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US drone strike kills 150 Al Shabaab fighters in Somalia

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23:34 US drone strike kills 150 Al Shabaab fighters in Somalia

In a move to stop what the US military says was an imminent threat against US troops and African peacekeeping forces in Somalia, a US drone strike in Somalia killed as many as 150 suspected Al Shabaab fighters, the Pentagon said Monday.

The strike took place Saturday, 120 miles north of Mogadishu at a training site called "Raso Camp," according to Pentagon spokesman Capt Jeff Davis.

The camp had been under observation by US special operations forces for several weeks, Davis said. The camp had about 200 fighters on site including Shabaab trainers.

Intelligence indicated the group was training for some time and was in the final stages of getting ready to conduct a "large-scale attack," Davis said.

Read more HERE

The US Supreme Court today upheld a ruling that Apple was part of a price-fixing conspiracy for electronic books, clearing the way for a $450 million settlement to be paid.

The top court declined without comment to hear an appeal from Apple, which lets stand a 2013 ruling by a New York federal judge.

Apple had tentatively agreed to pay out $450 million to compensate consumers harmed by the price-fixing, while at the

same time pursuing its appeal.

In July 2013, US District Judge Denise Cote ruled that Apple was liable for conspiring with five book publishers to fix e-book prices.

Apple did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment on the decision.

The US Department of Justice meanwhile welcomed the ruling.

"Apple's liability for knowingly conspiring with book publishers to raise the prices of e-books is settled once and for all," said Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer of the Justice Department's antitrust division.

Pakistan Maritime Security Agency has apprehended 18 Indian fishermen and seized their three boats off the Gujarat coast, an association said today.

These fishermen were captured by the PMSA near the International Maritime Border Line yesterday, Secretary of Porbandar-based National Fishworkers Forum Forum Manish Lodhari said.

"We came to know about the incident from other fishermen who returned to the coast. We were told that 18 fishermen on three fishing boats were apprehended by the Pakistani agency near Jakhau coast and taken to Karachi," he said.

The arrests were made on a day when Pakistani authorities announced they will release 87 Indian fishermen, most of them from Gujarat, who according to PMSA, were captured for allegedly violating its territorial waters.

The JNU Students Union has alleged that varsity Registrar Bhupinder Zutshi made a "false" statement before a probe panel that JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar and other student leaders had a meeting with him (Zutshi) on the day of controversial Afzal Guru event.

Zutshi had claimed, deposing before the high-power enquiry committee constituted by Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar, that Kanhaiya Kumar was against the authorities' decision to cancel permission of the February 9 event during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised.

The university issued a press statement on Monday saying the, "Registrar had a meeting with three JNUSU representatives -- Kanhaiya Kumar, Rama Naga and Saurabh Sharma (ABVP) -- on February 9 for discussion on route for the newly-acquired bus for physically challenged students of JNU".

Zutshi has made the same statement before the probe panel inquiring into an event on campus against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised.

The students union, however, claimed that Zutshi's statement was "false and no such meeting took place."

Around 28 per cent of working women in India are not satisfied with their salary as compared to 22 per cent men, according to a study by Michael Page India.

It also said that 23 per cent women in Asia Pacific are not happy with their salary.

The study is an analysis of responses from around 300 women employees from mid-senior level, across organisations and sectors, and drawing a comparison between their male counterparts, as well as women in the Asia-pacific region, including India.

Indian women are less confident about their job search, with only 68 per cent confident about finding a job within the next three months, it said.

"Women are more realistic about their promotion, as they are able communicate their challenges better. While searching for a new job, salary is not as important for women as it is for men. They prefer matching their life priorities with their career," Michael Page India Senior Managing Director Sebastien Hampartzoumian said.

According to the survey, 72 per cent women in India think they will have better work-life balance, compared to only 53 per cent of women in Asia Pacific.

Protests against the India-Pakistan match in the upcoming T20 World Cup continued even as a two-member Pakistan team, headed by Director Federal Investigation Agency Usman Anwar and comprising PCB official Ajam Khan, reached Dharamsala this evening to review the security arrangements.

Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee President Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today fired another salvo at BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, also a BJP MP from Hamirpur, and claimed that he had earlier opposed any cricketing engagement with Pakistan.

