The Election Commission on Tuesday asked political parties to 'desist' during their Lok Sabha poll campaigns from indulging in any propaganda involving actions taken by defence forces.

The fresh advisory came days after the poll panel asked parties and their candidates against using pictures of defence force personnel in their campaign material.

'...parties/candidates are advised that their campaigners/candidates should desist, as part of their election campaigning, from indulging in any political propaganda involving activities of defence forces,' the advisory issued on Tuesday said.

The commission said the new advisory is in continuation to its earlier one on use of pictures of defence personnel in campaigning.

The latest advisory of the EC comes against the backdrop of complaints against parties for using the armed forces for political gains, especially in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack and the February 26 air strike by the Indian Air Force across the LoC.

The poll panel had on March 9 asked political parties to 'desist from displaying photographs of defence personnel'.

The EC's direction came after a picture showing a hoarding with images of IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman and leaders of a party.

In a separate case, the commission had also issued a show-cause notice to Delhi BJP MLA Om Prakash Sharma for putting up two posters featuring him, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Wg Cdr Varthaman on Facebook.

The EC had also asked him to take down the post.

The Lok Sabha election is scheduled to begin on April 11 and will continue till May 19.

Referring to attempts at politicising armed forces, former navy chief Admiral L Ramdas (retd) had written to the EC recently urging it to intervene.  -- PTI

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday decided to drop all its 10 sitting MPs from Chhattisgarh, a decision that comes in the wake of the party's drubbing in recent assembly elections.

BJP general secretary Anil Jain, who is also in charge of the state, said the party has decided to face the Lok Sabha elections with 'new candidates and fresh energy' to make it victorious under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Jain said the state BJP made the proposal to drop the MPs to the central election committee of the party, which gave its nod.

Former Chief Minister Raman Singh is likely to be the party's candidate from Rajnandgaon, sources said.

The state sends 11 MPs to the Lok Sabha.  -- PTI

On the eve of Holi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address over 25 lakh watchmen through audio bridge medium as he steps up his 'Main bhi chowkidar' campaign in the run up to the Lok Sabha campaign, the Bharatiya Janata Party said on Tuesday.

Party's media head and Rajya Sabha MP Anil Baluni said Modi will share the 'colours of Holi' with watchmen across the country in the address on Wednesday.

The prime minister is also scheduled to interact with people, who have pledged their support to the 'Main bhi chowkidar' (I also am a watchman) campaign, from 500 places in the country on March 31.

Noting that watchmen work round-the-clock without taking any leave, Baluni said Modi's initiative is aimed at highlighting the works of people like them and added that it was an important step for improving the lot of the last man in line with the BJP's credo of 'sabka saath sabka vikas' (With all, development for all).

People from different walks of life have lent their support to the 'Main bhi chowkidar' campaign, he asserted.  -- PTI

Former Supreme Court judge Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose appointed as Lokpal by President of India Ram Nath Kovind.

Other judicial members of the Lokpal are:

Justice Dilip B Bhosale
Justice Pradip Kumar Mohanty
Justice Abhilasha Kumari
Justice Ajay Kumar Tripathi

Members other than judicial members are the following:

Dinesh Kumar Jain
Archana Ramasundaram
Mahender Singh
Dr Indrajeet Prasad Gautam

The appointments will take effect from the dates they assume charge of their respective offices.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party for questioning her religion and said neither she nor the people of the state need to learn the meaning of 'communal harmony' from the 'divisive BJP'.

"There are people who question my religion. I want to tell them that my religion is humanity and I do not need lectures from others about religion," she said at a programme here in connection with the upcoming Holi festival.

"They (BJP) try to point fingers at me and say I do not allow puja to be conducted in Bengal.

"They should go and see how many mandir (temples) have been constructed during the TMC regime," the Trinamool Congress supremo said.

The BJP had often questioned her religion and accused her of following the politics of appeasement.

Continuing to hit out at the saffron party, Banerjee, who is among its harshest critics, said she believed in playing Holi with colours 'unlike some sections (BJP) which believe in paying with blood'.

"I believe in playing Holi with colours and a pure mind unlike a section which believes in playing Holi with the blood of others.

"I do not need to learn the meaning of communal harmony from a divisive force like the BJP," she said.

Banerjee called for maintaining communal harmony on the days of 'Doljatra' (as the festival of colours is known in Bengal) and Holi, and cautioned people to be on guard against any effort to disturb peace.  -- PTI

A Delhi court on Tuesday allowed the Enforcement Directorate to send extradition requests to Republic of Albania against two directors of a Gujarat pharma firm in a Rs 8,100-crore money laundering case.

