Fodder scam: SC rejects Lalu Prasad's plea to change judge

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected RJD chief Lalu Prasad's plea for transfer of trial court judge hearing the case against him in the fodder scam.

A bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam, which had on July 9 restrained the trial court from passing the judgement in fodder scam case, gave its order on Tuesday on Lalu's plea.

LoC attack: Kamal Nath defends Antony amid opposition attack on his statement

NEW DELHI: Under attack for his statement on the killing of five Indian soldiers on LoC, defence minister A K Antony on Wednesday maintained that his contention about the involvement of terrorists in the assault was based on "whatever information" he had.

He told Rajya Sabha that he will get back to the House if he got more details about Tuesday's incident in Poonch after the visit of Army chief Gen Bikram Singh to Jammu on Wednesday.

India halts dialogue process with Pakistan: Indian media

NEW DELHI: Indian media claimed on Thursday that the country has halted dialogue process with Pakistan while Indian Minister of External Affairs Salman Khurshid told that it is before time to say anything yet, Geo News reported.

According to the India media reports, Pakistan-India talks over several issues including the controversial Sir Creek have been discontinued.

India creates 29th state

HYDERABAD: After decades of struggle and suicides by hundreds of youths over the years, Telangana will emerge as the 29th state of India, with the Congress Working Committee endorsing the decision to bifurcate the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday.

The demand for a separate Telangana state has been going on for the past five decades, and has seen two phases of violent agitations — in 1969 and now in the past few years. According to Telangana protagonists, at least 600 youths and students had committed suicide for the cause in the past three years alone.

Bandh in Rayalaseema, coastal Andhra against Telangana formation

Normal life was disrupted in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions on Wednesday as a shutdown began in the two regions against the decision of the Congress and the UPA to create Telangana state out of Andhra Pradesh.

Educational institutions, commercial establishments remained closed and the services of state-run Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) were suspended in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra districts such as Kadapa, Chittoor, Visakhapatnam and Krishna.

Telangana effect: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha calls indefinite shutdown in Darjeeling

Darjeeling: Hours after the UPA and the Congress Working Committee endorsed statehood for Telangana, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) announced an indefinite strike in the Darjeeling Hills from Saturday to press for its Gorkhaland demand.

GJM chief Bimal Gurung resigned as chief executive of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration - an autonomous and elected hill development council which the party has been running for a year.

Now, Farooq Abdullah says you can fill your stomach for rupee 1

NEW DELHI: After Congress spokesperson Raj Babbar and Rajya Sabha MP Rasheed Masood's claim of 'super cheap' food available on the streets of India, another minister is of the view that one can have a filling meal for just Re 1.

Union minister of new and renewable energy and National Conference party leader Farooq Abdullah said that one can fill his stomach for just Re 1.

Batla House encounter genuine, main accused guilty of killing inspector MC Sharma: Court

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Thursday ruled that 2008 Batla House encounter was genuine and convicted lone suspected Indian Mujahideen operative Shahzad Ahmed for killing Delhi police inspector MC Sharma.

Additional sessions judge Rajender Kumar Shastri had on July 20 reserved the judgement after conclusion of final arguments by the prosecution and the defence.

Eight dead in Karnataka bus mishap, two critical

Hassan, Karnataka: Eight people drowned when a Karnataka State Road Transport  Corporation bus plunged into Vishnusamudra lake at Belur today, with police and locals rescuing 40 passengers.

Eleven passengers were admitted to a local hospital where two were stated to be critical, police said.

Representational image. PTI Representational image. PTI

The bus proceeding from Sakleshpur to Belur had several students on board, police said. There were reports that the bus was carrying 50-60 passengers.

Justice Sathasivam sworn in as chief justice of India

New Delhi : President Pranab Mukherjee Friday administered the oath of office to Justice P. Sathasivam as the chief justice of India (CJI).

Justice Sathasivam, 64, is the 40th CJI and the first from Tamil Nadu. He will remain in office till April 26, 2014. He succeeded CJI Altamas Kabir, whose last day in office was Thursday.

Congress prays to Lord Jagannath to give 'Sad Buddhi' to Narendra Modi

Alleging that Modi had been playing divisive politics which could spell disaster for the country, Hariprasad said BJP's national election campaign committee chairman should be blessed with good sense to refrain from such kind of politics.

