LIVE! F-16 sale to Pak 'complicates' India-US relationship: McCain

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Thu, 25 February 2016

F-16 sale to Pak 'complicates' India-US relationship: McCain

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22:22 F-16 sale to Pak 'complicates' India-US relationship: McCain

Top Republican senator John McCain today acknowledged the "timing" of the announcement on the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan was "really bad" and that the Obama administration needs to explain the reason behind its decision which "complicates" India-US relations.

At a time, when the US is pushing hard to improve its defence relationship with India as part of its effort to maintain its dominance in the Asia Pacific region, such a move tends to "complicate" India-US ties, McCain, Chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters at the Defence Writers Group. "I think that the future of Asia, if we want to have the kind of influence that we always had and a deterrence to the Chinese behaviour is a very close relationship between the United States and India.

Which by the way the F-16 issue complicates that," McCain said. Senator Bob Corker, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has put a hold on the administration's notification to the US Congress early this month on the proposed sale of F-16s to Pakistan.

At least 104 students of a zila parishad-run primary school in neighbouring Palghar district were today admitted to hospital as they suffered health problems after consuming mid-day meal food, district officials said. Over a 50 students of the school at Kasa Budruk village complained of health problems immediately after eating the packed food this afternoon.

"Nearly 280 students of the ZP school at Kasa Budruk in Palghar district were served the food under mid-day meal scheme this afternoon.

After eating, over 50 students immediately complained of severe stomach ache, nausea, giddiness and other health problems," Vikramgadh tehsildar Suresh Sonawane said. After being alerted about the situation, local police as well as the revenue and health department officials arrived at the school.

"As a precautionary measure, the authorities took all the 280 students to Kasa Rural Hospital for medical checkup. While 104 affected students were hospitalised, others were discharged after medical examination," district health officer S B Gaikwad said.

DIPP Secretary Amitabh Kant today washed his hands of the Freedom 251 phone, which has run into a major controversy with questions being raised over the company providing mobile handset at a dirt cheap price.

"This is not a Govt project. Make in India team has nothing 2 (to) do with this," tweeted Kant, the outgoing secretary of DIPP which is the nodal agency for the 'Make in India' campaign. In an earlier tweet on February 19, Kant had said: "It's not d (the) price of handset; its broadband connectivity & operational cost: Freedom 251: priced at Rs 251".

On this tweet, some Twitter users raised objections as why a government representative of 'Make In India' was clarifying on behalf of Freedom 251 company, which has been embroiled in controversy since the launch of the smartphone.

In another controversial turn of events in the Freedom 251 saga, Ringing Bells has been accused of "fraud" and non-payment of dues by its customer service provider -- a charge refuted by the smartphone company.

21:32

The police had applied for the production warrant of Kumar yesterday on the ground that he was needed to be confronted with the other two students in view of the discrepancies in their statements regarding the controversial JNU event.

While opposing the plea, Kumar's counsel, Bankim Kulshrestha, said that the police already had got five days' custody of his client and it had sufficient time to interrogate him in the matter.

The counsel further said that there was no connection between Kumar and the other two students arrested in the case as they belong to different student wings.

The police had arrested Kumar on February 12, a day after a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy was registered at Vasant Kunj (North) Police Station in connection with an event in the varsity's campus in which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised.

21:17 Kanhaiya Kumar sent to 1-day police custody

JUST IN: A Delhi court has sent jailed JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar toone day police custody in a sedition case.

Kanhaiya will be in jail for five more days as the Delhi high court decided yesterday to hear his bail plea on February 29.

Kanhaiya was arrested in a sedition case on February 12 after an event held at the JNU campus against the execution of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

The Mumbai police has identified 16 spots across the megapolis which are "dangerous for clicking pictures", a senior police official said. The move comes in wake of several deaths in Mumbai while clicking selfies, he said.

According the official, these spots include popular sea-fronts like Bandra Bandstand, Marine Drive and Juhu Chowpatty. Last month, police had initiated process of identifying and marking certain spots in the city as 'No Selfie Zones' in a bid to discourage people from putting themselves at risk while taking selfies.

In January, three girls -- identified as Tarannum Ansari, 18, her friends Anjum Khan, 19, and Masturi Wasim Ali Khan, 19, -- were clicking selfies standing on a rock jutting out of sea near a fort during which they lost balance and fell.

A local youth, Ramesh Walunju, had jumped into sea to save the girls, but could save two of them. Walunju, however, drowned during the rescue process. Police had said Tarannum's body remained untraced.

