LIVE! If bookies are to be believed, BJP will form the next UP government

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Thu, 02 March 2017

If bookies are to be believed, BJP will form the next UP government

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23:29

JUST IN: Bomb hurled at RSS office in Kallachy near Nadapuram. Three RSS workers injured, shifted to Government Medical College, Kozhikode

23:23 If bookies are to be believed, BJP will form the next UP government

The minds of voters may not have changed since the first phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly election but confusion in the mind of bookies on who will win the battle to the throne now seem to have evaporated.

In the first two phases, bookies had placed their bets on the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance but things changed quickly by the time voting ended. After Congress boarded the cycle with Akhilesh Yadav, the betting market had gone volatile. The soon start believing that "UP ko yeh saath pasand hai" but the civic poll results in Maharashtra challenged all their calculations.

After voting for five phases has ended, bets at 'satta bazar' are now being placed on BJP winning 161 seats, according to bookies.

The rate in gambling market for BJP winning 161 seats out of 403 is 1:1 which means that if BJP wins 161 seats then the person betting in favour of the party will get double the money.

Bookies are in a mood to believe that SP will win more than 150 seats as the betting market rates are 2.5:1. For SP winning 160 seats the rate is 4:1.

Kristalina Georgieva, Chief Executive Officer of the World Bank, has said that the Indian governments decision last November to recall 86 percent of the currency in circulation will have a positive impact on Indias economy.

The reforms India is targeting are profound, she said.

Georgieva was quoted as saying that other countries would study the implementation of the note ban in India as demonetisation in such a big country was unprecedented.

She said that despite short-term hardship, the move would create a clean and digitised Indian economy in the long run.

Georgieva compared Modis decision to that of the European Union, which is also phasing out high denomination bills but over a longer period of time.

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was acquitted by the Court of Cassation, Egypt's highest criminal court, on charges that he killed hundreds of protesters in 2011, according to state-run news agency Al-Ahram.

Mubarak, 88, served as president for three decades.

Some people are really, really angry about two accountants role in probably the biggest and most embarrassing moment in the 89-year history of the Academy Awards.

So angry they are making death threats, and their company, PricewaterhouseCoopers, has found it necessary to hire bodyguards to protect them.

Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs said that Brian Cullinan and his partner for the night, Martha Ruiz, are done with any Academy dealings. A PwC official acknowledged that the two, who are partners with the firm, are banned from handling the companys Oscars duties ever again but wont be losing their jobs.

Cullinan and Ruiz have been identified as the culprits in the mix-up that had presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway announcing La La Land, and not Moonlight as the winner for best picture.

The New Delhi Municipal Council today decided to auction off one of the most luxurious properties it owns the Taj Mansingh hotel- and also cancelled Le Meridien Hotel's licence over dues of Rs 523

crore.

The decision to auction Taj Mansigh brings to an end a six-year-old tussle between the NDMC and Tata Group, which has operated the landmark property for nearly four decades.

Although the Center had cleared the decks for the auction two years ago, no action was taken as the civic body was entangled in legal battles with Tata's Indian Hotels Company Limited, which has been operating the iconic hotel on Mansingh Road since 1978.

The long-pending decisions on Taj and Meridien were announced by Chief Minister Arvind Kejirwal after a special council meeting of NDMC.

21:34 Tibet women's football team 'denied US visas'

A Tibetan women's football team has claimed that they have been denied United States visas to take part in a tournament in Texas.

They say they were told they had "no good reason" to visit the US.

Most of the players are Tibetan refugees living in India, and had applied at the US embassy in Delhi.

US President Donald Trump has imposed a travel ban (now frozen) on nationals from seven countries, but neither India or China is on the list.

Read full story HERE

21:01 Obama is gearing up to re-enter politics

If reports are to be believed, former US president Barack Obama will soon be returning to politics.

After his brief time-off, Obama is said to be gearing up to re-enter the political realm, according to a report in Politico.

Briefing a group of reporters, the former presidents Attorney General Eric Holder emphatically said: Its coming. Hes coming. And hes ready to roll.

Obama and other top Democrats are focusing efforts on state-level races and ending the reconfiguring of voting districts through the politically-laded process known as gerrymandering a combined effort to end Trump-ism and help their party regain control of Congress and legislatures across the country.

Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt today received an extortion call and the person also threatened to harm his daughter Alia Bhatt, but the actress says she is not worried as the matter is already solved.

The 23-year-old star said with her father by her side she never feels unsafe.

"I think the police and my dad are brave they did not give me a chance to get worried. They just took over. The matter is sorted and solved and everybody is safe and happy. As a parent, my father has made me feel safe. With him by my side I had nothing to worry about," Alia told reporters.

An unidentified person from Uttar Pradesh allegedly made calls to the producer-director recently and also sent messages on WhatsApp demanding about Rs 50 lakh. The caller also threatened to harm Alia Bhatt if the demand was not fulfilled.

Because they have the youngest median age (30) of all religious groups, Muslims are the fastest-growing such group in the world, and by 2050, India will be the country with the world's largest Muslim population, said American think tank Pew Research Centre, this week.

While Islam is currently the world's second-largest religion after Christianity, it is now also the fastest-growing major religion. And if current demographic trends continue, the Muslim population is expected to exceed the number of Christians by the end of this century, Pew said.

