A three-line whip has been issued by the Congress asking all its MPs to be present in Rajya Sabha today as it suspects that the government may try to slip through some legislative measures. The whip is to ensure that the government does not succeed in getting measures passed taking advantage of the absence of opposition members. BJP also issued a whip asking all its members in Rajya Sabha to be present in the house on Friday. A number of MPs from BJP-led ruling coalition had also met Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari yesterday and demanded action against Congress MPs causing disruptions
 
PM Modi in Chennai to unveil handloom' brand today, lunch with Jaya
Prime minister Narendra Modi will launch the first National Handloom Day on Friday at an event in Chennai and unveil the 'India Handloom' brand for better market positioning of quality products. The date August 7 has been chosen due to its special significance in India's history. It was on this day that the Swadeshi Movement was launched in 1905. Meanwhile, Modi would have lunch with Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa at her Poes Garden residence later today.

SC judge Dipak Misra, who delivered final judgement on Yakub Memon, receives threat letter
Supreme court judge justice Dipak Misra, who dismissed the petition and delivered the final order on 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon's death warrant leading to his execution, has received an anonymous threat letter. Justice Misra headed the three-judge bench, which had upheld the death warrant against the 1993 Mumbai blasts convict. After the SC verdict, the government had increased the security of Justices Misra, Prafulla Chandra Pant and Amitava Roy.

Will avenge Yakub's death, reports quote Tiger Memon's intercepted call
Mushtaq 'Tiger' Memon, one of India's most wanted criminals and the alleged mastermind of the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, called up his family just an hour ahead of his younger brother Yakub's execution at the Nagpur Central Jail. According to a report published in The Economic Times, Tiger Memon called his ailing mother and another family member and talked about taking revenge soon. The call was intercepted by the police. However, the report cited additional chief secretary (Home) KP Bakshi as saying that he was not aware of any phone conversation between Tiger and his family. "Neither the Maharashtra DGP (director general of police) nor the central agencies have given us any such report," he was quoted as saying. Meanwhile, Yakub Wali Mohammad Khan alias Yeda Yakub, one of the key accused in 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, has died of heart attack in Pakistan's port city Karachi, reports said on Friday. However, there is no official confirmation about Yeda's death.

Abdul Kalam's Twitter account deactivated after discord
Ten days after his death former president APJ Abdul Kalam's Twitter account has been deactivated due to a discord among his associates. Kalam used to tweet from the handle @APJAbdulKalam. After his demise, the handle remained the same, but under the name "In memory of Dr. Kalam". His former associate Srijan Pal Singh, who was with Dr Kalam when he died and had tweeted that the account would remain active. But Kalam's office on Wednesday issued a press release in which it disassociated itself from Singh.  Kalam's advisor V Ponraj said that Singh was not an official representative of the former president and that he just happened to be with Kalam at IIM Shilong. Srijan said that Kalam had told him to maintain his social networking accounts when he was alive and he was ready to deactivate them, if the office wanted him to do so.

Airtel may hike voice calling rates
Bharti Airtel has hinted at a hike in tariff saying that there was a big opportunity in reducing discounts and freebies on voice calls. The company has increased data prices in the last few months. In a bid to improve profitability, telcos have been cutting back on discounts and freebies and rate hike is also linked high bidding in March auction of spectrum.

Sensex down in early trade
The Sensex of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 28,327.11 points, was trading at 28,256.92 points (at 9.16 a.m.) in the early session, down 41.21 points or 0.15 per cent from Thursday's close at 28,298.13 points. The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was also trading 12.90 points or 0.15 per cent down at 8,575.75 points.

J&K asks Centre to award 2 bravehearts who caught Pak terrorist
The Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday appealed to the Centre to award the two men who nabbed the Pakistani terrorist, involved in yesterday's terror attack. Rakesh Kumar and Vikramjeet, along with three other youth, were held hostage by Pakistani terrorist while he was fleeing from the spot of terror attack. They fought with the terrorist and captured him with the help of a few VDC members. Shiv Sena MP Rajkumar Dhoot has announced an award of Rs 5 lakh for the men.

FTII students meet I&B officials, no end to impasse
Agitating students of FTII on Thursday held another meeting with senior Information and Broadcasting Ministry officials but no agreement was reached on ending the strike which entered the 57th day. The students are seeking the removal of actor Gajendra Chauhan, who was appointed as the institute's chairman by the government in June. They will now go back to Pune and discuss the outcome of the talks with the student community.

CBI registers seven more FIRs in Vyapam scam
Seven more FIRs against at least 77 accused were registered on Wednesday by the CBI to probe alleged irregularities in recruitment tests done by Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) or 'Vyapam'. Three FIRs have been registered against 27 accused for their involvement in alleged irregularities in Police Constable Recruitment Test conducted by MPPEB in 2012, 2013 and 2014.