ritically injured when a man opened fire in two convenience stores in the US state

of Georgia. Parmjit Singh, a 44-year-old father of two high school students, was
shot multiple times on Tuesday evening at the Hi Tech Quick Stop on Burnett Ferry
Road, sheriff's officers said. The Floyd County coroner pronounced him dead on the
scene.

Just 10 minutes after shooting Singh, the gunman entered another convenience store,
Elm Street Food and Beverage, and stole money before shooting 30-year-old clerk
Parthey Patel, sheriff's officers said. Patel was in a critical condition.

The suspect, Lamar Rashad Nicholson, 28, was arrested on multiple charges,
including murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm
while committing a crime and use of a firearm by a convicted felon. He is being
held without bond in the Floyd County jail.
-- PTI
11:06 Is Modi the first Indian PM to visit Palestine?: Is Narendra Modi's visit
to Palestine, indeed the first by an Indian prime minister as the government
claims?

Aabshar @Scepticindian tweets: Here is picture of first prime minister Nehru in

Gaza. This PM just lies. His is not first prime ministerial visit.
10:51 PM Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh at the BJP Parliamentary Party
meeting.
10:50 White House instructs agencies to prepare for possible shutdown : The White
House has instructed the federal agencies to prepare for a possible government
shutdown as Congress moved closer to the midnight Thursday deadline without passing
a funding bill.

"The Office of Management and Budget is currently preparing for a lapse in

appropriations. As we stated earlier today, we support the Bipartisan Budget Act
and urge Congress to send it to the president's desk without delay," the OMB
official said.

Several media reports stated that the OMB official noted that the office is
preparing for funding to lapse as a Senate stalemate drags on with only hours until
current funding expires.

Some government agencies will run out of money and have to furlough workers if
Congress lets funding lapse. A shutdown would be the second in less than a
month.Congressional negotiators were scrambling earlier on Thursday to lock in
enough votes in the House, on a two-year budget deal that would add $300 billion to
the federal deficit. However, Sen. Rand Paul objected to moving toward passing the
plan. -- ANI
10:40 Those who believe in language of gun, should be answered in same way:
Adityanath: Amid controversy over encounter killings in Uttar Pradesh, Chief
Minister Yogi Adityanath has said that those who believed in the language of the
gun, should be answered in the same manner. His remarks came amid criticism over
the rising cases of encounters in the state.

"Everyone should be guaranteed security, but those who want to disturb peace of the
society and believe in the gun, should be given the answer in the language of the
gun itself. I would tell the administration, that there is no need to worry on
this," Adityanath said in Gorakhpur.

Earlier, speaking to reporters in Lucknow on the uproar by the opposition in the

state Assembly over various issues during the customary address of Governor Ram
Naik, he said, "The opposition leaders'...rude, unparliamentary, indecorous and
indecent behaviour...is despicable." "This type of behaviour shatters the
parliamentary tradition ... Paper balls were thrown, balloons were flown. The use
of foul language for the governor by the Samajwadi Party members in the presence of
their leaders is indeed unparliamentary and an despicable act," he had said.

The behaviour pointed to the anarchy that was there in the state under the earlier
rule, Adityanath added. "These people are yet to come out of their mindset of
anarchy -- which they had allowed in the state -- and they do not want the House to
be free from that anarchy," he said. -- PTI
10:05 PM leaves for historic Palestine visit today: Prime Minister Narendra Modi
will leave for his three-nation visit to Palestine, the United Arab Emirates and
Oman today. Noting that this would be the first-ever prime ministerial visit to
Palestine from India, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External
Affairs, Raveesh Kumar, said, "The Prime Minister will travel to Palestine via
Amman. The Government of India and its leadership are very grateful to the
Jordanian authorities and leadership for the wholehearted cooperation being
extended for the Prime Minister's transit."

This will be Prime Minister Modi's second visit to the UAE and the first to Oman.
During the visit, the Prime Minister will hold discussions on matters of mutual
interest with their leaders, apart from participating in other events.