Sukhu said Thakur, who had in August 2015 tweeted against playing Pakistan, said the HPCA chief has now changed his stance.

"Thakur had then said 'Dawood in Karachi. National Security Agency (NSA) wants to meet separatists here. Are you really serious about peace and you expect we'll play cricket with you?' He has changed since his stance," Sukhu pointed out.

"What has changed on ground since Thakur had opposed holding of any cricket matches between the two countries that led him to change his stance on the issue," he asked, adding that on one hand BJP talks about nationalism and on the other its MP is trying to justify the hosting the Indo-Pak match.

Eighty-seven Indians, mostly fishermen arrested in Pakistan for allegedly violating its territorial waters, were handed over to India at the Wagah Border after being released from a prison. "We have handed 87 Indians, mostly fishermen, to the Border Security Force," a Pakistan Rangers official said.

He said the Indian nationals have been handed over to the Indian authorities after verifying their documents. The Indian nationals were freed from the Landhi Jail in Karachi yesterday. They arrived Lahore by a train this morning.

Nalini Sriharan, serving life sentence in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, has moved the Madras high court seeking three days leave from tomorrow for attending the 16th day obsequies of her father, who passed away last month, to held here on March 9.

In her petition, Nalini submitted that she had made a representation on March 2 to the Superintendent of Special Prison for Women in Vellore, where she is lodged, seeking three days leave but the official had not responded so far.

She said she was granted parole for 12 hours on February 24 to attend the cremation of her father Sankaranarayanan. The 16th day obsequies of her father was scheduled to be held on March 9 in Kottur and sought three days leave from tomorrow to enable her participate in it.

Nalini was sentenced to death by the trial court in the case on January 28, 1998. Her sentence was commuted to life term by the Tamil Nadu Governor on April 24, 2000.

"You wanna shoot me? Go ahead," is what Bhumika Patel says she told a teen who tried to rob the convenience store where she works in the US. The attempted hold-up has been captured on security cameras.

The 17-year-old robber took out a gun and pointed it at Patel when he was at the counter to pay for a soft drink in a town in Georgia last week. "Patel tried to smack the gun away from Thornton's hand. She started hitting the teen's head first with her hands and then with the drawer of the cash register," reported the New York Daily News.

The website says she then grabbed a hammer and chased him out of the store."I just believe strongly in my religion and my God, if he wants to sell me, nobody can touch me. That's why I'm like no, I have my god everywhere with me and I know," Patel said.

19:24 High-level home ministry meet tomorrow on WT20

The home ministry will hold a review meet regarding the security measures at Dharamsala ahead of the India Pakistan World T20 match. According to sources, BCCI and Pakistani officials will be present at the meeting.

Earlier in the day, a two-member delegation from Islamabad reached India and visited the stadium to view all measures being taken to ensure the safety of their players. The decision on Pakistan's participation in the World T20, hinges on the security team's clearance report.

Actor Katrina Kaif lost her cool when some photographers kept following her everywhere when she went house hunting in Bandra, Mumbai, with her manager Reshma Shetty. "Tum log mere ko stalk kyun kar rahe ho? Iske baad agar aisa kiya, toh main aapki police mein complaint karoongi,' an entertainment portal quoted her as saying.

Adarsh Sharma, the president of the 'Poorvanchal Sena' who had announced Rs 11 lakh to anyone who shoots Kanhaiya Kumar has been arrested after questioning.

Earlier in the day, Sharma was questioned at a police station in New Delhi district. On Saturday, posters announcing Rs 11 lakh reward for shooting dead Kumar were seen stuck on a wall near Press Club of India and bus stops and metro stations in New Delhi district.

The poster said "whosoever shoots JNU Students' Union president and seditionist Kanhaiya will be rewarded Rs 11 lakh on the behalf of Purvanchal Sena."

The posters carried the mobile number and name of Adarsh Sharma, president of one Purvanchal Sena.

18:13

Locals opposing Bhumata Brigade's entry in Nashik's Trimbakeshwar temple celebrate after the police detain activist Trupti Desai and others. Photograph: ANI

18:08 For Women's Day, Air India flies world's longest all-women flight

National carrier Air India said it flew the "world's longest" all-women operated and supported flight from the national capital to San Francisco.

