Truce in BJP? Modi, Advani to share dais -
Sanjay Basak & Yojna Gusai, Asian Age
The BJP’s internal feud appears likely to end soon, with the warring factions of L.K. Advani and Narendra Modi calling for a truce. The Gujarat chief minister visited Mr Advani at his residence here on Tuesday and urged him to join the campaign, and the saffron patriarch reportedly agreed to this, sources said. The BJP is now preparing to show an united face with Mr Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Ananth Kumar and Narendra Modi preparing to share the dais during the forthcoming campaign for the next Lok Sabha election. |
A pool of lies -
Debarshi Dasgupta, Outlook India
“Baang,” she replies when asked if she drinks water from the handpump she’s standing next to. That’s ‘no’ in Lukhi Murmu’s native Santhali language. There is filthy water around the pump. A pig grunts nearby, stubborn enough to return when chased away, to forage on the rice left over from the washed utensils. “Water from all the handpumps in our village smells a lot,” she says. It’s the high iron content. We can’t help but go to the pond twice daily to collect drinking water. |
Row over Virgin Mary's tribal avatar -
Kelly Kislaya, Times of India
The statue of Mother Mary wearing a red border sari and holding Jesus Christ in a way tribal women of Jharkhand hold their babies, by tying them to a white cloth, has been creating controversies in the city for the past few days. A procession was taken out by the Sarna society against this statue on Monday. |
CBI quizzes 2 ex-PMO staff over Coalgate, Nair up next -
Neeraj Chauhan, ToI
The CBI has questioned former PMO officials in a bid to study procedures involved in coal block allocations and to understand just how much of the Coalgate detail reached Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's desk. After examining two former officials - Vini Mahajan and Ashish Gupta - the agency is preparing to question T K A Nair, former principal secretary to the PM. Nair held charge during the 2006-09 Coalgate allocations and is currently advisor to the PM. |
Maoist who ‘planted’ IED in body of CRPF man arrested -
Indian Express
A top Maoist commander — believed to have planted IED in the stomach of a dead security personnel in Jharkhand this January — was arrested on Tuesday from a Patna hospital. The police said that Indrajit alias Kapil Yadav, a platoon commander of CPI(Maoist)'s eastern regional bureau and a close aide of central committee member Arvind, was arrested from a private nursing home where he was being treated for his injuries.
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Coal blocks probe reaches PMO door, CBI wants Adviser T K A Nair as ‘witness’ -
IE
The CBI's investigation into the allotment of coal blocks has reached the doorstep of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). The agency has asked TKA Nair, Adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, to appear before it to record his statement as a "witness". CBI recently examined two former PMO officials, IAS officer Vini Mahajan and IPS officer Ashish Gupta, who are learnt to have explained that the process of allocation had Nair at the helm.
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Lalu dares Nitish to seek fresh mandate -
Pioneer
Predicting a split in the JD(U) in a month or two in view of the alleged discontentment brewing among party MLAs over the break-up of the alliance with the BJP, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav has challenged Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to recommend for dissolution of the State Assembly and seek fresh mandate if he is really confident about his party’s position in the post-break-up situation. |
Many senior leaders skip meet with Maken -
Annapurna Jha, Pioneer
In the first meeting of Congress spokespersons held by newly appointed General Secretary in-charge of Communication Ajay Maken, 15 of the 36 leaders were not present, giving rise to speculations that some senior leaders were uncomfortable working under a much younger Maken. |
All the PM's men under CBI scanner -
Pioneer
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh faced major embarrassment on Tuesday as the CBI questioned two officials who worked in the Prime Minister’s Office in 2006-07, in connection with the coal block allotment scandal. The agency decided to record the statement of his adviser TKA Nair and has also summoned as accused former Coal Secretary HC Gupta. |
‘Moily stalling action to seek billions in penalty from RIL’ -
Sujay Mehdudia, Hindu
Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Veerappa Moily is stalling arbitration proceedings against the Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) seeking to recover a penalty of $1 billion from the firm for violating contractual obligations in gas extraction in the Krishna-Godavari basin, says CPI MP Gurudas Dasgupta. Mr. Moily is going against the recommendations of the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) and the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) that the Mukesh Ambani-owned RIL should surrender a part of the gas block allotted to it and pay additional penalties, charged Mr. Dasgupta. |
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