There were 1.6 billion Muslims in the world as of 2010 - roughly 23 per cent of the global population - according to a Pew estimate. Currently, Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population.

In a 2015 report, Pew said that while the world's population is projected to grow 35 percent in the coming decades, the number of Muslims is expected to increase by 73 percent -to 2.8 billion in 2050. In fact, Muslims are the only major religious group projected to increase faster than the world's population as a whole, the think tank said.

President Pranab Mukherjee has broken his silence over the raging debate of nationalism and the violence being witnessed on college campuses.

Taking to his Twitter account, the president wrote, "Those in Universities must engage in reasoned discussion and debate rather than propagate a culture of unrest. It is tragic to see them caught in the vortex of violence and disquiet."

Raising the issue of tolerance in the country, President Mukherjee said, "There should be no room in India for the intolerant Indian."

"India has been since ancient times a bastion of free thought, speech and expression. Our society has always been characterised by the open contestation of diverse schools of thought & debate/discussion. Freedom of speech and expression is one of the most important fundamental rights guaranteed by our Constitution."

Adding further, he wrote that there should be space for legitimate criticism and dissent.

The president further wrote, what could be a response to the threats Gurmehar Kaur, received for her anti-ABVP stand. "I do not consider a society or State to be civilised if its citizens behaviour towards women is uncivilised. When we brutalize a woman, we wound the soul of our civilisation. The acid test of any society is its attitude towards women and children."

President Mukherjee wrote, "The time has come for collective efforts to re-discover the sense of national purpose and patriotism. Sense of national purpose and patriotism alone can lift our nation on to the road of sustained progress and prosperity. The nation and the people must always come first."

Police initiated steps to withdraw 'Y' category security to Gayatri Prasad Prajpati as the rape accused Uttar Pradesh minister remains elusive.

"We have initiated the process to withdraw his 'Y' category security," a senior Lucknow Police official said.

A person enjoying 'Y' category has a security cover of 11 personnel, including one or two commandos.

"Police teams are on the job and we will arrest him soon," he said even as special police teams returned empty-handed from Amethi, the minister's assembly constituency, and Delhi where he was said to be hiding.

A UP police team went to Delhi to record the statement of the 16-year-old victim who is in a state of "severe trauma" and is housed in a restricted ward at the AIIMS.

The Income Tax department has detected over Rs 250 crore of undisclosed income of hundreds of people who made huge deposits post demonetisation but didn't respond to taxmen's queries on it under 'Operation

Clean Money'.

Officials said multiple I-T teams have conducted over 230 surveys countrywide, covering only business premises of an individual or entity, till now in states like Punjab, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and in the national capital.

They said the surveys led to the detection of over Rs 250 crore suspected funds which are now expected to be declared under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna, the ongoing black money declaration window-- operational till March 31.

Meanwhile, the department has brought on board two firms to conduct a heavy volume data mining of the responses and data received from about 6 lakh till February 15-- when the 'Operation Clean Money' expired.

"The survey operations will be intensified based on the results of the data mining. Over 230 such operations have already been launched till now. Over Rs 250 crore stashed funds have been detected as part of these operations," a senior I-T officer said.

The department had sent SMSes and emails to 18 lakh people who made suspicious deposits of over Rs 5 lakh during the 50-day demonetisation period as part of this operation.

Close to 6 lakh people have replied on the e-filing portal and have acknowledged to have made such deposits.

Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar today joined LinkedIn, global professional network, as an 'Influencer'.

As a LinkedIn Influencer, Sachin Tendulkar will join a select group that includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi, actress Priyanka Chopra, Shashi Tharoor and business leaders like Bill Gates, Founder Virgin Group Richard Branson, Arianna Huffington Founder and CEO Thrive Global, The Jack and Oprah Winfrey Network Chairman and CEO Oprah Winfrey, among others, LinkedIn said in a release.

"Being a part of a team and learning from each other has been an integral part of my development. I face multiple situations in organisations that I am involved with where my on-field learnings often benefit these organisations," said Tendulkar.

"My aim is to share these experiences on a platform, like LinkedIn, to reach a large number of professionals and entrepreneurs to give them get a different perspective and help better their everyday performance," the right-handed batsman added.

18:27 Dharamsala becomes second capital of Himachal

Just in: Himachal Pradesh cabinet approves Dharamsala as the second capital of the state.

In a sudden move ahead of assembly polls later this year, Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh on Thursday announced Dharamsala as the second capital of the tiny hill state with a population of about 70 lakh.

The chief minister, who was on a visit to lower hills of Himachal Pradesh, said, "Dharamsala nestling in the lap of majestic snow-clad Dhauladhar ranges has a significance and history of its own and fully deserved to be the second capital of the state."

The announcement is significant as 25 out of 68 assembly seats fall in Kangra, Una and Hamirpur districts, and Dharamsala was important for lower areas of Himachal Pradesh including Kangra, Chamba, Hamirpur and Una districts.

The chief minister said that the people of these areas would now benefit from the decision and that they would not be required to travel long distances to come to Shimla for their works.

Dharamsala already figured prominently in national and international map due to its significance owing to many reasons including religious, natural and adventurous tourism and also being abode of Tibetan Spiritual head Dalai Lama.

