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RSS did not stop Rahul Gandhi from entering Barpeta Satra, says temple head

Rahul_Photo: patrika

Photo: Patrika

A controversy broke out over Rahul Gandhi's charge on Monday that he was stopped from entering a Vaishanvite monastery in Barpeta by RSS workers during his recent visit to Assam. After the BJP called the allegations concocted, the temple head too has denied it.

"When I went to Assam I wanted to visit a temple in Barpeta district. And at the temple the RSS people there stopped me from entering the temple. This is the way the BJP operates," Rahul told reporters outside Parliament. Barpeta Satra Bura Satriya (head) Bakhista Deba, however, said that there was no RSS worker at the religious place and that the allegations were unfortunate.

Toddler not killed during Shakur Basti demolition drive while Delhi High Court raps Railways for showing hurry

shakur basti

Photo: ANI

In a scathing criticism of the way the Shakur Basti demolition was carried out, the Delhi High Court on Monday asked the the Railways what was the tearing hurry to carry out the drive. The demolition left undreds homeless in the capital city. The Court was hearing a PIL filed by Congress leader Ajay Maken. Further, the High Court has issued notices to government, police and railways and directed them to make a coordinated action plan for rehabilitation of the displaced residents.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that the death of a toddler in the incident was not directly related to the demolition drive. According to Joint Commissioner of Police (South West District) Deependra Pathak six-month old Rukaiya Khatoon died at least three hours before demolition work began after being buried under the heap of clothes inside her house.

A political has erupted over the issue with AAP government claiming that the toddler was killed in the drive, while the police says that she was killed when the family had already packed up to leave the place, knowing that the demolition would begin.

Hurriyat leaders meet Pak envoy, discuss Sushma, Sharif meeting

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Photo: Getty Images

A delegation of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) met Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit here on Monday and discussed External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's recent meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

According to an APMC release, Hurriyat leaders Peer Saifullah and Altaf Ahmad Shah discussed 'Kashmir policy' with Basit.

"The Hurriyat delegation also handed over a message of their chairman Syed Ali Geelani to Basit, wherein he has stated that Pakistan should continue to maintain consistency and firmness over its Kashmir policy, and should play an active role in highlighting human rights violations committed by the Indian forces in Jammu & Kashmir in international forums," the release stated.

-ANI

Opposition rocks Rajya Sabha, no business for five days

Parliament/wire/Yasbant Negi getty

Photo: Getty Images

The Dalit killings in Punjab rocked the Rajya Sabha proceedings on Monday, with the opposition parties demanding dismissal of the Punjab government.

When the House re-assembled at 3pm after five adjournments, Congress and BSP members trooped into the well, demanding dismissal of the Punjab government, following which the House was adjourned for the day.

It was fifth day when the House could not transact any legislative business. Last week, it was the National Herald issue that disrupted the proceedings.

Treasury benches wanted a discussion and the passage of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2015, stressing that the passage of the Bill is the only way the House could do justice with the issue.

-ANI

GST Bill: Consensus eluded

No consensus emerged between the main opposition Congress and the Central Government on Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill on Monday.

Congress leader Anand Sharma said the government and Congress will have another round of consultations.

Briefing media in New Delhi, Sharma said Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge was not present, therefore, it was decided to meet again.

Sharma also said engagement between the Government and the Opposition could not be restricted to one single issue.

-ANI

SC to hear pleas on diesel-run vehicles Delhi ban today

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File Photo

The Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear all matters relating to rising level of air pollution in the national capital, including a petition to ban diesel-run vehicles.

It will hear petition for banning diesel car from plying on Delhi's road, including 13 cities to tackle growing menace of pollution in the country.

The apex court had on last Thursday stepped into the raging debate on pollution in Delhi. It had agreed to examine a suggestion to ban entry of all diesel-run trucks, except those carrying essential goods, into the national capital.

It had also asked the Centre to come up with 'common minimum acceptable programmes' on the issue after consulting all stakeholders.

December 16 gangrape: Victim's Parents Say Juvenile Should Not Walk Free

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File Photo

With less than two days to go for the release of the juvenile convict in the December 16 gang-rape case, the victim's parents today feared that he might be a "threat to society" and demanded that his mental condition be assessed before setting him free.

