US vice-president Joe Biden landed here in his first official trip during which he is scheduled to push for enhancement of ties in the areas of trade, energy, defence and security. During his four-day stay, he is expected to set out an “ambitious vision” for India-US ties.

The continuing electoral violence took a tragic turn when three children were injured in a bomb explosion at the house of a Trinamul Congress leader in a Malda village. One of them Aziz is critical. The bomb blast triggered a blame game. The Trinamul Congress camp accused the Congress workers of hurling bombs at Merina Sultana’s home while the Congress said that the bombs were stocked there.

A 52-year-old BJP party member was stabbed and hacked to death on Monday morning by one of his rivals at the former’s residence in Bhandup. The accused was caught a few hours later in the nearby forest where he had taken shelter. The police is probing the possibility of another person being involved in the murder.

Implying that Jet Airways was well within its rights to “transfer” three of its flight slots at the London Heathrow airport to UAE-based Etihad, the civil aviation ministry on Monday said swapping or trading of flight slots at London Heathrow is allowed by the authorities at Heathrow and this has nothing to do with allocation of bilateral rights to Indian carriers by the Indian government.

Nearly 13 years after the match-fixing scandal broke out, the Delhi police on Monday filed its chargesheet in the case, naming former South African cricket team captain Hansie Cronje. However, the names of his compatriot cricketers Herschelle Gibbs and Nicky Boje have been left out in the case that came to light in 2000. Both Gibbs and Boje have been names as witnesses in the chargesheet.

The Supreme Court on Monday came down upon the government for being hand in glove with the tobacco industry by making no efforts to enforce guidelines to limit the effect of advertisements promoting tobacco products in the country.

Following recent incidents of children falling ill after taking iron and folic acid tablets under its new national programme, the Union health ministry clarified that there was nothing to panic as they had only shown common transitory side affects of the pills.

In what may have serious implication over the ongoing peace process with the Ulfa, a large group of surrendered Ulfa rebels here on Monday organised a rally and demanded that the government should take initiative to hold talks with elusive Ulfa chief Paresh Baruah instead of talking to its chairman Arbinda Rajkhowa-led faction in Assam.

An anonymous auto driver allegedly raped a woman at HAL colony, at Jeedimetla, on Sunday midnight.
The alleged rapist, who realised that the 32-year-old victim is new to the city, took her to a deserted place and allegedly raped her.

In a tragic incident, a 10-year-old boy committed suicide by hanging himself from ceiling of the kitchen room in his house here after his mother turned down his request to withdraw him from school hostel, the police said on Monday.