Minutes after his concert was cancelled in Mumbai following threat from the Shiv Sena, legendary Pakistani ghazal singer Ghulam Ali said that he only spreads love through his music.

"I have always got a lot of love in India. I am not angry, I am hurt," he told NDTV.

"Music is Allah, God, Bhagwan. My voice is not bound by borders. Such controversies spoil people's 'sur' (tone)."        

Russia today launched rocket strikes on Islamic State group targets in Syria from warships in the Caspian Sea, about 1,500 km away.

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said four warships fired 26 sea-based cruise missiles on 11 targets, destroying them and causing no civilian casualties. Meanwhile, Syrian ground troops have launched an offensive under Russian air cover, Syrian officials say. 

Photograph: Russian defence ministry/YouTube

Just in: Pakistani ghazal singer Ghulam Ali's concert cancelled in Mumbai after threats from the Shiv Sena. The call was taken after the organisers met Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. 

The show, scheduled for Friday, has been called off even after Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadanavis assured that the singer would be given full protection.   

It's ally versus ally once again in Maharashtra. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has slammed the Shiv Sena for threatening to disrupt legendary Pakistani ghazal singer Ghulam Ali's concert in Mumbai.

"Ustad Ghulam Ali is welcome to perform in Mumbai. the government is ready to give full protection to the singer. It is wrong to involve the Pakistani legend in politics," Fadnavis told NDTV.

Ghulam Ali is scheduled to perform in Mumbai on Friday. The Shiv Sena on  has demanded cancellation of the concert citing the strained ties between the two nations.    

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today attacked on Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again, but this with a little bit of variation in the usual 'suit-boot' jibe.

He accused the PM of being more bothered about the presentation of his foreign visits and his clothes than the plight of farmers or the poor in India. "When Modiji goes to America, you will see him changing clothes 16 times. He will wear one suit, then another, then yellow clothes, then green, then blue, then pink... Have you ever seen Nitishji in any other colour than white?" said Rahul Gandhi, addressing an rally in Bihar's Sheikhpura, about 120 km from Patna.

"When Modiji became the prime minister, I called it a 'suit-boot ki sarkar'. After that, he never wore a suit," he added.

Fissures appeared in the third front in Bihar with Samajwadi Party oday announcing it would contest 146 seats instead of 85 seats declared earlier. SP Secretary General Kiranmoy Nanda told reporters that his party would field candidate on 146 seats in place of 85 declared earlier as part of seat-sharing among six parties comprising the third front.

From The Guardian: University lecturer who has lived in the city intermittently since 2012.

Hardly 10 days after his wedding, an NRI man from Kerala has sent his 21-year-old wife a tripple Talaq message from Dubai on WhatsApp. The shocked woman, a BDS student and hailing from Chertala in Alappuzha district, has now approached the Kerala Women's Commission for help. 

The Gujarat high court today rejected the pleas of social activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand for defreezing their personal bank accounts and those of their two NGOs in an alleged embezzlement case. 

The Bombay high court today reserved its order on a pre-arrest bail petition filed by controversial self-styled godwoman Radhe Maa in a dowry harassment case.

Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi today said he will write to the heads of government of all 193 United Nations member countries asking them to ensure adequate financial and human resources for the effective implementation of child-friendly sustainable development goals.

An outfit floated by BJP MP Yogi Adityanath today offered all possible help "including guns" to the Hindus of Bishada village, as it alleged that they were being hounded following the lynching of Mohammed Iqlakh. 

Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi today charged RJD supremo Lalu Prasad with hiding black money that he allegedly made out of fodder scam by running dairy business and rearing cows.

A police official died after militants attacked a police party in north Kashmir's Bandipore district. A senior police officer said militants opened heavy fire at the group at Dachina village in Bandipore district. "One sub-inspector identified as Altaf Ahmad, died in the attack. Reinforcements were rushed to the area and searches are on there, the officer said.  

The Supreme Court has declined relief on the extended use of Aadhar cards for government services. A bench led by J Chelameswar refused to stay its August 11 order making Aadhar mandatory. Now, a larger bench will decide whether Aadhar card can be used for schemes other than Public Distribution System and LPG as sought by the Central government and other financial institutions. 

The 2015 Nobel Prize for Chemistry has been jointly awarded to Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar for having mapped, at a molecular level, how cells repair damaged DNA and safeguard the genetic information. Their work has provided fundamental knowledge of how a living cell functions and is, for instance, used for the development of new cancer treatments.

The Cabinet on Wednesday approved the establishment of a National War Memorial near New Delhi's iconic India Gate, a longstanding demand of the Army and other organisations to remember the country's soldiers. A war memorial had been one of the main promises made by the Bharatiya Janata Party in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections last year. In December last year, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told Parliament that a proposal to construct a war memorial and a war museum were under "active consideration" of the government.

"The country should keep in mind core values of diversity and tolerance," said Pranab Mukherjee, days after the killing of a 55-year-old Muslim man over rumours that he and his family members ate beef. "We cannot allow core values of India's civilisation to be given a slip," Mukherjee said. "Core values of diversity, tolerance and plurality must be kept in mind," he added.

The third round of talks between agitating FTII students and officials from the information and broadcasting ministry were inconclusive and a fourth round of dialogue will be held on October 10. FTII students have been demanding for the removal of Gajendra Chauhan as the institute's chairman. The agitating students had earlier called off their 18-day-old relay hunger strike on September 27.

