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Senior BJP leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and others will be tried BJP leaders L K Advani, M M Joshi and Uma Bharti will face trial in the 1992   Babri Masjid demolition case   as the Supreme Court today allowed the CBI plea and restored criminal conspiracy charges against them. The court also clubbed the trial in the matter pending against the leaders and 'karsevaks' and said the proceedings should be completed in two years. "We have allowed the CBI appeal against the Allahabad High Court judgement with certain directions," a bench comprising Justices P C Ghose and R F Nariman said. The apex court, however, noted that Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh enjoys Constitutional immunity and can be tried only after he ceases to hold the office. Kalyan Singh was the chief minister of UP in 1992. Also Read :   Babri masjid: SC rules Advani, Joshi to be tried under criminal conspiracy The court also gave significant directions including that ...

PMO stamp in Cabinet rejig Among many political, administrative and ideological messages in the changes in the council of ministers that Prime Minister  Narendra Modi  carried out, the most important was the unambiguous stamp of his office. The sweep of influence of the Prime Minister’s Office in Tuesday’s rejig was rarely witnessed in the past three decades. In expanding this influence of the central government, the PM was assisted by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah. The changes in the Cabinet worked at several levels. They were definitely done with an eye on electoral compulsions —  Dalits  and Other Backward Classes found increased representation. New ministers were inducted from states that are either electorally crucial for the  BJP  (Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat) or are going to polls in the near future (Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh). Also, alliance building was kept in mind. Allies like...

The "removal" of India's first prime minister  Jawaharlal Nehru 's name from new textbooks for classes sixth to eight in Rajasthan elicited a strong reaction from the Congress even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) denied any wrongdoing. The textbook, according to an  Indian Express  report, has been written "following a year-long curriculum re­structuring exercise". According to a  NDTV  report, the textbook, "Samajik Vigyan", makes no mention of  Nehru as a freedom fighter or as "a leader of Independent India". The report adds that the textbook does not mention Mahatma Gandhi's assassination at the hands of Nathuram Godse. The Rajasthan unit of the Congress on Sunday reacted strongly to the move. State Congress chief Sachin Pilot told IANS on phone: "It's absolutely unacceptable that the BJP is working in a vindictive manner by not even mentioning India's first prime minister in the textbooks." Re...

In the bidding for solar projects totalling 420 MW in Rajasthan under the National Solar Mission, the winning bid touched a new low of Rs 4.34 per unit, entered by Finnish solar power company Fortum Energy for a 70 Mw project. However, lowering of benchmark tariff by the central government did not go too well in Maharashtra which saw subdued interest from the companies participating in bidding for 500 MW in the state Rajasthan saw a spurt of foreign companies lining up for solar projects. American company Rising Sun Energy quoted Rs 4.35 per unit for two projects with total capacity of 140 MW. African major SolaireDirect has quoted same tariff for same capacity projects. Among the domestic ones, India Bulls through its subsidiary Yarrow Infra won 70 MW by quoting Rs 4.36 per unit.  Read Articles