Unfazed by strong opposition, Home Minister P Chidambaram on Friday said the NCTC was the need of the hour as threat perception of terrorism continues to be high and delay in setting up the anti-terror hub will increase the risk in the country.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram will visit Raipur on Monday to monitor the coordination of strategies to combat Left-wing extremism in the region. Chidambaram will emphasis the importance of verifying and forwarding intelligence inputs to the Centre. He will hold a coordination meeting with the director-general of police and the joint director of the Intelligence Bureau posted in Raipur.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Union Home Minister P Chidambaram will undertake an aerial survey of flood-affected areas of Karnataka's Bellary district on Monday.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Home Minister P Chidambaram will meet on Monday to decide who will become the next central vigilance commissioner. According to the Supreme Court's instructions, the PM, home minister and the leader of Opposition has to finalise the CVC together. On Thursday, Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan held an informal meeting with BJP leader Sushma Swaraj.
The home minister's visit comes days after he praised state Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for his firm handling of the situation in the run up to the Republic Day
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram assured Meghalaya Chief Minister D D Lapang on Wednesday that the Centre would not allow incidents of firing between the Border Security Force and Bangladesh Rifles to recur.
Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said fake currency business was "not a cottage industry" and pointed out that "an organised effort in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir" was behind it.
Government on Saturday hailed the verdict of Delhi court dismissing a plea to make Home Minister P Chidambaram an accused in the 2G case, saying it vindicates its stand and also of the Congress party.
Hours after Naxals struck in a big way in Chhattisgarh on Friday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was briefed by Home Minister P Chidambaram on the incident and the strategy being adopted by his ministry to tackle the menace of naxalism in the wake of the worst-ever attack.
Terming scrapping of the Article 370 as a "black day in the history of India, Chidambaram said: "Momentarily you may think you have scored a victory... drum beats on streets may force you to think that you have corrected a so-called injustice but history will prove you.... Future generations will realise what a grave mistake this House is making today."
"It is not the Rahul that you think it is. It could be a pseudonym; it could be a code name but please be assured that it is not the Rahul that you think it is," he said at a press conference in an obvious reference to the Congress MP.
The Delhi government has given a go-ahead to the city police to prosecute former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar and nine others in connection with a four-year-old sedition case, as the ruling AAP denied the persistent BJP charge of blocking the proceedings in the matter.
With important judgments in the 2G spectrum scam case expected this year, neither the government nor Home Minister P Chidambaram will be able to rest easy.
In a huge relief for Union Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, a special Central Bureau of Investigation court on Saturday dismissed a petition by Janata Party President Dr Subramanian Swamy seeking to make Chidambaram a co-accused in the 2G spectrum case.
Yoga guru Ramdev on Monday alleged in the Supreme Court that Home Minister P Chidambaram was behind the midnight crackdown on him and his followers during the protests on the issue of black money at the Ramlila Maidan in June.
Congress sources have told rediff.com that Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram or External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will replace Shivraj Patil, who resigned on Sunday, as home minister. The announcement is likely to be made in the next couple of hours after the all-party meeting called to discuss the Mumbai terror attacks.
In an attempt to kickstart the process of setting up National Security Guard hubs in the country in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks, Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday discussed the matter with Army and NSG Chiefs. During the hour-long meeting, Chidambaram sought assistance from the army to operationalise the hubs in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad in the first phase, Home Ministry sources said.
The Home Minister, who is on a two-day visit to Orissa, met the victims living in relief camps set up after a series of communal clashes following the killing of 85-year-old VHP leader Swami Laxmananda Saraswati in August last year.
A special Delhi court on Thursday allowed Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy to become a witness in his complaint against Home Minister P Chidambaram in the 2G case. The court also told Swamy to appear in the witness box on December 17 to give his statement. Swamy had sought the court's permission to examine witnesses, including senior Central Bureau of Investigation officials, to establish erstwhile finance minister and present Home Minister P Chidambaram's role.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said the New Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express and passengers on board were safe and that the Centre has rushed a relief train to bring back the passengers.
Coming to the defence of Home Minister P Chidambaram, the government on Friday insisted that the former finance minister had "no role anywhere" in the 2G spectrum allocation controversy and demands for his resignation were a "conspiracy" against him.
"We demand the resignation of Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, Union Home Secretary G K Pillai, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah and state Director General of Police Girish Kumar in connection with Azad's murder," Maoist leader Kishenji told PTI over phone.
