• Supreme Court stays release of remaining four convicts by Tamil Nadu Government in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. Five soldiers shot dead by a Rashtriya Rifles' Jawan in Kashmir; the soldier kills himself also.

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• Congress Campaign Committee meets to finalise poll strategy; Rahul Gandhi disapproves Salman Khurshid's remark on Narendra Modi.
• Two Officers missing in the Sub-marine mishap are reported dead; a Rear Admiral-rank officer to inquire into the accident.
• And In Asia Cup Cricket minnows Afghanistan take on defending champion Pakistan today.

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The Supreme Court today stayed till further orders the release of remaining four killers of Rajiv Gandhi. A bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam also issued notices to Tamil Nadu government and the four prisoners on the Centre's plea against their release. The Centre had filed petition seeking to restrain Tamil Nadu government from releasing these convicts who are undergoing life imprisonment. Earlier, the apex court stayed the release of three others. Now none of the seven convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case can be released without permission of the Supreme Court. Rajiv Gandhi was killed along with 14 security personnel on May 21, 1991 in a suicidal bomb attack by LTTE militants in Tamil Nadu.

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In Kashmir, an army soldier today shot dead five of his colleagues when they were sleeping before committing suicide in Ganderbal district. An army spokesman said, the Rashtriya Rifles unit soldier ran amok in the wee hours. The incident took place inside the army camp of 13 Rashtriya Rifles at Safapora. A court of inquiry has been ordered into the incident. The soldier, who was posted on sentry duty at the camp, entered one of the barracks at around 2 AM and opened indiscriminate firing. Five soldiers were killed and another injured in the firing before the jawan went on to shoot himself.

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The Congress Campaign Committee met in New Delhi today to finalize strategy for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The meeting chaired by party President Sonia Gandhi was attended among others by the Prime Minister, senior Cabinet Ministers including A K Antony, Sushilkumar Shinde, P Chidambaram, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Jairam Ramesh. Party Vice President Rahul Gandhi is the co-chairman of the 50-member committee. Talking to reporters after the meeting, Congress leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi said a suggestion was made at the meeting to deny tickets to those who are facing allegations of corruption or have criminal background. He said it was also discussed in the meeting how to make poll campaign more effective.

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Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi has disapproved of External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid's remark on BJP leader Narendra Modi. He said he does not appreciate such kind of language. Gandhi was talking to reporters on the sidelines of Congress Campaign Committee meeting in New Delhi today. Our correspondent reports, Salman Khurshid had described Narendra Modi as impotent for failing to control communal riots in Gujarat in 2002. Khurshid, however, clarified that by the word impotent, he only meant political incompetence of Modi who, he said did not handle the situation properly.

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Telangana Rashtra Samithi TRS, will hold a meeting of its politburo and office bearers on 1st of next month. A press release issued in Hyderabad today said that a joint meeting of TRS politburo, parliamentary and legislature party, and state executive will discuss the future course of action of the party in the wake of the passage of Telangana Bill in Parliament. The meeting will also discuss the possible merger or alliance of TRS with Congress.

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The Telugu Desam Party today requested the Centre not to fix an appointed date for formation of Telangana state. The party said Centre should not proceed in haste and wait till the Supreme Court fully disposes petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the AP Reorganisation Bill. It said many petitions are pending in the Supreme Court against the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and the apex court will determine the legal and constitutional status of AP Reorganisation Bill.

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President Pranab Mukherjee has called upon the Indian Newspaper Society to remain torch bearer of free and responsible media in the country. Addressing the platinum jubilee celebrations of the society in New Delhi today, Mr Mukherjee urged the media to weed out the aberrations of paid news. He said sensationalism cannot become a substitute of objective assessment. Mr Mukherjee said even as the newspaper industry is witnessing tough times in other parts of world, Indian newspaper industry is growing at ten per cent. He said that free press is a critical component of democracy.

"Media has assumed different roles of being a facilitator, protector and enabler of democratic institutions and process. Our vast, varied and vibrant media is a national asset. A media as a whole not only keeps people informed but also performs a very crucial function of presenting ideas as alternative in the domain of policy formulation and implementation."

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Chief Electoral Officer, Delhi, Mr Vijay Dev has said that control and regulation of social media is a major challenge during the election process in terms of enforcement of model code of conduct. He was addressing the National Workshop for senior editors and correspondents of All India Radio in New Delhi today. Mr Dev said that all the publicity material put on social media need to be removed after the model code of conduct comes into effect. The expenditure on social media comes with in the expenditure limit.

We are also now calculating the expenditure incurred by the candidates through the use of social media and in that it has been now enjoined upon by law through an affidavit on all the contesting candidates to mandatorily disclose their social media accounts.

