The Rajya Sabha on Thursday witnessed heated exchange of words between BJP and treasury benches, when Congress MP Mohsina Kidwai tried to raise the issue of “moral policing.” The Congress MP, during Zero Hour, expressed concern over recent incident of “moral policing” by Bajrang Dal and Dharam Sena in Raipur. She said India is a multi-cultural society and no group can force anybody, alleging girls were chased, their hair pulled and faces blackened by the groups.

Stating that the Centre had done whatever was possible to blunt inflation, Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday demanded a partnership of state governments in controlling price rise. Replying to a debate on inflation in the Rajya Sabha he said that states need to revamp the public distribution system and act against hoarders to check prices.

Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was accused of covering up a close encounter between an RAF aircraft and an unidentified flying object during the Second World War, according to 18 UFO files released by the UK ministry of defence on Thursday.

The government has said that it will be bringing in a law against honour killings in the on-going Monsoon Session of Parliament itself. Before that, the proposed law will be brought before the Union Cabinet for approval.

Finally, Union minister for chemicals and fertilisers M.K. Alagiri spoke in the Lok Sabha during Question Hour on Thursday. The son of DMK supremo M.K. Karunanidhi had been scrupulously avoiding Question Hour whenever his ministry’s questions were listed for replies ever since he became Union minister last year.

With barely 60 days to go for the Commonwealth Games, already mired in controversy over alleged irregularities, the issue of appointment of chief of security for the event is still hanging. The post has been lying vacant for over a year due to a legal tussle between the Union government and senior IPS officer from Karnataka R.P. Sharma, despite orders by Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) clearing his appointment.

After hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) of an academician, who sought making yoga a part of the health and physical education in schools, a division bench comprising Delhi high court Chief Justice Dipak Mishra and Justice Manmohan on Wednesday issued notice to the ministry of human resource development (HRD) and the NCERT seeking their replies by September 22.

In a major move that could liberalise adoption laws in the country, giving women equal rights in guardianship and adoption of children, the parliamentary standing committee on law and justice has unanimously recommended a bill which seeks to amend two acts in this regard.

Union minister of state for communications and IT, Gurudas Kamat on Wednesday met environment minister Jairam Ramesh and strongly pleaded for the clearance of Navi Mumbai International Airport. Mr Ramesh is expected to visit Mumbai at the end of this month for a on-the-spot study of the problems faced in re-development of the

Chandrayaan-II project, expected to be launched in 2011, is being designed to ensure the failures that afflicted Chandrayaan-I will not surface in this newer venture. Minister of science & technology Prithviraj Chavan told the Lok Sabha. that Chandrayaan-II will be receiving major technological inputs from Russia.