TDP meets Governor on farmers' issues
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) today accused the state government of doing precious little to address the problems of farmers in Telangana and sought the Governor's intervention in the issue. "This government is not bothered about farmers' suicides. They have not bothered to find out the welfare of any such family," Telangana TDP president L Ramana told reporters after a delegation of party leaders met Governor ESL Narasimhan here.

Son of UP RLD chief commits suicide
Rashtriya Lok Dal's state unit chief Munna Singh Chauhan's son allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself, police said today. Alok Singh (20), who was preparing for Civil Services Examinations, shot himself in the head yesterday while his family was busy performing Diwali puja in Maholi village of Faizabad district, they said.

Man stabs to death four members of his own family
In a gruesome incident, a 21-year-old man today allegedly stabbed to death four members of his own family including his father in Adarsh Nagar area of the city. Harmit Singh stabbed to death his 65-year-old father Jai Singh, his 60-year-old wife, their 28-year-old adopted daughter and her three-year-old child with a sharp-edged weapon early this morning, ADG (Law and order) R S Meena said. Harmit, who is said to be mentally unstable, has been arrested, he said.

Pakistan Rangers violate ceasefire open fire on border outposts
Pakistan Rangers opened fire on border outposts in Jammu last night but the Indian forces showed restraint and did not retaliate. Throughout Diwali on Thursday, Pakistan Rangers violated ceasefire several times and resorted to firing on border outposts (BoPs) along the international border (IB) in Samba, Kathua and Jammu districts of Jammu and Kashmir. "Pakistan Rangers resorted to small-arms firing on BoPs along IB in Jammu frontier till 2010 hours yesterday," BSF...

S S Rajendran dies at the age of 86
Veteran yesteryear actor S S Rajendran, who was the first cinema artiste to be elected to a state Assembly in post-independent India, died here today. Rajendran (86), who had been admitted to a private hospital for lung infection, died this morning, his son Kannan said.

End ungenerous, ill-informed advice to India: Lord Paul to UK
NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul has told Britain that it should end a stream of "ungenerous and often ill-informed advice" that is directed at India on matters including human rights, corruption and Kashmir and take steps to reverse the slow decline affecting bilateral ties.

Google, Oxford University team up on artificial intelligence
Technology giant Google is teaming up with Oxford University to advance research on artificial intelligence to ultimately enable machines to better understand human users. The partnership will focus specifically on the fields of image recognition and natural language, Demis Hassabis, vice president of engineering at Google, wrote on the Google Europe Blog. Hassabis is also the co-founder of DeepMind, a UK-based company that Google acquired in January.

Kerala CM seeks Centre's help to bring back nurses
Kerala Government has asked the Centre to take urgent steps to secure the release of 18 Malayalee nurses stranded in Libya and also five Indian fishermen, including one from Kerala, held captive in Iran. In a letter to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, while seeking help for the release of the stranded persons, also handed over the name and passport details of Malayalee nurses stranded in Benghazi and other places in Libya.

220 fire-related incidents in Delhi on Diwali
Fire fighters in the national capital had a hectic time on Diwali as they received 220 calls related to minor fire incidents. "220 fire-related incidents were reported on Diwali. However, all incidents were minor. We had made elaborate arrangements to tackle such situations," an official of the fire department said today. "No big casualty was reported. Our men were working all night," the official added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauds ITBP on raising day
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today paid tributes to ITBP personnel on the raising day of the force and saluted them for their bravery. "On the raising day of ITBP, I salute our brave ITBP personnel. We are proud of their valour, determination and service to the nation," the Prime Minister said.

PM announces Rs 745-crore package for flood-hit J&K
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced a Rs 745-crore package for renovation of houses and six major hospitals damaged by the recent unprecedented floods in Jammu and Kashmir. He said while Rs 570 crore would be provided by the Centre for renovation of houses, Rs 175 crore will be given for start of immediate renovation work of six major hospitals across the state.

MGNREG Scheme improved status of women
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme had helped women improve their social and economic status, according to a study by a university here. The study by the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS) showed that 97.3 per cent of workers under the scheme are women. Conducted as part of a project on Impact Assessment Study of MGNREG scheme in Alappuzha District, the study was funded by Kerala State Institute of Rural Development.

Pak Hindus celebrates Diwali
Pakistan's Hindu community today celebrated Diwali with religious zeal and fervour. Earthen lamps were lit at houses, special prayers held at temples, sweets distributed and fireworks also exhibited. Balmiki Hindus in Bahawalpur and Bheel and Mangwal Hindu communities in different villages of the great desert of Cholistan also celebrated the festival with gaiety. President Mamnoon Hussain said the government is committed to make every possible effort for uplift and welfare...

Pak opposes alleged Ind bunker construction near IB
Pakistan today objected to alleged construction of bunkers by Indian troops close to the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir in violation of a 2010 agreement. Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said that under a 2010 agreement, both the countries cannot build such structures within 500 meter of the either side of IB between Indian Kashmir and Pakistan's Sialkot district.

