NEWS

• Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal asks BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to spell out their stands on Reliance gas pricing issue in their rallies today.
• Congress says, Kejriwal resigned as Delhi Chief Minister to fulfill his national ambitions but Modi remains glued to the CM's chair.
• The Election Commission to ask the government to modify the rules to make e-filing of nomination for contesting elections mandatory.
• A terrorist killed in an encounter near Sopore town in the Kashmir valley.
• And in Wellington Test: New Zealand score 252 for 5 against India in their second innings, Mc Cullun hits a ton.

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Aam Aadmi Party Convenor Arvind Kejriwal, who resigned as Delhi Chief Minister, has asked BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi to spell out his stand on the Reliance gas pricing issue at his rally in Himachal Pradesh today. Kejriwal has also asked Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi to explain his views on the issue.

In a tweet, Arvind Kejriwal said Narendra Modi should break his silence on the gas pricing row and also tell what his and his party's relation with Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani and corporate house Adani.

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About two dozen people belonging to what they called Aam Aadmi Sena today staged a protest outside Arvind Kejriwal's residence against his decision to resign as Chief Minister of Delhi. Claiming that they were workers of Kejriwal's party, the protesters sought to know why their views were not taken before Kejriwal resigned over the Jan Lokpal bill. They said people will face problems related to water, electricity and employment in the absence of a government in the city.

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Aam Aadmi Party's Political Affairs Committee is currently meeting at Arvind Kejriwal's residence in New Delhi to discuss strategy for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Top party leaders are attending the meeting which is likely to finalise and release the first list of candidates for the polls.

The committee has already announced that the party will launch its campaign for the Lok Sabha polls from the 23rd of this month with a rally at Rohtak in Haryana.

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Taking potshots at both Arvind Kejriwal and Narendra Modi, Congress today said while the Delhi Chief Minister resigned to fulfill his national ambitions, the Gujarat leader is still glued to the CM's chair. AICC general secretary in-charge of Delhi, Shakeel Ahmed said on Twitter that Kejriwal has proved himself more ethical by resigning to fulfil his national ambitions. Ahmed's comments came two days after Kejriwal quit, alleging a nexus between Congress and BJP to ensure that the Jan Lokpal bill was not passed.

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Senior BJP leader L K Advani today alleged that the UPA government is the most corrupt government. In a blog, Advani said Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh began his tenure with a clean personal reputation. But as his decade-long tenure is coming to a close, he would leave behind him a record of having presided over the most corrupt government in Independent India. Advani also termed the Cash-for-Votes scam as the most disgraceful scam during UPA-1. He said most of the scams, including 2G Spectrum and Commonwealth Games, which came to light under Congress governments, were exposures made by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) or the judiciary.

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YSR Congress Chief Jagan Reddy met CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat in New Delhi today on the Telangana Bill. YSR Congress, which is opposing the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, sought support for stalling creation of Telangana. Talking to reporters after the meeting, Jagan asked the opposition to protest what he termed as the undemocratic way of the Centre, saying if Telangana is allowed to happen, then it will create a bad precedence.

Prakash Karat rejected the government's claim of having tabled the Telangana bill in Parliament. He said the way it has been done is not acceptable to the party as there was no order in the House.

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In the DMK’s tenth State Meet being held at Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu, fifteen resolutions were passed today. The two day State meet is being held under the leadership of DMK leader Karunanidhi. The meeting assumes significance with details about alliance to face coming Lok Sabha elections expected to be announced later in the day.

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The Election Commission will soon ask the government to modify the rules to make e-filing of nomination for contesting elections mandatory. Election Commissioner H.S. Brahma said in Ranchi that e-filing in a web-based form, would be in addition to filing the nomination in paper form. Candidates for the Lok Sabha elections would be able to e-file their nominations and affidavits in a move aimed at bringing about faster dissemination of information about them regarding their criminal, financial, educational and other background details. A press release of the 10th Annual Conference on Electoral and Political Reforms said that Mr. Brahma also launched a citizen reporting tool, Election Watch Reporter, an android based application developed by the National Election Watch. He recommended it to be used by the election commission in the polls to keep a check on malpractices like bribing of voters and excessive spending by candidates. The tool will enable citizens to capture photographic evidence, with precise GPS location and time of any wrong doing in and around elections and report it instantaneously to the nearest election commission observers.

The conference was organised by National Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms.

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A terrorist was killed in an encounter at Seilo village near Sopore town in Baramulla district today in the Kashmir valley. Police and army launched a joint search operation in Bhat Mohalla in the town following information about the presence of the ultra there. The terrorist was asked to surrender but he opened fire on the security forces and was killed in retaliatory action. Search operations were in progress when the reports last came in.

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In Pakistan, a blast near a CNG station today killed one policeman and injured another in Peshawar. Bomb Disposal Squad officials said that two kilograms of explosive material was used in the blast. Security in the district was put on a red alert following the incident.

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Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid will hold bilateral discussions with Maldives’ top leadership during his tour to the country that begins on Tuesday. The Minister will also attend 25^th session of SAARC Council of Ministers’ meet on Thursday. The SAARC Council is expected to decide a date to hold the next SAARC Summit, which is to be hosted by Nepal.

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Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is expected to visit India later this month. The move comes close on the heels of efforts by Iran to boost energy and trade ties with the easing of sanctions. The two countries are associated by common bonds of culture, language, and traditions.