In a bizarre incident, a woman in the US found a very rare pearl worth $600 in her seafood dish while dining at an Italian restaurant. Lindsay Hasz and her husband were recently enjoying an evening when they decided to dine at Montalcino Ristorante Italiano in Issaquah, Washington.

Hasz ordered the frutti di mare, a traditional Italian medley of seafood and shellfish. Then she bit into something unexpected.

"It was quite jarring. In fact, I thought I almost broke my tooth it was so hard," she was quoted as saying by KOMO-TV.

Inside the meat of a clam on her dish she found what looked like a pearl. "I thought maybe it was an earring from an employee in the kitchen and it fell into my dish," Hasz said.

She did not tell the restaurant and took the item home to do more research. Hasz matched the deep purple sphere against pictures she found online and found news articles of people finding what looked like a Quahog purple pearl in their food.

The Supreme Court has set aside a Delhi high court verdict which held that selected persons cannot be accorded quota benefits on account of non-submission of OBC certificate before cut off date, saying weaker sections should not be deprived of reservation as they have been facing "centuries of oppression".

A bench comprising Chief Justice T S Thakur and V Gopala Gowda referred to an earlier high court verdict that had said that the candidature of those candidates, who belonged to the SC and ST categories could not be rejected simply on account of the late submission of caste certificate.

"The division bench of the high court erred in reversing the judgment and order passed by the single judge, without noticing the binding precedent on the question laid down by the Constitution Benches of this court in the cases of Indra Sawhney ...wherein this court ...held that the object of providing reservation to SC/ST and educationally and socially backward classes of the society is to remove inequality in public employment, as candidates belonging to these categories are unable to compete with the candidates belonging to the general category as a result of facing centuries of oppression and deprivation of opportunity.

JUST IN: Vijay Mallya resigns from post of Chairman of United Spirits; to become Founder Emeritus of the company.

More details are awaited.

Congress today distanced itself from its senior leader P Chidambaram's remark that the case of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, who was hanged in 2013,"was perhaps not correctly decided".

"The decision of the honourable Supreme Court in the Afzal Guru case is final and declaratory of law and justice in the case. It is futile to reopen this debate since the matter has attained judicial finality. Every citizen and instrumentality of the government is bound in law to accept the judgment of the final court," party spokesman Ashwani Kumar told reporters.

Kumar, also a senior advocate like Chidambaram, said that"Congress party accepts the SC judgment in the case as final and correct".

Replying to a question, he said the Supreme Court has itself said that "we are not infallible but we are final" Chidambaram has been quoted as having said in a newspaper interview that he felt it was possible to hold an "honest opinion" that the Afzal Guru case was "perhaps not correctly decided" and that there were "grave doubts about the extent of his involvement" in the Parliament attack.

India today said it has "carefully noted" Pakistan Foreign Minister Sartaz Aziz's remarks on detention of JeM chief Masood Azhar and the issue will be discussed when the Pakistani SIT will visit the country in connection with the Pathankot terror attack.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said India was awaiting a firm proposal from Pakistan on "dates and composition" of the SIT and only after that security agencies will decided what all places will be visited by the team when asked about Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's comments that the SIT will not be allowed to visit Pathankot air base, the site of the attack.

"We have carefully noted the comments made (by Aziz) on Maulana Masood Azhar. I think it will be a subject of discussion once the SIT visits India," Swarup said but did not give a direct reply on whether Pakistan has officially informed India about the JeM chief.

During a TV interview recently, Aziz had said Azhar, along with a few other operatives of the JeM, has been kept under protective custody and that some of the terror outfit's premises have also been sealed.

CBI today filed its reply in a local court opposing the application filed by Indrani Mukerjea, prime accused in the Sheena Bora murder case, seeking bail on medical grounds. Indrani's application, filed on February 5, says her health was deteriorating.

The CBI said in the reply that she was being provided with medical treatment at Byculla women's prison here where she is lodged. She was being given nutritious food from the jail canteen and as per the medical reports, her condition was good, it said.

Indrani's application claimed she was suffering from frequent black-outs. She had developed `chronic small vessels ischemic changes' and as a result supply of oxygen to the brain may get interrupted, leading to brain stroke which could be life-threatening, it said.

It also said that when she fell unconscious in jail last October, it took more than six hours for the treatment to start. Indrani, her current husband and former media baron Peter Mukerjea, former husband Sanjeev Khanna, and her former driver Shyam Rai have been arrested in the Sheena Bora murder case. CBI has filed two charge sheets in the case.

