Bobby Jindal announces he is running in 2016 presidential race

Sister Nirmala, the head of the Missionaries of Charity (MoC) founded by Mother Teresa, was buried in the St John's Church cemetery this evening. 

Heavy rains caused due to deep depression has created a flood-like situation in Amreli and Rajkot districts of Saurashtra, besides claiming two lives with around 1,500 people shifted to safer locations. 

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has announced that he is running for the Republican nomination for president, in a long shot bid that will rely on wooing the socially conservative voters who dominate early primary states.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today sought to dispel apprehensions about the return of 'jungle raj' following the alliance between his Janata Dal-United and Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal for the coming assembly election and said there was no question of it as long as he was there.     

"Till I am there jungle raj can never come. I had established rule of law and this will continue to prevail," Kumar, who has been at helm of affairs in the state since November 2005 except for brief period when Jitan Ram Manjhioccupied the chair, said.       

The bogey of the return of 'jungle raj' in Bihar had been raised by the opposition BJP following the alliance between the JD-U and RJD.

The International Day of Yoga was observed in all 192 countries except strife-torn Yemen, the Union cabinet was informed today.   

Soon after the Cabinet meet ended at the Prime Minister's Office this morning, the members were briefed about the Yoga Day celebrations across the world and in India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the official event on Rajpath.   

"Except Yemen, where we do not have an embassy, Yoga Day was celebrated in around 192 countries with great enthusiasm," Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters while briefing on cabinet decisions.   

India had shut down its embassy in strife-torn Yemen a few months ago. The day was also observed in over 44 Islamic nations, the minister said. His remarks on celebrations in Islamic countries came against the backdrop of the government stressing that yoga has nothing to do with any particular religion.  

Prasad, however, did not specify as to which ministry, the external affairs or AYUSH, briefed the Cabinet on the issue. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj attended the cabinet meeting, before she left for Nepal to attend a donors' conclave called to make efforts to rebuild the earthquake-hit nation.

Opposition parties today demanded the removal of Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani, saying she has no "moral, constitutional or legal" right to continue in her post after a Delhi court took cognisance of a complaint that she gave false information about her educational qualification.

"It is apparent that the country's education minister is lying about her own education. What will happen to the future of millions of children in the country. Irani has no moral, constitutional or legal right to continue in her post for even a day," said Congress's chief spokesperson, Randeep Surjewala.

He claimed that Irani had in 2004 submitted an election affidavit stating she had received a bachelor's degree in Arts in 1996 from Delhi University. But, in 2011, when she filed a Rajya Sabha nomination from Gujarat, she stated that she holds a B.Com degree of 1994 from DU, he added.

In 2014, in her nomination papers for the Amethi Lok Sabha seat, she had said she is a B.Com graduate of DU's School of Open Learning. "After a court has prima facie found a cognisable case against her, we demand that Irani must resign forthwith or be dismissed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he said.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today arrived in Kathmandu on a two-day visit to Nepal to attend an international donors' conference where she is likely to announce a major financial package by India for reconstruction of the quake-hit nation.

Swaraj was received by India's Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae and other top officials of the embassy at the airport. The International Conference on Nepal's Reconstruction has been organised by the Nepalese government to raise funds for carrying out rebuilding of areas devastated by the massive earthquake of April 25 which claimed nearly 9,000 lives.

Nepal's Prime Minister Sushil Koirala had this month called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi to invite him for the conference. However, Modi decided to nominate Swaraj for ICNR.

At least 35 countries are expected to attend the conference to be held in Kathmandu tomorrow. Ahead of the meet, Koirala said there has been a "big gap" between what Nepal was able to do and what needs to be done. He said Nepal's resources alone are not enough to meet the "unforeseen and pressing challenges" and called upon international community to help the country.

Just in: A Sydney-Dubai flight landed in Mumbai today after a medical emergency.

An Airbus 380 plane made an emergency landing in Mumbai this evening after two passengers complained of chest pain. The plane was flying from Sydney to Dubai when it had to be diverted because of the medical emergency, reports NDTV.

The two passengers have been taken to hospital.

Photograph: Representation picture
 

The Food Safety Standards Authority of India will come up with a draft notification on the standards of alcoholic beverages in next two months.

After cracking down on noodles and milk, central food safety watchdog FSSAI is now turning to alcoholic beverages with plans to set up standards for drinks including beer and whiskey.

