21:46 Touchdown! The Philae probe has landed on the surface of a comet, scientists from the European Space Agency announced Wednesday.
It is the first time a soft landing has been achieved on a comet.
Led by ESA with a consortium of partners including NASA, scientists on the Rosetta mission hope to learn more about the composition of comets and how they interact with the solar wind -- high energy particles blasted into space by the Sun.
21:45 Burdwan blast probe: NIA summons village headman: The National Investigation Agency has called five persons, including the headman of Chatala village in Barpeta district, to its Guwahati office to find clues in their probe into the Burdwan blast case and jihadi activities in the district.
The NIA called Gaon Burha (village headman) Rashid Ali Ahmed, Jahidul Islam, Batasi Begum, Saiful Islam and Saibar Ali, according to sources in the investigating agency. A NIA team led by Superintendent of Police Debojit Hazarika during their search in the village yesterday had directed the five to present themselves at the NIA office in Guwahati as they had attended a prayer meeting in a house in the village which was close to the one of Sahanur Alam, one of the main accused in the Burdwan blast case, they said.
Batasi Begum is a close friend of Sahanur's arrested wife Sujana Begum, they said adding, Rashid Ali Ahmed was called as many youths were missing from his Chatala village.
21:00 Five banks fined more than $3 billion in currency probe: From CNN: Five banks have agreed to pay $3.38 billion in fines to global regulators to resolve allegations that they attempted to manipulate foreign exchange rates.
Read the full story here
20:55 8-year-old CEO to give lecture at cyber security summit: An eight-year old Indian-origin child prodigy is among experts who will address a cyber security conference starting tomorrow where Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh is also listed as a keynote speaker.
In his address at the summit on November 14, the US-based whizkid Reuben Paul will highlight and demonstrate the need for developing the current generation with cyber security skills, according to the organisers of Ground Zero Summit to be held in Delhi.
The organisers said, "Eight-year-old Reuben Paul gives keynote at Houston Security Conference." "I started learning about computer languages around one- and-a-half years back. Now I design my own projects," Reuben told PTI.
20:28 Leaving aside the official executive jet, Parrikar travels economy class to Goa: Leaving aside the official executive jet he is entitled to, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today flew economy class on a budget airline to his home state Goa on a four-day trip during which he will visit Goa Shipyard, navy facilities and meet Coast Guard officials.
Prior to his departure, he was given a detailed briefing by the Indian Coast Guard that last for nearly two hours. Ministry sources said during the briefing, Parrikar raised a number of queries. 58-year-old Parrikar was the Goa Chief Minister till last week and had resigned from his post to take over as defence minister.
Parrikar is entitled to use the Embraer executive jet, which is part of the VVIP squadron maintained by the Indian Air Force. "This visit is part private and part official. The minister will be visiting the Naval facilities in Goa, the Goa Shipyard and carry forward his meeting with Coast Guard there," a source said.
20:10 SC judge recuses from hearing Yakub Memon's plea: Supreme Court judge Justice U U Lalit today recused himself from hearing death row convict Yakub Abdul Razak Memon's plea seeking review of the apex court's order upholding his conviction and capital punishment in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.
As soon as the case was taken up by a three-judge bench headed by Justice A R Dave, Justice Lalit said that he had appeared for some other person in the blasts case and recused himself from hearing Memon's plea.
The apex court had earlier stayed the execution of Memon, a key conspirator along with Dawood Ibrahim in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, after he filed review petition. It had on March 21, 2013, upheld the death sentence of Memon.
20:04 Indian donor pledges 6-figure sum for Gandhi statue in UK: An Indian donor has reportedly stepped in to offer a major chunk of the funds required for the construction of Mahatma Gandhi's statue at Parliament Square in London.
NRI economist Lord Meghnad Desai, founder-trustee of the Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust, said the name of the donor will be known in due course. "I had a call yesterday from someone in India and he promised me a six-figure sum in donation.
He is a good friend and I am looking forward to that," Desai said at a briefing in House of Lords here this morning.
"The word is spreading around. We are getting very good support from donors and we have lots of pledges and money is also coming in through our website. I have also written to my colleagues in the House of Lords and they are doing their bit to help too. We are pretty sure we will achieve what we have set out to achieve," he said.
19:59 Worried over reports that Bangladeshi nationals were teaching students of a madrasa in Burdwan, the Centre is contemplating conducting a survey in some states with international border to check whether there were foreign nationals deployed in seminaries.
