Union finance minister and chief UPA crisis manager Pranab Mukherjee, when asked if the government would face a crisis if the DMK were to withdraw support, said cryptically on Thursday that the “rate of mortality” was “very high in Parliament”. He added: “In such cases, electorates get another chance to express their wishes.”

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s move to go ahead with the Cabinet reshuffle sent a clear signal to the DMK that the Centre was not willing to go for any compromise on the issue of corruption. Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee during his recent visit to Chennai had asked DMK chief M. Karunanidhi to decide on the replacement for the textile minister Dayanidhi Maran, who was asked to resign following his alleged involvement in the spectrum scam.

Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is going to Chennai Friday night, will meet DMK supremo M. Karunanidhi on Saturday, and the two are expected to discuss a ‘possible replacement’ for Dayani

Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is going to Chennai Friday night, will meet DMK supremo M. Karunanidhi on Saturday, and the two are expected to discuss a “possible replacement” for Dayanidhi Maran, who resigned from the Union Cabinet on Thursday after being named by the CBI in the 2G spectrum scam.

With the decks being cleared for the proposed reshuffle of the Union council of ministers, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi have begun appraisals of ministers and star

With the decks being cleared for the proposed reshuffle of the Union council of ministers, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi have begun appraisals of ministers and started meeting them individually.

The Centre, which on Monday had gone ahead with a scheduled meeting of the Lokpal Bill joint drafting committee despite a boycott by its civil society members, sent another tough signal on Tuesday with the Delhi police refusing permission to Anna Hazare for holding a 24-hour protest fast at Jantar Mantar on Wednesday. The police said it could not be allowed as prohibitory orders are in force across the entire New Delhi district.

The Patanjali Yogpeeth, which had apparently organised Baba Ramdev’s programme at Delhi’s Ramlila Grounds, had undertaken a new project (Patanjali Yogpeeth Phase-2) in April 2009 to set up a fully-fur

Baba Ramdev is apparently carrying forward senior BJP leader, Mr L.K. Advani’s agenda against the stashing of black money abroad. It was senior BJP leader, Mr L.K. Advani, who in 2008 demanded that the black money stashed abroad should be brought back “as urgently as possible.”

The government, which went into a huddle after the talks with yoga guru Baba Ramdev failed, could possibly agree to his demands in the next 24 hours, sources disclosed.