18:48

JUST IN: 247 students have taken ill in Maharashtra's Palghar area after consuming mid-day meal.

18:20 Wasn't stopped from examining Rohith, HCU doctor disputes Smriti's claim

The chief medical officer of Hyderabad Central University has rejected HRD Minister Smriti Irani's claim that students prevented doctors a chance to revive Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula after he was found hanging. CMO Dr Rajashree said she was the one who declared Rohith dead on January 17 and that she was not stopped by students when she went to the hostel room.

Irani, in her speech in Parliament on Wednesday, claimed that students hid the body till the next day morning without allowing access to either doctors or the police. "In fact it was the students took me to the room and kept on requesting me to do something to revive Rohith," Dr Rajashree said. The CMO said Rohith was already dead for two hours by the time she reached the hostel around 7.30 pm on January 17. She said she checked his vitals for 10 minutes before declaring him dead.

Dr Jayashree also said police arrived at the hostel in the next few minutes and that after completing the formalities took away the body.

An Indian-origin Malaysian woman sued Malaysia Airlines and the government for $7.6 million (Rs 52 crore) in damages over the loss of her husband on Flight MH370 which mysteriously disappeared nearly two years ago with 239 people onboard.

Thirty-two-year-old K Sri Devi's husband S Puspanathan, then a governance specialist, was among the 239 passengers including five Indians and crew on board the Beijing-bound Boeing 777 aircraft.

Devi, who is a housewife, filed the $7.6 million negligence suit before the Kuala Lumpur high court by her lawyer Shailender Bhar.

New Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Kalikho Pul has won the floor test with the support of 40 MLAs in the House having an effective strength of 58.

Dissident Congress leader Pul was sworn-in as the eighth CM of the state on Friday after over three months' of political instability. The President's rule, which was imposed in the state on January 26, lifted on February 19.

Earlier, the last session of previous assembly was held in a makeshift venue at Naharlagun in December last year. In the session, Speaker Nabam Rebia was impeached and the Nabam Tuki government was voted out by 33 MLAs in the 60-member house.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley hit out at the Congress and the Left during the debate on Hyderabad student Rohith Vemula's suicide and the JNU controversy.

-- Vandalism is condemnable and sedition is free speech - nobody can subscribe to this ideology, least the Congress

-- "The core question is, are we going to give respectability to those whose primary ideology is that they want to break this country?"

-- "Can anybody say that their (Maqbool Bhat and Afzal Guru) martyrdom should be celebrated. Let us be very clear about the kind of functions that was organised in HCU and JNU"

In a step to secure its bases after the Pathankot attack, the the Indian Air Force has sought the services of trained canines from paramilitary ITBP for security duties.

ITBP officials said the Air Headquarters has sought help from the Union home ministry to allow it "procure" a contingent of trained dogs for anti-sabotage and explosive detection duties from one of the paramilitary forces, preferably the ITBP.

The Indian Air Force, they said, has informed that at present it does not have "adequate" number of canines to deploy for such duties and hence it is seeking "immediate" help in this regard from their counterparts in the internal security domain after a comprehensive security audit of its 950 flying and non-flying bases necessitated the urgent requirement for having these security measures.

16:21

JUST IN: Sensex falls 112.93 points to close at 22,976.00. Nifty down by 48.10 to close at 6,970.60

15:50 US enlists tech giants to fight ISIS messaging

Seeking to bolster its effort to counter ISIS messaging on social media, the Obama administration is assembling something of a high-tech dream team to battle the terrorist group online.

At a meeting conducted at the Justice Department on Wednesday, executives from Apple, Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, MTV and Buzzfeed offered their input to top counter intelligence officials, according to an industry source familiar with the meeting.

Nick Rasmussen, Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, told the group the administration is making strides in combating ISIS on social media, where the terrorist army has inspired potential lone wolf assailants to carry out attacks.

"The freedom I was waiting for 23 years is what I finally tasted today," Sanjay Dutt said.

"Today I am missing my father a lot," Dutt added.

"I know it will take some time for me to convince myself that I am free," Dutt said.

"Its still not sinking in, it feels like I am on furlough," Dutt added.

"I am proud to be an Indian, that is why I kissed the earth and saluted the tricolour when I came out," Dutt said.

"She is not my better half, but my best half," Dutt said speaking about his wife Manyata, who accompanied him from Yerwada Jail to Mumbai today.