A day after Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi offering pujas at Sri Jagannth Temple at Puri, Congress today prayed that the Lord give "Sad Budhi" (good sense) to BJP leader.

"I pray that Lord Jagannath give 'Sad Budhi' to Modi so that he will not attempt to divide the country in the name of religion," said B K Hariprasad, the AICC general secretary in-charge of Odisha.

At least 22 children die after eating mid-day meal in Bihar school

Patna: 22 children have died in Bihar, allegedly as a result of food-poisoning from the free mid-day meal provided at their school near Chhapra in the central part of the state, 60 kilometres from the state capital Patna. Most of them who died were younger than 10.

Another 35 children have been admitted to the Patna Medical College Hospital.

The mid-day meal caused severe food poisoning, said sources.

Ishrat encounter: Pen drives that could be problematic for BJP's Amit Shah

Ahmedabad: Two pen drives with conversations between BJP leader Amit Shah and senior police officers - in which they allegedly discuss the investigations into the fake encounter killing of college student Ishrat Jahan -have been submitted by the CBI to the Gujarat High Court.

Rs. 5 for Narendra Modi rally shows true market value, says Congress

The Congress today said that the entry fee of Rs. 5 for a Narendra Modi rally in Hyderabad next month reflects his market value.

Union Minister Manish Tewari tweeted that tickets for even flop films sell for Rs. 200-250. Later, he said, "It's now become very evident that the BJP has decided to impose a listening tax... When will they impose a speaking tax?"

Bofors scam will not be forgotten after Quattrocchi’s death: BJP

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday said that the Congress party should not be under the impression that the death of Ottavio Quattrocchi, the main accused in the Bofors, will cover the scam.
Speaking to mediapersons here, BJP spokesperson Vijay Sonkar Shastri said that the Bofors scam is a big scar on the political face of the country.

"Congress should not have this misconception that this issue is over because this case is a scar on the face of political history of India. And as far as Quattrocchi is concerned, the CBI is yet to give him a clean chit till date." he said.

Maya to expel BSP MP for defending Modi's puppy remark

BSP chief Mayawati announced that strict action would be taken against party MP Vijay Bahadur for defending Modi's comment.Yesterday Mayawati  criticised Mr Modi, saying, "My party strongly condemns the examples given by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. He should study the Constitution properly because it is based on secularism and not on Hindutva."

Congress hides behind 'burqa' of secularism during crisis: Narendra Modi

Pune: An aggressive Narendra Modi used an hour-long speech in Pune to declare the battle for 2014 open, ripping into the ruling Congress for its economic policies and accusing it of "hiding behind a burqa (veil) of secularism every time it is in trouble."

Mr Modi was on Sunday addressing his first public rally after being elevated as the BJP's election campaign speech. He was also speaking just two days after a controversial interview to news agency Reuters where his analogy of a puppy when talking about the deaths in the 2002 Gujarat riots has drawn much flak from political rivals.

Najeeb Jung takes over as new Lieutenant Governor of Delhi

New Delhi: Najeeb Jung, a former IAS officer, today took over as new Lt Governor of Delhi at a time when the national capital is grappling with a range of challenges including safety of women, regularisation of unauthorised colonies and crawling infrastructure.

62-year-old Mr Jung was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court BD Ahmed at a function at Raj Niwas which was attended by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, her ministerial colleagues and top brass of Delhi Government and police.

Hemant Soren stakes claim to form government in Jharkhand

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) legislature party leader Hemant Soren has staked claim to form a new government in the 82-member state assembly.

He met Governor Sayed Ahmed on Tuesday evening to do so. Soren handed over a list of 43 MLAs supporting him to the Governor.

The latest development in this regard comes nine days before the six-month period of President's rule ends in Jharkhand. The state was carved out of Bihar on November 15, 2000.

Supreme Court stops trial court from delivering verdict against Lalu Yadav

In what comes as a major relief for Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Yadav, the Supreme Court today restrained the trial court in Ranchi from delivering its verdict in the fodder scam case in which Mr Yadav is accused of embezzling Rs. 30 crore from the government during his earlier term as chief minister of Bihar.

Mr Yadav had asked for his case to be transferred to a different court, alleging that Pravas Kumar Singh, the judge handling the verdict, is related to a senior minister in the current Bihar government headed by Nitish Kumar.