India

New Delhi, Apr 5: President Pranab Mukherjee has rejected mercy petitions of three mass murderers and a rapist-killer confirming death sentences awarded to the convicts. Uttar Pradesh's Gurmeet Singh, convicted of killing 13 members of a family, and Suresh and Ramji who were found guilty of killing five relatives over a property dispute, are among those whose clemency has been rejected. Unlike his

Mumbai, April 4: After seeking pardon for actor Sanjay Dutt and Zaibunissa Kazi, found guilty in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, retired Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju is set to launch an NGO to offer justice to poor and helpless people. The NGO, "The Court of Last Resort" will be headquartered in New Delhi, and have branches in the states. It will be inaugurated formally April 15, at a

New Delhi, Apr 4: "These are irrelevant questions. It's all smoke." This was how Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi today described speculation about his becoming the Prime Minister and getting married while addressing business barons of the country. "I got press guys asking when you are getting married. Somebody else saying, boss, when are you going to be the Prime Minister. Somebody saying, no

Gandhinagar, Apr 2: The Narendra Modi government today introduced a bill in the Gujarat Assembly which curtails the 'primacy' of the Chief Justice of the state High Court and the Governor in the matter of appointment of the Lokayukta. The Lokayukta Aayog Bill, 2013 proposes to give all the powers of the appointment to a selection committee headed by Chief Minister and wants state Governor to act

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 2: Kerala's Forest Minister K B Ganesh Kumar handed over his resignation to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy late on Monday night after his estranged wife accused him of ill-treatment. Forty-six-year old film star-turned-politician was accompanied by his friend and State Labour Minister Shibu Baby John and other friends from the film industry including ace director Shaji Kailas

New Delhi, Apr 1: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) was on Monday handed over the probe into killing of two Indian fishermen allegedly by Italian marines off the Kerala coast. The Home Ministry has taken the decision after the Supreme Court ruled that the Kerala government has no jurisdiction to prosecute the two Italian marines —— Massimiliano Lattore and Salvatore Girone —— allegedly

New Delhi/Mumbai, Apr 1: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG's attempt to win patent protection for its cancer drug Glivec, a serious blow to Western pharmaceutical firms who are increasingly focusing on India to drive sales. The decision also sets a benchmark for several intellectual property disputes in India, where many patented drugs are unaffordable for most of

New Delhi, Mar 31: Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal today charged BJP with buckling under pressure of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi by including him in its top decision making parliamentary board, and said Modi will pose a challenge to his own party. "The real challenge is Modi's challenge to the BJP. It is Modi who is seeking to take over the party and once Modi takes over the party there will

New Delhi, Mar 31: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was Sunday inducted into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parliamentary board that will lead the party in the general elections of 2014. BJP president Rajnath Singh announced his new team Sunday. Gujarat's former home minister Amit Shah, Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Varun Gandhi have been made general secretaries of the party. Smriti Irani and Uma

Mumbai, Mar 31: Slamming anti-corruption crusaders, judicial activism, caste-based voting, former Supreme Court justice and press council chairman Markandey Katju tackled everything from Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal’s activism against corruption, to India’s place in the world and its moral code at a talk on Saturday. Speaking at the inaugural Justice MC Chagla Memorial Lecture at Mumbai