New Delhi: The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on Thursday opposed scrapping of the provision which requires the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to seek government's permission for probing bureaucrats in corruption cases. The DoPT raised the issue during a power-point presentation at the maiden meeting of the Group of Minister headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram which discussed the issue of giving greater autonomy and more financial powers to the agency, official sources said.
The GoM was set up in the wake of strong observations by the Supreme Court on the functioning of the CBI which was described as a "caged parrot". The apex court had also suggested to the government to consider ways to make the CBI independent and free from any interference of the political executive.
The DoPT, which is the nodal body governing the CBI, came out strongly against any proposal to scrap Section 6A of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act which requires the agency to seek permission of the central government before intitiating a probe against an official of the rank of Joint Secretary and above in a corruption cas, the sources said.
The proposal giving more financial powers to the Director of the CBI did not find much support in the meeting, which was attended by Chidambaram, Law Minister Kapil Sibal, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy, the sources said. Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde could not attend the meeting as he
10:44 PM, May 23, 2013
New Delhi: Faced with the Supreme Court rap on the independent functioning of CBI, the Group of Ministers headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday discussed ways to give greater autonomy and more financial powers to the agency. The GoM, at its first meeting, was given a power-point presentation by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) in which it opposed scrapping of the provision which requires CBI to...
09:24 PM, May 23, 2013
Chennai: The untitled Tamil remake of Telugu blockbuster 'Ala Modalaindi' starring Gautham Karthik went on the floors here Thursday. "The shooting of Tamil remake of 'Ala Modalaindi', which is being produced by Raviprasad Productions, has begun in full swing," said a statement from the production house. Rakul Preet Singh is paired with Gautham in the film, being helmed by Ravi Thyagarajan. The rest of the cast is yet to be...
06:25 PM, May 23, 2013
New Delhi: The Group of Ministers formed by the PM to review the SC observations on the CBI met for the first time on Thursday in New Delhi. Union Ministers P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal, Salman Khurshid and MoS PMO V Narayanasamy were in attendance. However, CBI Director Ranjit Sinha, who was one of the special invitees to the meeting, did not attend it. Coming out of the meeting, Sibal said...
05:11 PM, May 23, 2013
Mumbai: It has come in late but as they say some things are better late than never. In this case, the sigh of relief will be heard from Honda as well as the thousands of consumers who have been waiting forever for Honda to introduce a diesel engine in the Indian market. The car carrying this diesel engine is the new Amaze, Honda's first entry-level mid-size car for India. It's...
02:02 PM, May 23, 2013
New York: General Motors Co is recalling worldwide more than 27,000 Cadillac crossover vehicles whose wheels could fall off due to potentially loose wheel nuts. GM said on Wednesday it knows of no crashes or injuries due to the issue and that no wheels have separated from the sport utility vehicles built on car-based platforms. The recall by the largest US automaker affects certain 2013 Cadillac SRX models equipped with...
09:12 AM, May 23, 2013
New Delhi: Former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala will be released from jail on Thursday after the Delhi High Court granted him an interim bail for six weeks to undergo a heart surgery. Chautala, 78, is serving prison time for his involvement in the 2000 teachers' recruitment scam. The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) chief was asked to furnish a personal bond of Rs 5 lakh along with two...
07:34 AM, May 23, 2013
New Delhi: Former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala was on Tuesday granted interim bail for six weeks by the Delhi High Court for undergoing pacemaker implant surgery at a hospital. "In view of the facts and circumstances of the case and considering the medical report of the appellant/applicant, the applicant's sentence shall be suspended for a period of six weeks," Justice Siddharth Mridul said while granting the interim bail....
04:59 PM, May 21, 2013
Mumbai: After the success of 'Son of Sardaar', actors Ajay Devgn and Sonakshi Sinha are reportedly teaming up again for Prabhudeva's next untitled project. According to sources the duo have been confirmed for the choreographer-turned-director's next film to be produced by Gordhan Tanwani of Baba Films. Actress Yami Gautam of 'Vicky Donor' fame has also been finalised for this project and will be seen in an interesting role. This would...
