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Wed, 02 September 2015
India, others won't support US if Iran deal fails: Kerry

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23:48   India, others won't support US if Iran deal fails: Kerry
Secretary of State John Kerry today warned the Congress that countries like India, China, and Japan '" major customers of oil from Iran '" would no longer side with the US if the historic Iranian nuclear deal is not approved by American lawmakers.

"It is an illusion for members of Congress to think that they can vote this plan down and then turn around and still persuade countries like China, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, India - Iran's major oil customers," Kerry said in yet another passionate plea on Iranian nuclear deal in Philadelphia. 

"They ought to continue supporting the sanctions that are costing them billions of dollars every year? That is not going to happen," Kerry said. 

"And don't forget that the money that has been locked up as a result of sanctions is not sitting in some American bank under US control. The money is frozen and being held in escrow by countries with which Iran has commercial dealings," he said in his speech.
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22:54   Pak air force jets kill 31 militants in northwest
At least 31 militants were killed today when Pakistani fighter jets targeted their hideouts in the restive northwestern tribal region, the military said. The air strikes were launched in Tirah valley of Khyber Agency which is one of seven semi-autonomous tribal regions. 

A military official said that two hideouts were destroyed in the precision attacks. "The attack also killed 31 militants while eight more were injured," he said.

The attack coincided with militants killing three policemen in suburbs of provincial capital Peshawar which borders Khyber Agency.
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22:04   Encounter on between militants and security forces in J&K
Reports indicate that an encounter is underway between security forces and militants underway at Vilgam in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district. 

The gunfight is between militants and the 6 Rashtriya Rifles and 9 para-contingent that are taking part in the operation

This encounter comes hot on the heels of another face-off that took place on Wednesday between militants and the Indian Army.

More details awaited.
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21:58   Govt, veterans close to a deal?
The agitating ex-servicemen and the government appeared to have ironed out some major differences over the contentious issue of one rank one pension with the defence veterans saying tonight that they may accept revision of pension once in two years instead of one year as demanded by them.

War veteran Maj Gen (retd) Satbir Singh, who has been leading the protest in Jantar Mantar for the last 80 days, said they have got positive signals from the government for the last few days but stopped short of saying there was a breakthrough.

Singh said the issue was non-negotiable and both the elements of the OROPO concept cannot be interfered. An agreement can be reached once we know what is on the platter (offer by the government), he said, adding effective date of revision must be from April 1, 2014.

Independent MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who has been mediating on the issue, said it was time veterans must return home with honour and grace by reaching an early settlement.

He urged them to accept the revision of pension every three years.

Meanwhile, not in the best of health yet undeterred, Colonel (retd) Pushpendra Singh today resumed his fast-unto-death demanding prompt implementation of One Rank, One Pension scheme at Jantar Mantar here hours after he was discharged from an army hospital.
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21:39   First Dane in space begins long trip to repositioned ISS
The first Dane in space accompanied by 26 custom-made figurines from Danish toymaker Lego blasted off from Kazakhstan today as part of a three-man team on an unusually long two-day mission to the International
Space Station.

The trip by the Soyuz spacecraft is scheduled to last two days instead of the usual fast-track six hours since the ISS has raised its orbit to avoid space debris. 

The trio launched on schedule at 0437 GMT from the same launchpad in Kazakhstan used by Yuri Gagarin on his historic entry into the cosmos in 1961.

"The crew is doing well, everything is in order onboard," relayed mission control.

Veteran cosmonaut Sergei Volkov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos is leading a team that also includes first-time flyers Aidyn Aimbetov from Kazakhstan's space agency and Denmark's Andreas Mogensen of the European Space Agency.

They are expected to dock with the ISS on Friday at 07:42 GMT.

Most recent launches including the latest in July have used a six-hour approach to the ISS, orbiting the Earth four times, which is less gruelling for astronauts. 

The two-day approach, orbiting Earth 34 times, was the norm until 2013.
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21:15   Obama secures Iran nuclear deal with Barbara Mikulski vote
In a major victory for President Barack Obama, Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland announced support for the Iran nuclear deal Wednesday, providing the White House the votes it needs to prevent Republicans from scuttling the agreement.

The announcement means that at least 34 senators -- the number required by the Constitution to sustain a veto -- will back Obama's expected veto of a Republican resolution to disapprove of the deal. Mikulski is retiring at the end of her term.

While majorities of both the GOP-controlled House and Senate are poised to vote against the agreement, supporters of the multinational accord that aims to curb Iran's nuclear weapons program are also hoping to get the 41 votes needed to filibuster the bill and prevent it from even getting to a final vote in the Senate.

