'What does the nation get out of the CBI's fabulous infrastructure? Very little that is useful.'
A series of bypoll losses has pushed the Modi government into panic mode. Uncharacteristically, it's letting events dictate its actions, says Shekhar Gupta.
The government is moving a proposal to amend the Lokpal Act and the law governing the functioning of the Central Bureau of Investigation to ensure there is no requirement of "quorum" in the respective selection panels for choosing the anti-corruption ombudsman or the CBI chief.
'In the CBI's history, a situation like this has never ever occurred.'
Three cases -- Avenfield properties case, Flagship Investment case and Al-Azizia steel mills case -- were launched by the National Accountability Bureau on September 8, 2017 following a judgment by the apex court that disqualified Sharif.
Central Bureau of Investigation Director Ranjit Sinha on Monday said "collusive corruption" in which there is a willing bribe-giver is emerging as a "formidable" challenge for institutions fighting corruption.
The investigative agency has been asked to file its report to the apex court on July 24.
That's all it takes to protect an institution -- just one person with no past and no greed for the future, says Shekhar Gupta.
'The Modi government needs some big private sector trophies to affirm its anti-corruption credentials before the polls.' 'So on whose neck will the sword fall next?' 'To that extent, the outing of the ICICI Bank-Videocon story is cathartic,' says Shekhar Gupta.
The court order is seen as a major embarrassment for the AIADMK as Palaniswami will be the first chief minister in the state to face a CBI probe over corruption charges.
'Karti Chidambaram may be the beginning of a larger can of worms that the government has waited thus far to pop open,' says Vikram Johri.
'You can never say never in politics.' 'We may still see the return of AAP, but hopefully not of the same abusive politics again,' says Shekhar Gupta.
A group of retired civil servants also called upon the PM to reach out to the families of the victims in Unnao and Kathua and "seek their forgiveness on behalf of all of us".
Pointing out some "anomalies and legal inconsistencies" in the Lokpal Act, the Central Bureau of Investigation has raised a question as to whether the entire probe agency will be divested of all powers if any of its officer was found guilty of corruption or tampering with evidence.
Manish Kumar Sinha has also alleged that the complainant in the case, businessman Sana Sathish Babu, had told him that Union minister Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhari had been paid bribes to the tune of several crores of rupees for alleged help in matters related to CBI.
The Left and Congress said that the PM should have been more respectful and sensitive in his speech.
The court delivered the verdict after postponing it for four times in the Avenfield corruption case -- pertaining to the ownership of four flats in the posh Avenfield House in London.
Amid frequent face offs between the government and opposition, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said political discourse in the country has become "more vulgar".
'No one institution can cleanse it: Not the courts, government or activists.' 'And least of all the Indian Police Service,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
"Any fight with the Congress will remain in the state. At the national level, we will fight together, this I am saying from the heart..." she said.
'Against the backdrop of difficult administrative, political and economic problems, Imran's temperament and staying power will be the subject of intense expectation and public scrutiny,' says Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan Desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
The petition has alleged that the Centre took a series of steps in a "completely mala fide, arbitrary and illegal manner to ensure that Asthana was given the charge of CBI director".
Anna Hazare, fasting for the last five days for passage of Lokpal Bill, on Saturday said he was happy with the amended legislation presented in the Rajya Sabha and would call off his hunger strike the moment the law is enacted.
Complicated social phenomena behind it, says Ajit Balakrishnan.
"I am sitting on a Satyagraha till I get a clarification on details of international travel expenses of some senior AAP leaders. It is not a dharna but a satyagraha. I would like to send out a message to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to put out the details of the foreign tours of his five AAP leaders -- Satyendra Jain, Ashish Khetan, Raghav Chaddha, Sanjay Singh and Durgesh Pathak in public domain," Mishra told the media.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh lauded the Central Bureau of Investigation as it completed 50 years during an address to senior officers at the at international conference on 'Evolving common strategies to combat corruption and crime.'
The Aam Aadmi Party on Monday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the arrest of its two MLAs, saying this is a "proof" of his frustration.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar and four others, arrested in an alleged corruption case, were on Tuesday remanded to five days Central Bureau of Investigation custody by a special court which was told by the agency that the IAS officer was "intimidating" witnesses.
Will Malik's worldview, shaped by his years with the socialists, Charan Singh, the Congress and V P Singh, help him govern the troubled state? Or would his rule have the imprint of the party he joined in the latter years of his chequered political career?
Seeking to give a big push to the Lokpal Bill, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday appealed to all political parties to support the legislation saying it is a "very very powerful instrument" in the fight against corruption.
Recent IMF forecast said China's growth is expected to slow down.
The CBI said the software enables the user to save all required details to book Tatkal tickets beforehand.
Authorities arrange helicopters to shift Sharif to jail; 300 PML-N workers arrested.
'He is still compulsively an operations man. Just a whiff of a live operation, and he is back in the field, at least in his mind. That is why the immediate decision to send the NSG to Pathankot.' 'But there is a difference between classical intelligence or counter-terror operation and dealing with a larger threat to a place as sensitive and sprawling as an air force base. This is what led to confusion and mix-ups,' says Shekhar Gupta.
A controversy has broken out over the appointment of an additional director in the Central Bureau of Investigation after the government and the central vigilance commission locked horns over considering an officer whose track record was under question.
'All governments try owning the message, but the Modi-Shah BJP has developed it into a fine art.'
The two were convicted on July 6 in the Avenfield properties case linked to the Sharif family's ownership of four luxury flats in London.
Ignoring controversies surrounding him over Adarsh housing scam, the Congress has decided to field ex-Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan for the Lok Sabha polls and has fielded Madhusudan Mistry, a close aide of party vice president Rahul Gandhi to take on Narendra Modi in Vadodara. Anita Katyal reports
Part of funding for 9/11 attacks in the United States had originated from India, according to a former top police officer Neeraj Kumar, who has based his claim on the "revelation" made by a terrorist.
'Imagine a situation where an upright officer refuses to carry out a chief minister's or a central minister's orders that he considers wrong.' 'Can he be summarily thrashed at a meeting at your residence, or in his own office?' 'If AAP legitimises political violence, there are many, many, tougher political leaders elsewhere to draw the wrong lessons,' warns Shekhar Gupta.
