Seeking more choices, President Pranab Mukherjee's office has returned to the HRD Ministry a file recommending nomination to a vacant seat in the Executive Council of the Aligarh Muslim University. 

Earlier, the names of senior TV journalist Rajat Sharma and eminent scientist Vijay P Bhatkar, who is also the National President of RSS-linked Vijnana Bharati, had been returned by the President.

Three of the 28 members on the AMU Executive council are recommended by the ministry for which the President's nod is necessary as he is the Visitor of the institution. 

This is not for the first time that the President has taken a view different from that of the Smriti Irani headed HRD ministry. 

It is learnt that the President had ignored the HRD Ministry's recommendation while choosing M Jagadeesh as the JNU vice chancellor.

In a jolt to the ruling Congress-led UDF in Kerala ahead of the upcoming assembly polls, a senior leader of its partner Kerala Congress-M today quit the party and joined a rebel group, accusing party chief K M Mani of functioning "unilaterally".

Vakkachan Mattathil, a former Rajya Sabha MP, accused Mani group of adopting a "step-motherly attitude" towards leaders and workers associated with Water Resources Minister P J Joseph, ever since his faction merged with Kerala Congress Mani group ahead of 2011 Assembly elections. 

A group of leaders have also resigned from Kerala Congress(M) along with Vakkachan and said they would support Francis George-led group. 

The development comes two days after the Francis George-led faction decided to leave the party, alleging that Mani was functioning in an "unilateral manner". 

They alleged that "dynastic rule" was prevailing in the KC(M) with Mani trying to make his son and MP Jose K Mani as the leader of the party. 

Vakkachan said it is difficult for any Kerala Congress worker with self-respect to continue in the party. All these leaders were part of Kerala Congress (Joseph) led by Joseph before it merged with KC(M) ahead of assembly elections in 2011.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has stopped its national women's team from going to India until it gets written security assurances and guarantees for the World T20 in India.

PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan said that the women's team was scheduled to leave for India on Tuesday afternoon. 

"But their departure has now been put on hold as we are in touch with the government on the security issues in India," he said. 

Khan said that they were also still waiting visas for the women's team which will also take part in the ICC World T20 for women being held simultaneously with the men's competition.

The PCB chief said that the women's team departure has been put off until they get written assurances about the security provision for the Pakistan teams in India. 

A three-member team constituted by the Pakistan government will depart for India on Monday to assess the security arrangements for the national team for the World T20 cricket tournament beginning next week.

The Pakistan men's team was scheduled to depart for India by Thursday but they too have delayed the departure of their cricketers until the security delegation gives clearance. 

Congress President Sonia Gandhi today skipped the first-ever Women Legislators' Conference organised in New Delhi as she is "unwell".

The Congress chief was to address the inaugural session of the Conference along with Speaker of Bangladesh legislature Shirin Chaudhary, Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptullah and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Party sources said Gandhi could not participate in the Conference organised by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan as "she is unwell". 

The meet aims at providing a platform to women legislators across the country to interact and learn from their counterparts, women Union ministers, chief ministers, MPs and eminent women in the judiciary and bureaucracy.

Pakistan today said dialogue was not a favour by one country to another but a necessity to normalise relations, remarks made in the backdrop of delay in foreign secretary-level talks with India which has made it clear that action on Pathankot terror strike takes the priority.

"We are not yet in a cul-de-sac, spirit of cooperation must be retained. We want to get to the bottom of the Pathankot incident. It is necessary we avoid jumping the gun," Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit said.

Asserting that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif wants normalisation of relations on the basis of mutual respect and mutual interest, Basit, while addressing the Rajasthan Patrika Idea Fest 2016, said, "We are pursuing this policy with seriousness of purpose." 

He also pitched for "uninterruptible and uninterrupted" dialogue, according to a release by the Pakistan high commission.

"Dialogue was not a favour by one country to another but a necessity to normalise relations," the envoy said, adding that "Jammu and Kashmir was the root cause of all our bilateral problems, as mutually agreed we must work together to settle this issue".

The NDA government was in "deep trouble" and it must ponder why "apolitical" personalities from various fields returned awards and expressed dissent over "attempts to divide the society", veteran journalist N Ram said today.

He also claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies will fare badly in the upcoming Assembly elections in five states since there was no "Modi wave". 

There is a clear pattern of the Modi government adhering to an ideology and the prevailing climate of "intolerance" is not accidental, the prominent editor said at the opening session of a two-day seminar on "Mumbai Collective: Celebrating Freedom and Pluralism" in Mumbai.