ED told the court that as per reliable sources, the accused -- Nitin Jayantilal Sandesara and Chetankumar Jayantilal Sandesara, both directors of Sterling Biotech Ltd (SBL) -- have obtained the citizenship of Albania and non-bailable warrants (NBWs) were issued against them this year.

Special Public Prosecutor Nitesh Rana submitted that extradition requests needed to be certified by the court.

The court issued fresh NBWs against both the accused and will be attached with the requests.

ED had registered the alleged bank fraud case against the firm SBL under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).  -- PTI

The new Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in Goa will face a floor test in the assembly on Wednesday, officials said.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesday said his government had sought a floor test on Wednesday to prove its strength in the assembly.

"Governor Mridula Sinha has convened a special session of the assembly at 11.30 am for holding the floor test," an official said.

The BJP-led government in the coastal state claims support of 21 MLAs - 12 from the BJP, three each of allies Goa Forward Party and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and three Independents.

The strength of the 40-member House has been reduced to 36 due to the death of chief minister Manohar Parrikar, BJP MLA Francis D'Souza and resignations of two Congress MLAs Subhash Shirodkar and Dayanand Sopte.

The Congress is the single largest party in the state with 14 MLAs.

There is also an Nationalist Congress Party legislator in the House.  -- PTI

Two people were killed and several others trapped when a four-storeyed under construction building collapsed at Dharwad in north Karnataka on Tuesday, police said.

The building came crashing down, triggering panic among neighbours and passers-by, a police official said.

"Two have died while some 30 to 40 people are trapped," said a police officer at Dharwad police station.

Police said four people have been brought out from the debris while rescue operations are in full swing.

As many as 10 ambulances and five fire tenders have beenengaged to carry out rescue and relief operations.

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said he was shocked to learn about the collapse of the under construction building.

Kumaraswamy said he has directed the chief secretary to supervise the rescue operation and to send experienced rescue teams by special flight to Dharwad.  -- PTI

Speculation about Vikhe Patil resigning as Maharashtra LoP have been rife in political circles ever since his son, Sujay, joined the ruling BJP on March 12 and is set to be recommended by it for the Ahmednagar Lok Sabha seat. Sujay's candidature from the BJP will pit him in a straight fight with the NCP, which had refused to accede to Vikhe Patil's request to let his son fight on a Congress ticket from there. 

Vikhe Patil, who is in his hometown Loni, said, "I reject reports that I have resigned as Leader of Opposition." Vikhe Patil had earlier said that Sujay's decision to join the BJP was a personal one. He would continue to the serve the Congress and abide by its directives, the LoP had asserted. -- PTI

"Our leaders have already talked to Salman Khan to campaign for us in Indore. We are almost certain the actor will campaign for us," the state's Congress spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi said. A spokesperson for the "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" actor refused to comment. 

"He spent his childhood in Indore. His grandfather was a senior police officer there," Chaturvedi added. Khan is a huge crowd-puller and his contribution in the Congress' poll campaign will change the party's fortunes in the city, the Congress leader said. 

Indore, Madhya Pradesh's largest city, has been a BJP bastion since Sumitra Mahajan defeated former chief minister and senior Congress member Prakash Chandra Sethi in 1989. Mahajan, an eight-time MP who went on to be Lok Sabha speaker, has retained the seat since then. 

Salman campaigned and participated in a road show for the Congress' Indore mayoral candidate Pankaj Sanghavi in 2009. However, the move did not pay off as senior BJP leader Krishna Murari Moghe defeated him. Elections in Madhya Pradesh will be held over four phases beginning April 29. -- PTI

The Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front on Tuesday announced candidates for 38 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal and said it will wait for Congress's response on an alliance in the state, before declaring nominees for the remaining constituencies.

Left Front chairman Biman Bose said they will wait till Wednesday evening for the Congress's response.

"We announced a list of 38 candidates. We are not announcing the names of four seats which the Congress had won last time (2014). We will wait till Wednesday evening for a response from the Congress. If there is no response, we will go ahead with the remaining four seats," Bose told reporters in Kolkata.

"We hope good sense will prevail and the Congress will realise the need for maximum pooling of anti-BJP and anti-TMC votes in the state. We will wait for their response," he said.

