In a blow to the Mayawati government, UP Lokayukta N K Mehrotra on Tuesday recommended dismissal of UP minister for dairy and animal husbandry Awadhpal Singh Yadav after finding him guilty of largescale corruption and misuse of office for extending favour to his kin. This is the state's first case where dismissal has been recommended on charges of corruption by the Lokayukta. "The conduct of Awadhpal Singh Yadav is highly mischievous and not...

Rattled by swelling political and public anger at the preventive arrest of activist Anna Hazare, the UPA government backtracked late this evening and announced his release to a street sensed of victory against a shaken ruling establishment. But signs that the panicked U-turn will bring the beleaguered government little relief were immediately visible as Hazare refused to leave Tihar Jail, demanding that he be guaranteed permission to fast at central Delhi’s...

-The Telegraph   The CPM and the BJP closed ranks today, with Sitaram Yechury heading to Sushma Swaraj’s chamber in Parliament to plot strategy on the government crackdown on Anna Hazare. General secretary Prakash Karat’s stringent anti-Congress line prevailed in the CPM, which has so far consciously avoided being seen with the “communal” BJP, and a reluctant Yechury followed party colleague Ramchandra Dome to Sushma’s room after the politburo issued a second statement...

The government plans to focus its flagship rural jobs guarantee plan on the poorest districts of the country as there is a growing recognition within the administration that the scheme's nation-wide rollout has adversely impacted its performance. Launched in 2006, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee programme promises at least 100 days of unskilled manual work in a year to each household in rural India. The scheme was initially...

The UP government has deepened the ongoing controversy over land acquisition in the state by bringing the Uttar Pradesh Urban Planning and Development (amendment) Bill 2011 which was passed by the Assembly on Thursday. The bill seeks to remove a provision that gave landowners the right to ask for restoration of their acquired land if it was unused for five years. Section 17 of the UP Urban Planning and Development Act 1973...