The Food Safety Standards Authority of India will come up with a draft notification on the standards of alcoholic beverages in next two months.

"Work is going on to prepare standards for alcohol and alcoholic beverages, in next two months the FSSAI will come up with draft notification seeking comments from the public,' a senior official told PTI.

Over 1,200 people have died in Pakistan's Sindh province due to a heat wave described as the worst in decades, as major hospitals in the country's largest city struggled to cope with the unprecedented influx of patients seeking treatment for heatstroke-related illness.

The death toll in worst-hit Karachi, Sindh's provincial capital, has reached 1,000, with more than 200 people reported dead in other parts of the province.

Anwar Kazmi of Edhi Foundation, which runs the largest ambulance service in the region, told PTI that death toll in Karachi, a metropolis of over 18 million people, has reached 1,000.

"At least 1,000 have been killed in Karachi only. I do not have data of rest of Sindh province but there are reports of deaths," he said. Sindh Chief Minister

Qaim Ali Shah said that more than 200 have died in the interior areas of Sindh due to the intense heat wave. Sindh government has declared public holiday today in a bid to keep people indoors away from the heat.

Amid India's objections to the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project passing through PoK, Pakistan has claimed that Gilgit- Baltistan and Kashmir were its part and not disputed territories.


Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, speaking in the National Assembly yesterday about India's objection to the corridor, said Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir were part of Pakistan and not disputed territories.


Pakistan has already rejected Indian objections that the planned corridor passed though "a disputed territory", Dar was quoted as saying by Dawn news. "What disputed territory," Dar angrily asked as he cited the expected economic benefits of the corridor and said, "Gilgit-Baltistan is part of Pakistan." He also claimed that PoK was part of Pakistan. Part of the 3,000 km corridor linking Pakistan's Gwadar port with Kashgar in China's north-western autonomous region of Xinjiang will pass through the Gilgit-Baltistan region.


Last month, India had raised with China its concerns over huge Chinese investments in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. During his visit to Pakistan in April, Xi had pledged assistance of USD 46-billion to build a strategic economic corridor through the PoK.

Maharashtra Women and Child Development Minister Pankaja Munde finds herself in the middle of a Rs 206 crore scam, in what may be called the first case of impropriety of the Devendra Fadnavis-led government. Read more

Home minister and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh said today that External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje Scindia will not resign. He tartly said that "this was the NDA government and not the UPA government", alluding to the resignations of scam-tainted ministers in the earlier government.


It may be recalled A Raja, Kanimozhi, and Suresh Kalmadi ended up in jail; former Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan, and union ministers like Dayanidhi Maran, and Bansal and Kumar were forced to quit.


Raje and Sushma Swaraj have been tainted in what is now being called Lalit-gate. Swaraj and Raje have been facing flak for helping former IPL chief Lalit Modi procure travel documents in the U.K, a country which he has made his home to avoid legal processes in India.


Modi faces an ED probe for alleged money laundering in an IPL tournament.

Just in: The Cabinet clears the setting up of six new IIMs, announces BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad. The proposed IIMs are likely to be in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Punjab. Details awaited.

The Congress is considering a boycott of union ministers Sushma Swaraj and Smriti Irani in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament which will begin on July 21. A decision will be taken at the Congress Parliamentary Party meet on the same date.


The Congress is divided on this matter as many MPs have said a boycott of the two ministers tainted by the Lalit Modi issue and a 'fake' degree case, may in fact boomerang since the BJP will remain in office for another four years.

Congressmen feel that while they could disrupt parliament proceedings, there should not be any official boycott.

A boycott means that the Congress will not allow the two ministers to answer questions on their ministries and will create a ruckus whenever they make statements in both houses of Parliament.


This is precisely how the Congress boycotted the late Janata Dal Rajya Sabha MP George Fernandes and others during NDA I.


Senior Congress leaders who had a luncheon meeting today had floated this idea, but with the absence of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi from India, a consultation process will begin once again when they return.

Just in: The Union Cabinet clears a proposal to set up a memorial in the memory of socialist leader Jai Prakash Narayan in Bihar.

Just in: Will President Pranab Mukherjee visit the famous shrine of Yadagirigutta in Telangana?

