Agusta Westland accused Christian Michel missing, says lawyer A day after a Dubai court declared that middlemen accused in the million deal VVIP chopper deal Agusta Westland will be extradited to India, British man Christian Michel has been reported missing by his lawyer. According to lawyer Amal Alsubei, Michel has not been found since the order was published. “He will be arrested if found. He is likely to appeal to the Supreme Court,” Alsubei was quoted by news reports. Michel, a British consulate was accused in the 3,600 crore scam in 2014 for conspiring to provide helicopters for the Indian President, Prime Minister among others in favour of Italian helicopter design and manufacturing company, AgustaWestland. ____________________ Amazon, Samara Capital acquire Birla's grocery chain More American multi-millionaire Amazon along with private equity fund Samara capital acquired the grocery chain of Aditya Birla Group on Wednesday for a Rs 4,200 crore deal.  Bill...

Asian Games: Wrestler Vinesh Phogat wins 2nd gold for India Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat on Monday created history as she became the first woman to win gold in 50 kg women's wrestling competition in Asian Games. She took Japan's Yuki Irie in the final, and beat her by a score of 6-2. The Asian Games are currently being held at Jakarta, Indonesia. ____________ Nirav Modi is in United Kingdom, authorities confirm The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday announced that fugitive diamond merchant accused in the Rs 13,000 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud, Nirav Modi is currently in United Kingdom. The presence of the billionaire jeweler who has been on the run since January this year, was confirmed by global crime watching body Interpol, a report by Business Standard said. "We have sent our extradition request to the MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) and soon, we would be handing it to UK authorities," an CBI official was quoted by news...

Suspected shooter arrested in Gauri Lankesh murder case The Special Investigative Team (SIT) probing the murder of Bengaluru based journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh, on Tuesday arrested 26-year-old on suspicion of being the one who shot the deceased. Alleged accused Parshuram Wagmare, a member of Sri Ram Sena, a right-wing extremist organisation is the second person to be arrested in the case after on Monday KT Naveen Kumar was taken in for planning the entire incident. Appearing before a magistrate’s court in Bengaluru on Tuesday, Wagmare has been sent to 14 days of police custody. While the SIT made no special statement, news reports carried sources account that said the police will hold Wagmare for questioning, to confirm his involvement. As of now, six people have been arrested in the September 5, 2017 case. _______________ Assam police arrest 29 in fake child kidnappers death case The Assam police arrested one person on Tuesday in connection with the recent mob lync...

Cong-JDS MLAs locked up in luxury hotels ahead of today's trust vote The Congress and JD(S) MLAs have been lodged in a luxury resort and hotel in Bengaluru City since the last nine days ahead of the trust vote scheduled to be held today. The Congress has lodged its MLAs at the Hilton Embassy Golflinks at Domlur, while their JD(S) counterparts are staying at Prestige Golfshire Resort off Devanahallion the outskirts of Bengaluru city. Amidst speculations in media about the MLAs not being allowed to even use mobile phones and contact their families, media cell in-charge Sadananda said, "Our MLAs will go back to their constituencies once the floor test is over. Nobody has taken away their mobile phones. They are freely talking to their family members." ______________ EC’s plan B for Simultaneous polls: one year, one election The Election Commission (EC) has now suggested “one year one election” as an alternative to the “one nation one election” proposal, according t...

STORY OF THE DAY SC not to stay Yeddurappa's oath as Karnataka CM but demands show of majority In a rare move, the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on early Thursday morning decided to entertain Congress plea seeking a stay on BJP’s BS Yeddyurappa taking oath as the Chief Minister of Karnataka at 9 am today. The hearing that began in the wee hours of midnight continued till dawn, with the three bench of the apex court deciding that there will be no stay in the swearing-in ceremony but Yeddyurappa will have to produce the letter claiming his party BJP has enough MLAs to prove majority in the floor test on Friday. "It is necessary to peruse letters dated 15th and 16th May between the Governor and BS Yeddyurappa," the bench added. Appearing for the Congress-JDS joint petition, Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi challenged the Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala’s decision in allowing BJP’s CM candidate to take charge in spite of the opposition claiming more numbers...

