Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today met the family of a tourist who was killed in stone-pelting in Srinagar. 

Father of the bride, Anil Kapoor, waves out at the ceremony. 

Boney Kapoor's daughters Janhvi and Khushi Kapoor at the sangeet.  

Actor Sonam Kapoor, quite expectedly, looks resplendent at her sangeet ceremony. Dressed in a gorgeous white and gold lehenga with a fitted gold blouse, Sonam choose Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla couture for her special day.

She completed the look with a maang tika, heavy jhumkas, a gold choker. On her wrists adorning her mehendi (the ceremony was yesterday) was an oversize pearl and gold bracelet.


White and gold seemed to be the dress code with everyone in the family including dad Anil Kapoor and cousins Janhvi and Khushi Kapoor in colour coordinated outifts.


Sonam will wed businessman Anand Ahuja tomorrow.

Senior Supreme Court lawyer Indira Jaising, appearing for the Kathua victim's father tweets this image: @IJaising Our legal team in the Kathua rape case , an all women team .......almost ! Deepika missing, she was addressing the press.


Deepika Rajawat is the lawyer representing the girl's family. The apex court transferred the trial to Pathankot in Punjab and also directed that the trial should be held in-camera, be fast-tracked and conducted on a day-to-day basis. 

'That is important for Modi politically when he launches a do-or-die campaign seeking a renewed mandate in the 2019 poll,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar. Read the column here

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah sends legal notice for criminal and civil defamation to BJP, Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and BS Yeddyurappa, over the BJP's corruption charges against him. The BJP has claimed that Siddaramaiah was connected to a ponzi scheme where at least 35,000 people have been duped and had received an expensive Rs 40 lakh watch.


BS Yeddyurappa, the BJP's CM candidate for Karnataka had tweeted, "Dear Mr #10PercentCM @siddaramaiah, let me remind you of your 70 Lakh Hublot watch,which is believed to have been accepted as an official favor from a Biz-man in exchange for you approving projects violating all rules. Proof enough for blatant corruption, isn't it?#Dare2Answer"

Journalist Upendra Rai, arrested for his alleged involvement in dubious financial transactions, would remain in CBI custody for two more days, with a Delhi court today extending his remand.


Special CBI Judge Santosh Snehi Mann extended the custody of Rai, who was produced before the court on the expiry of his three-day CBI remand, after the agency said he was non-cooperative and evasive in his replies.


Public prosecutor Manoj Shukla, while seeking a seven-day remand, said some secretive and sensitive documents were recovered from him which were not supposed to be in the possession of a common man.


He needs to be interrogated regarding procurement of these documents, the CBI's counsel said, adding that several new facts have come to light during the last three days which were to be probed. Rai's counsel said there was no fresh ground for seeking extension of his custody as all documents were already in public domain and have been recovered from his possession. PTI

Update: The Supreme Court directs a fast-track trial in the Kathua case. It will be conducted on a day-to-day basis to avoid any delay. The court also rejected pleas for a CBI probe in the case.


The SC says the trial would be in accordance with provisions of Ranbir Penal Code, applicable in J&K. The Ranbir Penal Code or RPC is a criminal code applicable in Jammu and Kashmir only. The Indian Penal Code is not applicable under Article 370 of the Constitution of India. The code was introduced during the reign of the Dogra dynasty with Ranbir Singh as its ruler.


The SC also vacated a stay on the trial in the Kathua gangrape-cum-murder case. The court said that since it is seized of the matter, no court shall pass any order with regard to the case. It said that the trial in the case must be fair to accused as well as the victim's family.


It also ordered continuation of the security to the family members of the victim, family friends and lawyer representing them and directed translation of statements and records of the case from Urdu to English and also.


Image: Prime accused in the case, retired revenue official, Sanjhi Ram. Pic: Reuters.

Kathua case: The Supreme Court transfers the Kathua rape and murder case to the Pathankot Court in Punjab. The proceedings will also be held in-camera.  The J-K government had submitted to the Supreme Court that it is ready for a fair trial in the state and had opposed the transfer of the case to another state.

The apex court transferred the case out of J-K on the basis of a a plea filed by the father of the victim in the Kathua case for transfer of trial to Chandigarh.

The eight-year-old child from a minority nomadic community had disappeared from near her home in a village near Kathua in Jammu region on January 10. Her body was found in the same area a week later.


The state police's Crime Branch, which probed the case, has filed the main charge sheet against seven persons and a separate charge sheet against a juvenile in a court in Kathua.

The Delhi Police on Monday told the Supreme Court that it will file its final report for the Sunanda Pushkar's death within a week's time. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs has asked for more time to file its reply in the matter.


Wife of senior Congress leader, Shashi Tharoor, Sunanda Pushkar was found dead under mysterious circumstances in a suite of a five-star hotel in Delhi on the night of January 17, 2014.


