• 29 people killed in a terrorist attack in China at a railway station in southwestern province of Yunnan.

• The Chitale Committee in Maharashtra submits report on alleged irrigation scam during NCP leader and Deputy chief Minister Ajit Pawar's tenure.

• Gujarat Police files charge sheet against Narayan Sai in a rape case.

• In Uttar Pradesh, 12 people feared drowned in a boat tragedy in Lakhimpur Kheri district.

• India to take on Pakistan at Mirpur in Bangladesh in the Asia Cup Cricket today.

• Roger Federer wins Singles title at the Dubai Tennis Championship.

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In China, twenty-nine people have been killed and 130 injured in a terrorist attack by a group of unidentified men armed with knives at a railway station in the capital city of Kunming of China's southwestern Yunnan province. State-run Xinhua news agency said it was an organised and premeditated attack. More than 60 victims of the attack have been sent to hospital. Kunming Railway Station is one of the biggest stations in southwest China. We spoke to PTI Correspondent in Beijing over the incident.

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The Madhav Chitale committee in Maharashtra, which probed into the alleged irrigation scam in the state submitted its report to Chief Minister Prithvraj Chavan yesterday. The report consisting of 1361 pages has been compiled after the scrutiny of thousands of documents for over 14 months. Madhav Chitale, a water management expert, was appointed by the state government to examine the alleged irregularities in the water resources department in September 2012 when deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar held the water resources portfolio. He resigned following media reports about his role in alteration of rules to increase the cost of irrigation projects manifold.

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Gujarat Police have filed an 1,100-page charge sheet against Narayan Sai, the son of jailed Asaram in a rape case on the complaint of a city-based woman. The charge sheet, filed before Chief Judicial Magistrate J N Thakkar in a Suart court, includes statements of over 150 witnesses. Narayan Sai has been charged with rape, unnatural sex and criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code. He has also been implicated under various sections of the IPC for molestation, wrongful confinement, unlawful assembly, rioting, possession of deadly weapon and criminal intimidation.

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In Bihar, a joint team of Special Task Force and police have seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition, including 450 country-made pistols, during a raid at a house at Munger district. IG Operations Amit Kumar said acting on a tip-off, the security forces raided the house in Mohallah Hazratganj at Kasim Bazar and seized 450 country-made pistols, 12 cartridges, 7 mobile phones and one generator set. He said two persons have been arrested.

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In Uttar Pradesh, 12 people, including three children, were feared drowned when the boat in which they were crossing the Mahona river capsized near Elona Ghat in Lakhimpur Kheri, late last evening. According to eyewitnesses, the boat capsized in the main stream of the river. Confirming the accident, Sub-Divisional Magistrate D P Pal said the details of the victims were not known as yet.

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The Election Commission has asked the government to take appropriate action on a complaint about alleged manipulation of opinion polls by agencies. In a communication to the ministries of Law, Corporate Affairs and Information and Broadcasting, the Commission said the matter involves allegations of conspiracy to prepare false reports and polls for publishing misleading information on illegal payment of money.

The Commission has also written to the Press Council and News Broadcasting Association to consider prescribing appropriate guidelines and norms.

The Commission had received a complaint from Congress on a sting operation done by a news channel purportedly showing that some agencies engaged in conducting opinion polls were tweaking the figures.

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RJD Parliamentary Board is meeting today in Patna to finalize the party candidates for up coming Lok Sabha Elections. Yesterday, RJD chief Lalu Prasad offered 11 seats to Congress in Bihar and asked the party to give its acceptance by today.

We told them that we can help on eleven parliamentary seats in Bihar. Talks have been held with Congress on regular basis and we are hopeful for the upcoming talks.

RJD has also offered one out of the 40 seats in the state to another Congress ally NCP. The development comes after an old ally LJP walked over to the BJP camp.

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The Governor General of Canada, David Johnston has said that the audio-visual co-production treaty between India and Canada will lead to exchange of concepts, thoughts, ideas, technology and creativity. India and Canada signed a co-production agreement earlier this week which will facilitate collaboration of Indo- Canadian film producers. Speaking at a round-table meeting on bilateral audio-visual co-production in Mumbai, he said exchange of art and culture between the two countries will create goodwill.

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Egypt's new cabinet led by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb was sworn in yesterday, with army chief Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi retaining his position as Defence Minister. Mehleb was appointed Prime Minister by interim President Adly Mansour after surprise resignation of Hazem El-Beblawi on Monday.