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Iran and the six major world powers -US,UK, France, Russia, China PLUS Germany will hold the next round of talks over Teheran’s nuclear program in Vienna on Tuesday. Ahead of the talks, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said difficult and intensive negotiations are ahead but the mutual trust can pave the way for a Joint Action Plan for continuation of Iran's peaceful energy program. In an interview to Iranian Television, Zarif said that the focus will be on the technicalities over the Iranian nuclear energy program in a constructive direction. He also said the talks would be the beginning of a process that would lead to the implementation of the Joint Plan of Action within a year.

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Iraq's firebrand Shia cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr has announced his retirement from political life. In an unexpected hand-written note posted on his website, Sadr said, he will not hold any Government position or have any representatives in Parliament. The statement also said, he is shutting down all his offices except for some charity.

Mr. Sadr and his militia gained influence in Iraq after the US invasion in 2003. But, in recent years, he lost ground following a dispute with the Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki.

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Lebanon has announced a new Cabinet that includes a wide range of political groups, breaking months of bitter infighting, mostly over Syria's civil war. Prime Minister Tamam Salam announced his 24-member national unity government yesterday. The country had been in the hands of a caretaker government for many months, as both major political factions argued over who controlled what. The incoming prime minister said in his inaugural message that he had attempted to put together a balanced government in which all parties participated, but without any religious or sectarian quotas.

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The King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa will embark on a three day official visit to India from 18 of this month. He will meet the President and the Vice President and hold delegation-level discussions with the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh on bilateral, regional and global issues.

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In the Kashmir valley, world famous ski resort of Gulmarg is all set to hold five day winter games from tomorrow. We have a report:

Due to abundant snowfall this winter the ski lovers from world over are reaching Gulmarg these days. There is a lot of huzzle and puzzle as winter games Federation of Jammu and Kashmir is organizing five day winter games from 17th February. The events are being organised in collaboration with winter games federation of India. 60 adventure lovers will be participating in events like Alpine Skiing and snow boarding on the enchanting snow of Gulmargh. M. S. TANTRAY, AIR NEWS, SRINAGAR.

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Parts of Kashmir received fresh snowfall and rain today bringing down minimum temperatures in the Valley and Ladakh region by several degrees. Fresh snowfall was recorded in many areas of Kashmir Valley including in Srinagar, Ganderbal, Pahalgam and Qazigund today.

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In Himachal Pradesh, after three days’ of incessant snow and rainfall, weather is clear in most parts of the state today. MeT department has predicted that there will be no snow or rain, but cold wave and chill will continue.

Our correspondent from Shimla reports, some Tribal areas including Kinnaur district are cut off from other parts of the State following heavy snow and rain. Traffic, electricity and water supply were disrupted in the capital city of Shimla.

"Weather is clear in most parts of the State. Sun is brightly shinning. Met department has already predicted stopping of snow and rain. But, cold wave still continues. Some of the travel areas including Kinnaur district are cut from other parts after heavy snow and rain in the state. The Shimla Nagar Nigam has deployed snow cutters to clear the roads. District administration has issued alert to ensure supply of daily need items at proper rates in the city. Multan Singh Yadav, AIR NEWS, SHIMLA ."

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Cold conditions prevails in most parts of Punjab and Haryana today with the minimum temperature dipping five degrees Celsius below normal in some areas. However, the sun is out after widespread rain in the past few days. Amritsar was coldest with a low of 3.6 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal. While Hisar had a low of 4.8 degrees Celsius, five notches below normal.

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The sun shone bright across Uttarakhand today after two days of incessant rain in the plains and snowfall in the hills of Garhwal and Kumaon regions.

The weather today remained clear in most parts of the state. However, the state is reeling under severe cold wave condition. Several areas in the hills are cut off due to land slides and heavy snowfall. Internal roads of far flung remote villages of upper reaches are still blocked due to snowfall and landslide. Meanwhile, the national highways in Bhadrinath and Uttarkashi have been reopened for movement of vehicles. SANJEEV Sundriyal, AIR NEWS, Dehradun.

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New Zealand were 252 for 5 against India in their second innings at close on the third day of the second and final cricket Test at Wellington, taking a lead of 6 runs. McCullum was batting on 114 and Watling on 52 when the umpires signalled end of play. But that hardly looked a possibility when India took the fifth Kiwi wicket at the score of 94, after Zaheer Khan landed the opening blows on the third morning. The score so far:

New Zealand 192 and 252 for 5

India 438

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United Arab Emirates Government is the planning to use drones or the pilotless remote controlled devices to deliver Government services at the doorsteps of residents.

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In one of the world's largest all-women religious gatherings, thousands of devotees performed the 'pongala' ritual of the famed Attukal Bhagavathy temple in Thiruvananthapuram today. Women, cutting across class and caste barriers, prepared 'pongala'- a mix of rice, jaggery and grated coconut - in fresh earthen pots in an area of about 8 km radius around the temple, seeking the blessings of the Goddess for plenty and prosperity for their families.

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Purushottam Express is slated to become the first train in the country to have a Braille- embedded AC coach for visually-challenged passengers. In a first of its kind, Railways has manufactured an AC three-tier coach with Braille signages to be operational by end of this month.

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