India

Belgaum (Karnakata), June 23: A day after TOI reported that President Pratibha Patil had commuted the death sentences of 35 convicts to life in prison, it came to light on Friday that one of the beneficiaries of her mercy died almost five years ago. Bandu Tidke's sentence for the rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl came from the President's office on June 2. It has raised doubts about whether

New Delhi, June 22: Amid reports of delays in online applications of passports and the growing logjam, the external affairs ministry Friday announced that passport offices in Delhi, Ghaziabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Amritisar will be open Saturday and Sunday. The ministry also defended what it called the citizen-centric online application system and said it has successfully

New Delhi, June 22: Pinning hopes on "conscience vote" and his tribal identity, P A Sangma today virtually dared UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee for a debate ahead of presidential polls, saying democracy needs debate. Maintaining that in a democracy people have the right to choose and there should be a debate at a time when the economy is sinking and scams are unimaginable, Sangma said, "Who is

New Delhi, June 22: Ahead of demitting office, President Pratibha Patil has scored a new record. She has commuted the death sentence of as many as 35 convicts to life — among them are those convicted of mass murder, kidnapping, rape and killing of children. On June 2, Patil gave her pardon to four more — Bandu Baburao Tidke from Karnataka, Buntu from Uttar Pradesh and Lalchand alias Laliya Dhoom

Kolkata, June 22: With Mamata Banerjee still keeping her cards close to her chest when other parties have announced their stand on the presidential poll, Congress president Sonia Gandhi doesn't want to lose an important ally even if it means "stooping" before her for the moment. Sonia, instead, is looking beyond the presidential poll to keep the UPA family united when all other blocks, including

New Delhi, June 22: The TOI campaign on the passport logjam has made the government put reforms on the fast track. In an unprecedented move, the ministry of external affairs on Thursday announced a 'Passport Mela' this weekend at many PSKs countrywide - the kendras will remain open on Saturday and Sunday and people can just walk in, without an appointment. This practice will continue till the

Mumbai, June 21: A devastating fire in the Maharashtra government secretariat, including offices of the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister, today left three persons dead and 16 injured and destroyed large number of files, raising questions on whether any sabotage was the cause. Fire brigade officials said two bodies were recovered from the sixth floor of the seven-storey 'Mantralaya'

New Delhi, June 21: Reconciling with division within NDA over presidential poll, BJP today announced its support to P A Sangma to pit him against UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee. The party, which failed to persuade allies like Shiv Sena and JD(U) to support Sangma, argued that it was its duty as the main Opposition party not to allow a "walkover" to Congress which did not "consult" it. Announcing

Moradabad/ New Delhi, June 21: At a time when the SP is backing Pranab Mukherjee in the Presidential race, Congress leader Rashid Alvi has sparked off a controversy by dubbing Mulayam Singh Yadav as the "biggest agent" of BJP, attracting instant disapproval from the AICC today. "I don't know if you would like it or not but I have been saying it for the last 10 years that if there is anybody who is

New Delhi, June 21: BJP biggies may have been the first to congratulate Pranab Mukherjee on his then still-rumoured move to Rashtrapati Bhavan, but the Congress decision to nominate him has created enough bitterness in the two camps that it is becoming a free-for-all. The Congress has eagerly latched on to the Nitish Kumar-Narendra Modi tussle to egg on the Bihar CM to come out of the NDA. "We