Karnataka Polls 2018: BJP releases first list of 72 candidates BJP’s CM candidate for Karnataka, BS Yeddyurappa, will contest from Shikaripura assembly constituency, the party’s Central Election Committee announced on Sunday. Veteran state leaders Jagadish Shettar and KS Eswarappa will contest from Hubli Dharwad Central and Shimoga Assembly seats, respectively, it said.Senior party leader JP Nadda released the list of 72 candidates following the committee’s meeting. The party has also decided the probable candidates for over 140 seats and the names of remaining candidates are likely to be announced soon. The elections to the 225-seat assembly are scheduled for May 12. __________________________ CWG 2018: India adds 3 gold, 1 silver & 2 bronze medal to total tally Weightlifter Punam Yadav opened India’s account on Day 4 with a gold in the women’s 69 kg final, before shooters Manu Bhaker and Heena Sidhu secured a 1-2 for India in the women’s 10m Air Pistol. Ravi Kumar ...

Periyar's statue attacked in Chennai, hours after BJP leader's threat Hours after BJP Minister H Raja threatened on social media, that the statue of Dravidian revolutionary, Periyar, in Chennai will be vandalized, it was attacked on late Tuesday night by two men. In the attack that took place at a municipal office in Vellore district, the glasses and nose of the statue were broken by a BJP and a CPI member, as identified by the police. Raja’s threat came on the same day when two statues of Russian Communist leader, Vladmir Lenin, were razed down by mobs in Tripura, just two days after BJP won assembly elections in the state, ending the 25-year-old rule of the Communist Party. ________________________ Sri Lanka declares 10 days of  emergency over communal clashes Sri Lanka has declared a state of emergency for 10 days following communal unrest between the Buddhist and Muslim communities on Tuesday. Properties of Muslim communities, including apartmen...

Congress divided the nation for selfish gains: PM Modi  In a scathing attack on the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the party devoting its energies to "the interests of one family," while neglecting the interests of the nation. He also added that the nation is still paying for the sins of the Congress. He further said that Rahul Gandhi’s elevation as Congress president was a ‘coronation’, not an election. He continued the attack in Rajya Sabha, telling lawmakers that it was Mahatma Gandhi who had first pitched the idea of a Congress-free India. On the Kashmir issue, PM Modi said that if Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was elected as the first PM instead of Nehru, Kashmir’s condition wouldn’t have been this bad. Taking on the Congress over the 1984 Sikh riots, the Prime Minister asked if the party wanted the emergency era back. "You don't need a new India, you need that India where law bends its knees in front of the powerful," he said. _...

Aadhaar Controversy: Press clubs back daily after UIDAI files FIR Press bodies across the nation including The Editors Guild of India joined forces to condemn the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) filing an FIR against a Punjab based English daily.  UIDAI deputy director BM Patnaik on Sunday reported The Tribune newspaper and its reporter Rachna Khaira for an alleged case of misreporting. The concerned article, titled, ' Rs 500, 10 minutes and you have access to billion Aadhaar details'  published on January 4, had reported how a network of illegal group tapping may have sold the database of billion users. The Guild went on to call UIDAI's action 'a direct attack on the freedom of the press.' ________________ Man arrested on charges of harassing Sachin Tendulkar's daughter A 32 year old man was arrested on charges of stalking and harassing daughter of legendary cricketer and parliamentarian Sachin Tendulkar’s daughter, Sara. Th...

Four dead, seven injured in fire in Mumbai’s Marol  Atleast four people were killed and seven injured after a fire broke out on Wednesday night in Mumbai. The incident occurred at the Maimoon building in Marol, media reports said. The injured were rush to hospital and the situation was brought under control. So far, at least 11 people were rescued by the firefighters, said a report. It took almost 30 minutes for firefighters to control the blaze, which started at 1:30 am in the night. The incident comes days after a major fire broke out in Kamala Mills compound in Lower Parel; 14 people were killed. _________________ Rajya Sabha elections: AAP nominates Sanjay Singh, N.D. Gupta, Sushil Gupta The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday nominated members for three Rajya Sabha seats, making them the first non-Bharatiya Janata Party, non-Congress members to be nominated to the upper house from the national capital. AAP has nominated senior leader Sanjay Singh, chartered acco...