04:39 PM, May 20, 2013
Live updates from game 72 of IPL 6 between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad. The race for the fourth spot still hangs in the balance, and Sunrisers Hyderabad face the last obstacle in their path. After handing Rajasthan Royals one of their more comprehensive defeats this season, Hyderabad have taken out quite a few positives. Defending champions Kolkata Knight...
07:05 PM, May 19, 2013
Mumbai: Actress Yami Gautam, who won accolades for her performance in 'Vicky Donor', is all set to be part of a romantic comedy which may also star Sharman Joshi. "We have confirmed Yami for her part in the film. She will do the film. We are still in talks with Sharman. Things will be finalised soon," producer and writer of the film Anjum Rizvi told PTI. Sharman was last seen...
06:56 PM, May 19, 2013
Cape Canaveral: An automated telescope monitoring the moon has captured images of an 88-pound (40 kg) rock slamming into the lunar surface, creating a bright flash of light, NASA scientists said on Friday. The explosion on March 17, 2013 was the biggest seen since NASA began watching the moon for meteoroid impacts about eight years ago. So far, more than 300 strikes have been recorded. "It exploded in a flash...
06:53 AM, May 19, 2013
Hyderabad: The race for the fourth spot still hangs in the balance, and Sunrisers Hyderabad face the last obstacle in their path. After handing Rajasthan Royals one of their more comprehensive defeats this season, Hyderabad have taken out quite a few positives. Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders are already out of the tournament after their "mathematical equation" was laid to rest by party poopers Pune Warriors but Gautam Gambhir and...
12:18 AM, May 19, 2013
Cannes: A man was arrested at the Cannes film festival on Friday after firing a starting pistol during a live TV broadcast on the palm-lined waterfront, sending actors Christoph Waltz and Daniel Auteuil running for cover. French TV station Canal+ was interviewing Austria's Oscar-winning Waltz and French actor Auteuil live on its nightly news show from a beach-front set before a crowd of spectators when a man fired two shots...
12:02 PM, May 18, 2013
Cannes: And it appears to have been a crime spree in Cannes after an unidentified person fired two shots into the air during the live broadcast of a TV show. Cannes Film Festival jury members including Christoph Waltz and Daniel Auteuil who were being interviewed had to run for cover. The Police have managed to arrest the man at the scene. The suspect was found carrying a dummy grenade and...
10:20 AM, May 18, 2013
New Delhi: Signalling apossible realignment of his party's alliance in Haryana, BJP president Rajnath Singh on Thursday met INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala at a hospital in Delhi, party sources said. They said Rajnath Singh, accompanied by party vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, met Chautala at the Ram Manohar Hospital in Delhi. The leaders of two parties are learnt to have discussed current political developments during the meeting which lasted...
04:46 AM, May 17, 2013
Guna: Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh on Thursday expressed doubt as to whether giving autonomy to CBI would serve the purpose. "There is a question mark on the issue," he told reporters in Guna. "Giving autonomy to CBI...may be like giving autonomy to a police inspector," Singh said. "Is the common man in favour of giving autonomy to an inspector?" he asked. The issue of CBI's autonomy has come to...
01:42 AM, May 17, 2013
Mumbai: Himachal girl Kangna Ranaut entered filmdom with hit crime-romance 'Gangster - A Love story' and the actress, whose latest release 'Shootout At Wadala' also did well, feels gangster thrillers are lucky for her. "I think gangster-based films are very lucky for me. My debut film 'Gangster' in 2006 was successful, then came 'Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai' and now 'Shootout At Wadala'," the 26-year-old said here Tuesday at...
04:20 PM, May 15, 2013
CLICK HERE for live ball-by-ball updates of game 65 of IPL 6 between Kolkata Knighr Riders and Pune Warriors India played at Ranchi. Playing XIs: KKR: Manvinder Bisla (wk), Gautam Gambhir (capt), Jacques Kallis, Ryan ten Doeschate, Yusuf Pathan, Manoj Tiwary, Debabrata Das, Rajat Bhatia, Sachithra Senanayake, Sunil Narine, Lakshmipathy Balaji PWI: Robin Uthappa (w), Aaron Finch (capt), Manish Pandey, Yuvraj Singh, Luke Wright, Angelo Mathews, Raiphi Gomez, Bhuvneshwar Kumar,...
03:13 PM, May 15, 2013
