sayeed has caused tremendous friction between the two parties that are running a coalition government in the state. 

A Pakistani court has reportedly issued a bailable arrest warrant against former military strongman General (retired) Pervez Musharraf in relation to the murder case of Lal Masjid cleric Ghazi Abdul Rasheed.

Centre has blacklisted 10 NGOs and issued show-cause notices to 87 in the last two years for misappropriating funds meant for social welfare.     

The Islamic State group has publicly beheaded three men in northern Iraq, two of them for allegedly engaging in homosexual acts, according to photos shared by sympathisers on social media Tuesday.

A Delhi court has discharged top Lashkar-e-Tayiba bomb expert Abdul Karim Tunda in a 21-year-old case under TADA and on several other counts.

In July last year, we had reported that leaders of the BRICS emerging market nations have launched a $100 billion development bank and a currency reserve pool in their first concrete step toward reshaping the Western-dominated international financial system. 

The molecular Indian restaurant Gaggan in Bangkok topped the S. Pellegrino Asia's 50 Best Restaurants list for 2015, moving up from the No. 3 spot last year.

In the wake of the rejection of an Indian student's internship request by a professor in Germany citing the "rape problem" in the country, Union Minister Gen (retd) VK Singh today said that differences of opinion exist and issues caused due to misunderstanding would go away.   

"Differences of opinion we do find in other countries also. It is not about differences of opinion, it is about the end result... I am quite sure that certain things, which at times get created because of misunderstanding and misapprehensions, will go away. It is not for us to do that,"said Singh, the Minister of State for External Affairs.   

Asked by reporters whether the issue should be taken up at the government level, he said, "I am quite sure a lot of things are happening which need not be discussed outside the parameters of the ministry."   

Singh said the media has great responsibility as far as this particular issue was concerned.   

Professor Annette Beck-Sickinger of Leipzig University in Germany had rejected the internship application, saying she does not accept any Indian male students for internship.

"MPs behave like hooligans. What they do inside Rajya Sabha is hooliganism," said Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha P J Kurien as Andhra MPs, especially Jesudasu Seelam, repeatedly disturbed the House.

Angry Kurien told Seelam to resume his seat otherwise action will be taken against him. After this, Seelam maintained calm and proceedings continued. 

NDTV reports:  Rahul Gandhi, whose Congress party had announced that he would be back in Delhi by today, has extended his "leave of absence" and will now return only by the end of this week, sources said.

He will not even be there to add to his party's numbers when the Lok Sabha votes on the land acquisition bill this evening.

Rahul's absence from the crucial Budget session stoked a controversy. 

Amid criticism, the Congress had announced last month when it expected its vice president back, but did not share where he was.

Criticising Pakistan for failure to contain extremist groups, an influential US sSenator today asked it to either hand over Mumbai attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi to India or present him to the International criminal court in the Hague for crimes against humanity.

Chairman of the powerful US House Foreign Relations Committee Ed Royce also said "certain families in Gulf states" are funding 600 Deobandi schools in Pakistan which was a major cause of concern. Identifying terrorism as a major threat facing the region, Royce slammed ISI, saying there was a need to strengthen the civilian government while trying to dissuade the Pakistani spy agency from types of conduct it had been engaged in.

Without naming Lakhvi, Royce, who is leading a bipartisan congressional delegation, said Pakistan must bring to justice Lashkar-e-Tyaiba terrorists involved in the 26/11 Mumbai attack case and wondered how Lakhvi is taking visitors instead of facing action.

On Tuesday Akali Dal MPs met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to protest against some clauses in the BJP's Land  Acquisition Bill. 

Senior BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain has proposed that a museum on the life and times of Prophet Muhammad be built in India, home to the second largest Muslim population in the world.

Hussain, during a recent official trip to Saudi Arabia, visited an exhibition-cum-museum on the life and times of the Prophet in Mecca, and invited Nasir Al-Zahrani, general supervisor of the 'Assalamu Alaika Ayyuha Annabiyyu' project to open a branch of the museum in India.