The development comes a day after the Congress announced candidates for 11 constituencies which includes the two which the CPI-M had won in 2014.

The Left Front last week had announced a list of 25 candidates in the state leaving aside 17 seats for Congress. But the Congress' state unit took it as an insult and on Sunday evening decided to go it alone in the state.  -- PTI

Intensifying his 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' (I too am a watchman) campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 31 will interact with people, who have pledged their support to the campaign, from 500 places across the country.

Speaking at a press conference in New Delhi, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the campaign has become a 'people's movement' as the 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' hashtag has been tweeted 20 lakh times and had 1680 crore impressions.

On Saturday, Modi on Twitter had urged his supporters to take the 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' pledge, saying he is not alone in the fight against graft and social evils.

BJP leaders, including its president Amit Shah and Union ministers, followed suit and later prefixed their name on the microblogging site with 'chowkidar' as they sought people's support for the party in the Lok Sabha polls.

Prasad said Modi will interact with people from different walks of life, including BJP leaders and allies, professionals and farmers, from some 'field location' through video-conference.

Replying to a question if the campaign was a counter to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's 'chowkidar chor hai' (watchman is thief) barb, he rejected the suggestion and asserted that Modi in his campaign for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls had projected himself as the 'first servant' and 'chowkidar' of the country.

Taking a dig at the Congress, Prasad said people, who are out on bail and are being investigated, have a problem with this campaign as they have a lot to hide.

"If they have nothing to hide, then they should also join the campaign," he said, describing the campaign as a 'positive narrative' of the masses for a 'corruption-free' India.

Mocking Modi's social media campaign, Congress president Rahul Gandhi had said, 'Defensive tweet Mr Modi! You feeling a little guilty today' as he tagged a picture of the prime minister with fugitive businessmen such as Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi besides industrialists Anil Ambani and Gautam Adani.  -- PTI

The Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party on Tuesday announced they would contest all 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra in alliance.       

Announcing the alliance, SP MLA Abu Asim Azmi said the two parties together represent about '85-90 per cent' of the society and provided a third front for people let down by the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress.

"Secularism is about to end in the country. Those who call themselves chowkidars can go to any length, and peddle lies, to cling on to power," he alleged.

He claimed only the SP-BSP alliance was strong enough to stop the BJP from winning over 5-7 seats in Maharashtra.

Attacking the Congress, Azmi said the main opposition party had made Muslims, Dalits and the backward classes 'helpless', as there was no third alternative available for people.

"However, after our decision to contest all 48 seats, a third front will be available. We represent 85-90 per cent of society," he claimed.

Azmi said discussions on the seat-sharing formula was yet to begin between the two parties and a committee had been formed to take it forward.

The formula would be announced in two to three days, he asserted.         He added that no other party had approached them as yet to be part of the alliance.

BSP MP Ashok Siddharth alleged the Congress' policies for Muslims, Dalits and backward classes remained on paper and could not penetrate to the ground level, adding that the SP-BSP will ensure these policies reach the common man.

Siddharth said BSP chief Mayawati will address a public rally in Nagpur on April 5 and the party would also request SP chief Akhilesh Yadav to be part of it.   -- PTI

JUST IN: An under-construction building collapses in Kumareshwar Nagar, Dharwad in Karnataka; many feared trapped.

Search and rescue operation underway.

More details awaited.  -- ANI

The former Maharashtra chief minister also said that the decision of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), led by Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar, not to align with the opposition parties will eventually prove beneficial for the NDA.

The Congress and NCP had been wooing the VBA to join forces with them in Maharashtra. However, the VBA, a social coalition of Dalits and Muslims jointly formed by Ambedkar and Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM), recently decided to field its own candidates for the Lok Sabha polls.

"We are not going to get a clear majority. No party got 270 seats in 30 years (before 2014). Is (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi claiming so (that BJP will get majority) now?" Chavan asked. 

"Some of their (the BJP's) people are saying so...I won't say how many seats the Congress will get, but the next government will be formed under the leadership of Congress. We are not claiming to get 270 seats, but the Congress-led government will be formed," Chavan said during an interaction with BBC News Marathi.

He also claimed that the BJP would suffer in the "cow belt", comprising mainly Hindi heartland states, and get 100 seats less vis--vis the 2014 polls.

Vadra had filed an anticipatory bail application in the case linked to allegations of money laundering in the purchase of a London-based property at 12, Bryanston Square worth 1.9 million pounds. The property is allegedly owned by him.