"I gave the Rs 440 earned in the jail to my wife, as any good husband should," Dutt added.

"My biggest relief was when court said you are not a terrorist," Sanjay Dutt said addressing his first press conference.

"Miss my father who wanted to hear this all his life," Dutt added.

"Salman is and always shall be my younger brother. I pray that he becomes an even bigger star," Dutt said speaking about superstar Salman Khan.

"I would request to the press, I am convicted in the arms act, not in the bomb blasts case. Please don't portray me as a conspirator," Dutt said concluding his press meet.

14:59 Coast Guard arrests 9 Sri Lankan fishermen

In two separate incidents, nine Sri Lankan fishermen were arrested by the Coast Guard for allegedly fishing in Indian waters, while four fishermen from this coastal hamlet were reportedly beaten up by naval personnel of the island nation off Katchatheevu.

The Sri Lankan fishermen were arrested by the Coast Guard while fishing off Kodiyakarai,

Joint director of fisheries department Suburaj said, adding the Coast Guard also seized their two boats. The fishermen were later taken to Karaikal to be produced before a court, he said.

Meanwhile, four Tamil Nadu fishermen were allegedly beaten up by Sri Lankan naval personnel off Katchatheevu.

The dreaded Islamic State miltant group has made life threats to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in a new video which shows their photos riddled with digitally added bullet holes, mocking the social media websites' attempts to block terrorist content from their platforms.

In the 25-minute video, the IS claim they are fighting back against efforts by the social media giants to wipe their platforms of accounts promoting terrorism.

The video includes a direct threat to the tech entrepreneurs, branding them allies of the American "Crusader government". Pictures of Zuckerberg and Dorsey can be seen being blasted with a hail of bullets in the amateur footage which emerged.

The video, titled "Flames of the Supporters" and released by a group calling themselves "the sons of the Caliphate army", ends with a direct threat to the two men, The Sun reported. A slide toward the end of the video reads, in English: "To Mark and Jack, founders of Twitter and Facebook and to their Crusader government. You announce daily that you suspended many of our accounts and to you we say: is that all you can do? you are not in our league. If you close one account we will take 10 in return and soon your names will be erased after we delete you (sic) sites, #Sons_Caliphate_Army".

A Delhi court today refused to allow Delhi Police to collect voice samples of two JNU students -- Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, arrested in

a sedition case.

According to court sources, Metropolitan Magistrate Lovleen dismissed the application of Delhi Police, which had arrested both the accused students after they surrendered on the night of February 23, seeking permission to collect their voice samples for investigation in the matter.

Umar and Anirban were last night sent to three days police

remand at the South Campus Police Station near JNU which was

turned into a makeshift court room following an order of the

Delhi High Court to "maintain confidentiality" during their

remand proceedings.

14:20 PM Modi's pat for Rail Budget

Just In: This Rail Budget will play a key role in the country's rejuvenation, says Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Rail Budget caters to all sections of society. It stands out because it is infrastructure-led and employment-generating, he said.

Two Left workers were today arrested for allegedly damaging university property and preventing police from discharging their duties during the incident of 'ransacking' at Burdwan University administrative campus on February 23.

Sheikh Naseem Ahmed and Sheikh Feroz were picked up from their residences in Burdwan town at around 1.30 am, the police said.

While Ahmed is the secretary of the town zonal committee of Democratic Youth Federation of India, the youth wing of the CPI-M, Feroz is a DYFI member, the police said.

Burdwan police station inspector in-charge Priyabrata Bakshi said the duo were arrested on several charges, including assaulting university employees, attacking women police personnel and illegally entering the campus with lathis and bamboo poles on February 23.

The hugely successful e-tourist visa (e-TV) facility will be extended to citizens of 37 more countries, including Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark and South Africa, from tomorrow, taking the total count of countries under the scheme to 150.

The new 37 countries included in e-tourist visa scheme are Albania, Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Botswana, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cape Verde, Comoros, Cote d'lvoire, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Eritrea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana and Greece.

The others are Guinea, Iceland, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Moldova, Namibia, Romania, San Marino, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Trinidad & Tobago, Zambia and Zimbabwe, an official statement said.

14:01 JeM terrorist arrested in Baramulla

Security forces on Thursday said they had arrested a Pakistani suicide bomber of the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) outfit in Baramulla district in Jammu and Kashmir.