"It is insufficient to say there is intolerance. It is not something accidental or isolated. There is a clear adherence to an ideology. But I am not propagating any conspiracy theory here. 

"I won't say this is an issue of fascism and I don't believe India is facing a threat of it. It's enough to say they are semi-fascist. Because the moment you term it as fascist, you overestimate the enemies of diversity and secular characteristics of India," Ram said.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal may travel to Pakistan next year as he has accepted an invitation to attend the next edition of annual Karachi Literature Festival.

At an event, KLF director Ameena Saiyid extended an invitation to Kejriwal to grace the festival as guest and the Chief Minister promptly said he will definitely go there. 

"I will definitely. We will learn from each other. We will learn from you and you will learn from us," he said.

Kejriwal was interacting with audience at conference on 'Coalition, a festival of creativity programme' at Talkatora Stadium in Delhi. 

Earlier last month, Bollywood Actor Anupam Kher had claimed that he has been denied visa by Pakistan to attend the Karachi Literature Festival, which had taken place from February 5-6.

The Delhi chief minister has not visited any foreign country after coming to power for the second time in February last year

The Taliban today refused to resume long-stalled peace talks with the Afghan government, reiterating their preconditions for holding dialogue, a statement said.

"We want to repeat our stance once again that until the occupation of foreign troops ends, until Taliban names are removed from international blacklists and until our detainees are released, talks will yield no results," it said. 

The statement comes as direct face-to-face talks between the militant group and the Kabul government were expected to start in Islamabad this week. 

"We unequivocally state that the esteemed leader of Islamic Emirate (Taliban) has not authorised anyone to participate in this meeting and neither has the Leadership Council of Islamic Emirate decided to partake in it," the statement added.

The announcement is a blow to efforts by Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and the United States to restart negotiations aimed at ending the Taliban's long and bloody insurgency in Afghanistan.

There are some "disturbing" inputs about a terror attack in India aimed at creating the "maximum media impact" during the Shivratri festival and the ongoing Parliament session, a top army commander disclosed in Pathankot on Saturday with an assurance that steps have been taken to deal with it.

"There are security-related problems today. You know, Maha Shivratri is coming. There are inputs which are disturbing but notwithstanding that extra care has been taken," Western Army Commander Lt Gen K J Singh told media persons.

When asked to elaborate, he refused but said such events are planned to create "maximum media impact". 

"See elaboration is neither required nor warranted. These events (terror attacks) are planned to create maximum media impact and when can you create a media impact when Parliament is in session, when a festival is taking place, so both happen to be going on.. So that is why, there are inputs but we have taken steps against that. I must assure you of that," he said. 

Union Minister V K Singh on Saturday targeted JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar for calling Rohith Vemula his inspiration, alleging that the Dalit scholar had organised a meeting in support of Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon.

"I read in newspapers today that a JNU student leader says that he does not draw inspiration from Afzal Guru but Rohith Vemula. I told myself that Rohith Vemula too had organised a meeting for Yakub Memon.

"Are we with those people who encourage terrorism and who abuse India?" he told a convention of BJYM, the youth wing of BJP.

At a time when BJP has been trying to play down the row over the suicide of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad university, Singh's remarks could fuel the controversy further as the Minister questioned his "support" for Memon, who was hanged for his role in Mumbai blasts.

Amid speculation that Jawaharlal Nehru Universitys chief proctor quit from the post over handling of the Afzal Guru row, the varsity on Saturday said he had resigned much before the controversy broke out.

A section of teachers and students have been claiming that Krishna Kumar, former Chief Proctor, who demitted office on February 29, resigned from the post as the administration was pressurising him about the inquiry of the panel investigating the row over an event against hanging of Afzal Guru.

"Krishna Kumar resigned from the post in late January citing personal reasons. The newly-appointed Vice-Chancellor had asked him to continue till the end of February and meanwhile an appointment was finalised to the post," a senior varsity official said.

"His resignation has nothing to do with the present controversy as the event in question took place on February 9, while he had resigned much before than that. The two incidents should not be put together," he added. 

AP Dimri from the School of Environmental Sciences assumed office as the chief proctor on March 1.

Days after his intolerance remarks, Bollywood star Aamir Khan has said India is "very tolerant" but there are people who spread hatred and appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to rein them in. 

The actor also believes that he still continues to be country's brand ambassador even though the government may have discontinued his services, saying India is his mother and not a brand.