The chief minister said it was during his earlier term, a full-fledged winter session of the assembly was held for the first time outside Shimla in December, 2005.

Former Congress MLA Ram Kishen Gujjar and two others, convicted by an Ambala court on Tuesday in connection with the suicide of a journalist Pankaj Khanna in 2009, have been sentenced to four-year jail-term.

Additional Sessions Judge Sanjeev Arya announced the sentence and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each on Gujjar, Vijay and Ajit.

They were also asked to pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of the deceased journalist.

On the complaint of Yashpal Khanna, the journalist's father, the accused have been booked under Sections 306 (abetment to suicide) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC.

Pankaj Khanna, a journalist of Naraingarh, had committed suicide by consuming poisonous substance on June 10, 2009.

In his suicide note, the journalist had alleged that Gujjar and two of his associates had harassed and humiliated him.

In the heat of the Uttar Pradesh election, it appears Prime Minister Narendra Modi has got a quote wrong. Speaking at a rally in Maharajganj, Modi mocked a certain Congress leader, asking his supporters if they have ever heard of anything called coconut juice.

"Yesterday he (a Congress politician) made a very big declaration' he said now he will extract juice from coconuts.. and after extracting the juice, he will sell it in England. The poorest of poor children know that you get water from coconuts. You get juice from lime, santre, mosambi' have you ever seen or heard of coconut juice? Maybe I am unaware but tell me' Coconuts are found in Kerala but he's saying he'll extract coconut juice,' Modi said. BJP chief Amit Shah, too, repeated the same remark, seeking to mock the Opposition leader.

The Prime Minister was referring to an election rally speech of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in Manipur's Imphal East. But what Rahul actually said in his February 28 rally, was this: "Here (in Manipur) you grow nimbu, narangi (oranges), pineapple' I hope that such a day comes that when someone in London drinks pineapple juice, they look at the box and see 'Made in Manipur'.'

Image sourced from Irony of India's Facebook page.

The Railways will soon move towards Aadhaar-based online ticketing system to prevent touts from blocking a bulk of tickets, end fraudulent bookings and curb cases of impersonation.

Aadhaar number has been made mandatory for senior citizens to avail concessions in train tickets from April 1. A three-month trial run for this is going on. As per the new business plan 2017-18, unveiled by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu today, besides the Aadhaar-based ticketing system, the Railways will move towards cashless ticketing system by installing 6,000 point-of-sale machines and 1,000 automatic ticket vending machines across the country.

An integrated ticketing app will also be launched by May to promote cashless transaction.

"Aadhaar number will be required for one-time registration at the IRCTC ticketing site. The step is aimed at eliminating touts from registering with fake identities," a senior Railway Ministry official said, adding the Railways is preparing a software for the purpose.

Despite taking several steps, touts corner a bulk of tickets and sell those at much higher prices and this is becoming a serious problem for the Railways. The new business plan also envisages launching of new tourist trains connecting hill stations and enhancing passenger comfort and providing pleasurable journey experience through improving amenities and catering service.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has written to the Election Commission demanding deployment of women police officials at booths during the sixth and seventh phases of polling in Uttar Pradesh to check the voter IDs of burqa-clad women to avoid bogus voting.

"A large number of burqa-clad women cast their votes, hence proper checking of IDs is important to avoid bogus voting," the letter read.

The BJP also asked for the deployment of paramilitary forces at polling booths in sensitive areas for the remaining two phases.

All political parties are making efforts to woo the voters in poll-bound areas for the sixth phase.

49 constituencies spread over seven districts of Maharajganj, Kushinagar, Gorakhpur, Deoria, Azamgarh, Mau and Ballia will go to polls in this phase on Saturday

Stocks frittered away a good beginning today as the Sensex stumbled and lost about 145 points to end at 28,840 after investors moved in to take profit towards the fag end amid a lower opening in Europe. Both key indices the Sensex and the Nifty retreated after touching their nearly 2-year highs (March 2015) in early session.

The Supreme Court today sought a response from the Maharashtra government on a plea of a bar dancers' body challenging the constitutional validity of a 2016 state law putting conditions on dance performances by

women in bars and hotels there.

"Issue notice. Returnable within four weeks," a bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and R F Nariman said.

The court then tagged the fresh plea of 'Bharatiya Bargirls Union' with a pending petition filed by Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association on the issue.

It fixed the petitions for hearing on April 20.

Hitting back at Narendra Modi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav today said not doing any work is the Prime Minister's biggest "karnama" (misdeed).

"Modiji spoke about our 'karnama' but did not give any account of his work. He is shying away from debate on development. Actually, doing nothing is his biggest karnama," he said.

Yadav's retort came against the backdrop of Modi's comment that in Uttar Pradesh "karname boltey hain" (misdeeds speak out loud).

On the charge of discrimination regarding power supply in Uttar Pradesh, the chief minister said, "Modi did not swear by the river Ganga on the issue which means he has no ground of what he spoke."

He sought the Centre's performance report for the last three years saying, "You seek our five years' performance report, you should tell us what have you done in the last three years."

