Following the brutal assault on Tanzanian student in Bengaluru, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has asked the Karnataka government to explain the incident and send the report immediately. This morning Karnataka chief minister Siddaraiah tweeted: Five persons have been arrested so far related to Tanzanian girl incident. Will ensure justice. It is a shocking incident & I condemn it. I've asked  the police to investigate d matter. We've also sent report to the foreign ministry. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had yesterday condemned the attack on the Tanzanian student and asked for stringent punishment for the guilty. "I have asked the Chief Minister (Siddaramaiah) to ensure safety and security of all foreign students and stringent punishment for the guilty," Swaraj said in a tweet. The Bengaluru Police have filed an FIR against some unknown persons in connection with the assault on a 21-year-old Tanzanian student. The Tanzanian student was beaten and then stripped by a group of locals in Bengaluru after they assumed she was part of an incident in which a Sudanese man had run over a local woman.

Congress to move SC in Herald case
Congress leaders are moving the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court’s decision to dismiss the appeals of party president Sonia Gandhi, vice-president Rahul Gandhi and others seeking quashing of summons issued to them by a trial court in The National Herald case. The summons was issued on a complaint by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy alleging cheating and breach of trust in the acquisition of the now-defunct National Herald by Young Indian Limited (YIL). The Congress leaders own a stake as directors in the YIL, registered as a charitable company. “Yes, the appeal is being filed in the Supreme Court. It is in the process.

We have challenged the High Court decision,” senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi said on Wednesday. The complaint alleged corruption in the assigning of a Rs. 90.25-crore loan owed to the Congress by the Associated Journals Limited (AJL), publisher of The National Herald , to the YIL for Rs. 50 lakh. The High Court had in December 2015 said the gravity of the allegations had a “fraudulent flavour” involving a national political party. Therefore, serious imputations smacking of criminality levelled against the petitioners needed to be properly looked into. Justice Sunil Gaur of the High Court made scathing remarks on the “questionable conduct” in the acquisition of the publication and said criminal proceedings could not be thwarted.

TCS rated world’s most powerful brand in IT services
India’s top multinational IT company Tata Consultancy Services has been rated as the world’s most powerful brand in Information Technology Services by a leading global brand valuation firm, the company said on Wednesday. Brand Finance’s 2016 annual report evaluated thousands of the world’s top brands to determine which are the most powerful and the most valuable. “TCS’ customer focus has been central to its recent success, but a closer look at our data shows strong and improving scores for brand investment and staff satisfaction too,” said David Haigh, CEO, Brand Finance. Across all industries, Disney was rated as the most powerful brand and Apple as the most valuable brand for 2016. According to the report, TCS is also the fastest growing brand within its industry over the past six years.

Indian woman rescued from German refugee camp return
Gurpreet, an Indian woman allegedly kept at a refugee camp in Germany along with her eight-year-old daughter by her in-laws, will reach India on Thursday morning. Gurpreet had posted a video in Hindi language, pleading the Indian government to take her home. Taking swift action following the video posted by Gurpreet, hailing from Faridabad in Haryana, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had on Wednesday tweeted: Gurpreet and her daughter will reach New Delhi from Frankfurt by flight AI 120 at 9.35 am tommw morning. Sushma Swaraj had on Tuesday said that the authorities were in touch with Gurpreet's father and that the External Affairs Ministry has got the full report from the Indian embassy in Germany. On Wednesday, Sushma Swaraj also lauded the efforts put in by India's Ambassador in Germany Gurjit Singh and Consul General in Frankfurt Raveesh Kumar.

Son of retired Major General arrested in Goa for suspicious terror links
Samir Sardana, the 44-year-old man and a native of Dehradun, who was arrested from Goa on suspicion of terror links, is a son of Major General and Doon School alumni, a report said on Thursday. According to a reports, police have claimed that Sardana is a Hindu who practices Muslim. He is presently in custody of the Anti-terrorist Squad (ATS) of Goa Police. Sardana was picked up from Vasco railway station after railway authorities suspected something suspicious about his activities. The arrested person booked a dormitory room online from his laptop for three consecutive times in the last week. After he was arrested, some reports suggested that he was linked with the dreaded terror outfit Islamic State. Sardana is a chartered accountant and has been associated with MNCs like Accenture and worked in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.

Mumbai dumping ground fire visible from space
India's financial capital was recently choked by a fire at the Deonar dumping ground. The smoke from the fire had engulfed the city's skyline sending pollution readings to an alarming level. Now, US space agency NASA has released satellite images of Mumbai which show the city enveloped in smog. The fire could be seen from space and was shown spreading deeper into the Arabian Sea and coastal areas of Maharashtra. The fire at the dumping ground had started on Friday last week and led to closure of government schools in the city. The Deonar dumping ground, in eastern Mumbai, is spread over 326 acres. Trash at the dumping ground at some places rises to as high as 30 metres - that's equivalent to a nine-story building.

International fleet review begins today off Visakhpatnam coast
The Eastern Naval Command is all geared up to host the International Fleet Review (IFR) in Bay of Bengal off Visakhpatnam coast which begins on Thursday, a mega event that will witness participation from nearly 50 countries. The Ministry of Defence also posted a tweet in this regard. Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command (ENC) Vice Admiral Satish Soni said the command is fully prepared to conduct the four-day event with participation of foreign and Indian ships and foreign chief of the naval staffs from various countries.

Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command (ENC) Vice Admiral Satish Soni said the command is fully prepared to conduct the four-day event with participation of foreign and Indian ships and foreign chief of the naval staffs from various countries. Supreme Commander of the armed forces, President Pranab Mukherjee will embark on Presidential yacht, INS Sumitra after inspecting the guard of honour which will be presented by 150 naval personnel on IFR on February 6. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Manohar Parikar, Andhra Pradesh Governor ESL Narasimham, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Union Cabinet ministers, state Cabinet ministers and chief ministers of more than 10 states, all chiefs of armed forces, Chief of naval staffs, retired chief of staffs and a host of delegates across the country will also take part in the fleet review.

Rajya Sabha panel summons Shanti Bhushan
The Committee of Privileges of the Rajya Sabha has summoned lawyer Prashant Bhushan for February 10 in a case of breach of privilege. The matter pertains to his revealing before the press, a Comptroller and Auditor-General report pertaining to the allocation of the D6 Block (natural gas) in the Krishna Godavari basin to the Reliance group before such a report could be tabled in the House. The notice for breach of privilege has been moved by the Janata Dal (U) MP in the Rajya Sabha, K.C. Tyagi. According to the letter received by Mr. Bhushan, the committee had met on October 6, 2015, to discuss the matter and has decided to summon him to a hearing, where he will be asked to put forward his defence. Mr. Bhushan has acknowledged the receipt of letter and posted a copy of it on his Twitter account.

One rank one pension notification issued, arrears in 4 installments
Moving a step closer to fulfilling its promise of implementing the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme for military personnel, the government on Wednesday released detailed instructions and tables on its implementation. This is a follow-up to the notification on OROP on November 7 last year. According to the notification, the annual recurring cost of the scheme would be Rs.7,500 crore, pushing the total Defence budget for pensions from Rs.54,000 crore (Budget estimate 2015-16) to around Rs.65,000 crore (proposed estimate for 2016-17), the government said in a statement. The arrears for 18 months from July 2014 to December 2015 would be Rs.10,900 crore. According to the government, 86 per cent of the total expenditure on account of OROP would benefit jawans and Junior Commissioned Officers. “Arrears will be paid in four instalments, except for family pensioners and pensioners in receipt of gallantry awards, who will be paid arrears in one instalment,” the statement said.