"Our country is very tolerant, but there are people who spread ill-will... Those who speak of breaking up this vast country, such people are present in all religions, only Modiji can stop them. After all, Modiji is our PM, we have to tell him," he told Rajat Sharma in his 'Aap ki Adalat' show on India TV, according to a press release issued by the channel.

Aamir said a sense of security comes from the justice system, which should ensure speedy justice, and from elected representatives who should raise their voice when something goes wrong.

"After all, law is equal for all, and nobody is above law. Unfortunately, there are some people who spread negativity and hatred. If I am not wrong, our prime minister has also expressed concern. His slogan is 'sabka saath, sabka vikas'," he said.

The actor, who hit headlines with his remarks that his wife was thinking of leaving India over growing intolerance, also replied to megastar Amitabh Bachchan's remark that he damaged India's brand identity by his statement, saying there was a feeling of insecurity due to growing intolerance. 

A Delhi court on Saturday discharged alleged Lashkar-e-Tayiba​  operative Abdul Karim Tunda from the fourth and final case lodged against him by Delhi Police. 

 

The case was lodged in connection with several bomb blasts across the country in 1990s, as per PTI.

73-year-old Tunda, one of the 20 terrorists India had asked Pakistan to hand over after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, was discharged by the court which said there was no prima facie evidence against him to proceed.

Further details are awaited.

Addressing a meeting of Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha, BJP's youth wing, he said the JNU row was about the party's core issue of nationalism and invoked its Ram Janambhumi campaign to buttress his point besides its role in Goa and Hyderabad liberation movement.

"A strange atmosphere has been created. Anti-national slogans are being projected as freedom of expression... Congress should be ashamed that its vice president goes to the campus and says these (slogans) should be heard as there is freedom of expression.

"If these slogans are freedom of expression, then what is treason?" he said seeking Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's views on whether she agrees with her son on this.

According to the district authorities, the children consumed mid-day meal at the primary and junior school of Kunwarpur village in Ghatampur area yesterday. They soon after complained of diarrhoea and vomiting and were admitted to the Community Health Centre of Patara area.

"All the children are now out of danger. Only six of them are under observation," Dr Jai Prakash of Patara CHC said. District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma said a probe has been initiated and action will be taken against the principal of the school if found guilty.

More details are awaited.

"President Obama is vetting Merrick B Garland and Sri Srinivasan, federal appellate judges who have enjoyed substantial support from Republicans in the past, as potential nominees for a Supreme Court vacancy that has set off a brutal election-year fight," The New York Times reported today. 

According to a person knowledgeable about the process, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it has been cloaked in secrecy, Judge Garland, 63, and Judge Srinivasan, 49, are undergoing background checks by the FBI, it said.

The White House has not given any indication in this regard. The report, however, said that the White House was also vetting Ketanji Brown Jackson, 45, a federal trial judge.

Following the death of Antonin Scalia, the first Italian American judge of the Supreme Court, early this month, there is a rare vacancy in the country's top court. Padmanabhan Srikanth "Sri" Srinivasan, is currently the US Circuit Judge of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit '" which many call as a stepping stone to the Supreme Court.

"An Pakistani fishing boat was seized yesterday from the Koteshwar creek area after its occupants fled to the Pakistani side on seeing a patrol party," BSF officials said. Nothing suspicious was found in the boat, they said. 

This is the fifth such seizure in that area by BSF in the last five months. Last month too they had seized one boat from the Koteshwar creek area. Earlier in January, a boat was found in the Sir Creek area. 

In December last year, a fishing boat was found at Padala creek near Koteshwar while in November, two fishing boats were found in another area of Kutch.

"A man was caught by army personnel as he was taking pictures of sensitive locations in the cantonment area," said Inspector of B division of Bhuj, JM Boxa. 

"Army officials handed the accused over to us last night, after which we arrested him under the Official Secrets Act," he said. 

The accused has been identified as Ayub Khan, a resident of Nana Dinara village of Bhuj Taluka, the police said, adding that he was a truck driver. The mobile phone on which he was clicking pictures was also seized, they said.

Earlier, veteran actor Anupam Kher, who was to attend the Karachi Literature Festival on February 5 this year, was denied visa by Pakistan.Kher was due to arrive in Karachi to attend the festival as one of the distinguished guest.

The festival, founded by Ameena Saiyid, OBE, and Dr. Asif Farrukhi, is jointly organised by Oxford University Press, Pakistan and British Council.The festival consists of literary discussions, book launches, and creative writing workshops. 

There is also an opportunity to meet authors, book signings and visit a book fair. 