The GST Council has proposed to raise the peak tax rate to 20 per cent, from the current 14 per cent, in the model goods and services tax Bill to preclude the requirement of approaching Parliament for any change in rates in future.

The change in the peak rate will not alter the 4-slab rate structure of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent agreed upon last year, but is only a provision being built into the model law to take care of contingencies in future, two officials told news agency Press Trust of India.

The revised draft of model GST law, which was made public in November 2016, provides for a maximum rate of tax under the new regime at 14 per cent (14 per cent central GST and an equal state GST, taking the total to 28 per cent).

"There shall be levied a tax called the central/state goods and services tax (CGST/SGST) on all intra-state supplies of goods and/or services... at such rates as may be notified by the central/state government... but not exceeding 14 per cent on the recommendation of the Council and collected in such manner as may be prescribed," the draft law states.

Officials said this "14 per cent" will now be changed to say the rate will not exceed "20 per cent".

15:59

SYL Canal issue: Supreme Court division bench posted the matter for further hearing till March 28, reports ANI

15:56

Dance Bar issue: Supreme Court bench issues notice to the Maharashtra state government; seeks reply by April 20.

15:48 Bengaluru's Rs 1800 cr VVIP steel flyover project scrapped

The Karnataka government on Thursday scrapped the controversial Bengaluru steel flyover project.

Bengaluru development minister K J George announced the cancellation of the steel bridge project, that has been mired in controversy from the day it was conceived.

The move comes in the backdrop of allegations that kickbacks from this project have been paid to the Congress high command and chief minister Siddaramaiah's family.

Briefing reporters, K J George said, "We have cancelled the project as we have been forced to prove our sincerity. There are corruption charges being levelled against us when not a single rupee has been taken as kickback by us."

"We do not want to take the blame for something that we have not done, so we are dropping the project. The steel bridge project had become a pain point for us as the media has been speaking on a daily-basis about corruption in it," he said.

As part of the Rs 1,791-crore project, a 6.72-km long, six-lane steel flyover was proposed to de-congest the roads of Bengaluru. The project was expected to be completed in 24 months. The project was to be executed by Larsen and Toubro Ltd and Nagarjuna Ltd, with the Bangalore Development Authority overseeing it.

However, the feasibility of the project came under scanner on account of the massive use of steel and the felling of over 800 trees that raised concerns among citizens and activists.

Delhi Police's Crime Branch, which is probing the clashes at Ramjas College, has recorded the statements of two St Stephen's College students who were allegedly beaten up by supporters of ABVP.

The two St Stephen's students- a boy and a girl- have alleged that they were beaten up outside the Ramjas College canteen by ABVP supporters, said a senior police officer.

The girl has also alleged that she was hit with a stone by the ABVP supporters, he said. The Crime Branch team has till now received 25 complaints from the both the sides and is contacting students to record their statements.

"We have contacted students to join the probe. AISA activists have said that they will come together to record their statement. We had also shared our email IDs with the students and in all, we have received 25 complaints," he said.

The complaints mainly pertain to being roughed up and that of molestation. "There are some complaints that have claimed that while they were being roughed up, policemen were standing there. But none of the complainants have alleged that they were beaten up by the policemen," he said.

Meanwhile, senior Delhi Police officials also met Ramjas college authorities and requested them to ensure "peaceful coexistence of students of different ideologies".

Image: The February 23rd pic showing detained ABVP students on top of a Delhi police bus after they were detained at Ramjas college. Photograph: @jimmy9_girl/Twitter

Union Finance Minsiter Arun Jaitley on Thursday accused the Congress of spreading lies on the government's demonetisation drive and said that it did not have any impact on the economy's growth rate.

Addressing a press conference in Varanasi, Jaitley hailed the Central Government's demonetisation move, saying this had won the confidence of many people.

Throwing light on the current GDP rate, the Finance Minister asserted that the opposition was spreading lies about demonetisation.

Commenting on the crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the senior BJP leader said, "Once the party attains victory in UP polls then this will prove that people have accepted PM Modi's demonetisation drive.

"Varanasi goes to polls in the last of the seven-phase assembly election in Uttar Pradesh on March 8.Uttar Pradesh is voting in seven phases, four of which is completed. Counting of votes will take place on March 11.

14:49 GST to be implemented on July 1

The Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) will comply with the deadline set by the Ministry of Finance regarding the official implementation of the much-awaited GST Bill scheduled for July 1, 2017.

GSTN CEO Prakash Kumar claimed that all necessary arrangements for timely implementation of the GST have been made."The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had already approved 30 banks for payment regarding the GST. Apart from these banks, the payment can be made via other banks through the National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) or Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS)," Kumar told ANI.

Speaker Paul Ryan on behalf of the US House of Representatives has condoled the death of the Indian techie in a racially-motivated shooting by an American. Ryan met visiting Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar yesterday and expressed the House's condolences on the death of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was senselessly murdered last week in Kansas. "Our peoples must continue to stand together," he said.

Ryan's comments over the incident came hours after US President Donald Trump condemned as "evil" and "hate" the fatal Kansas shooting in which Kuchibhotla was killed and another Indian Alok Madasani was injured by navy veteran Adam Purinton, who yelled "terrorist" and "get out of my country" before opening fire on them. The two work for technology firm Garmin.

