An Air India flight from Patna, carrying about 100 passengers on board, made an emergency landing at the IGI Airport tonight due to technical snag. 

At least one militant was today holed up in a mosque in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir as security forces launched an operation there. An army official said security forces launched the operation in Kanthpora village of Lolab following information about the presence of militants in the area. 

Yoga guruBaba Ramdev, who is a known supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has said that he sees a lot of 'Indianness' in Congress president Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Uttarakhand DGP B S Sidhu today laid the foundation stone of a petrol pump at the police lines here to be named after Shaktiman, the police horse who died recently of injuries sustained during a BJP protest rally in the city last month.

Congressman Ami Bera announced that following his request, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has invited Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi to address a joint session of Congress during his visit this June. 

Speaker of the US House of Representatives Paul Ryan has tweeted, "Today, I invited Prime Minister Modi of India to address a joint meeting of Congress when he visits Washington this summer."

In view of the heatwave condition prevailing in many parts of West Bengal, the Election Commission today issued an advisory to political parties asking them to avoid public meetings in extreme heat.

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, the Union Minister for Parliamentary affairs, put the Rajya Sabha Chairman in an awkward situation today by raising the issue that newly inducted MP Dr Subramanian Swamy's name had been omitted by the Chair from the approved list of those MPs raising a question during Zero Hour.

Deputy chairman PJ Kurien at once stood up and said that ministers should not raise such subjects. Since Kurien is privy to certain developments and the approved list was not given to the minister there was a communication gap. But according to BJP MPs Chairman Hamid Ansari on Thursday struck Dr Swamy's name from the list after approving his name to raise a point of order on the AgustaWestland helicopter issue.

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly backed Salman Khan's appointment as Goodwill Ambassador to the Rio Olympics 2016 saying the Bollywood star would add the glamour quotient and at the same time bring more visibility to sports.

The sports fraternity is divided on the move of appointing Salman.

While Milkha Singh and Olympic Bronze medalist Yogeshwar Dutt slammed the move, Viswanathan Anand and Baichung Bhutia have said they found nothing wrong with it. The Indian Olympics Association also defended their decision.


Ganguly said, "I'm happy and fine with him (Salman) being the ambassador as he brings visibility and glamour quotient to anything.
"You cannot deny that Salman is popular and he would bring visibility to the Rio Olympics. He is an entertainer. I think it's fine to have him appointed as the ambassador. I think they can have other ambassadors as well, it's nowhere written that they can only have one ambassador," Ganguly said.


He added that famous sportspersons should team up with Salman.
"There have been some outstanding athletes who have brought laurels to the country, I'm sure they can team up with Salman. At the same time, there is no harm in having other ambassadors. They can work along with Salman and bring glamour, entertainment and sport together. We have some legends in the country they can be a part as well."

The Congress has been accusing the BJP government of being vindictive and revengeful over the AgustaWestland chopper scam. The Congress feels cornered after the BJP forced senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel to appear on national television to defend himself. Patel has said on the AgustaWestland scam, "If I am guilty, let them hang me."

In the aftermath of  Ahmed Patel's TV appearance, the BJP got into its groove and said if Patel, a close confidante of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, is not afraid why should he call up journalists and give bytes?  "That shows, 'daal me kuch kala hai', the BJP said briefing its spokespersons today to focus on point during tonight's TV debates.


Union Minister of Finance Arun Jaitley on Thursday briefed spokespersons backed with data on how the BJP government from the day 1 of its assuming office began to blacklist AgustaWestland. The fact that Jaitley was briefly Defence Minister before Manohar Parrikar took over, helps.


In fact, it is Jaitley who takes a daily 'pathshala' for BJP spokespersons to articulate points during press meets. This class is from 1-1:30 pm inside Parliament House while the House is in session. There are at least 15-20 spokespersons at the classroom every day.

BJP MPs in Central Hall have been speculating on the dinners attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with union ministers and the message it seems to send out.


Over the last one month, the PM has been dining with Cabinet ministers like Sushma Swaraj (how times have changed for the one-time LK Advani loyalist), Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and Ram Vilas Paswan.


BJP MPs have been speculating on why the PM did not visit other senior ministers -- does it mean they have have fallen from grace?

We'd like to believe it's just deserts for non-performing ministers.

Highly-placed BJP sources tell us that Urban Development minister M Venkaiah Naidu will be the BJP nominee in the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh, while MoS Industries and Commerce Nirmala Sitharaman goes to the Upper House from Andhra Pradesh. Two vacancies come up in June 2016.

Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi has given his views on the AgustaWestland helicopter scam and the defence Ministry is now perusing the AG's view for taking appropriate action with other ministries.

The  Ministry of Defence Ministry says there are over 1 lakh pages on the Agusta case which have been delivered to the Indian Embassy in Rome by the foreign ministry of Italy.

These papers will be studied by the Indian authorities Which will take roughly three months, since the 1 lakh pages are in Italian and need to be translated. 

Some good news for the rest of the world.


North Korea fired what appeared to have been an intermediate range ballistic missile on Thursday but it crashed seconds after the test launch, South Korea's defense ministry said, the second such failure this month.

A defense ministry official told Reuters that the launch from near the North Korean east coast city of Wonsan appeared to have been of a Musudan missile with a range of more than 3,000 km, at about 6:40 am local time (2140 GMT).

Isolated North Korea has conducted a flurry of missile launches and tests of military technology in the run-up to a rare congress of its ruling Workers' Party that is set to begin on May 6.

Thursday's apparent failure, however, marks another setback for young leader Kim Jong Un.

A similar missile launched on the April 15 birthday of his grandfather and the country's founder, Kim Il Sung, exploded in what the US Defense Department called a "fiery, catastrophic" failure.  

The budget session of Parliament is likely to go in for an early adjournment with the CPM, AIADMK, CPI and BSP wanting the session to end by by May 6. The House is to sit till May 13, Friday.


The reason is that these parties want to focus on assembly elections in their states -- West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.


Besides, the government does not seem to have an agenda for the Lok Sabha beyond May 6. But the Rajya Sabha is another matter altogether, since  budgets have to be voted.


In all fairness, the Prime Minister is likely to consult his ministers about an early adjournment and a decision will be taken by this weekend.


Meanwhile, the buzz in Central Hall today was about impending pay hike for parliamentarians. MPs spoke about a 100 per cent increase not only in their monthly salary but also in their perks like furniture, constituency allowances etc.

The Union Cabinet is expected to discuss this next week and on May 6, the government may announce the decision on the floor of the Lok Sabha.

The BJP is bringing out a booklet on the Agusta Westland scandal, and its office is in constant  touch with three Union ministers who have been asked to submit their side for the special story  on the latest scam to rock Parliament.   

Even as a political slugfest continues in Parliament over the VVIP chopper scam with the Centre and the Congress trading charges, the ministry of defence has issued a statement saying that no stone will be left unturned in pursuing all means to bring to justice the corrupt and the wrong-doers in this case. The MoD further added that the Centre has taken effective action to bring out the truth in the case. 

"Irrespective of religion or caste, people will say 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' if they are well fed. It is anti-national to reduce 33 crore people to a state of starvation and poverty," says Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut. 

BJP chief Amit Shah today launched a sharp attack on Congress chief Sonia Gandhi over the VVIP chopper scam and asked her to name those who received the "kickbacks".


"All I want to ask her is that those who gave bribe are in jail in Italy, then where are those who received the kickbacks? Who were in power at that time? They are responsible and they should bring out the truth. It should be disclosed before the people of the country," he said.


Taking a jibe at Gandhi over her remarks yesterday that she does not fear anybody, Shah said she is "right" and that is why such "scams" keep coming out in the open.


"That is why when the National Herald corruption case happens, you say you do not fear anybody. When the AgustaWestland case occurs, you say you do not fear anybody... I want to tell her that we in Bhartiya Janata Party are afraid of the Constitution, rules and public norms," he told a group of journalists.


"I think she should come out of this mindset about whether she fears anybody or not and make it clear before the people that when it has been proved by an Italian court that bribe was given, then who received the money. Who are responsible?" he asked.


Taking a dig at the UPA government, he said it was a "rare dispensation" as scams under it were reported when it was in power and they continue to be reported even two years after it was voted out. Gandhi had yesterday rejected as "baseless" allegations linking her and party leaders to bribes in the chopper deal, calling these an attempt at character assassination.

Magnitude 5.2 earthquake felt in southwestern France.

The government today exuded confidence in the Lok Sabha that the Ganga would be cleaned by July 2018 and said the return of aqua life in the river would be the biggest benchmark to prove that it has been rejuvenated and efforts towards its cleansing have succeeded.


Responding to a series of supplementaries during Question Hour, Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti said she would announce in the House in July 2018 that the river has been cleaned and rejuvenated.


