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<b>1. India in diplomatic row over rape case ahead of Narendra Modi's Saudi visit</b></br> India's foreign ministry summoned Saudi Arabia's ambassador over allegations one of it officials repeatedly raped two Nepali maids, sparking a diplomatic row ahead of a planned state visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Saudi Arabia is pressing India to drop the case, while Nepal wants justice for its two citizens who say they were kidnapped, gangraped and starved over several months at the diplomat's home in Gurgaon. India's foreign ministry on Thursday summoned Ambassador Saud bin Mohammed Al-Saty to relay a request from police for cooperation while they investigate the case, spokesman Vikas Swarup said. Saudi embassy said the allegations were false and the police broke international conventions by raiding a diplomatic property. (PTI)
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<b>2. Meat ban: Shiv Sena hits out at Jains, likens them to 'fanatic Muslims' </b></br> Slamming Jains for their insistence on banning sale of meat during their festival 'Paryushan', the Shiv Sena said the community's stance on practicing "non-violence" comes as a surprise now as they purportedly supported violence during the 1993 riots in the city. The party accused the Jains of doing a volte-face for altering their position on "non-violence". "Until now, only fanatic Muslims used to bully people in the name of religion. If the Jains too are going on the path of Muslims, then God save them. During the 1992-93 Mumbai riots, Marathis had protected Jains, who were saved because violence had been answered by violence. At that time too 'Paryushan' was on. But Jains were at the forefront of supporting violence then," the Shiv Sena said in an edit in its mouthpiece 'Saamana'. (PTI)
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<b>3. Why was Amitabh Bachchan invited to Hindi Conference: Giriraj Kishore </b></br> Noted Hindi writer Giriraj Kishore registered his protest over inviting Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan to the World Hindi Conference being held in Bhopal, stating that "Indian writers and historians were sidelined" for the event. "Harivansh Rai Bachchan was an author but why was his son Amitabh invited to the event?," the Padma Shri writer asked. Kishore said that the organisers could have invited the two Padma Shri awardees, who stay in Bhopal to the conference. Many Sahitya Akademi award winners have also not been invited to the conference, he said. (Express photo)
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<b>4. 'Pakistan assesses India has material for over 2,000 nuclear warheads'</b></br> Pakistan has assessed that India has enough fissile material to build more than 2,000 nuclear warheads, a media report said. The apex policy-making body for Pakistan's strategic programme, the National Command Authority (NCA), noted that India's rapidly growing nuclear programme and absence of a conflict resolution mechanism were upsetting strategic stability in the region. The situation was forcing Pakistan to maintain 'full-spectrum deterrence capability', the Dawn reported. (Reuters)
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<b>5. FTII row: 3 students go on indefinite hunger strike </b></br> Intensifying their agitation, three students of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) went on an indefinite hunger strike today to press their demand for the removal of Gajendra Chauhan as chairman of the prestigious institution. The decision to thus step up the stir follows 91 days of sustained protest by the students that has seen all academic activity on the campus having come to a halt since June 12. "Our fast is indefinite. The three students – Hiral Savad, Alol Arora and Himanshu Shekhar — if they are hospitalised, will be replaced by another batch of protesters," FTII Students' Association (FSA) representative Ranjit Nair said. (PTI)
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<b>6. Hindi can unite India, 'chase away' English: RSS organ </b></br> Hindi has the potential to unite the country and "chase away" English, which has "enslaved" India, RSS organ 'Panchjanya' has said. An editorial in 'Panchjanya', published to coincide with Hindi Diwas, also took a dig at Congress that ruled for decades after independence and said while Constitution makers wanted the national language to replace English in 15 years, "centres of power" were not dedicated to Hindi and "hatched conspiracies" to organise other Indian languages against it. "Hindi's ability to unite India is a threat to all those forces which want the country to remain enslaved to English. Hindi is not against India's regional languages. This is a myth being perpetuated…. RSS mouthpiece also said, "Hindi is the language with the potential to chase away English from the country." (Representational image; Express photo)
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<b>7. Sonia Gandhi reacts to Narendra Modi's barbs by raking up Sushma, Chouhan issues</b></br> Sonia Gandhi today reacted sharply to barbs by Narendra Modi directed at her, questioning why he is silent on Sushma Swaraj as well as chief ministers of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh who are facing certain allegations. "What about the CM of Madhya Pradesh's case, the Foreign Minister's case and Rajasthan CM's case? Why did he not have a word to say about these things," Sonia Gandhi questioned when asked to comment on Modi's attack. Swaraj and Vasundhara Raje are facing allegations of helping former IPL chief Lalit Modi who is being investigated in a money laundering case. Shivraj Singh Chouhan is facing allegations in Vyapam scam. (PTI)
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<b>8. I learnt Hindi language while selling tea: PM Narendra Modi</b></br> Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said he did not know the Hindi language but learnt it in his childhood when he used to sell tea. "Though my mother tongue is not Hindi but Gujarati, I got an opportunity to learn it while selling tea. People who sell milk in Mumbai are basically from Uttar Pradesh. They used to visit our village to purchase buffaloes from local farmers and transport them through goods train. I used to sell tea to these businessmen who were basically from Uttar Pradesh. They didn't know Gujarati and I did not know Hindi, but while selling tea to them, I learnt Hindi language," he said. (PTI)
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<b>10. No plan to take off Robert Vadra from no-frisking list: Sharma </b></br> The Civil Aviation Ministry has no plans to remove the name of Congress President Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra from the elite "no-frisking" list at domestic airports. "We are not withdrawing Robert Vadra's name from the list. It is not on our radar," Minister of State for Civil Aviation Sharma told PTI today. He was asked whether the Civil Aviation Ministry was taking Vadra's name off the "no frisking" list. As of now, Vadra is not frisked at airports if he travels with an SPG protectee. If he is removed from the elite list, he would be subjected to frisking at all airports even if he travels with an SPG protectee. (PTI)
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