On Feb 16, the court had extended his protection from arrest till today. ED had said it has received information about various new properties in London which allegedly belong to Vadra, including two houses of five and four million pounds each, six other flats and more properties. -- PTI

Unsolicited advice to all leaders of opposition parties, "stop speaking against each other in public. Sort out your differences privately."

Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil's resignation is with Congress president Rahul Gandhi for consideration. 

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday claimed that there has not been a single riot in last two years since the BJP government came to power in the state whereas Hindus were forced to migrate in the previous regime.  

While presenting the report card of his government for the last two years, Adityanath said, "As many as 227 riots took place in 2012, 247 in 2013, 242 in 2014, 219 in 2015 and over 100 riots in 2016. But, in the last 24 months of BJP rule, not a single riot has taken place." He alleged that the previous governments gave patronage to the anti-social elements who were indulged in riots.

"This is the same state where a series of riots have taken place. These riots were committed by anti-social elements under the patronage of state governments, and there were dozens of towns like Kairana and Kandhla where a large scale of Hindus and people belonging to the trading community had to leave," said Yogi Adityanath.

"They were forced to leave their houses, selling them to these anti-social elements at throwaway prices. Thousands were killed and properties worth thousands of crores of rupees were destroyed," he said.

"We have changed this perception in the last 24 months and now those who have migrated have returned to their places," said Adityanath. -- ANI

Update on the Congress party's alliance with the AAP in Delhi. The pull and push within the party for and against an alliance with Arvind Kejriwal means there is no decision on it as yet. 

However, Delhi Congress Chief Sheila Dikshit has called for a meeting of three state working presidents Devender Yadav, Haroon Yusuf and Rajesh Lilothia, at her residence.

NCP Leader Sharad Pawar has also intervened in the ongoing war of words and possible alliance discussions in Delhi between the AAP and the Congress. 

Multiple sources in all three parties have confirmed to ANI that Sharad Pawar has taken the mantle of mediator between both parties to stitch an alliance in Delhi to mount a unified campaign against the BJP.

This intervention of the NCP comes after the Delhi Congress unit's divergent views on an AAP-Congress tie up came to a head when Delhi Congress Chief Sheila Dikshit went on-record to convey her disagreement with leaders within the Delhi Congress on joining hands with the AAP.

Media reports surfaced on Monday that Dikshit penned a letter to Congress President Rahul Gandhi informing him that a tie up with the AAP would harm Congress' prospects in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Dikshit's letter was in response to a recent 'phone survey' by AICC's Delhi in Charge PC Chacko to guage the 'mood' of party workers in the capital and their opinion on a Congress-AAP tie up. PC Chacko had earlier said that, "As far as I know, there are senior leaders in Delhi who think that defeating BJP is party's immediate responsibility. For that we should form an alliance with AAP, that's the thinking of majority of leaders."

ON day 2 of her boat yatra, Congress General Secretary UP-East Priyanka Gandhi Vadra offered prayers at the Sita Samahit Sthal in Bhadohi.  Speaking to the media, she counter-questioned the BJP narrative on the Congress doing nothing for the country for the last 70 years. "'What did they do in 70 years?' argument also has an expiry date. Now they (BJP) should tell what they have done in their five years when they are in power," Priyanka said.

The Congress star campaigner kicked-off the three-day yatra yesterday by taking a boat from Sangam. They yatra will end at Arail ghat. The campaign which was launched from Prayagraj will end in Varanasi.

On completion of two years of the Yogi govt, Priyanka said, "'Report card, promotions, all of it sounds good but there's nothing on ground, I'm meeting people every day, all the people are in distress."

The BJP yesterday took a swipe at Priyanka Gandhi's 'Ganga yatra' and said the latter is "rowing a direction-less boat".  

 "PM Narendra Modi" was earlier scheduled to hit the theatres on April 12. "We are bringing this film a week early on public demand. There is a lot of love and anticipation among the people and we don't want them to wait longer. This is a story of 1.3 billion people and I can't wait to show it to them," film's producer Sandip Singh said in a statement. Directed by Omung Kumar, the biopic will traverse the journey of Modi from his beginnings to his years as chief minister onto his landmark win at the 2014 general election and being nominated as prime minister. 