14:18 'I want to deepen democracy'

Feroze Varun Gandhi, the Bharatiya Janata Party member of Parliament from Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh, raised eyebrows by moving a private member's bill in the Lok Sabha giving voters the right to recall their elected representative if not satisfied with their work.

According to the bill, the recall can be done after two years of the elected representative's term, with 75 per cent of the voters asking for a recall.

Former prime minister Indira Gandhi's grandson and Sanjay and Maneka Gandhi's son, he has been in the news in the past for his fiery speeches.

Varun Gandhi tells Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar that he is now concentrating on making the democratic process stronger.

This is what Varun Gandhi had to say.

A Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader from Madhya Pradesh has held Kerala Chief Minister and senior Left leader Pinarayi Vijayan responsible for the killing of its members in the state and has announced a reward of Rs one crore for his head, reports Indian Today.

Dr Chandrawat, the RSS Pramukh in Ujjain, said he would even sell his property if he has to give the reward for Vijayan's head. The remarks were made in the presence of MP Chintamani Malviya and MLA Mohan Yadav during an event in Ujjain.

Kerala has always witnessed political murders, where the RSS-BJP and the CPM have lost several of their cadres. Last month, the death of BJP leader Santhosh was the eighth murder to have taken place after the Vijayan government took over in May, 2016.

The RSS is the ideological fountainhead of the BJP.

Last week, Vijayan had said right-wing organisations, including the RSS, have been trying to divide the country for the last several years. "The RSS has adopted the organisational structure of Mussolini and the ideology of Hitler. The two dictators had terrorised the world," he had said.

Vijayan said Nathuram Godse, who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi, was a weapon in the hands of the RSS. The assassination was the result of a conspiracy, he alleged.

"In India, the RSS has now identified Muslims, Christians and Communists as their internal enemies and were carrying out attacks to eliminate them," Vijayan had said.

13:12

Narendra Modi Fan tweets @PMOlndia Epic #Gurumeharkaur

12:52 India strongly condemns twin terror attack in Kabul

India today strongly condemned the twin terror attack in Kabul killing more than a dozen people, and voiced its resolve to work with Afghanistan to bring the perpetrators of terrorist violence to justice.

"India has been a victim of terrorist violence and understands the pain and suffering of the people of Afghanistan.

"We reiterate our resolve to work with Afghanistan to bring the perpetrators of terrorist violence to the justice they deserve wherever they may be," the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement in New Delhi.

It also conveyed condolences to the people and the Government of Afghanistan for the loss of lives and property in yesterday's blast. "It is our sincere hope that the injured will make early recovery," it added.

The near-simultaneous attacks struck the Afghan capital around noon on Wednesday. First, a suicide car bomber targeted a police station in western Kabul. The explosion was followed by a gun battle between the police and several attackers. In the second attack, a bomber detonated explosives outside offices of the intelligence service in eastern Kabul.

Representational image.

Debates, discussions, statements and remarks on Gurmehar Kaur's 'anti-national' Facebook video draws to a close. Almost. A couple of statements from Finance minister Arun Jaitley and Defence minister Manohar Parrikar today...

Arun Jaitley said today, "Nationalism is a good word, ye toh kewal iss desh mein hai ki rashtravad bura shabd hai. It's only in this country that nationalism is a bad word."

While Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said, "I support freedom of expression within legal restrictions."

CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury responded asking, "What defines legal restrictions of the Defence Minister? His whims and fancies? Restrictions are defined by our constitution."

Twenty-year-old Gurmehar Kaur has been in the spotlight over the last few days, after raising her voice against violence on campuses in the wake of clashes in Ramjas College last week. Kaur has been advocating peace from endorsing stronger Indo-Pak ties to free speech among youth for nearly a year now.

In a major relief for multinational beverage companies Coca Cola and Pepsi, the Madras High Court on Thursday said the two soft drinks majors can draw water from Tamil Nadu's Thamirabarani river for producing soft drinks or packaged drinking water.

The petitioner DA Prabakar, in his plea, said the Thamirabarani River supports the drinking water projects and irrigation schemes of the two districts - Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi. He accused the cola companies of drawing too much water from the rivers, which they said has impacted farming in the state.

11:54 IS leader Al-Baghdadi admits defeat in Mosul

Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has admitted defeat in Mosul, the terror group's biggest stronghold in Iraq, and has ordered militants to either flee or kill themselves in suicide attacks, the media reported.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made a "farewell speech" to his combatants in battlefields, ordering them to "flee and hide in mountainous areas" in Iraq and Syria, Iraqi News reported on Wednesday.

The text of the speech was disseminated among other speakers to read out to fighters at various areas in western Mosul.

The directives tell fighters to blow themselves up once encircled by Iraqi troops, adding that senior commanders close to Baghdadi were moving on the borderline between Syria and Iraq.

Iraqi forces have made remarkable gains since launching a renewed offensive on February 19 to retake western Mosul from IS militants.

The government said in January it had retaken the eastern side of the city following three months of fighting, Iraqi News added.

Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for mocking party vice-president Rahul Gandhi over his Imphal address, the Congress has called on the former to get his facts straight before taking jibes.

