NEWS President gives one more week to Andhra Pradesh Assembly to discuss state re-organisation bill. Delhi Chief Minister meets Lt. Governor amid growing demands for removal of Law Minister Somnath Bharti.    In West Bengal all 13 accused in Birbhum gangrape case arrested. One way traffic on Srinagar Jammu National Highway restored UN Special envoy meets Syrian authorities and rebel opposition today  to help bring truce.  Sania Mirza pairing with Romanian Horia Tecau enters mixed doubles semi-final; China's Li Na to clash with Dominica Cibulkova of Slovakia in Women's singles final. <><><>  President Pranab Mukherjee has given one more week's time to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly to discuss and debate the Telangana Bill and send it back it to him. Official sources said the timeline set for the Assembly which was to expire today has been extended till the 30th of this month. Our correspondent reports that the State Government had sought four weeks extension to discuss the bill. The state government had maintained that the Bill could not be debated in full length by the Assembly due to shortage of time and many of the MLAs are yet to speak on it. The President had sent the draft bill to the state Assembly on 12th December last year and given time until January 23 to discuss and return it.               <><><>  Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today met Lt Governor Najeeb Jung and is believed to have discussed the controversy surrounding Law Minister Somnath Bharti. However, Aam Aadmi Party, AAP, sources described it as a routine meeting.Bharti is facing a volley of criticism  from various quarters for carrying out a raid along with his supporters against African nationals in connection with the alleged drug and prostitution racket in South Delhi.  Meanwhile, a high-level delegation of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee, DPCC, led by its President Arvinder Singh Lovely also met the Lt. Governor and briefed him about the current situation in the city. Talking to reporters after the meeting, Lovely said the party conveyed to the Lt Governor that the law must do its work no matter how powerful or influential a person is. When asked whether the party is considering withdrawing support to the Aam Aadmi Party government, Lovely said the support is not blanket but is only on 18 issues. <><><>  BJP today said Delhi Law Minister Somnath Bharti must be sacked for his alleged role in a midnight raid on African nationals in the city last week. Party leader Ravishankar Prasad said Bharti has no moral or constitutional right to remain in office even for a moment. He also alleged that the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party are in collusion to stop BJP leader Narendra Modi from marching ahead. <><><>  All the 13 accused in the gangrape of a tribal woman in Birbhum, including the village head who had allegedly given the orders for rape, have been arrested.  West Bengal Minister for Women and Child Development Shashi Panja confirmed the arrest. She said all medical tests have been conducted today. The Minister said if the woman  wishes to go back to her home security will be looked after.  The woman was allegedly gangraped at Labhpur in Birbhum district by the 13 persons on Tuesday night after the panchayat head gave orders for the rape since she had fallen in love with a man from another community. Her family filed a complaint with the Labhpur police station. <><><>  Congress Vice President and MP Rahul Gandhi today said he has done many developmental works for Amethi and its people and will continue to do so. Countering allegations of the opposition and AAP's Kumar Vishwas that no development work has been done in his constituency, Rahul said nine roads in Amethi have already been handed over to NHAI. He was talking to newsmen this morning while on a two day tour to his constituency Amethi.  Rahul Gandhi said a mega food park with nearly 50 processing units has been established in Amethi which will benefit lakhs of farmers of the area. <><><>  In Kashmir Valley, men and machinery of border road organisation is making all out efforts to restore traffic on the Srinagar Jammu National Highway as weather improves.  The Highway is closed since yesterday. The traffic authorities say that after snow clearance stranded vehicles at Qazigund will be allowed to proceed to Jammu. Delhiites experienced a cold but clear day today with the minimum temperature recorded at 13.5 degrees Celsius. Cold conditions have eased in Punjab and Haryana with minimum temperature rising a few notches above normal in several parts of the region. <><><>  The Assam government has decided to hold talks with the district administrations of neighboring states on border issues and insurgent problems on a regular basis.  Official sources said the Assam government will undertake all out operations against the National Democratic Front of Bodoland and to strengthen directorate of prosecution to improve the convictionate r. <><><>  In Tamilnadu, AIADMK Party General Secretary and Chief Minister Ms. Jayalalithaa has announced four nominees for Rajya Sabha seats. Ms. Jayalalithaa says her Party would support the CPM candidate in the election. DMK has already nominated Tiruchi Siva for the Rajya Sabha  seat. The DMDK is yet to announce its stand on support to any candidate. In case they announce a nominee election will be held on the 7th of February.The tenure of six Rajya Sabha members from Tamil Nadu including Union Minister G.K.Vasan will end on April 2. <><><>  The Nation celebrates 117th Birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chander Bose today.  On the occasion the main programme was held in Darjeeling, West Bengal  where Chief Minister Ms Mamta Banerjee and other distinguished persons paid rich  tribute to  Netaji. Ms Banerjee said the ideals of Netaji Subhash Chander Boss are still relevant in the present day to keep the country united. The State Governor Mr. M.K. Narayanan also paid tribute  to Netaji at a function organised by the Netaji Research Bureau in Kolkata. Several people also paid floral tributes at the statue of Netaji in Kolkata. Our correspondent reports that people from all walks of life are visiting the House of Netaji in South Kolkata since early this morning. Various programmes are being organized in Odisha to mark the birth anniversary of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose. On the occasion, his birth place at Cuttack has witnessed a beeline of visitors since the morning. Political leaders such as BJP President Rajnath Singh and the state agriculture minister Devi Mishra visited the site and paid homage to this great leader. []<><><>[] A Pakistani anti-terrorism court hearing the case of seven