The move came after investigations revealed that almost all teachers at the madrasa in West Bengal's Burdwan district, where an explosion killed two persons on October 2, were Bangladeshi nationals.
The madrasa's teachers, affiliated to banned terror group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, were allegedly involved in indoctrination of young students and attracting them into jihadi ideology.
In addition, a secret report, submitted to the home ministry by security agencies also suggested that madrasas with Indian teachers were not involved in any jihadi or separatist activities or indoctrination.
19:39 HC raps Centre, Delhi govt over failure to implement Vishaka guidelines: The Delhi high court today pulled up the Centre and the city government over their failure to implement Vishaka guidelines on dealing with cases of sexual harassment against women in aviation industry.
Besides the government agencies, Justice Hima Kohli also questioned Sri Lankan Airlines for not setting up a regular internal complaints committees, as per the guidelines, at its seven offices in India to look into instances of sexual harassment.
"What steps you (Centre, Delhi government and airlines) have taken for the implementation of Vishaka guidelines in all airlines or at every workplace. You should have done it by now.
"You should ensure that Vishaka guidelines are functional in every other organisation. I am not only on this case related to Sri Lankan Airlines. The harassment is taking place at every place," the court said.
The court's oral observation came during the hearing of aplea by an Indian woman, who was employed with Sri Lankan Airlines, against Civil Aviation and Women and Child Development ministries as well as Delhi government, the airline and its official against whom allegations of sexual harassment have been levelled by the woman.
18:46 5 Cong MLAs suspended for 2 years for heckling Maha governor : Five Congress MLAs suspended for two years for holding protests and blocking Maharashtra Governor's car outside the Assembly earlier today.
Calling the Devendra Fadnavis government "illegitimate", the agitating MLAs cried foul over the newly-elected Speaker's decision and demanded that the voting be done again.
Seeking a division of votes instead of voice vote, the Shiv Sena said the BJP has murdered democracy and alleged that Speaker Haribhau Bagde acted unconstitutionally.
18:27 'Invitation to Aung San Suu Kyi always available, India is her 2nd home' : Modi@ASEAN: MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin when asked if Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi had been invited to India, says, "The invitation to Aung San Suu Kyi to visit India is always available as no one invites one to her 2nd home."
18:24 Rahul has to be more hands-on: Digvijaya : Urging Rahul Gandhi to be more 'hands-on' since "I don't think he is now, not totally', Congress leader and general secretary Digvijaya Singh has said it is time the Congress "turn(s) into a cadre-based party' because "the masses have dwindled' and "we need foot soldiers'. Read the full interview on the Indian Express.
18:22 BJP says Cong 'consumed by hatred' after PM is not invited to Nehru party: Hmmm, seems like the BJP is miffed at being excluded from the Congress's Nehru conference. The Congress has not invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the international conference to mark the 125th birth anniversary of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
The BJP has now accused the Congress of practicing hate politics.
BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said the Congress is so consumed by hatred that it does not even respect the Prime Minister of the country.
Congress leader Rashid Alvi had earlier said that his party did not extend an invitation to Prime Minister Modi as it only wanted to invite 'like-minded' people.
18:03 PM acknowledges Swamy's letter: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has acknowledged receipt of a letter of BJP leader Subramanian Swamy seeking a CBI probe into the role of former Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the FDI approval for Swan-Etisalat deal.
"I have received your letter of 3 October, 2014 requesting for a CBI probe into the FDI approval of Swan-Etisalat deal," wrote Modi in a letter to Swamy.
Swamy had written that Swan Telecom, owned by Shahid Balwa, received one of 2G Spectrum Licences at the 2001 price and it sold two-thirds of the company's equity at a higher price to Abu Dhabi company Etisalat. Describing this as a "dubious" deal, he demanded that the prime minister order a CBI probe into it.
17:56 Smriti Irani on Ravi Chopra: Was blessed to work with him: HRD minister Smriti Z Irani tweets her condolences. "Just heard about the sad demise of Ravi Chopra. Was blessed to work with him. A lovely soul. My condolences to his loved ones."
17:55 Baghban director Ravi Chopra passes away: Producer Director Ravi Chopra has passed away. Chopra who is the nephew of the late Yash Chopra was hospitalized last week at Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai. He was suffering from a neuro-degenerative disease and passed away at 3:30 pm today.
Chopra who directed the super-hit film 'Baghbaan' was in fact said to be making a recovery.