If Telangana CM  K Chandrasekhar Rao has his way, the answer is yes.

Pranab Mukherjee is scheduled to visit Tirumala Tirupathi temple in Andhra Pradesh on July 1, but sources tell us that KCR wants the president to make a stopover at the Yadagirigutta shrine as well.


It seems KCR does not even spare deities in the one-upmanship between AP and Telangana.


KCR has made several attempts to put Yadagirigutta on the relitious tourism map of India and even ensured PM Modi will visit the shrine in October 2015.


The Telangana CM sent an invite to Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday arguing that if any VVIP visits the Tirumala Balaji shrine, a stopover must also be made at Yadagirigutta.


The chief minister is keen to develop the famous hill shrine of Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy in Yadagirigutta and has earmarked Rs 100 crore every year for its development along the lines of Tirumala.

The Delhi Police has reached the residence of RK Pachauri, former chief of Teri for questioning in a  sexual harassment case. 

First reactions from the BJP: Senior leader Subramanian Swamy says: "Since Smriti has not been summoned it means the complainant has not yet proved there is a prima facie case. So for now Smriti has no issue."

Delhi's Patiala House court says that while it has found the plea maintainable, the complainant must show proof on day of hearing, says Smriti Irani's counsel.

Trouble looms for union minister Smriti Irani.

A Delhi court has said that the complaint or plea against the Union HRD Minister for allegedly giving "false" information about her educational qualification in affidavits filed with the Election Commission, is 'maintainable'. The court will hear the case on August 28.


Metropolitan Magistrate Akash Jain had on June 1 reserved the order on the plea after hearing arguments on the aspect of limitation and whether cognisance can be taken or not.


The complaint was filed by freelance writer Ahmer Khan, who alleged that Irani in her three affidavits before the EC while filing nominations for her candidature for Lok Sabha as well as Rajya Sabha polls had purportedly given different details about her educational qualification.


Senior advocate K K Manan, appearing for Khan, had told the court that in her affidavit for April 2004 Lok Sabha polls Irani had said that she completed her BA in 1996 from Delhi University (school of correspondence) whereas in another affidavit of July 11, 2011 for contesting Rajya Sabha election from Gujarat she said her highest educational qualification was B.Com part I from the School of Correspondence, DU.

A transgender residing in Mumbai, Joe Paul, was allegedly forced to vacate the rented flat where she had been living for the last three months.


"The broker forced me to vacate the flat. I had been living there for just three months," Paul said.


A film-maker by profession, Paul claimed that she has been asked to vacate the flat in Jogeshwari as the owner felt it was a "family society", and not meant for persons like Paul.


In another case of discrimination, a Muslim woman was refused a flat for rent in Mumbai by a builder allegedly on grounds of her religion just days after a male MBA graduate was denied a job by a diamond export firm for similar reasons.

The Allahabad High Court today fixed the first week of August as the next date of hearing on a PIL seeking directions for a CBI probe into the killing of a Shahjahanpur-based journalist.

Just in: The three-week monsoon session of Parliament to begin from July 21.

Journalist, social science researcher and human rights activist, Praful Bidwai has passed away. He was just 66. He is believed to have asphyxiated while eating food. He passed away in Amsterdam.


Bidwai wrote on environment, global justice and peace and was one of South Asia's most widely published columnists whose articles have appeared on Rediff.com, The Times of India, Frontline, etc.

He has also been a regular contributor to The Guardian, Le Monde Diplomatique and Il Manifesto.


His website, Prafulbidwai.org reads: "He has co-authored or contributed to several books on political economy, the environment, sustainable development, science and technology, ethnicity and politics, North-South relations, and security and nuclear issues. Bidwai is a founder-member of the Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace, an umbrella organisation of Indian peace groups founded in 2000. He received the Sean MacBride International Peace Prize, 2000 of International Peace Bureau, Geneva and London, one of the world's oldest peace organisations. Bidwai read science and technology, philosophy and economics at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. "

RIP Mr Bidwai, you will be missed.


This is his last column for Rediff.com: Why the Parivar wants Dr Ambedkar.

With bountiful rains, the monsoon has set in satisfactorily in Maharashtra with the state receiving 80 per cent rainfall of the month at the very beginning of the season.


An official at agriculture department said the onset of monsoon has brought cheer amid predictions that it was going to be inadequate this year.