The museum, which already has a branch in Dubai, is planning to open 20 branches across the world, the Saudi Gazette reported yesterday.

"You have done a great service to the Muslim Ummah through your research on the life and times of the Prophet. I invite you to open a branch of this museum in India, which has the second largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia," Hussain was quoted as saying by the paper.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee might take action against Mukul Roy for speaking to the press, sources tell CNN-IBN.

Just in: The Shiv Sena, Akali Dal and the BJD have agreed to support the BJP on the land bill, NDTV reports.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vekaiah Naidu spoke to Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray. The NDA allies are unlikely to press for amendments, according to NDTV.    

The government, looking for the support of other political parties for its land reforms, has proposed nine amendments in its Land Acquisition Bill which will be voted on in the Lok Sabha today. The changes that the government has proposed seek to incorporate those suggested by other parties. Among them are amendments to ensure a better mechanism for the redressal of grievances of those whose land is acquired.

 

There're a couple of new dishes on the Parliament canteen menu: pesarattu and upma, courtesy TRS member A Jitendhar Reddy who is also chairman of the Parliament canteen committee. 

Scottish actor Daniel Portman, known for playing Podrick Payne on the hit TV show Game of Thrones, will attend the upcoming Bangalore Comic Con 2015. 

The BJP's national executive is to meet in Bengaluru April 2-4, and its slogan, 'Capture Karnataka', says all about its main agenda. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the entire Union Cabinet are expected to attend the meeting, for which party president Amit Shah will send out the invitations by this weekend. Modi is also likely to address a huge political rally on April 4.

The Supreme Court has stayed Delhi high court order allowing the accused in the Uber cab rape case to recall and re-examine 13 witnesses. It has also issued a notice to the accused and the Delhi government on the victim's plea.

Trial proceeding in the case have also been stayed.  

The Bombay high court today dismissed the petition of Congress Rahul Gandhi who sought quashing of a complaint against him in a case of alleged hate speech against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Rahul had earlier managed to get HCs reprieve of not personally appearing in the defamation case filed by RSS member Rajesh Kunte. Justice M L Tahaliyani, however, refused to grant the exemption this time around saying it was prerogative of the magistrate court, The Indian Express reported. 

Make application for exemption before the Magistrate. It is not proper for me to say something at this stage, said Justice Tahaliyani clarifying the relief was given during the pendency of the petition.

The issue dates back in the period of Lok Sabha elections when Rahul visited a village in Bhiwandi Taluka of Thane district located 20 kilometres north-east of Mumbai.

Jadavpur University professor, Ambikesh Mahapatra, who was arrested in 2012 for allegedly circulating a social media clip lampooning West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wins a case against the state government in the high court.

The court has ordered the government to compensate the professor.

Details awaited.

Smriti Irani, Uma Bharti, Maneka Gandhi, Najma Heptullah and Harsimrat Kaur are seething with anger over the step-fatherly treatment meted out by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to their ministries. 

If you are not on the riotously funny Jeffrey Archer chat on Rediff.com, you should. For the bestselling author is on a roll. Here's a sample:   

Former Uttar Pradesh minister D P Yadav, convicted in a murder case, has been sentenced to life.

He was earlier convicted in a murder case of Mahendra Singh Bhati, then MLA from Dadri in Ghaziabad district, and one of his associates.

Bhati and his close friend Udai Prakash Arya was gunned down by armed assailants on September 13, 1992.

Out of the four accused, DP Yadav, Karan Yadav and Praneet Bhatti have been convicted under section 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 326 (causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Pal Singh, alias Lakkad, was found guilty under section 302, 307, 326 of IPC as well as section 27 of the Arms Act.

West Indian batting great Viv Richards has been voted as the greatest ODI player in the history of the game ahead of India's cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar in an online poll.