17:49 And a picture of Aung San Suu Kyi (second from left) with her friends at LSR Delhi. The woman on the extreme looks like Indira Gandhi, but is not.
17:42 Suu Kyi: India's my second home : Suu kyi tells PM Modi that India is her second home.
That's not just empty talk, but a fact.
After the assassination of her father Aung San, Suu Kyi's mother, was appointed Burmese ambassador to India and Nepal in 1960, and she followed her mother to India.
She studied in the Convent of Jesus and Mary School in New Delhi, and graduated from Lady Shri Ram College in New Delhi with a degree in politics in 1964.
In 2012, when she came to India on a official trip, she visited her alma mater.
17:22 Australia expects Modi to make 'terrific contribution' to G-20: Expecting India to "shine" at the upcoming G-20 Summit, host country Australia today said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make a "terrific contribution" to this grouping of top world economies. The two-day Summit of the leaders of 20 major economies of the world would begin in Brisbane on November 15.
17:21 PM@ASEAN: Modi meets Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi on the sidelines of the ASEAN and East Asian summits. This is his first interaction with the pro-democracy leader.
Myanmar is in the midst of a national debate on whether to allow Suu Kyi, an opposition leader, to contest the 2015 parliamentary elections, which she is barred from at present, due to a provision in the Constitution. Suu Kyi had visited India in November 2012.
17:16 Pehle aap at Asean: Modi@Asean: South Korean President Park Geun-hye of South Korea invites the PM to Seoul to enhance cooperation.
16:55 Sterilisation horror: Chhattisgarh HC seeks detailed report: The Chhattisgarh High Court on Wednesday sought a detailed report within 10 days from the state government on the botched sterilisation surgeries in Bilaspur district, after it took suo moto cognisance of the the incident, which left 11 women dead and many critical.
16:45 Sensex closes above 28,000-mark for the first time: Markets came off their record highs with the Nifty topping 8,400 and the Sensex ended above 28,000 for the first time led by financials ahead of October consumer price inflation and September IIP data due later in the day.
The Sensex surged 203.97 points or 0.73 per cent to trade at a new record-high of 28,114.03 and the Nifty hit a new life-time high of 8,407.35 in the intraday trades. The Sensex gained 99 points to end at 28,009 whereas the Nifty climbed 21 points to end at 8,383.
16:44 Sena, Cong MLAs heckle Maharashtra governor over voice vote : Legislators from the opposition Congress and Shiv Sena surrounded Maharashtra Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao as he tried to enter the Assembly.They were raising slogans against the newly-elected Speaker Haribhau Bagde for holding a voice vote in the floor test sought by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.Calling the Devendra Fadnavis government "illegitimate", the agitating MLAs cried foul over the newly-elected Speaker's decision and demanded that the voting be done again.
16:42 Namaste! India meets Korea in Myanmar : PM Narendra Modi meets President Park Geun-hye of the Republic of Korea. That's South Korea, not North Korea.
North Korean representatives will not be attending the 25th Asean Summit.
16:24 Another picture of the PM meeting his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong at the ASEAN summit in Myanmar.
16:22 Kapil Dev accepts PM's decision to be part of delegation to Australia: Former cricketer Kapil Dev accepts PM Modi's invite to be part of the Indian delegation to Australia. Kapil Dev says it's a happy day for him and Gavaskar. "What can be better than the PM himself asking us to accompany him (to Australia)," he asks.
Narendra Modi has invited Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar to be part of his tour to Australia.
He is scheduled to leave for Australia on November 14 and is currently taking part in the ASEAN- India summit in Myanmar.
Both the cricketers will represent India in a delegation led by PM Modi himself.
16:02 PM to meet Suu Kyi this evening: The PM will meet pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi this evening.
15:57 Modi @ASEAN: We are celebrating 50th anniversary of India-Singapore relations: PM Modi meeting his counterpart Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore. The PM said that in India when we talk about urban development Singapore is always at the forefront of the discussions. "We are celebrating 50th anniversary of India-Singapore relations. At the core of golden jubilee celebrations of India-Singapore relations should be the youth, knowledge and innovation," he said.
Both leaders are discussing the promotion of the Buddhist circuit in India.
15:26 "Some good outcome" soon in fishermen issue, says Rudy: Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy today said "some good outcome" would soon emerge on the issue of five fishermen facing death sentence in Sri Lanka, in which India has filed an appeal.
