Ruling Congress’ central leadership may not have approved Kadappa MP Jaganmohan Reddy’s yatra in Andhra Pradesh, but the Union government is readying to approve a proposal to adopt Rajiv Arogyashree scheme, a cherished programme initiated by his father and former AP chief minister Y.S. Rajshekhar Reddy in the state.

Taking a leaf out of AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s prescription on transparency in the party, the Bihar unit of the Congress has laid out a well-spread system for screening the candidates for the upcoming state Assembly elections. The party has decided to go it alone this time and will field its candidates from all 243 seats.

Undeterred by the raps he received from the party, Union minister of state for home Ajay Maken, who is an MP from New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, is all set to write another letter. But this time he will be writing to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, urging her to give party men a clear line on the issue of caste census.

With the Union Cabinet continuing to remain divided on whether to include caste as a factor in the ongoing national census, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday set up a Group of Ministers to look into the politically sensitive matter.

Sticking to its plan to go alone in the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections scheduled later this year, the Congress on Wednesday hinted that the party would prefer wasting its 10 votes in Rajya Sabha elections than supporting either a RJD nominee or LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan.

The Centre on Thursday lashed out at Narendra Modi-led Gujarat government for ignoring rights of minority and the Central schemes meant for the community. During an interaction at the Planning Commission for the finalisation of the state plan for the year 2010-11, it was found that Gujarat had proposed just a “token provision of Rs 1 lakh” this year against Rs 325 lakhs last year as share capital to Gujarat Minority Finance and Development Corporation.

Former Infosys boss Nandan Nilekani, now chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), has finally got a taste of governmental and bureaucratic functioning. Finding it difficult to attract senior bureaucrats to work for him, Dr Nilekani has complained to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that several ministries were not releasing the officers he sought, leaving the UIDAI understaffed.

Unique Identification Authority of India chairman Nandan Nilekani, in his complaint to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, gave instances of how the reluctance of certain ministries to release their officers was making the work of the UIDAI difficult.

Quoting an independent report, deputy chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia lamented the UP government for letting the dalits of Bundelkhand to die of National Rural Employment Guaran

With differences between PCC president Anil Sharma and AICC in-charge of Bihar Jagdish Tytler deepening further, the high command has decided to ease them out of the state organisation.