New Delhi: A Parliamentary standing committee on coal and steel, which will submit its report on Tuesday, contains a few explosive conclusions. There could be trouble both for the UPA and NDA as the report says all the coal blocks distributed between 1993 and 2008 were unauthorised and not done in a transparent manner. Meanwhile, the report observes that no bidding process was held for coal allocations. Though it is...
08:16 AM, Apr 23, 2013
Bhubaneswar: With the BJD intensifying its anti-Centre tirade accusing it of neglecting Odisha, opposition Congress on Monday said the ruling party was trying to "exploit" the sentiments of the people by making such allegations. "BJD is simply exploiting the sentiment of people by taking name of special category state status for Odisha and alleging Central negligence," Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik told reporters. Claiming that the BJD's...
03:00 AM, Apr 23, 2013
New Delhi: Hours after he reiterated his allegation that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was aware of all the decisions taken in connection with the allocation of 2G spectrum, former telecom minister A Raja on Monday attacked the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for not allowing him to depose before it. The JPC is examining the 2G spectrum allocation. "This is not the way the JPC is expected to function," said Raja....
07:13 PM, Apr 22, 2013
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), in an affidavit, is set to tell the Supreme Court of India that the probe agency's report on coal block allocation scam was shared with the Law Ministry on its request and that Law Minister Ashwani Kumar had vetted the report, a charge the Congress has been rejecting. CNN-IBN has accessed the details of the CBI's affidavit that the agency will file...
06:28 PM, Apr 22, 2013
New Delhi: Left parties on Monday lashed out at the government for providing armed commando cover to top corporate leader Mukesh Ambani, saying the common people have been left in the lurch as gruesome incidents of rape keep happening. "It is unprecedented that at a time when such ghastly and gruesome incidents of rape are taking place and people are demanding more security, Z-plus category of security is given to...
04:20 PM, Apr 22, 2013
New Delhi: Reliance Industries Ltd Chairman Mukesh Ambani has said he will be paying for his Z-category security. The DG of CRPF had earlier told CNN-IBN that it would cost Rs 14 lakh a month to provide Mukesh Ambani the security which includes salary, supervision and escort charges. Earlier, Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Admi Party had protested against the VIP security being provided to Mukesh Ambani. Mukesh Ambani is...
02:59 PM, Apr 22, 2013
New Delhi: The government was ready to debate all issues, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Monday as he appealed to the Opposition for smooth functioning of Parliament. "It is my sincere wish that house will function. If there are any concerns of the opposition we are willing to debate all those issues which are worrying the opposition," Manmohan Singh told reporters shortly before parliament resumed the budget session after...
11:40 AM, Apr 22, 2013
New Delhi: A Delhi court on Monday fixed April 29 for hearing the matter in additional 2G spectrum allocation case in which Bharti Cellular CMD Sunil Mittal, Essar Group promoter Ravi Ruia and others have been summoned as accused. Mittal, Ruia and former Telecom Secretary Shyamal Ghosh appeared before Special CBI Judge OP Saini and the court adjourned the matter in pursuance of the order passed by the Supreme Court...
11:30 AM, Apr 22, 2013
New Delhi: Parliament reconvenes on Monday for the second half of the Budget Session. The Opposition looks set to corner the government on a host of issues and the UPA will be manouvering with allies to get its way. The opposition is expected to blockade proceedings on the rape of the 5-year-old in Delhi, the JPC report on 2G that gave a clean chit to the PM and the government's...
09:59 AM, Apr 22, 2013
Bokakhat: The hijab debate is back in focus, after a 4-year-old Muslim girl in Assam was asked to stop wearing the headgear in her classroom or face expulsion. Fatima Bibi's school said they cannot relax the dress code for one child. Meanwhile, her parents citing tradition have moved court. "Hijab is a part of tradition. Not just for school students but also grownups. She wears the complete uniform and then...
07:57 AM, Apr 22, 2013
Rajahmundry: Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Sunday night said Rs 1,000 crore and Rs 400 crore will be spent this year for infrastructure and water works in localities were SCs and STs stay. He also announced that in order to provide better education facilities for students completing tenth standard, 100 hostels for SCs, each costing Rs 2 crore and 250 hostels for STs, each costing Rs 1...
02:55 AM, Apr 22, 2013
New Delhi: Karan Thapar spoke to Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh on Devil's Advocate about the governance of the Congress party, who calls the shots, the equation between Sonia Gandhi and PM Manmohan Singh and the prospect of Rahul Gandhi being nominated as the party's prime ministerial candidate. Karan Thapar Hello and welcome to Devils's Advocate. I am in an interview with a Congress leader who is not afraid to...
09:00 PM, Apr 21, 2013
New Delhi: The 22-year-old man who allegedly raped a five-year-old girl here was on Sunday sent to judicial custody till May four to facilitate test identification parade after he was produced in a city court by the Delhi Police a day before expiry of his transit remand. Earlier in the day police said that Manoj Kumar, who was arrested on Saturday from Bihar's Muzaffarpur, will not be produced in court...
08:01 PM, Apr 21, 2013
New Delhi: Reliance Industries Ltd Chairman Mukesh Ambani is the new entrant to the 'Z' category VIP security club after the Union Home Ministry recently approved an armed commando squad following threat perception to the business tycoon. The Home Ministry has tasked country's lead anti-Naxal operations force CRPF to take the responsibility with immediate effect after the proposal to this effect was cleared by the office of Home Minister Sushil...
05:54 PM, Apr 21, 2013
New Delhi: Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh has said that Sonia Gandhi, being the president of the party, has the last word on many key policies of the UPA government. Singh said while there was no junior or senior within the party, Sonia being the face of the Congress, is at the top in party's hierarchy. He, however, clarified that Sonia never interferes in the functioning of the government except...
01:49 PM, Apr 21, 2013
New Delhi: Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh has reiterated his opinion that the "dual power centre model" of the Congress with Sonia Gandhi as the party president and Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister has created a perception of uncertainty. He was speaking to Karan Thapar on Devil's Advocate. Below is the transcript of an excerpt from the interview: Karan Thapar: The comment you made about the separation of powers...
09:01 AM, Apr 21, 2013
London: Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar's husband on Friday said he is hopeful of a fair verdict in the inquest into his wife's death following a miscarriage in 2012. "I am still optimistic. The question that has always been in my mind is why Savita died. It has been very tough. Today was actually our wedding anniversary so it's even more hard. Hopefully there will be bright days ahead and something...
07:45 PM, Apr 19, 2013
Mohali: The gap between urban and rural should be bridged for overall development of the country, former President and 'Missile Man of India' APJ Abdul Kalam said on Thursday. Addressing engineering students of Chandigarh University during a convocation ceremony at Landran near here, Kalam said development of rural areas was the need of the hour as the real power of the country lies in its villages. Sharing his vision of...
12:58 AM, Apr 19, 2013
Chandigarh: The Punjab government has ordered closure of 473 private schools after they failed to implement norms of the right to education (RTE) act, a minister said on Wednesday. Education Minister Sikander Singh Maluka said the non-affiliated private schools have been asked to wind up their operations immediately. "The Punjab government had been sympathetic towards these educational institutions for long. They had been time and again requested to adhere to...
04:51 AM, Apr 18, 2013
New Delhi: As pressure builds on the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) ahead of the Supreme Court's deadline to file an affidavit in the coal scam, CNN-IBN has learnt that the agency will be submitting its original status report in the apex court. Sources, however, said that while the CBI will admit to the fact that there was a meeting with the Law Minister, there were no PMO officials at...
11:16 PM, Apr 17, 2013
