Confrontation between the government and the Opposition could intensify further irrespective of whether the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report of Parliament on the 2G spectrum scam would be placed in the Lok Sabha.

Though the ruling BSP and SP are arch rivals in UP, the two parties are in a similar position being cornered by the BJP for their support to the UPA coalition partners in PAC on the 2G draft report. Senior leaders of the two parties concede that they might have to pay a political price for their key role in the PAC but officially the two parties are making attempts to wriggle out of the issue.

Maintaining that early resolution of high profile cases being currently handled by the CBI constituted a “litmus test” for the agency, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday called upon the officials of the India’s premier investigating agency to put their heads down and avoid media glare ensuring logical conclusion of the cases.

Only recently, the government was mauled in the Supreme Court on the issue of the appointment of the CVC as it was in flagrant violation of the letter of the law and its spirit. The Prime Minister had to express regrets in Parliament. A similar moment could conceivably approach if the Manmohan Singh dispensation does not exert due

A 75-year-old man was killed and four persons, including two policemen, were injured in clashes between two groups of Kashmiri Muslims which started from a place of worship at Kanihama on the peripheries of Srinagar on Friday. The police has arrested 16 persons on charge of fuelling a law and order situation whereas dozens of police and CRPF personnel have been deployed in the area to prevent further violence.

Senior state Bharatiya Janata Party leader Meghraj Jain will be the party nominee for bypolls to fill the Rajya Sabha seat from Madhya Pradesh which fell vacant on the demise of late Congress leader Arjun Singh.

Former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta here on Saturday pulled up Union home minister P. Chidambram for his sudden declaratioin to disarm the militant outfits holding ceasefire with the government.

In a veiled attack on the Mayawati government, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Saturday that the state government has not shown adequate interest in the development of the Bundelkhand region. The PM, while addressing a Congress rally in Banda on Saturday, said that the Central and state governments must work in

Battling charges that the then Central government had a role to play in the 1995 Purulia district arms-dropping episode, the government appeared to go on overdrive on Saturday to refute this allegation. The allegation has been recently levelled by one of the masterminds of the operation Kim Davy, whose extradition from Denmark to face trial here has been sought for long by the Indian government.

The CPI(M) on Friday demanded a judicial probe into the Purulia arms drop case alleging that the then Central government had been grossly negligent in conducting a probe into the incident which was aimed at destabilising the then Jyoti Basu government in West Bengal. CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat said that the “kingpin’’ of the conspiracy, Kim Davy, has given specific details of how he had escaped from the Mumbai airport and reached Nepal.