India

New Delhi, May 18: A day after the AIADMK and BJD announced support for party leader P A Sangma's candidature, NCP chief Sharad Pawar today said his party's stand on the Presidential election will be consistent with that of the UPA. Sangma, who met Pawar this morning, said the NCP leader told him that the party is part of UPA and his stand on the issue will be consistent with it. At the same time

Lucknow, May 18: The skeletons are tumbling out of the corruption cupboard, but Uttar Pradesh's former ruling party, the Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP), is unusually quiet — not even reacting to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's allegation that it was involved in scams of over Rs400 billion (Dh26.8 billion). Yadav, who is from the Samajwadi Party (SP), accused his predecessor Mayawati late on Tuesday

Mumbai, May 18: There are indications that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi may skip the BJP's national executive meeting to be held in Mumbai later this month, but the party's Mumbai unit has expressed confidence that Mr Modi would come. The meeting is scheduled to take place on May 24 and 25. "Modi is the member of the national executive and all the members have been invited. He is our

New Delhi, May 18: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development, in a report tabled in Lok Sabha on Thursday, recommended that the government refrain from acquiring land for industrial ventures of any kind, triggering resentment among industrialists of the country. In its report on the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Bill, 2011, the committee said the

Ahmedabad, May 17: The suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt says the closure report submitted by the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) only confirmed his long-standing apprehension that it was only working to “shield” Chief Minister Narendra Modi and other “powerful persons” from legal punishment for their involvement in the 2002 Gujarat pogrom. In a letter to SIT Chairman R

New Delhi, May 17: The Indian rupee plummeted to an all time low on Wednesday to 54.46 rupees to the dollar, or up to Rs14.81 to the dirham, breaching its previous record low of 54.39 struck on December 15. Local money exchanges witnessed “higher than normal footfalls” as non residents rushed to remit money as the rupee’s value against the dollar-pegged UAE currency declined to over 20 per cent

New Delhi, May 17: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said that his government was committed to ensuring foolproof security of nuclear power plants but it would be harmful for the country to pass an ordinance against nuclear power. "We must put everything to ensure foolproof safety of the nuclear plants and we will not compromise on it. "But at the same time I would respectfully submit it

Washington, May 17: Citing the example of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, a top US military commander has warned of the dangers posed by "democratisation" of technology in future warfare. "Now, in many ways, technology has been democratised," Marine Corps Lt. Gen. George J. Flynn said at the sixth annual 2012 Joint Warfighting Conference at Virginia Beach Tuesday. Referring to the greater

New Delhi, May 16: A Raja, the prime accused in 2G spectrum scam, today came to Parliament a day after being released from Tihar jail where he was lodged after his arrest in the case on February 1 last year. Dressed in white shirt and black trousers, 49-year-old Raja got down from his car and entered Parliament. He then went went straight to the Lok Sabha. The former Telecom Minister appeared

Ahmedabad, May 16: The former Gujarat Chief Minister, Keshubhai Patel, sharing a platform with Mahagujarat Janata Party (MJP) president Gordhan Jhadafiya has unnerved the ruling BJP in the State. Mr. Patel said the Modi administration had become a “terror” for the people. “It is not the Patels alone, every section of the Gujaratis are living in a state of fear all the time under the present