Applying brakes to efforts by a section of the party to bring back B.S. Yeddyurappa, BJP today put the ball in the former Karnataka chief minister’s court, saying the proposal for homecoming should come from him.

In a major relief to Rajya Sabha deputy chairman P.J. Kurien, the sessions court here today dismissed a petition filed by the victim in the Suryanelli sex case seeking inclusion of the Congress leader in the case.

Senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde has stoked a controversy by his candid admission about spending Rs 8 crore on his 2009 Lok Sabha campaign, with Maharashtra home minister R.R. Patil demanding that the Election Commission take cognisance and decide on whether to allow him to contest again.

A day after gangster Abu Salem was shot at in Taloja jail, four security personnel were today suspended pending a high-level probe even as his lawyers are planning to move Portuguese authorities for his repatriation.

In line with equity market, the rupee advanced further by 36 paise to 59.83 per dollar in late morning trade today on persistent selling of the US currency by banks and exporters.

Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi today met Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray at the latter’s residence here, first time after his elevation as the chief of BJP’s election campaign committee.

The rupee today recovered from its all-time lows by rising 32 paise to 60.40 against the dollar in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market on fresh selling of the US currency by exporters and banks.

The rupee today sank to an all-time low of 60.35 against the dollar in mid-session trade, dragged down by heavy month-end demand for the US currency.

Embattled BCCI president N. Srinivasan, who stepped aside after the IPL spot-fixing scandal, has not yet made up his mind on attending the ICC annual conference in London and will decide on it closer to the date of sub-committee meetings.

Former Lok Sabha speaker P.A. Sangma today drew comparisons between Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, saying that the BJP strongman is a good administrator but lacks secular credentials unlike the erstwhile Prime Minister.