Live: Congress MP flashes gun to avoid paying toll, is caught on camera

8.40 pm:

Haryana khap panchayats to meet tomorrow to push for lowering marriage age for girls

Haryana's Sarva Khap Jat Panchayat, which has been at the forefront of demanding reservations for Jats in government jobs, will now discuss the bizarre suggestion that the marriage age for girls be lowered to curb rising incidents of rape in the state.

The supreme council is an umbrella body of khap panchayats across the state. Khaps have no legal sanction but often function like kangaroo courts and issue social diktats that are enforced in the villages.

A meeting called for Saturday in Sonipat, about 40 km from Delhi, to discuss the reservation issue will focus instead on the marriage age issue and how the government could be compelled to get the bar lowered in Haryana, where at least 15 rapes have been reported in the past month.

8. 00 pm:

Clash of titans as CLT20 enters main stage

After their not so memorable outing in the just-concluded ICC World T20 in Sri Lanka, it will be a test of character for the Indian boys in the Champions League Twenty20 which enters the business stage from Saturday.

There are four Indian Premier League teams in the fray in the cash-rich tournament, including defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) and this season's IPL winners Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). The other two IPL sides are Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Delhi Daredvils (DD).

But the interesting to watch in the tournament will be the desperation of the Indian cricketers, who will be eager to erase the scars of their Super Eight elimination in the Twenty20 World Cup.

7. 20 pm

AI staff refuse to waive charges of excess baggage of 3 MPs

Notwithstanding pressure, Air India staff today refused to waive the charges for 193 kg of excess baggage being carried by three MPs from Guwahati to Delhi and flew the goods in cargo after they made the payments.

Three Lok Sabha MPs -- UP Congress chief and Faizabad MP Nirmal Khatri, Congress MP from Almora Pradeep Tamta and BJP MP from Meerut Rajendra Agrawal -- were returning from Guwahati in Air India's flight (AI 9612), airline sources said.

They wanted to check-in together with 268 kg of baggage but an economy class passenger is allowed to carry only 25 kg of checked-in luggage as per airline policy.

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6.40 pm

Congress MP flashes gun to avoid paying toll, is caught on camera

Congress Lok Sabha MP from Porbandar Vitthal Radadia was caught red-handed on camera brandishing a gun to threaten the employees of a toll plaza who dared him to show his identity card before waiving payment.

Radadia, apparently enraged at the temerity of the toll plaza attendant, who asked for the original I-card after his driver had shown a photocopy, was seen on national TV menacingly flashing his gun while stalking the area in front of the booth and repeatedly tapping the glass enclosure with the barrel.

The incident that happened near Karjan on National Highway 8 on the intervening night of October 10-11, was caught on CCTV cameras installed outside the toll plaza.

Radadia, considered a 'strongman' in the Saurashtra region, had recently helped the party organise a massive farmers rally in Rajkot.

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6. 00 pm

Congress leader in Haryana says 90 per cent of rape incidents are consensual sex

In fresh embarrassment for ruling Congress in Haryana, which is already on the backfoot over growing incidents of rape, a state leader has now sparked outrage by claiming that 90 per cent of the cases involved "consensual sex".

"90 per cent of rape cases are (a case of) consensual sex between the girl and boy.... The girl gets into an affair with a boy and she goes with him without knowing that he is of criminal mindset," Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee member and Congress Hisar district spokesman Dharambir Goyat told reporters in Hisar late last night.

"It's not the state government which is responsible for rapes. In fact in most of the cases it is consensual sex," he said.

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5.51 pm

Spotted on Twitter: Reactions to European Union winning the Nobel Prize

Rodney Effing ‏@SirRodneyEffing

Hahaha. The Nobel Peace Prize goes to...The European Union! Of course. And the Nobel Prize for Medicine goes to, err...Lance Armstrong?

Arpon Basu ‏@ArponBasu

The European Union won the Nobel Peace Prize? Mom must be so proud

Kelkulus ‏@kelkulus

The 2012 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the European Union. I'm broke, unemployed and in crisis as well, so I'll expect mine shortly.

