The CBI has now started investigating the circumstances under which Aircel was not granted telecom licence when the company had applied first during the tenure of former communications minister Dayanidhi Maran. Sources in the agency said the CBI is also scrutinising the documents on the basis of which the same telecom company was granted licence after a few years during Mr Maran’s tenure.

The mysterious death of CPI(M) MLA Mostafa Bin Qasem took a new turn Wednesday when his family refused to accept that he had jumped to his death at the MLAs’ Hostel on Kyd Street, and alleged foul play.

The capital’s famous Ramlila Grounds that have witnessed many a huge and political rally in the past is now being prepared for a “political show” of a different kind. It’s bustling with activity as scores of men work in the scorching Delhi summer to ready it for the fast unto death that yoga guru Baba Ramdev has threatened to go on just three days from now.

Refusing to appear before the Delhi high court, veteran Congress leader Narayan Dutt Tiwari on Wednesday moved an application stating that he cannot be forced to provide a sample of his blood for a DNA test in a paternity suit filed by a 31-year-old Delhi-based lawyer, Mr Rohit Shekhar, who claims to be his biological son.

The Supreme Court monitoring the investigation into the 2G scam case was approached on Wednesday by the main litigant NGO, CPIL for extending the CBI investigation into the alleged role of former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran in “coercing” a telecom company to offload its stakes in favour of a Malaysia-based firm in a quid-pro-quo deal by the latter with Sun TV, a company owned by Maran’s family.

The Pakistan government on Wednesday allowed journalists to carry small arms on their person due to the threat to their lives in a country declared the most dangerous for mediapersons. “Orders have been passed to allow journalists to carry small arms with them for self-protection. We understand the journalists are under great threat,”

The Oommen Chandy Cabinet on Wednesday ordered a vigilance probe into the allotment of 2.33 acres of land to Mr T.K. Soman, a relative of the former chief minister, Mr V.S. Achuthanandan, at the fag end of the Left Democratic Front government’s term.

The government on Thursday made a desperate bid to woo yoga guru Baba Ramdev, who proposes to go on a fast-unto-death from June 4, on Wednesday. It dispatched no less than four Union ministers, led by Mr Pranab Mukherjee, to welcome Baba Ramdev at the airport.

The state unit of the BJP, which is hosting the party’s national executive beginning here Thursday, is facing a piquant situation.

The government, faced with rising corruption charges, is now examining the possibility of dropping controversial ministers, including Union textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran, in the next Cabinet reshuffle. Pressure is mounting on both the Congress high command and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to “drop ministers being accused of corruption”.