Read more HERE.
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21:08   China censors approve first film about gay couple
China has approved for release the first film with gay principal characters, the movie's director said, in what some are calling a breakthrough in the country's heavily-censored media.

Director Wang Chao announced on Weibo, a Chinese version of Twitter, that censors had given "Seek McCartney" permission for a cinema release.

"This is a small step for the film department, and a big step for the members of the film industry," Wang posted on Saturday.

China only decriminalised homosexuality in 1997, but conservative attitudes remain widespread and discrimination is common, although tolerance is greater in major cities.

Those who come out to friends and family in China often face significant pressure to undergo supposed sexuality "treatment" or marry a partner of the opposite sex.

The film, a Chinese-French co-production, centres on a secret relationship between two men, one Chinese and one French.
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21:07   Ukraine ceasefire undermined, EU extends sanctions
Two civilians were killed today in eastern Ukraine, undermining fresh efforts to end continuing violence as the European Union extended sanctions against individuals deemed responsible for the conflict.

A Western-brokered ceasefire agreed in February has been punctuated by frequent deadly incidents.

In a fresh bid to restore peace, Ukrainian government and separatist representatives last week agreed to seek to end ceasefire violations from Tuesday as children began school term.

But after several days of a relative lull in the war-ravaged industrial east, a group of civilians and law enforcement officials were caught in an ambush in the rebel-controlled Lugansk region during an anti-smuggling operation.

Two civilians were killed and four soldiers wounded, said military spokesman Andriy Lysenko.
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20:30   Thai bomb suspect admit to being at attack scene
Thai police today made considerable progress in its probe into a deadly bombing at a temple  after the main suspect admitted to being at the bombing scene and his fingerprints matched those found on a bottle containing bomb-making materials. 

Deputy police chief Chakthip Chaijinda said the main suspect - a foreign man national whose identity has yet to be confirmed -- was arrested in Sa Kaeo province near the border while trying to sneak through forest into Cambodia yesterday. Chakthip said the man confessed during interrogation that he had been at the bomb scene at the time of the explosion, but denied he had placed the bomb.
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19:52   Sunny Leone condom ads will trigger more rapes, says Left leader
Senior Communist Party of India leader Atul Anjan, holds Sunny Leone and her work responsible for rising rape cases in India. He said Sunny Leone's Manforce condom advertisements are responsible for rapes in the nation.  

In a video released by a channel called Khabar India, the national secretary of the Communist Party of India accused the advertisement of "developing sexuality and ruining sensibilities." If people are allowed to watch this commercial, there will be a rise in rapes, he warned.
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19:39   Assam flood situation deteriorates, 10 lakh people affected
The flood situation in Assam deteriorated as incessant rains pounded the state today and four more persons lost their lives in it as the calamity affected nearly 10 lakh people in over 2,000 villages. The Dibrugarh administration has called in the army to evacuate marooned people from different parts of the district, Assam State Disaster Management Authority said in its flood report. With today's four death the toll in the current spell of floods has risen to 24. A total 29 has been killed in the two spells of floods this year.
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19:04   Naved had performed security duty at JuD congregration
Pakistani terrorist Mohammad Naved Yakub, who was caught during Udhampur attack, had performed security duty at a congregation of Jamat-ud-Dawa, headed by Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed, at Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore in December last year. According to a dossier prepared to be given to Pakistanduring the now-cancelled NSA level talks, Naved had undergone arms training at a Lashkar-e-Tayiba camp at a jungle near Muzaffarabad in Pakistan occupied Kashmir where a total of 40 trainees were lodged.
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19:03   Cops release sketch of suspected assassins of MM Kalburgi
Two days after eminent Kannada scholar MM Kalburgi was shot dead  in Dharwad, cops have released a sketch of his suspected assassins. Today, the CID began the probe into Kalburgi's murder. The CID is also is also probing whether there was a "larger conspiracy" to eliminate the rationalist and progressive thinker.
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18:44   Sheena Bora murder: In new twist, Indrani says Mikhail is adopted son
In a new twist in the  Sheena Bora murder case, Indrani Mukerjea reportedly said that Mikhail was her adopted son. Indrani supposedly told her lawyers, who met her this morning, that Mikhail was an adopted son. As per news reports till now, Mikhail was said to be Indrani's son and Sheena her daughter. In various interviews to the media till now, Mikhail has been referring to Indrani as his mother and never once hinted to the fact that there was an adoption angle to the whole saga.

Kolkata-based Siddharth Das, had admitted he was Sheena and Mikhail's biological father though he had never married Indrani and and had said "she should be hanged" if she had committed the murder,
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17:25   Robbery case: 10-yr-jail for all four Dec 16 gang-rapists
Just in: The four death row convicts in the December 16 gangrape and murder case were awarded a 10-year-jail sentence each in a separate robbery case by Delhi court.