 Boman Irani, Manoj Joshi, Prashant Narayanan, Zarina Wahab, Barkha Sengupta, Anjan Shrivastav, Yatin Karyekar, Ramakant Dayma, Akshat R Saluja, Jimesh Patel and Darshan Kumaar are part of the cast. Veteran actor Suresh Oberoi, Vivek's father, and Anand Pandit are co-producing the film along with Ssingh. The film will also release in Tamil and Telugu. -- PTI

"There are some families, in the past, they were called 'Rajgharana' (royalty). They come in the election season to celebrate picnic and return only after 5 years. It is obvious, that this 'boat yatra' is for the vote only," said Dinesh Sharma.

"The SP-BSP has said that they don't need Congress because it has maligned intentions. So this 'boat Yatra' is 'vote yatra' with maligned intentions," said Dinesh Sharma.

Congress star campaigner Priyanka, kicked-off three-day party campaign for the national polls yesterday. She took a boat from Sangam to Arail ghat. The campaign which was launched from Prayagraj will end in Varanasi.

Uttar Pradesh will go to polls during all seven phases of the election to be held on April 11, April 18, April 23, April 29, May 6, May 12 and May 19. Counting of votes will be done on May 23. -- ANI

The 30-share index was trading 73.35 points, or 0.19 per cent, higher to 38,168.42. The gauge had gained over 1,420 points in the previous six sessions. Sectoral indices, led by oil and gas, healthcare, realty, PSU, consumer durables and IT gained up to 0.78 per cent. The NSE Nifty also advanced by 14.40 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 11,476.60. 

Major gainers were Sun Pharma, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, SBI, ITC, Bajaj Finance, Reliance Industries, Infosys, Yes Bank, HDFC Bank, HCL Tech, HDFC, Coal India, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank and Asian Paints, rising up to 3.05 per cent. Bucking the trend, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, L&T, Maruti Suzuki, ICICI Bank, PowerGrid, M&M, Vedanta and Tata Steel were down up to 2.42 per cent. -- PTI

So we waited for the chief minister to arrive. Suddenly, the state information secretary asked meto come to the dais as CM sahib was already there.I looked around -- no one looked like a typical Indian political heavyweight -- and was shocked to be introduced to a gentleman who was dressed in a casual shirt, pants and chappals!

I was visibly embarrassed and said meekly when the programme began, "I am sorry, I got ready for the event like a CM and Manoharji has arrived like a genuine journalist!" The audience laughed and Parrikar's laughter was the loudest.

His friends -- a few in Goa and in Mumbai -- from RSS circles and also from out of it simply called him Manohar. He was as normal and a person in a crowd as anyone else. His best he gave to Goa and the defence ministry."

Former BJP MP Tarun Vijay's eulogy to close friend and four-time Goa chief minister and former defence minister Manohar Parrikar who passed away on Sunday. 

Do read it here 

Embattled British Prime Minister Theresa May's crisis over the Brexit in the United Kingdom Parliament has worsened as House of Commons Speaker John Bercow disallowed any attempt to hold a third vote on her withdrawal agreement with the European Union which has already been voted down by MPs twice.

 

Bercow ruled that he would not allow another vote on the government motion if it remained "substantially the same" after it was defeated by a huge 230-vote margin in January and a smaller 149-vote margin last week.

He said parliamentary conventions dating back to 1604 meant MPs could not be asked to vote on precisely the same subject twice, indicating that he had allowed the second vote as the government had claimed some changes to the controversial Irish backstop clause offered an improved deal for Britain's exit from the European Union.

 

"It is a necessary rule to ensure the sensible use of the House's time and the proper respect for the decisions which it takes," he said.

"If the government was to bring forward a new proposition that is neither the same, nor substantially the same as disposed of by March 10, this would be entirely in order," he said, adding that the new motion could not be "the same proposition or substantially the same proposition".

 

The speaker, who is in-charge of selecting the motions and amendments that the Commons votes on, said the second meaningful vote motion on May's Brexit deal held last week did not fall foul of parliamentary convention because it could be "credibly argued it was a different proposition" to that rejected on January 15 because of changes the government considered to be legally binding.

 

Bercow's latest ruling comes as a fresh blow to May, who had been hoping she may get third-time lucky if she could win over enough rebellious MPs by warning that Brexit itself was in jeopardy unless she can go back to the EU with a substantial deal in place.

 

She is set to head to Brussels later this week for a European Council summit where EU leaders will contemplate agreeing to an extension of the March 29 Brexit Day deadline. -- PTI

Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit has written to party president Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi saying forging an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in Delhi would harm the party in the long run, sources said on Monday.