"Modi ji has become an expert in comments and jokes; only if he clearly watches Rahul Gandhi's speech he will know the truth and not make funny comments again. If Modi is really interested in cracking jokes then I will tell Navjot Singh Sidhu to give him a side role in Kapil Sharma's show," Surjewala told ANI here in a clear reference to the 'coconut' gaffe that ensued post Gandhi's address.

Earlier today, the Prime Minister got a quote wrong while speaking at a rally in Maharajganj, where Modi mocked a certain Rahul Gandhi asking his supporters if they have ever heard of anything called coconut juice.

"Yesterday he (a Congress politician) made a very big declaration. he said now he will extract juice from coconuts.. and after extracting the juice, he will sell it in England. The poorest of poor children know that you get water from coconuts. You get juice from lime, santre, mosambi. have you ever seen or heard of coconut juice? Maybe I am unaware but tell me. Coconuts are found in Kerala but he's saying he'll extract coconut juice," PM Modi said.

The Prime Minister Modi was referring to an election rally speech of Rahul Gandhi in Manipur's Imphal East. But what Rahul actually said in his February 28 rally,

"Here (in Manipur) you grow nimbu, narangi (oranges), pineapple. I hope that such a day comes that when someone in London drinks pineapple juice, they look at the box and see 'Made in Manipur'."

The confusion broke out over Rahul Gandhi's usage of the word 'narangi' which was mistaken for 'nariyal' (Coconut), following which the BJP spread no time in taking pot shot at the Congress vice-president.

After facing a lot of backlash for winning the Best Actor at 2017 Oscars, actor Casey Affleck has finally responded on the sexual harassment allegations against him.

The 41 year-old, recently in an interview with Boston Globe, said that people do not really what happened and both sides in the case are prohibited from commenting, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

"I believe that any kind of mistreatment of anyone for any reason is unacceptable and abhorrent, and everyone deserves to be treated with respect in the workplace and anywhere else," he said.

"There's really nothing I can do about it. Other than live my life the way I know I live it and to speak to what my own values are and how I try to live by them all the time," addressing the people who condemn him.

Affleck, denied all the allegations against him and settled the lawsuit out of court.

For the uninitiated, In 2010 two women working on Affleck's experimental film 'I'm Still Here,' filed sexual harassment suits against him. One of the women claimed that Affleck crawled into her bed, without her consent while she was asleep and pressured the other woman to stay in his hotel room and "violently grabbed [her] arm in an effort to intimidate her into staying."

The anti-extortion cell of the Mumbai Police has detained a person with the help of the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force in connection with the case involving a threatto kill veteran producer-director Mahesh Bhatt, his wife Soni Razdan and daughter Alia Bhatt, if he failed to deposit Rs 50 lakh in a Lucknow-based bank branch.

The filmmaker had filed a complaint with the Juhu Police station on Wednesday against the extortionist under section 387.

According to media report, Bhatt received the call on February 26. He initially dismissed it to be a prank, but subsequently received text and WhatsApp messages from the caller who claimed to be a gang leader.

"If you fail to do so, I will fire several rounds of bullets in your daughter Alia and wife Soni," the caller had threatened.

11:02

Madras HC's Madurai branch dismisses two PILs against supply of Thamirabarani water to co-packers of Pepsi and Coca Cola

11:00 19 pc of winners in BMC polls face criminal cases: report

As many as 43 winners in the just concluded Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections are facing criminal cases, says a report.

This implies that nearly 19 per cent of the newly elected corporators have criminal charges against them, including for offences like attempt to murder and rape, as per an analysis of the affidavits of 225 winners out of the total 227 in BMC polls recently done by NGOs Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Maharashtra Election Watch.

Maharashtra Election Watch's state-cordinator Sharad Kumar said, "As long as people don't go out to vote in large numbers, political parties will pick winning candidates who have money and muscle power."

According to the report compiled by the two NGOs, Shiv Sena's Umesh Subhash Mane, who won from ward no. 115, has in his affidavit declared a case related to attempt to murder (Indian Penal Code section 307) against him.

Besides, three of the winners have cases of rape (IPC section 376) and assault or criminal force to woman with an intent to outrage her modesty (IPC section 354) against them, the report said.

Out of the 225 winners whose affidavits were analysed, 22 from Shiv Sena, 11 from BJP, 3 from MNS, 2 from Congress, one each from NCP, SP and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) and 2 independents are facing criminal cases, it said.

The benchmark BSE Sensex on Thursday regained the 29,000-mark in early trade today as investors and domestic institutions widened bets, tracking rally in global markets.

Sensex opened above 29,000 and touched 29,133 in early trade while Nifty came close to 9,000-level.

The gauge had rallied by 241.17 points in the previous session on the back of robust GDP data for the December quarter and positive global cues.

On Wednesday, Sensex finished 241 points or 0.8% higher at 28,984.49 after touching 29,000-level in intra-day trade while Nifty closed up 0.75% at 8,945.80 over optimism that the economy weathered the demonetisation impact to grow by 7% during October-December and as Trump announced plans to cut taxes and spend $1 trillion to upgrade infrastructure.

All the sectoral indices, led by metal, auto, oil & gas and consumer durables, were trading in positive zone with gains of up to 1.33 per cent.

Brokers said that sentiments were high largely due to a firming trend in other Asian markets after the US bourses closed at new highs in yesterday's trade. There has been a growing optimism over corporate tax cuts and other policy proposals reiterated by US President Donald Trump during his speech before the Congress.

After the US benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average touched all-time high of 21,000 on Wednesday, Asian shares opened up tracking Wall Street, which rose on expectation of economic recovery that will prompt a Fed rate hike this month.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla, the Indian IT engineer shot dead in an apparent hate crime in the US, was the kind of job candidate that every hiring manager wanted on his team, as described by his former boss Rod Larson.

"He was very sharp. A top-of-his-class kind of guy," Larson told Kansas City Star.

"His personality was exceptional. He was the kind of employee every manager would want."

Kuchibhotla was the top pick in 2007 for a software engineer position at Rockwell Collins, an avionics and information technology systems company based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

"Kuchibhotla was so exceptional that Larson ultimately couldn't keep him, because Kuchibhotla was moved from his auto-flight department and became instrumental in helping his company develop its first fly-by-wire planes, in which manual controls are entirely replaced by computers," Larson said.

"He was well-liked by anybody and he was excellent in all categories. He was a low-maintenance employee and did whatever was asked of him," he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today lauded the defence scientists for the successful testing of interceptor missile and said it is a proud moment for the entire country.

"Hearty congratulations to our defence scientists for the successful demonstration of ballistic missile defence capability," he tweeted.

"With this, India joins the select group of five nations with such capability- a proud moment for the entire country," he added in another tweet.

India yesterday successfully test-fired an indigenously developed supersonic interceptor missile capable of destroying any incoming enemy missile at low altitude.

09:27 SC to hear Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal case today

The Supreme Court on Thursday will resume hearing the Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal issue involving the states of Punjab and Haryana.

Earlier, the apex court had refused to hear the Punjab Government's plea seeking to adjourn the matter till the state elections results are announced.

Senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani, appearing for the Punjab government, sought an adjournment after March 11, to which the top court refused.

On January 17, the apex court had asked both the Haryana and Punjab Governments to file their respective replies on the issue within three weeks.

The apex court had in November last year, termed the law passed by the Punjab government in 2004 to terminate the SYL canal water sharing agreement with neighbouring states as 'unconstitutional'.

Holding that the Punjab Termination of Agreement Act, 2004 was not being in conformity with the provisions of the Constitution, the top court answered in the negative to all the four questions referred to it in a presidential reference.

The Delhi High Court on Thursday is likely to take up the plea filed by Delhi University law students against police in Ramjas row.

Students from Delhi University's law department on Wednesday approached the Delhi high court for action against policemen who allegedly assaulted students and journalists at Ramjas college during a protest.

Two of Delhi University law students Tarun Narang and Deepak Joshi have filed a public interest litigation. The PIL seeks formation of an independent committee of senior Delhi Police officials to investigate what led to massive protests in Delhi University last week.

It also demanded that police lodge cases under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code (assaulting a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) against the Police officers.

This development comes in the backdrop of unrest in Delhi University, following disruption of an event themed 'Cultures of Protest,' at Ramjas College.

A 'Tiranga' march was organised by the ABVP on Monday, to invoke nationalist sentiments on the campus. The students of Delhi University students yesterday staged a protest against the ABVP at the SGTB Khalsa College, in the North Campus.

09:22

Telecom Secretary J S Deepak has been appointed as India's next ambassador to World Trade Organization

09:20 SC ban on highway liquor vends doesn't apply to bars: AG

Times of India reports: Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi has told the Kerala government that the Supreme Court order banning liquor vends within 500 metres of state and national highways does not apply to bars and restaurants that serve alcohol.

The AG's view could apply to other states as well as the court imposed deadline to shut down liquor vends from April 1 approaches amid a discussion over the effect on areas such as Gurgaon's high profile Cyber Hub with its bars that lie alongside the Delhi-Jaipur highway.

State governments had strongly opposed the ban citing huge loss of revenue. Kerala government had sought the AG's opinion as it was facing a huge problem in the state as the deadline of March 31 to cancel all licences of liquor vends was fast approaching.

Read more HERE

Malaysia is ending visa-free travel for North Koreans, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has said, citing security reasons.

The move comes as Malaysia hunts several North Koreans suspected of being involved in the murder of Kim Jong-nam.

The estranged half-brother of North Korea's leader died on 13 February -- he was poisoned with VX nerve agent.

Two women were charged with his murder on Wednesday.

Kim's body remains in a mortuary in Kuala Lumpur, amid a dispute over who should be entitled to claim it.

Malaysia has said it will only hand the body over to immediate relatives who can provide a DNA sample.

But North Korea, which reacted furiously to Malaysia conducting a post-mortem examination, says it should be able to claim the body of one of its citizens.

09:06 Banks to levy Rs 150 after 4 cash transactions

Some banks, including HDFC Bank, have begun charging a minimum amount of Rs 150 per transaction for cash deposits and withdrawals beyond four free transactions in a month.

The new charges would apply to savings as well as salary accounts effective from Wednesday, leading private sector player HDFC Bank said in a circular.

The bank would also cap the third party cash transactions at Rs 25,000 per day, while cash handling charges would be withdrawn effective today, the circular added.