"Indian government has very strategic and strong diplomacy, which we are pursuing...(Let us) wait for the outcome and I'm sure that this government is fully aware of the issue and some good outcome will come," Rudy,
Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge) and Parliamentary Affairs said today.
14:46 Dan Brown not averse to book with India setting: Bestselling author Dan Brown is not averse to the idea of setting one of his future novels in India saying he is fascinated greatly by the country but needs to "learn much more" about it before firming up a plan.
"Certainly I would love to (base a book in India). I am fascinated by the culture and the people besides the architecture here. I would need to learn much much more before I make any plan. But it does interest me greatly," said the "The Da Vinci Code" author said.
14:44 Modi@ASEAN: PM meets Sultan of Brunei: PM Modi is meeting the Sultan of Brunei. "Your majesty this is the first time I am meeting you. Relations between India and Brunei are very close," says Modi.
14:37 Being a sex worker doesn't confer right to violate her: Court: A Delhi court has sentenced four youths to 10 years rigorous imprisonment for abducting and gang-raping a Rwandan refugee, saying merely because she was working as a sex worker does not confer the right upon anyone to violate her dignity.
Additional Sessions Judge Kaveri Baweja convicted all the accused Deepak, Praveen, Vikas and Ashok Ekka,Delhi residents, for the offences under sections 366/ 34 (abduction with common intention), 376(2)(G)(gangrape) and 392/ 34 (robbery with common intention) of IPC. The court also slapped a fine of Rs 59,000 on all the convicts and ordered that it be given to the victim as compensation.
14:28 Just in: The World Boxing Association says Sarita Devi's career is finished and that her behaviour is totally unacceptable.
14:13 Body of Burdwan blast accused handed over to family: The body of the Burdwan blast accused Abdul Karim was today handed over to his family in the presence of NIA officials and local police officers.
The body which was kept in the police morgue at the Burdwan Medical College, was handed over to Karim's father and his cousin Amirul Hossain after identification, police sources said.
Hossain told newsmen present at the hospital that they had identified the blast accused to be Karim from his photos published in the papers.
13:38 Speaker was biased towards BJP: Cong: Mandate of people of Maharashtra has been reflected, vote of strength proves that the government should go ahead and fulfill wishes of Maharashtra, says union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy who is also the state in-charge.
However, Maharashtra Congress chief Manikrao Thakre says that proper procedure is not followed in passing confidence motion by voice vote. Speaker was biased towards BJP, division of votes was ruled out, he says.
13:30 Fadnavis govt is an illegitimate govt, thunders Congress : Former Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan calls the minority Fadnavis government and illegitimate government. "We will protest to the governor against the governor against a government that has no majority. It has not authority to form government," he said. The Congress demands a new vote of confidence and asks why the Speaker has not asked for a division of votes. However, the Speaker's decision is final, though the Congress can certainly appeal the decision with the governor.
13:18 Just in: Shiv Sena's Eknath Shinde to be Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly.
13:06 Modi@ASEAN: India's bilateral ties with all nations are very good : Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 12th ASEAN-India Summit.
Modi says he is very happy to be at the ASEAN Summit. Addressing the meet, the PM says Myanmar (which is hosting the summit) is a great neighbor of India, and India shares historic relations with this nation.
"Our bilateral relations with all the nations here are very good. At the same time we attach great importance to ASEAN," he said.
Modi will also meet heads of state and government of several countries on the sidelines of the multilateral events.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a political and economic organisation consisting of 10 countries of Southeast Asia, formed on August 8, 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Followed by which the membership was also spread out to Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar (Burma) and Vietnam.
12:57 Three takeaways from the Maha assembly session : On day 3 of the three-day Maharashtra assembly session -- the major takeaways...
1. The minority BJP government got the Speaker's post unchallenged with Haribhau Bagade unanimously elected the Speaker.
2. The Shiv Sena and the Congress withdrew their candidates.
3. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP won the floor test with a a voice vote after the NCP abstained. The Shiv Sena voted against.
12:51 NCP abstains, voice vote confirms Fadnavis govt : Here's what happened inside the assembly.
-- The Shiv Sena voted against the Devendra Fadnavis government during the trust vote in Maharashtra assembly on Wednesday.
-- The NCP as decided earlier abstained.
So, the government has survived with the NCP abstaining. There was no division of votes in the assembly.