Ramadhar Singh, a vegetable seller, was robbed by the convicts, before they assaulted the girl in a moving bus on December 16.


The six accused robbed Ramadhar of his day's earnings after luring him into the bus. The juvenile, who was acting as the conductor, has been named in this case and a separate chargesheet filed against him before the Juvenile Justice Board.


Ramadhar, a resident of Sangam Vihar in south Delhi, was returning home from the RK Puram market when he was lured into the bus and robbed of Rs 700 and a cellphone by the accused. Police had later on recovered the money and the cellphone from the accused.


The accused had allegedly pushed Ramadhar out of the bus near the IIT flyover on the evening of December 16 and then moved towards Munirka bus stand where the victim and her male friend were waiting for a public transport.
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17:02   Baramulla encounter ends, 1 armyman, 1 Hizbul militant killed
Mukhtar Ahmad/Rediff.com reports: One army trooper and a militant were killed in a fierce gunfight in Ladoora Rafiabad village in north Kashmir's Baramulla district today.

The army and police had surrounded the village early this morning on specific information about the presence of militants there. "As the security forces were busy in carrying out a search, militants holed up in the house opened fire at the surrounding troops. One army trooper was crtically wounded and succumbed to his injuries," said the officer.

"In the subsequent encounter, a top Hizbul Mujahideen militant identified as Riyaz Ahmed, was killed. The encounter is over, but sanitation operations are still on," the officer said. 

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16:51   Last date for filing tax returns extended to Sept 7
The government today extended the last date for filing Income Tax return by a week to September 7. "Due date for filing Income Tax return extended till 7th Sep, 2015," the Finance Ministry said in a tweet. The earlier date was August 31.


Earlier, the Income Tax department had extended the last date for filing I-T returns by residents of Gujarat to September 7 following disruption of normal life due to agitation over reservation to Patel community in the state.


The tax department has notified a new set of ITR forms, including a three-page simplified one, for taxpayers to file their returns for assessment year 2015-16. The tax payers base in the country is just over 4 crore. The government aims to collect Rs 7.98 lakh crore in direct taxes in the current financial year.
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16:32   PM voices concern over high airfares during festive seasons
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed concern over steep rise in airfares during festive seasons, following which the civil aviation ministry is looking at ways to curb such instances.


There have been instances of airlines hiking price of air tickets during festival seasons when more people travel. According to a senior ministry official, Prime Minister has expressed concern over price of air tickets going up during festive seasons and has asked "whether there is a way to handle it (the issue)".


The ministry is looking at various options to address the issue, the official said even as he noted that regulating airfares would not be a way out.
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16:27   The tragic story of Oliver Sackss celibacy
When Oliver Sacks was 18, he faced a prospect most young people dread: a belated talk about the birds and the bees with his dad.


"You don't seem to have many girlfriends," Sacks wrote his father said in his memoir, "On the Move,' released earlier this year. "Don't you like girls? ' Perhaps you prefer boys?'Sacks didn't try to hide."Yes I do '" but it's just a feeling -- I have never 'done' anything,' Sacks told his father.


He pleaded with his father not to tell his mother -- but his father did. The news did not go over well -- to say the least.


"You are an abomination,' she said. "I wish you had never been born."

Read more
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16:19   Last date of filing income tax extended to Sept 7
Just in: The last date for filing income tax return extended till September 7, says the finance ministry.
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15:36   Jim Rogers exits India, says one cant invest just on hope
Rogers said he has sold all his India shares as he saw nothing new coming from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Read more 
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15:35   The princess who kept a pet lion at the Plaza Hotel
Every gravestone at Hartsdale Pet Cemetery in New York represents the story of a remarkable and beloved animal. There's Woodstock, a cat so docile he was often mistaken for meatloaf. There is Speculaas, Who Left No Ball Unchased.


And then there is perhaps the most intriguing grave of all: Goldfleck, a lion cub who once belonged to a Hungarian princess. Read more
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15:31   Not Tiger Memon, a chap called Fukran was arrested
A person named Fukran was arrested in Pakistan on Wednesday. Initially it was reported that the arrested person was Tiger Memon, the prime conspirator of 1993 Mumbai blasts. However, the reports were found to be untrue. Fukran was held in connection with a molestation case.
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15:12   Delhi court frames rape charges against Peepli Live co-director
A Delhi court frames rape charge against "Peepli Live" co-director Mahmood Farooqui for allegedly sexually assaulting an American researcher.


On June 29, the police had filed the chargesheet against Farooqui alleging that he had raped a 30-year-old research scholar from Colombia University at his Sukhdev Vihar house in New Delhi. The alleged rape occurred on March 28.


