Washington: The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday approved legislation that would bring about the biggest changes in US immigration policy in a generation, setting up a spirited debate in the full Senate in June 2013.
By a vote of 13-5, the panel approved the nearly 900-page bill that would put 11 million illegal residents on a 13-year path to citizenship while further strengthening security along the southwestern border with Mexico, long a sieve for illegal crossings.
The vote followed the committee's decision to embrace a Republican move to ease restrictions on high-tech US companies that want to hire more skilled workers from countries like India and China.
In a dramatic move just before the vote, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont, withdrew an amendment to give people the right to sponsor same-sex partners who are foreigners for permanent legal status....
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06:51 AM, May 22, 2013
New Delhi: The Anil Kumble-led technical committee of the BCCI on Monday discussed the proposal of introducing Day and Night games in the National One Day Championship for the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The only domestic one-day tournament that is played under floodlights is the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy, but the technical committee that met under Kumble's stewardship, also wants Vijay Hazare Trophy matches to be played under lights. "We even...
07:55 PM, May 20, 2013
New Delhi: Delhi Police has asked hotels in Mumbai, Chandigarh, Kolkata and Hyderabad to provide CCTV footage to scan meetings of the three arrested cricketers with bookies in connection with the IPL spot-fixing scandal. Police is also planning to seek permission for collecting voice samples of the players - S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan - arrested last Thursday from Mumbai along with 11 bookies. Sources said that the...
04:19 PM, May 19, 2013
Chennai: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), after its emergency meeting in Chennai on Sunday, has said it will not hesitate to take swift and strong action against any player found guilty of malpractice or illegal activities in the IPL or otherwise. While maintaining that the BCCI was "handicapped" when it comes to control over bookies, the board president N Srinivasan said the BCCI has decided to...
01:36 PM, May 19, 2013
New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has begun its meeting over the fate of four cricketers accused of spot-fixing. The board's working committee began its proceedings at 11 am Sunday in Chennai. Three current Rajasthan Royals players - S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila, Ankeet Chavan - and one former Rajasthan player Amit Singh have been implicated in spot-fixing by the Delhi Police, and CNN-IBN sources understand...
11:27 AM, May 19, 2013
New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) may hand life bans to the tainted quartet of S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila, Ankeet Chavan and Amit Singh in a meeting in Chennai on Sunday. Sreesanth, Chandila, Chavan have played several matches for Rajasthan Royals this season, while Amit represented the Jaipur-based IPL team for the first few seasons. Sreesanth, Chandila and Chavan have reportedly confessed to spot-fixing in...
08:25 AM, May 19, 2013
Moscow: Wrestling has introduced drastic changes designed to keep the ancient sport in the Olympic programme, the newly-elected president of the world governing body (FILA) said on Saturday. More categories for women, eliminating draws and cutting down the number of competitors are just some of the initiatives being introduced as wrestling battles to salvage its Olympic status after the International Olympic Committee (IOC)'s executive board made a surprise recommendation to...
12:07 AM, May 19, 2013
New Delhi: With the 2G spectrum issue getting caught in logjam in the JPC, the BJP on Friday sought to bring the matter to the forefront of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee saying the matter is pending and should be disposed of. The demand to settle the pending issue came at the first meeting of the newly-constituted PAC. BJP member Prakash Javadekar raised the issue of PAC's draft report on 2G...
09:35 PM, May 17, 2013
New Delhi: The BCCI committee on corruption will investigate the latest IPL spot-fixing scandal, which involves Rajasthan Royals' players Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila, and then refer the matter to the IPL Disciplinary Committee headed by Arun Jaitley - sources told CNN-IBN on Friday. Sources also told that once the matter reaches the Disciplinary Committee, it will hear the case and recommend future course of action. But before that,...
