The International Cricket Council has been given until November 2011 to adhere to all clauses of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s code. The bone of contention has been the contentious ‘whereabouts’ clause, which India’s cricketers refuse to accept.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh admitted that rising prices were a matter of “deep concern”, and said he hoped to bring inflation down to 5-6 per cent by December.
He projected a growth rate of 8.5 per cent for this fiscal, up from 7.2 per cent and 6.7 per cent in the previous two years. “This is widely regarded as one of the best p

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared here on Monday that he was in no hurry to retire as had a lot of unfinished tasks to complete, but offered at the same time to make way for a younger leader if that was what the Congress Party wanted.

At least six senior politicians and former Union ministers continue to unauthorisedly occupy the official bungalows allotted to them even one year after their allotment was cancelled when the new government took over last year. The information has been revealed in reply to an RTI query.

In a new twist to the alleged illegal mining by Reddy brothers’ Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) in Ballery forests, the Supreme Court on Monday referred to the “green bench” a petition by a former company officer, seeking to become a “witness and approver” to show how they had “manipulated” the survey report on the leased mines in its favour.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister K. Rosaiah on Monday met Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other central leaders of the party. In the meetings the chief minister discussed issues relating to Rajya Sabha elections scheduled for next month and sought greater central assistance for cyclone ravaged areas of the state.

Senior BJP leader Mr Arun Jaitley, reacting on the BJP’s withdrawal of support to the Shibu Soren-led coalition government on Monday, said: “We tried effectively to ensure and lead a non-Congress government in Jharkhand but we did not succeed, so we decided enough is enough. We can’t try any further.” He claimed the decision was taken on Sunday evening after consulting and discussing with each member of the parliamentary board. “It was a unanimous decision,” Mr Jaitley added.

India and the US on Monday firmed up the substantive agenda, including bilateral and regional issues, for the first Strategic Dialogue to be held in Washington on June 3.
The agenda was finetuned at a meeting between foreign secretary Nirupama Rao and US undersecretary of state for political affairs William Burns here.

Shortly after the Mangalore air-crash, another air-scare was witnessed in the country at the New Delhi IGI airport on Monday afternoon when a SpiceJet flight had to return to the airport for an emergency landing after take-off following a tyre-burst. SpiceJet as well as sources in the Airports Authority of India (AAI) confirmed that the right rear inner wheel of the aircraft got deflated, apparently during take-off. A probe has been ordered.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday hinted that strong and effective action would be taken if anyone is found guilty in the Indian Premier League affairs.
Responding to a query on the alleged black money involved in the Twenty-Twenty cricket league, the Prime Minister said, “There was a discussion on the issue in Parliament and finance minister had given a reply.”