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Sat, 26 September 2015

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23:50 Case of stalking against Salman Khan's 'relative'

The police in Mumbai have registered a case of stalking against Bollywood actor Salman Khan's "relative", following a complaint lodged by the actor's health consultant.

"We have registered a case against Abdullah Khan for continuously trying to contact the complainant through social networking sites and hacking her Facebook and Instagram accounts," said an official from Oshiwara police station in suburban Mumbai.

The FIR described Abdullah Khan as Salman Khan's "relative".

The complainant told police that Abdullah had proposed a marriage to her, but she declined. "Later Abdullah started contacting me through mails, WhatsApp, SMS and calls with repeated requests," the complainant said in her statement to the police.

He also threatened to kill her and hacked her Facebook and Instagram accounts and posted obscene messages, she said.

"A case of stalking was registered yesterday under the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act," said the victim's lawyer, advocate Aabha Singh. No arrest has been made so far.

Pope Francis arrived in the City of Brotherly Love on Saturday for the final leg of his US visit and immediately called for the church to place greater value on women. In his homily, he said the future of the Catholic Church in the US requires a much more active role for lay Catholics.

"It means valuing the immense contribution in which women, lay and religious, have made and continue to make to the life of our communities," he said.Francis has repeatedly said women should have a greater role in church leadership, although he has rejected the idea of ordaining women.

21:24

ASTROSAT, India's first ever dedicated satellite for astronomical studies, to be launched on September 28

21:13 Death toll of Indians killed in Hajj stampede rises to 22

The number of Indians who have died in Mecca's stampede in which 769 people have died has risen to 22, tweeted External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. Thursday's stampede in Mina during Hajj is being called as one of the worst tragedies to beset the annual pilgrimage in the last 25 years. "The latest statistics up to this hour reveal 769 dead. That is an increase of 52 on the previous figures," Saudi health minister Khalid al-Falih told a news conference.

Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, a convict in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, was back to his prison cell at Yerawada jail this evening on expiry of his 30-day parole. He had been out on parole since August 27 this year. "He returned to the jail this evening after expiry of his 30-day parole," jailer Milind Kurlekar said. The actor's frequent application seeking parole andfurlough have been criticised by various quarters including social and political organisations.

A Japanese mountaineer who has previously lost nine fingers to frostbite is nearing the final stage of an attempt to climb Mount Everest. Latest contact suggests that Nobukazu Kuriki, 33, has reached the South Col, where he will rest before a final push later on Saturday to reach the summit.

Kuriki is the first person to attempt the climb since Nepal's devastating earthquake in April. It will be his fifth try at reaching the summit in the past six years. Kuriki is expected to rest on the South Col for about seven to eight hours before attempting the final leg of the climb.

20:18 Ten tough questions Facebook is asking Modi

On Sunday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will join Facebook Inc. founder Mark Zuckerberg for a live chat hosted on the social media website and answer questions submitted by its users. More than 36,000 comments have been sent so far in response to a post by Zuckerberg inviting questions ahead of a townhall-style online event during Modi's visit to Facebook's headquarters in Menlo Park, about 30 miles south of San Francisco in California.

Click HERE to find out the 10 tough questions posed to Modi

A Central Intelligence Bureau official posted at Rongapara area of South Garo Hills district of Meghalaya bordering Bangladesh has gone missing since September 24. Police officials suspect the IB official Bikash Singh has been abducted by unidentified militants. A senior police officer confirmed to Rediff.com that efforts were on to trace the IB official, who hails from Bihar.

"We dont know the fate of the abducted IB official. The identity of the militant group involved in is unclear at the prsent time and we are doing our best to trace him," said the police official.

-- K Anurag/Rediff.com

After hosting a G4 summit where he pitched for UNSC reforms within a fixed time frame, Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for California where he will be having a discussion with IT head honchos and later conduct a town hall on Facebook. Modi is also scheduled to have a meeting with the Indian diaspora in San Jose on Monday morning.

19:29 Former Nepal PM Baburam Bhattarai quits party

Baburam Bhattarai, Nepal's former prime minister and top Maoist leader sympathetic to Madhesis, today resigned as lawmaker and also quit the party to form his own political "force" amid differences with the major Nepalese political parties over the new Constitution. Bhattarai, a veteran leader of the Unified CPN-Maoist, was the senior-most leader after party chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal, popularly known as 'Prachanda'.

Bhattarai, who spent his years as a student at New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University and is said to have close links with India, has been sympathetic to the agitation launched by Madhesi parties demanding more rights and representation to the people residing in the southern plains of Nepal.

18:36 Death toll in Hajj stampede climbs to 1,100

A medical source has revealed that the death toll in the stampede at Mecca during Hajj has reached a whopping 1,100 people. The stampede has been described as the one of the worst tragedy to hit the annual pilgrimage in 25 years. Today, it was also reported that 18 Indians had died in the annual pilgrimage.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is holding a special summit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. The four leaders form what is known as the G-4 group - countries which back each other's bid for permanent seats at the UN Security Council. Speaking at the summit, Modi firstly welcomed all of the leaders after a break of 10 years. The PM said, "Climate change and terrorism are new concerns, cyber and space new frontiers of our opportunities and challenges. At such a juncture, the reform of the Security Council within a fixed time has become an important task."