5.32 pm

Briton held for plotting terror attack on airport

A 41-year-old Briton has been charged with plotting a terrorist attack on an airport, after chemicals like nitric acid and sulphuric acid were found at his house.

Police raided the houise of Duncan Railton, who works at a chemical company, in Warlingham, Surrey, and found the acids and yellow phosphorous sticks, The Sun reported.

The man shared the house with his mother and brother.

Officials also alleged that Railton intended to target a bus.

"Many of the items are capable, when mixed, of producing explosives. Railton had the materials, capability and knowledge to carry out the attacks," prosecutors told a court in Surrey.

He was charged with possessing chemicals with an intent to cause grievous bodily harm. The man was remanded in custody till Nov 7.

5.24 pm

Deccan Chargers terminated from IPL

Deccan Chargers has been terminated from IPL as they have failed to deposit the bank guarantee of Rs 100 crore by Friday evening, according to media reports.

The Bombay high court on Friday refused to grant further time to Deccan Chronicles Holdings Ltd to give an irrevocable and unconditional bank guarantee of Rs 100 crore to BCCI regarding IPL franchise Deccan Chargers.

DCHL urged Justice S J Kathawala to grant them time till October 15 to furnish the bank guarantee but the court refused saying the earlier deadline had been extended by three days to accommodate them and further time cannot be given.

Meanwhile, the deadline for DCHL to furnish the bank guarantee ended on Friday. If DCHL does not give bank guarantee by 5 PM this evening, BCCI would be free to take action, if it so desires, on its earlier decision to terminate the IPL contract of the cash-strapped Hyderabad franchise.

5.00 pm

Bangaru Laxman to walk out of jail today

Former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Bangaru Laxman, who was granted bail by the Delhi High Court in connection to a fictitious arms deal case, will walk out of Tihar jail on Friday.

The court on Thursday granted him bail against a personal bond of Rs 50,000.

A Delhi court in April this year had sentenced Laxman to four-year imprisonment in the 2001 fictitious arms deal case.

He was also asked to pay a fine of Rs.1 lakh.

4.30 pm

90% rape cases consensual, says Congress leader

A Congress leader has created controversy as he said that ninety percent of the rape cases in Haryana were consensual.

"I have no hesitation in saying that 90 per cent of the girls want to have sex intentionally. However, they do not know that they would be gangraped as they find some lusty people in the way ahead," Congress spokesperson Dharamvir Goyat told media on Thursday.

Earlier, Indian National Lok Dal President Om Prakash Chautala triggered a controversy as he backed the opinion given by a Khap Panchayat to marry off girls early to prevent rape incidents in Haryana.

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4.05 pm

Toll plaza camera footage shows Congress MP pull out gun

Vithal Radadiya, Congress MP from Porbandar in Gujarat has been caught on camera pulling out a gun and threatening employees at a toll plaza near Vadorara.

Radadiya justifies his action as self defense.

Toll plaza employees state that Radadiya pulled out the gun when asked to produce an original copy of his identity card at the toll plaza.

3.45pm

Kingfisher extends lockout till next weekend

Ailing Kingfisher Airlines has extended its lockout till the next weekend, apparently after failing to convince its striking staffers, protesting delay in salaries, to return to work.

Airline sources said the airline management, in an internal mail, has said that due to operational reasons, all flights across its network would be cancelled till October 20.

The mail came a day after Kingfisher CEO Sanjay Aggarwal appealed to all employees, striking over non-payment of salaries for seven months, to return to work to resume flight operations soon. The employees are insisting that the salaries be paid first before they resume duty.

With all its flights cancelled since the lockout declared on October four, aviation regulator DGCA earlier asked liquor baron Vijay Mallya-owned carrier to stop selling tickets following reports that it had started accepting bookings last week before ending its lockout.

Kingfisher had declared a lockout on September 28 till October four following the strike, cancelling its entire flight schedule, and extended it till October 12 later. This has now been extended till October 20.