Military spokesman S.D. Goswami told IANS from Udhampur that the army and police caught Mohammad Sadiq Gujjar, 17, who had carried out an attack three months back on an army camp in Kupwara district.

He was accompanied by three associates who were killed in the November attack.

Gujjar, son of Walid Mohammad Gujjar, was a resident of Sialkot Daska in Pakistan.

13:49

'We are at a point in our history where caste radicalism has emerged as the critical force that will fight the Hindu right and its version of oppressive nationalism. The battle lines seem precisely drawn '" between a Hindutva-based nationalism and a caste-critique that shows up the impossibility of Hindu unity (or indeed Muslim unity, if the recent pasmanda discourse is anything to go by),' says Aditya Nigam, a historian based at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi, in kafila.org here.

13:45 SC asks Delhi, Haryana to resolve Munak Canal water dispute at earliest

The Supreme Court on Thursday disposed off a petition filed by the Government of NCT Delhi with regard to the maintenance of regular water supply from the Munak Canal in neighbouring Haryana after the latter's counsel informed the apex court that water supply to the national capital has almost been resolved.

Passing its order on the petition, the Supreme Court bench hearing it said that both the governments of Delhi and Haryana can sit down together and resolve the remaining minor issues themselves, but at the same time said that either of the two governments was free to approach the apex court again should the problem persist.

13:42 Pakistan's undeclared war on scholars

'Since 2011 I have inspired several "planted" stories that have appeared in Pakistani papers and obscure blogs alike. These artless rants would be amusing if they were not dangerous. On one occasion, an article actually gave information about where I was staying in Pakistan which was a clear intent to cause me harm or signal the ability to cause me harm.'

C Christine Fair, South Asia expert, associate professor at Georgetown University and is the author of Fighting to End: The Pakistan Army's War of War, outlines the calumny spread against her in Pakistan by the deep state.

'In early February, The News, published an article that alleged that I have nefarious links with Baloch insurgents, she says. 'Another recent attempt to malign me and several of my colleagues was published in the Pakistan Observer in mid-February. This piece was written by a former Pakistan air force group captain and "TV Talk Show Host" named Sultan M Hali.'

Fair concludes: 'If Pakistan's armed forces and intelligence agencies are afraid of a few scholars and their facts and key boards, how can they confront Pakistan's real enemies who are the hordes of terrorists it once nurtured but who have turned their guns and suicide vests against their erstwhile patrons?'

You can read her article here.

Australia today announced an ambitious plan to boost the country's defence capabilities by pledging to spend USD 139 billion over the next decade in what Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called "high stakes" and

"momentous times" in Asia.

The announcement came with the launch of 2016 Defence whitepaper that includes bolstering the country's naval strength by doubling the size of its submarine fleet to 24, as well as commissioning three additional air warfare destroyers, nine anti-submarine frigates and 12 patrol boats.

The ambitious plan also includes adding some 2,500 new military jobs to expand the total defence force to 62,400 personnel.

Dutt, who was released from prison earlier, returned to Mumbai via a chartered plane from Pune.

The Bombay high court has adjourned the hearing of a PIL challenging the early release on remission of Sanjay Dutt from Pune's Yerawada prison, after observing that there was no urgency as the actor has already been released today.

A division bench of justices V M Kanade and Revati Mohite Dere sought to know from petitioner Pradeep Bhalekar, a social activist, why he approached the court at the last minute.

Dutt, who served the five-year sentence awarded to him the by Supreme Court in the 1993 bomb blasts case, was released this morning from the Yerawada prison near Pune after the Maharashtra home department granted him remission considering his good behaviour.

Bhalekar, in his petition filed yesterday through advocate Nitin Satpute, challenged the government's decision and sought for it to be quashed and set aside.

Advocate Satpute mentioned the petition before the bench today seeking urgent hearing, but the court refused and said nothing urgent remained in the petition as Dutt has been already released.

12:51 Pak shuts down 254 religions seminaries

Pakistani authorities have shut 254 suspected and unregistered religious madrassas across the country as part of a crackdown on religious seminaries involved in extremism.

167 suspected seminaries in Sindh, 13 in Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa, two in Punjab, and 72 unregistered seminaries in Sindh have been closed, said Balighur Rehman Minister of State for Interior & Narcotics Control with the National Assembly.

The minister shared the government's measures to curb sectarian violence under the National Action Plan to combat terrorism, their implementation and the results achieved until February 16.

Bombay high court to hear PIL opposing Sanjay Dutt's early release on Monday.

The HC added that there is "no urgency" in this matter.