The flight, which traveled a distance of around 14,500 kilo metre in close to 17 hours, was operated as part of International Women's Day celebrations.

The non-stop Delhi-San Francisco flight took off from New Delhi on March 6.

The flight was under the command of Kshamta Bajpayee and Shubhangi Singh, along with First Officers Ramya Kirti Gupta and Amrit Namdhari.

The carrier has about 3,800 women employees, including pilots, cabin crew, engineers, technicians, doctors, security personnel and executives.

17:57 SAR Gilani's kin seek support from JNU

"There are many, including us, who are party to the agitation against booking of the Jawaharlal Nehru University students in a sedition case over an event against hanging of Afzal Guru but will the JNU stand for SAR Gilani who has been charged with the same offence," asks his brother Bismillah.

Gilani was arrested in the wee hours of February 15, barely three days after the arrest of JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar. While six JNU students have been charged with sedition over an event on campus, Geelani is facing the charges over an event at the Press Club on the same issue.

His family, however, feels the way the chorus for Kanhaiya's release grew among students supported by academicians and others, Geelani has been given a "differential" treatment by JNU.

"The event was the same, the charges are the same. Police had been claiming that they had evidence against Kanhaiya which is also under question now but no such claims of proof have been made against Geelani. But why is the public discourse silent on him, why the differential treatment," Bismillah told PTI.

Activist Trupti Desai, who was on her way to Trimbakeshwar Temple with around 150-200 women, has been detained by the police.

Condemning the police action, Desai said, "We've been detained for no reason, we were heading to Trimbakeshwar temple in a peaceful manner."

Questioning Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, Desai asked,"Where is the CM? We want him to intervene and allow us entry into Trimbakeshwar temple."

She also attacked the PM saying,"Is this what 'acchhe din' meant?"

Four more youths have been arrested in connection with the alleged vandalisation of a church in Raipur, taking the total number of those taken into custody so far to nine, police said today.

"In all, nine persons have so far been taken into custody in connection with the alleged vandalisation of the prayer hall located at Kachna village on the outskirts of the state capital," Inspector General of Police, Raipur Range, G P Singh told PTI.

Out of the nine held, six are minors, he said.

Mulayam Singh Yadav led Samajwadi Party is planning to announce at least half its candidates about a year ahead of the 2017 assembly elections as an Opposition Mayawati-led BSP and BJP have started making noises in the state with an eye on the polls.

The party has decided to finalise candidates for 175 seats on a priority basis where the party does not have MLAs. And the exercise that began in January, has already finalised a tentative list of 98 candidates from these seats.

This step by incumbent Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh comes in the backdrop of rising political noises from its opponents '" BSP and BJP '" since the conclusion of Bihar elections.

16:45 No $75 million for Vijay Mallya

Debt recovery tribunal rules that Vijay Mallya can't use the $75 million money that he received as payout from Diageo.

The Debt Recovery Tribunal was supposed to deliver a verdict today on a plea by the State Bank of India to direct Vijay Mallya and Diageo Plc to deposit the $75 million (around Rs 500 crore) committed by the British liquor firm for a non-compete deal signed with the Indian liquor baron to exit the spirits business.

Mallya, who owes over Rs 7,200 crore to a consortium of banks led by State Bank of India, has objected to the plea by India's largest public sector bank seeking the money saying that the payments are being made to him as a person not to compete with Diageo in the liquor business.

Delhi High Court has sought Delhi Police's reply on the bail plea of sacked Uttarakhand minorities panel chief Sukhdev Singh Namdhari, who along with 20 others is facing a murder trial in a 2012 shootout here that claimed the lives of liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his younger brother Hardeep.

Justice P S Teji also asked the police to file their status report on Namdhari's plea which said he was "no more required by investigating agency and no purpose would be served while keeping him in jail with hardened criminals".

The trial court in July last year had framed charges under section 302 (murder) read with section 149 (offence committed by member of unlawful assembly) of the IPC against all the 21 accused including Namdhari and his Personal Security Officer (PSO) Sachin Tyagi. Namdhari, however, in his bail plea claimed he was innocent and the complainant of the case on whose statement an FIR was lodged has not supported the police theory that he was part of the conspiracy in which the two brothers died.