Police had also annexed medical reports of the woman and statements of more than a dozen witnesses including a common friend. Farooqui, arrested on June 20, has been in judicial custody since then.


The woman, in her complaint filed at the New Friends colony police station, alleged that Farooqui had raped her when she had gone to meet him to get his help for her research work.


She had claimed to have met Farooqui at Varanasi where she had gone to collect information about her research theme based on Baba Gorakhnath.
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15:04   What is the Inner Line Permit controversy in Manipur?
People of Manipur have been fighting for the implementation of the Inner Line Permit, and protests turned violent on Monday. What is the ILP and why are the people Manipur insistent on bringing it to effect?   Read more
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15:03   Indrani breaks down as she comes face-to-face with Peter at police station
Indrani, Peter's joint interrogation ends. India Today TV reports that Indrani broke down when she came face-to-face with her husband, the first time since she was accused of  murder. Early reports say that the police asked Indrani and Peter about financial transactions.


Meanwhile, a Mumbai police team in Kolkata has seized Sanjeev Khanna's laptop. Khanna was also brought in to the Khar police station, but was not brought before either Peter or Indrani. The police believe that Khanna's laptop may give them crucial evidence on the manner in which the murder was planned. Khanna and the driver Shyamvar Rai are the other two accused in the Sheena Bora case.
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15:01   Modi rallies around Bhagalpur
Prime Minister Narendra Modi this morning shared his happiness with cabinet colleagues at the huge turnout during the Bhagalpur rally in Bihar yesterday. The PM said so enormous were the numbers that the SPG was ready with plans to evacuate him in the event a stampede. The rough  estimate of the crowd was 3.5 lakh, the PM told senior BJP leaders.


The PM said the crowd was so enthusiastic, with cheers of Modi, Modi, Modi, ringing out, that at point he wasn't ready to leave even though there was a security risk with people approaching the dais.


On a more serious note, the PM said he was concerned about a stampede when he saw many people in the crowd climbing the bamboo posts of the pandal. If the pandal collapsed there would have been deaths, Modi feared. Thankfully, there was no untoward incidents.  
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15:01   Still no movement on GST
Neither PM Narendra Modi nor Congress president Sonia Gandhi is willing to budge from their stance on GST and whether a special session should be held. They need to get their act together by September 20 -- a special session has to pass the constitutional amendments to GST by September 20.


Leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and LoP in the Lok Sabha, Anand Sharma, have  suggested that after getting consent from the Prime Minister there should be a meeting between Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Sonia Gandhi. But who will bell the cat? Who will tell Sonia Gandhi to meet Jaitley? And even if the meeting is held, it is highly likely say insdiders that Congress VP Rahul will play spoilpsort. It's wait and watch for now. 
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14:58   Erasing history
Roads are a city's arteries, and when they are given new names, the old lose their connect, and with it a part of history is lost.


The Bharatiya Janata Party has picked on Mughal emperor Aurangzeb to rewrite New Delhi's history by renaming a road named after him.


Aurangzeb is the archetypal villain in the Hindu nationalist imagination -- the cruel ruler who put a sword to people's heads, offering them a choice between Islam and death.


And a despot who hated music so much he ordered it buried deep so that no sound could escape and reach anyone's ears. Perhaps much of it was true, but often the nuance is lost in textbooks where the process of internalisation of history begins at a young age.


Not only cruel, Aurangzeb for the BJP is an outsider, a part of Mughal history, and history it desires to wish away. And when the party decided to replace Aurangzeb with another Muslim, a former President who was the antithesis of the Mughal ruler, a man who loved to play the veena, a benevolent man who pardoned many people from being marched off to the gallows, it was hard not to miss the political statement being made.
Read more
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14:45   First conviction in CWG scam: Five given four-year jail term
Just in: Delhi High Court hands out a four-year sentence in the CWG streetlight scam to five of the seven convicts.


A special CBI court yesterday heard the argument on quantum of sentence against the convicts, including MCD officials, in connection with with the Commonwealth Games street-lighting scam case. The verdict was pronounced today.


The court had on Monday held the accused guilty for conspiring to cause a loss of Rs1.4 crore to the exchequer in the 2010 Commonwealth Games street-lighting scam. This is the first case relating to the CWG scam which has been decided by the court.


During the arguments, the CBI prosecutor Praneet Sharma contended that the convicts had caused a loss of over Rs 1.42 crore to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and maximum punishment of seven years should be awarded to them.


Citing Supreme Court judgments, Sharma argued that a lenient view should not be taken by the court towards convicts especially in corruption cases.


