Timeline Refresh
Former Gujarat chief minister and founder president of the Gujarat Parivartan Party Keshubhai Patel today announced to contest the upcoming assembly polls from Visavadar town of Junagadh district.
"Visavadar town would become an epicentre of Saurashtra region to bring about a change in the political atmosphere of the state," Patel said adding that he would contest the polls from Visavadar, from where, he had contested the state polls in the past and become the chief minister.
83-year-old Patel, who had worked with BJP for decades, had quit the party to form his own last month.
Four CRPF personnel who undertook an operation last year in West Bengal leading to the killing of top Naxal commander Kishenji will be given out-of-turn promotions.
Their promotion has been cleared by the Union Home Ministry, CRPF Director General K Vijay Kumar told reporters in Kolkata today. In a huge setback to Maoists, their top leader Kishenji alias Koteshwar Rao (58) was killed in November last year in a gun-battle with security forces in a forest in West Midnapore district of West Bengal.
Two young CRPF officers -- Assistant Commandants Vinoj P Joseph and Nagendra Singh, both officers of CRPF's CoBRA battalion, -- have been awarded the highest peace time gallantry medal, Shaurya Chakra, for undertaking the operation.
Shaurya Chakra is usually awarded to army personnel but for the last few years CRPF personnel have also been given the military honour for their daredevilry in anti-Naxal and jungle warfare duties.
In a veiled attack on Arvind Kejriwal, Anna Hazare today said "politics has split" the anti-corruption movement and the pro-party group has gone against his will.
Hazare also decried efforts to link him with some parties and "communal" outfits, in an apparent reference to allegations that he is closing ranks with RSS through yoga guru Ramdev to run the anti-corruption movement after the split with the Kejriwal-led group.
"Those who favour party has been saying that if Anna says, then they will not form a party. But despite that, they have decided to go ahead with the plan against my decision. Sometimes, it is also said they were forming the party because Anna has decided so. This is not right," he said.
In a new blog posting, the 75-year-old activist also said the movement was not divided in the past two years despite efforts by UPA government. But, he added, now it has split even without the government putting in any effort as one group wanted to take the electoral route.
Expressing confidence that Lokpal Bill will be passed before 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he said "unfortunately, the movement has split even before we got the bill. One wants to go political and the other wants to keep the movement alive."
Stung by Narendra Modi's remarks on delay in delivery of Aakash tablets, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal has asked the Gujarat chief minister to keep education away from politics and sent him a couple of these low-cost devices.
"... Your statement has disappointed me. Education is a collaborative venture beyond the pale of politics and we need to work together in the best interest of the children of the country," Sibal said in his letter to Modi sent along with the devices on September 26.
"We have sent the devices to the chief minister. He lives in netherworld, I have shown him on land that Aakash is in your hand," he told reporters in New Delhi today.
Modi had said that the much-hyped Aakash tablets have not come down to earth yet. "Kash (If only) this Aakash tablet could land on earth, then the lie (promise of free laptops by state Congress) they (Congress) are spreading now would hold some weight," Modi had said.
Maharashtra unit of Congress today said there would not be any adverse impact of NCP leader Ajit Pawar's resignation as deputy chief minister on the 13-year old Congress-NCP alliance in the state.
"Ajit Pawar had said while resigning that he won't accept any post till charges against him are cleared," said state Congress chief Manikrao Thakre in Mumbai this evening.
"It was for the NCP to take decision. The issue was being discussed for the last two-three days. Talks were on and today they have come to end." "Congress-NCP alliance would continue and there would not be any adverse impact," he said.
It is unfortunate that the Karnataka government is not following the orders of the committee headed by the prime minister, said the SC.
"Prime Minister is the highest authority... you don't want to comply with this order... we are sorry to say this," said the SC today, adding that Karnataka has to follow Dr Manmohan Singh's directive.
On Tuesday, the Cauvery River Authority, headed by the PM, asked Karnataka to release 9000 cusecs of water everyday to its neighbour till October 15. Karnataka refused.
Karnataka, which is governed by the BJP, has accused the Centre of favouring Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu says it needs the water urgently, but Karnataka says it cannot oblige because it has been hit hard by a drought .