Delhi court grants bail to AAP leader Somnath Bharti in a domestic violence and attempt to murder case filed by his wife. Bharti, who is facing charges of domestic violence and attempt to murder, based on a police complaint filed by his wife Lipika, was arrested on September 29. Bharti's counsel Vijay Aggarwal told Additional Sessions Judge Anil Kumar that the domestic violence case against Bharti had been blown out of proportion and there was no requirement for his judicial custody, as he had continued to cooperate with the investigation agency during its probe.

Shiv Sena leaders went and met the people at Shanmukhanand Hall in Mumbai to cancel the show of Pakistani ghazal singer Ghulam Ali, reports mid-day. The party has threatened that if the program scheduled for October 9 isn't withdrawn then Sena will protest in its style. The Sena has been protesting against Pakistan and any form of cultural ties with Pakistan. Earlier the Sena had protested against Atif Aslam's concert and was even against Pakistan cricket team playing on Indian soil.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Sadhvi Prachi, known for making controversial statements, has been detained by cops outside Dadri village. A prohibitory order was imposed in the village of Dadri where a man was lynched over rumours that he stored beef and consumed the meat. 

China will build four of the eight submarines in the port city of Karachi under a defence deal signed with Pakistan. Announcing the deal, Minister for Defence Production Rana Tanveer Hussain said that the construction of the submarines would simultaneously begin in Pakistan and China. "China would transfer the technology to Pakistan for submarine construction," he was quoted as saying.

The Bombay high court has granted the CBI permission to interrogate Indrani Mukerjea in jail. After spending 5 days in hospital after falling unconscious, Indrani has been shifted out of Mumbai's JJ Hospital to Byculla prison where she is lodged after being named the prime suspect in the Sheena Bora murder case. 

After writer Nayantara Sahgal returned her Sahitya Akademi award protesting against what she called a "vicious assault" on India's diversity and debate, poet Ashok Vajpeyi has also given up the prestigious literary honour. "It is high time that writers take a stand," Vajpeyi, a former chairperson of the Lalit Kala Akademi, said. 

A police case has been filed against Akbaruddin Owaisi, a lawmaker from Telangana, for allegedly using derogatory language against Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an election rally in Bihar. Owaisi's All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen is contesting 6 of the 20 seats in Seemanchal, which has a substantial Muslim population. Owaisi had addressed the election meeting on Sunday at a village in Kishanganj, which has a 70% Muslim population. 

Sale of loose cigarettes across Uttar Pradesh has been banned and deemed a penal offence with immediate effect, officials said in Lucknow. As per the new law, anybody found selling loose cigarettes would  face a fine of Rs 1,000 and serve a one-year jail term. Any individual violating the law for a second consecutive occasion would face a fine of Rs 3,000 and serve a three-year jail term. Anybody caught manufacturing loose cigarettes will face a fine of Rs 10,000 and serve a five-year jail term.

It has been reported that Yogi Adityanath and his supporters will visit Dadri today. The village has been on edge for a week after a man was lynched over rumours that he had eaten and was storing beef. The incident has caused outrage over the country with leaders politicising the issue. 

The Shiv Sena in its mouthpiece Saamana demanded that Uttar Pradesh Minority Welfare and Urban Development Minister Azam Khan be sacked immediately for writing to the United Nation about the Dadri lynching case. "Why has Azam never written to the UN about the pathetic condition of Hindus in Pakistan? By writing to the UN about local issues, he has done an anti-national act. He has no right to remain on a constitutional post," Saamna said. 

A supporter of Islamic State terrorists has issued a threat against Fox News contributor Rob O'Neill, the former US Navy SEAL who says he fired the shot that killed Osama bin Laden, and also posted the ex-commando's purported home address in Montana online.

The company behind Cafe Coffee Day, India's biggest coffee chain, will launch an initial public offering next week, aiming to raise up to $176 million in the country's biggest IPO in nearly three years.India has seen fewer IPOs in the last few years because of volatile markets and slowing economic growth, and the response of foreign and local investors to this offering will be a test of appetite for new issues in the current unsettled climate.

The family of Mohammad Ikhlaq was moved to the secured premises of Indian Air Force establishment in New Delhi-Subroto Park. Sources said the family moved to the Capital on Tuesday and are housed in a government flat near Dhaula Kuan.Ikhlaq's son Sartaj is an airman and IAF chief Arup Raha had offered full support to his family. Meanwhile, after being on a hospital bed for more than five days, Sartaj's brother, 22-year-old Danish, took his first step on Tuesday.

Writer Nayantara Sahgal returned her Sahitya Akademi award in protest against what she calls the growing politics of religious intolerance. That it comes against the backdrop of the Dadri murder suggests that it is more directly connected to the most recent example of hate politics spurring targeted violence. We could argue that Sahgal is guilty of stark double standards. After all, she received her award in 1986, just two years after the anti -Sikh pogrom in the national capital.

A Delhi court will today hear the bail plea of AAP leader and former Delhi law minister Somnath Bharti, who had yesterday termed the domestic violence and attempt to murder case against him as a "BJP-sponsored litigation". The court is expected to decide if he should be released on bail since the police opposed it saying he was an influential person who could hamper the probe.

The government will attempt at a third round of discussion with the agitating students of the Film and Television Institute of India in Mumbai on Wednesday. Officials of Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry will talk with the students in an attempt to end the impasse, as the strike at FTII has been on for over 100 days.

Whether the Aadhar card can be used for services like opening bank accounts and taking phone connections will be decided by the Supreme Court today. The government's ambitious unique identity programme has been challenged in court over privacy concerns since it uses biometric data like fingerprint and iris scans. 

Indrani Mukerjea, one of the three prime accused in the Sheena Bora murder case, who was discharged from hospital on Tuesday has reportedly issued a statement clarifying that she did not attempt suicide as speculated in the media and that she took no medicine.