Hardik Patel may join politics if his community wants. (PTI)

Railway Budget 2016: Lalu Prasad, who served as Railway minister during UPA I, said that he had achieved a surplus of Rs 60,000 crore during his tenure as the Railway minister. He had not even asked from the government to support the Rail Budget. (PTI)

Now, Brahmins in Gujarat demand reservation, salary for priests

Amid the ongoing agitation by Patels for quota, an organisation of Brahmins in Gujarat has demanded reservation for community members in Government jobs and educational institutes in the State. All Gujarat Brahm Samaj also wants the Government to pay monthly salary to Brahmin priests serving in temples across the State. The Samaj officer-bearers held a day-long meeting here yesterday and passed a number of resolutions in support of their various demands, including reservation and salary for Brahmin priests, its President Shailesh Joshi said. Briefing news persons at the end of meeting, Joshi said "the BJP Government in Gujarat should follow the example of the Tamil Nadu Government and give monthly salary to all the temple priests in the State." (PTI)

Farhan Akhtar expresses outrage over Dadri lynching

Outraged over the lynching incident in Dadri, actor Farhan Akhtar today said the guilty should get strict punishment to send a strong message that such "kangaroo justice" will not be allowed. In an emotionally-charged post on Facebook, the filmmaker-actor also decried the political "circus" over the killing of a 50-year-old man by a mob in his village after rumours that he and his family had consumed beef. "They (culprits) should be given the harshest punishment to send a message out that this sort of kangaroo justice will not be allowed in our nation," Farhan wrote. The actor feared that the guilty may never be brought to book. (PTI)

Indian Railways: Timely detection of bomb averts major train tragedy, hoax call delays Shatabdi Express

Timely detection of a bomb by an alert patrol party minutes before departure of a passenger train here this morning averted a major Indian Railways tragedy even as a bomb hoax at Tundla railway station in Firozabad district forced Lucknow-bound Shatabdi Express to halt for over 30 minutes. Police said in Farrukhabad that the bomb was set to go off at 6.20 AM, minutes before Mainpuri passenger train was to depart at 6.40 am. An alert Government Railway Police patrol team detected a "bomb-like" object was lying on platform number one near an old storehouse at Farrukhabad station, throwing security personnel into a tizzy. The bomb disposal squad led by MK Pandey confirmed it was a bomb timed to explode at 6.20 AM, but it did not go off as the timer developed a problem. (PTI)

Cow cannot be anyone's mother, it's just another animal: Markandey Katju

Describing lynching of a man near Delhi over rumours that he had consumed beef as "politically motivated", former Supreme Court judge Markande Katju today said cow was just another animal "which cannot be anyone's mother". "Cow is just an animal and an animal cannot be anyone's mother, if I like to eat beef then what's harm in it, even people worldwide consume beef, if I like to too eat then who can stop me..." he said during a function at Banaras Hindu University here. Katju said he too ate beef and was not harm in it. "Are those people across the world who eat beef are bad and only we (in the country) who don't eat are saints and seers, whats harm in it when people eat beef, I too eat and will even continue to eat further..." he said. (PTI)

Arvind Kejriwal visits Dadri, slams parties over 'votebank politics'

After being initially stopped by administration, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today met the family of the man, who was lynched over rumour of beef consumption, and attacked parties alleging they were spreading poison between Hindus and Muslims for their votebank politics. The Aam Aadmi Party chief was initially asked by local police not to visit Bishada village due to simmering tension. Some locals also protested against visitors, including politicians and mediapersons who have been flocking the village since the Monday night incident. The Chief Minister questioned why AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi and Union Minister Mahesh Sharma were not stopped by the administration yesterday from visiting the family and alleged that other parties were vitiating the atmosphere for political gains. (PTI)

Church demands ban on play

Catholic Church in India has demanded ban on the play 'Agnes of God', an adaptation of American playwright John Pielmeier's drama about a nun giving birth to a dead child, alleging it is a "wrongful portrayal" of priests and nuns committed to a life of celibacy and hurts the sentiments of the Christians. According to the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), the play "is the wrongful portrayal of the character of lakhs of clergy, who are committed to a life of celibacy". "We have written to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and also other Chief Ministers to ban the play as it hurts religious sentiments," Catholic Secular Forum (CSF) general secretary Joseph Dias told PTI here today. He, however, said the CSF has no plan to obstruct the upcoming performance of the play in Mumbai. (Representational Image: PTI)