The rupee registered its biggest single-day gain in a year, surging 2.1 per cent against the dollar, as some positive comments from Union finance minister P. Chidambaram and an assurance from the Reserve Bank about sufficient foreign exchange reserves calmed invest-ors’ nerves on Friday.

The UK government denied Friday that British patients would be sent to India for treatment as former Labour health secretary Patricia Hewitt revealed that several National Health Service trusts are keen to do business with India.

In a significant move linked to the sudden transfer of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal by the Uttar Pradesh government, the Centre has now decided to give permanence of tenure belonging to Central services.

The Congress has started working on a manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections, asking its state units to provide inputs for it in the next two weeks.

The CBI is also seeking from the coal ministry certain documents related to the allocation of captive coal blocks to three Central public sector units (PSUs) as part of its probe into the Coalgate scam. The documents, which have been sought, are related to the allocations made before 2004, sources said.

The timeframe for setting up of nuclear power projects is set to be decreased from five to two years, said minister of state in PMO V. Narayanasamy.

Controversies continue to hound the proposed VHP yatra, scheduled to begin on Sunday.
In a fresh twist to the controversy, the Shankaracharya of Govardhan Peeth in Mathura, Swami Adokhshajanand Teerth Saraswati, has written to chief minister Akhilesh Yadav asking him to ensure that the Sangh Parivar is not given the permission to turn this “illegal” yatra into a “political” yatra.

The national, state and local-level leaders of the VHP against whom arrest warrants have been issued include its chief Ashok Singhal, Ram Vilas Vedanti and Pravin Togadia. Some senior leaders of the VHP who have already arrived in Ayodhya have been arrested, while entry of others has been banned in the temple town.

The People Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has launched a website named “Pheku” to expose what it says are the truths and myths of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi. “The website will help people know the truth about Modi’s so-called Gujarat model,” said Radha Kishan, a senior PUCL functionary.

In an interesting development, the lone Congress MLA from insurgency-hit Bastar region in Chhattisgarh has refused to depose before the high court at Bilaspur in a poll-related case for not being provided a copter by the state government, his close aides said Friday.