Also, Prime Minister Modi would be addressing the Sixth World Government Summit to
be held in Dubai, at which India has been extended the 'Guest of Honour' status. He
will also meet the Indian community in the UAE and Oman. -- ANI
10:02 Sensex crashes after rout in global markets : Update on the stock market:
Stocks suffered heavy losses in opening trade with the BSE Sensex dropping below
the 34,000- mark by slumping about 564 points and Nifty sinking over 1.6 per cent
on widespread sell-off triggered by a rout in global equity markets.

The BSE 30-share barometer dived 563.51 points, or 1.63 per cent, to 33,849.65,
wiping out its gains of 330.45 points in the previous session. All sectoral indices
led by bankex, teck and IT slipped into the negative zone with losses of up to 1.76
per cent down. The broad-based NSE Nifty was trading lower by 178.65 points, or
1.68 per cent, at 10,398.20.

Other Asian markets plunged up to 4.24 per cent after Wall Street routed for the
second time this week on worries over rising US interest rates. With the volatility
continuing to hound equity markets, US index the Dow Jones Industrial Average
plunged 4.2 per cent, the broad-based S&P 500 plummeted 3.8 per cent and the Nasdaq
Composite Index sank 3.9 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 3.62 per cent,
Japan's Nikkei shed 3.22 per cent, while Shanghai Composite Index down 4.24 per
cent in their late morning deals.

Back home, ICICI Bank dropped the most by 2.75 per cent, followed by ITC 1.9 per
cent, HDFC 1.85 per cent, Axis Bank 1.66 per cent and Larsen and Toubro 1.6 per
cent. Infosys, TCS, Reliance, HDFC BankKotak Bank, SBI IndusInd Bank Hindustan
Unileverand Bharti Airtel also dropped up to 1.5 per cent. -- PTI
10:02 Sensex crashes after rout in global markets : Update on the stock market:
Stocks suffered heavy losses in opening trade with the BSE Sensex dropping below
the 34,000- mark by slumping about 564 points and Nifty sinking over 1.6 per cent
on widespread sell-off triggered by a rout in global equity markets.

The BSE 30-share barometer dived 563.51 points, or 1.63 per cent, to 33,849.65,
wiping out its gains of 330.45 points in the previous session. All sectoral indices
led by bankex, teck and IT slipped into the negative zone with losses of up to 1.76
per cent down. The broad-based NSE Nifty was trading lower by 178.65 points, or
1.68 per cent, at 10,398.20.

Other Asian markets plunged up to 4.24 per cent after Wall Street routed for the
second time this week on worries over rising US interest rates. With the volatility
continuing to hound equity markets, US index the Dow Jones Industrial Average
plunged 4.2 per cent, the broad-based S&P 500 plummeted 3.8 per cent and the Nasdaq
Composite Index sank 3.9 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 3.62 per cent,
Japan's Nikkei shed 3.22 per cent, while Shanghai Composite Index down 4.24 per
cent in their late morning deals.

Back home, ICICI Bank dropped the most by 2.75 per cent, followed by ITC 1.9 per
cent, HDFC 1.85 per cent, Axis Bank 1.66 per cent and Larsen and Toubro 1.6 per
cent. Infosys, TCS, Reliance, HDFC BankKotak Bank, SBI IndusInd Bank Hindustan
Unileverand Bharti Airtel also dropped up to 1.5 per cent. -- PTI
09:53 Why Nehru vs Patel: "Here is a counter-factual: If Rahul Gandhi had not
been Congress president, would the prime minister have spoken recently in
parliament of how Vallabhbhai Patel would have made a better prime minister than
Jawaharlal Nehru? Narendra Modi first played the Nehru vs Patel trick during the
campaign for the 2014 general elections. Why is he playing it again, four years
later? Largely because it is a convenient handle to distract voters away from the
failures of his own government. The "achhe din' he promised have manifestly not
arrived for the youth and the farmers, while "bure din' have manifestly arrived for
Muslims and other minorities (and arguably for Dalits too)."