On February 23, Tharoor said he was looking for a conclusion in his wife's death case.


Incidentally, on that day, Tharoor's statement came hours after the Supreme Court issued a notice to the Delhi Police on BJP leader Subramanian Swamy's appeal challenging the Delhi High Court order dismissing his plea for a Special Investigation Team probe into Sunanda death case.
- ANI

A court today posted for May 22 the hearing in the case of the juvenile accused in the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua. The Chief Judicial Magistrate AS Langeh fixed the hearing for May 22.


Earlier on April 25, the juvenile presented himself before the court amid heavy security. 


CJM Langeh had then asked the juvenile whether he had received copies of the charge sheet from the crime branch, to which he replied in the affirmative.


The CJM court had dismissed the bail plea of the accused juvenile. The counsel for the accused had moved the court for his bail soon after the crime branch had filed its charge sheet against him and seven others allegedly involved in the rape and murder case. The juvenile accused had sought bail on grounds that he was underage. -- PTI

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam today laid the foundation stone for a memorial 'mandapam' of late J Jayalalithaa in Chennai abutting her burial site on the Marina beachfront. Palaniswami placed the first brick for the construction on the ground, and Panneerselvam the second, marking the formal inauguration of work for the memorial at the beach complex.


A 'yagna' and special prayers were conducted ahead of the stone laying event in which Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai, Tamil Nadu Ministers, MPs and MLAs participated along with the chief minister and his deputy.


A large number of AIADMK workers took part in the event. The proposed memorial 'mandapam' for late chief minister Jayalalithaa is set to come up behind the memorial of AIADMK founder and former Chief Minister M G Ramachandran.


Jayalalithaa's mausoleum was decked up for the event. Elaborate security arrangements were made for the stone- laying ceremony. Jayalalithaa died on December 5, 2016. PTI

The BMC has appealed to Mumbaikars to drink boiled water for the next seven days starting today as the water may be turbid. Water supply from the newly-built Ghatkopar reservoir tank begins today and in the initial few days, the quality of water is likely to be poor.  A BMC official said wards -- L (Kurla) and N (Ghatkopar) -- are likely to be more affected.

How 'China's MIT' Tsinghua University drives the country's tech ambitions. Read the full report here.

Security officials in Afghanistan are working with local tribal elders to trace the seven Indian engineers abducted by the Taliban gunmen in the restive northern Baghlan province, media reports said today.


Provincial police spokesman Zabiullah Shuja said the Indian engineers of KEC International, an RPG group company, were working on a project for the construction of a power sub-station. They were abducted by the militants from the vicinity of Cheshma-e-Sher area yesterday while they were travelling to inspect the work progress.


Shuja said the Afghan driver of the engineers is also missing and an operation is underway for their release, according to media reports. The security officials in the province said efforts are underway by the Afghan forces and the government officials as well as the local tribal elders for the release of the Indian engineers.


Provincial governor Abdul Nemati said the security forces and the local officials are busy tracking the missing engineers and their driver.


He said apart from the security forces and the government officials, the local tribal elders have also stepped up efforts for the release of the Indian nationals.


Nemati assured that the missing Indian engineers and their driver will be released soon. Baghlan Governor had yesterday said the terror group had abducted the Indian engineers and their driver, believing they were government employees. No group has, however, claimed responsibility for the abduction. -- PTI


Image: The External Affairs Ministry has said in New Delhi it is in touch with authorities in Afghanistan.

Aditi Singh, the Congress legislator from Rae Bareli assembly seat, who has spent the weekend battling rumours of an impending nuptials with her party president Rahul Gnadhi, scored a stunning victory in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh elections, trouncing both the BSP and the BJP.   

Former PM Manmohan Singh addressing a press conference in Bengaluru speaking on a subject he holds sway -- economics.  

"The economic management of the Modi government is slowly eroding the trust of the general public in the banking system. Recent incidents which resulted in shortage of cash in many states were preventable.  Two major avoidable blunders of the Modi govt have been demonetisation and hasty implementation of GST. The losses the economy suffered due to these blunders have severely hurt our micro small and medium enterprise sector and have resulted in loss of tens of thousands of jobs.


"As far as Nirav Modi is concerned, it was obvious that in 2015-16, that something is going on with the affairs of Modi. Yet the Modi government didn't do anything. If blame has to be cast, it has to be on the govt of mandate.


"In fact, the PM was in Davos in the company of Nirav Modi & only a few days later he ran away from the country. That itself is the reflection of sad state of affairs in this wonderland of Modi government.


"No Prime Minister in our country has used the Office of the Prime Minister to say things about his opponent that Mr Modi has been doing day in & day out. It doesn't behove a Prime Minister to stoop so low & it is not good for the country as a whole as well."