The convict, then aged under 18, is said to have inflicted maximum injury on the 23-year-old paramedical student, who died 13 days later, triggering a massive public outrage.

"We demand that he should not be allowed to walk free as he is a threat to the society. There is a need to assess his mental condition before releasing him, so that he does not attack some other girl, like he had killed our daughter," the father of the victim said.

The Juvenile Justice Board had on August 31, 2013 sent the juvenile to a remand home for three years. He will walk out of the home on December 20.

CBI raided my office, claims Arvind Kejriwal; calls Modi "a coward and a psychopath"

Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has claimed that the CBI has conducted a raid at his office this morning. According to him, they have sealed his office, without showing him any papers. Taking to Twitter to announce the incident, the Delhi CM alleged that this was done at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said that since the Central government was unable to handle him politically, they were resorting to such tactics.

Further details are awaited. The reason behind the raids are not known yet. However, according to media reports, it was his personal secretary Rajendra Kumar office that was raided. CBI has also denied sealing Kejriwal's office. The Home Minister refused to comment on the matter.

PL: Former teammates Dhoni, Raina to turn rivals next season

Former Chennai Super Kings team-mates Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina will compete against each other for the first time in the Twenty20 Indian Premier League next year.While India's limited-overs captain Dhoni was the first pick for the new Pune franchise, T20 specialist Raina was the first player to be roped in by Rajkot at the 2016 Players' draft held in Mumbai.Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Steven Smith and Faf du Plessis were the other four premier players picked by the Pune franchise, which is owned by New Rising.On the other hand, Ravindra Jadeja, Brendon McCullum, James Faulkner, Dwayne Bravo were chosen by the Rajkot team, owned by Intex.Both the franchises have spent Rs 39 crore each out of their auction purse of Rs. 66 crore and the rest will be used to buy remaining players during the main auction in February.The players' draft was necessitated after the Supreme Court-appointed Justice RM Lodha committee had handed a two-year suspension on CSK and Rajasthan Royals after their investigation into the 2013 IPL corruption scandal.Earlier this month, Sanjeev Goenka's company New Rising and mobile phone manufacturer Intex won ownership rights of the two new franchises in the IPL.

Chrome turns Trump to Voldemort

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File Photo

Is it a turd? Is it a pain? It IS Donald Trump! The Internet now has a new punching bag, rightly so, and a lot of companies are being vocal about their dislike in innovative ways. Google Chrome has just released a new extension for its browser that replaces "Donald Trump" with "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." The creator of the extension, Sarah Xiyi Chen, has named it, suitably, the Trump2Voldemort extension. Recently, other such digital jabs have also been directed at Trump. An iOs app named "Trump Trump," was developed recently by furtiv. It removes news mentions of Trump from a user's feed, though it only works on Safari for now.

How secret cancer allies help disease spread

A new research has shown how cancer cell collaborators pave the way for cancer cells to metastasize.

At ASCB 2015, Vanderbilt researchers show how metastasizing tumors use non-cancerous fibroblasts to make a migration highway through surrounding extracellular matrix.

To get moving, metastasizing cancer needs to enlist non-cancerous collaborators. Suspicions about where these secret cancer allies might be lurking have long been directed at the fibroblasts, the cells that secrete and organize the extracellular matrix (ECM), the ground on which surrounding cells can get a grip.

World's first IVF dogs born

IVF dogs -Twitter

Photo: Twitter

The first ever IVF conceived puppies have been born in the world recently. The research on IVF tech for dogs has been going on for sometime but has only just been successful. Scientists have managed to ensure seven healthy beagle/cocker spaniel mix puppies through the process. The research was undertaken by Cornell University in New York, and is a positive step towards eradicating diseases in dogs in the future. Because dogs also happen to share more than 350 heritable disorders with humans, it could have implications for human genetics as well.

Ford Motors pushes majorly towards electrification

Ford_ Wikicommons

Photo: Wikicommons

This is Ford Motor Company's most ambitious push towards electrification yet. In a recent announcement, Ford announced the decision to invest about $4.5 billion for an electric car program, and unveiled plans to have 13 electric vehicles on the road by 2020. The company's portfolio is set to include a new Focus that comes loaded with accelerated charging ability - which means it can charge up to 80 percent in 30 minutes. About 40 percent of the company's products will be available in electrified editions.