Timeline Refresh
On Day One of the monsoon session of Parliament, both houses were adjourned before lunch over the alleged involvement of the PM and Home minister in the 2G scam. 2G accused Shahid Balwa has also dragged both the names during his testimony in court today. The other big stories today...
- PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti arrested in Sopore
- Adarsh: 6 months on CBI to finally grill Vilasrao
- Mayawati directs party MPs to stall Parliament
- Religious varsity VC shot shot at in Punjab
- India enters UNSC after 19 years
- Moily on K'taka: BJP should ask for fresh polls
- Hazare: Wonder if 'honest PM is telling lies'
- BJP: PM vitiated atmosphere with skeleton remark
- SC refuses bail to 2G accused Morani
- RR wants Interpol Red-Corner notice on Chhota Rajan
- Stalin held, released in Chennai for protesting DMK arrests
- 10 Telangana MPs boycott Day One of Parliament
- Xinjiang terrorists trained in Pakistan: China
More on telecom giant Bharti Airtel (see our 17:56 pm post).
The company today proposed an annual pay package of up to Rs 70 crore for its chief Sunil Mittal, besides other benefits, while seeking its shareholders' nod for his remuneration.
The proposed package would be more than double his last fiscal remuneration of Rs 27.5 crore, which is nearly three-fourth or about 76 per cent of the combined pay package of the company's all directors in fiscal ended March 31, 2011.
Mittal's remuneration rose by about Rs 4 crore or 17 per cent from his 2009-2010 fiscal's package of Rs 23.5 crore.
Watch it, you're turning green.
A really interesting story on the Daily Mail.
Doctors were baffled when Stephen Mabbutt told them: "I can hear my eyeballs moving." But they finally diagnosed a rare ear condition in which sounds inside the body are heard very loudly. Stephen, 57, could also hear his heart beating - and when he chewed food the noise was deafening to him.
A team of five CBI officials from Mumbai are camping in New Delhi to further the investigations into the Adarsh Cooperative Housing society. After months of anticipation the CBI has finally questioned Union Cabinet Minister Sushilkumar Shinde. The man next in line is Union Cabinet Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.
Rediff.com's Toral Varia chronicles how the former chief minister of Maharashtra is believed to be involved in the Adarsh scam and what the affidavit filed before the Adarsh judicial commission says.
Shortly on rediff.com
Our Delhi correspondent writes in to say that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has directed the BSP MPs to block parliament till the UPA2 tables the Land Acquisition Bill, by the end of the monsoon session. Mayawati's directions were carried out by the BSP leader in Rajya Sabha.
In the business advisory committee meeting, the BSP conveyed to UPA2 that the party wants Parliament to run, the announcement should be made in both houses.
Corporate Affairs Minister M Veerappa Moily said today that fresh polls were needed in Karnataka following the resignation of chief minister B S Yeddyurappa.
"The right course of action is, if there is any grace left with BJP, they will have to step down and ask for a fresh elections," Moily said before Parliament began session today.
"Governance is already a casualty under B S Yeddyurappa and BJP. Whether Yeddyurappa continues or somebody else continues, governance is already dead and gone," he added.
Yeddyurappa had resigned on Sunday as Chief Minister after the report by state Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde named him in the illegal mining scam.
proposed Lokpal and wondered whether the "honest" person was
telling lies.
Hazare questioned the government's intentions on the Lokpal Bill and said he was ready to go to jail if he was not allowed to demanding a strong anti-corruption law. He made it clear that he was not insisting on undertaking the fast at Jantar Mantar because for him the issue is more important than the venue.
Sacked CWG OC chief Suresh Kalmadi, who is currently lodged in Tihar jail, was today admitted to AIIMS for a fresh medical check-up.
"Kalmadi has been admitted and he is in room number 1001. Few formalities, as per the norms for MPs, were done in the morning before admitting him," an AIIMS doctor said. The 67-year-old MP from Pune, who arrived at around 10 am today, was admitted to the cardio neuro-sciences department of the hospital in a private ward.
When asked why was he being admitted, Kalmadi retorted, "Ask the doctors. Can't I have a checkup?"
Cartoonist Matt in the Telegraph.
US President Barack Obama said congressional leaders agreed to a plan that would lift the nation's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling.
BJP spokesperson Sushma Swaraj says the PM has vitiated the atmosphere by commenting on the Oppostion. BJP spokesperson Arun Jaitley added that the PM knew every deal in the 2G scam.
This is what the PM said on Sunday that has 'vitiated the atmosphere' in Parliament. The Indian Express report: Too many skeletons in Oppostion cupboard
Banking giant HSBC has said it will cut 25,000 jobs by 2013 and exit operations in 20 countries as it looks to save billions of dollars. The announcement came as the bank reported pre-tax profits for the first six months of the year of $11.5bn, up 3% on the $11.1bn the bank made a year earlier, reports bbc.co.uk.
district of Manipur this afternoon.
Suspected militants tied the bomb to a two wheeler and it exploded at around 2 pm killing four persons on the spot, official sources said.
