Admitting that there has been no breakthrough in the July 13 triple bomb blast in Mumbai, Union home minister P. Chidambaram on Saturday said that he is personally monitoring the investigation. The minister also expressed his dissatisfaction over the situation in the Naxal-infested Gadchiroli district.

The proposed meeting of the core-committee members of Anna Hazare’s team to decide the future strategies to fight corruption has been deferred due to the 74-year-old’s poor health.

The Congress’ tirade against the BJP over the Lokpal bill fiasco continued on Saturday. Union home minister P. Chidambaram, who was in Mumbai, said that BJP’s intention was to scuttle the bill in the Rajya Sabha.

The Bombay high court on Friday passed an interim injunction order against five prominent hotels — JW Marriot, Canvas (Lounge Bar), Ramada, Mahape, Abbot and Marine Centre — asking them to pay the licence fees to the copyright society for playing music at the New Year’s Eve celebrations organised at these hotels.

A day after he cut short his fast, anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare, who is unwell, reached his home village Ralegan Siddhi on Thursday afternoon.
In order to decide the future strategies of the team, core committee members Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Manish Sisodiya will meet the 74-year-old Gandhian in his home village a few days later.

The Nationalist Congress Party on Thursday went into a damage control mode after Maharashtra home minister R.R. Patil said that he supports Anna Hazare’s demand for the Jan Lokpal Bill. The party claimed that Mr Patil was misinterpreted by the media, and clarified that he was only speaking about security arrangements at the MMRDA ground.

The Indian rupee fell by 23 paise to Rs 53.30 per US dollar in early trade on Friday on persistent month end demand for the American currency from importers despite a lower dollar in overseas markets and a higher opening in the equity market.

Team Anna on Wednesday made it amply clear that the UPA government was the main target of the movement against corruption, but warned that other parties too could become targets if they were found guilty of corruption.

Senior anti-narcotics cell officers who were deployed for bandobast duty at the MMRDA ground, have been withdrawn from this task. They will now start working on drug trafficking cases, which are on the rise in the wake of the New Year celebrations.

The Bombay high court on Wednesday dismissed a PIL filed against Anna Hazare’s agitation, as the court thought it to be a frivolous petition and not in public interest. However, the court desisted from imposing a fine on the petitioner.