"Some parts of Marathwada are yet to receive rains but farmers are hopeful to have good crops this year. The state government is also glad to see the ambitious Jalyukta Shivar scheme, meant for water conservation, getting good result," the official said.


According to government figures, the total rainfall so far was 178 mm, which is 80 per cent of the average rainfall in the month of June. Apart from Mumbai and Konkan regions, western Maharashtra and Vidarbha have received good downpour.


Areas in Marathwada like Beed, Latur, Osmanabad are yet to receive satisfactory rainfall in the season. "It is a good beginning for the season. Mumbai, Vidarbha is receiving good rains. However, the Marathwada region needs to catch up a little more," Transport Minister Diwakar Raote, who hails from Marathwada, said.


The minister further said the farmers have started sowing and are hoping better crops this time after drought for four consecutive years. State's dry region Marathwada was badly hit by farmer suicides after Vidarbha.


"The state has received 109 per cent of normal rainfall in the season. Last year around this time, the percentage was as low as 31. We are hoping farmers will benefit from the timely rain. Though the prediction this year was worrisome, figures indicate a good beginning," the official said.

@sardesairajdeep tweets: One of the finest edit page writers from an earlier era: Praful Bidwai has passed away. Hard left: wrote with passion and commitment. RIP.

Just in: Tennis great Steffi Graf appointed Kerala's Tourism and Ayurveda brand ambassador, says Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the cabinet chaired by the CM. Graf's remuneration package has not been spelt out as yet. The state government has also been wooing actor Shah Rukh Khan and a few other international celebrities for the purpose.

Graf had already declared her willingness to push Kerala tourism and ayurveda internationally.

The government will "play by the rule book" and make sure that absolute standards of probity are maintained, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said as the Opposition continued its attack over the Lalit Modi controversy.


Jaitley also said there is "no question at all" about the government going on the back foot on this issue, as it has done "nothing wrong".


"The government will play by the rule book and we will make sure that the absolute standards of probity are maintained," Jaitley told PTI in an interview.


Asked whether the controversy was creating an impression that some leaders of the ruling party and the government were siding with corrupt people, Jaitley said, "There is no question at all."


To a question on the Opposition planning to disrupt the Monsoon Session of Parliament on the Lalit Modi issue, Jaitley said Parliament is meant to discuss and not to disrupt business.


"We are willing to have a discussion on any subject that the Opposition wants," he said. The Finance Minister also said that the reforms can even take place outside Parliament, but its smooth functioning was important for many other reasons. "There are also some legislative reforms for which Parliament must function," he said. Under attack from the opposition, Jaitley had yesterday said the authorities would continue to do their job in probing the matter. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj have been facing flak for allegedly helping former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi in procuring travel documents in the UK, a country which he has made his home to avoid legal processes in India. Modi, 49, travelled to London in 2010 after the Indian Premier League (IPL) got embroiled in allegations of match-fixing and illegal betting. Dushyant Singh, Raje's son, has also been under attack over reports that his company received Rs 11.63 crore in investments from Modi in 2008.


Congress has accused Jaitley of doing a "clear-cut cover-up" on the entire issue and of influencing the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe in Dushyant Singh and Modi's case.

The Income Tax department is likely to issue notices to Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi asking them to pay tax and penalty on "income' of Rs 1,300 crore that investigators believe they earned from the transfer of shares of Associated Journal Ltd (AJL), publishers of the now-defunct party newspaper The National Herald. Read

BJP MP from Ratlam-Jhabua seat in Madhya Pradesh Dilip Singh Bhuria passes away at a hospital in Gurgaon.

The forensic report of the Uttar Pradesh Police in the alleged murder of the Shahjahanpur-based journalist, Jagendra Singh, has virtually given a clean chit to the accused minister Ram Murti Verma.


The report says that the journalist set himself on fire thereby letting off Verma and the police officials who were suspended after the journalist died on June 8. They had been charged with murder.


Ironically, this comes even as Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav assured 'justice' to the family of the journalist. He has also promised a Rs 30 lakh compensation and jobs to both sons, when he met the family members on Monday.


The Hindu report quoting the forensic report says that there was enough evidence to suggest that the burn injuries on Singh's body were self-inflicted. The postmortem report weighs in on the testimony of the main witness.


