In a tribute to BR Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian constitution, the parliament is having a special sitting today and tomorrow (Thursday and Friday), marking Constitution Day. The two-day event will be a part of year-long nationwide celebrations to mark the 125th birth anniversary of Dr Ambedkar.A Lok Sabha bulletin said there will be no zero hour on the two days.Vice President M Hamid Ansari, the Rajya Sabha chairman, and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan will make opening remarks in the two houses, following which Home Minister Rajnath Singh, also the Deputy Leader of Lok Sabha, will initiate a discussion in the lower house.In the Rajya Sabha, Finance Minister and Leader of House Arun Jaitley will start the discussion.

The Constitution of India was adopted on November 26, 1949 and it came into force from January 26, 1950.Meanwhile, prime minister Narendra Modi greeted the nation early this morning on Constitution Day."Greetings to people of India on the historic occasion of 1st Constitution Day. May this day inspire you to know more about our Constitution. This day is a tribute to all those great women & men who worked tirelessly to give India a Constitution we are very proud of," PM Modi tweeted, also saluting Dr Ambedkar for his "stellar contribution."

Seventh anniversary of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks today
Today is the seventh anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, which had claimed lives of 166 people and left hundreds injured. The attack had began on November 26 and lasted until November 29. The Maharashtra government and Mumbai Police paid homage to the martyrs of the terror attack.The then Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare, army Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Mumbai's Additional Police Commissioner Ashok Kamte and Senior Police Inspector Vijay Salaskar were among those killed in the attack on the financial hub of the country.On November 26, 2008, ten Pakistani terrorists had arrived by sea route and opened fire indiscriminately at people killing 166, including 18 security personnel, and injuring several others, besides damaging property worth crores of rupees. 

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Oberoi Trident, the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Leopold Cafe, Cama Hospital, the Nariman House Jewish community centre were some of the places targeted by the terrorists.Ajmal Kasab was the only terrorist who was captured alive. He was hanged four years later on November 21, 2012. Meanwhile,  Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis along with other ministers and the Mumbai Police, on Thursday paid homage to the martyrs of the horrific terror attack of 26/11.

A website for children rescued at stations, trains
The Railway Ministry mmay soon create a website with pictures and details of children who are found or rescued at railway stations and trains. This to help the families whose children run away from their homes or are trafficked. About 200 child care kiosks are also planned across major railway stations in the country that will be nodal centres to help rescued children.One of the first of these was inaugurated at the New Delhi Railway Station on Wednesday by Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu and Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi. Both the ministers launched ‘Posters for Child Protection’ during the event and these posters, meant to create awareness among passengers, will be put on each of the 50,000 coaches that Indian Railways operates.

Braille booklets on north-east monuments by ASI
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has for the first time published guidebooks and brochures on the monuments of north-east India in Braille. Of the 80 archaeological monuments in north-east India, the publication covers 30 prominent archaeological sites. Of them, 18 are at Sivasagar, eight in Tripura and four in Sonitpur.The four publications include a guidebook on the monuments of Sivasagar in Assam and brochures on monuments of Sonitpur district and four maidams (tombs) of the Ahom Kings at Charaideo. Eight monuments of Tripura, including the Bhubhaneshwari Temple, and the rock carvings of Unakoti are featured in the fourth brochure.

SC to decide on the question of defining chief minister as public servant in Jaya case
Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa's case in supreme court has taken an interesting turn with the court set to hear plea on whether chief ministers or ministers of government can actually be treated as “public servants” on a par with government functionaries performing public duties. The apex court wants to know whether it is repugnant to treat chief ministers and ministers on a par with other public servants on government roll, especially when no statute passed by the legislature has ever specifically defined them as one.The petition, filed by Chennai-based lawyer R. Rajavel said there was no clear statutory provision defining a chief minister as a public servant. Written law or statutes enacted by Parliament do not include political persons in the category of public servants.The court's verdict in this matter will have a bearing on the case of of disproportionate assets against Jayalalithaa. Hearing is scheduled from next month.