On October 5, DGCA issued a show-cause notice to Kingfisher asking why its flying license should not be suspended or cancelled as it had grounded its entire fleet and failed to offer safe, efficient and reliable service. It has given the airline 15 days to reply.

Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh has also said the airline would have to submit a concrete plan to DGCA on safety and salary payments, before it is allowed to resume flights.

Kingfisher has been saddled with a loss of Rs 8,000 crore and a debt burden of another over Rs 7,000 crore, a large part of which it has not serviced since January.

3.17 pm:

Arvind Kejriwal has been arrested by the Delhi Police during a protest against Law minister Salman Kurshid. He was demanding the minister's resignation following allegations by the India Against Corruption (IAC) of financial irregularities in a trust run by him.

3.03pm:

Recent winners of the Nobel Peace Prize

2012: The European Union.

2011: Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian activist Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman of Yemen.

2010: Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo.

2009: U.S. President Barack Obama

2008: Martti Ahtisaari

2007: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Al Gore

2006: Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank

2005: International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei

2004: Wangari Maathai

2003: Shirin Ebadi

2002: Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter

2001: United Nations, Kofi Annan

2000: Kim Dae-jung

1999: Medecins Sans Frontieres

1998: John Hume, David Trimble

3.00 pm

The EU wins the Nobel Peace Prize

The European Union has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to promote peace and democracy in Europe, in the midst of the union's biggest crisis since its creation in the 1950s.

The Norwegian prize committee said the EU received the award for six decades of contributions "to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe.

"The stabilizing part played by the European Union has helped to transform a once torn Europe from a continent of war to a continent of peace," Nobel committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland said.The EU rose from the ashes of World War II, born of the conviction that ever closer economic ties would make sure that century-old enemies never turned on each other again.

The idea began to take on a more defined shape when, on May 9, 1950, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman proposed that France and the Federal Republic of Germany pool their coal and steel resources in a new organization that other European countries could join.

2.47pm:

A non bailable warrant has been issued by the Hyderabad High Court against Vijay Mallya after a case was filed by GMR group. GMR filed a case after a cheque worth Rs 10,000 crores issued by the Kingfisher Airlines had bounced.

2.22pm:

MDMK chief Vaiko has been arrested after trying to lay siege to the Neyveli plant. He was demanding that the Neyveli plant stop supplying power to Karnataka.

2.10pm:

World Arthritis Day: Move to Improve

World Arthritis Day is celebrated each year on 12 October to raise awareness of the disease amongst the public and the medical community. It also aims to ensure that patients are aware of the support network available to them.

This year, the theme of World Arthritis Day is move to improve which focuses on the benefits of physical activity for people with arthritis.

Even though it may seem that arthritis can be too painful for you to move, physical activity is the best way to keep arthritis pain at bay. Add more movement to your daily life – include doing tasks in the house, playing with children, cleaning the kitchen counter, walking the dog and grocery shopping – and you will benefit in a number of ways:

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1.40pm:

Pakistani girl activist's condition 'satisfactory'

A Pakistani military spokesman says a 14-year-old girl shot by a Taliban gunman is in "satisfactory" condition but cautions next few days will be critical.

Maj. Gen. Asim Saleem Bajwa said Friday that Malala Yousufzai is being kept unconscious and on a ventilator, and doctors will decide when to take her off. He said her blood pressure and heartbeat are normal.

Bajwa said the bullet entered her head and went into her neck toward her spine, but it was too soon to say whether she had any significant head injury.

Yousufzai is widely respected for her role in promoting girls' education in the Swat Valley where she lives, and the rest of Pakistan. A Taliban gunman shot her on her way home from school Tuesday, setting off an international outcry.

1.00pm:

Samsung unveils Galaxy S3 mini

Samsung Electronics said Friday that it unveiled a new version of Galaxy S3 smartphone to better compete with Apple's newest smartphone iPhone5.

The Galaxy S3 mini, the compact version of the flagship Galaxy S3, came with a 4.0-inch Super AMOLED display, according to an e-mailed statement.