Singh, a freelance journalist, was allegedly set on fire on June 1 during a police raid at his house at Awas Vikas colony in Sadar Bazar area of Shahjananupr. He died during treatment at a hospital in Lucknow on June 8.


Singh's family had lodged a complaint with the police against UP minister Ram Murti Verma and five others, including policemen, at Puwayan police station of Shahjahanpur.


An FIR was registered against Verma and others under sections 302 (murder), 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 504 intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.


The video footage of dying declaration, which went viral on news channels and social media, showed Singh saying, "Why did they have to burn me? If the minister and his goons had a grudge, they could have beaten me instead of pouring kerosene and burning me."

Another picture of the rescue ops. 

In a swift response to an SOS from a distressed offshore coastal vessel, the Navy and Coast Guard today swung into action to rescue 14 crew members of the vessel MV Coastal Pride.

A cement carrier, the vessel sank 24 nautical miles south of Daman (75 NM North of Mumbai) this morning, a Defence spokesperson said.


Navy launched a SeaKing chopper at 0758 hrs from INS Shikra, Colaba, while CG launched two Chetak helicopters at around 0840 hrs for the rescue operation.


Six persons were picked by Coast Guard before the ship sank, while SeaKing helicopter saved six persons from the water and Coast Guard picked two persons, after it sank. Rescued crew were safely evacuated to Umargaon.


The Navy helicopters on Monday had rescued 20 persons on board a listing merchant ship off Vasai coast in neighbouring Palghar district..

A man found guilty of raping a 15-year-old orphan in Tamil Nadu has been asked to meet  his victim by a judge of the Madras High Court who said "alternate dispute resolution is gaining momentum in the West."  


V Mohan was sentenced to seven years in jail in 2012, four years after the crime. He challenged his conviction and  has  now been granted temporary or interim bail by Justice D Devadass, who urges a settlement between the rapist and the victim, who became pregnant and delivered a child as a result of the sexual attack.  


The judge, is reportedly in favour of the convict marrying the rape survivor. 


"The victim-girl has become mother of a child. But as on date, she is nobody's wife. So she is an unwed mother. Now there is a big question mark looming large before the girl as well as her child, who is completely innocent," the judge said.

The benchmark BSE extended its gains and was up by 89 points in late morning trade led by sustained buying in healthcare, FMCG, and teck sectors. The broader markets advanced too with the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices rising by 0.11 to 0.24 percent. The 50-share Nifty rose by 19.44 points 0.23 per cent to 8,401.10 at 1100 hrs. Due to volatility, mild selling were seen in auto, banking and capital goods stocks.

Two years after vociferously arguing for an expansion of the provisions of the National Food Security Act, the BJP in government is bleeding it with a thousand cuts, both fiscal and otherwise. Read

Indira Gandhi's private secretary R K Dhawan, part of the sanctum sanctorum of former PM's office and residence, has spilled the beans on Emergency claiming that Rajiv and Sonia "didn't have reservations about the Emergency" while "Maneka knew everything Sanjay was doing and was with him at all times and cannot claim innocence or ignorance."


Dhawan's revelations will surely embarrass the two daughters-in-law of the Gandhi-Nehru dynasty, especially Maneka who is now with the BJP that defied the Emergency and many of whose leaders went to jail.


He also said that Indira Gandhi was unaware of the excesses of Emergency like forced sterilization and Turkman Gate demolitions for which, Dhawan said, Sanjay Gandhi alone was responsible.

Read more

"Charles Correa was a rare person, special and unusual. I was privileged to have known him and his wife, Monika, a textile master, from the time I was a young teenager, impressionable and curious, eager to reach out to men and women whose creativity, ideas and imaginative alternatives excited me to extend myself beyond the rigidity of going with the herd and to break away from doing what was expected of young people graduating from school.


Charles was one such 'hero' in my life. He remained an extraordinary individual, intellectually alive and sharp, right up until the last conversation that I had with him a couple of months ago, on the telephone, where we were discussing the restoration of one of his buildings in Jaipur."

Malvika Singh on Charles Correa. Read

A Union minister and a chief minister stand accused of corrupting their office. If Prime Minister Narendra Modi lets them continue, he will have broken his election promise substantively, says Aakar Patel.  Read

In the midst a raging controversy over her ties with ex-IPL boss Lalit Modi, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje today cancelled her scheduled visit to London.


