India

Lucknow, June 15: The bungalow of the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mayawati, here is back in the news after the Akhilesh Yadav government disclosed in the Assembly on Thursday that Rs. 86.56 crore was spent on its construction and renovation when her Bahujan Samaj Party ruled the State from 2007 to March 2012. Another Rs. 20.15 lakh was spent on its maintenance. But a probe was not

New Delhi, June 15: Mamata Banerjee's attempt to turn the Presidential race into a troublesome affair for Congress suffered a setback today with her key ally, Samajwadi Party declaring that it was against any attempt to destabilise the government when the country was facing a serious financial crisis. "At this stage, when the country is facing a serious financial crisis, making any attempt to

Hyderabad, June 15: YSR Congress Party candidates maintained leads in about 15 Assembly seats, while Congress and TDP were giving a tough fight in two seats as the counting progressed today in the bypolls held in Andhra Pradesh for 18 Assembly segments and one Lok Sabha constituency. A close contest was on between the candidates of YSRCP and Congress in Narsapuram in West Godavari district and

Mumbai, June 15: Petrol car owners may soon heave a sigh of relief as oil marketing firms are expected to cut petrol prices by up to Rs 2 per litre on Friday due to falling international crude prices. Crude prices, which fell to $96.5 per barrel on Wednesday, the lowest level in the last one year, have provided enough legroom for the oil firms to reduce petrol prices. State-owned oil marketing

Hyderabad, June 15: Jaganmohan Reddy’s YSR Congress Party is all set to sweep the crucial AP by-polls, held in one Lok Sabha and 18 assembly constituencies. Counting of votes began at 8 am on Friday. As per trends available at 10.15 am, out of the 18 assembly seats, YSR Congress is ahead in 15, the ruling Congress is expected to win only one seat. TRS and TDP are also ahead in one seat each. YSR

New Delhi, June 14: The ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Thursday appeared headed for an internal confrontation over the next month’s presidential election as Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee declared that former president A P J Abdul Kalam would be her candidate for the top post. Mamata announced that she will field Kalam if the Congress went ahead with the nomination of either

New Delhi, Jun 14: Switzerland today said the quantum of money held by Indians in Swiss banks stood at 2.18 billion Swiss francs (about Rs 12,740 crore) at the end of 2011 -- rising for the first time in the past five years. The total funds held by Indian individuals and entities include 2.025 billion Swiss francs held directly by them and 158 million held through 'fiduciaries' or wealth managers

New Delhi, Jun 14: In a rebuff to SP and TMC, Congress today ruled out sparing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the Presidential race as it rejected the three names proposed by the two allies, sending signals that it was not in a mood to bow before them. "We cannot afford to spare Dr Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister. The other two names (A P J Abdul Kalam and Somnath Chatterjee) are not

New Delhi, June 14: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Thursday met Congress president Sonia Gandhi to discuss the presidential elections, officials said. Mukherjee reached Gandhi’s 10, Janpath residence a little after 10 a.m. The meeting comes after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav virtually rejected Gandhi’s presidential choices

Ahmedabad, June 14: The three-member Central Group of Ministers' on Wednesday took Chief Minister Narendra Modi head-on on his claim of rapid development in Gujarat and its being “ahead of all other States in the country.” Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, who was leading the GoM, not only refuted the State government's charges of discrimination and injustices against the Centre, he also saw