The Supreme Court today agreed to hear tomorrow a plea seeking contempt action against three lawyers who were allegedly caught on camera "bragging and boasting" that they had beaten up JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar and others, including journalists, in a court complex.

"Let it be listed tomorrow before the bench concerned," a bench comprising Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice U U Lalit said when lawyer Prashant Bhushan sought urgent hearing of the matter filed by another advocate Kamini Jaiswal on the issue.

Bhushan said that a bench headed by Justice Chelameswar had fixed another pending matter on JNU issue for hearing on March 10 and the instant plea needed to be heard urgently.

An overwhelming crowd gathered as Sanjay Dutt reached Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai today.

Dutt, who was released from prison earlier, returned to Mumbai via a chartered plane from Pune.

After paying obeisance at the temple Dutt is expected to proceed to south Mumbai to pray at his mother, yesteryear star Nargis's grave, before heading home.

11:50 Sanjay Dutt arrives in Mumbai

Sanjay Dutt was accompanied by his wife Manyata at Mumbai Airport his after release from Pune's Yerwada Jail today.

Dutt was greeted by fans and relatives as he waded through a crowd gathered at the Mumbai Airport waiting his arrival.

Dutt, who was convicted in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case for possessing illegal weapons and sentenced to five years in jail, had already served 18 months before the guilty verdict was pronounced.

A day after HRD Smriti Irani ripped into the Opposition on the Rohith Vemula and JNU issue, CPI-M's Sitaram Yechury in the Rajya Sabha got a chance to respond. Speaking, the CPI-M member said that it was his humble request that the nation get rid of the sedition law that was being used to arrest our students.

Yechury also said, "We want freedom from casteism, from poverty and you can arrest me if you want."

He added that what the government did in JNU was partisan intervention.

Former Union Minister Farooq Abdullah today said India will not be able to keep Kashmir if the forces who see Muslims of the country with suspicion and pit the minority community against the majority are not reined in.

"A storm is brewing in India which is ringing alarm bells and, if we do not understand this, if we continue fighting Hindus with Muslims, then I am telling them from here that they (Centre) cannot keep Kashmir. This is the truth even if you do not like it," Abdullah said addressing National Conference workers on the first death anniversary of the partys former general secretary Sheikh Nazir.

Abdullah said Muslims were not the enemies of the country but were still seen with suspicion.

Abdullah said India lives in the hearts of Muslims.

The United States and China have reached an agreement on a new UN Security Council draft resolution aimed at punishing North Korea in the wake of its recent nuclear test and for violating previous resolutions, a Security Council diplomat told CNN on Wednesday.

The resolution is going to be described as the toughest yet on Pyongyang.

The text of the draft is not yet available but the document will likely be voted in by the full Security Council "in a couple of days," once other nations have an opportunity to weigh in on the language, according to the diplomat.

Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt on Thursday walked free out of the Yerwada prison.

Clad in blue shirt and jeans, a smiling Dutt was escorted out of the imposing jail gates after completing formalities.

After walking out of jail, Dutt clicked a selfie outside the building. He also bowed down, touched the soil outside the prison, turned around and saluted the national flag flying at the prison gate.

He spent 42 months and his stay was mired in various controversies relating to his frequent paroles and furlough.

Nearly three years after the UPA government ordered the hanging of Afzal Guru, P Chidambaram, who held the home and finance portfolios in the UPA government, told ET that he felt it was possible to hold an "honest opinion" that the case was "perhaps not correctly decided".

He was responding to a question on whether the courts had reached the correct conclusions in the Afzal case and also whether execution was the appropriate penalty.

"I think it is possible to hold an honest opinion that the Afzal Guru case was perhaps not correctly decided," he told ET in an interview.

"But being in government you cannot say the court has decided the case wrongly because it was the government that prosecuted him. But an independent person can hold an opinion that the case was not decided correctly."

Read the entire piece HERE.

10:24 Arunachal CM faces floor test today

The newly sworn-in Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Kalikho Pul will on Thursday take to floor test.

Ahead of the Confidence motion, the Pul government received a shot in the arm with eight MLAs, who are believed to be loyalists of former chief minister Nabam Tuki, extended their support to him on Wednesday.

With the joining of the eight MLAs, the strength of the Pul camp has now grown to 41, including 28 Congress members, 11 BJP and two Independents. The House has an effective strength of 58, though the original strength was 60.

A new Speaker will also be elected as the seat is lying vacant since December 16.