"China is likely to launch a Mars probe in 2020. After months of flying, the probe is expected to land in Mars at the 100th anniversary of the CPC. If successful, it will be a present from people working in the aerospace field," Ye Peijian, a top official of China's space programme, said. 

"The probe is expected to reach Mars in 2021 after a flight of seven to ten months," Ye was quoted as saying by the official media. The Communist Party, the sole governing party of China, was founded in 1921. Ye said China has accumulat

The plaintiffs, which also included two Ukrainian families, filed their suits yesterday at the high court civil registry, claiming the airline and the authorities had breached their obligations to provide a safe flight. The Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, carrying 239 passengers, enroute from here to Beijing, had disappeared on March 8, 2014.

A global aviation agreement sets a two-year deadline for lawsuits by next-of-kin over air accidents. So far, 16 suits relating to the flight have been filed, with one of them settled out of the court in June, last year.

The families are suing the carrier and the government for negligence, breach of contract, loss of financial support, bereavement, funeral expenses and unspecified damages.

Malaysian Airline System Bhd had on March 24, 2014, sent text messages to the next of kin that all evidence suggested that the plane had gone down in the southern Indian Ocean.

"We were already in alliance with the PDP before the demise of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. We came into alliance with them with an agenda and that was the welfare of Jammu and Kashmir. There has been no change in our stand," BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain told ANI.

"Certainly from their side, there has been a delay. We feel that any problem can be solved with a discussion. We feel that there should be a good government in the state which works for the betterment of the people. It is up to the PDP to decide which way they want to go. There has been no lack of effort from the BJP and we are committed to the agenda of development," he added.

In a letter to University authorities sent after Kumar's release from jail, DCP (South) Prem Nath wrote that the SHO of Vasant Kunj (North) Police Station, which has the campus under its jurisdiction, should be informed well in time about "the movements/visits of Kumar outside the campus, including nature of visit and travel mode so that necessary security/preventive measures may be taken to prevent any untoward incident".

A police source said the move comes in view of the court's directive after the attack on Kumar at Patiala House court complex on February 17, which said police must ensure that none of the students arrested in connection with the sedition case suffer even a scratch.

Decision taken on this will be announced by the finance minister on the floor of the House, say sources.

The fresh incident is proof of increased Pakistani infiltration through water as boats of Pakistani origin are found near the border at regular intervals.Meanwhile, a man has also been arrested in Kutch for taking pictures of the Army cantonment.Earlier in January, a similar size boat was found in the Sir Creek area. 

In December 2015, one such fishing boat was found at Padala creek area near Koteshwar. In November, two fishing boats were found at Harami Nala area of Kutch.A 30-metre long tunnel about 10 feet below the ground from Pakistan to the Indian side was discovered by the Border Security Force last Thursday.

This was the fourth tunnel unearthed by the force in the region since 2012.

Jaitley has in his Budget for 2016-17 proposed taxing 60 per cent of withdrawals from the EPF on contributions to be made after April 1, unless the sum is reinvested in pension product such as an annuity.

More details are awaited

The boat was ferrying passengers when its engine exploded near the Wat Thepleela Pier in the city's eastern outskirts, throwing many passengers in the canal that also serves as a major waterway.

The cause of the explosion was believed to be a fuel leak on board, local police commander Sarayuth Junnawat said. The severity or the nature of the injuries was not immediately clear, however, at least two passengers were reported to be badly scalded in the accident. 

Commuter boats is a popular mode of transport in the city, that was once called the 'Venice of the East' because of the numerous canals criss-crossing the city. Many prefer it to avoid the notorious traffic jams on the roads. The boat was travelling on the Saen Saeb canal, which runs through the heart of the city and connects to its main Chao Praya river.

"Problem with people like Mr Pillai and thousands of government officials of India is while they are in service, they do exactly what the government says and perhaps what is right and once they retire, they change their view depending upon the government. It shows that how spineless and characterless the bureaucracy has become," Dikshit told ANI.

The country will further adhere to the family planning policy as a basic state policy, and fully carry out the two-child policy, said the draft outline of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) submitted to the national legislature the National People's Congress for examination. China has scrapped the over three and half decade old once-child policy and replaced it with two-child policy from this year as it saddled with increasing numbers of old age people whose numbers have already crossed over 200 million. Imbalanced sex ratio, one of the highest among the world, will be addressed with comprehensive measures, the draft said. 

Reproductive health care, and maternal and child health care will be improved, and related policies will be revised to adapt to the implementation of the two-child policy, it said.

