Amidst the din created by the Opposition over price rise, the Parliament on Thursday approved imposition of President’s Rule in Jharkhand without any debate. A statutory resolution approving the central rule was adopted by a voice vote in both the Houses.

The Samajwadi Party and the RJD continues to launch a scathing attack on the UPA government over the price rise issue. The two parties staged protests within the Parliament complex after the two Houses were adjourned.

JD(U) president and Opposition NDA convenor Sharad Yadav on Thursday tried to make light of the prevailing situation in the Lok Sabha by claiming that Speaker Meira Kumar has more “affection” for finance minister Pranab Mukherjee than the Opposition.

The deadlock in Parliament over price rise issue continued on Thursday with a determined Opposition, including supporting parties like SP and RJD, stalling both the Houses and almost no business could be transacted for the third consecutive working day of the ongoing session. Both the Right and the Left wings of the Opposition took the protest even outside the Parliament.

Shahabuddin Yaqub Quraishi is all set to take over as the next Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) on Friday. His predecessor Navin Chawla demits office after having presided over the commission for little more than a year.

Noel Tata, half-brother of Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata, has been appointed managing director of Tata International, which promotes the Tata brand overseas.
The appointment, made known through a stock exchange filing on Thursday, comes a month after he was made non-executive chairman of Tata Investment Corp Ltd, which has a major stake in group companies.

In a bizarre act, the Opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday briefly locked the gates of civil secretariat here to protest the curfews and other security restrictions imposed off and on in the Valley areas with a view to hold back protests called by separatists.

British Prime Minister David Cameron ended his India visit just the way he began: on a candid note. He told Pakistan “clearly and plainly” that it needs to crack down on and eliminate terrorist groups which target not just India but also Afghanistan, the streets of London and elsewhere — remarks highlighting the threat posed by terrorism

The Shiv Sena on Thursday urged President Pratibha Patil to consider the noted film artiste Sulochana for the coveted Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest national honours in the field of Indian film industry. Shiv Sena MP Bharatkumar Raut requested the President to consider Ms Sulochana for the highest award. She will be turning 82 on Friday.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in fairly strong remarks at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron here on Thursday, ticked off Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, saying that the recent fiasco at the latter’s Islamabad press conference (with external affairs minister S.M. Krishna) “could have been avoided”.