men, including Lashkar eToiba commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, charged with involvement in the Mumbai attacks has adjourned the hearing till January 29. The court has also issued summons for more private witnesses.The seven accused in the Mumbai attacks case have been charged with planning, financing and executing the attacks. The trial is taking place at a slow pace and is one of the main bones of contention in resumption a of full-fledged dialogue process between India and Pakistan. New Delhi has demanded that Islamabad expedite the trial to show that it is serious about countering terrorism. <><><>  UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has said it is time to negotiate for the Syria regime and opposition to end the sufferings of the Syrian people. Wrapping up the high level meeting of the international conference on Syria in the Swiss city of Montreaux last night, he said it is significant that for the first time both the sides attended the talk and the international community has joined them. External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid urged all sides to strive for a political solution. Syrian President Bashar Assad said, it is for the Syrian people to decide and both the delegations would discuss the issue. The next round of the Syria Conference will get underway in Geneva tomorrow. <><><>  UN Special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is to meet the representatives of the Syrian regime and the rebel opposition separately today. Efforts to bring about a truce between the Syrian regime and the opposition are gathering momentum. After the successful completion of the first high level talks at the International Conference on Syria in Montreux, UN special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi will meet the rebel sides separately today. More from our correspondent;  "At a press conference in Montreux, Mr. Brahimi told that the road to peace in Syria is a difficult one, yet it can be reached with the participation of all the sides. He said the ways and means to end the bloody war in Syria can be found out through the Geneva Communique of 2012.  The UN special envoy said that both the sides have given fair indications that access to needy people, release of prisoners and local cease fire are the areas in which agreement can be arrived at to begin with. UN Secretary General Ban Ki  Moon appreciated the move by Syrian regime to announce ceasefire in Aleppo and urged all parties to do the same to give peace a chance in Syria.  ATUL TIWARI, AIR NEWS/ MONTREUX." <><><> External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid met his US counterpart John Kerry on the sidelines of the international conference in Montreaux. This was the highest level meeting between the two countries after the recent Devyani Khobragade issue, that created tensions between the two countries.  A senior State Department official said, Mr. Kerry and Mr. Khurshid discussed their shared commitment to moving the relationship forward and returning to a close partnership on strategic, security and economic issues. <><><>  Uganda says, the recent incident in Delhi involving an alleged face-off between Aam Aadmi Party and Ugandan nationals will not affect trade ties between India and the African nation.  Ugandan Minister of State for Industry and Technology James Mutende said  in Mumbai on the sidelines of a function that  India-Uganda business will continue growing. Delhi had witnessed heightened tensions and a logjam between the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party and the Delhi Police over alleged mistreatment of some Ugandan women. <><><>  The US military is easing its uniform rules to allow religious wear including turbans, skullcaps, beards and tattoos. Muslim, Sikh, Jewish and Wiccan soldiers, marines, sailors and airmen can now request exemptions to strict military uniform. Requests will be evaluated individually and can be denied if they hinder military readiness. <><><>  Recovering from initial losses, the Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange had gained 36 points, or 0.2 percent, to 21,374 a short while ago. The 30-share Sensex had climbed 274 points in the previous three trading sessions. Stock markets in Japan, China, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong had dropped between 0.3 percent and 1.4 percent, today. <><><> The rupee dropped by 18 paise to 61 rupees 99 paise against the US dollar in late morning trade today on fresh demand for the American currency from banks and importers. <><><>  Sania Mirza and her Romanian team-mate Horia Tecau today sailed into the Mixed Doubles semi-finals of the Australian Open Tennis tournament. The sixth seeded Indo-Romanian pair defeated the German-Pak combine of Julia Goerges and Aisam-ul-Haq-Qureshi, in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4. Meanwhile, China's Li Na beat Canadian Eugenie Bouchard and Dominica Cibulkova of Slovakia stunned higher ranked Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland to clash in the Women's Singles final.  In the other quarterfinal, Leander Paes and his Slovakian partner Daniela Hantuchova will take on the Canadian-French team of Daniel Nestor and Kristina Mladenovic. In the Men's Singles semi-final, Tomas Berdych will take on Stanslas Wawrinka today. World Number One Rafael Nadal and Swiss Roger Federer will meet in the second semi-final later in the tournament. <><><>  In Himachal Pradesh, a snow leopard has been found in Lahaul-Spiti between the height of 11,000 and 20,000 ft. The snow leopard is a rare animal of the area but with the passage of time the number have declined. Now for the first time the state wild life department is planning to conduct a study and survey on the snow leopard through modern electronic devices. Our correspondent reports: "The snow leopard found in high altitude areas of Lahaul-Spiti and in the first phase of this project it would be under scanner in the Kibber area of Spiti Valley. For this purpose the state wild life department would attach GPS chips after tagging collar under centre sponsored scheme of about 25 lakh Rs. These electronic devices would help the experts to keep snow leopard under scan to note down its number and movement.  Shishu Sharma/air news /Shimla."  <><><>  Indian-American professor Rakesh Khurana has been appointed Dean of the prestigious Harvard College. Khurana is the latest addition to a long list of Indian-origin academicians assuming leadership roles at renowned global universities. He is currently a professor of Leadership Development at Harvard Business School. He will assume his new role on the 1st  of July. Harvard College is the school within Harvard University that grants undergraduate degrees.