The injured were admitted to hospital, they said, adding police have rushed to the spot. No group has claimed responsibility so far.
And more tweets from R Rajagopalan.
- Ganesamurthy MDMK shouted "get out". You are killers of the Tamil race in Lok Sabha when Rajapakshe was introduced by the Speaker.
- Dr Karan Singh is the only one MP in Rajya Sabha who wears Gandhi Khadi cap. Singh is particular to stand before Arobindo statue
- Gandhi Khadi cap wearing MPs minimal in Parliament. Only two 90 year old Bihar MP Ramsundar Das and Manikarao Gavit Maharshtra Congress MP wore it.
A flurry of tweets from R Rajagopalan, the inside story of Parliament, so to speak...
- "PM must resign" was the slogan held by Orissa BJP MP Rudra Narayan Pani in Rajya Sabha today. The PM laughed at it
- E Ahmed Union Minister was seen dozing off in Lok Sabha when PM was introducing Union Ministers.
- Jyotiraditya Scindia was in sorrow when the PM stood up to introduce new Union Ministers. Did not pay attention to the claps and ovations.
- On the opening day of Parliament at least 15 women MPs of Congress sat in one row in the last benches, which was the main attraction.
- Shatrughan Sinha was seen greeting almost all the MPs wearing dark glasses.inside Lok Sabha
- Dinesh Trivedi, Union Railway Minister walked upto LK Advani -- a gesture which the BJP and TMC MPs saw as emotional
- Raj Babbar, Priya Dutt and Gopinath Munde, entered Lok Sabha at 1115 hours, after the National Anthem.
- Sudip Bandhopadhyaya, preferred not to sit in the treasury benches.When PM introduced Sudip, he stood up from his seat alongwith TMC MPs.
- Sonia Gandhi was not present in Lok Sabha when it assembled at 11 am today. She is suffering from viral fever.
Here's what a Red Corner notice means: A Red-corner notice is an arrest warrant circulated by Interpol on behalf of the government of a particular country. It is a request from one country to another to arrest and deport the wanted individual.
Chhota Rajan is believed to be in South East Asia -- either in Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok.
In the Maharashtra Assembly today, Home Minister RR Patil said the government will ask the CBI to inform Interpol to put up a Red Corner notice against gangster Chhota Rajan in the J Dey murder case.
Mumbai Police commissioner Arup Patnaik had claimed underworld gangster Chhota Rajan ordered the veteran journalist's murder and the cops had enough evidence. The murder was a well co-ordinated and synchronised operation with help from the underworld. Dey, who worked with Mid Day, was shot dead on June 11.
R. Rajagopalan on Twitter: "Go Back" slogans were raised by AIDMK MPs in the Lok Sabha when Speaker Meira Kumar introduced the Sri Lankan delegation in a special box inside Lok Sabha.
Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari today mentioned the presence of Sri Lankan visitors in the special box. As the Sri Lankan MPs rose in acknowledgment, members (apart from the AIADMK) thumped their desk to welcome them.
afternoon did not find support from different political parties.
The Question Hour was conducted in the afternoon during the Budget session at the direction of Chairman Hamid Ansari, as he found that the House was not able to conduct the important business because of frequent disruptions.
India skipper MS Dhoni's controversial decision to allow Ian Bell to resume play after the latter was given out by the umpires, sparks of a controversy across the cricketing and the non-cricketing world. In an exclusive interview to CNN-IBN Anil Kumble on Dhoni's decision to allow Bell to bat.
"Mahendra Singh Dhoni had around 20 minutes to decide on the decision that was taken. If you notice during the break in the studio, Alan Wilkins confirmed that the umpires had asked Dhoni whether he would take back the decision and Dhoni had said no. So when he went back during tea, Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss walked up to the Indian coach requesting them to take back the decision and which they did after consulting the team which in hindsight I think was a very good decision."
From the New Yorker, Nicholas Schmidle, reports on a fascinationg operation...
Three months ago, on May 1, shortly after eleven o'clock at night, two MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters lifted off from Jalalabad Air Field, in eastern Afghanistan, and embarked on a covert mission into Pakistan to kill Osama bin Laden.
Inside the aircraft were 23 Navy SEALs from Team Six, which is officially known as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group. A Pakistani-American translator, whom I will call Ahmed, and a dog named Cairo, a Belgian Malinois, were also aboard.
Two months after Osama bin Laden was killed, the United States revealed today that the operation (despite being '60 percent sure' about his presence in the Abbottabad compound) had been delayed. The fears were that a move could affect its relationship with Pakistan.
"There has never been a dispute on targeting al Qaeda. The ISI had translated a communication of (Abu Ahmed) al Kuwaiti (Bin Laden's courier) from Arabic for the CIA which ultimately led to the compound of the al Qaeda chief," a source said.
Former News Corp boss, Rebekah Brooks's testimony before Parliament describes a newsroom chain of command that other editors would not recognise.
Nazim Rashid, a 28-year-old youth, died in police custody yesterday at Sopore in Baramulla district, a day after being detained in connection with the killing of a civilian by militants earlier in the week.