Chidambaram appealed to political parties in Andhra Pradesh to read the recommendations of the Justice Srikrishna Committee on Telangana with an "open mind" and give "impartial consideration" to them.
A case registered against Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and his predecessor P Chidambaram in Hyderabad for allegedly "cheating" Telangana people through "misleading" statements about the separate statehood has been closed for lack of evidence, Cyberabad police said on Monday.
Pakistan on Monday welcomed Home Minister P Chidambaram's remarks about sharing the findings of the probe into the Samjhauta Express bombing, claiming that the level of cooperation on interaction on security matters had enhanced between the two nations. Welcoming his Indian counterpart's statement in this regard, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said, "I welcome the statement of Mr Chidambaram on Samjhauta Express investigations to be shared with Pakistan."
Under fire for the alleged leakage of the Liberhan Commission report, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram called the home secretary, a joint secretary and a few other officials to his residence to establish that he wasn't responsible.Chidambaram called his top officers on Monday to break the seals and open four boxes of documents which were annexures to the main report. These were all kept in a secured corner of his official residence.
With states stoutly opposed to the National Counter Terrorism Centre in its current form, Home Minister P Chidambaram has assured that the matter of re-location of the anti-terror body outside the Intelligence Bureau would be re-examined. In his concluding remarks at the chief ministers' conference, which were released officially on Sunday, the home minister sought to clarify the decision of placing the NCTC within the IB.
Flaying the Union government for the death of his devotee Rajbala who succumbed to her injuries suffered in the Ramlila ground lathi charge, yoga guru Ramdev on Tuesday pointedly blamed Union Home Minister P Chidambaram for it.
Left-wing extremism is a greater challenge to the country than terrorism in terms of the number of lives lost in violence, Home Minister P Chidambaram said on Wednesday. "Terrorism is a major challenge for the security and sovereignty of our country. But left-wing extremism is a greater challenge than terrorism in terms of the number of people killed in violence," Chidambaram said. "Ten times more people are killed in Naxal attacks than in terror strikes," he said.
Chidambaram said he was honoured that the two leaders visited him.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday formally announced the death of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and four others in a helicopter crash.The wreckage was found by Air Force helicopters at 8.30 am on a hillock, which is 8 to 9 km from Atmakur, he said."The bodies are still lying on the hillock and all efforts are being made to retrieve them. I don't know how long the process will take," said Chidambaram.
An effigy of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram was set on fire by victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy on Saturday to protest the decision by the Group of Ministers of not revising the figures of deaths and the injured in the curative petition pending before the Supreme Court. The GoM decision would mean the victims would not be able to claim additional compensation, which they have been clamouring for.
Home Minister P Chidambaram has taken a major share of the pie of the Empowered Group of Ministers and Group of Ministers after the exit of Pranab Mukherjee.
Home Minister P Chidambaram on Friday said protesting Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha workers were not lathicharged by police on August 9 in the capital, an issue which had sparked uproar in Parliament with the Bharatiya Janata Party stalling proceedings and demanding his resignation.
Former Union home minister Chidambaram lashed out at the government over the alleged sluggish pace of inoculation against the viral disease and claimed that the country will not achieve 100-per cent first-dose vaccination by December 31.
While a revamp our internal security architecture is needed, an all powerful home minister may not be such a good idea, writes strategic expert B Raman.
Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday expressed surprise over the statement made by wife of jailed rights activist Binayak Sen, who had said that she did not feel safe in the country.Answering questions about the judgement sentencing Sen to life imprisonment on sedition charges, Chidambaram said the judgement may be unsatisfactory for many people but the only way to 'correct' it was by filing an appeal. Binayak Sen has been convicted by a court of law," he said.
"I was disinclined" to move to the Home Ministry but in a situation like this, "I answered to the call of duty", P Chidambaram said on Monday on his portfolio being changed from Finance Minister to Home Minister.
Refusing to buy the argument that the remarks on P Chidambaram in the 2G note was the handiwork of a single officer, Communist Party of India-Marxist on Friday demanded the resignation of the home minister alleging that it clearly showed that he gave the nod for a policy which led to a loss to the exchequer.
Referring to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's letter to the Prime Minister in the 2G Spectrum case, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday alleged that Home Minister P Chidambaram was involved in the scam and demanded that he should resign or else be sacked immediately.