The ruling Congress in Maharashtra has cut a sorry figure after its leader, former chief minister Ashok Chavan, has been chargesheeted in the Adarsh Housing Society scam.
Press Council of India chief Markandey Katju, who is spearheading efforts to seek pardon for 1993 Mumbai blast convicts Sanjay Dutt and Zaibunnisa Kazi, has sought suspension of their jail sentences.
Already flooded with requests for central security cover from more VIPs, the Union home ministry is facing a surge in similar pleas from VIPs in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, after the state governments withdrew their security. Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said trimming of the security cover given to VIPs by the state governments had led to a sudden rush of people approaching his ministry for security cover, after they apprehended threat to their lives.
The Lok Sabha on Tuesday took up a bill which provides for stringent punishment for crimes against women including natural life term or even death for repeat offenders of rape besides various penalties for stalking, voyeurism and acid attacks.
As soon as the House met on Tuesday morning, opposition Peoples Democratic Party members and the independent MLA Engineer Abdul Rashid raised the issue of the return of the mortal remains of Guru to his family. However, the BJP and the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party members were on their toes countering the PDP members.
The government on Friday turned down the opposition's demand in Rajya Sabha for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the rape and murder of three minor girls in Maharashtra's Bhandara district, saying the Centre does not intervene in state affairs.
Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien, who is in the eye of a storm over the Left demand for his resignation in the wake of fresh charges in the Suryanelli rape case, on Friday presided over the Upper House without objection from any member.
Hyderabad remained tense on Sunday in anticipation of an announcement by the Centre on the creation of a separate state of Telangana by Sunday evening. Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde is expected to meet party chief Sonia Gandhi and other senior leaders before making a final announcement on Telangana by Sunday evening.
A liberalised visa agreement and extradition treaty are likely to be signed between India and Bangladesh during Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde's three-day visit to Dhaka beginning January 28.
Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde recently claimed that 26/11 terror strike mastermind and Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Saeed had visited border areas in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir a few days before the killing of two Indian soldiers by Pakistani troops.
The home ministry on Thursday ordered the appointment of two woman sub-inspectors and seven woman constables in every police station in Delhi. Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said the Delhi police will soon launch a special drive to recruit female constables and officers and appoint more women personnel in police stations to instill confidence among women.
The Congress top brass, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party chief Sonia Gandhi, met on Saturday evening amid strong demands for swift action against the perpetrators of the horrific gangrape and assault on the 23-year-old paramedic student.
The government on Saturday maintained that the decision of airlifting the Delhi gangrape victim to Singapore was in the interest of the patient and not a political decision.
Bowing to massive public protests over the gangrape of a young Delhi girl, the central government on Saturday announced setting up of a judicial commission to go into the incident and to suggest measures for improving the safety of women and indicated that maximum penalty for rape could be enhanced to death.
Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentary party chief L K Advani on Saturday called up Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde to express his concern over the severe police action on students and young protesters who were marching towards Rashtrapati Bhawan to demand justice for the Delhi gangrape victim
Sharing the widespread outrage over Delhi gang-rape, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described it as "very upsetting" incident and directed Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde to ensure such cases do not recur.
Calling Pakistan's bluff, India on Monday said Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed had never been arrested in connection with Mumbai terror attacks even though its Interior Minister Rehman Malik claimed so.
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has opposed a Group of Ministers' recommendation to set up the long-awaited National War Memorial at the India Gate complex, saying it will affect the ambience of the area and restrict people's movement at the popular hangout zone. In separate letters to Defence Minister A K Antony, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath, she said an alternative site should be found for the memorial.
Operationalisation of the landmark Indo-Pak visa agreement will be delayed as India has asked Pakistan to postpone Interior Minister Rehman Malik's proposed visit in New Delhi on November 22-23.
The Centre on Wednesday said it would not like to interfere in the construction of a memorial in the Golden Temple for those killed during the Operation Blue Star by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, respecting the rights of such organisations bestowed by the Constitution.
Back after roadshows across the globe, Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Thursday exuded confidence that foreign investors will line up for the government's ambitious ultra mega power projects.
A decision on the way ahead for the ambitious Food Security Bill is expected to be taken on Wednesday with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi holding deliberations on the matter.
The government on Friday reached out to the Opposition to end the impasse in Parliament over the coal block allocation issue but the Bharatiya Janata Party remained firm on its stand that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should resign for his alleged complicity in the case.
Rediff.com takes a look at life inside a relief camp in Kokrajhar, which was the epicenter of the recent ethnic violence, which claimed 77 lives.
An angry Congress President Sonia Gandhi was at her combative best after senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Wednesday dubbed as 'illegitimate' the 2009 election, a remark which he later retracted.
Asserting that the perception about his being slow in administrative work was far from reality, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Saturday said the pace of his work was in fact faster than that of his three predecessors during the 13-year-old democratic front government in the state.
A team of five Central Bureau of Investigation officials from Mumbai are camping in New Delhi to further the investigations into the Adarsh Co-operative Housing society. After months of anticipation, the CBI has finally questioned the Union Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde. The man next in line is former Maharashtra chief minister and newly-appointed Science and Technology Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. What is stated in Deshmukh's affidavit?
The Parliament on Thursday passed the anti-rape bill providing natural life term or even death for repeat offenders of rape, with Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde stating the "law will impact the society for years to come".
The government has convened an all- party meeting at 7.30 pm on Wednesday evening to discuss a resolution it plans to move in Parliament on violation of human rights of Tamilians in Sri Lanka, a demand that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam had placed as a condition to stay within the United Progressive Alliance.
An Empowered Group of Ministers on drought headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday approved Rs 1,207-crore relief package to Maharashtra. "Rs 1,207 crore drought relief package has been approved for Maharashtra," Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, who is also a member of the EGoM, told PTI after the meeting of the minister.
The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, which proposes jail term to a rape convict for his entire life, will be taken up at a specially convened meeting of the Union Cabinet on Tuesday with radical changes making rape gender specific.
Home Secretary R K Singh has expressed his regret to Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde for the gaffe of disclosing the names of the victims of the Bhandara rape incident in Rajya Sabha over which the minister faced huge embarrassment.
Against the backdrop of the Delhi gang rape case, the government on Tuesday came under sharp attack from the Opposition in the Lok Sabha over the safety of women in the national capital even as Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde rejected suggestions that the city has become "unsafe".
In just first three hours of the twin bomb blasts in Hyderabad on Thursday evening, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy on Tuesday held discussions with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on the issue of Telangana.Reddy, who was called to the capital by the Congress high command on Monday, is understood to have briefed Dr Singh about the prevailing political and law and order situation in the state.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has said that most of the bureaucratic hurdles for investments from Non-Resident Indians and US businessmen have been removed.
The Centre on Tuesday came out in support of film star Kamal Haasan, who is facing problems in releasing his mega budget film 'Vishwaroopam', saying everyone in the country enjoys the freedom of expression and artists have full liberty to continue their choice of work.
The Congress on Monday sought to counter Rajnath Singh's attack on Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde over his 'Hindu terror' remarks asking whether the Bharatiya Janata Party chief had not gone to meet terror accused Pragya Singh Thakur in jail.
Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed on Saturday claimed that he had not visited areas along the Line of Control shortly before a recent spurt in violations of the ceasefire between India and Pakistan. "I did not visit the LoC where the Indian soldiers were killed," Saeed, who now heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawah, said in a statement.
Two groups -- one for a separate state of Telangana and the other for a united Andhra Pradesh -- are holding meetings in New Delhi and Lucknow to urge the government to rule in its favour. Vicky Nanjappa reports
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