The court had convicted MCD superintendent engineer D.K. Sugan, executive engineer O.P. Mahla,accountant Raju V. and the civic bodys tender clerk Gurcharan Singh, besides private firm Sweska Powertech Engineering Pvt Ltd, its managing director TP Singh and director JP Singh who were illegally favoured in the award of street-lighting contract during the Games.
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14:37   RSS reviews Modi's govt in 3-day meet, asks for implementation of OROP
At precisely 10:45 am today, at least 100 to 150 cars winded their way from 7 Racecourse Road to the BJP guesthouse in Vasant Kunj, where the RSS will review the Narendra Modi government's performance in the last 15 months at a three-day meeting that began today.


Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend the meeting, though it's not clear how much time he will spend there. Media reports now say that home minister Rajnath Singh, defence minister Manohar Parrikar met RSS leaders, who asked that the OROP be implemented quickly.


The Prime Minister plans to spend four hours discussing the Union Budget and the Bihar elections with RSS leaders. BJP chief Amit Shah will be present on all three days of what has been billed as a 'samanway baithak' or coordination meeting, being chaired by Mohan Bhagwat, chief of the RSS, the BJP's ideological mentor.
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13:34  
Just in: One army jawan dies in Rafiabad in the Baramulla encounter. 
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13:21   Joint questioning of Indrani-Peter at Worli police station
Update on the Sheena Bora case: Indrani Mukerjea, accused of murdering her daughter, Sheena Bora, has been brought to the Khar police station for questioning. Ganish Dhene, who police says, is a witness, and three police officials from the Pen police station have been brought to Mumbai for investigation. Another  CID team investigates the spot in Raigad where Sheena is believed to have been buried.


This morning, Indrani's husband, Peter Mukerjea was called to the Khar police station to record his statement. The Mumbai police had called the former Star India CEO last week as well for questioning, refusing to accept the written statement from him. Mukerjea had said that he would fully cooperate with the police and was told to appear at the police station for questioning when required. A police team has also visited Peter's Worli house as part of the interrogation.


Indrani and Peter will be questioned together at the police station. This is the first time they have come face-to-face with each other since Indrani was arrested last week. Indrani's ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna is also at the police station.


Indrani Mukerjea was arrested on August 24 for the murder of Sheena Bora, her daughter from an earlier relationship, in 2012. She has been accused of killing her over a financial dispute, with the help of her ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna and driver.
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12:59   H&S signs England cricketer Joe Root
Hodder & Stoughton has bought England cricketer Joe Root's Bringing Home the Ashes. Root will briefly recount "his astonishing rise to cricket stardom", before focusing on the 2015 Ashes series.


"In what has been a turbulent year for English cricket, Joe takes us from disaster in the World Cup to becoming vice-captain on the Caribbean tour, to the Spanish camp training and bonding with a team under extreme scrutiny, to his expectation-defying performance at Cardiff in July, and finally to the Ashes victory that has cemented his place in English cricket history,' said Hodder and Stoughton.


Root, who is 24, has already scored nearly 3,000 Test runs for England. He was crowned England's Ashes Man of the series this year.


Hodder & Stoughton consultant editor Roddy Bloomfield acquired world rights in Bringing Home the Ashes from Neil Fairbrother at ISM. The book which will be published on 5th November as a 20 hardback.
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12:53   Delhi Uber rape victim ends lawsuit against company in US court
A woman who had accused a cab driver of raping her in Delhi in December last year, which sparked countrywide debate on women safety, has voluntarily withdrawn the case she had filed against the app-based cab service Uber in the US, according to a court on Tuesday.  


Reuters reports that the woman, who works for a finance company in Gurgaon, had accused the driver of raping and beating her after she had boarded the cab in Delhi.


The driver was arrested within a week of the complaint and was charged with various sections under the Indian Penal Code. The Delhi High Court is hearing the case against the driver.  


The woman had sued the company in a federal court in the US in January, claiming the company failed to maintain basic safety procedures. Uber's Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick at the time called the incident "horrific" and pledged to help "bring this perpetrator to justice."


However, during the case, Uber also argued that the woman sued the wrong corporate entity as the driver had a contract with Uber B V, a Netherlands-based entity with no US operations. 


The court filing did not disclose any details on how the case was settled, and representatives for Uber and the woman declined to comment.  


India is one of Uber's largest markets outside the United States by the number of cities covered. The company valued at around $50 billion this year, has said it would introduce additional safety measures including more stringent driver checks and an in-app emergency button.  


In the lawsuit, the woman, who was not named, had called Uber the "modern day equivalent of electronic hitchhiking." "Buyer beware - we all know how those horror movies end," the lawsuit stated.  


