Rahul accuses Swaraj of receiving monetary benefits from Modi 

Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Friday criticised External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for her alleged involvement in helping former Indian Premier League Chairperson Lalit Modi to acquire travel documents from the British government. Calling Swaraj's statement on the issue in the Lok Sabha a display of theatrics, Gandhi said that the Union External Affairs Minister had broken the law by helping Modi, even if she had done so for a humanitarian cause. The Bharatiya Janata Party said that Sonia Gandhi's remarks had reduced the dignity of Parliament. On Thursday, Swaraj in a statement to the Lower House denied that she had helped the former IPL chief to acquire the documents for him to travel to Portugal.




Modi meets Jayalalithaa in Chennai

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa for lunch at her Poes Garden residence in Chennai on Friday. According to reports, Jayalalithaa handed over a 21-page memorandum listing Tamil Nadu's demands that included items about sharing Cauvery river water with Karnataka, the safety of the state's fishermen, a Metro rail project, the modernisation of the state's police force and additional power. The meeting has assumed significance because of the Bharatiya Janata Party's struggle to push through key economic reforms through Parliament. The Jayalalithaa-led All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has 11 members in Rajya Sabha and 37 members in Lok Sabha.



India boycotts Commonwealth meeting in Pakistan

India has decided to boycott a Commonwealth Parliamentary Union meeting to be held in Islamabad next month to protest against Pakistan's decision not to invite the Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly to the event. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said that the decision was taken after a meeting of the Speakers of all states. Mahajan said that Pakistan had justified the decision to not invite the state Speaker by citing a rule from the 1950s regarding the status of the Kashmir issue in the United Nations. Pakistan's move comes amidst tensions between the two neighbours over two militant attacks in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.



Mumbai Police denies Tiger Memon phone calls 

After news reports said that Tiger Memon, the prime accused in the 1993 Mumbai blasts, had called up his family members before his brother Yakub Memon's execution, Mumbai police officials on Friday denied the claims. "We want to clarify that we do not have any such intercepted conversation and we also clarify that such said transcript does not belong to Mumbai police," said Deputy Commissioner of Police Dhananjay Kulkarni. According to reports, Tiger had called up his mother Hanifa barely 40 minutes before Yakub’s hanging on July 30 and vowed to avenge his brother's death. The blasts, which took place in July 1993, killed at least 260 people and wounded over 700 more.




Lodha panel may look into sealed cover: Supreme Court


After hearing a plea for the  Justice Lodha Committee to examine the Mugdal Committee's report on the spot-fixing scandal of the Indian Premier League, the Supreme Court on Friday said that it would be left to the Lodha Committee to take a call on the matter. The sealed envelope contains the names of some cricketers allegedly involved in spot-fixing during IPL matches. "If the Committee wants to look into it without affecting the image and reputation of some persons, it can consider it," a bench comprising Justices TS Thakur and FMI Kalifulla said. Earlier, in its landmark report on betting in the IPL, the Lodha Committee suspended two of the League's franchises for two years.