He said the FIR did not contain his name and neither did the complainant mention his role in the incident. The application also said he had never misused any of the condition imposed on him during an interim bail granted on earlier occasions. Currently, he is on interim bail which is to end on March 18.

President Pranab Mukherjee would not be attending a cultural festival being organised by the Art of Living Foundation later this week, a Rashtrapati Bhavan official said on Monday.

According to the Art of Living, the President had agreed to give the valedictory speech at the World Culture Festival, which will be held on the Yamuna floodplains in East Delhi from March 11 to 13.

Read this story HERE

The old village of Malik Raza Khan looks haunted. In this rural part of Charsadda district, poverty and neglect have eroded the mortar between the bricks of crumbling houses; the elements eating into the walls.

The most visible sign of life here are green fields of bitter gourd, plump red tomatoes, okra and eggplant.There is another abundant harvest here: of death, of lives brutally cut short by terrorism.

It has numbed its victims into silence, sapping whole families of their life force, turning them into mere shadows of their former selves.

Read the rest of the piece HERE

Before they were cleared to enter India to review the security arrangements for the Pakistan cricket team ahead of the T20 World Cup, the two-member delegation from Islamabad faced clearance issues at the Attari border today following which the Ministry of External Affairs intervened to let the team through.

Pakistani High Commission official retired Col. Azam Khan was not allowed clearance as his visa stated that he only had an air route entry into India, however, the MEA intervened saying it was a 'special case' and allowed his entry.

Meanwhile, the delegation is on their way to Dharamsala -- the venue for the India, Pakistan match, where they will meet Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and the city police chief.

The decision on Pakistan's participation in the World T20, hinges on the security team's clearance report.

14:37

"It is clarified that private vehicle Honda City DL 3C BA 5315, which allegedly hit the biker, who later on died has nothing to do with HRD Minister's cavalcade as being run in section of media.

Rather, the minister directed SSP Mathura to arrange an ambulance immediately so that injured could be given medical treatment at the earliest," said the HRD Ministry spokesperson.

14:36 Car that killed doctor wasn't in Irani's convoy, says her office

Smriti Irani's office today denied that she had left without helping after an accident on the highway on Saturday in which a doctor was killed and his young nephew was critically injured.Agra-based doctor Ramesh Nagar was killed by a car in the minister's convoy, his children have alleged in an FIR or police complaint.

Dr Nagar's daughter Sandili, 15, was riding pillion along with her 12-year-old cousin, who was severely injured.The teenager alleges that she begged for help but "Smriti Irani ignored us", contradicting the minister's tweet.

14:34

When Sonia's saree got stuck

Sonia Gandhi is always regular in attending the Lok Sabha, especially Question Hour.

She is seen to diligently go through every minister's answer and known to prompt Congress, TMC, CPI-IM MPs to pose counter questions to ministers.

Senior Congress MPs say Sonia gained this confidence when she was chairman of the National Advisory Council during the UPA's tenure in power.

Sonia at times is seen chewing tablets. While talking a tablet from her leather handbag last week, a part of her saree got stuck in the bag when she accidently closed the zip.

When the Conggress chief found it difficult to detach her saree, Mallikarjuna Kharge, who was seated next to her, helped pull the zip and extricated Sonia's saree.

Sonia told Kharge she thought the saree would be torn and the bag's zip would have to be replaced. Happily, both escaped unscathed.

Image: Congress President Sonia Gandhi and other party members in the Lok Sabha in New Delhi. Photograph: PTI

14:15 Why not four spouses for Muslim women too, asks Kerala HC judge

Kerala high court judge Justice B Kamal Pasha stirred a hornet's nest on Sunday by asking why Muslim women could not have four husbands while the men enjoyed the same privilege under the Muslim personal law.

Read this story HERE

The Culture ministry is likely to make it mandatory for photographers to obtain license for operating at monuments under Archaeological Survey of India.

"It will be necessary to have a license for operating commercially at monuments. The announcement of amendment in ASI's photography policy may be made in early next month," a source said.