Earlier this year, both sides had agreed to participate in private mediation to try to resolve the lawsuit, according to court filings.
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12:42   'My izzat is more important than the Rs 1,700 I stand to gain'
"My appeal to ex-servicemen," says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd), "is please do not demean yourself and bring our izzat down to the levels of militant trade unionism of the banks or airline variety! Please accept a reasonable compromise and fight your battle with the 7th Pay Commission!" Read more
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12:39   To My Mother, On Her Birthday
My mother would have been 52 today. That's twice my age, coincidentally, and somehow that makes it seem more pressing that I acknowledge it in some way. That she was already married and with two children by the time she was 26. Read more
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12:19   Why we are so keen on demonising Indrani
Until the Mumbai police reveals what they think was the motive behind Indrani Mukerjea killing Sheena Bora, most of our understanding of the case will be based on hearsay from sources unwilling to name themselves, partisan narratives and speculation. Read more
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12:16   Trains disrupted in Andheri
Agitation at Andheri station in Mumbai by hawkers. Ten trade unions with a combined membership of 15 crore workers in the public and private sector, including banks and insurance companies, are on a nationwide strike to protest against changes in the labour laws.
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12:04   This is No Way to Cover a Murder Story
Amidst all the hand-wringing over a woman's, and a society's morals, relatively few bells have been rung about the ethics of the media scrum that has developed around the Sheena Bora murder case. Read more
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12:01   Suresh Prabhu infuses life into railways with Rs 1.5 lakh crore LIC loan
The railways have finally identified the projects that will be funded by the Rs 1.5-lakh-crore loan that Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has extended to the cash-strapped organization for the next five years.

Railway officials claim that the organization is under close scrutiny of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who thinks that a robust railways can greatly contribute to the country's economy.


"He is personally reviewing the progress of critical railway projects and urging the ministry to hasten the speed of implementation," a senior Railway Board official told ET. Read more
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11:56  
Khar is trending. Seems the police station is among the most popular destinations in Mumbai given the probe into the Sheena Bora murder case. This morning Indrani's husband Peter Mukerjea arrived at the Khar police station in Mumbai to record his statement.
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11:40   Man rides away with Harley bike
A con man walked into a Harley Davidson showroom at Banjara Hills in Hyderabad, asked to take a test ride and roared away. No one has seen him since then.


The well-dressed man strode into the showroom at 3 pm Tuesday and introduced himself as a software professional. After expressing interest in buying a Street 750, he asked if could take the 'hog' for a ride.

"The stranger furnished an identity card, a mobile phone number and his office address. After registering the details, the showroom employees handed him the keys," said Banjara Hills sub-inspector B Ramesh. The ID details have been found to be fake.


The showroom management has a particular route for its test rides. The man, however, took another route and sped away.
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11:35   Indrani Mukerjea admits to role in Sheena Bora's murder: Reports
After remaining mum for nearly a week, Indrani Mukerjea, the main accused in the murder of her daughter Sheena Bora, has finally confessed.


The Times of India reports that sources close to the investigation confirmed that Indrani, who broke down on Monday after briefly meeting her other daughter Vidhie at Bandra court, has admitted to her role in the crime. Till yesterday, she had been maintaining Sheena was very much alive and in the US, but had refused to come forward because Sheena hated her.


Indrani, who also met her lawyers and Vidhie, is believed to have learnt that her co-accused have already confessed to their part in the crime. She has refused to admit that she had any plans to kill Mikhail or revealed the motive for killing Sheena.
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11:35   Person of age 22-25 years: Ossification test result on bone samples at Pen
Just in: The ossification test on the bones recovered from the site in Pen where Sheena Bora was burnt and buried has been completed. Early reports say that the bones are from a person aged between 22 and 25 years. The ossification test determines a victim's age.


Ossification test is based on the fusion of joints in the human body between birth and age 25. If all joints are fused the person must be of 25 years of age or older. As per experts there can be an error of about 2 years in the age determined by the ossification test, but it is still more reliable than ascertaining the age on mere appearance basis.
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11:23   Commuters stranded as Delhi auto, taxis go on strike
Commuters and office goers were stranded in various parts of New Delhi as a large section of auto-rickshaws and taxis went on a strike in order to protest against a new scheme launched by the AAP government for low-fare taxis.


This coincided with a nation-wide strike by trade unions. According to an estimate by the traffic police, more than 70% of total auto-rickshaw fleet stayed off the roads on Wednesday morning. Police officers said that almost the entire fleet of kaali-peeli taxis stayed off the roads.  Read more
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11:08   J&K court finds Abdul Majid guilty of terror attack at Udhampur
More than four years after an explosion killed one and injured half a dozen others on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway in Udhampur district in May 2010, the Principal District and Session Judge R S Jain has held a Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Abdul Majid guilty of conspiring to strike terror resulting in civilian casualties and damage to public property. Read more
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11:04   'Nation-wide' strike result of PM Modi government's lost credibility: Cong
The Congress Party on Wednesday launched an attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government, saying that it has lost its credibility and so a nationwide labour strike has been called.