With an astonishing 29 of 50 jurors picking him as the best ODI player of all time, Richards won by a landslide in an exercise conducted by ESPNcricinfo's magazine 'Cricket Monthly'.

Tendulkar, the most-prolific one-day batsman of all time, narrowly beat former Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram. The last two positions in the top five were taken by Australia's Adam Gilchrist and current Indian ODI skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Through the late '70s and '80s, Richards dominated the one-day arena like no other cricketer, and helped his side to two World Cup victories in 1975 and 1979. In terms of longevity and batting stats Tendulkar has no equal. Arguably the greatest batsman in contemporary cricket, Tendulkar rewrote many records during a glorious career spanning 23 years.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh said today that he is not satisfied with the report of the Jammu and Kashmir government on the release of separatist Masarat Alam.      

"We have sought clarification," Rajnath said. "The government in Jammu and Kashmir, where BJP is a partner, is not a priority for us," home minister told PTI.

Opposition parties today sought to corner the government over reports that the Jammu and Kashmir government was planning to release 800 more
separatists and sought to know if the state's governor has mentioned this in his report to the Centre. 

President United States Barack Obama exchanged emails with Hillary Clinton on her private email address while she was Secretary of State but only recently learned the details of the personal email server she was operating, the White House said today.   

Obama had previously said he learned of Clinton's exclusive use of private email while at the State Department"the same time everybody else learned it," after it wasreported in the media.   

"The president was aware of her (Clinton's) email address; he traded emails with her. That should not be a surprise, that the president of the US is going to trade emails with the secretary of state," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.   

"But the president was not aware of the fact that this was a personal email server, and that this was the email address she was using exclusively for all her business," he said.   

The controversy over Clinton's use of private email address -- for the entire four years she was serving as secretary of state -- broke out last week after news reports said that Clinton used a domain named "clintonemail.com" to create the email account on January 13, 2009, the same day she began the confirmation process in the Senate.

After freeing Hurriyat leader, Masrat Alam from the prison the Jammu and Kashmir government has cleared release of 15 Pakistani nationals including the border crossers and militants of different outfits lodged in various prisons.

Sources said the cases of militants and those Pakistani nationals who have inadvertently crossed over to this side have been cleared by the state's home department recently.

Officials said they are waiting for the dates to be finalised with Pakistan for deportation of the nationals to neighboring country through the Wagah border.

According to officials among the Pakistani nationals lodged in different prisons are the militants who faced cases of recovery of arms and ammunition and killing of forces and civilians. Officials said the 15 Pakistani nationals who are to be deported back are among the 68 persons in whose favour the consular access has been received from the Pakistani embassy.

India's ban on the BBC gang-rape documentary will "not last very long" as the country's courts"are not puppets" of the government and civilised values will return, the British filmmaker behind the controversial film has said.   

"My prediction is that the ban will not last very long a tall because the courts of India are not puppets of the government," Leslee Udwin, director of  'Storyville: India'sdaughter' told PTI in an interview in New York.  

"India is a democracy, it is actually a civilised nation even though the current ban would suggest otherwise -- that the most important pillar of democracy, which is free speech,has been stamped upon in this ban. It (the ban) is temporary. It's not going to last. Civilised values will return, the ban will be lifted and then I hope when all of this hysteria dies down, they will focus on saving the women of the world rather than hiding their particular shame," she said.

Normalcy today returned to Dimapur town with authorities lifting prohibitory orders imposed in the town in the wake of lynching of a rape accused.

However, Internet and SMS services continued to be blocked. Prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC have been lifted from Dimapur town from 6 am till 4 pm, DIG (Range, NAP) Liremo Lotha, who is officiating as Dimapur SP in the wake of the suspension of the SP after the lynching incident, said.

Shops, commercial establishments opened in the day and people in large number thronged the market to buy essential commodities, police said. School, colleges, educational institutions and offices were also open, they said.