DMK leader and M Karunanidhi's sin MK Stalin has been held in Chennai for protesting against CM J Jayalalithaa's crackdown on DMK leaders. TKS Elangovan and other leaders were also held.
In an embarrassment to the Congress, 10 party MPs from Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh, who have tendered their resignation on the separate
statehood issue, today stayed away from Parliament on the opening day of the Monsoon Session.
The MPs, including senior party leader K Keshav Rao, decided not to attend the session and were closeted at his residence. Karimnagar MP Ponnam Prabhakar said the Telangana Congress MPs who have resigned their posts will not attend the session. "We want a separate Telangana state. That is our only
demand. So, we are not attending Parliament," he said.
Anders Behring Breivik has the blond hair, blue eyes and strong features that are associated with the group.
Janne Kristiansen, the head of Norway''s intelligence agency the PST, however, claimed that Breivik''s look was not natural. You do not have that Aryan look naturally in Norway, the Daily Mail quoted her, as saying.
With the Opposition seeking to corner the government in Parliament on the issue of corruption and price rise, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today appealed to all parties to jointly tackle problems facing the nation and promised a structured debate on matters raised by them.
"It is our sincere desire that this session should run smoothly and Parliament should discuss all issues of national importance and the government is quite prepared for any subject which the Opposition would like to be taken up," Singh told reporters outside Parliament.
BJP wants suspension of question hour in the Rajya Sabha and wants to discuss the PM and home minister's role in the 2G scam. Consequently, the House was adjourned.
In Afghanistan, news is that President Hamid Karzai's half-brother was killed by an associate over a personal issue, and was not assassinated by the Taliban.
The Taliban had earlier claimed responsibility for the death of Ahmed Wali Karzai on July 12.
But the official has said close review of the killing led authorities to conclude the Taliban was not behind Ahmed's assassination. The gunman was identified as Sardar Mohammad, a trusted friend of the family and security commander.
Cutting Pakistan no slack, the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Admiral Mike Mullen alleged today that there were still several strongholds of the Al Qaeda network inside Pakistan.
Addressing the troops during a third day of his visit to Afghanistan, Mullen said there are still safe heavens of terrorists which included Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Haqqani network, in Pakistan's tribal region.Mullen claimed that US commandos believed that security affairs have improved.
From the Dawn, a column by Hajrah Mumtaz on Pakistani and its attempted tryst with democracy.
Excerpt: Consider the word that has recently been doing the rounds: that the army must somehow, constitutionally and without initiating a coup, save the country. Are we crazy? True, there are a formidable number of challenges facing us, not that that is anything new. Read more
Neighbourhood news:
China said today that Islamic extremists were behind an attack on the eve of the Muslim fasting month in the restive western region of Xinjiang that left 20 people dead. The attack in Kashgar city on Sunday afternoon was the latest violence to shake the region where Muslim Uighurs have long resented the presence of Han Chinese and religious and political controls imposed by Beijing. It came less than 24 hours after two small blasts hit the city, which is dominated by Uighurs.
What is that they say about riding a tiger?
Good morning. The top stories this morning...
Yeddyurappa resigns, successor to be selected on August 3 (The Hindu)
The party leadership is unlikely to concede any of Mr. Yeddyurappa's demands to appoint his nominee as the next Chief Minister and himself as president of the BJP State unit. Read
Karnataka: Ambitious sons led to Yeddyurappa's downfall (The Times of India)
Yeddyurappa's 38-month tenure ended on Sunday in ignominy, after his sons dubious land deals were exposed by Lokayukta Justice Santosh N Hegde. Read
Yeddyurappa backs Sadananda Gowda as successor (The Hindu)
Ending three days of defiance, Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa who resigned on Sunday, favoured sitting Lok Sabha MP D.V. Sadananda Gowda as his successor. Read
BJP rejects Yeddy's choice for CM, defers exercise till Aug 3 (Indian Express)
Disagreement between the BJP Central leadership and the B S Yeddyurappa camp today over the latter's choice of Udipi MP Sadanand Gowda for the post of Karnataka Chief Minister forced the party to defer the exercise till August 3. Read
Government, opposition gear up for stormy session (Hindustan Times)
A stormy monsoon session of Parliament, which starts Monday, awaits the government with opposition parties dishing out a host of subjects for debate. Read
Speak Asias PR firm top brass quizzed (DNA)
The police are grilling the arrested persons to understand how investors money was routed out of the country and whether it has been invested abroad by company officials. Read
Barack Obama unfurls 11th-hour deal to avert US default (Hindustan Times)
President Barack Obama has announced a last-minute deal to raise the US borrowing limit and avoid a catastrophic default and he urged lawmakers to "do the right thing" and approve the agreement. Read
VVS Laxman, vaseline and Vaughan rows cloud 2nd Test (The Times of India)
A controversy erupted in the second India-England Test when VVS Laxman was accused of using vaseline on his bat to manipulate Hot-Spot technology. Read