With Delhi recording air pollution levels seven to eight times above safe standards on Monday, the city government announced the return of its flagship odd-even scheme after four years anticipating further deterioration of air quality post-Diwali.
The poisonous haze has been causing significant problems for people with existing respiratory issues, according to doctors.
Amid clamour for death penalty for rapists, Law Minister Ashwani Kumar on Monday said that the society as well as jurists were divided on the issue and government was open to persuasion by either side.
The first municipal House after the high-stakes civic polls on December 4 is scheduled to take place on Friday during which all newly elected councillors will take oath and the mayor and the deputy mayor will be elected.
Eight new faces were inducted in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's council of ministers on Monday, with Sisram Ola and Oscar Fernandes making a re-entry after a gap of four years.
Arun Bhagat, former Central Bureau of Investigation additional director and Intelligence Bureau retiree tells Gyan Varma that the CBI has never been autonomous, thanks to government interference in cases involving important personalities
The court had warned a "very difficult situation" will emerge if proselytisation through deception, allurement and intimidation is not stopped.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain pleas seeking a direction to the Centre to frame religion and gender-neutral uniform laws governing subjects like marriage, divorce, inheritance and alimony, saying it cannot direct Parliament to "enact the law".
Around 15 other temporary structures were also demolished as part of the drive, police said.
Authorities in Nuh district Sunday razed some illegal structures including a hotel from where stones were allegedly pelted on a religious procession last week, even as a mahapanchayat was held in support of four men arrested over arson at a mosque and the death of its junior imam.
Amid a controversy over the probe into coal block allocation, Central Bureau of Investigation Director Ranjit Sinha on Friday discussed various matters related to the functioning of the central investigating agency with Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi has come across tough resistance from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the issue of sacking tainted ministers in his Cabinet. For now, Dr Singh is having it his way, but voices of dissent are growing louder. Renu Mittal reports.
Experts recommend awaiting the findings of the 2021 Census, which is yet to be conducted, before introducing population control policies.
The Maharashtra governor lacks the power to pardon Sanjay Dutt, senior lawyer and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Mahesh Jethmalani said on Saturday, while criticising Press Council Chairman Justice Markandey Katju for his "unseemly haste" in seeking relief for the actor, who was sentenced to 5 years jail for possessing arms during the 1993 Mumbai blasts.
Former bureaucrats are pushing politicians from key posts, feel party loyalists.
Forced religious conversion may pose a danger to national security and impinge on the religious freedom of citizens, the top court had said recently and asked the Centre to step in and make sincere efforts to tackle the "very serious" issue.
Among the major states, Orissa recorded the steepest fall in poverty from 2004-05 to 2009-10.
Ashwani Kumar, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, said that the BJP was inviting lawlessness and anarchism in the country by doing negative politics over the issue of coal block allocation.
Rajya Sabha failed to transact any business for the seventh consecutive day as Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday stepped up attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and demanded Law Minister Ashwani Kumar's sacking in the wake of Supreme Court observations on the coal issue.
Left parties on Tuesday stopped short of seeking the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, after the Supreme Court's observations on the coal allocation scam, but asked him to face Parliament as he "owes an answer" to the country. They demanded the ouster of Law Minister Ashwani Kumar.
Law Minister Ashwani Kumar's fate hung in balance as the Supreme Court takes on record on Tuesday CBI Director's affidavit and the agency's status report on the coal blocks allocation scam that was shared with the minister and senior officials of PMO and Coal ministry.
Parliament failed to transact any business for the fourth consecutive day on Friday with Opposition creating uproar over coal block scam and other issues, stalling proceedings in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
Intensifying its attack on the government over the coal block allocation scam, Bharatiya Janata Party demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and sacking of Law Minister Ashwani Kumar.
Procedural wrangles over voting for taking up a discussion on the alleged interference of the government in preparing Central Bureau of Investigation report on the coalgate scam led to a brief adjournment in the Rajya Sabha on Monday.
Dudley, on a stop-over visit on way to Shanghai, along with Ambani drove to Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia's residence for a breakfast meeting this morning and had sought a meeting with Law Minister Ashwani Kumar.
With her big-hitting prowess, a rarity in women's cricket, 16-year-old Shafali Verma was bound to succeed at the highest level. However, a lot of improvement is needed for her to sustain the sensational six-month run she has enjoyed since making her India debut, feel her coach Ashwani Kumar and former India wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra, both of whom have tracked her nascent career closely.
The Verma panel's recommendation for disqualification of candidates against whom criminal charges have been framed has found little favour with Law Minister Ashwani Kumar who instead wants fast-tracking of such cases, preferably to be decided by a lower court within 18 months.
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A party statement said the new national executive members are Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Deepak Prakash, Satish Punia and Sanjay Jaiswal, former BJP presidents in Telangana, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Bihar, respectively.
Dropping of P K Bansal and Ashwani Kumar from the Union Cabinet was the "joint decision" of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, the Congress said on Sunday dismissing reports that the action was at the insistence of the party president.
Changing his earlier stance, Janata Dal-United President Sharad Yadav on Thursday asked Union Minister P K Bansal to tender his resignation over the railway bribery case involving his nephew as Opposition protests grew louder against the minister's continuation.
The Budget session of Parliament was abruptly adjourned sine die on Wednesday , with the second phase turning out to be a total washout amid opposition demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and ministers Ashwani Kumar and P K Bansal.
The Allahabad high court on Wednesday gave the Central Bureau of Investigation over three months' time to complete investigation into the murder of two Chief Medical Officers (CMOs).
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressed a number of issues while talking to reporters on the sidelines of the defence investiture ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Saturday.
The revelation by CBI director Ranjit Sinha that the law minister and other officials had vetted a status report on coal-gate which was submitted to the SC may result in a severe grilling for Ashwani Kumar when the SC hears the case on April 30. Rakesh Bhatnagar reports.
With CBI admitting that it had shared its status report on coal block allocation scam with Law Minister Ashwani Kumar, the Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh alleging that he was using the law ministry to save himself from the probe in the case.
Setting off a political bombshell, Central Bureau of Investigation Director Ranjit Sinha on Friday submitted before the Supreme Court that the agency's status report on coal allocation scam was "shared" with Law Minister Ashwani Kumar "as desired by him" and that senior officials of PMO and Coal ministry had also seen it.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday demanded the resignation of Law Minister Ashwani Kumar over allegations of government's interference in CBI's probe into coal blocks and suggested that the Supreme Court should appoint a Special Investigation Team to bring out the truth.
Amid reports of alleged interference in the Central Bureau of Investigation's probe into the coal scam, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley on Saturday demanded the constitution of a special investigation team to probe the scam.
The Centre is actively involved in pushing through the PPCIR projects which would be spread over an area of 200-300 sq km each, Minister of State for Industry Ashwani Kumar said. "Once the policy is notified, it will lead to mega-investments through the PPP (public-private-partnership) mode in the coastal states," he added, adding that inter-ministerial consultations were on at present and rules are to be framed.
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