In case of several banks, including ICICI Bank and Axis Bank, these charges came into effect early in January and are same as they were before the demonetisation move announced on November 8, while there is an increase in such fees in case of some others, including HDFC Bank, today onwards.

These charges are for cash transactions in the branches, and not through ATMs.

The move was seen in some quarters as aimed at discouraging cash transactions and furthering the digital payment drive.

For the basic no-frills accounts, maximum four cash withdrawals would continue to remain free and there would be no fees for cash deposits.

08:51

At least 20 passengers sustained injuries when bus in which they were travelling overturned near Paderu in Visakhapatnam

08:27 What to look forward to in news today

* Agitating Jats in Haryana will stage a protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi today in support of their various demands, including reservations in government jobs and educational institutes for the community.

* President Pranab Mukherjee will visit the ongoing third edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in Kochi today for a first-hand experience of the contemporary art

exhibition in the country.

* Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will visit Nepal today to participate in an international summit aimed at boosting infrastructure investments in the landlocked country.

* Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu will announce a series of measures unveiling the new business plan-2017-18 today to perk up revenue.

* Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to address the InternationaI Yoga Festival at Rishikesh via video link today. Nearly 70 saints, yogacharyas, presenters and experts from more than 20 countries around the world are particpating this year at the week-long festival. There will be separate sessions on Ashtanga Yoga, Raja Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Iyengar Yoga, Vinyasa Yoga, Bharat Yoga, Ganga Yoga, and Somatics Yoga during the week. There will also be classes on meditation, mudras, Sanskrit chanting, reiki, Indian philosophy and much more.

* Campaigning will come to a close in 49 Assembly seats in seven districts of eastern UP going to polls in the 6th phase on March 4, with SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav's Azamgarh Lok Sabha constituency in focus.

A rocket carrying a classified US satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office has been launched from California.

The Atlas 5 rocket lifted off at 9:49 am today local time and roared away into a clear sky over Vandenberg Air Force Base.

All systems were going well when the launch webcast concluded about five minutes into the flight, as is customary during such missions.

The satellite dubbed NROL-79 is described only as a national security payload for the NRO.

The once-secret office operates an array of intelligence-gathering satellites. The launch was conducted by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing, and the Air Force's 30th Space Wing.

08:17 Yahoo's handling of hack costs Mayer her bonus

Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer lost an annual bonus and the company counsel his job after an investigation showed the company mishandled an epic hack, the tech firm said.

"I am the CEO of the company and since this incident happened during my tenure, I have agreed to forgo my annual bonus and my annual equity grant this year," Mayer said in a statement yesterday made available along with a regulatory filing on the matter.

She added that she has asked that her bonus "be redistributed to our company's hardworking employees."

The investigation findings also resulted in Yahoo general counsel Ronald Bell's resignation on Wednesday with no severance payments, according to the filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

An independent committee determined that Yahoo's security team knew about the 2014 hack of user accounts when it happened, the company said in the filing. Late that year, senior executives and some legal staff were made aware that "a state-sponsored actor had accessed certain user accounts" by exploiting an account management tool.

White House lawyers have instructed the president's aides to preserve materials that could be connected to Russian interference in the 2016 election and other related investigations, three administration officials said.

The memo, which was sent to White House staff on Tuesday, comes after Senate Democrats last week asked the White House and law enforcement agencies to keep all materials involving contacts that Trump's administration, campaign and transition team or anyone acting on their behalf have had with Russian government officials or their associates.

The Senate intelligence committee, which is investigating Russia's role in the 2016 election, has also asked more than a dozen organizations, agencies and individuals to preserve relevant records.

The three administration officials who confirmed that White House staffers were instructed to comply did so on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly disclose the memo from White House counsel Don McGahn.

President Donald Trump has been dogged by questions about his advisers' ties to Russia since the campaign.

British Prime Minister Theresa May suffered her first Brexit bill defeat, over the rights of EU citizens living in the UK.

Members of the House of Lords, the upper house of the UK parliament, voted in favor of an amendment that called for EU nationals legally resident in Britain to be guaranteed the same status after the UK leaves the European Union.

It secured enough cross-party support to pass in the Lords, where May's Conservative Party does not command a majority.

The amended bill must now be sent back for consideration to the House of Commons, potentially threatening Downing Street's March 31 deadline to trigger Article 50, the formal start to the Brexit process.

An alliance of 61 police chiefs have criticised the enforcement of Donald Trumps immigration policies and are pleading for a change of tact.

In an open letter, the senior figures explain that if local police perform the federal governments job by enforcing deportations, it will create "harm" in their communities.

Trump has pledged to bring in local police forces to help with deporting millions of undocumented immigrants.

Immigration enforcement is, first and foremost, a federal responsibility, reads the letter.

We believe that state and local law enforcement must work together with federal authorities to protect our communities and that we can best serve our communities by leaving the enforcement of immigration laws to the federal government.

The chiefs stress that if the federal government force local police to help with national policy, and sometimes problematic tasks, it undermines the delicate federal balance and will harm locally-based [and] community-orientated policing.

It finishes: We hope that this committee (US Senate committee on homeland security) will avoid taking actions that could harm community trust and make it harder for state and local law enforcement agencies to do our jobs.

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