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Maharashtra cabinet has approved a proposal to regularise the slums upto the year 2000, extending the earlier cut-off date by five years. The decision is expected to benefit nearly 3.75 lakh illegal shanties in Mumbai. The Maharashtra government has also announced a "slum transfer policy" that will protect all slums that have come up before 1995. While announcing the slum transfer policy in both the house of the state legislature yesterday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said that the transfer of the protected structure will be legalised and will go a long way in making Mumbai slum-free.

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Indian Navy has constituted a high level inquiry headed by an officer of the rank of Rear Admiral to establish the cause of the INS Sindhuratna submarine accident. In a release issued in Mumbai, the Navy said, the inquiry has immediately commenced its proceedings. The aim of the enquiry is to ventilate the submarine and recommend steps for continuing safe operations of submarines.

Meanwhile, Navy sources said the two missing officers in INS Sindhuratna found dead. The sources said the death of the two officers were confirmed during the search operation. Sources further told that their families have been informed about this tragedy.

The ill-fated submarine has been brought back to Mumbai harbour and the condition of the seven seriously injured personnel, are reported to be stable. INS Sindhuratna was at sea off Mumbai for routine training in the early hours of yesterday when smoke was reported in the sailors' accommodation by the submarine.

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Defence Minister A K Antony has said that he had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh before accepting the resignation of Admiral D K Joshi as Navy Chief. Admiral Joshi yesterday resigned taking moral responsibility of the accident. Talking to reporters in New Delhi this morning, the Defence Minister said he is sad about the whole development.

He personally handed over the letter and he requested me to accept this letter with immediate effect and he has suggested till final arrangement is taken to appoint present vice chief Admiral R.K. Dhowan officiating Naval chief. He was very much disturbed at the whole development. He is a very fine human being and a very good admiral.

Navy Vice Chief Vice Admiral Robin Dhovan has been made the acting Navy chief after Joshi's resignation.

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The government has invited bids for auction of three coal blocks in Jharkhand and West Bengal for captive use by steel, cement and sponge iron companies. An official statement said, while two blocks are in Jharkhand, one is in West Bengal. The auction will feature mines that have total reserves of 500 million tonnes. This is for the first time that the government has initiated auction of coal blocks through competitive bidding for specified end-uses. The move comes after the Centre drew flak for delaying the auction and the Comptroller and Auditor General saying that allotment of 57 mines to private firms without auction resulted in a notional loss of 1.8 lakh crore rupees to the exchequer.

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RBI has asked banks to play a proactive role in detecting bad loans and to focus on improving their credit risk management systems. In a notification issued yesterday, RBI has asked the Board of Directors of banks to take all necessary steps to arrest their deteriorating asset quality.

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The Central Board of Direct Taxes has extended the time-limit for filing ITR-5 Forms for Assessment Years 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12, for returns that have been e-filed with refund claims till 31st of next month. An official release said that taxpayers concerned are advised to take benefit of this relaxation so as to enable the tax authorities to further process their otherwise valid refund claims.

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The Centre has informed the Supreme Court that it has no plan to execute the 1993 Delhi bomb blast convict Devender Pal Singh Bhular given his precarious mental health. The Attorney General GE Vahanvati also sought two weeks time to place the mercy papers regarding the Bhullar case to the President. The Attorney General was presenting Delhi Lt. Governor's favourable recommendation on a mercy plea filed by Bhullar's wife before the apex court.

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In Bangladesh, ruling Awami League and arch rival BNP face another political battle for popularity today as elections to 115 upazila parishad are being held in the second phase of the local-body polls today. Around 20 million voters will exercise their franchise. There are around 1376 candidates in the fray.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a massive training exercise for military units across Russia, including along the border with Ukraine. He has assigned the head of the armed forces to review the combat preparedness of the troops for action in case of resolving crisis situations threatening the military security of the country. Meanwhile, NATO Defence Ministers today supported the Ukrainian sovereignty and independence. It said NATO will stand ready to continue assisting Ukraine in its democratic reforms. The United States has also released a statement, warning that any military intervention into Ukraine will be met with a strong response.

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NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says the United States may have to wait for Afghan President Hamid Karzai's successor to sign a deal to authorize US troops on its territory beyond 2014. He said that all NATO troops will withdraw if no legal framework is in place. The NATO Secretary General said President Karzai is not likely to sign the security agreement but he is optimistic that Karzai's successor, to be elected in an April vote, would sign it. Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama has ordered the Defence department to draw up plans for a full withdrawal of US troops. He warned Karzai of the possibility of pull out. But Karzai reportedly told Obama that he cannot sign the deal unless peace negotiations with the Taliban have begun.

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Pakistan were 37 for no loss in 8.5 overs against the Afghanistan in the Asia Cup Cricket tournament at Fatullah, when reports last came in. Earlier Afghanistan won the toss and elected to field. Pakistan have made one change to their team, Anwar Ali comes in for Bilawal Bhatti. Afghanistan are playing for the first time in the Asia Cup. Pakistan had lost their first match against Sri Lanka. India will take on Srilanka tomorrow at Fatullah .

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