The frontal organisations of the banned CPI (Maoist) have run into huge debt and are demanding at least `13 lakh from the Naxal top brass to continue the Maoist propaganda and their overground activities, latest intelligence reports have said.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned the Centre on various aspects pertaining to the allocation of coal blocks.
A bench headed by Justice R.M. Lodha repeatedly asked attorney-general G.E. Vahanvati to explain whether various methods adopted for coal block allocation since 1992 had a sanction of law and under what law the screening committee was authorised to decide on allocation.

Even as the CBI has received fresh set of documents from the coal ministry, the agency is still looking for certain records of the ministry which will help join the dots in the CBI’s probe into alleged irregularities in the allocation of captive coal blocks.

With low GDP growth and high inflation hitting the economy, RBI’s new governor Raghuram Rajan on Tuesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and finance minister P. Chidambaram to discuss various options before the government and the RBI.

There is no respite for the consumers reeling under the steep rise in onion prices, which again went up in the range of `70-80. The government is hopeful that the prices will come down by early next month.

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday named Andhra major industries minister J. Geetha Reddy as accused No. 9 in the quid pro quo investments case of Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy in the Lepakshi Knowledge Hub land allotment conspiracy.

Two of Karnataka’s most famous sons — one a former IT czar who holds the key to the Congress’ re-election through an innovative direct benefit transfer scheme, the other a former India cricket captain — could be facing off against each other in the parliamentary polls in 2014 for the city’s prestigious Bangalore South seat.

Actress Esha Deol on Monday stirred a row when she virtually linked rape incidents to provocative clothing worn by the victims.

In what has come as shock, a 12-year-old girl was gangraped in an abandoned house by five minor boys in Guwahati.
Senior superintendent of police, Guwahati, Anand Prakash Tiwari told this newspaper that they have arrested five accused who were later found to be minors after a bone-marrow test.

Harassed and pressurised by her tormentors, a victim of abduction and rape consumed poison in court on Monday in Sikar while appearing for testimony. She has been admitted to the local government hospital in Sikar. The victim’s condition is stated to be stable.