India celebrates Diwali with traditional fervour
Diwali, the festival of lights, was celebrated with traditional fervour across the country with people exchanging sweets and gifts with friends and relatives, decking up their houses with earthen diyas and tiny lights and illuminating the evening sky with fireworks. Children and youths burst crackers and lit sparklers while families, dressed up in their best outfits, visited their neighbours, exchanged 'Happy Diwali' greetings and sweets.

CPC promises Hong Kong's autonomy
China's ruling Communist Party today vowed autonomy for Hong Kong where pro-democracy protesters have locked horns with the city administration for over a month on the election of next Chief Executive and stop interfering in the judicial process to make it more independent.

PM asks officers to consider J-K govt plea for package
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today directed the officers concerned of the central government to examine quickly with due sensitivity the memorandum by the Jammu and Kashmir government for a special financial package for the flood victims in the state.

India grounds Sukhoi-30 fleet; safety checks on
India has grounded its entire Sukhoi-30 fleet and each aircraft is undergoing a thorough technical check following a recent crash near Pune. The fleet of about 200 twin-engine Su-30s would be back in air only when they are cleared by the technical review. "The fleet has been grounded and is undergoing technical checks following the latest accident in Pune.

Sensex extends gains, up 212 pts in early trade
The benchmark BSE Sensex today rose over 212 points in early trade on the last trading session of the Samvat Year 2070, extending gains for the fourth straight day on increased capital inflows amid the government announcing a slew of economic reforms. Further, a firming trend in global markets also buoyed trading sentiments. The 30-share index surged by 212.76 points, or 0.80 per cent, to 26,788.

Poll code case: Court to decide plea seeking probe documents
The Ahmedabad rural court is likely to decide the plea of an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) worker on November 14, seeking probe documents on the basis of which the city crime branch had given a "clean chit" to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an alleged poll code violation case.

Williamson to miss rest of NZ-South Africa series
Batsman Kane Williamson will miss the two remaining matches in New Zealand's limited-overs series against South Africa due to a wrist injury. Williamson skipped the opening six-wicket loss to South Africa at Mount Maunganui on Tuesday and has subsequently been ruled out of second match at the same venue Friday and the third at Hamilton on Monday.

Supreme Court grants bail to Jayalalithaa, asks her not delay appeal
In a major relief to jailed AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa, the Supreme Court today granted her bail in a disproportionate assets case in which she was sentenced to four-year jail term. A bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu stayed the sentence and warned Jayalalithaa against causing any delay by seeking adjournment in her appeal in Karnataka High Court.The bench directed Jayalalithaa to file paperbook of her appeal in the high court within two months.

Committed to eradicating all forms of child labour: India
India underscored its strong commitment to eradicating all forms of child labour and making secondary education more accessible to girls, as UN diplomats saluted Nobel Peace Prize winners Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai for their tireless efforts to defend rights of children.

70 crude bombs found in Malda
Seventy crude bombs have been recovered from near a bamboo grove at 16 Mile area in Malda district of West Bengal. Villagers informed the Kaliachak Police Station about the crude bombs this morning, police said. Police personnel inspected the spot and called in the bomb squad.

Bail for Jaya: AIADMK activists break out into celebrations
AIADMK supporters broke out into celebrations, bursting crackers and dancing on the roads here after the Supreme Court granted bail to party chief Jayalalithaa in the illegal assets case, paving way for her homecoming for the Diwali festival.

Maha polls: 51.19 pc Mumbai voters cast their ballot
A total of 51.19 per cent of the electorate cast their votes in Mumbai during the Assembly polls on Wednesday, as against 45 per cent in 2009, as per the final turnout figures released by the Election Commission. Mumbai has crossed the 50 per cent mark in voter turnout this year, after the 1995 Assembly polls. The final state tally stood at 63.13 per cent, as against 59.5 in the 2009 Assembly polls and 60.

Two killed, seven injured in firing
Two persons were killed and seven others injured when unidentified assailants fired upon them at a village in the district, a police officer said today. The victims have been identified as Pradeep Kumar Yadav (22) and Niraj Kumar Yadav (14), police said.

No one can warn India: Rajnath
With China reacting sharply to government's plans to construct a border road in Arunachal Pradesh, Home Minister Rajnath Singh today sent a strong message, asserting that no one can warn India. "Today, no one can give warning to India. We are a very powerful country," he told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

Odisha seeks financial assistance from Centre
Odisha Government today sought Rs 500 crore as interim assistance from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for relief and restoration of damaged infrastructure in cyclone Hudhud. The demand was made in a letter written by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Companies given 6 mths to wind up can't be stopped from mining coal: SC
The Supreme Court today refused to restrain coal companies, which were directed to wind up mining operations in six months after their coal block allocations were cancelled by it, from extracting coal during this period and selling it in the market.