Has the country lost its secret weapon for competing with growing countries like China and Brazil? Mayank Mishra reports
Facing criticism over the alleged suicide of gang rape accused inside Tihar jail, the Congress on Monday promised action for any "failure" by officials but dismissed contentions that Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit should be held responsible for it.
Dismissed as a political greenhorn, engineer-turned-civil servant Arvind Kejriwal has cemented his place in politics with a stunning political debut for his nascent AAP and emerged as a giant killer to sweep Sheila Dikshit out from not only office but also her constituency.
Vice President Hamid Ansari, Aam Admi Party Chief Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi's Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Dev were among the first few to cast their votes in the Delhi assembly election on Wednesday.
Notwithstanding the focus on women, Rahul Gandhi's scheduled interaction with state Congress leaders in New Delhi on Friday and Saturday will virtually be an all-male affair.
The Delhi government on Friday rejected as 'totally baseless' Arvind Kejriwal's allegations of restraining the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission from passing an order in 2010 to slash tariff by 23 per cent. "The allegations are a bundle of lies," Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's Office said.
The Delhi government on Friday said Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has not been indicted by the Comptroller and Auditor General on corruption charges for dubious Commonwealth Games projects and the auditor has only pointed out certain "procedural wrongdoings".
The Delhi police have asked Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's office to organise programmes with large gathering at the secretariat instead of her residence in central Delhi citing security concerns.
Former Bahujan Samaj Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya has described Congress Uttar Pradesh chief ministerial candidate Sheila Dikshit as discard from Delhi, drawing sharp reaction from her party leaders on Thursday.
Activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal Wednesday stood firm in a local court on his stand of not seeking bail in a defamation case filed against him by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's political secretary for his alleged remarks against her during power tariff hike protests.
Identifying "unbridled influx" of migrants into Delhi as a major challenge, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Thursday blamed the burgeoning population for putting existing infrastructure under strain and sought help from the Centre to deal with the situation.
Under attack from Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar on Wednesday wrote to the home ministry rebutting charges that police had interfered when a magistrate was recording the statement of Delhi gangrape victim.
A controversy has erupted over the recording of the statement of the 23-year-old gangrape victim with Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit complaining to Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde that senior police officials "interfered" in the process even as she sought a high-level inquiry into it.
Sheela Bhatt blames the Delhi gang-rape and its aftermath on the dreadful transport mafia, the offspring of the nexus between politicians, crooked bureaucrats and shady operators.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit met Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Sunday and urged him to ensure rationalisation of police deployment, including for VIP security, and setting up a separate authority to look into complaints against personnel.
With Defence Minister A K Antony rejecting her opposition to build a national war memorial at the India Gate, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has sought United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi's intervention on the issue.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal and scores of people staged a sit in near Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's residence on Friday morning to protest against demolition of buildings in a south Delhi locality and demanded that they be given an audience with her.
Israel has protested to India for allowing a journalist, charged with involvement in an attack on the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi in February last year, to share the dais with senior Indian politicians, calling it "most inappropriate".
The police on Monday stopped activists led by Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Admi Party from marching to Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's residence to deliver around eight lakh letters they claimed to have collected from Delhiites who have decided not to pay electricity bills.
Activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal was on Wednesay released by a Delhi court on an undertaking after he refused to seek bail in a criminal defamation case filed against him by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's political secretary for his remarks during protests on power tariff issue.
Amid the outrage over the hike in power tariff, the Bharatiya Janata Party's Delhi unit on Saturday filed a police complaint against Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and a number of senior bureaucrats, alleging their involvement in a "conspiracy" to benefit three private power distribution companies.
"The citizens in Delhi know that December 4 elections are for Delhi and not the general elections. We are suffering from pro-incumbency and not anti-incumbency," says a confident Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in an interview with CNN-IBN.
In a fresh attack on the Delhi police, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has sought the prime minister's intervention to ensure better policing in Delhi, complaining that the force has failed to deliver on its promise to improve women's safety after the December 16 gangrape incident.
Unhappy over functioning of the police in Delhi, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention in ensuring better security for women.
Congress general secretary Ajay Maken talks to rediff.com's Anita Katyal about the road ahead for the Congress and the UPA government.
A delegation of Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday met President Pratibha Patil and submitted a memorandum apprising her about findings of Shunglu Committee and CAG relating to alleged corruption involving Delhi government and Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in Commonwealth Games projects.
Launching a fresh attack on Delhi Police, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit Wednesday rued that things have not changed since the brutal December 16 gang rape incident in the city and women are still scared of going to police stations to register their complaints.
Once you analyse the data, you will realise the state government wants to take credit for achievements that do not belong to it.
Who's wooing Narendra Modi now? Which post did Sheila Dikshit refuse? What is Montek Singh Ahluwalia planning? All this and more in this week's Dilli Gupshup.
Amid widespread outrage over the barbaric gangrape of a girl inside a moving bus, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Tuesday urged the Chief Justice of Delhi high court to immediately make functional five special fast track courts to try cases of assault on women, as approved by the Delhi government.
The Delhi government's 181 helpline for women, which was launched in the wake of the December 16 gangrape, has received over two lakh calls in the last four-and-half months.
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.
The Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday called off its protest march to Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's residence after she "agreed" to receive 10.5 lakh letters of consumers stating that they would not pay "inflated" power and water bills.
Aam Aadmi Party has threatened to march to Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's residence next Sunday if her government does not receive over 10 lakh letters refusing to pay "inflated" power and water bills.
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Sunday made a veiled attack on activist Arvind Kejriwal, accusing him of trying to build his political future by "misleading" people on the issue of hike in power tariff in Delhi. Without naming Kejriwal, Dikshit, while addressing a public function at Nangloi in West Delhi, said certain elements were trying to rake up the power tariff issue for their political gain by "misleading" the citizens of Delhi.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday met Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde in the wake of the alleged suicide by a December 16 gang rape case accused and said a magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the incident.
"My own daughter feels unsafe in the city." This is what Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, a vocal critic of the city police, said about the law and order situation, especially on safety of women in the capital.
Retaining its supremacy with a spectacular victory in the civic polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday night sought the resignation of Sheila Dikshit as Delhi Chief Minister, owning moral responsibility for Congress' electoral drubbing, saying the poll results are people's mandate against her "corrupt" government.
There is no proposal to bring the Delhi police under the Delhi government, the Centre said on Tuesday amid demands raised by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit that certain aspects of policing in the capital should be handed over to the city administration.
After drawing strong criticism for asking Delhiites to cut use of power if they cannot pay high electricity bill, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit was in a damage control mode on Monday as she said her comments were taken out of context.
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