43 people have so far been arrested in connection with lynching incident and "police are on the job to nab all those who were involved," Additional Superintendent of Police Dimapur Kakheto said.

Mark Lippert, the US ambassador to South Korea who was slashed at a breakfast meeting last week, has been discharged from hospital in Seoul, BBC reports. 

Lippert suffered gashes to his face and hand when he was attacked by a knife-wielding Korean nationalist. He told reporters before he was discharged that the US mission to be "open and friendly" would not change.

The attacker, Kim Ki-jong, was tackled at the scene -- he has denied charges of attempted murder.

A satire on how to survive the beef ban. Read the story here

Reacting to a statement by the Aam Aadmi Party that accused Yogendra Yadav for anti-party activities, he said, "I want to thank my colleagues that they made their views public in a statement."

"I welcome the statement by 4 colleagues. Begins the possibility of open, transparent dialogue. Truth shall prevail," he said. "Hope this statement ends all slander, planting of allegations. I appeal to my colleagues that they stop forcing Delhi MLAs to endorse statements against us."

The AAP statement accused Yadav of planting stories against Arvind Kejriwal in the media.

The decision to remove Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav from the PAC was taken on March 4 by the AAP's national executive.

Philanthropist Sam Simon, one of the creative minds behind the popular animated series 'The Simpsons', has passed away due to terminal colon cancer. He was 59.

Simon died yesterday at his home here, his foundation, the Sam Simon Foundation, confirmed the news via Facebook, reported Time. "It is with much sadness that we must let you know that Sam Simon has passed over," the announcement read.

Simon was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2012, and was told he had only three to six months left to live. He survived that diagnosis. Simon had said in an interview earlier that he was able to stay positive despite his diagnosis.

He reportedly said he was planning to donate $100 million of his fortune to charity, mostly to animal organisations.

A graduate of Stanford University, the director had nine prime time Emmys to his name. One was for his work on 'The Tracey Ullman Show', where fellow 'Simpsons' co-creators Matt Groening and James L Brooks also worked, while the other awards were for 'The Simpsons'.

Simon left the show in 1993, just four years after it debuted on Fox, but remained in the credits as an executive producer and continued to earn money from the show thanks to home video sales deal. He also wrote episodes of 'Taxi', 'Cheers' and 'It's Garry Shandling's Show' before landing 'The Simpsons'.

Ruckus continues in Rajya Sabha for the second day in a row over the release of Kashmiri separatist leader Masarat Alam.  

Addressing the Upper House, Finance Minister  Arun Jaitley said, "The government has sought clarification from Jammu and Kashmir." He said that the Centre was not happy about the release.   

At Bharatiya Janata Party's parliamentary party meet held this morning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked ministers to brief MPs regularly on what each ministry is doing.

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has to pay Rs 2 lakh as demolition charge for the illegal ramp outside his house in Mumbai's suburban Bandra.

A notice has been sent to the actor to recover the cost of demolition. Khan used the ramp to park his vanity van.

According to a MiD DAY report, the fee for the demolition, approximately Rs 2 lakh, must be payed by the actor within 7 days under Section 489(1) of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC) Act. The ramp, which was built adjacent to his house, was causing severe traffic issues around Mount Mary Road in Bandra. 

A notice was sent to the actor to remove the ramp, and when there no response from his side, the demolition was carried out. It was BJP MP Poonam Mahajan to complained to the civic body about the ramp.  

Was the Narendra Modi government unaware that the order to release Kashmiri separatist Masarat Alam from jail was a decision taken when the state was under central rule?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today laid wreath at the Amar Jawan Jyoti to commemorate World War-I centenary.

The commemoration is in memory of the 1.5 million Indian soldiers who fought in the war under British Empire and over 74,000 who made the supreme sacrifice, whose names are etched in stones on the walls of India Gate, the war memorial.

The period 2014 to 2018 is being commemorated as the Centenary of First World War.