Currently, anybody can get into commercial photography at the monuments, he said, adding that there are times when these freelance photographers pester the visitors for clicking their pictures to a level it becomes very uncomfortable.

"The initiative would also ensure availability of quality photographers as well as end to the harassment of visitors," he said. Depending on the actual requirement of professionals at each monument, ASI will determine the number of photographers to be deployed for commercial operation at each site.

Currently, ASI, which is under Culture Ministry, has over 3,600 monuments, archaeological sites and remains of national importance. These monuments and sites are maintained and preserved through various circles of the ASI spread all over the country.

The khaki-coloured baggy knickers, often derided as "khaki chaddi", may finally give way to trousers. The Sangh is considering three options-keep it khaki, or go for either blue or grey.

Read this article HERE

JUST IN: The Enforcement Directorate has registered a money laundering case against Liquor baron Vijay Mallya,based on a CBI complaint against him.

While undertaking visits abroad organised by foreign organisations and individuals, MPs should ensure that "none of their activities" give an unintended impression that they are on an official visit on behalf of Parliament.

Also, before accepting hospitality, the members should satisfy themselves about the "credentials" of the organisation or institution extending the hospitality.

These are part of a fresh advisory issued to Parliamentarians by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat. It says that to avoid any delay, members should send their applications for acceptance of foreign hospitality to the Ministry of Home Affairs at least two weeks before the proposed date of journey.

"Members should ensure that before proceeding abroad, the requisite permission of the Ministry of Home Affairs has been obtained; as mere sending of the application will not amount to grant of statutory permission," reads the advisory issued by Rajya Sabha Secretary General Sumsher Sheriff.

It says the MPs should also ensure receipt of political clearance from the Ministry of External Affairs before proceeding abroad.

Trust the BJP to come up with a slogan that's both politically accurate and effective. 'Congress-Mukt Bharat' was a line that drew attention at the height of the Modi campaign but has sustained the longest.

It survives beyond 'Achhe Din' and many other Modi-related slogans largely because most of them created an atmosphere of high expectations that can backfire in the toil of governance.

Read this column HERE

13:23 Meet the ministers the PM likes

Which minister is closest -- if that term could apply -- to the Pradhan Mantri?Like the Sensex, the graph of the inner circle of power often goes up and down.

Calculated on visits ministers have made to the PMO this past week and the phone calls they have received from the PM on the four digit secret RAX phone -- the following ministers are currently high up on the PM's 'Likes' List.Arun Jaitley, no surprises there, tops, with NaMo consulting the finance minister on many governmental issues.

Then come top ministerial performer Nitin Gadkari, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and HRD Mantri Smriti Irani.

12:44 Police to detain Trupti Desai enroute Nashik

The police has decided to detain Trupti Desai, who heads Bhumata Brigade, and is on her way to Nashik. An additional SP has been sent to the spot. Desai was to storm Nashik's Triambakeshwar Temple during the Mahashivratri festival.

12:26 Why Sonia's aide was speechless

What was a close confidant of Congress President Sonia Gandhi doing in a Union minister's office?

The minister apparently wanted to share some 'facts and figures' about his predecessor with Sonia's confidant.

After being briefed about the 'evidence', said Sonia aide, sources tell us, was speechless.

Will the Congress now be silenced over a brewing controversy involving its former minister?

Even as the Maharashtra State Commission for Women on Monday batted for equality of both genders worshipping gods, a woman was booted out of the Triambakeshwar temple premises, triggering a row.

Sadhvi Harsidh Giri, a priest from UP, was heckled and denied entry, ironically enough by local women. They were claiming it would hurt peoples' sentiments.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that the Indian mother superior of an aid home in Aden, where four nuns were killed and an Indian priest was kidnapped by gunmen, will be safely evacuated today.

"Yemen -- I have spoken to Sister Sally -- an Indian national from Kerala. She is safe and will be evacuated today," Swaraj tweeted.She had said earlier that India will make all efforts to rescue Father Tom Uzhunnalil, who went missing in Yemen after the attack on the aid home.

"Yemen is a conflict zone. We do not have an Embassy there. But we will spare no efforts to rescue Father Tom Uzhunnalil," Sushma tweeted.