Raje was scheduled to visit London for an interaction with business tycoons ahead of the Rajasthan Resurgent Meet in Jaipur in November.


The Chief Minister had to visit London from June 27 to July 2 but in view of the important Niti Aayog meeting she has cancelled her UK tour, a CMO Spokesman said. Raje will be in Delhi on June 28 to attend Niti Aayog's sub-committee meeting.


The Rajasthan Chief Minister and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj have been facing flak for helping Lalit Modi procure travel documents in the UK, a country which he has made his home to avoid legal processes in India. Lalit Modi, 49, travelled to London in 2010 after the Indian Premier League (IPL) became embroiled in allegations of match-fixing and illegal betting.

Little-known English actor Tom Holland has been picked to play the web-slinging superhero in the next "Spider-Man" film, which is due for release in July 2017, Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios said on Tuesday.

The Railway officials have confirmed no casualties have been reported so far after the Palamu Express derailed in Jharkhand on Tuesday.

St Stephen's professor Satish Kumar, who is facing charges of molesting a PhD student working under his supervision, has resigned from the post of college bursar following which the governing body today made a new appointment for the administrative position.

Vile jihadis fighting for the Islamic State in Iraq have brutally murdered five prisoners by locking them in a metal cage and lowering them into a swimming pool.

At least 18 people are dead following a knife and bomb attack by a group of ethnic Uyghurs on a police traffic checkpoint in northwestern China's troubled Xinjiang region, sources said Tuesday, amid harsh restrictions on observance of the Muslim holy month of Ramzan.

Twenty-eight-year-old Afghan National Army Sergeant Essa Khan catapulted to fame following an attack on the Afghan parliament building that killed six civilians and left all seven presumed Taliban attackers dead.

Meanwhile, in a crackdown on illegal breweries, the police in Thane district destroyed thousand litres of illicit liquor in raids.

 A court in Mumbai has sent two women to police custody over their alleged involvement in a hooch tragedy. Toxic homemade liquor killed more than 94 slum dwellers in Mumbai, with more than 45 in hospital recently.

The Congress party on Wednesday will hold a protest against Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje demanding her resignation over latter's involvement in former IPL chief Lalit Modi row. 

The National Security Agency spied on French presidents Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande, WikiLeaks said in a press statement published on Tuesday, citing top secret intelligence reports and technical documents.

Rajesh Sakre would have you believe he is a regular guy, except he has just fought and won a case against one of India's largest banks.

British lawmakers led by prominent Indian-origin entrepreneur Karan Bilimoria on Tuesday performed Yoga in the UK parliament, celebrating the first International Yoga Day.

A Delhi court is likely to pronounce today its order on a complaint against Union HRD minister Smriti Irani for allegedly giving "false" information about her educational qualification in affidavits filed with the Election Commission.

Yoga is serious business and the Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu took his shavasan (corpse pose) a little too seriously! Prabhu was in Cochin, Kerala to observe the International Day of Yoga on June 21.

Mission controllers trying to fly a solar plane around the world canceled take off from Japan early tomorrow because of weather problems over the Pacific Ocean. 

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired a rocket into southern Israel today, the army said, the fifth such attack in under a month. "Rocket was launched from the Gaza Strip to southern Israel," the army said on Twitter. "No injuries reported." 

A Daesh operative suspected of involvement in the 2012 attack on the United States diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya, has been killed in a United States airstrike in Iraq, the Pentagon said on Monday.

Al-Qaeda's north African branch has released footage of a jihadist with an English accent parading two Western hostages he says are being held in "new territory" under its control. 

Resident doctors of Delhi have called off their strike, says Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain. 

A fire has killed at least 15 elderly residents of a nursing home on the outskirts of the northern border city of Mexicali, across the border from Calexico, California, the Mexican city's mayor said today. 

President Barack Obama spoke out against religious prejudice Monday at a White House dinner celebrating the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

The US military will be sending dozens of tanks, Bradley armored fighting vehicles and self-propelled howitzers to allied countries in the Baltics and Eastern Europe in response to Russian actions in the Ukraine, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Tuesday.

ISIS has been forced from one of its stronghold outposts, a key access point to its self-declared capital, where it was entrenched for two years. And the defeat along a vital stretch of terrain could be a potential blueprint for more military successes against the militants.