Family planning service management, and birth registration service system will be improved, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted the draft as saying.

"Happy about the grant of bail (although conditional) by the honourable court to Kanhaiya & pleased that he's been released from prison. Hope, wish and pray that he will prove himself worthy of the support that he received from everyone who felt that he was wronged," Sinha said in a series of tweets.

he rebel BJP leader had come out in support of Kanhaiya earlier saying that he had said nothing that amounted to sedition.

The junior engineer suffered from a broken arm after he was thrashed by Gunjal, following which he registered a complaint in Mahavir Nagar police station.

The police have filed a case against Gunjal on the charges of obstruction of government work and violence. 

Captain Simratpal Singh, 28, in a lawsuit filed against the Department of Defence demanded the US military accommodate his articles of faith and dump the discriminatory testing. 

"Thousands of other soldiers are permitted to wear long hair and beards for medical or other reasons, without being subjected to such specialised and costly expert testing of their helmets and gas masks," Judge Beryl A Howell swiftly ruled in Captain Singh's favour last evening.

The US Department of Defence, which had granted and then extended Captain Singh's temporary religious accommodation until March 31 this year, remains scheduled to make a final decision on Singh's permanent accommodation by that deadline.

Captain Singh, who is a West Point graduate, Ranger, and Bronze Star Medal recipient, has successfully passed the safety tests required of his unit.

Republican front-runner Donald Trump said Friday that he would not order the U.S. military to violate international laws to fight terrorism, a stark reversal from his statements at Thursday's Republican debate.

Trump said in a statement that he understands "that the United States is bound by laws and treaties" and said he would "not order our military or other officials to violate those laws and will seek their advice on such matters."

He added, "I will not order a military officer to disobey the law. It is clear that as president I will be bound by laws just like all Americans and I will meet those responsibilities."

Read more HERE.

Saudi Arabia's UN ambassador has said there was no need for a UN Security Council resolution to address the dire humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is waging a military campaign.

"We don't think that a resolution is needed at this time," Ambassador Abdallah al-Mouallimi told a news conference yesterday.

His remarks came after the 15-member council expressed grave concern for the worsening situation in Yemen, where the coalition launched air strikes nearly a year ago to back Yemeni forces fighting Shiite Hutu rebels.

The council is considering a new resolution to press for more humanitarian aid deliveries and to stress the importance of protecting hospitals from attacks.

The United Nations says more than 80 per cent of the population is in dire need of food, medicine and other basic necessities and the crisis ranks as a "Level 3 emergency", the most serious in the UN system.

NATO today accused Russia of complicating the search for a solution to the Syrian conflict by bombing moderate opposition groups battling President Bashar al-Assad.

"Moscow's challenge to the international rules-based order now extends to Syria and the Eastern Mediterranean," NATO deputy secretary general Alexander Vershbow said at an annual conference in Krakow, Poland.

"As Russia has provided greater levels of military support for President Assad -- including bombing moderate opposition groups, and driving tens of thousands of civilians from Aleppo and other cities -- it has made it even more difficult to find a long-term end to the violence and a negotiated peace and political transition."

French President Francois Hollande and British Prime Minister David Cameron had yesterday also called on Russia and the Syrian regime to "immediately stop attacks on the moderate opposition".

An Egyptian flight student who was arrested after posting threatening comments about Donald Trump on his Facebook page agreed today to leave the country by July.

Immigration authorities agreed to let Emadeldin Elsayed, 23, return to Egypt voluntarily instead of deporting him, so long as he departs by July 5. Elsayed, who is being held at a jail in Southern California, appeared at a hearing in immigration court in Los Angeles shackled and wearing a yellow jail jumpsuit.

His lawyer, Hani Bushra, told Immigration Judge Kevin Riley that he may seek another bond hearing for the aspiring pilot from Cairo because he believes Elsayed's detention is illegal.

Detectives are investigating a knife purportedly found some time ago at the former home of O J Simpson, who was acquitted of murder charges in the 1994 stabbings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend

Ron Goldman, a police spokesman said today.

The knife was supposedly found by a citizen, possibly during demolition the home years ago, and turned over to a now-retired police motorcycle officer who was working as a filming location security guard, police Capt. Andy Neiman said.

The knife came to light in the last month, but Neiman did not say how that occurred. He stressed that the authenticity of the story was not confirmed.

"Maybe the story is bogus from the get-go," he said. The knife is being analyzed by a Los Angeles Police Department crime lab. Neiman said investigators didn't know the identity of the person who handed it over and asked him or her to come forward.