An Indian nun from Jharkhand was among the four nuns who were massacred by unidentified gunmen at a retirement home run by the Missionaries of Charity in Yemen.

JUST IN: The brother of an Samajwadi Party MLA is absconding after he allegedly shot dead a man for overtaking in Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh. A case has been filed.

More details are awaited

Delhi has been put on high alert after the police received inputs that 10 suspected Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists believed to have entered India from Pakistan through Gujarat may have sneaked into the national capital for an attack.

Four elite National Security Guard teams have been rushed to the western state.

On the eve of 'Maha Shivratri' festival, Gujarat as well as other metros and Jammu and Kashmir were also on high alert with raids conducted at Kutch and other places, security being beefed up at vital installations, sensitive areas and at all main temples including the famous Somnath temple where a NSG team has been deployed.

Read the story HERE

In a veiled attack on the BJP for letting JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar get "free publicity", ally Shiv Sena today sought to know how he got bail in such a short span of time when others charged with 'sedition' are still languishing in jails.

"(Union Minister) Venkaiah Naidu said Kanhaiya Kumar is getting free publicity. If that is so, who is responsible for letting him get free publicity? Today, nothing comes for free," the Sena said in an edit in its mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

"A price has to be paid for even the smallest of things. Working class people, labourers who used to save money in PF, will now be taxed on their earnings. In short, the government has only shown people nothing will be given for free," it said. It said that Hardik Patel, who led the Patel agitation demanding reservation for his community in Gujarat is still behind bars after being charged with 'sedition' and so are people like Colonel Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya.

"Then how did Kanhaiya get bail so easily? Was it that keeping him behind bars was becoming a problem for the government and that it had to answer too many questions?" the Sena asked.

11:35 How Twitter helped create Brand Modi

A recent study by researchers at University of Michigan, published in the Economic and Political Weekly, provides insights into how Prime Minister Narendra Modi's online image was constructed and evolved over time. By analysing data from @narendramodi Twitter handle '" official account of Modi '" researchers found that a combination of carefully crafted tweets and strategic followbacks to other Twitter accounts helped Modi build a powerful online brand.

Read it HERE

A two-member delegation from Islamabad arrived in India crossing the Wagah Border on Monday to review security arrangements for the Pakistan cricket team ahead of the T20 World Cup 2016 which commences on March 8.

The security team led by Usman Anwar, director in the Federal Investigation Agency, have one representative each from the PCB and Pakistan high commission in New Delhi.

Leaders from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad met Union Human Resource and Development Minister Smriti Irani in Delhi today to discuss the current issues prevailing in the news cycle including the furore over Rohith Vemula and Kanhaiya Kumar.

The meeting was an internal workshop where several issues were discussed including strategies adopted by Left parties over the upcoming state assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Assam and union territory Puducherry.

The assembly elections in Assam for 126 assembly seats will be held in two phases. The first phase will be held on April 4 and the second phase on April 11.In West Bengal, the polling for 294 assembly seats will be held in six phases starting from April 4 to May 5.

In the wake of the alert across Gujarat and the national capital following intelligence inputs of terrorists having sneaked into the state from Pakistan, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday will chair a high-level meeting on internal security in Delhi.

Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing officials will also be present for the meeting besides senior Home Ministry officials.

Meanwhile, four National Security Guard teams have been deployed in Gujarat in which three teams have been sent to Ahmedabad and one in Somnath where devotees are gathering for Shivratri celebrations.

President Mehbooba Mufti has called a Legislature Party meeting today in Srinagar to decide on the government formation in the state.

Earlier, the PDP had indicated to continue the alliance with BJP and that it will go ahead with if the Agenda of Alliance framed under the leadership of former chief minister Late Mufti Sayeed was implemented in letter and spirit.

Mehbooba had said that the party will take a call on government formation as and when it was confident that the vision and mission of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed will be carried forward and implemented with the clear support of BJP.

Former state deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh had said both the BJP and the PDP were on same page, adding that the agenda of alliance is still intact.

A young woman jumped from the second floor of a building near Kolkata on Sunday to escape rape. Her boyfriend and two of his friends, who allegedly tried to rape her, have been arrested.