Dikshit, along with three working presidents HaroonYusuf, DevenderYadav and, Rajesh Lilothia, also expressed discontent over Congress leader PC Chacko's phone survey through Shakti app to determine views of party workers on the alliance, the sources added. 

In the letter, Sheila urged Rahul to clear the air over a pre-poll alliance with AAP so that there is no confusion among the party cadres, the source mentioned.

Chacko had recently held a meeting with Delhi's district heads on the issue of alliance where it was decided that Rahul would take a final call in the matter.

Last week, Dikshit, after meeting the Congress president, had declared that there was unanimity among party leaders with regards to an alliance with AAP in Delhi. 

Following the announcement, AAP president and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had said there are "rumours" that the Congress has a "secret understanding" with the BJP and asserted that his party is ready to fight the "unholy alliance."

United States President Donald Trump on Monday accused American media organisations of blaming him for last week's twin terror attacks in New Zealand, calling it "ridiculous".

"The Fake News Media is working overtime to blame me for the horrible attack in New Zealand. They will have to work very hard to prove that one. So Ridiculous!" Trump tweeted.

The US president's comments came after some American media coverage had been focusing on the terrorist's manifesto, which called Trump a "symbol of renewed white identity."

The White House has rejected claims that Trump backed white nationalist views.

"The president is not a white supremacist. I'm not sure how many times we have to say that," acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said on "Fox News Sunday."

Earlier, a social media account believed to be linked to Brenton Tarrant, the 28-year-old Australian-born terrorist, expressing anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim views.

He wrote that he supported Trump "as a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose" but not as a "policymaker and leader."

On March 16, Trump said that he did not see a rise in white nationalism across the world after the terrorist had called the US President "a symbol of renewed white identity."

"I don't really think so. I think it's a small group of people that have very, very serious problems," The Hill quoted Trump as saying when asked if he saw a rise in white nationalism. 

"If you look at what happened in New Zealand, perhaps that's the case. I don't know enough about it yet," he added. -- ANI

The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, said it was possible that once he dies his incarnation could be found in India, where he has lived in exile for 60 years, and warned that any other successor named by China would not be respected.

Pondering what might happen after his death, the Dalai Lama anticipated some attempt by Beijing to foist a successor on Tibetan Buddhists.

"China considers Dalai Lama's reincarnation as something very important. They have more concern about the next Dalai Lama than me," said the Dalai Lama, swathed in his traditional red robes and yellow scarf.

"In future, in case you see two Dalai Lamas come, one from here, in free country, one chosen by Chinese, then nobody will trust, nobody will respect (the one chosen by China). So that's an additional problem for the Chinese! It's possible, it can happen," he added, laughing.

China has said its leaders have the right to approve the Dalai Lama's successor, as a legacy inherited from China's emperors.

But many Tibetans - whose tradition holds that the soul of a senior Buddhist monk is reincarnated in the body of a child on his death - suspect any Chinese role as a ploy to exert influence on the community.

Ten months after being kidnapped in Afghanistan's Baghlan province, one of the seven Indians has returned to India, the external affairs ministry said.

  

It said India continued to work closely with the Afghan government for safe and early return of the remaining six Indian nationals.

The seven Indian engineers were kidnapped by Taliban terrorists in the restive northern Baghlan province on May 6 last year. India has been requesting the Afghan government to secure release of the Indians.

"One of the seven Indian nationals, who was kidnapped in Baghlan province of Afghanistan in May 2018, has safely returned to India," the MEA said.

"We are grateful to the Government of Afghanistan for their support in securing the release and repatriation of the Indian national," it said.

The Indian engineers were working on a project for the construction of a power sub-station and they were kidnapped by Taliban militants from the vicinity of Cheshma-e-Sher area.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had taken up the issue with the Afghan government on multiple occasions. 

India has been carrying reconstruction activities in the war-torn country. It has already provided at least $2 billion aid to Afghanistan.

Hundreds of widows on Monday decided not to celebrate Holi this time in order to mourn the sad demise of Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.

Many women gathered at Gopinath temple to pay their last respects to the deceased chief minister.

Sulabh International Social Service Organisation had planned to organise Holi celebrations. "However, that will not happen now due to the chief minister's death," said Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of the organisation.

"As a mark of respect for the departed soul, we have decided not to celebrate Holi today. All widows mourn the sad demise of our beloved leader and statesman," he said.

Vrindavan's Holi celebrations in recent years have become memorable occasions for the thousands of widows, who till recent past used to face humiliation.