The screen size was smaller than the 4.8-inch Galaxy S3, but was the same as the one of Apple's iPhone5. Galaxy Note2, the new phablet model launched by Samsung, has a 5.5-inch screen, reported Xinhua.

Except for the screen size, the compact version held most features of the Galaxy S3. The mini model is powered by 4.1 Jelly, Bean, the latest version of Android operating system, featuring a 1GHz dual-core processor.

S Voice, the language recognition software, allows users to unlock the phone, play favourite songs or organise schedule with simple voice command.

With Smart Stay feature, the phone's camera tracks users' eyes and keeps the screen lit as long as the users are looking at it.

"The Galaxy S3 introduced a new concept of smartphone that has proven hugely popular around the world. We' re now delighted to bring its revolutionary design, intuitive usability and intelligence to the Galaxy S3 mini in a more compact form," said Shin Jong-kyun, head of Samsung's IT & mobile communications division.

12.30pm:

Cops give Saif a wedding present - a charge sheet!

This must be the worst wedding gift ever!

Just days before Saif Ali Khan ties the knot with Kareena Kapoor, reports have come in that the actor's been charge-sheeted by the Colaba police.

The police is taking action regarding the alleged beating up of a South African diplomat at the Taj Mahal Hotel earlier in the year.

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12.01pm:

The Deccan Chargers have been sold to a Mumbai based real estate company, Kamla Landmarc by the Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited.

The owner of the IPL team Deccan Chargers, Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited (DCHL), is under the risk of losing its IPL franchise if it fails to cough up the R100 crore bank guarantee to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said a banker close to the development.

The owners wrote to National Stock Exchange of India Limited and Bombay Stock Exchange Limited informing about the passed proposal.

"This is to inform you that pursuant to its Meeting of the Board of Directors held on October 11, 2012, it was resolved to authorize the Board of Directors to sell, transfer/dispose off the Deccan Chargers Franchise business undertakings/business division of the Company to Kamla Landmarc Real Estate Holdings Private Limited," the letter said.

"The above resolution of the Board has been passed subject to the approval of the shareholders of the Company under Section 293(1)(a) of the Companies Act, 1956 read with Companies, Rules 2001 and subject to the approvals, consents, permission and sanctions as may be necessary from the concerned authorities, lenders and other third parties," the letter further said.

IPL Commissioner Rajiv Shukla's office on being contacted, though, said that they are yet to "get an official confirmation of the sale" and won't be able to comment on the legality of it till then.

11.45pm:

The Maharashtra government has decided to drop the sedition charges against cartoonist Aseem Trivedi.

He will now be charge sheeted for dishonoring the national symbols, emblem and parliament.

11.30am:

Industrial production growth slows down

The latest industrial production growth figures are out and they offer little encouragement.

The Industrial production growth in August slowed down to +2.7% Year-on-year (Y/Y), down from +3.4% in the same month last year.

It was though better than a Reuters forecast of +1.1% y/y.

11.00am:

Strike in Kashmir to protest LPG cap

Normal life was disrupted in Kashmir today due to a strike called by an amalgam of trading bodies seeking an increase in the number of subsidised LPG cylinders in the Valley.

Schools, shops and other business establishments were closed due to the strike called by Kashmir Economic Alliance and supported by various organisations including Kashmir High Court Bar Association and Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Association.

The alliance has asked people to take to streets to press the government to relax the cap on the number of subsidised cylinders per year in Kashmir.

Public transport remained off the roads but small private cars were seen plying the roads.Attendance in government offices remained thin due to non-availability of public transport, official sources said.

The LPG crisis had dominated the proceedings on the second day of the just-concluded autumn session of the state assembly where opposition parties demanded that the cap should be relaxed.

The government responded by saying relaxing the LPG cap would put enormous strain on the financial resources of the cash-strapped state.

However, the state government has requested the Centre to increase the number of subsidised cylinders for Jammu and Kashmir in view of the extreme harsh winters.

10.30am:

UP Minister involved in CMO abduction case resigns

The UP revenue minister, Vinod Singh, who kidnapped a government doctor has resigned. The UP government has ordered a probe.

