The Orissa government seems to have made up its mind to fulfill all the major demands of the Maoists, including release of seven of the top-ranking Maoist activists lodged in various jails in Orissa, Jharkhand and Chhattishgarh, to secure safe release of Malkangiri collector R. Vineel Kumar and junior engineer Pabitra Mohan Majhi who were taken hostages by the rebels on February 16.

In an effort to calm the growing unease in the BJP over its parliamentary party chairman L.K. Advani’s regret letter to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi for naming her family in the party task force’s report on illegal Swiss bank accounts, the party on Monday claimed Mr Advani never gave “clean chit” to the Gandhi family on the issue.

The BJP-led NDA on Monday said it will allow the Budget Session of Parliament to function if government announces formation of a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to probe into the 2G spectrum allocation scam. NDA leaders, who met at NDA working chairman L.K. Advani’s residence on Monday decided that if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announces setting up of JPC on Tuesday, they will allow both Houses to run smoothly.

Countering odds in getting berths in the proposed JPC on the 2G spectrum issue, the CPI(M) and AIADMK have decided to join hands with other “like-minded’’ parties to enable their representation in the parliamentary body expected to be set up to probe the alleged scam.

In a major setback to the DMK-led coalition’s efforts to have the first elections to revived legislative council in Tamil Nadu before the Assembly polls, the Supreme Court on Monday stayed it at least till July after the Election Commission sought certain clarification about the previous order of the Supreme Court.

There came mixed reaction on President Pratibha Patil’s address to the joint sitting of Parliament on Monday, as ruling Congress claimed, the speech clearly outlined the government priorities, while the Opposition slammed it “disappointing”. They claimed that the speech only “outlined the problems” leaving people to guess for the “solutions”.

President Pratibha Patil on Monday said the Centre is consulting state governments on the proposed National Food Security Act (NFSA), which will give the poor a legal entitlement to subsidised foodgrains.

The Delhi high court on Monday sought the response of the DDA by March 1 after hearing the Jangpura RWA’s plea alleging that the civic agency has failed to comply with the court’s earlier order to rebuild a wall around the area where a mosque built on government land was demolished recently.

The tenure of the one-man inquiry commission of retired Delhi HC judge Justice Lokeshwar Prasad, which was to submit report in the Lalita Park building collapse incident by February 22, has been extended by six months. At least 71 people had died and several were injured in the incident on November 15, 2010, in Lalita Park area of east Delhi.

The Delhi high court on Monday asked the Delhi police commissioner to explain why contempt of court proceedings should not be initiated against him for not following its earlier order to review false criminal cases foisted on a citizen.