-IANS The Rajya Sabha Tuesday took up the issue of drought-like situation in several parts of the country, with opposition members demanding immediate action as well as long term plan for tackling this natural calamity. Raising a calling attention motion on the drought-like situation in Karnataka, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader M. Venkaiah Naidu slammed the government for its "lax" and "insensitive" attitude towards the issue even as crops in Karnataka have...

-IANS As a precursor to the proposed state tour for a strong Lokayukta bill, social activist Anna Hazare started his two-day consultations with all political parties to evolve a consensus on the issue, an official said here Thursday. Arriving here from his village Ralegan-Siddhi, Hazare Wednesday night kick-started his tour by meeting Republican Party of India chief Ramdas Athawale here. Hazare Thursday morning will meet Maharashtra Congress chief Manikrao Thakre, Chief Minister Prithviraj...

-IANS The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left Wednesday demanded an explanation from the government on former Swedish police chief Sten Lindstrom's revelations on the Bofors payoff scandal, including the safe passage to main accused Ottavio Quattrochchi. The BJP said it had always questioned the safe passage to Italian businessman Quattrochchi in the Rs.1,500 crore Bofors gun deal in the 1980s. "The entire government of late Rajiv Gandhi was out to secure...

-IANS RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh government has virtually called a halt to its anti-Maoist offensive till Sukma District Collector Alex Paul Menon is released from captivity, official sources said Monday. "The whole focus is now to secure the safe and early release of Alex Paul Menon. The anti-Maoist operation issue can follow later on," a senior official at the police headquarters here told. The Maoists have demanded freeze on Operation Green Hunt against them...

The minorities and Dalits, who constitute 40 per cent of the Telangana [ Images ] population, are now saying that they will prefer to remain in a united Andhra Pradesh rather than have a Telangana which is controlled by "communal forces", reports Vicky Nanjappa. There can be no two thoughts over the fact that the Telangana movement has been the biggest challenge for the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh. Till the...