10.00am:

US VP debate feisty, unlike Obama-Romney

Fierce and focused, Vice President Joe Biden and Republican Paul Ryan gave voters the kind of substantive showdown that was everything the presidential debate was not. Abandoning his boss' caution, Biden uncorked a combative repair job.

"Not a single thing he said is accurate," Biden shot back when Ryan leveled a charge that President Barack Obama was projecting U.S. weakness.So it went from Biden all night, from taxes to Iran, where he suggested Republicans wanted a war.

He looked directly at the camera to implore seniors like him not to trust Ryan on his Medicare plan: "Folks, follow your instincts on this one."By going all in, Biden aggressively tried to score on two critical fronts: relating Obama's message in more heartfelt terms and blistering Ryan on multiple fronts so that the Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, would lose his recent surge.

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9.30am:

Infosys Q2 profit up 24 percent

Infosys Ltd, India's No.2 software services exporter, reported a 24 percent rise in quarterly profit, meeting expectations, due to higher demand for its outsourcing services by Western clients looking to cut costs.

Profit at Infosys, whose clients include Bank of America , Volkswagen and GlaxoSmithkline, rose to 23.7 billion rupees ($450 million) for the quarter ended September, from 19.06 billion rupees a year earlier.

Analysts were expecting a profit of 23.8 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Investors had expected an uptick in demand for outsourcing with the global economy showing some signs of stability. Still, the potential for a slideback was alarmingly high, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.

India's $100 billion software and services industry relies on the United States and Europe for about three-quarters of its revenue.

The sector will grow 11-14 percent in the year ending March, estimates the National Association of Software and Service Companies, an industry lobby. That would be down from 16 percent last year and about 30 percent before the global financial crisis.

9.00am:

Mo Yan 'surprised' by Nobel Prize win

Having won the Nobel Prize for Literature Thursday, Chinese writer Mo Yan said he was "very surprised" at his win as he felt there were many good writers, much higher ranked than him.

Mo Yan whose real name is Guan Moye was nominated along with Canada's Alice Munro and Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami, Xinhua reported. The winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize for Literature was announced at the Swedish Academy in Stockholm.

Speaking to reporters in his hometown Gaomi city in Shandong province, Mo said: "(I was) very surprised upon winning the prize because I felt I was not very senior in terms of qualification (among Chinese writers). There are many good writers and my ranking was not so high,"

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8.30am:

US VP Debate: Biden, Ryan at each other on everything

At odds early and often, Joe Biden and Republican Paul Ryan squabbled over the economy, taxes, Medicare and more Thursday night in a contentious, interruption-filled debate. "That is a bunch of malarkey," the vice president retorted after a particularly tough Ryan attack on the administration's foreign policy.

"Not a single thing he said is accurate," Democrat Biden declared after Ryan said U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens had been denied sufficient security by administration officials. Stevens died in a terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi on Sept. 11.

Both men seemed primed for a showdown from their opening moments on stage, and neither seemed willing to let the other one have the final word.

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8.00am:

6.7 magnitude quake hits Indonesia

An earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale jolted Indonesia's Kepulauan Aru region Friday, Xinhua reported. There were no immediate reports of any casualty or damage.

According to the US Geological Survey, the temblor which had its epicentre at a depth of 33 km, struck at 0031 GMT.

7.30am:

Delhi BJP will stage a demonstration today to protest against the recent steep hike in prices of cooking gas, electricity and diesel.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley and Leader of Opposition in Delhi Legislative Assembly Vijay Kumar Malhotra would be among the prominent BJP leaders at the demonstration organised by BJP Delhi Pradesh Mahila Morcha.

The Delhi unit of the party will also launch a 40-day public movement in the national capital from October 14 to protest against hike in power tariff, cooking gas and oil and decision to allow FDI in retail by the government.

The BJP has also decided to provide free legal aid to people facing criminal cases for reconnection of power by activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal and other workers of India Against Corruption (IAC).