Both Houses of Parliament witnessed a second day of pandemonium on Friday, with the BJP insisting home minister P. Chidam-baram be dismissed for allegedly helping a hotelier, who was once his client, to get FIRs against him

In a significant move the draft Cabinet note prepared by the Cabinet Secretariat on the Lokpal issue advocates a 50 per cent reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs in the proposed nine-member constitutional body. This is largely the outcome of Wednesday’s all-party meeting where representatives of the Samajwadi Party,

Congress president Sonia Gandhi with tribal women during the National Convention on “Empowerment to Tribal Women” at the AICC office in New Delhi on Friday. — PRITAM BANDYOPADHYAY

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi finally broke his silence over FDI in retail sector and came out in its support. He said that the Opposition, which was opposing the same, was anti-farmer.

The Congress party on Friday showed off its support base among tribal women at an impressive rally ahead of the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and other states. Party supremo Sonia Gandhi said the government is working on a law which can develop mineral wealth to benefit tribals.

Britain on Friday mour-ned the death of English-American author and journalist Christopher Hitch-ens, who passed away after losing his long battle with cancer. Sixty-two-year-old Hitchens died in Houston of pneumonia, a complication of cancer of the oesophagus, Vanity Fair magazine said.

A city court sent a junior engineer of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to jail for four years for possessing disproportionate assets and also convicted his wife for abetting the crime.

At least 60 volunteers from different reputed organisations will help the illiterate Tihar inmates learn basic reading and writing skills.
The volunteers include housewives, students, retired professors, doctors, engineers, chartered accountants and employees with MNCs.

Senior BJP leader and former finance minister Yashwant Sinha has become the latest victim of harassment on cyberspace as it has turned out that he has been receiving hate mail from the last two months.

The Congress government in the city completed its third year on December 16. Leader of the Opposition in Delhi Assembly Prof. Vijay Kumar Malhotra slammed the Delhi government for its failures on various fronts during its 13 years of rule.