"The Modi government's base has fallen. Nobody is trusting him (PM Modi). Even, Soldiers, labours, as well as farmers are not ready to trust this government. It seems he has lost the credibility," Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said.
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11:02   Bharat Bandh: Clashes between Left and Trinamool in Kolkata
The bandh called by major trade unions has led to clashes between the opposition Left, which supports the bandh, and the ruling Trinamool in Kolkata.     


There are fewer private buses and taxis on the roads in Kolkata and many schools are closed. Most factories in Howrah are closed too.   


Train services on South Eastern railway were normal although Eastern railway officials said suburban services in the Sealdah south section were hit for sometime in the morning due to blockade at some places. Metro Rail services were operating normally, officials said. Shops, markets and business establishments in most areas remained closed.   


The bandh call has had no impact in Tamil Nadu, where buses are running normally.


In Delhi, there are reports of clashes between auto rickshaw drivers over the bandh. 
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10:44   Peter Mukerjea arrives at Khar police station to record statement
TV tycoon Peter Mukerjea has arrived at the Khar police station in Mumbai to record his statement in the Sheena Bora murder case.

Last week, the Mumbai police had called the former Star India CEO for questioning and had refused to accept a written statement from him. 
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10:37   North Korea denies it apologised over mine blast
North Korea insisted today that its recent expression of "regret" over a mine explosion that maimed two South Korean soldiers was not an apology, as Seoul claims it was. 

The statement by Pyongyang's powerful National Defense Commission is the first explicit denial of Seoul's interpretation of the key part of an accord that came after marathon negotiations over three days that allowed the two rivals to step back from escalating threats of war.
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09:34   Rupee strengthens 8 paise against dollar in early trade
The rupee appreciated by 8 paise to 66.14 against the US dollar in early trade on increased selling of the American currency by exporters and banks. 

 Forex dealers said domestic equity markets opening with gains supported the rupee, but dollar's strength against other currencies overseas capped the gains.
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09:08   Encounter between terrorists and army in Kashmir
An encounter has begun between security forces and terrorists in Rafiabad, Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir.

1 militant is said to be trapped by the Special Operations Group of the Rashtryiya Rifles which is engaged in the gun battle.

More details awaited.


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08:26   Pakistan has lost international support on Kashmir: ex Pak envoy
Pakistan no longer enjoys international support on Kashmir and is unlikely to get an approval for a referendum in the region from the UN Security Council, a former Pakistani envoy to the US has said.    

"Kashmir is an emotive issue in Pakistan because of the failure of its leaders to inform their people that Pakistan no longer enjoys international support on the matter," said Husain Haqqani, former Pakistani Ambassador to the US. 
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02:31   Islamic State destroys Temple of Baal in Syria's Palmyra
Satellite images show the main temple in Syria's Palmyra has been flattened, confirming the worst fears for the ancient ruins held by the Islamic State group.

The destruction of the Temple of Bel sparked outrage and international headlines, precisely the reaction the jihadist group may have been seeking, experts said.The UN's cultural watchdog called it an "intolerable crime against civilisation".

Dozens of relics remain at risk in the ruins of Palmyra, which IS jihadists seized from regime forces in May as they pursued their campaign for territory in Syria and Iraq.
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01:39   U S: N.Korea can't win a war
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter warned Tuesday that if North Korea attacks South Korea, the U.S. will respond and that North Korea would have no chance of victory.

"We need to make sure that the North Koreans always understand that any provocation with them will be dealt with and that they stand no chance of defeating us and our allies in South Korea," Carter said in a webcast where he took questions from troops stationed around the world.

Read this story HERE
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01:32   3 Pak Taliban militants killed in Lahore
Three Pakistani Taliban militants suspected to be involved in a suicide attack on twin churches here in March were killed in a shootout today after a botched attempt to break them out of police custody.

Lahore police chief Amin Wains said that the three main suspects involved in the suicide attack on the churches were killed in the shootout with the police's Crime Investigation Agency after they tried to "escape" with the help of their accomplices.

 Last month, police in collaboration with the ISI had arrested the suspects who belonged to the TTP.

On March 15, two suicide bombers blew themselves up killing 17 people at the gates of Lahore's Christ Church and Catholic Church in the country's largest Christian colony --  Youhanabad -- that houses over 100,000 Christians.
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00:36   Google has a new logo
Google is introducing a new logo today. Just a month after unveiling a major restructuring of the company, Google is updating its image, too. The new Google logo is still a wordmark, but it's now using a sans-serif typeface, making it look a lot more modern and playful.