12:45 BJP wins Trust Vote in Maharashtra Assembly : Just in: The BJP wins the Trust Vote in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.The Trust Vote was a voice vote and early reports say that the Shiv Sena was sitting in the Opposition benches. The Sena voted against the BJP.
12:43 World Boxing body to impose severe punishment on Sarita Devi: The World Boxing Federation is likely to penalise L Sarita Devi for her conduct in the Asian Games where she refused a bronze medal in protest over the judging, can now expect even heavier punishment. The International Boxing Association (AIBA) has provisionally suspended Sarita Devi for refusing to accept the bronze medal at the Asian Games in Incheon
Sarita Devi lost in the semifinals of the women's lightweight competition at Incheon, South Korea, in September, and tried to give her medal to her opponent at the presentation ceremony as a protest.
Devi and three coaches received indefinite bans taking in the current women's world championships in South Korea pending a final ruling of a disciplinary commission.
Upset about the decision in the 60-kilogram bout, she refused to bend down to receive the medal. She then took the medal and slipped it onto the neck of Park Ji-na, who had been declared the winner of their semifinal bout.
The South Korean boxer, an eventual silver medalist, tried to give the bronze medal back to Devi, then left it on the podium.
12:41 Modi to meet top Aus business leaders at Melbourne roundtable: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to meet top Australian business leaders, including BHP Billiton CEO Andrew Mackenzie and HSBC Bank Australia CEO Tony Cripps, at a roundtable in Melbourne next week.
The meeting will take place at the Government's house on November 18 after Modi has attended the G20 summit in Brisbane.
Governor of Victoria Alex Chernov is hosting the chief executives' roundtable during which the visiting Indian leader would interact with the who's who of the Australian industry and business houses.
Top Australian business leaders, including Visy Industries global chairman Anthony Pratt, BHP Billiton CEO Mackenzie, Rio Tinto (Australia) MD Phil Edmands and HSBC Bank (Australia) CEO Cripps, will attend the roundtable.
12:21 Abandoning the idea of India : The death of Jawaharlal Nehru signalled an end to an era of open-mindedness.
It remains to be seen if India will ever recover a Nehruvian self-confidence and recreate institutions, which in their heydays brimmed with brilliant ideas.
Read
12:02 Incidentally, the Congress has invited TMC chief and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and she is likely to attend.
12:01 Why PM Modi is not invited to Cong's Nehru meet: 'It's only for like-minded people' : Congress leader Rashid Alvi on Wednesday said that the party has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the international conference being held to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of the country's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, as it only wants to invite 'like-minded' people.
"It is a Congress party program, and we will only invite like minded people," said Alvi.
The international conference, which is to take place from November 17-18, will be attended by leaders of various political parties from India and abroad.
Earlier, party leader Anand Sharma had announced that the conference will discuss Nehru's view on democracy, inclusion, empowering India and representative global order.
The conference will be chaired by Party President Sonia Gandhi and Vice-president Rahul Gandhi will lead the party delegation
11:50 PM Modi debuts on Instagram, posts picture from Myanmar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, known for his social media prowess, today made his debut on Instagram, sharing a picture from the venue of the ASEAN and EAST Asia summits in Myanmar.
"Hello World! Great being on Instagram. My first photo ...this one from the ASEAN Summit, @Nay Pyi Taw," Modi said in a post on his Twitter account.
The photo taken by the Prime Minister was of the giant billboard of the 25th ASEAN Summit and of the golden bordered red carpet leading upto it at the Myanmar International Convention Centre.
Within hours of Modi posting his first image on Instagram, the Prime Minister was flooded with nearly 38,000 followers.
"The photograph itself indicates a red carpet welcome to the summit and to Instagram. We welcome you in to instagram," said one user. Modi, looking dapper in a dark suit, also posted a picture of himself making the Instagram debut.
11:20 It's confirmed: Haribhau Bagade is the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker: Haribhau Bagade of the BJP is the new Maharashtra Assembly Speaker, it has been announced.
Vijay Auti of Shiv Sena and Varsha Gaikwad of the Congress had also filed nominations for the post, but withdrew their candidature today.
11:05 NCP offered support, BJP did not ask for it: BJP: This is what Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis tweeted at 5:37 pm, Friday, September 26.
"BJP will never, never, never have any alliance with NCP. Rumours are motivated. We exposed their corruption in assembly. Others were silent."
The BJP has of course changed its tune now. It says taking NCP's support will not hurt the party and points out that the NCP offered support, the BJP did not ask for it.
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