She said the return of river dolphins, turtles and gold fish in the Ganga aqua life system would be the biggest benchmark to prove that the river has rejuvenated.


Bharti said the cleanliness of a river cannot be established in a lab where quality of packaged drinking water is established. Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav suggested that the drainage system of cities should be reworked to ensure that the waste goes to the fields and not rivers. He said it would provide farmers with fertiliser and save rivers from pollution.


At this, the Water Resources Minister asked the SP leader to ask his son and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister to issue no- objection certificates to two of her ministry's projects in Mathura and Vrindavan.


She said she has not been able to get an appointment with Akhilesh Yadav and the SP chief should ensure that she gets one tomorrow. Bharti rejected suggestions that the government was not serious about Ganga rejuvenation and said what could not be achieved in the past 29 years after spending Rs 4000 crore, was taking place now.

The Indian government has come under fresh criticism after barring another Chinese exile - a Tiananmen Square activist - from boarding a flight to attend a meeting in Dharamsala.


Lu Jinghua, a well-known Tiananmen activist, was scheduled to attend the April 28 meeting of dissidents and exiles in Dharamsala - the same meeting that Uighur exile Dolkun Isa had planned to attend before his electronic visa was revoked by India, which cited a red corner notice issued by Interpol in his name.

J&K government appoints noted academic Amitabh Mattoo as advisor to Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.

Mattoo also served as advisor to chief minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, who died on January 7.

A Kashmiri Pandit, his parents did not leave the Kashmir Valley after militancy erupted in 1989-90 and his mother continued to teach in a local college till her retirement.

During his last tenure as advisor to the chief minister, Mattoo did not draw any salary from the government and took a token one rupee as monthly remuneration.

PSLV-C33 carrying India's seventh navigation satellite IRNSS-1G blasts off from the spaceport of Sriharikota.

As PM Narendra Modi observed the progress of ISRO's launch of IRNSS-1G, India moved closer to having its own navigation satellite system.


This is the seventh and last in the series of the constellation of Regional Navigation Satellite System. The IRNSS-1G on board PSLV-C33, was launched from the spaceport of Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh today.

The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System comprising seven satellites would be able to provide navigation system with much better accuracy and targeted position.

While four satellites would be sufficient to start operations of the IRNSS system, the remaining three would make it "more accurate and efficient".

ISRO had launched the sixth navigation satellite IRNSS-1F on March 10, the other five being IRNSS-1A on July 1, 2013, IRNSS-1B (April 4, 2014), IRNSS-1C (October 16, 2014), IRNSS-1D (March 28, 2015) and IRNSS-1E (January 20, 2016).

According to ISRO officials total cost of all the seven satellites was Rs. 1,420 crore.

President Pranab Mukherjee reaches Papua New Guinea. The President  embarked on a six-day trip to PNG and New Zealand, his first state visit to the two countries, which is seen as a push to India's 'Act East' policy.

Congress today raised the Pathankot terror attack issue in the Lok Sabha and advised the Narendra Modi government to negotiate with Pakistan from a position of "strength" and not "emotions".


Just before the House was to take up Question Hour, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan allowed Jyotiraditya Scindia (Cong) to raise the issue with a rider that it would not be politicised.


Amid opposition by treasury benches, Scindia recalled that the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) from Pakistan had a member from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).


Quoting a Pakistani media report, he said the JIT told the government there that "a drama was staged" to malign Pakistan and the Indian authorities did not cooperate with the team.


Referring to the remarks of Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit that the investigation into the attack does not include reciprocity, he said the government should negotiate with Pakistan from a position of "strength" and not "emotions".


Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu urged the Speaker to expunge Scindia's remarks against the government. When Scindia kept on speaking even after the House took up Question Hour, Speaker quipped that "you never listen...that is why I don't allow you."


Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti, who was responding to a question on Ganga rejuvenation, said it is sad that more than Ganga, the Congress thinks of Pakistan.

Republican presidential front- runner Donald Trump has said he would ask China to rein in North Korea's nuclear ambitions, warning that the US will not be trading as usual with the world's second largest economy which he said cannot survive without America.

"You tell them (Chinese), we are going to - either you are going to have to straighten out this North Korea problem or we are not going to be doing so much business with you," Trump, 69, told Fox News during a town hall in Indianapolis when asked how he would fix the North Korean problem as the country has recently claimed to have conducted hydrogen bomb test.

