The recent developments in Deoband following newly-elected vice-chancellor Ghulam Moha-mmed Vastanvi’s praise of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi have now had a fall-out in distant Assam. The Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (JuH) faction led by Maulana Arshad Madani — who lost the race for the post of Deoband VC to Mr Vastanvi — on Tuesday decided to dissolve the Assam unit of the Jamiat. The Assam unit is headed by none other than Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF) leader and a powerful player in the Deoband battle for supremacy, Badruddin Ajmal who is also a Vastanvi backer.

The Centre is planning a major crack down on individuals involved in major scams and corruption cases.
Speculation is rife that the former Prasar Bharati CEO, B.S. Lalli, former CWG Organising Committee chairman, Suresh Kalmadi and some other top politicians, involved in scams could be arrested.

Buoyed by the success of its measures in Bihar while conducting the Assembly polls, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has asked the income-tax department to keep a tab on the flow of money in order to curb the use of black money in the run-up to the Assembly polls in the states of Tamil Nadu, Assam, Puducherry, West Bengal and Kerala.

In the backdrop of a Supreme Court judge questioning the continuance of Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh in the Union Cabinet, the Congress on Wednesday said every institution must respect the doctrine of separation of power enshrined in the Constitution.

With enumerators seeking information about President Pratibha Patil, the second phase of Census 2011 began on Wednesday.
A Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson said the exercise began when a woman enumerator went to Rashtrapati Bhavan and collected information for a questionnaire from

Former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on Wednesday found himself in a tight spot in the Supreme Court, which questioned his change of stance in the case of his “CDs” on the change of his political affiliation and virtually pulled him up for “wasting” the precious time of the court if he was to withdraw his allegations against the Congress and its president.

Rural Electrification Corporation, a Navratna PSU, has declared its quarterly financial results for the period ending December 31,2010.

The BJP is mulling legal action against Delhi government for usurping powers of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). Upping the ante against the move of the Delhi Cabinet to constitute a committee to suggest division of the MCD into smaller units, the BJP on Wednesday said that the issue could be deliberated after the municipal powers are returned to the MCD as mandated by the Constitution.

Four minor children, including a girl, of a family were killed and four others members were injured when a two-storey house collapsed in Islam Nagar, Ghaziabad, late on Tuesday night. The police has arrested the driver of JCB, which was cleaning a drain along the house. It is alleged that the house collapsed as the JCB damaged its foundation.

The JNU authorities on Wednesday suspended the two male students allegedly involved in the porn MMS scandal that has hit the premier institution. According to reports, JNU vice-chancellor Prof. S.K. Sopory will be meeting Union human resource development (HRD) minister Kapil Sibal and is likely to discuss the issue. The university is even believed to be mulling over a ban on the entry of female students into the boys’ hostels.