Read: Why Manmohan had asked Modi to apologise over the Pak conspiracy charges.

The BSE Sensex rose 131 points in late morning trade today on bouts of buying in key frontline stocks of realty, consumer durables, metals, banks, auto and FMCG sectors amid mixed Asian cues. Asian stocks were trading mixed despite the biggest advance in US shares in almost four weeks.


Back home, profit-booking was witnessed in healthcare counters. The 30-share index was trading higher at 35,046.40 at 1115 hrs, showing a gain of 131.02 points, or 0.38 per cent. The broader Nifty-50 index was trading up by 40.60 points, or 0.38 per cent at 10,658.85. -- PTI

Two opposition leaders today moved the Supreme Court challenging the rejection of the impeachment notice against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra by the Rajya Sabha chairman on the ground that there was "no proven misbehaviour".


Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who is also one of the signatories of the impeachment notice, mentioned the matter for urgent listing before a bench headed by Justice J Chelameswar.


The bench, also comprising Justice S K Kaul, asked Sibal and advocate Prashant Bhushan to mention the matter before the chief justice of India for urgent listing, citing a Constitution bench judgment on powers of master of roster.


The two leaders who have moved the petition are Congress' Rajya Sabha MPs Pratap Singh Bajwa, who is from Punjab, and Amee Harshadray Yajnik, who is from Gujarat.


Sibal said he was aware of the constitution bench judgment on master of roster but since the impeachment notice concerns the CJI, the senior-most judge of the apex court can order for listing.


"I am aware of the procedure but it can't be mentioned anywhere else. A person cannot be a judge in his own cause. I am just asking for urgent listing and not seeking any interim relief," Sibal said. PTI

Normal life came to a standstill in Kashmir today on a call for shutdown by separatists to protest the killing of five civilians during clashes between protesters and security forces near the encounter site in Shopian district yesterday.


Jaint Resistance Leadership (JRL), an amalgam of separatist groups, spearheaded by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik, called for a complete strike to protest against the civilian killings during clashes with security forces following an encounter in which five militants, including an assistant professor from the Kashmir University, were killed.


The separatists have called for a sit-in against the killings outside the Civil Secretariat, which opened today as part of the traditional 'Darbar Move' practice, in Srinagar.


While Geelani and Mirwaiz have been placed under house arrest, Malik has been taken into preventive custody since Saturday. Schools, colleges and other educational institutions have been closed as a precautionary measure to prevent any law and order situation, officials said.


The Kashmir University has cancelled all academic activity for two days and postponed the exams scheduled to be held today. Shops and other business establishments remained closed while public transport remained off the roads due to the strike call.


Restrictions have also been imposed in Pulwama and Shopian districts of south Kashmir while security forces have been deployed in strength across the Valley for maintaining law and order, a police official said.


The official said the situation across the Valley is peaceful so far. Train services from Banihal to Baramulla have been suspended while Internet services in mobile devices continued to remain suspended for the third day today. PTI

The Supreme Court today struck down the amendment to a Uttar Pradesh legislation which allows former chief ministers of the state to retain government accommodation even after demitting office.


A bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi said the amendment in the legislation was ultra vires to the Constitution since it transgresses the concept of equality under the Constitution. The bench said the amendment was "arbitrary, discriminatory" and violates the concept of equality.


The apex court said that once such persons demit public office, there is nothing to distinguish them from the common man. The apex court had on April 19 reserved its verdict on an NGO's plea challenging amendments to the UP legislation allowing ex-chief ministers of the state to continue occupying government bungalows.


The top court had earlier observed that if the provision, which has been challenged by NGO Lok Prahari, was held invalid, then similar legislation in other states might also come under challenge.


The NGO had challenged the amendments made by the erstwhile Akhilesh Yadav government to the 'UP Ministers (Salaries, Allowances and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1981'.


It had also challenged another UP law of 2016 called 'The Allotment of Houses under Control of the Estate Department Bill-2016' to regulate the allotment of government accommodation to trusts, journalists, political parties, speaker and deputy speaker of legislative assembly, judicial officers and government officials. PTI

Responding on a query on the rising political violence in poll-bound state Karnataka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said violence, in democracy, should not be allowed in any form, by any political party or ideology .


While interacting with Karnataka's Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha Karyakartas (workers) via the Narendra Modi (NaMo) App, Prime Minister Modi said, "Violence in any form should not be allowed by any political party or ideology in democracy. In Karnataka, several BJP workers lost their lives. There should be space for political debates but one must not indulge in violence. I appeal to BJP's youth karyakartas in Karnataka not to act in vengeance even when they have lost their several karyakartas in political violence."


