Poor governance dogs Maya, past haunts SP in key phase
Memories of Mulayam raj vs. failed governance of Mayawati. The competing sentiments are in full play in the Yadav heartland, with a looming question if fears over ‘law and order’ could hobble the Samajwadi Party in its den. Amid reports of a surge in the halfway voting to Uttar Pradesh assembly, the Samajwadi Party is faced with tough questions in the region where they hope to make strong recoveries to trump the Bahujan Samaj Party. Read more
Pranab Mukherjee to present budget on March 16
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee will present the annual budget for 2012/13 on March 16, while the railways budget will be presented on March 14, Pawan Kumar Bansal said on Tuesday.
The budget session of parliament will start on March 12, Pawan Kumar Bansal, the minister of parliament affairs, told reporters. Read more
Priyanka Gandhi to campaign in Rae Bareli, Amethi from Feb 3
With polling in three states over, Congress star campaigners would now be concentrating on Uttar Pradesh with Priyanka Gandhi camping in twin constituencies of Rae Bareli and Amethi from February 3 to campaign for party candidates for coming assembly elections.
According to K L Sharma, a representative of her brother Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka would address “nukkar sabhas” (roadside meetings) and take part in road shows during her stay in Rae Bareli and Amethi. Read more
Kanimozhi, five others bail pleas in 2G case adjourned to Monday
The wait continued for DMK MP Kanimozhi and five others accused in the 2G case as their bail pleas were adjourned by the Delhi high court to Monday.
Former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura, Bollywood producer Karim Morani, DMK-run Kaliagnar TV MD Sharad Kumar and directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd Asif Balwa and Rajeev Agarwal’s bail pleas will be heard. Read more
2G scam: Supreme Court grants bail to 5 corporate executives
The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to Unitech’s Sanjay Chandra, Swan Telecom’s Vinod Goenka and top Reliance ADAG executives Gautam Doshi, Hari Nair and Surendra Pipara in the 2G scam case.
The judgment was delivered by a bench of Justices G S Singhvi and H L Dattu on Wednesday morning.
The apex court asked each accused to give a bail bond of Rs 5 lakhs with 2 sureties each. Read more
Sukhram gets five years in jail, assualted outside court
Former telecom minister Sukhram, convicted for taking Rs 3 lakhs as bribe to give a lucrative contract to a private firm in 1996, was on Saturday sentenced to five years in jail by a Delhi court. He pleaded for leniency in court on grounds of his old age while the CBI called him a “habitual offender” and sought maximum punishment for him. Read more
Prashant Bhushan
Prashant Bhushan (Hindi: प्रशांत भूषण) (born 1956) is an advocate practicing in Delhi [1] and is a social activist. He is the son of eminent lawyer and former Law Minister of India Shanti Bhushan. He Lives in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
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Sanjiv Bhatt in judicial custody, wife fears for his life
Senior IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who had accused Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi of complicity in the 2002 post-Godhra riots, was on Saturday sent to judicial custody after a court rejected the plea for police remand. Read more
Cash-for vote-scam: Advani dares government to arrest him
BJP on Thursday went on the offensive on the cash-for-vote scam with L K Advani hailing as “whistle- blowers” the two former party MPs jailed in the scam and declaring that if they are guilty then he too should be sent behind bars.
Amid repeated disruptions from the Congress members in the Lok Sabha, the BJP Parliamentary Party chief made a strong defence of the actions of Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagora during the July 22, 2008 Confidence Vote.
“Whatever was done was done as per Constitutional norms. If anything was wrong I would have stopped them,” said Advani, who is also Working Chairman of NDA.
Raising the issue on the last day of the tumultuous Monsoon session of Parliament, Advani insisted that it was evident during the Confidence Vote that the government was “trying to purchase votes”. Read more
Amar Singh: King of the sting operation now falls to one
Amar Singh lived by the sting, and died by it.
The corporate-turned-politician, who scared the world by tapping conversations, fell to a similar operation which exposed his aides on video, ‘buying’ MPs to back the Congress government in the trust vote in Parliament in 2008. His brazen denial, despite his secretary figuring in these clips, could take him till September 6 but no further. Read more