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 seek government's permission before probing an official of the rank of Joint Secretary and above in corruption cases.
The proposal giving more financial powers to the Director of 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, sources privy to the meeting said.
Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde could not attend the meeting as he is away in the US....
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09:24 PM, May 23, 2013
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit was pulled up by the state Lokayukta for misusing public funds on government advertisements before the 2008 election. ...
09:06 PM, May 23, 2013
Monaco: Kimi Raikkonen would much rather be left alone but he is happy to admit that sometimes he does not know what he is doing. Social media is never going to be the Finn's thing and the Lotus driver has never hidden his distaste for interviews but he overcame his reluctance and spoke to Reuters at the Monaco Grand Prix - albeit stressing: "That's not the reason why I am...
09:05 PM, May 23, 2013
London: British Police on Thursday carried out raids to probe the murder of a soldier who was butchered and beheaded on a busy London street by two suspected Islamist extremists, as Prime Minister David Cameron vowed the country would remain resolute in its opposition to terrorism. After chairing an emergency meeting of the high-level COBRA crisis group, Cameron said Britain's communities would unite in condemning Wednesday's attack, which he described...
09:03 PM, May 23, 2013
New Delhi: Malayalam will soon be granted the status of a classical language. The Union Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on Thursday approved classifying Malayalam as a 'Classical Language', Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters. The benefits extended to Classical Languages include, two major annual international awards for scholars of eminence and setting up of a Centre of Excellence for Studies in Classical Languages. Other...
08:50 PM, May 23, 2013
New Delhi: Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday sought to assuage the stock market, after it declined by over 350 points, by asserting that there was no need for any "nervousness" and the participants should read the situation correctly rather than be influenced by external developments. "There is no need for any kind of nervousness. I am looking forward to June and the second quarter with much greater confidence. I...
08:41 PM, May 23, 2013
New Delhi: Ajit Chandila was allegedly paid Rs 12 lakh by a bookie for spot-fixing in last year's IPL but the attempt to manipulate matches failed as the cricketer could not play many matches, Delhi Police sources claimed on Thursday. Interestingly, the sources said, Chandila gave three cheques of Rs 4 lakh each, two of which bounced, after the alleged bookie-cum-fixer Sunil Bhatia insisted on repayment of the money as...
08:19 PM, May 23, 2013
As the spot-fixing and betting scandal spreads, the focus is once again on the big names in Indian cricket. Politicians cutting across party lines have for years been cricket administrators. ...
07:53 PM, May 23, 2013
London: British authorities believe that two men accused of hacking a soldier to death on a London street in revenge for wars in Muslim countries are British of Nigerian descent, a source close to the investigation said on Thursday. Local media named one of the two suspects as British-born, 28-year-old Londoner Michael Adebolajo and said police raided homes of relatives in the city and near the town of Lincoln. Both...
07:53 PM, May 23, 2013
New Delhi: The PCB on Thursday said it will soon introduce new rules to bring Pakistani umpires under its "domain" in the wake of ICC's decision to withdraw Asad Rauf from the Champions Trophy following his questioning in connection with the spot-fixing scandal in IPL. PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf, though, said he is not in the know-how about Rauf's removal from the elite panel of umpires from next month's Champions...
07:47 PM, May 23, 2013
Monaco: German driver Nico Rosberg posted the fastest time in both practice sessions for the Monaco Grand Prix on Thursday. Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton was second fastest in the afternoon's second practice run ahead of the Ferrari pair of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. Rosberg has taken pole position in the last two GPs, and Hamilton clinched pole position the race at the Chinese GP. Mercedes also secured a 1-2...
07:39 PM, May 23, 2013
Chennai: Days after the Supreme Court's interim relief to Tamil Nadu Cricket Association expired on May 14, Chennai Corporation officials on Thursday sealed three stands at the MA Chidambaram stadium here. On a petition by the TNCA after I, J and K stands were sealed by the Chennai Corporation, the Supreme Court had directed the civic body to de-seal three stands. The Chennai Corporation had, on May 12, sealed the...
07:29 PM, May 23, 2013
New Delhi: Bollywood producer Pooja Bhatt is auctioning off a role in one of her next Hindi-language films to help raise money to reduce rising cases of violence against women in India, the charity Oxfam has said. The opportunity, organised by Oxfam's partner Scottish Circle, is available to people in Scotland, where the highest bidder will win the chance to star in a film that will be screened to millions....
07:17 PM, May 23, 2013
On the final day of campaigning in Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif was due at three massive rallies in Lahore. Crowds grew restive as they waited for ...
07:16 PM, May 23, 2013
The rupee recovered from a more than 8-month low hit earlier on Thursday, as exporters took advantage of a spike in the dollar to sell the greenback and on fears the central bank would intervene to stabilise the local currency. The rupee still posted a fifth day of falls to mark its longest losing streak in over three months as worries about a potential pullback in the US monetary stimulus...
06:39 PM, May 23, 2013
Kochi: Ace Malayalam comedian and character artiste Kalabhavan Mani, who has been on the run to escape arrest for roughing up three forest officials, Thursday got anticipatory bail from the high court, but with strict conditions. Justice SS Satish Chandran, however, asked the actor to appear before the investigating officials for questioning. He also asked police to present Mani before a magistrate after questioning and directed that court to grant...
06:34 PM, May 23, 2013
New Delhi: In a fresh twist to the ongoing IPL spot-fixing scandal, the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday withdrew Pakistan umpire Asad Rauf from officiating in the Champions Trophy in England next month. Explaining the decision, ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said: "In the wake of reports that the Mumbai Police are conducting an investigation into Asad Rauf's activities, we feel that it is in Asad's best interests as...
06:31 PM, May 23, 2013
New Delhi: Phaneesh Murthy, sacked a few days ago as iGATE president, will be sued by Araceli Roiz for sexually harassing and for making her pregnant. Roiz's lawyer Randall Aiman-Smith told Network18 that she is exploring an out of court settlement with Murthy. Murthy is being sued for sexually harassing Roiz, iGate's investor relations head, and allegedly making her pregnant. Her lawyer claims Murthy tried to force Roiz to undergo...
06:16 PM, May 23, 2013
Leeds: Daniel Vettori was on Thursday ruled out of playing in the second and final Test against England starting at Leeds on Friday after doubts over his ability to last a five-day match. Former captain Vettori hasn't played a Test for nearly a year, mainly because of Achilles trouble, and was only originally selected for the one-day leg of this tour. But a calf injury suffered by his fellow left-arm...
06:14 PM, May 23, 2013
New Delhi: The National Commission for Minorities on Thursday slammed the CBI for putting "innocents in jail over serious crimes as terror acts". NCM chief Wajahat Habibullah called it dangerous and said that the police and investigating agencies should take utmost care while dealing with such cases. Habibullah's remarks came in response to a question about National Investigation Agency (NIA) filing a charge sheet in Mumbai on Wednesday against four...
06:06 PM, May 23, 2013