More details are awaited.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Manish Yaduvanshi ordered issuance of NBWs, returnable by November 17, against Thackeray after he failed to appear before the court in response to summons issued on August 31 and sought exemption from personal appearance.
The court noted that the NBWs were issued against the MNS chief by courts in Jamshedpur and Muzaffarpur on December 16, 2008 and November 11, 2009 respectively.
Just before he announced that he was suffering from AIDS, he wondered how he should be remembered. "You can do what you want with my music," he said, "but don't make me boring."
And he got his wish! There is a Hollywood biopic starring Sacha Baron Cohen in the works, and next month a new BBC documentary, The Great Pretender, tells the story of the last five years of his life, according to a report in The Guardian.
Also, Mercury's final solo album, Barcelona has just been re-released.
Read more about the Queen's star here
An envelope containing the rifle bullet arrived at the embassy yesterday, reports said.
A spokeswoman at the prime minister's office said only that the premier had not sent the bullet, without elaborating on any action it might take. Noting that the sender's name written on the envelope was "Yoshihiko Noda", embassy officials took it to police, Jiji said, citing investigative sources.
There was no letter included.
Speaking at the concluding function of the BJP's national council meet, Advani said some allies of the ruling United Progressive Alliance were willing to bring the government down.
"Ten days back if someone would have asked me whether the government will fall, I would say, government is in ICU, on ventilator and the ventilator was not likely to be removed before 2014. But now, some of the allies are feeling that sooner the government falls it's better. Today, it seems almost certain.., it may happen that the government will fall in a year's time," he said.
The new 1.5 diesel has been specifically developed keeping the Indian market in mind says Dr Ulrich Hackenberg, chief of product development at Volkswagen. It will have a different bore and stroke, he adds.
The downsizing project includes the development of new pistons, rings and connecting rods and a stringent validation process that has taken the better part of two years.
VW also hopes to reduce the cost of the engine by assembling it in India. The current 1.6 diesel is imported from South Africa.
Read the full report here
"We will refund the amount. There is no question of going back," senior advocate Gopal Subramaniam, appearing for the company, told a bench headed by Justice K S Radhakrishnan.
He also pleaded with the bench to grant the firms some time to sort out the "disagreement" with SEBI which has alleged that the company is not supplying all the documents pertaining to the investors to it as per the apex court's previous order.
The bench was hearing an application by SEBI, which has alleged that the Sahara Group has not furnished all documents in its custody to the market regulator as was directed by the apex court to do by September 10.
The van belonged to the ICICI bank.
More details are awaited.
The court had suspended for a few weeks the collection of any money at the Gurgaon toll plaza because of the massive traffic jams caused, partly because there weren't enough booths to handle the collection of the tax.
No toll will be charged during 8:30-10:00 am and 5:30- 7:00 pm.
Yeddyurappa went on to say that "from Jawaharlal Nehru to Sonia Gandhi, the Congress has never let down its leaders."
He took a pot shot at BJP president Nitin Gadkari, saying that he hadn't kept his promise of making him the Karnataka BJP chief.
The finding comes following a two-and-a-half-year, 70,000-mile voyage by the schooner across the Atlantic, Pacific, Antarctic and Indian Oceans, to investigate marine ecosystems and biodiversity under climate change, according to a report in The Guardian.
Read the full report here
Sustained foreign capital inflows coupled with weak dollar overseas bolstered the rupee, which resumed higher at52.73 per dollar, from 53.02 yesterday, at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market.
It firmed up further to a five-month high of 52.55 per dollar, before quoting at 52.68 at 1100 hrs. The rupee last traded at 52.55 on May 2, 2012.
He was found dead in June 2011 inside Lucknow jail toilet.
Sanchan was accused of role in the murder of two CMOs. All three deaths were related to the NRHM scam in Utttar Pradesh.
More details are awaited.
The eight core industries have a combined weight of 37.90 per cent in the Index of Industrial Production.
The combined Index was 143.1 in August 2012 with a growth rate of 2.1 per cent compared to their 3.8 per cent growth in August 2011.
The BJP amended its constitution today to allow a second term for Gadkari.
This is the first time that BJP will allow any of its leaders to hold the post for two consecutive terms. Although most of the senior leaders of the party, including LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, are not in favour of the move but the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is adamant to give Gadkari a second term, reports Business Standard.
