The Medical Council of India (MCI) has given approval to 78 medical colleges for the current academic year. One of these colleges also includes Gian Sagar Medical College of Patiala, for whose recognition the then MCI director Ketan Desai had allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 2 crore.

In his famous poem Sonar Tori (golden boat), Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore wrote, “Oh to what foreign land do you sail? Come to the bank and moor your boat for a while....”. Now, a different kind of “golden boat” is all set to “sail” when Union railway minister Mamata Banerjee travels in a special train from Kolkata to Dhaka on August 7 next month.

Amazed passengers entered the glittering new integrated Terminal-3 at New Delhi’s IGI Airport for the first time ever on Wednesday even as Air India announced that it plans to build a “primary hub” at Delhi airport to “connect India with the world”.

Around 400 police personnel from the neighbouring states might be deployed with the Delhi police for the Commonwealth Games security. The order will be issued if the next Cabinet meeting of the Delhi government approves the police personnel deputation in the city.

A rare collection of Mahatma Gandhi’s personal letters, notes dictated to his grand niece, Manuben Gan-dhi, who documented them in her personal diaries, will get a new lease of life at the National Archives of India.

Facing a string of Maoist attacks in the state, Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh on Wednesday said that the country must rise above the constriction that Naxal problem is the concern of any single state but a “national strategy’’ was needed to counter it. He also said a dialogue with Maoists will not serve any purpose unless they express faith in the Constitution and adopt democratic means.

The home ministry seems to have failed in achieving complete unanimity on the Centre-state approach towards the Naxal problem. While West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was conspicuous by his absence at the Naxal meet of chief ministers of seven Naxal-hit states convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said that linguistic minorities should be protected but declined to take any stand on the vexed issue of Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary dispute on the ground that it is sub judice.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s controversial brother-in-law Sadhu Yadav has been given a place in the publicity committee of the Congress in poll-bound Bihar.
On the other hand, Mr Ranjit Ranjan, wife of Mr Pappu Yadav — convicted for the murder of a CPI(M) MLA in Bihar — will look after media affairs as vice-chairman of the media committee.

Upping the ante against the “mining mafia” in the state, Karnataka governor H.R. Bhardwaj sought the appointment of the Chief Justice to the state on a priority basis as the incumbent P.D. Dinakaran is all set to be moved to another place. The issue was raised by him when he called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and home minister P. Chidambaram.