10:48 AM, May 17, 2013
New Delhi: India's Sports Minister Jitender Singh on Thursday said that the roadmap for India's return to the Olympic fold has been chalked out by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and it will take 30 to 60 days to complete the entire process. The Sports Minister, who met the IOC officials in Lausanne on Wednesday, said, "The roadmap has been decided by IOC to bring India back into the Olympic...
08:28 AM, May 16, 2013
Thrissur: JPC Chairman PC Chacko has said it will be "unconstitutional" to summon former Telecom Minister A Raja, prime accused in the 2G spectrum case, before the Joint Parliamentary Committee to take evidence, as it would be an "infringement" of Article 20 of the Constitution. "Article 20 (iii) of the Constitution clearly states no person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself," Chacko said....
01:26 AM, May 16, 2013
Lausanne: It's status quo for the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Wednesday refused to lift its suspension until free and fair elections are held. The IOC Wednesday held a meeting with the Indian delegation headed by the Minister of State for Sports Jitendra Singh and representatives from the National Sports Federations (NSF), who are also members of the suspended IOA. A representative of the...
01:03 AM, May 16, 2013
A crucial meeting between India's top sports officials and the International Olympic Committee is currently on at its headquarters in Switzerland to try and get India's suspension revoke. although IOA president VK Malhotra and IOC member Randhir Singh are not at this meeting, a nine member indian delegation is presenting its case to find ways to get India back into the fold. ...
04:38 PM, May 15, 2013
New Delhi: Oil Ministry's proposal for an across-the-board near doubling of natural gas prices has been rejected by the Cabinet Secretariat saying a ministerial panel headed by Defence Minister AK Antony did not have powers to do so. The Ministry had sent a draft proposal for the consideration of the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) to price all domestically produced natural gas - be of state-run ONGC or private sector...
04:18 PM, May 15, 2013
New Delhi: Cabinet Secretary Ajit Kumar Seth, who was due to complete his two-year term in June, got one-year extension. Seth, a 1974 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, has assumed the charge of Cabinet Secretary on June 14, 2011. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh-led Appointments Committee of Cabinet has approved the extension of tenure of Seth, the country's top bureaucrat, by one year beyond June 13, 2013, a press...
09:12 AM, May 14, 2013
New Delhi: Top IOA delegates were busy giving finishing touches to their action plan as they geared up for the crucial meeting with the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne to draw a roadmap for India's return to the Olympic fold. Most of the IOA delegates will leave for Lausanne tonight for the May 15 meeting which is expected to start the process of getting the ban on India lifted. Though...
05:16 PM, May 13, 2013
New Delhi: The crucial Lausanne meeting between the Indian officials and the International Olympic Committee to find a way for the country's return to the Olympic fold will proceed as per schedule on May 15 despite the dramatic pull-out of IOA acting president V K Malhotra and IOC member Randhir Singh. The IOC has sent a message to the Swiss Embassy here to expedite the visa formalities of all the...
06:14 PM, May 10, 2013
New Delhi: India has just 13 judges for every ten lakh people as against 35-40 in other developing nations and 50 in a developed country, a Parliamentary panel has said and urged the government to "make all out efforts" to fill up the existing vacant posts of judges. The Committee on Empowerment of Women in its report on 'Victims of sexual abuse and trafficking and their rehabilitation' noted that India...
11:21 PM, May 09, 2013
New Delhi: CAG report commands respect and cannot be brushed aside but it cannot be the final word on an issue, the Supreme Court said on Thursday while noting that the auditor's findings cannot be gospel truth as it is subject to scrutiny by Parliament. A bench of justices KS Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra said that CAG's report is always subject to parliamentary debates and it is possible that Public...
10:40 PM, May 09, 2013
New Delhi: Sports Ministry on Thursday termed Vijay Kumar Malhotra's decision to stay away from the May 15 meeting with the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne as "disappointing" but said that the IOA acting chief's presence would not have in any case mattered too much. "I am disappointed. I wish he could reconsider his decision and come for the meeting. However, Malhotra's presence does not matter too much in any...
06:05 PM, May 09, 2013