"Here is what we do. China has tremendous power over North Korea, tremendous, beyond anybody. Now they do not tell us that. They like to tweak us and say, well, we do not really. They have total control. China cannot even survive without us because economically they have been ripping us for many years to come. They have been sucking our blood," he said.

Republican presidential front runner Donald Trump today hinted at seeking help from India and other nations to address the "problem" of what he described as a "semi-unstable" nuclear-armed Pakistan. Trump's such a remarks came during a town-hall in Indianapolis in response to a question on how he would deal with countries like Pakistan which has sometimes "double dealt" with the US.


"We've given them (Pakistan) money and they've double dealt us," the interviewer said. "Yes, but the problem with Pakistan, where they have nuclear weapons -- which is a real problem," Trump said.


"The single biggest problem we have is nuclear weapons, you know, countries with them. And it's not only a country, you have nine countries right now with nuclear weapons. "But Pakistan is semi-unstable. We don't want to see total instability. It's not that much, relatively speaking. We have a little bit of a good relationship. I think I'd try and keep it," said Trump.

Top US lawmakers have expressed concerns over the Obama Administration's decision to sell eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, saying the aircraft could be used against India and not to combat terrorism. They have also urged the Obama Administration to review its decision in this regard.


"Many members of Congress, including me, seriously question the judgement and timing of such a sale. Additionally, Indo-Pak tensions remain elevated and some question whether the F-16s could ultimately be used against India or other regional powers, rather than the terrorists as Pakistan as asserted," Congressman Matt Salmon said during a Congressional hearing yesterday.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a request for police cases against Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and Ahmad Patel in the AgustaWestland chopper scam. The court will take it up next week.


Lawyer ML Sharma has petitioned the Supreme Court for FIRs or First Information Reports against the Congress leaders, who have been named in documents annexed to an Italian court in the VVIP chopper deal.


The petition comes in the middle of a massive row in Parliament over the 3,600 crore deal for the supply of 12 choppers for use by top Indian leaders including the prime minister, which was signed when the Congress-led UPA was in power.

On the fourth day of the 2nd half of the Budget session, newly inducted Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy kicks up a storm in Parliament. There was uproar in the House the moment Swamy rose to speak.

Congress MP Jairam Ramesh accused Swamy of making objectionable remarks in the House and he along with other Congress MPs refused to budge till the Chairperson PJ Kurien asks Swamy to sit down. "You first ask him to sit down," Ramesh says when the chair tells the Opposition to sit down as they rush into the Well of the House.

This is the second day that the AgustaWestland chopper controversy has erupted in Parliament.

Yesterday, Swamy made a statement linking Congress president Sonia Gandhi to the chopper case in which alleged payoffs were done in acquiring helicopters for the armed forces.

The chair got his remarks expunged.

Today as well, the chair got Swamy's remarks expunged, and said nothing would go on record. This is the second time his remarks have been expunged in two days. The chair said that Swamy was being unnecessarily provocative. Swamy said that the Congress knows the Italian Constitution better than the Indian Constitution.


Congress MP Ghulam Nabi Azad says Swamy is the BJP's new gift to the Rajya Sabha. "This man (Swamy) doesn't understand the difference between the words used in streets and ones used in Parliamnent," Azad said.

Rahul Gandhi today took "sajano ghatana" from Mamata Banerjee's political lexicon and played it back at her, saying all the talk of Bengal's development was fabricated.


"Jab mahilaon pe atyachar hota hai, do mahilayein Tumpa Kayal aur Mousumi Kayal khadi hoti hain, apne dost ke liye awaaz uthati hain. Toh apki chief minister kehti hain sajano ghatana hai. Sajano ghatana nahin hai. Bengal mein sajano vikas hai (When atrocities were committed on women, two women Tumpa Kayal and Mousumi Kayal protested for their friend. Your chief minister said it is a fabricated incident. It is not a fabricated incident. Development in Bengal is fabricated)," Rahul told the crowd in the presence of former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee at the Park Circus Maidan today.


The rally - the first with the two top leaders from the alliance - was significant as it was held two days ahead of elections in parts of Calcutta, Hooghly and South 24-Parganas. Read more

Given the strong objections to the ribbed like 'Stupa' structure design and large green spaces, there could be a further delay in commencement of the construction work of grand memorial of Babasaheb Ambedkar at Indu Mill compound in Mumbai.