The colors are also softer than they used to be. The logo bears a bit more resemblance to the logo of Google's new parent company, Alphabet, as well. Alphabet's wordmark has a similarly unadorned look, and this update makes the two companies' design language fall more inline.

Read more HERE.
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00:30   North Korea has no chance of victory against the U.S.
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter warned Tuesday that if North Korea attacks South Korea, the U.S. will respond and that North Korea would have no chance of victory.

"We need to make sure that the North Koreans always understand that any provocation with them will be dealt with and that they stand no chance of defeating us and our allies in South Korea," Carter said in a webcast where he took questions from troops stationed around the world.

"It's probably the single place on the world -- in the world -- where war could erupt at the snap of our fingers," he told them.

Read more HERE.
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00:30   UNESCO chief: IS destruction of Syrian temple 'intolerable'
Islamic State militants in Syria committed an "intolerable crime against civilization" by destroying the Temple of Bel, one of the ancient world's most iconic monuments, the head of the U.N. cultural agency said
today.

The militants used explosives to destroy the two-millennia-old temple in the ancient city of Palmyra on Sunday. Witnesses described a huge blast and the destruction was later confirmed by U.N. satellite images.

Over the past year, IS has seized one-third of Iraq and Syria and imposed a violent interpretation of Islamic law in a self-declared "caliphate" straddling the two countries. The group captured the ruins of Palmyra and an adjacent modern town of the same name in May.

The militants claim ancient relics and sites of worship promote idolatry. They have blown up several ancient treasures in Iraq and destroyed a smaller Palmyra temple, Baalshamin, in late August.

UNESCO chief Irina Bokova said Tuesday that "the destruction of Palmyra constitutes an intolerable crime against civilization, but 4,500 years of history will never be erased."

"The power of culture is greater than that of all forms of extremism and nothing can stop it," she added. She said her agency will try to protect "all that can be saved" from destruction by IS.

UNESCO "will pursue its unrelenting fight against illicit trafficking in cultural objects, the documentation of sites, and the setting up of networks that link thousands of experts in Syria and all over the world, to transmit this heritage to future generations, notably with the help of modern
technology," Bokova said in a statement.

Syria's antiquities chief, Maamoun Abdulkarim, said that "We have lost the most beautiful temple in Syria." "We lost a Syrian icon," he said.

The Temple of Bel, dating back to 32 AD, shows a unique merging of ancient Near Eastern and Greco-Roman architecture. 

It is dedicated to the Semitic god Bel and is considered one of the most important religious buildings of the first century. The temple consisted of a central shrine inside a colonnaded courtyard, with a large gateway within a complex that has other ruins, including an amphitheater and some
tombs. 

It stood out among the ruins not far from the colonnades of Palmyra, which is affectionately known by Syrians as the "Bride of the Desert."

Palmyra was an important caravan city of the Roman Empire, linking it to India, China, and Persia. Before the outbreak of Syria's conflict in March 2011, the UNESCO site was one of the top tourist attractions in the Middle East. 
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00:23   Turkish court charges Vice News reporters with terror offense
A Turkish court has charged two Vice News journalists and their "fixer" with a terrorism offense, several days after they were detained in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir, a heavily Kurdish area.

The three, held last Thursday, were charged late Monday with "knowingly and willfully helping the armed terrorist organization without being a part of its hierarchical structure," according to Turkey's semiofficial Anadolu news agency. It didn't name the organization they were allegedly aiding.

The reporters' treatment has raised questions about the Turkish government's commitment to freedom of expression.

Vice named the two British journalists as Jake Hanrahan and Philip Pendlebury but did not identify the fixer -- a journalist acting as a translator and guide.

However, he was named by Anadolu as Mohammed Ismael Rasool.

Read more HERE.
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00:11   Auschwitz 'showers' offend some visitors to the former Nazi camp
When the management at the Auschwitz Memorial installed sprinklers outside the former Nazi concentration camp in Poland, they thought they would create some cool comfort for visitors. Instead, it sparked a red-hot controversy.

Offended Jewish visitors over the weekend likened the misting stations to the "showers" used to exterminate members of their faith at the camp during World War II, Israeli media reported.

That was never the intent, museum management said.

"Because of the extreme heat wave we have experienced in August in Poland, mist sprinklers which cool the air were placed near the entrance to the Museum," the Auschwitz Memorial Facebook page said. Temperatures soared to the low 100s over the weekend.

Surviving Auschwitz: 'I just wanted to live another day'

Read more HERE.

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