1 & 2 August, 2013

SP leader brags he got IAS officer Durga Shakti suspended in 41 minutes

A video purportedly showing a senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader claiming he got IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal suspended in "just 41 minutes" has put the Uttar Pradesh government in a tight spot.

The video comes after Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav firmed up his stance in the matter of the official's suspension, and said there was no question of revoking the order served to the officer.

The video shows Narendra Bhati, agro chairman who enjoys minister status in the state, telling supporters in the Greater Noida region that he rang up chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav at around 10.30am and by 11.11am suspension orders were served to Nagpa

After Snowden, no business as usual for US and Russia

After causing weeks of embarrassment for the US intelligence community, the Edward Snowden saga has now cast a shadow over international efforts to end the Syrian civil war and deal with Iran, and could also undermine White House hopes for a nuclear arms reduction deal.

Seven Congress MPs from Andhra Pradesh quit Parliament

The MPs, who put in their papers, were A Sai Prathap (Rajampet constituency), Anantha Venkatarami Reddy (Anantapur) C V Harsha Kumar (Amalapuram-SC), Vundavalli Arun Kumar (Rajahmundry), Lagadapati Rajagopal (Vijayawada) and SPY Reddy (Nandyal). While these MPs tendered their resignations to Lok Sabha secretary general T K Vishwanathan, the lone Upper House member, KVP Ramachandra Rao, submitted his resignation to Rajya Sabha secretary general Shamsher K Sheriff.

The MPs said that three more Lok Sabha members from the state - Sabbam Hari (Anakapalli), Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy (Ongole) and Rayapati Sambasiva Rao (Guntur) - had also faxed their resignations. The MPs claimed that central ministers from Andhra Pradesh would meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister tomorrow and then tender their resignations.

Pay a fee to visit Rashtrapati Bhavan

Visitors to Rashtrapati Bhavan will have to pay a fee from September 1 to enjoy the tour. The President's office has introduced a "registration charge" of Rs 25 per person per visit for individuals and groups of people below 30. A group of 30 visitors will be charged Rs 600 while more than 30 people will be charged Rs 600 and an additional Rs 25 for every extra person.

BCCI calls of working committee meeting, Dalmiya to continue as interim president

N Srinivasan's desperate bid to return as BCCI president was thwarted with the under-fire board deciding to call off its working committee meeting here on Friday fearing legal trouble after the Bombay High Court declared its IPL spot-fixing probe "illegal and unconstitutional".

Jagmohan Dalmiya, who was named the interim chief after Srinivasan had stepped aside pending an internal inquiry into the IPL spot-fixing scandal, will continue in the position for the time being.