Haryana Police have registered a case against opposition Indian National Lok Dal MLA from Loharu, Dharampal Obra and his wife Sheela for allegedly slapping and threatening a 30-year-old physically challenged rape victim and her husband.
Sheela Bhatt, who traveled with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the BRICS Summit in Durban, gauges the buzz ahead of the event that begins Tuesday.
"The law and order issue all over UP needs national attention," says a senior journalist from a Hindi daily published from Lucknow, and he is right. Under Akhilesh Singh Yadav, communal violence returns with a vengeance to the state, reports Sheela Bhatt
Just months before the deadly gas leak in Bhopal killed 15,000 people, journalist Rajkumar Keswani -- who passed into the ages on Friday, May 21, 2021 -- had warned that the 'city stood on the edge of a volcano'.
India looks forward to the meet between Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Chinese premier Xi Jinping's in Durban on March 27 on the sidelines of the BRICS summit. The next week is important for Sino- India bilateral relations, says Sheela Bhatt.
Who ordered the search against DMK leader Stalin or did the CBI really act of its own? Sheela Bhatt breaks down the events leading up to the raid and explains why claims by the government and CBI are unconvincing.
Sonia and Rahul Gandhi meeting their party's stalwart of many decades -- President Pranab Mukherjee -- is not unusual, but the timing of their visits is, notes Sheela Bhatt
Congress president Sonia Gandhi has more or less finalised the plan to tweak the Union Cabinet before Parliament opens on August 8. Three ministers will be shifted to the new portfolios. Home Minister P Chidambaram, as expected, will become the finance minister. He succeeds Pranab Mukherjee who has become President of India. He is impatiently waiting for the announcement to be made within 'three to four days'. Sheela Bhatt reports.
In an exclusive interview with Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt, BJP MP Harin Pathak, a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee probing the 2G scam, says without mincing words that panel chief P C Chacko cannot decide exclusively whether to summon prime accused former Union Telecom Minister A Raja or not.
Six IPS officers have been shortlisted for the post of the CBI director once incumbent A P Singh retires in November. Sheela Bhatt reports
Sheela Bhatt feels that in view of the wrong message percolating down in India from New Delhi, it is very necessary that the political class, instead of running down the protesters, instead of resisting the movement at Jantar Mantar for small political gains, say something with conviction
In an exclusive interview with rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt, Telo Tulku Rinpoche, who heads the biggest Russian monastery in Kalmykia and is the president of Buddhist Union of Kalmykia, says while in New Delhi, they want to attract Putin's attention to an urgent need of visa to the Dalai Lama, despite China's reservations.
Mamata Banerjee changed her stand on the presidential election because the Congress and Pranab Mukheree, at different levels, worked hard to make her understand that the 'Vote for Pranab' is a win-win situation, reports Sheela Bhatt
Sheela Bhatt says Sonia Gandhi's speech in Rajkot did not do anything to galvanise the Congress cadre in Gujarat.
Somabhai Modi talks to Sheela Bhatt and Sonil Dedhia about his famous younger brother, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi
P Chidamabaram's February 28 Budget will not have any big-ticket ideas, reports Sheela Bhatt
What does the high voters' turnout of 68 per cent in first phase of Gujarat election mean? Sheela Bhatt tries to find out.
'The mental issues are too complex to be handled.' 'It is hitting us hard for one reason.' 'We have such a high level of fear about this disease.'
Unless the name of a Congress-linked person or leader having links with the middlemen is revealed, the target of the Opposition party will remain blurred, says Sheela Bhatt
None of Dr Manmohan Singh's arguments to make us understand his government's decisions were new. Sheela Bhatt examines the prime minister's address to the nation
"The Congress is in the hands of a few people. Rahul Gandhi, C P Joshi, Mohan Prakash, Ahmed Patel, Shaktisinh Gohil and Arjun Modhwadia have decided on all the 182 seats. Once again, our leaders are plotting to defeat each other. They have made a mess of the Congress's improving fortunes. Like 2007, the Congress will lose both the election and prestige."
"The Congress is in the hands of a few people. Rahul Gandhi, C P Joshi, Mohan Prakash, Ahmed Patel, Shaktisinh Gohil and Arjun Modhwadia have decided on all the 182 seats. Once again, our leaders are plotting to defeat each other. They have made a mess of the Congress's improving fortunes. Like 2007, the Congress will lose both the election and prestige."
'Through his Election 2012 campaign Narendra Modi has not shown any signs to suggest that he is confident enough to take the risk to set new standards to don the national leadership. His attempt to stoop low to conquer is avoidable, entirely, in view of his comfortable position in the ongoing election campaign.' Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt identifies the factors that are not going well for Modi.
These include increasing the public float in listed companies to 35 per cent from 25 per cent, increasing the minimum statutory limit for FPI investment in a firm from 24 per cent to the sectoral foreign investment, and lowering government holding in listed public sector undertakings.
'The biggest damage is inflicted not during the riots, but after the riots. The curfews and inactivity brings misery to survivors of the riots. In every riot, some 3,000 Muslim families slip below the poverty line. Nobody talks about them.' Zafar Yunus Sareshwala, who speaks in Narendra Modi's favour and has initiated the dialogue between Modi and Gujarati Muslims, tells Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
Sheela Bhatt, who visited Islamabad and Lahore to cover the visit of External Affairs Minister SM Krishnato Pakistan last weekend, returned with these impressions of the neighbouring country who India is trying to befriend after more than half a century of mutual hostilities
'Naveen Patnaik's simplicity makes him look like an innocent fellow. But he is not like that. You can go to Odisha's mining areas and you can understand what is going on under his nose. A colossal loss to the national exchequer has taken place in Odisha,' Union Minister Srikant Jena tells Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt, who is travelling with External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on his visit to Islamabad, reports that both India and Pakistan are cautious about keeping the peace process moving forward.
Contrary to what Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told the media, Sheela Bhatt discovers that the decision to execute the Pakistani terrorist was a carefully calibrated move taken by the nation's top governmental and political leadership.
CPM general secretary Prakash Karat, who wants a debate in Parliament on FDI in retail, says that the way political parties are poised in Parliament they won't be able to win the motion of no-confidence. Sheela Bhatt reports
'So far as FDI is concerned, there are some things one says -- particularly if one is in election mode -- that may or may not be truly reflective of what is eventually going to happen,' says economist Bibek Debroy.
While Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's moral argument has been severely weakened by the judgment, on the political turf he is unlikely to lose, or gain, from it. However, the story is not about politics but justice, says Sheela Bhatt
Sheela Bhatt explains why Dr Manmohan Singh's visit to Iran for the Non-Aligned Summit will be closely watched around the world.
'Neither Modi nor the BJP have lost control over the minds and votes of their original supporters due to their tremendous political ability to play upon baser communal instincts.' 'But this buoyant support will melt away if the economic scenario remains depressing.' 'That makes 2020 an interesting year to watch out for,' notes Sheela Bhatt.
Will the current session of the Lok Sabha, which is witnessing turmoil due to Bhartiya Janta Party's demand for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's resignation over the Coalgate, get adjourned sine die? As the deadlock between the United Progressive Alliance and BJP continues, the adjournment of the Lok Sabha sine die seems to be the only option left, notes Sheela Bhatt.
'My son and my father were pulled out of the hiding place on second floor, beaten badly and were thrown down from the roof'
While it is almost certain that Gadkari won't get a second term as BJP president, the RSS wants to ease him out without diminishing its own clout within the saffron pariwar. Sheela Bhatt analyses the situation.
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