Panchayat leaders from Jammu and Kashmir met Gandhi yesterday to demand safety and empowerment while the Youth Congress launched an agitation in the state to highlight their cause.
As Rahul played host to the beleaguered panchayat representatives who are being targeted by terrorists, Abdullah told reporters in Srinagar that MLAs belonging to all political parties were opposed to ceding more powers to panchayat representatives.
After a recent killing on 3 sarpanchs, 51 panchayat members have tendered their resignations in the state.
The fire is now under control.
The incident comes days after a huge blaze at a firecracker factory in Sivakasi claimed 39 lives and left over 50 injured.
Read: A tragedy called Sivakasi
In a letter to Modi, Sibal said he was "disappointed" to hear the chief minister's statement about Aakash tablet. "Education is a collaborative venture beyond the pale of politics and we need to work together in the best interests of the children of the country," Sibal said.
On September 5, Modi had said too much hype was being created around Aakash tablets but it was yet to come down to earth. "Eleven months have passed, but no Aakash tablet has come down to earth ... Now I realise why this gizmo is named 'Aakash,'" Modi had said.
Read the full report here
A fisherman found the body floating near some boats in Wilmette Harbour Thursday night, the report said.
Maddula's wallet, Northwestern ID card and his cell phone were found on the body, according to Northwestern University spokesman Alan Cubbage.
The cause of death is under investigation.
Eighteen-year-old Maddula disappeared on Saturday after attending an off-campus party with friends. Friends from his dorm said they last saw him while leaving the off-campus party.
"They realised that he wasn't with them while they were walking to another party," said a friend of Maddula, who was with him at the party.
Read full story here
Patil currently holds the charge of the rural development ministry and was finance minister once earlier. Tope is in charge of the technical education department and is a technocrat.
Union minister Praful Patel said, "The party has decided not to nominate anybody as deputy chief minister, after Ajit Pawar's exit from the cabinet. Ajit Pawar will remain the leader of NCP legislature party in the Maharashtra assembly."
Read full story here
This is his first official visit abroad since he resumed charge as the finance minister.
Chidambaram will be accompanied by Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India Nandan Nilekani.
United States Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will be visiting India on October 9-10 and is also scheduled to attend the Tokyo meeting from October 11 to 13.
More on Chidambaram's Tokyo visit here
Ahead of that meeting, the NCP chief will meet Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.
Tension has been brewing between the Congress and the NCP ever since the CM announced his intent to bring in a white paper on the alleged 72,000 crore irrigation scam that led to the resignation of Ajit Pawar.
Read the full story here
"I originally planned to go to Pakistan to meet with General Kayani, and because of some of the issues related to that film, he and I discussed postponing that visit, mostly so that I would give him the time to deal with the issues he was dealing with internally," Dempsey told the media.
As a result of which, he did not go to Islamabad and instead spent time in Afghanistan, he said in response to a question. "With the available time, I decided to extend my trip in Afghanistan," he said.
Nakoula Besseley Nakoula is in custody and is scheduled to make a court appearance in a federal court in Los Angeles.
The alleged director or producer of Innocence of Muslims was ordered to appear in court reportedly for a probation violation.
"I can confirm he's in custody, scheduled to make a court appearance as we speak, in federal court in downtown LA," Thom Mrozek of the US Attorney's Office said, giving no further details.
"We didn't discuss that specific assistance that we're working on with India," Panetta told reporters.
"But just in general the discussions that I had with the Chinese, it was that the purpose of our effort to rebalance to the Pacific is aimed at the prosperity and security of the Pacific region, and that a key to that strategy is a strong bilateral relationship between the United States and China\ because we share concerns in the Pacific," he said.
"We share concerns with regards to terrorism, with regards to issues like nuclear proliferation, with regards to humanitarian assistance, maritime rights, et cetera, and that it's important for us to work to develop the capabilities of countries in that region so that they could help secure themselves," Panetta said.
The mishap reportedly took place at 6.30 am (local time) as the twin-engine prop plane belonging to the domestic Sita Air plunged into the Manohara River on the southwest edge of Katmandu.
More details are awaited.