CD is a document under law, says SC
In the tech age this was the logical progression. The supreme court has held that a compact disc (CD) is to be treated as a document under the law and litigants should be allowed to prove the authenticity of such electronic evidence in legal proceedings. The court was passing a judgment in a case of child sex abuse in which the accused wanted to place on record a CD of taped telephone conversations to prove his “innocence”. The apex court did not go into the authenticity of the taped conversations or the CD, but asked the trial court to allow the accused to place it on record.A Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and P.C. Pant set aside a Punjab and Haryana High Court order agreeing with the trial court’s decision to deny the accused’s plea to produce recorded telephonic conversation between his wife and son and the girl’s father to prove his point that there was a property dispute between the two families.

Home Ministry official leading central assesment team to TN
A high-level inter-ministerial central team lead by joint secretary TVSN Prasad from the home ministry is visiting Tamil Nadu from today to assess the damage caused by the recent rains in Chennai and neighbouring districts. The team is also likely to visit Puducherry. It includes representatives of the ministries of agriculture, finance, rural development, drinking water and power from Delhi, representatives of ministries of road transport and highways and health from Chennai and the Central Water Commission, Bengaluru.Over 120 people lost their lives in Tamil Nadu in the last fortnight following floods caused by incessant rains which lashed Chennai and many other parts of the State.

Show juvenile rapist's face to the world, demand Nirbhaya's parents
The parents of the December 16 gangrape and murder victim have demanded that the face of juvenile convict who was the "most brutal" of all the six offenders, should be shown to the world before he is released citing "he is a threat to the society".Parents of the victim have made representations to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and home minister Rajnath Singh. "We have learnt from the media that the juvenile was getting indoctrinated in jihad inside the juvenile home which is a very dangerous thing."Also, he was the most brutal of all the six and he is showing no signs of remorse about what he has done. His release will be a threat to the society. We don't want that what has happened with out daughter is repeated," said the father of the woman adding, "if at all he is to be released, his face should be shown to the world."The father also stressed that it was important to assess the mind set of the boy before releasing him. "There is a need to assess his mind set to ensure that he does not attack another girl like he had attacked my daughter after being released," he said.

BCCI seeks government clearance on Pakistan series
The BCCI has formally sought the clearance of the central government to play Pakistan in Sri Lanka in December, its secretary Anurag Thakur confirmed. The ball is now in the court of respective governments of India and Pakistan with both BCCI and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) waiting for political clearance for the series next month.Sri Lanka emerged as the host for the series between arch-rivals after India refused to play in UAE. The proceedings had been fast-tracked once BCCI president and current ICC chairman Shashank Manohar met PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan and senior official Najam Sethi in presence of ECB supremo and chairman of 'Pakistan Task Force' Giles Clarke, who is likely to make the series announcement on Friday.

Sensex gains points, Nifty above 7,850
The S&P BSE Sensex rose nearly 100 points in morning trade on Thursday, led by gains in Infosys, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, RIL, and Axis Bank. at 9.20 am the 30-share index was trading at 25,851, up 75 points or 0.29 per cent. It touched a high of 25,881.23 and a low of 25,769.81 in morning trade.The Nifty50 also managed to reclaim its crucial psychological level of 7,850, led by gains in FMCG, IT, banks, capital goods, consumer durable, and realty stocks.Most other Asian markets traded mixed tracking similar trends seen in the US markets overnight. Japan's Nikkei was up 0.56 per cent while the South Korean Kospi traded with gains of a per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained over a per cent. China's Shanghai Composite was flat in trade.

US FDA warns Dr Reddy's Laboratories of ban
The US Food and Drug Administration has threatened to ban all products made at certain facilities of Dr Reddy's Laboratories, India's second largest drugmaker, unless they conform to prescribed global manufacturing standards. The US regulator may also withhold approval of new applications from Dr Reddy's if it fails to complete all corrections, it has said. The FDA said its inspection teams had "identified significant deviations from current good manufacturing practice (CGMP) for the manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients" at Dr Reddy's plants located at Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh and Nalgonda in Telangana. The FDA teams "found significant violations of CGMP regulations for finished pharmaceuticals" at the company's facility at Duvvada in Andhra Pradesh.