Dissident Congress leader Pul was sworn-in as the eighth Chief Minister of the state on Friday after over three months' of political instability. The President's rule, which was imposed in the state on January 26, lifted on February 19.

Though he availed of remission for "good behaviour", actor Sanjay Dutt was averse to wearing prison uniform while in the Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai where he had been lodged initially after conviction in the Mumbai blasts case before being moved to Yerawada prison here.

"He was not willing to wear prison uniform during his initial stay at the Arthur road prison. He, however, complied after being told in stern words," said Deputy Inspector General, Prisons (jail administration) Swati Sathe recalling the Bollywood celebrity's stint as a convict behind bars.

Asked to describe Dutt's daily routine at Yerawada Central Prison (YCP) where he spent most of his five year sentence under the Arms Act, Sathe said he followed the same drill meant for other prisoners.

"This meant getting up at 5.30 am, offering morning prayers, exercise, tea, breakfast, and then work cut out for the day. While other prisoners went to the work shed to undertake their prescribed work, Dutt, assigned cane work and making of paper bags, did it in his own cell for security considerations," she added.

Filmmaker and close friend of actor Sanjay Dutt, Rajkumar Hirani was present at Pune's Yerwada Jail to pick up the actor upon his release from prison.

"Obviously I'm very happy that Sanjay Dutt is back," Hirani told the media.

Hirani has made two succesful Munnabhai films with the actor in the past and is currently shooting a biopic on the actor's life with Ranbir Kapoor playing Dutt's part.

The Home Ministry will extend e-tourist visa scheme to 37 more countries from Friday, taking the total number of beneficiary countries to 150.

The new 37 countries included in e-Tourist visa scheme are Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cape Verde, Comoros, Cote d'lvoire, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Eritrea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Greece, Guinea, Iceland, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Moldova, Namibia, Romania, San Marino, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Trinidad & Tobago, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The government had launched the e-Tourist visa facility on November 27, 2014. Till now the scheme has been extended to 113 countries at sixteen Indian airports designated for providing e-Tourist visa service.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal is set to start his five-day visit to Punjab on Thursday to take stock of poll preparations of the party in the state.

According to reports, Kejriwal will emphasise on people-to-people meeting during his five-day visit, rather than holding mega rally in Punjab which goes to polls early next year.

Kejriwal had earlier visited Punjab in October last year, which was hit by protests due to desecration of Guru Granth Sahib.

In an emotional blog, Malayalam superstar Mohanlal has commented on the ongoing controversy that has ensued in the country due an event that took place at JNU few days back. Commenting on the issue of nationalism, Mohanlal has spoken about the role of the Army and their sacrifice for the country instead of directly commenting on the JNU controversy.

The blog, written in Malayalam and titled as 'What's the point of us living when India is dying', cites the avalanche in Siachen that killed 9 soldiers recently. Mohanlal writes that how he came across a photo of Lance Naik Sudheesh's four-month-old daughter being shown her father's dead body, and how it is shameful for citizen to sit in the comforts of one's home and speak about freedom and nationalism.

Read the full blogpost HERE.

Copies of the 2016 Rail Budget have been brought to the Parliament.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu's second railway budget, set to be presented at noon today, will be closely tracked by millions of people who commute by trains.

09:05 'No easy walk to freedom' Sanjay Dutt

"There is no easy walk to freedom, my friends," Sanjay Dutt told reporters the at Pune Airport after his release from prison.

"Unke (fans) support ki wajah se mai yahan hoon (I'm here because the fans supported me)," Dutt added.

Dutt was accompanied by wife Manyata as he entered Pune Airport following his release from Yerwada Central Jail.

The actor was released 103 days ahead of the official end of his prison term on the grounds of 'good conduct'.

Dutt, who was convicted in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case for possessing illegal weapons and sentenced to five years in jail, had already served 18 months before the guilty verdict was pronounced.

After the Supreme Court upheld his conviction in 2013, the actor had to server 42 months of his remaining jail term.

Actor Sanjay Dutt has reached Pune Airport after his release from Pune's Yerwada Jail where he was serving time.

Dutt is expected to visit the Siddhivinayak Temple following which he will visit the grave of his late mother Nargis.

08:51 Dutt salutes Yerwada Jail complex upon release

Actor Sanjay Dutt who was released from Pune's Yerwada Jail was seen saluting the prison wherein he spent 42 months of his 5-year-long sentence.

Dutt also bent down and touched the street outside Yerwada Jail as he came out.

Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, serving a five-year sentence at the Yerwada central prison in Pune for illegal possession and destruction of an AK-56 rifle in 1993 serial blasts case, was released early this morning, on completion of his prison sentence.

The actor was released 103 days ahead of the official end of his prison term on the grounds of 'good conduct'.

Dutt, who was convicted in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case for possessing illegal weapons and sentenced to five years in jail, had already served 18 months before the guilty verdict was pronounced.

After the Supreme Court upheld his conviction in 2013, the actor had to server 42 months of his remaining jail term.

On his release, the actor will fly to Mumbai, and among his first acts will be to offer prayers in the city's famed Siddhivinayak temple. After that he will proceed to south Mumbai to pray at his mother, yesteryear star Nargis's grave, before heading home.

Where, no doubt, Bollywood stars will turn up in strength to greet the actor.

The JNU row and the Rohith Vemula suicide issue which dominated the discussion on Wednesday will continue to be discussed in Lok Sabha today after presentation of the rail budget.

The United States has backed Libyan lawmakers' support for a new national unity government after the country's internationally recognized parliament said it was prevented from forming one.

"The United States welcomes the February 23 endorsement for the Cabinet of the Government of National Accord, signed by a majority of Libyan House of Representatives members," State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement yesterday.

Legislators from the internationally recognized parliament -- located in the remote eastern town of Tobruk -- signed a petition on Wednesday saying they were "forcibly prevented" from holding a confidence vote on the line-up of a new unity administration on Tuesday, when parliament lacked a quorum.

Protesters outside Pune's Yerwada Central Jail riled against actor Sanjay Dutt's release.

"There are many people inside the jail then why is he (Sanjay Dutt) not given same treatment as the others," said one protester.

Even as the protesters were detained by the police, security has been tightened outside Pune's Yerwada Central Jail ahead of the actor's release.

Posters welcoming Sanjay Dutt back to his home have been put up outside the actor's residence in Pali Hill.

Dutt to expected to visit Mumbai's Siddhivinayak temple and then his mother's grave after his release in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts case.

Egyptian President Abdel Fatah Sisi today admitted that a Russian passenger plane was downed by terrorists to harm the country's tourism industry and its ties with Russia, months after he dismissed ISIS' claims that the terror group hit the jet killing all 224 people aboard.

"Has terrorism ended? No it has not, but it will if we unite. Did the person behind the plane crash aim to hit just the (Egyptian) tourism industry? No, the intention was to harm relations with Russia, Italy and all other countries," Sisi said in in a speech shown live on television.

This was the first time that Sisi confirmed that the Russian-operated Airbus A321 had been brought down by terrorists.

01:14 Elections for 13 Rajya Sabha seats on March 21

Biennial elections to 13 Rajya Sabha seats in six states, of which 12 are ending in April, will be held on March 21, the Election Commission today said.

While the notification would be issued on March 4, the elections would be held on March 21.

The counting of votes would take place the same day, the EC said in a statement.Prominent members whose term ends include former Defence Minister A K Antony, former Law Minister Ashwani Kumar and former CEC M S Gill.

Reiterating that he would fulfil his constitutional duty to appoint the next justice to the US Supreme Court, President Barack Obama today said he is looking for a judge with a sterling record who has respect for the judiciary's role.

"A sterling record. A deep respect for the judiciary's role. An understanding of the way the world really works. That's what I'm considering as I fulfil my constitutional duty to appoint a judge to our highest court," Obama wrote in a blog post on nominating a successor to justice Antonin Scalia who died this month.

As Senators prepare to fulfil their constitutional responsibility to consider the person I appoint, I hope they'll move quickly to debate and then confirm this nominee so that the Court can continue to serve the American people at full strength," he said.

In a rare blog post, Obama said it is one of the most important decisions that a president will make. "Rulings handed down by the Supreme Court directly affect our economy, our security, our rights, and our daily lives," he said.

00:14 Top headlines of the last 24 hours

Lawyer Vikram Singh Chauhan arrested for Patiala House assault; freed on bail
Court sends Umar, Anirban to 3-day police custody
Irani takes on opposition, says she is being targetted
Oppn targets govt over JNU, Vemula issue; BJP targets Rahul
PIL against Sanjay Dutt's Thursday release
Shocking! Why this police officer was beaten up
28 killed, 200 injured during Jat quota agitation: Haryana DGP
MII show fire: Report says safety norms flouted by organisers

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