Issue News

Central IAS Officers' Association has decided to approach highest government authorities to ensure necessary safeguards for bureaucrats who make honest decisions. The Association made the move over CBI's FIR which named former coal secretary PC Parakh as an accused in the coal block allocations scam. IPS and IFoS associations have also backed Parakh calling him a man of high integrity.

After Unnao gold hunt, rumors of hidden treasures have led people to dig up about two dozen places in ruins, including forts and temples, in UP. Concerned over the illegal digging, the Archaeological Survey of India has stepped up security in Fatehpur Sikri. Fatehpur district magistrate said security personnel had been deployed to prevent a repeat of such activities.

Gunmen and suicide bombers driving explosives-rigged vehicles launched a wave of attacks in Iraq's Anbar province killing 25 policemen and three civilians. With the latest attacks, over 520 people have been killed so far this month. According to a recent study, nearly half a million people have died from war-related causes in Iraq since the US-led invasion of 2003.

Ainul alias Tarik, prime suspect in the Patna serial blasts, succumbed to brain injuries in the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences in Patna. Ainul was caught fleeing the scene after the first explosion in a toilet at Patna railway station before Narendra Modi's Patna rally on October-27. Six people were killed in the blasts while over 80 were injured.

In a major setback to BCCI president N Srinivasan, a Jaipur court on Friday, asked the police to file an FIR and investigate allegations of match-fixing against him and his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan (former CSK team principal). The complaints were filed on Oct 26 and Oct 28 for an IPL match played on May 12 between CSK and RR.

A recent health ministry report has revealed that the dengue outbreak of 2013 is the worst in last 6-years, with 55,063 cases reported this year till Oct-28, as compared to 12,561 cases in 2008. However, the fatality rate has considerably dropped to 0.2% in 2013. Experts have cited factors like heavy rainfall and intense construction activities behind this steady rise.

Accusing India of committing genocide of tuberculosis patients, international activists Friday booed Indian officials at Union World Conference on Lung Health (Paris) while they were trying to showcase the country's efforts to check the disease that kills 1,000 Indians every day. The activists accused India, which supplies drugs to the world, of not providing anti-TB drugs to its own patients.

Rajasthan police have filed a chargesheet in court accusing Asaram Bapu of raping a 15-year-old girl. In the 1,300-page chargesheet containing evidence against Asaram and statements of over 140 witnesses, police have also invoked conspiracy charges against Asaram for tricking the minor girl into his Ashram. If the charges are proved, Asaram might face lifetime imprisonment.

Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam on Tuesday constituted a three-judge committee to inquire into a law-graduate's sexual harassment charge against a recently retired Supreme Court judge she was interning with. The girl, who graduated from Kolkata-based NUJS, made the allegations first on a blog on November-6 and repeated it in an interview to the website 'Legally India'.

Paving way for closure of the long-pending Jet-Etihad deal, the Competition Commission of India on Tuesday approved the proposed acquisition of 24% stake in Jet Airways by Abu Dhabi-based Etihad airline for Rs 2,058 crore. The clearance by CCI was among the last regulatory approvals for this deal, which is the first-ever foreign direct investment (FDI) in an Indian carrier.

BSP MP Dhananjay Singh, who is already in police custody on charges of murder of his domestic help, is facing fresh allegations of rape by a married woman (42). A Delhi court on Monday had remanded Dhananjay Singh and his wife Dr Jagriti Singh in four-day judicial custody in connection with the murder of their domestic help.

A lawyer in Bihar lodged a case against Sachin Tendulkar and the Prime Minister on Tuesday over the cricketer's selection ahead of hockey legend Dhyanchand for Bharat Ratna. SK Ojha, the petitioner, has blamed the accused for hurting peoples' sentiments by the decision. The case will be heard on December-10 with JD(U) MP Shivanand Tiwari appearing as the petitioner's witness.

Due to the unlawful status of the houses at Worli's Campa Cola compound, 96 illegal flat owners will submit an undertaking to the Supreme Court that they shall vacate their apartments by May 31, 2014. The apex court has granted them a six-week time to pledge that they will vacate their apartments once the six-month extension lapses.

There have been angry protests in Assam over the death of a 30-year-old married woman who was allegedly gang-raped in an auto rickshaw and thrown out of it Friday. However, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, who has ordered an inquiry and is "personally monitoring" the situation, has told that the initial post-mortem report does not indicate rape.

Tarun Tejpal had sent his junior colleague an "informal apology letter" on November-19 saying that he was unaware that their encounters were non-consensual and asked her to "forgive and forget" them. The woman journalist rebutted his version saying that she had pleaded him to stop. Not being able to take no for an answer turns men into beasts, she added.

Canada's CBC News on Wednesday reported that Canadian authorities allowed the US National Security Agency to spy in the country during the G8 and G20 summits in Ontario in 2010. The news website claimed that the documents shared by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden reveal that the NSA used the US embassy in Ottawa for nearly a week-long spying operation.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Saturday sought an explanation from BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi for revealing the surname of Tehelka victim on Twitter. NCW has called it very unfortunate and has asked Lekhi to reply to them within 25 hours. Citing it as a punishable offence, the commission has decided to take action against this act.

Following the Tehelka case, an Air India lady manager has lodged a police complaint against four of her airline colleagues, alleging them of harassing her. The woman, who has reportedly served the airlines for 35-year, could not find any relief from the grievance cell of Air India. Moreover, she also alleged them of threatening her of dire consequences on complaining.

While having accepted that he was indulged in the act, Tehelka founder-editor Tarun Tejpal, accused of sexually assaulting a junior journalist, stuck to his version that whatever happened between the two was a "consensual act", a police officer said Thursday. However, the journalist had claimed that Tejpal groped and touched her private parts on two occasions in the Goa hotel.

Thai PM Yingluck Shinawatra dissolved the nation's parliament Monday and called for new elections to be held on Feb-2. But the move did little to appease anti-government protesters who remained on the streets by the thousands. Between 100,000 and 150,000 demonstrators rallied in Bangkok, with protest leaders saying their goal Monday is to storm Shinawatra's office, known as Government House.