The new premier has kept 20 ministers from el-Beblawi's cabinet and appointed 11 new faces, mostly technocrats. The new cabinet is tasked with organising the presidential election.

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"India will take on Pakistan in a round-robin match of the Asia Cup Cricket tournament at Mirpur in Bangladesh today. All India Radio will broadcast running commentary on the match from 1 pm. The commentary will be available on all FM Gold Channels. With a victory and a defeat in the two matches played so far, India is third in the points table with 4 points. Pakistan has also won one of its two games, but they are second due to a better net-run rate. Sri Lanka are the table toppers.

Afghanistan registered its first major victory over a Test playing nation, beating Bangladesh by 32-runs at Fatullah last night.

In Tennis, Swiss Roger Federer has bagged the Singles title of the atp Dubai Championship. Fourth seed and World Number 8 Federer defeated Czech Tomas Berdych 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to clinch his sixth Dubai title.

The Indo-Pak pair of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi claimed the Doubles title, beating the Canadian-Serbain team of Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. SAVVY HASAN KHAN, FOR AIR NEWS."

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In Punjab, the mortal remains of more than 250 Indian soldiers who were shot dead by the British during the 1857 mutiny are being exhumed from a well at Ajnala in Amritsar district. About a hundred skeletons have so far been exhumed in the last two days by the people of Ajnala and surrounding areas without any help from the state.

About 500 un-armed soldiers of 26 Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry revolted at Mian Mir Cantonment in Lahore as a part of the 1857 mutiny. They swam across the river Ravi to reach Ajnala. Out of them, 218 were killed by the British at Dadian Sofian village on July 31, 1857. Historian Surinder Kochhar told AIR that the remaining 282 were incarcerated in a small room by the then Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar Frederick Henry Cooper. Out of them 237 were shot dead and rest 45 were buried alive along with them in the well. Both Kochhar and Sarkaria have appealed to the relatives of these martyrs to contact them to know who all they were. Rajesh Bali/AIR News/Jalandhar

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In Himachal Pradesh, there is no respite from chill and cold wave as intermittent snow and rain in higher reaches continue. Our Correspondent reports that the mercury plunged several notches below zero at many places in the state.

Rohtang pass of Lahaul Valley could not be opened for pedestrians on March 1st due to inclement weather. Usually, it used to be opened and available for pedestrian from 1st March every year. Kullu, Manali and tourist resorts of capital city Shimla -Kufri, Mashobra , Narkanda and Jakhu hills were wrapped up in a white sheet of snow.. Dozens of vehicle were seen trapped in snow blocked roads in upper Shimla. Several Tourists had to wait hours in their vehicles

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NEWSPAPERS HEADLINES:

• A special cabinet meeting on ordinances today figures in many papers. 'Ordinances on Seemandhra, Rahul bills are likely today', writes the Indian Express.

• The Election Commission asking the centre to take appropriate action on manipulation of opinion polls is covered by the Statesman as - 'EC cracks whip on opinion polls'.

• Lalu offering Congress just 11 of the 40 seats in Bihar makes front page news - 'Congress deal with Lalu shaky, Nitish smells an opportunity' is the Hindustan Times headline. The Hindu puts it as 'Congress - RJD talks sour , JD(U) steps in'.

• The Statesman and the Pioneer show BJP president Rajnath Singh greeting General V K Singh who joined the Party.

• The passing away of former BJP president Bangaru Laxman finds place in the Hindu,Mail Today and the Statesman.

• 'Police custody is a picnic for Roy' , writes the Hindustan Times, of Subroto Roy, who is lodged in a guest house in picturesque Kukrail, receiving a stream of family and friends and getting food from home.

• A Raw official and his family found dead at his Sadiq Nagar home in Delhi is reported by the Pioneer as - 'Man hammers family to death,kills self'.

• Russian troops seizing control of Crimea is covered prominently by the Indian Express and Asian Age .' Military intervention in Crimea will carry costs' Obama warns Russia - west voices alarm, calls on Moscow to respect Ukraine's sovereignty' says the Times of India.

• Molestation of a 24 year old Manipuri girl in the capital, leading to a protest and ugly confrontation with cops is covered widely by the press.

• And finally, are you surprised with rain at this time of the year? The Pioneer says 'Met surprised but astrologers say rain normal', because of a certain planetary movement.

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