Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday condoled the death of celebrated Indian artist M.F. Husain in London, terming it as a “national loss”.

Rajathi Ammal, mother of jailed Rajya Sabha DMK MP Kanimozhi, wore a dejected look and was in tears in the open court as Justice Ajit Bharihoke of the Delhi high court on Wednesday rejected her daughter’s bail plea. The court also dismissed the bail plea of Sharad Kumar, the CEO and MD of Kalaignar TV.

Friends and admirers of M.F. Husain were on Thursday at a loss of words at the demise of the painter famously dubbed “Piccaso of India” and angry at the fact that he had to die in a foreign land.

BJP on Wednesday criticised home minister P. Chidambaram for alleging that RSS was behind Ramdev’s agitation and announced a three-day anti-corruption campaign starting on Thursday.

Legendary painter M.F. Husain had his heart in Bollywood and many from the film industry have expressed grief over his demise on Thursday.

The Congress party on Wednesday virtually declared redundancy of the joint committee to draft a strong Lokpal bill on a day when social activist Anna Hazare sat on a fast protesting the crackdown on Baba Ramdev’s protest.
Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan said civil society representatives “could not be the alternate sources” for lawmaking including the key legislation.

Notwithstanding the government’s projections of a moderation in the rate of price rise of food items, food inflation jumped to a two-month high of 9.01 per cent for the week ended May 28 on the back of costlier fruits, onions and protein-based items.

Skimpily dressed women will take to the streets of New Delhi later this month for India’s first “Slut Walk”, a global phenomenon to protest sexual violence.

Union home minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday rejected senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley’s remark that there were differences between the government and the Congress on certain issues and said his party does not indulge in dual acts like the BJP which has been exposed.

After Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked his ministers to declare their assets, human resource development minister Kapil Sibal on Thursday backed it, calling it a right step.