In a legal and political setback to the Congress-led United Democratic Front government in Kerala, a vigilance court on Friday turned down its move to wind up the palmolein import graft case dating to 1992 when late Congress veteran K Karunakaran was the chief minister.
The government order, issued in this regard last evening, made it clear that the festivities should not be conducted during office hours.
Gandhi, however, acknowledged that his opinion is different from that of his party on the "emotional issue" after the Supreme Court last month lifted the ban on entry of women of menstrual age to the hilltop shrine of Lord Ayyappa in Kerala.
A controversy has erupted over a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh activist and accused in a murder case placing a turban on the head of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh during his visit to Thiruvananthapuram last week. The incident, which has also raised security issues, happened when Singh visited the SreePadmanabhaswamyTemple last Saturday.
The day-long hartal called by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in Kerala on Tuesday to protest murder of an activist in Kannur district disrupted normal life across the state.
Fearing violent response from the mob present outside the Police Club and court complex, several rings of security were thrown around Islam who was seen wearing a helmet. Before producing him in the court, he was interrogated by top officials of the Special Investigation Team probing the case.
'It seems we will get an NRC which will include the names of illegal foreigners and exclude genuine Indian citizens'
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Friday submitted his resignation following the defeat of the ruling Congress-led UDF in the assembly election and attributed "false propaganda" against his government among the reasons that led to the debacle.
PM Modi came under severe criticism after he compared the infant mortality rate among the Scheduled Tribe community in the southern state to that in Somalia.
Scripting history, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday stormed to power in Assam bagging a government in the north east for the first time dethroning the Congress which also lost Kerala while Jayalalithaa and Mamata Banerjee retained power in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal with spectacular victories.
Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah will on Monday launch a 15-day march in Kerala to target the state's Communist Party of India-Marxist government with the BJP accusing the Left party of being on a "killing spree" against its workers.
In fresh escalation of political violence in poll-bound Kerala, a 28-year-old Youth Congress worker was hacked to death allegedly by Democratic Youth Federation of India workers at Evoor in Alapuzha on Tuesday even as the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist Party of India - Marxist workers clashed in Thiruvananthapuram district leaving at least 30 injured.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan made it clear that the Left government was with the believers.
In a virulent attack on BJP, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said the Lok Sabha polls are vital to safeguard cherished national ideals like "unity and secularism" which were under threat.
Rahul Gandhi stressed the importance of an electoral understanding in UP if the BJP is to be defeated in the Lok Sabha polls.
Hit by the "bar bribe controversy", the Congress-led United Democratic Front government in Kerala on Sunday announced a vigilance probe into the allegation by bar owners that state Finance Minister and Kerala Congress (M) supremo K M Mani had demanded a hefty sum for favourable decisions.
Kerala High Court on Thursday upheld the state government's new excise policy directing closure of bars in two and three-star hotels.
It would be best that Rahul remains party chief, but at the same time, Rahul's own wishes must also be respected, Aiyar said.
The police on Thursday booked litterateur Hiren Gohain, Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti chief Gogoi and senior journalist Manjit Mahanta under sedition charges for their comments on the Citizenship Amendment Bill.
Ruling Congress-led UDF in Kerala on Saturday suffered a setback in the civic elections, billed as the semifinal ahead of next year's assembly polls, as CPI-M-led LDF won a majority of local bodies while the BJP made inroads improving its performance.
With Pinarayi Vijayan set to be chief minister, what will be the role for party patriarch V S Achuthanandan? And what are the key takeways from the election results in Kerala?
The Congress-led United Democratic Front on Wednesday suggested further tightening of the measures on liquor policy if it returns to power.
The constituencies spread across lower and central Assam will have 12,699 polling stations where 1,04,35,271 voters will be able exercise their franchise.
Thousands of Left Democratic Front Opposition volunteers continued their siege of the secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram for the second day, demanding resignation of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and a judicial probe into the solar scam.
Group rivalry in the Kerala Congress unit has intensified further as the political mission of chief minister Oommen Chandy to induct Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ramesh Chennithala into the cabinet has failed.
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who has been under attack from the Communist Party of India - Marxist over the solar panel scam, on Friday met Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and discussed the political developments in the state.
Getting ready to fight the next assembly election in Assam in 2016 on the 'U-turns' on state issues made by the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the Centre, the ruling Congress government in Assam has brought out a handbook for its party workers highlighting the 'failures' of the Narendra Modi government to fulfil promises made to people of the state.
The Kerala government on Thursday submitted in the high court that a Public Interest Litigation seeking further investigation against Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien in the nearly two-decade-old Suryanelli rape case was not maintainable and pointed that the prime accused had retracted his statement which sought to implicate the Congress leader.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra framed several questions to be dealt with by the Constitution Bench, including whether the temple can restrict women's entry.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday urged party leaders in Kerala to shed their differences and fight the coming assembly polls unitedly
"We know that the Communists do not respect the Indian history, culture and spirituality but nobody imagined they would have such hatred," Modi said.
Refusing to produce the accused Ameerul Islam before media, Sandhya said police wanted to build a strong case against him.
Tearing into the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said victory for her party in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls is vital to safeguard the unity and secularism of the country and cautioned the people against giving in to the "untested promises and lies" of the saffron party.
The Congress's share has almost halved, down from 12 in 2014 to six now.
Congress MP from Sultanpur Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh Sanjoy Singh is one of the Congress candidates who have filed nominations for the February 7 election to the three Rajya Sabha seats from Assam.
Incensed by his praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee decided to seek suitable action by high command against party MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday.
Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah on Tuesday took a dig at Congress President Sonia Gandhi, saying everyone was aware of her "love for her son, National Herald and 2G".
Firming up plans to drastically reduce availability of liquor, the Congress-led United Democratic Front government on Tuesday decided to issue notices to hoteliers below the five-star category to shut their bars by September 12.
'The CPI-M indulges in senseless talk. Be it the solar scam or the National Games scam, did the CPI-M prove anything?'
The Congress chief, however, said he was not expecting any cooperation from the prime minister and the BJP-led central government for the development of Wayanad and Kerala.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances