Appalled by the ill treatment of the widow of a highly-decorated Army major who fought three wars for the country but she in return was given a paltry pension of `80 per month, the Supreme Court on Monday ordered setting up a high-powered commission for redressal of the service-related problems of officers and personnel of the defence forces.

The food ministry is in a bind after the Supreme Court asked it to continue with the additional allocation of 25 lakh tonnes of grains for the poor under the public distribution system (PDS). The additional off-take, including wheat and rice, had been issued in September to provide some respite to the poor from high food prices. It was meant for a period of six months.

Expelled Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh and his close associate Jaya Prada on Monday got a major relief from the Supreme Court as it virtually stayed their disqualification from Parliament for them being thrown out of the party.

The meeting that was to have been held on Monday by Janata Dal (Secular) of non-NDA and non-UPA parties to discuss the 2G spectrum controversy got cancelled reportedly as the Left parties felt that the other parties that were invited for the meeting were not reliable.

The alleged “10 sins” of former communications minister A. Raja were highlighted during the Supreme Court’s crucial hearing on Monday in the 2G spectrum scam case when petitioner NGO Centre for PIL gave a point-by-point rebuttal to the department of telecom’s much publicised affidavit, which had virtually given a clean chit to the DMK leader.

The cleansing drive of the Congress has checked the bargaining power of its allies in the ruling United Progressive Alliance at the Centre and the supporting parties as well.

The Congress might have got rid of the DMK’s A. Raja as telecom minister after he became a huge liability for it in the light of revelations that he allegedly caused looses of `1.76 lakh crores in the 2G spectrum allocation. However, it has now emerged that before Mr Raja’s ouster, his jittery party secured an assurance from the Congress that it would not be booted out from the UPA in the aftermath of his exit.

Jamiat Ulema-I-Hind on Monday became the first of the 28 parties in the Ayodhya title suit to file an appeal in the Supreme Court to challenge the Allahabad high court verdict declaring the place where the disputed structure stood as the “birthplace” of Lord Ram.

At least 31 people were killed and 60 others were injured, 30 of them critically, when a five-storey building collapsed in the Lalita Park area of Lakshmi Nagar in east Delhi on Monday evening. More than 100 people were living in the building and while nearly 50 had been rescued, at least 40 others were feared trapped when reports

The corruption issue refuses to die down even after the resignation of telecom minister A. Raja on the 2G spectrum allocation issue.
While the Opposition increased pressure on the Centre for a joint parliamentary committee probe, the government rejected it outright. The issue rocked proceedings in both Houses of Parliament on Monday.