The 20-year-old woman is in hospital with a minor head injury. The incident took place on Sunday evening at Howrah near Kolkata.

The woman reportedly came to meet her boyfriend. Two of his friends were present when she arrived. They allegedly gave her a spiked drink and then propositioned her.

When she screamed, they allegedly threatened to kill her. That is when she ran to the balcony and jumped, the police say.

Amid the heightened security in Gujarat in wake of intelligence reports of terrorists sneaking from Pakistan, the Pakistani Marine Security Agency captured five Indian boats along with 30 fishermen on board off the Gujarat coast.

According to reports, two boats are from Okha and three from Porbander. The boats were captured by the Pakistani marines from International Maritime Boundary Line in the Arabian Sea off the Jakhau coast.

Pakistani Marines has so far captured around 57 Indian fishing boats with more than 340 fishermen since October last year.

Meanwhile, National Security Guard teams have been deployed in the state as Maha Shivratri is being celebrated with security being heightened at vital installations, including Somnath temple in Gujarat.

Security has been tightened at the Trimbakeshwar Town in the wake of Bhumata Brigade's call to enter the Temple garbhgruh (sanctum sanctorum).

Women activists from Pune, Nashik and other places will drive to Trimbakeshwar, where they will attempt to enter the garbhgruh.

Trimbakeshwar is one of the 12 Jyotirlings in India, which sees a large number of devotees during Mahashivratri.

Security forces carried out combing operations at Buchru in Kulgam District of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday where a militant was killed yesterday and a defence personnel was injured in an encounter.

Security forces are sweeping the area to ensure there are no remaining holed up terrorists.Yesterday, the security forces had launched a search operation in a village in Kulgam after suspected militants fired a few rounds at them.

08:18 Nancy Reagan, former First Lady, dies at 94

Former first lady Nancy Reagan, who joined her husband on a storybook journey from Hollywood to the White House, died on Sunday.

Reagan died at her home in Los Angeles of congestive heart failure, according to her spokeswoman, Joanne Drake of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

"Mrs. Reagan will be buried at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, next to her husband, Ronald Wilson Reagan, who died on June 5, 2004. Prior to the funeral service, there will be an opportunity for members of the public to pay their respects at the Library," Drake said in a statement.

Read this story HERE

In separate incidents on Saturday night, the Sri Lankan navy arrested 29 Indian fishermen and impounded their three boats.

According to officials of the Indian consulate in Jaffna, 20 fishermen were arrested and their three boats were impounded held by the Island navy near Puttalam in Palk Bay late last night on the charges of violating the maritime boundary and poaching into the Lankan waters. Another boat with nine fishermen was caught near Mannar in a separate incident.

The Sri Lanka government said that the arrested fishermen along with the fishing vessels have been handed over to the officials of the Department of Fisheries at Thalaimannar and Kalpitiya police for legal action. The fishermen will be produced before the Puttalam and Mannar magistrates tomorrow for further legal action.

Ray Tomlinson, the inventor of email and the man who picked the @ symbol for addresses, has died aged 74."

A true technology pioneer, Ray was the man who brought us email in the early days of networked computers,' Raytheon spokesman Mike Doble said in a statement confirming his death.Doble said Tomlinson died on Saturday morning but he did not know if he was at home and did not have a confirmed cause of death. Tomlinson worked in the company's office in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The tech world reacted with sadness over the passing of Tomlinson, who became a cult figure for his invention in 1971 of a program for ARPANET, the Internet's predecessor, that allowed people to send person-to-person messages to other computer users on other servers. Thank you, Ray Tomlinson, for inventing email and putting the @ sign on the map,' read a Tweet from Gmail's official Twitter account.

07:51 Clean chit to UP govt in Muzaffarnagar riots

The Justice Vishnu Sahai inquiry commission has given a clean chit to the Uttar Pradesh Government in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, in which more than 60 people were killed and over 50,000 displaced.

The report, which was tabled in the state assembly on Sunday, blamed local officials for mishandling the situation that aggravated the riots.

The report further said there was a failure of local intelligence and the transfer of District Magistrate and the Muzaffanagar Superintendent of Police also had an impact.

The commission was initially asked to submit its report in two months, but it was later given several extensions.

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