Rains under the influence of north east monsoon on Monday hit normal life in several parts of Tamil Nadu where educational institutions remained closed even as the weather office forecast heavy downpour in the next three days in the state, Puducherry and coastal Andhra Pradesh. Reports claim at least 95 people have died due to incessant rains across parts of Tamil Nadu in the past few days.

In Chennai, office-goers faced a harrowing time due to water-logging and delay in train services.

Several areas, including Mylapore (South Chennai), Vysarpadi and Perambur (North Chennai) have remained inundated since due to flooding.

The city has been experiencing continuous rains since Saturday night with the spell reduced to a drizzle on Monday.

India Meteorological Department has warned of heavy rains in the next three days in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and coastal Andhra Pradesh.

Incessant rains continued in Nagapattinam district for the third consecutive day on Monday throwing normal life out of gear. Paddy crops in hundreds of acres remain submerged in this region.

The 23-year-old Russian woman who was attacked with acid in Varanasi and was undergoing treatment here has been flown to Moscow with Indian government assuring her that all medical expenses will be borne by it.

“The acid victim has been flown to Moscow. Our Ambassador has met the mother of the victim,” External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted.

The minister further tweeted that “we have assured her that India will bear all expenses on her treatment in Russia.”

She said Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister has also announced Rs. 5 lakh towards this.

The woman had suffered 46 per cent burn injuries after a local youth threw acid on her on November 13 in Nand Nagar area of Varanasi.

She was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in the burns wing of Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital after she was flown here on Saturday evening in an air ambulance following a request from the Russian embassy and the Centre.

Doyang Lake in Nagaland, famous as a roosting site for longest travelling raptors Amur Falcons, will be developed as an eco-tourism spot for bird-watchers, Environment Minister Prakash ​Javadekar today said.

“Centre will soon develop Doyang Lake area as eco-tourism spot for bird-watchers to have a wonderful and rare sight of Amur Falcons, which come to roost every year at Doyang lake during their flight from Mongolia to South Africa,” the Minister, who was enthused by the sight of millions of Amur falcons in just 30 minutes of his visit, said.

With two of the three Amur falcons tagged with satellite tracking chips last year returning to Nagaland, the Minister declared that four or five other birds from other roosting in Nagaland will also be tagged.

The two falcons – named Naga and Pangti tagged in 2013 have already made two rounds from Mongolia to South Africa via Nagaland and have again returned to Nagaland this year.

The Minister said, “Today, the world has recognised Pangti village in Nagaland as the world’s Amur Falcon capital, as more than one million birds can be seen in just 30 minutes. It is a very rare and exciting sight.”

In yet another explosive revelation, BJP’s firebrand leader Subramanian Swamy claims of having proof which shows Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi is a ‘British national’.

Alleging that Rahul Gandhi had declared himself as a British citizen (2003-2009) in order to float a private company in London, Swamy has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding the government to strip the Congress VP of his Indian citizenship.

“Have written a letter to PM Modi, enclosing authenticated documents regarding registration in 2003 of a private company in Britain. Company’s name – BLACKOPS LIMITED- , Director – Rahul Gandhi who declared himself to be British national in registration papers,” Swamy said releasing the copy of his letter to PM at a press conference on Monday.

“As per article 9 of Indian constitution, any Indian citizen cannot acquire dual citizenship,” he added.

Swamy further said that he will also write a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker soon requesting her to refer the matter to the Committee on Ethics for appropriate action.

The Congress, however, sought to dismiss Swamy’s charges. Party spokesperson Ajay Maken said, “It has been the habit of Subramanian Swamy to make silly statements in order to try and seek some publicity whenever he is sidelined. Nobody takes his statements seriously.”

Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Delhi government’s plea seeking death penalty for the killers of Nitish Katara.

The apex court, while passing the order, refused to accept the plea of victim’s mother Neelam Katara as a ‘rarest of rare’ crime.

“What they (Yadavs) did cannot be condoned, but it (the offence) is not so heinous and abhorring that warrants death,” a bench of justices JS Khehar and R Banumathi said.

Today’s SC ruling helped Vikas and Vishal Yadav, serving 30 years jail term for brutally killing Nitish Katara in 2002, escape death penalty.

The bench, which had recently dismissed the special leave petitions of Vikas, Vishal and Sukhdev Pehalwan against the Delhi High Court verdict in the case, did not agree with the submission of senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Neelam Katara, that the two convicts deserved death penalty.

“I don’t see it as honour killing,” the bench observed at the outset when Salve opened arguments on the plea seeking enhancement of the sentence, saying that the high court had held it as the honour killing.

“I am asking for death penalty,” the senior lawyer said, adding that the convicts, who were educated and hailed from “good families”, had killed the youth in pre-meditated and brutal manner and mutilated the body before burning it.

The court said that the convicts’ sister Bharti Yadav had even gone to the victim’s house to deliver the invitation card of her sister’s wedding and it cannot be said that the family of the convicts did not approve the relationship.

Perhaps, the “trigger” was the moment when the convicts saw her dancing with Nitish and took him away and killed him, the court said, adding that every murder is brutal but it is difficult to say it is “abhorring”.

“It was just a murder. That is it… They (convicts) have also suffered the sentence for 16 years,” it said, adding that the manner of disposal of the body fell under the IPC provision dealing with destruction of evidence.