Maharashtra Minister of Social Justice Rajkumar Badole today said some changes will have to be made to the current design of the memorial. Earlier, Badole held a meeting with Republican Party faction leaders like Peoples Republican Party leader and MLC Jogendra Kawade, RPI-A leader Avinash Mahatekar and others.

Supreme Court to hear a plea next week seeking registration of FIR against persons who were bribed in AgustaWestland chopper deal.

Navjot Singh Sidhu arrived in Parliament and later took oath as a member of the Rajya Sabha. 

Goa's Feni is all set to go places as the state government gets ready to amend the four-decade old Excise Act to give the traditional brew a 'Heritage Spirit' tag.


"The state government will move an amendment to the Goa Excise Duty Act, 1964, which will save Feni from being tagged as country liquor and instead would be classified as Heritage Spirit," Commissioner of Excise, Goa, Menino D'Souza said.


The amendment is likely to be moved during the upcoming monsoon session of the Goa Assembly scheduled for July.


The move is expected to open up markets for Feni across the country. The Feni distilling industry has been demanding removal of the country liquor tag as the brew has already won the Geographical Indication recognition.

Fire in Mumbai's Fort area at the Harish Chambers building. Four fire tenders are on the spot, fire under control.

Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry said that there was no breakthrough in talks with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar on his recent trip to New Delhi. The foreign secretary, who was in Delhi on Tuesday to attend the Heart of Asia Senior Officials' meeting, held talks with his Indian counterpart on bilateral issues, including resumption of the peace dialogue.

Facebook is crushing it: the company nearly doubled revenue from last year, and tripled its profit. Facebook on Wednesday posted a 52 percent surge in first quarter revenue, bucking a gloomy tech trend that has seen Apple, Twitter, Microsoft and Google disappoint investors this earnings season. 

Stung by fire incidents in various parts of Bihar due to searing heat conditions, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ordered officials to issue an advisory to ask people not to light fire between 9 am and 6 pm and observe 'havan' and puja before nine in the morning.

Prince was suffering from AIDS before being found dead last week and had refused treatment because he believed he could be cured by prayer, the National Enquirer has quoted sources saying. 

Indian Space Research Organisation is set to launch PSLV-C33 to place India's seventh and final navigation satellite IRNSS-1G in the orbit from Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota island today. The launch of the four-stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is scheduled to take palce at 12:50 pm today, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists - which unearthed the 'Panama Papers' containing details of offshore companies - has removed name of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from all its news stories in connection with Panama Papers.

The CBI and Enforcement Directorate, probing alleged corruption in the supply of 12 helicopters to India, have almost completed the "domestic part' of the investigation, but are awaiting leads from abroad to go further. 

Renowned sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik on Wednesday won a gold medal in an international sand art championship in Russia. The week-long sand sculpture competition had started on April 21 at Kolomenskoye, Moscow, he said.

After fighting for women's right to worship and enter temples like Shani Shingnapur, Kolhapur and Trimbakeshwar temple, Bhoomata Ranragini Brigade's Trupti Desai is now all set to enter Mumbai's Haji Ali dargah today. Haji Ali dargah does not allow women to enter into the sanctum sanctorum.

China has repositioned itself as a geopolitical rival of the US, a top American Senator today said, expressing concern over Beijing's aggressive behaviour in the disputed South China Sea.

The White House today strongly defended President Barack Obama's foreign policy, asserting that it increased the stature of America, made the country safe and resulted in a stronger national economy.

An ancient Gurdwara in Pakistan, Bhai Beba Singh, which remained non-functional for over 70 years after migration of Sikhs to India during partition, was opened on March 30, for worship at a special ceremony held in Peshawar.

If Olympic opening ceremonies should capture the atmosphere in a host nation, then Rio 2016's curtain-raiser should be interesting.

Shortage of ice-cream in a marriage party led to heated argument between the bride and groom sides and finally resulted in brick-batting in which three police personnel were injured and cancellation of the wedding. 

Donald Trump has detailed his foreign policy in a speech, a day after sweeping to a win in five US primaries.

Have no role in chopper deal: Fmr NSA Narayanan
WB polls: Rahul, Buddhadeb share stage 
'Racial profiling is not a valid proxy for good law enforcement'
Can the EC fight Tamil Nadu's 'cash-for-votes' frenzy?
SC puts Uttarakhand floor test on hold
No meeting between Modi and Italian PM: MEA on Agusta row 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today visited External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj at AIIMS, where she is recuperating from fever and chest congestion.