As always, a gem from Ramchandra Guha. Do read

09:42 BJP Parliamentary party meeting soon: Delhi: Amit Shah and other leaders
arrive for the BJP Parliamentary Party meeting. The Congress held it's
parliamentary party meeting yesterday, helmed by Sonia Gandhi, who reminded party
leaders that Rahul Gandhi was her boss too, "let there be no doubt about it".
09:38 Sensex crashes after global markets drop: JUST IN: Benchmark indices
Sensex, Nifty decline over 1.5 per cent in opening trade after global markets
suffered big drops.

Sensex is down by 501.99 points at 33,911.17.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged by 1,032 Points on Thursday, suggesting
that investors aren't ready to return to equities following three days of intense
volatility.

The broad-based S&P 500 sank 3.8 per cent to 2,581.00, while the tech-rich Nasdaq
Composite Index plunged 3.9 per cent to 6,777.16.
09:08 Group Captain arrested for providing secret info to ISI: Delhi Police
Special Cell has arrested Group Captain Arun Marwah on charges of providing details
of secret Indian Air Force documents to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence.

A first information report has been filed under relevant sections of Officials
Secrets Act, ANI reported.

An NDTV report quoted police as saying that Marwah was honey-trapped by an ISI
official who pretending to be a woman on WhatsApp.

Marwah has been sent to police custody.

08:19 Trump, Modi discuss situation in Maldives over phone: United States
President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have expressed concern
about the political situation in Maldives over a phone call, as they also discussed
the situation in Afghanisthan and enhancing security in Indo-Pacific region, the
White House said.

'Both leaders expressed concern about the political crisis in Maldives and the
importance of respect for democratic institutions and rule of law,' the White House
said in a readout of the phone call between Trump and Modi, the first in this year.

Maldives plunged into a political chaos on last Thursday when the apex court
ordered the release of nine imprisoned opposition politicians, maintaining that
their trials were 'politically motivated and flawed'.

The Yameen government has refused to implement the ruling, prompting a wave of
protests in Maldives capital, Male. Maldives' Supreme Court Chief Justice Abdulla
Saeed and another judge, Ali Hameed, were arrested hours after Yameen declared a
state of emergency.

The White House said the two leaders also pledged to continue working together to
enhance security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.

'Affirming President Trump's South Asia strategy, they reiterated their commitment
to supporting Afghanistan's security and stability,' the White House said.

Modi and Trump also exchanged views on Myanmar and ways to address the plight of
the Rohingya refugees. As of now there are some 680,000 Rohingya refugees in
Bangladesh putting enormous pressure in the economy of Bangladesh.
00:13 Nelson Mandela rose makes debut ahead of Valentine's Day:
Ahead of Valentines Day, the Nelson Mandela Foundation has unveiled an orange and
vermilion rose named after the anti-apartheid leader who became South Africas first
black president.

The Mandela rose is expected to be sold locally and internationally and proceeds
will go to the foundation.

The foundation is marking the centenary of the birth of Mandela, who died in 2013
at the age of 95.
00:03 After #MeToo, models at New York fashion week get changing rooms:
New York fashion week opened with models for the first time being granted cubicles
to change in, in response to the outcry over sexual harassment and assault.

Sara Ziff, a former model who founded The Model Alliance six years ago, said her
organisation has received one report of harassment or assault a week since the
Harvey Weinstein scandal broke in September.

She has spearheaded the introduction of changing rooms, ending the practice of
having models strip in front of agents, photographers and anyone backstage.

Models have been dealing with these issues for decades, and this behaviour has been
an open secret, and now we finally have permission not only to talk about it but to
act, she was quoted as telling Vogue.
Click here!
Stars spotted! What's this?
[Spotted! Remo D'Souza] Spotted! Remo D'Souza
Reader Ravi K sends in a picture.

More stars spotted

Met a celebrity?
Email us photos & videos
Business emailOffice email AppDomain registrationWebsiteRediffmailMoneyCompany
emailOnline ShoppingBooksGifts