Sharad Pawar's new poll strategy: bogus voting
Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar caused a stir by asking members of his Nationalist Congress Party to take advantage of the multi-phase polling and vote twice. At a public meeting in Navi Mumbai on Sunday, Pawar urged party workers to first vote in their hometowns and then again at their places of work. Pawar even warned them to take the necessary precautions and "erase the ink mark which will be put when you first vote". However, Pawar later claimed that his remarks had been taken out of context.
Four suspected IM militants arrested in Rajasthan
In the most significant blow to the Indian Mujahideen since the arrest of founder-leader Yasin Bhatkal last year, the Delhi Police have arrested four Islamist militants, including Zia-Ur-Rahman, alias Waqas, with a large quantity of explosive. An aide to Bhatkal, the Pakistani national has been on the radar for bomb blasts in Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad. Three other suspected militants were also arrested. The police say they were planning a terrorist attack before the elections.
French satellite captures images of possible jet debris
New satellite data that emerged from France show images of possible debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner that has held the world stupefied with its disappearance after it took off from Kuala Lampur, Malaysia, on March 8 with 239 passengers on board. Received from the southern parts of the Indian ocean, this data confirms suspicions of the flight headed towards the remote seas around Australia. Thirty countries have joined the search effort to solve one of the biggest aviation mysteries in recent history.
Pramod Muthalik hits out at Rajnath for cancelling his BJP membership
A mere four hours after being formally inducted into the Bharatiya Janata Party,controversial Hindutva politician Pramod Muthalik was shown the door to avoid future controversy. Muthalik, the head of the Sri Rama Sene, was involved in an assault on women in a pub in Mangalore in 2009. He has more than 45 cases pending against him and is wanted in 12 districts in Karnataka.He was named the vice-president designate of the BJP's Karnataka unit at noon on Sunday to the alleged surprise of the party leadership. With social media irate about the decision, his membership was revoked. He attacked BJP national president Rajnath Singh for his expulsion and said he would decide his course of action in a day or two.
American diplomats face Income Tax enquiry from MEA
As part of the fallout over Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade's arrest in the US, India's Ministry of External Affairs has posed an income tax inquiry to the US embassy in Delhi. Officials believe that this could be an enquiry into a possible multi-crore tax evasion raised before the assistant secretary of state, Nisha Biswal, during her visit to India earlier this month. While American diplomats are keen on arriving at an understanding, MEA Spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said that the issues would be addressed by a working group.