The Modi government has made significant changes in the controversial Land Acquisition Bill as it seeks to garner support from an Opposition which has opposed it as being "anti-farmer". It moved nine amendments, including doing away with exemption to social infrastructure projects in Public-Private Partnership mode, reports NDTV.

The original Act requires the consent of 70 per cent of farmers in the area where land is to be acquired for Public-Private Partnership projects.

India's Daughter, the documentary on the December 16 Delhi gang rape, premiered in the United States last night.

Slumdog Millionaire's Frieda Pinto and Meryl Streep were among those who attended the event at New York's Baruch College. The screening started with a candlelight vigil honouring the Delhi braveheart.

India's Daughter "needs to be shown", Freida told BBC.      

Press Council chairman Justice Markandey Katju stirred another controversy today by calling Mahatma Gandhi a British agent in his latest blog post.

Gandhi did great harm to India by injecting religion into politics, he said."By constantly injecting religion into politics continuously for several decades, Gandhi furthered the British policy of divide and rule," Katju wrote in his blog.

Read the complete blog here

Apple unveiled its first wearable device in San Fransico last night. Here are 13 things to know about the Apple Watch.

The divide within the Aam Aadmi Party continues to widen.

A statement released by the party this morning attacks its senior leaders Yogendra Yadav and Shanti and Prashant Bhushan.

"We have decided to expose Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan to the world. Bhushan told leaders not to campaign for Delhi elections. Yadav was planting stories against (party chief and Delhi CM) Arvind Kejriwal and AAP. They worked against the party during the polls." 

The national council will decide on expelling Yadav and the Bhushans, the statement adds. 

The destruction by ISIL militants of many of Iraq's archaeological treasures has provoked international outcry.

Sam Simon, a co-creator of "The Simpsons" and animal-rights advocate who made a midlife career shift into philanthropy and channelled much of his personal fortune into social causes, has died. 

President Barack Obama knew that Hillary Rodham Clinton conducted business on a nongovernment email account while secretary of state, but only recently learned the details of the privately run system she was operating, the White House said. 

UN investigators probing the 2014 Gaza war today requested for a deferral of their report presentation to allow them time to add more information after the head of the team quit under Israeli pressure. 

North Korea apologised to Bangladesh after one of its diplomats was caught trying to smuggle 27 kilograms of gold into the south Asian country, a Dhaka official told AFP. 

The United States has begun to deploy 3,000 troops on a three-month exercise to reassure Russia's nervous neighbors in the Baltic, military officials said. 

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif today dismissed as of "no legal value" a letter from 47 US senators warning that any nuclear deal will require Congressional approval. 

President Barack Obama slapped sanctions on seven Venezuelan officials , accusing them of perpetrating human rights violations and public corruption in the socialist-governed South American nation. 

Judges at the International Criminal Court urged the UN Security Council to "take the necessary measures" to tackle Sudan's persistent refusal to arrest the country's president and send him to The Hague to stand trial on charges of orchestrating genocide in Darfur. 

Russia has vastly enhanced its military capabilities in Crimea since annexing the peninsula, turning it into a "power projection platform," a senior NATO general was reported as saying. 

The United States announced a USD 5 million increased reward for information leading to the return of former FBI agent Robert Levinson, as it marked the eighth anniversary of his mysterious disappearance in Iran. 

Mamata finally meets PM on his ground, on her terms
Student denied internship in Germany because of India's 'rape problem'
Indian-American political legend to run for Congress
Oppn rejects land bill, dubs govt move 'pro-corporate'
Stalin, Tamil Nadu's own Prince Charles
Juveniles, accused of heinous crimes, to be tried as adults
'US and India continue to advance the issue of freedom of religion'
'If my politics is Leftist, it doesn't mean I am a Maoist'
He stabbed me, darling: Indian techie's last words to husband
We won't see the likes of Vinod Mehta again
Vinod Mehta: The man who had editorial chemistry