Modi US visa row: CPM MP Yechury says he didn't sign any letter

New Delhi: The controversy over Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's US visa has got more twists and turns. CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury has been denied signing the letter sent to US President Barack Obama against a visa to Modi while MPs say he must have forgotten that he signed it.

Yechury, whose name figures at number 9 on the letter written in late 2012, on Tuesday had refuted claims that he was one of the MPs who has reached out to Obama to halt Modi's visit. He had said, "I would be the last person to write to the US Administration and to do something like this. We don't want anyone to interfere in the internal affairs of the country. Secondly, it is up to the US government to decide on giving visa."

Two arrested after their vehicle hit a Pakistani envoy's car

New Delhi: The Delhi Police have arrested a woman and her nephew, who were travelling on the two-wheeler that hit a Pakistani envoy's car on Monday. Both have been accused of rash and negligent driving, among other charges.

The action came after Pakistan issued a strong statement seeking a thorough probe into the incident. Trouble began after Pakistan's First Secretary Zirgham Raza's car hit a woman and her nephew on a two-wheeler and an argument broke out.

With the Odds Against Them, Democrats Are Still Optimistic

The graft-ridden Democratic Party remains optimistic in its bid to secure 15 percent of the total votes in the 2014 presidential election, 6 percent less than the total that the party bagged in 2009.

“We are sure that we will reach the 15 percent mark, and maybe even exceed it,” Syarief Hasan, the party’s managing chairman, said on Wednesday.

“Surveys may show lower numbers, but with enough hard work, we’re optimistic about reaching the target.”

Five dead, 53 hurt in Thai bus cliff plunge

BANGKOK: Five people died, including a seven-month-old baby and a Belgian woman, and 53 were injured when a Thai tour bus plummeted off a hillside in northern Thailand after its brakes failed, police said Monday.

Passengers said the coach had swerved several times on winding mountain roads, before it ploughed through a fence and down a steep ravine, according to local police in Phitsanulok province 380 kilometres (235 miles) from Bangkok.