Pushing for a permanent seat at the UNSC, Modi said, "The Security Council must include the world's largest democracy. I am sure that this meeting today will give impetus for our efforts in this direction."

17:10 Modi to host G4 summit to push for UN reforms

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will soon hold a G4 summit in New York to push for the United Nation Security Council reforms. In a tweet, he wrote, "Today, will host a summit of G4 leaders on reforms of UNSC. Will then travel to San Jose & attend programmes there." The G-4 grouping comprises Brazil, Germany and Japan, besides India.

Two days after Google's Sundar Pichai welcomed PM Modi to the US tech hub, the PM has responded to Pichai on Twitter, tweeting, "Thanks @sundarpichai for your message. I appreciate the role of @google in @_DigitalIndia & look forward to meeting you today."

Mumbai police expect a floating crowd of approximately 30 lakh people across 120 visarjan points during the final immersion on Sunday. Around 45,000 cops, from the rank of constable to joint commissioner, will be deployed to control the crowds.

Since the past week, all holidays of policemen have been cancelled for bandobast duty. Most personnel will be in plainclothes. Cops have already held meetings with local residents, NGOs and volunteers for their support.

16:06 Amit Shah's official website launched

BJP general secretary Ram Lal today launched the website of party chief Amit Shah, who hoped it will help interact with the people of the country and party workers.

"I always receive complaints from people that I interact less with media. I do accept that. I have found a simpler way to interact with the people of the country, and particularly, the workers of the party through this website," Shah said at the launch.

He said different activities of the party, government and his own activities will be available on "www.amitshah.co.in" which will help dissemination of information to workers. The BJP chief said the website will be fully operational and all its content will be available within a week and shortcomings, if any, removed.

15:31 Pope Francis to release rock album 'Wake Up!'

Pope Francis has embarked on a whirlwind US multi-city tour where he's greeted by throngs of screaming fans wherever he goes, plays to a packed house at Madison Square Garden, causes a ticket scalper frenzy, and even has his own merchandise.

If he didn't already sound like enough of a rock star, he's now solidifying his status by actually releasing a rock album. The Pope is releasing a rock album. Pope Francis has collaborated with music label Believe Digital on an album called 'Wake Up!' that is set for release on November 27.

Social activist Medha Patkar and some of her associates were arrested here today while they were going to Kachri village of the district, where farmers had held protests and clashed with police against acquisition of their land by the UP government for a power plant. Additional SP (trans-Yamuna) Ashutosh Mishra said a case against Patkar and the others was registered as they had not taken prior permission from the district administration to visit the "sensitive area".

14:50 New human remains of MH17 victims found

The authorities in the Ukraine have collected new human remains of victims of the MH17 flight disaster, the Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice has said.

Mortal remains and personal belongings were found in the vicinity of a burned site, near Hrabove, where flight MH17 came down. The mayors of the surrounding districts have collected all material and safely secured it over the past few months.

Currently, a Dutch team from the ministry of defence, the police and the ministry of foreign affairs, is in Ukraine for the first hand-over of the remains and to collect parts of the crashed aircraft.

Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 crashed in eastern Ukraine on July 17 last year after being apparently shot down on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. All 298 people on board died, of which 296 have been identified.

R K Singh, the Bharatiya Janata party MP from Arrah, criticised his party unit in Bihar for denying tickets to the rightful candidates in the upcoming state assembly polls. "Popular sitting MLAs are denied tickets and criminals are being given the tickets. No wonder party workers are enraged in Bihar," Singh said.

"What is the difference between you (BJP) and Lalu Yadav if you give tickets to criminals?" Singh further asked. He further accused the state unit of not doing justice to people of Bihar by giving the tickets to the criminals.

"If people believe that your government will provide good governance, then you should act in same way. People would for the clean image candidates than that of the criminals," he added.He further accused the party of allegedly accepting money over the distribution of the tickets in the upcoming polls.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken up with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon the issue of lack of consultation with large troop contributing countries like India on peacekeeping operations.

Modi met Ban at the world body's headquarters in New York yesterday before his address to world leaders at the UN Sustainable Development Summit. The discussions between them focused on peacekeeping, UN Security Council reforms, sustainable development including climate change as well as regional issues, spokesperson in the ministry of external affairs Vikas Swarup told reporters.

While assuring Ban that India would continue to be a strong supporter of UN peacekeeping, Modi said there has to be a change in the manner in which decisions were taken about troop contributions to peacekeeping operations.

Modi said while India has been the largest contributor to international peacekeeping operations, it along with other troop contributing countries is not consulted adequately enough before peace keeping operations are authorised.

Just In: CBI registers corruption case against Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.

CBI carries out at searches at 11 places in Himachal Pradesh and New Delhi in connection with the alleged corruption case, PTI reports, quoting sources.