Also, the Prime Minister slammed the Opposition for raising questions against almost every other issue, like from usage of Aadhaar to tampering of electronic voting machines.


"The Opposition is protesting against every other issue, like from usage of Aadhaar to tampering of electronic voting machines (EVMs). However, the BJP is promoting the use of technology," he said. -- ANI

Former Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has flayed the NDA government at the Centre for allegedly failing to keep its poll promises and "misleading" the people on many issues like GST and demonetisation.


"Before coming to power four years ago, it (BJP) had promised that Rs 15 lakh will be deposited in everyone's bank account .. the government has even failed to release the list of black money holders," the senior CPI(M) leader said while delivering a lecture on "Manifestation of Perfection: Idealism in Politics" in Bhubaneswar yesterday.


Slamming the Narendra Modi government over demonetisation and GST, Sarkar said the demonetisation move was a myopic one, while implementation of GST had shattered the backbone of small business in the country.


Accusing the Centre of failing to keep the promise of providing employment to two crore people in a year, the veteran left leader said it was unable to provide even two lakh jobs.  -- PTI

J&K CM on the five civilians killed in clashes with security forces following an encounter with five terrorists in Shopian yesterday: "Our soldiers and children are being killed. Stones are in hands of poor, guns also are in hands of poor (security forces) only. We've to find a middle ground to save them.


Five Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists including a top commander and a fresh recruit -- a university professor -- were killed in an encounter in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, even as five civilians died during clashes between protesters and law enforcing agencies near the encounter site, the police said. Read the report here.

The spewing of lava from the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii's Big Island shows no signs of stopping as 21 homes have been destroyed in the aftermath of the eruption in Leilani Estates, Hawaii County officials said on Sunday.


The figures were confirmed after the officials undertook an aerial survey earlier in the day, according to local media reports.


Geologists say that the ongoing lava outbreak from Kilauea volcano that is inundating Leilani Estates would "continue for some more days and could go on for weeks."


In spite of the destruction, officials have allowed residents to return temporarily to retrieve their belongings. Children were strictly prohibited from entering the affected area.


Hawaii County spokeswoman Janet Snyder said that the rise of sulphur dioxide levels led to a severe deterioration of air quality and advised all to exercise caution.


Hundreds of residents of Hawaii's Big Island continued to flee as lava and molten rocks erupted from Kilauea volcano spewed into the neighbourhoods of the island.


The volcano, which became active, was the result of the Friday's 6.9 magnitude earthquake, and has already driven people out of their homes in Big Island, CNN reported.


"The earthquake, one of the dozens to hit the area in 24 hours, was the most powerful on the island since 1975," the United States Geological Survey said in a statement.


The earthquake led to the opening of cracks in Kilauea volcano's rift zone, an area of fissures, spewing lava near the island's eastern edge and destroying roads, vehicles, and trees in Big Island. -- ANI


Image: Lava advances along a street near a fissure in Leilani Estates, Hawaii. Photograph: US Geological Survey/Reuters. For more images go here.

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Monday slammed Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti over her "hollow" tweet on the violence in the state, and said that her brother Tassaduq Mufti was more honest than her in voicing opinion on the situation.


In the wake of the Pulwama encounter, Mufti had called for unity among the people and professed that "violence is no solution to the issues that plague us".


Quoting her tweet, the former chief minister said, "Your tweet has a hollow ring to it. At least your brother was more honest than you. This blood is the price Kashmiris are paying for you to remain CM & for PDP & BJP to remain "partners in crime"."


Abdullah was referring to the People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader and Culture Minister of the state, Tassaduq Mufti's earlier statement to a media house, wherein he expressed a strong objection to the BJP-PDP alliance said that both the parties "ended up being partners in a crime (for which) an entire generation of Kashmiris might have to pay with their blood."


Tassaduq Mufti also said the whole party shared this view.


Abdullah continued the attack against Mufti with another tweet, asking if the deceased civillians' would get justice or not.


"One question though, as the state Home Minister & head of the Unified Command you have admitted these boys are "innocent civilians" so who will be charged & hanged for their cold blooded murder? Or should I be asking @HMOIndia this question?" read the tweet.


Yesterday five civillians were killed during an encounter between terrorists and security forces at Badigam area of Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian. Five terrorists were also killed in the encounter. -- ANI


File pic: J-K CM Mehbooba Mufti with her brother Tassaduq Mufti

An air hostess of Air India has alleged that she was molested by the pilot of the Ahmedabad-Mumbai flight.The pilot allegedly molested the air hostess on May 4.According to the police, "A scuffle broke out between the complainant and the pilot onboard. The woman then approached the Sahar police station in Mumbai and lodged a case".


Based on her complaint, the police registered a case against the pilot under section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the IPC.Further investigations are underway. -- ANI