The death toll of Indian pilgrims in the grisly stampede at the Haj, which has so far claimed the lives of 717 people, has risen to 18.

"Eighteen Indian Hajis are now confirmed dead," spokesperson in the ministry of external affairs Vikas Swarup said yesterday of the worst tragedy to hit the annual pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia in 25 years..

Of the 18 Indian victims, nine hailed from Gujarat, three from Tamil Nadu and one each from Telangana and Kerala. Four others are yet to be identified.

At least 13 Indians were also among the over 800 people injured in the tragedy.

Respecting Sri Lanka's sovereignty, India has said it supports quest for justice by the people of the country who were victims of the alleged war crimes during civil war against the LTTE.

"As far as India is concerned, we naturally support the quest for justice. At the same time we are respectful of Sri Lanka's sovereignty. We are hopeful that a way will be found where both these points and objectives can be met," external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly summit.

The Sri Lankan government is "engaging" with the UN Human Rights Council and there is a "sea change" in the approach of the new government in this island nation, he said yesterday.

08:12 Modi, as-Sisi meet for the first time

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Friday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York.

The meeting was "reaffirming an ancient connection," said Vikas Swarup, spokesman of the ministry of external affairs in a tweet soon after the meeting.

This was the first meeting between the two leaders.

07:56 Modi meets Jordan king, discusses IS threat

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has acknowledged that the dreaded terror group Islamic State poses one of the greatest challenges facing the international community today and said there is a need to "delink terrorism from religion".

During a meeting with King Abdullah of Jordan on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session, Modi discussed ways to prevent radicalisation of youth and to counteract extremist messaging, external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said after the meeting yesterday.

"Both leaders acknowledged that ISIS was one of the greatest challenges facing the international community. The prime minister said that there is a need to delink terrorism from religion," Swarup said.

Modi said the only way to combat international terrorism and the menace of organisations like IS (also known as ISIS) was to have a global response.

He specially referred to the long pending proposal of a comprehensive convention on international terrorism, saying the time has now come for the international community to speak on one voice on this important issue and adopt this global convention.

Modi and King Abdullah also discussed the UN Security Council reforms.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the first head of government to visit the Facebook campus in Menlo Park.

A small city in its own right catering to almost 6000 of the company's employees with everything from open air cafeterias to a public transport system of its own, the facility is winding up to put up a grand show on Sunday.

The event will be in a town hall format and people have been asked to send in questions they want to ask the prime minister.

The prime minister is expected to have about 15 minutes with Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg before they take the stage on Sunday morning.

The company is expecting a lot of outsiders for the event with employees allowed to bring in guests.

Read more HERE

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif arrived in New York today to participate in the 70th annual session of the UN General Assembly.

Sharif, who arrived late afternoon local time will stay at the Waldorf Astoria, the same hotel where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is staying.

Modi addressed the Sustainable Development Summit hosted by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon yesterday on September 25, when the new and ambitious post-2015 development agenda will be adopted. Sharif is scheduled to address the high-level summit meeting on September 27.

Both Modi and Sharif will also attend the UN Peacekeeping Summit.

Sharif will address the annual debate of the UNGA on September 30, a day before External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj addresses the gathering of world leaders on October 1.

The US lawmakers, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, will greet Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Silicon Valley reception.

The Barack Obama administration has said the U.S. relationship with India "will be one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century."

In recognition of this shift in US-India relations since the change in Indian leadership 17 months ago, the Congressmen are lining up to greet Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Community Reception to be held at SAP Center in San Jose on September 27.

Several members of Congress are confirmed to be in attendance for the Prime Minister's address to a diverse crowd of 18,500 people.

Included in this group are Ami Bera (D-California) and George Holding (R-North Carolina), the co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Indians and Indian Americans, a bipartisan group formed in 1993 that is an influential voice in championing strong ties between the US and India, as well as the growing Indian-American community in the US.

World Bank president Dr Jim Yong Kim praised the progress made in the ' Swachh Bharat' and the 'Clean Ganga Programme' during his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New York.

Ministry of External Affairs official spokesperson Vikas Swarup while giving details of the meeting told the media that the World Bank president said that the Prime Minister's reforms have had a huge impact on the way in which the world looks at India.

Swarup informed that Dr Kim also acknowledged that what was happening in India was actually very different from what had happened in other countries and that he maintained that the World Bank wanted to be strong partner as India moves forward on these targets.

"The Prime Minister of course expounded on the progress that had been made on the number of thousands of toilets that have been constructed; on the international technology that was being sought now for the Clean Ganga Programme; on his ambitious programme of 175 giga watts of renewable energy," Swarup said.

Swarup further said the World Bank president also enquired about India's position on climate change. To which, the Prime Minister gave a lengthy exposition

03:22 Top headlines at this hour:

PM Modi @ UN: Eradicate poverty for global peace

Modi to bless hackers at Code for India hackathon

At UN, Pope appeals to the moral conscience of man

UN chief tells Modi he hopes to see India's leadership in South Asia

Full Text: What PM Modi told world leaders at UN summit

Read Friday's Commentary HERE

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